《I hate being wed in a fantasy world!》
Volume 01 - Prologue
"Phew..." Exhaling, I wait lying on top of a cliff, while observing an unusual beast. It walks on four spider-like legs, has a chimp-like body on top, and with two muscular gorilla arms attached. It is a Monkey-spider. They''re as large as horses and live in packs ¡ª this one is patrolling the perimeter.
I have my [Stealth]-ability active, so it won''t notice me as long as I don''t move. It¡¯s thanks to the [Camouflage]-skill. [Camouflage] changes the color pattern of the user and their equipment to match their surroundings, but it consumes a lot of SP (Stamina Points). The problem is: if you move, it won''t change again to match your new background.
At the moment I probably look like grass and rocks. Since monkey-spiders don''t have a keen sense of smell, it should be enough to hide my presence.
My name is Katsuragi Kenta and I''m a [Scout]. At least, that''s my [Class] at the moment.
After an incident, my classmates and I were transported to another world by a suspicious being to save mankind - or something like that.
We got some special kind of powers to do so, but before I get into details: It''s similar to video games, especially MMORPGs. Since I''m a gamer, I didn''t have too much trouble figuring this out.
Because I''m a [Scout], you probably think that I''m scouting for my classmates, who have classes like warrior, mage, hero and such. If you do so, you''re wrong.
There are no classmates lying in wait. It''s only me, a spear, and a pack of monkey-spiders. I counted six in the pack so far.
At least it isn''t my goal to kill them all. I only want to get into their cave to loot it. Fighting them would be too inefficient, so all I can do is wait.
Patience. Only need to wait until the monkey-spiders leave to go hunting.
You have no idea how lying around a whole day can be boring and thrilling at the same time. It is boring because you can''t do anything, but thrilling because if you do anything, they¡¯ll detect you.
Getting this close was lucky enough. When the monkey-spiders leave the cave, I can simply climb down and raid it. I don''t know if there is anything valuable inside, but I do know that monkey-spiders like to collect trophies. Even though most of it may be junk, at least some treasures might be inside.
¡I''m getting hungry¡ My throat is as dry as a desert. Numbness and pain are all over my body, since I was lying so long on hard ground. The sun is shining on me, so I¡¯m sweating like crazy. If I don''t endure it, the monkey-spiders are sure to detect me and then they''ll kill me.
Great. Really, really great...
But at some point the diurnal monkey-spiders will go hunting. Since I already waited for four hours, they could go at any moment.
Any moment¡ oh please...
About an hour later, the monkey-spiders finally gather and go hunting. I wait ten minutes, and finally I start moving my muscles for the first time after several hours.
My status says that I have the [Sore]-condition and my [Attributes] are decreased. With the [Starving]-condition, I shouldn''t be climbing down cliffs, so I eat and drink first.
After another ten minutes, I''m ready to descend. I take a torch out of my backpack and light it up. Torches are bad at lighting things up compared to modern means, but I have the [Scout]-class, so I have the [Perception]-ability and its [Darksight]-skill.
Even though it isn''t on a level to actually see in total darkness, it lets me see clearly to fifty meters (about 54 1/2 yards) with any sort of light source. Even a matchstick would be enough.
The cave is full of webs and I guess it smells like monkey - not that I actually smelled one before. Even though the monkey-spiders are out hunting, I shouldn''t get careless. Maybe a few were left behind. I have never personally fought with monkey-spiders before, I know about them only because someone told me, but they seem to be dangerous. It would be better to try a single one first.
Exploring a cave isn''t exciting. You see rocks, more rocks, and every step you take echoes. That makes it harder to distinguish noise, making you an easy target for mobs, that lurk in the darkness.
Unless you have the [Perception]-ability and its multitude of [Skills].
Quickly, I drop the torch and take the spear in both hands, while turning around quickly. A monkey-spider has tried to sneak up on me!
With a thrust I force it back a bit, but its movements are really weird. Having four spider legs makes it quicker than it looks.
Nah, it just looks fast. It being larger than me would normally give me the advantage in mobility, but monkey-spiders seem to be able to move in all directions and in short speed-bursts. Even though the chimp-like upper body with the gorilla arms isn¡¯t that fast, its erratic movements make it harder to get a grasp of its speed.
It is much like a fly. A fly isn''t that fast, but as it moves in an irregular manner, you have a hard time following it. Even though the monkey-spider can accelerate for a short bursts of speed, that doesn''t mean it''s actually that fast.
How do I know that? I use the [Perception]-ability¡¯s [Focus]-skill. Does knowing that help me? Probably not.
The monkey spider charges in my direction and throws a punch. But I¡¯m able to dodge it. Looks like I can see through its movements.
Stolen novel; please report.
At the same time I realize I will have a hard time getting a good hit in with my spear. My [Strength]-attribute isn''t that high either, so the damage won''t be a lot. I''m a [Scout], after all.
Maybe I should have bought a bow. Unfortunately, they are expensive and need arrows, which aren''t cheap either. Either way, I should have totally bought one, even though I''m currently in a position where I won¡¯t be able to use it at all.
Dammit! Concentrate on the monkey-spider!
It may have its speed-bursts, but I can probably outrun it.
Without hesitation I run back to the cave entrance. The monkey-spider tries to catch up, but actual running is better than those speed-bursts in this case.
I already see the daylight, but then I hear a strange noise and look back. A white ball of goo is flying straight at me.
Of course, it¡¯s a ball of web. Should have known that.
I throw myself to the ground and use the momentum to make a roll while still holding the spear. Training that move was totally worth it. The web-ball flies above me, but the monkey-spider is about to catch up.
Now I have it!
I call the menu, choose the [Change Class]-option, and take the [Pikeman]-class.
With a grin I stand up and lift my spear.
I feel my muscles growing and initiate a [Spear]-skill, [Speedthrust].
Before the monkey-spider realizes what happened, I have already sunk my spear deep into its chimp-like body, right into its heart.
It falls to the ground, lifeless.
Monkey-spiders are dangerous. Note: Never fight more than one for now.
I change back to the [Scout]-class. Even though I would rather stay a [Pikeman], I lose my [Perception]-ability with that [Class Change], and therefore would end up dead before noticing the next ambush.
That was the reason I retreated back to the sunlit entrance, as there I would be able to actually aim my [Speedthrust].
Now it''s time to resume my search. Luckily, there aren''t any monkey-spiders left.
At the nest I see some items which might be interesting.
I take a bag out of my backpack and shove anything in that isn''t clearly junk and leave the cave.
An hour later, I can finally take a breather.
A successful hunt.
I retrieved some coins, potions and jewelry. And a knife.
When I focus on one of these items, I can see names and descriptions there. For example:
[??? Knife]
Description:
This knife has a slightly curved blade and is made out of metal.
Status:
Unknown
Value:
Unknown
Not very helpful. At least unless I equip it. When I do it then becomes:
[Steel Knife]
Description:
This knife is made out of steel and is good as a weapon or all-purpose tool.
Status:
+35 Attack, Tool-Bonus
Value:
350 Newgold
Hey, it¡¯s actually pretty good. It has more attack power than my spear, but since it has a short range, I¡¯d better use it as a secondary weapon.
After I identify an item, I can see its stats whenever I look at it without needing to requip it.
If I don¡¯t identify an item, I have no idea what it does and how much Newgold I could get for it. This puts me at a disadvantage while haggling, and there are cases where you would overlook a rather useful item that you may want to keep for a while. This steel knife is a prime example.
So I go through the stuff I found and look at it. Coins and other things you don''t have to wear can be appraised without further steps.
Unfortunately, the jewelry had to be worn one at a time. Since I don''t have my earlobes pierced, I can''t wear any earrings. Here I¡¯d have to ask a merchant, who would surely try to trick me to sell it at a lower price.
"Phew." There are a lot of rings. You can benefit only from two rings at the same time, one on each ring finger. That¡¯s the reason why you have to put it on your ring finger to identify them. If you put a second or a third ring on the same finger you won¡¯t get any benefits, nor be able to identify them... Game logic.
I put the rings on in pairs, so I would lessen the time needed to identify them. Most of them aren''t too valuable, even though some have gems or are made out of silver. But most were copper and rather cheap.
Strange.
I have one of these copper rings on my left ring finger, it have an engraving of a male lion, so I thought it might be worth a bit.
But the stats are odd.
[Lion''s Cursed Ring]
Description:
Only few know about the secrets of this ring. It was meant to be a powerful device, which breaks the rules of the world. But its true power is only for those who can understand the proper usage. For those who don''t, it will suck their power until death.
Status:
Curses its wearer. Unremoveable.
Value:
0 Newgold
...
My mind goes blank, and for some reason my body feels heavy. Before I get emotional, I should check my status.
[Cursed]-condition. What exactly does this curse do? I see a pop-up screen, which tells me everything:
[Cursed]
Source: Lion¡¯s Cursed Ring
Forced [Class Change] to [Student]
Decreased [Attributes]
All [Skills] sealed
No natural recovery
0 [Experience points] gain
Lose 10 [Max Stamina] each day
0 [Ability points] gain
This is the first time I¡¯m even confronted with something like a magic item and for some reason, it¡¯s a cursed one. What are the odds?
I realize that I''m as good as dead. I was often confronted with deadly situations, but this time, there is a certainly to it. Without even looking at the other stuff, I lay down and rub my temples.
Just how did I get into this mess again?!
Volume 01 - Chapter 1-1 – Fantasy in Reality
Chapter 1 ¨C Fantasy in Reality
Like I said, my name is Katsuragi Kenta. I was a freshman in high-school and part of the go home club. After school, I finished my homework and then played my video games. I had the newest consoles, a decent PC and a lot of games. Practically all of my allowance was spent on those.
My parents were OK with this, as long I was somewhat successful in school. And I was. I ranked 19 in the midterms since I studied every evening a bit to please my parents and increase my overall gaming time.
I played different genres, but my game library was a bit unbalanced. My favorite games were RPGs with either a good story or a good amount on customization. So, of course, MMORPGs were also included. For me, it''s important to be either immersed in good story-writing or to be able to try out a lot of things.
That was mostly all my life back then. No real friends, no romance, no social life. And I was kinda bullied in school. Just kinda. Not too bad. But when you talk to a girl and she looks at you as if you were an ugly insect, then you start to wonder why and ask yourself some questions.
Am I fat? Well, a bit. Not really fat, but kinda round.
Am I ugly? At least I''m not pretty. But I would say my face is average and my glasses aren''t that eye-catchy.
Physical education isn''t my strong point either, and yes, maybe some other boys laughs at me when I''m unable to jump over the vaulting horse.
And maybe I''m a bit short, 1.65 meters (about 5''4). But come on, that''s just a bit.
Somehow I always had the feeling that the boys were making fun of me, while the girls were kinda disgusted. Don''t know when it started and why. The things they did were minor. Like skipping cleaning duty, when paired with me. Or that nobody voluntarily teamed up with me in anything.
But I didn''t care much, it was school, a place of learning. If I wanted to meet people, I could play online! If someone would have asked if I would want to live in a fantasy-like world, I would have clearly said ''no''.
Too bad that there wasn''t much asking in my case.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It was a normal homeroom that morning. Everyone was present, twenty-eight students, the homeroom teacher and an assistant teacher.
After taking attendance, our homeroom teacher, Saegusa Mamiko, told us about the upcoming cultural festival and asked what the class want to do there. Then our class president, Momokawa Kyou, took over.
I didn''t care much.
But while my classmates brainstormed their ideas, something seemed to change.
First of all, voices began to echo through the rooms and the colors bleached. Then the contours blurred. Like the whole classroom shifted in existence. And then an unusual, unisex voice rumbled from the ground.
?Welcome Heroes, we need you. You have to save the world from the evil demons, which wage war against humanity and the other races of light.?
Geez, like an old RPG. Without any logic or reason, but while those were games, this was... well, probably fake, too. I thought.
?You''ve been chosen to stand against the demons, but do not fear. People of your world become very powerful in this one and the reward is great.?
I wanted to say something, but no words left my throat. Probably not only mine. That might be the reason, why nobody else complained in my place. This is kidnapping!
?Each of you will have a manual which explains how your new powers work. The reward is a single, perfect wish for those, who slay the demon lord and end the war, plus everything you accomplished in that world.?
A perfect wish?
?You will be transported to Feuerberg''s capital, Esse. Help the king and his people.?
With an explosion of light, a shock went through my body, and I closed my eyes. After the shock subsided, I opened them again and saw a hall. Or more like a chamber, like one you would see in a church.
A lot of people were kneeling there and one with a pure-white robe began to shout: "Thank the gods, the heroes have finally arrived!"
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Well, it''s kinda clich¨¦. A Japanese class is transported to another world as heroes. As a story it''s fine, as a real-life experience it sucks.
We were transported by a god of this world as an answer for the prayers of the church and humankind.
The only way back was with the help of the gods and since they want us to fight against the demons, this might be the only way to get back.
This was the general gist of it, even though it was just a brief summary.
Our teachers were the only ones called to the king, but that didn''t even bother me. Let''s leave this to the adults. After an hour here I realized, that living in a fantasy world sucks even harder than I thought.
First of all: The meals are bad.
At least I don''t enjoy a riceless meal with a lot of bread and fatty meat. The water had less quality than common tap water, and even though it was called a feast, the seasonings were so strong, that you couldn''t taste the meal at all.
Second: No toilets! Chamber pots.
That''s humiliating.
After the ''feast'' to celebrate the arriving of the heroes, we got rooms assigned and of course nobody wanted share one with me, if possible.
But in the end I got two roommates. The first one was a bit of a nerd, the other a bit of a delinquent, two other outsiders. On beds with hard mattresses we were to wait until our teachers were done talking to the king.
That wasn''t much of a bother, since I took my time to check the manual, the mysterious voice talked about. Even though we didn''t have anything else with us, except clothing, everyone of us had a backpack and a manual inside. Even cell phones vanished!
The manual had 36 pages and described how the power of the heroes worked.
Basically all powers can be categorized into two: Strengthening and Managing.
Strengthening powers are like the class system, which enhances our [Attributes].
Attributes are [Strength], [Vitality], [Dexterity], [Agility], [Intelligence], [Persuasion] and [Luck].
Most of them are pretty straightforward, even though I was not too sure how these will work out in the long run.
As a student, my attributes beside [Intelligence] are pretty low. But after I learn a new class, I can get a huge boost to some of these attributes. So a warrior would get a great [Strength] and [Vitality] bonus.
A [Class-Change] should even alter the bodies to match. So if I would take on the warrior class, I might get actual muscles. But this body-change only occurs with those class-bonuses, not the actual stat-value.
Why? No idea.
Each class has [Abilities]. These abilities are like [Sword], [Elemental Magic] or [Thievery]. Each of them have several [Skills], like fighting techniques or [Spells]. At least everyone of them is kinda special.
And while you can have only one class active, you can choose up to four classes and switch between them. So you may be a [Wizard] normally and change into [Warrior] while engaged in melee combat.
The manual mentions several secrets in the class system, which have to be found out by yourself. And I didn''t like it, because there was no reason at all to keep these secret. If we should succeed in slaying demons, why are the gods so secretive?
Give me a strategy wiki!
Like games there are some other stats, too. Like Health Points (HP), which shows up our physical well-being, Stamina Points (SP) which deplete with any exhausting activity and all non-magic skills and Magic Points (MP), which are solely for spells.
In the end, it looked like I could learn any class pretty easily and earn the skills equal of someone who actually trained for years. That''s cheating.
This concludes the strengthening powers.
The second set of powers are for managing. Like a status screen which is displayed and used by thoughts and eye-movements alone. Or an inventory screen, which allows you to take items from the backpack without even searching for them within. Additionally, these backpacks have a lot of more storage due to the [Inventory] than their size would suggest.
These aren''t as interesting, but much more important and useful in my opinion. Since you can actually see how strong you are in numbers, you can judge how much you can do.
I guess the ability to change class would be a managing power, too.
There are even level up mechanisms, XP (experience points) to increase your strength overall and AP (ability points) to increase your abilities you get due to your classes.
It really is like a game in a sense.
But as a gamer, I knew it wasn''t a game. No PC, no game pad, nothing!
As my two roommates didn''t want to start a conversation, I took the liberty to leave the room.
Somehow I got the feeling, that I didn''t have any control over that situation.
It would be easy to say that I should just do whatever had to be done, but I couldn''t accept it.
This was not a game.
So should I blindly follow a presented path?
Normally, the teachers would not like us to get involved, if this would be a light novel or such.
Normally, the students would start to form parties to level up and prepare for the real deal.
This would be good, but something was odd. Even though it may be my imagination, something inside of me resisted. I didn''t know why, but that logic seemed to be flawed.
While thinking about it, I started my preparations.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Next morning, the teachers called us. The room we were in was a small dining hall.
Homeroom teacher, Saegusa Mamiko, started her speech. She was a tall, young woman with glasses, which gave a bit of a sexy secretary vibe.
"We talked to the king of Feuerberg and it seems that we''re stranded here. We''ve been welcomed to stay, but everyone who is not helping out the kingdom has to pay for their hospitality. After talking it over with Taniguchi-sensei we came to the following conclusion, we can''t tell you what to do."
I see, so they couldn''t handle the situation. Well, taking responsibility for 28 students in this mess was too much to ask for.
Thanks for abandoning us, bastards.
"Taniguchi-sensei and I will support the kingdom with our knowledge of our own world. Everyone who wants to help is welcomed to."
Well, Saegusa-sensei is a science teacher and Taniguchi-sensei teaches math. These will most likely come in handy.
A real life-saver for the two of you, huh?
"The king established an instructor for those who want to fight for the kingdom. I would rather ask you not to, but this seems to be the only way back home."
Since the teachers wanted to go home, too, but were unwilling to fight themselves, they tried to lure us to do it for them. At least that was my impression, but I''m generally negative.
In the end, 20 of the 28 students formed the combat group. Everyone who can actually help otherwise had a talent which was useful in this setting.
Being good at sports? Combat group.
Being popular? Combat group.
Being good at PCs? Definitely combat group.
Able to cook on a professional level? Non-Combat group.
As most of us didn''t have talents which worked outside Japanese culture, we didn''t have much of a choice there. Otherwise we would pay for our life-expenses without any useful skills to do so.
Of course I was part of the combat group, too.
And it sucked.
The most popular boy in class took the lead. The name is Inoue Masahiko. He was a pretty boy who was good at sports and at least above average in studies.
I don''t like him. I''m sure he''s just faking this delightful smile and honest personality.
Like I said, I''m generally negative.
He and his friends took charge of this class.
The class president, Momokawa Kyou, was one of them. She was voted for popularity, and I''m sure she was just doing it for her records. Needless to say that she''s very pretty. Seems to be a prerequisite to be popular.
Inoue, Momokawa and their posse ruled the class before coming to this world in a sense, so it seemed only naturally that they do it now, too.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
I got a headache.
I guess Inoue spoke some encouraging words about justice, being chosen and such, but honestly, I don''t remember a single word, since I tried to ignore it.
Don''t lie to me, fake!
The military instructor showed us the basics of how to fight, but everyone sucked. Push-ups and such were a pain, swinging wooden sticks made us look stupid, we''re just a bunch of modern teenagers!
Of course ten minutes exercise would bring those down who didn''t participate in a sport club. Like me.
¡°Strange. Shouldn''t heroes be able to do that much?¡± The instructor said, while I was gasping for air.
¡°Of course *pant* not. *pant* Didn''t change class.¡± I already realized that as long I have the [Student]-class, my physical strength is about as much as always. Even though I could muster more of my stamina than usual. Probably due the SP-system.
But after another fifty minutes of exercise I was wasted. I tried my best, but there had to be an easier way.
On the other hand, the other students talked to each other as if this was a wonderful experience. Didn''t they realize that this is not a school trip?
And then it hit me: They didn''t.
Thinking back, maybe the students weren''t as aware of the situation right now as me? Maybe because it was so sudden and because of those game-like elements? Shock? Ignorance? Stupidity?
The instructor didn''t know about the heroes'' powers. Their knowledge about heroes was even inferior to ours.
That night, I didn''t sleep. I thought about everything and read the manual several times. Afterwards I decided what to do.
I already collected some stuff yesterday evening, like food, water and a blanket. Now I even took the mattress and put it into my backpack. Then I changed into the world''s peasant clothing I stole from the servant''s laundry and snuck away.
I had my gaming knowledge, which might come in handy at the beginning. And I had realized that this is no game, so I didn''t want to waste my time pretending this is a school trip. The only thing in my mind was returning home.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Even though the heroes'' powers made it look like a game, it wasn''t. Most elements reminded me of a MMORPG, but they were missing some crucial basics.
Like a party system. Every monster I kill becomes power to enhance my stats and is expressed as experience points (XP). Even if I kill a monster and get XP, anyone I teamed up with to kill said monster won''t get any. And there are only a few ways to get them. Killing monsters is the easiest one, but seemingly there are crystals and other objects which are able to give you XP/power, too.
Therefore, partnering up with someone else would drop your own XP-gain in the end, and there is no way to ensure a healthy party balance without problems. Since it''s all about the kill.
So it made no sense to hunt in a group, unless you need the safety. Solo-hunting would be one of the things I want to try out first.
At least after I get a class other than [Student]. As a [Student], my abilities were [Academics] and [Recreation]. I had already Ranks in both, but there were no skills related to those abilities.
Maybe because it''s not something gained by the heroes'' power?
In the end I needed either combat abilities or means to earn money.
After leaving the castle at night, I walked around in Esse, the capital of the Feuerberg-kingdom. Since it was nighttime, the city was lit with lanterns and torches, which only shed dim light. I couldn''t see well and only a few people were out there.
I thought about how to start my career. In the end, survival stands above everything, since no revival mechanic was mentioned in the manual, meaning I most likely only have one life. But to secure that, I had to be able to ensure food, water, and defense by myself.
I would like to pick something like a woodsman-class, which would ensure that I can survive on my own in the wilderness.
Or at least to be able to act independently.
I didn''t trust the king whom I''ve never met, nor my classmates. I would never blindly follow them. I didn''t need to learn how to fight like someone from the military, but the cunning and skills to take on enemies alone under all circumstances.
And maybe it was just dumb luck, but I found some hunters at a tavern, who just sold their quarry and celebrated their hunt. So I asked them, if I could be their apprentice.
First I was laughed at, since I was too old.
Normally you would gain apprenticeship when you''re ten years old, while someone at my age would already be full-fledged, but since hunting isn''t exactly a craft, a few people consider to take on the job after learning another one before.
To show my determination I was tasked with all the minor stuff. From carrying equipment to making campfire and such.
Of course I failed at everything, but one of the hunters, Meldorn, took care of me and taught me. How to organize equipment, how to make a fire, what things to consider if you build a camp.
Meldorn was a simple man who had lived in the woods forever and just couldn''t fit in the city. But at least he was good at hunting.
He was the one who decided to take me in, under the premise that he will abandon me if I ever complain. So I just kept all complaints in and did the job. It was hard!
We left the capital the next day and took a hunting tour. After two weeks of minor tasks and learning survival basics, I began to learn about the world firsthand.
First, there are bears, deers and other animals I know from my world. Even though everyone of them was a bit different. Like the antlers of a deer, which had barbs, or the bear, which had very long hair. Minor changes, but somehow still the same.
And there are monsters which seems to be chimeras, combinations of several animals.
I had a lot to learn.
But it did raise my [Academics]-ability and I gained the [Fast Learner]-skill. So I could get skills with my [Student]-class, after all. With [Fast Learner] it was much easier to learn all this stuff.
After a month of apprenticeship, I got a chance to select my second class: [Scout]. I thought I would learn to be a hunter, but somehow it turned out that way. Maybe, because I was still lacking actual hunting skills?
But the important thing was, that I got another class and I tried to change into it. A message window came up, that choosing this class will take up one of my three remaining class slots.
I confirmed after leaving the camp, so my hunting buddies wouldn''t see me.
And suddenly I became more skinny and got some muscles, while my vision became much sharper. My glasses actually got in the way of seeing clearly! This [Class Change] shaped my body into one of a well-trained survivalist in just a month!
The next thing I did was to change into [Student] again and return to the camp. I had no reason to finish the tour, except a sense of duty. But saying goodbye would be better, especially since I didn''t need to return to Esse.
Even though we came back a few times, I never went back into the city itself. Meldorn and the other hunters thought that something in my past had to do with it. Especially considering that I was clearly a foreigner, being an Asian and everything.
¡°I need to do something. You really helped me out. Thank you!¡±
I left the hunters and went south. After these preparations I could finally start the ''game''. I didn''t know anything about demons and the war, I don''t care. Maybe they''re pure evil, but in the end I wanted to go back home.
I needed to.
And finally I had the means to start the journey.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Another month passed and I''m here now, wearing a cursed ring.
The preparation-time with the hunters was valuable to learn how the world works.
And the heroes'' powers.
Like there are actually two kind of points to get stronger: XP for slaying monsters and taking in their powers, which will enhance your stats in levels which gives minor attribute-bonuses overall. And Ability Points (AP) to enhance your abilities and learn more skills, which are gained by training in that specific area.
My skills and classes are currently:
There were other abilities I could learn, but didn''t have enough AP there. Like [Bow] or [Phalanx], since I didn''t have a chance to train it, so far.
You can divide skills into active and passive ones.
The [Hide]-skill of the [Armor]-ability is a passive one and make it easier to move around while wearing a hide armor, like I do now. As long I wear and use it, I gain AP in the [Armor]-ability, even though slowly.
And both classes, [Scout] and [Pikeman] use the same [Armor]-ability, what I gain in one I gain in both, as long I have either class equipped.
Active skills are like [Speedthrust], which unleashes a powerful spear attack.
Each ability will use up stamina or more specific SP, passive ones less than active ones. So I have to keep an eye on my SP, since I might actually die if it ran out. Who knows what happens when you totally run out of stamina?
So normally I take a break whenever there is only half left since I''m exhausted then, too. I could push myself further, but there is no reason to do so.
When traveling with the hunters, I got a spear and after using it for a while as a scout, I could choose the [Pikeman]-class.
If I stayed in Esse, maybe I could have learned more classes like this, but actually I prefer the [Scout]-class, since it makes me more aware and helps me in being cunning.
Problem is... now I''m stuck at the [Student]-class.
I feel weak, since all of my attributes dropped. And my belly back. I realize that I won''t get any XP or AP, no matter what I do. I couldn''t use any skills and even though I rested, I didn''t recover any SP at that time, I had to use items for this.
And it looks like that each day my Max SP drop, so I will exhaust faster and in the end, might end up dying.
I panicked first, but I had to do something about it.
Maybe cutting off the finger might help, but I couldn''t do this to myself. Sorry, but I lack the guts.
Finally I came to a conclusion: I have to return to Esse.
I have the best chances to lift my curse there or at least get an idea what to do next. If worse comes to worst, I can hire a doctor to cut of my finger cleanly and a magic user to reattach it afterwards. Maybe. Priests seems to be able to channel divine power for healing spells, even though they''re expensive.
Well, I did get some valuables in the monkey-spider cave, so getting a carriage back to Esse and a way to remove the curse seems to be possible.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Phew.¡±
Riding a carriage back to Esse was costly, but as a [Student] I haven''t much of a choice. I''m currently unable to protect myself properly.
But now I''m here.
Esse is a city built at a mountain. It has several levels and at the top is the castle. It''s a breathtaking sight, but it seems pretty impractical.
Well, first time in two months I¡¯m in the actual city. Maybe my classmates are still there, training. Maybe they''re already out there, fighting. Or maybe they''re dead.
No idea, don''t care too much.
But I have to go to the castle, since the greatest church of the kingdom was part of it. And they might know something about cursed items.
I hate it. But it''s the most logical thing to do.
I arrive the castle and the guards looked at me with suspicion. Of course they don''t remember me. ¡°I''m a pilgrim who wants to visit the church.¡± The church was an annex inside the castle walls, so as long as I don''t enter the main building, there would be no problems.
At the church, I ask the next person who wears a clerical outfit. ¡°Excuse me, please, but I''ve a request. I''m an explorer and found a ring. After putting it on my finger, I can''t remove it anymore and I feel weak. Maybe it''s cursed.¡±
And so the trouble begins.
The priest I talked first tried to analyze the curse, but it was too powerful. Then I was handed over to another priest, who specialized in dispelling curses, but he needed two hours to analyze this one.
¡°Rather unique. Normally a curse like this would not be a problem, but it seems to be intertwined with your very soul. To dispel a curse this far reaching, you must bring me holy water from the Hei?quellen.¡±
¡°If that water is so powerful, why don''t you have some in reserve?¡±
¡°It''s not the water itself. It''s about the divine ritual. After you made your preparations, I will cast a spell on you, which will start to grow stronger during the pilgrimage. Each step is part of this ritual and will build up a reservoir of magic power which I''ll harness later to dispel the curse.¡±
Basically, it''s not about the water, but the quest itself.
¡°I understand. The details?¡±
The decurse-pilgrimage itself is simple.
First, I can hire people to protect me, I don''t have to do it alone.
Second, I have to start the journey at the church and get a spell cast on me, which will grow stronger with each further step.
Third, I have to stop at every shrine on the way and pray to the gods there.
Fourth, I must to climb the Vulkan-mountains to get to the Hei?quellen, which are hot springs. There I fetch some water and bring it back to the temple in Esse.
Finally, the priest will end the spell and lift the curse.
A very simple matter and something which have to be done within two weeks. I would rather start today, since my Max SP is currently exactly 350 and I lose ten points every day.
I hope lifting the curse will restore it back to normal. It would be bad to have my Max SP permanently lowered.
But one problem was at the whole pilgrimage: The price.
¡°300,000 Newgold?! Your prices are insane, I could buy a house with that amount!¡±
¡°It''s not a price. It''s a donation, which will satisfy the gods and raise the chances of success.¡±
I hate you!
¡°What about cutting off the finger, removing the ring and put the finger back with magic?¡±
¡°... What a sick idea. How could you come up with that?¡±
¡°But would it work?¡±
¡°No. This curse is too strong and it will definitely go berserk, if you try to remove the ring with any kind of force. Like I said, it has become intertwined with your very soul.¡±
Damn it!
Maybe the priest just tells me this, so I would donate these 300,000 Newgold. Or maybe he''s right. I can''t take that risk and he knows it!
¡°I''ll come back later.¡±
¡°Be aware, your curse is deadly. You don''t have much time.¡± And now he uses my fear of death. This church sucks!
I leave it and sit down at the courtyard.
Problem is, I don''t have enough money. I do have most, as I was saving for good equipment, but I''m still short around 20,000 Newgold for the decurse-attempt.
After selling the treasure, I got a lot of coins and because of my ''gameplay'', I could hoard that much in only 2 months. Everything I spent was for cheap gear and items to increase my farming time.
Nonetheless, 20,000 Newgold is a lot of money. Even if I sell my ¡®starter equipment,¡¯ I won''t be able to raise that much.
And without my gear, I won''t have any kind of protection. Well, even with it I can''t properly protect myself currently. I''m a [Student] without any regenerative power after all.
What should I do?
¡°Katsuragi?¡±
Someone calls my name. I turn around.
¡°Momokawa?!¡± The pretty class president.
The fake (most likely).
She is wearing some kind of cloth armor and has a long scarf around her neck. She looks a bit like that church-folk with it, even though her black hair and eyes stand out among all these bright haired, bright-eyed people.
¡°It''s really Katsuragi! Where have you been?¡±
I didn''t want to run into my classmates, because I thought it would feel awkward.
And it really is.
¡°Away.¡±
Silence. I can''t bear it.
¡°Erm... how are you doing?¡±
¡°...¡± She avoids eye-contact.
Wait a minute, she made eye-contact before? Something is odd.
¡°Where are the others? Why are you alone?¡±
She was never alone before. Of course I met her only at school, but something seems to be wrong.
¡°Away.¡±
I''m not a nice person. I''m calculating and do things to get advantages. I studied at home since I wanted to get results in tests, so my parents won''t bother me, if I play games every other minute. I didn''t socialize in class, since I don''t care much about other peoples and most of my classmates are boring.
Some might call me an a-hole and they won''t be wrong with it. And since I was a bad person, I already made up a plan.
Since Momokawa seems to be troubled, I will use her.
Instead of talking in the courtyard, we moved to a tavern in downtown. After some questions, Momokawa confessed her side of the story.
Aside from Momokawa, my classmates aren''t here anymore. As the combat-group raised their levels with weak monsters around here, they were traveling in groups to other regions for training. The non-combatants were sent to another town, where a research facility was built for them to conduct experiments and such.
Only Momokawa remained here.
Because she''s weak.
She has already filled all of her class-slots: [Student], [Cook], [Healer], [Priest].
She misunderstood the [Healer]-class, which first appeared for her. She thought it would provide magical healing, but no: The [Healer] relied on herbs and physical treatment. A normal medic.
She learned the [Priest] afterwards and got the hang of healing magic, finally she wanted to be able to provide the party with something useful and learned the [Cook].
The idea was, that she would be the supporter of the party of Inoue and his friends.
But there was one problem.
Like I already mentioned; there is no party system.
A pure supporter won''t be able to slay monsters and get XP that easily. She wasted all her class-slots and fell behind the others.
Since she would not be able to withstand a single blow of a stronger monster like that, she was left behind in Esse, so she could raise her level by herself.
But she was alone, so she couldn''t take on many monsters per day and she seems to hate to fight in general. That''s the reason why she wanted to be the supporter in the first place.
If you hate to fight, why did you join the combat-group? Well, she can''t do anything else for the kingdom, I guess.
But Momokawa is very irritated about the whole story. ¡°How dare they! Just because Masahiko-kun thinks it''s too dangerous, they dump me and now the shitty king is giving me crap about what to do with me!¡±
¡°Figures.¡±
She is unnerved and don''t even show the slightest bit of interest towards me.
But I want to use her.
¡°So you need to level up, to show them how wrong they are. Do you want to team up?¡±
She looks at me, as if I have killed her pet.
How much of a low-life do you think I am? I continue, nevertheless. ¡°I have a problem, too. I''m cursed and can''t get any XP and have not enough money to remove it and lack several means. If you help me, I will teach you how to level up faster.¡±
¡°You''re just Katsuragi. How could you ever help me?¡±
¡°I''m a gamer, remember?¡±
I open up my status screen and use an option to make it visible for others. Then I show her my status.
¡°Level 37? In two months?! Even Masahiko-kun was only level 18 a week ago.¡±
¡°You''re just bad at this. I''ll teach and help you, while removing this curse and even afterwards. Methods casual gamers won''t even try. This might not be a game, but at least the strategies work.¡±
But her level is 5. She is weak. I''m still stronger than her, even with the reduction of my attributes due to the curse.
I have a problem she could take advantage of. And the nice class president is only a facade, I''m sure of it.
And yes, an evil grin begin to spread on her face. On mine as well.
This is the beginning of an exploitative partnership.
Volume 01 - Chapter 1-2
As a hero Momokawa had an allowance, she also did some part-time work at the church. She saved about 23,000 Newgold this way.
Combined with my little over 280,000 Newgold we have enough for the so-called ¡®donation¡¯.
Since Momokawa is using her life expenses in our joint project, she''s adamant about being in charge. I submitted myself to it. As long she thinks she is in charge, I can do the actual work.
Momokawa has three things I need for the pilgrimage: Money, restoration magic and, after some training, the means to protect me.
I can''t recover HP, SP or MP anymore, but I still can be healed.
Consumable items like potions work, too, but I don''t have enough left for my usual tactics and without any skills, soloing everything is out of the question.
After visiting the church and ''donating'' the money, both of us were infused with divine power.
The priests know Momokawa because of her part-time work. Actually, her [Abilities] are relatively high-ranked, but sadly the level determines the base strength. So she has practice without much power behind.
The ritual was cast and the journey began.
We are traveling on the west road. And I talk about tactics.
¡°The basics are easy. I''ll pull the enemies and weaken them and afterwards you kill them. Since XP goes to the one who killed the enemy, you gain everything without much worry. Afterwards you heal me and we repeat.¡±
¡°That''s... underwhelming.¡±
¡°You need some levels, first. All your classes are weak in combat. Even though you gained a lot of AP, your level isn''t high enough to act on your own.¡±
In fact, Momokawa has some abilities and skills, but only basics. Looks like the number of skills also depends on level, so even though her [Divine Magic] has some ranks, she still has no offensive spells.
Do [Priests] have offensive spells in the first place? Don''t know, don''t care.
[Cook] might have the [Knife]-skill, but it¡¯s not even unlocked yet and it¡¯s still a weak class, of course, she wouldn¡¯t use it for hunting, as soft as she is. So she stuck to [Priest], to be able to heal herself at least, I guess.
Kinda smart generally, but bad for building up your basics.
Of course, Momokawa isn''t pleased with my strategic proposal. Most likely, because it''s so simple. ¡°We could have done that much alone.¡±
¡°But you didn''t, right?¡±
Inoue and his friends didn''t either realize this easy trick or didn''t care. Or they didn''t want to use it, so they could grub all the XP for themselves. Since I can''t gain XP at the moment, I don¡¯t care about the distribution at all.
Momokawa clearly wants to refute what I just said, but in the end, she just rolls her eyes.
So I just go on. ¡°We try it on the next mob.¡±
We don''t have horses to travel or a carriage. Only our feet. As long as we don''t dawdle, we should only need a week for the whole journey. And we''ll take on every enemy we meet.
The first ones are wolfhoppers. Hairy insects with canine mouths, about as tall as a wolf. There are some game-like things in this world. But there are an overwhelming amount of differences as well.
Like, you can''t simply pull a single mob at a time, you have to take on the whole group usually. Two wolfhoppers at the same time and I''m only a [Student].
But wolfhoppers are weak and stupid. I hunted them for their pelt two months ago with Meldorn and the hunters. They''ll simply attack the one who makes the most noise and ignore the rest. So I yell and ready myself.
Wolfhoppers jump only directly at their target, having a spear makes it much easier to damage them. But I won''t kill them, for Momokawa.
I hold my spear in front of my and let the first wolfhopper jump right into it. And get pushed back in the process. The wolfhopper have a large cut on its face, but I forgot something... I''m still a [Student] with a [Strength] debuff.
So even if I try to, I can''t kill them outright.
I lost some HP, scratches. And some SP, taking a blow is exhausting. Have to be quick.
The other wolfhopper jumps at me and this time I just use all my weight to unleash a thrust. Yes, full strength is the way to go!
I aim right under the jaws and the spearhead pierces its throat.
¡°Momokawa, this one is about to die.¡±
While she would kill that one off, I''ll handle the other. In the end the task is easy, but not recovering SP myself is scary. Even if I wait and see, I won''t regain my strength.
Combat is over, and Momokawa is wiping her forehead with her sleeve. ¡°That was easy.¡±
Easy to say, if you only deal the final blow!
Momokawa cast a spell to replenish my SP. Considering I only have scratches, she refrains from healing my HP before we rest.
Well, let''s go to the teaching department. ¡°It was easy, because I know wolfhoppers. When hunting mobs, you should learn their movements first. If you get the pattern down, you can deal more easily with them.¡± I guess up to four wolfhoppers won''t be problematic at this point. I do have a bunch of HP, at least. ¡°Which mobs do you know, Momokawa?¡±
¡°Well... wolfhoppers, stirges and violet snakes.¡±
¡°Those are only the few kinds around here... You''ll have to know about rockingers, glass-spiders and magslugs, too.¡±
Rockingers are turtle-like monsters with a rock shell, glass-spiders are hard to perceive spiders, which hunts at night, and magslugs are giant slugs, which live in the volcanic regions.
The closer you are to a town, the less dangerous mobs becomes. At the capital are the easiest ones, because soldiers take care of monsters, which are too dangerous. The ones left are more like animals and not that lethal.
Normally every wagon heading to the capital, loading crops to people, is guarded well enough to deal with the remaining mobs.
Wolfhoppers are the most dangerous mobs around here and will leave if you manage to stay quiet for some time. So no real threat.
But there is one thing, which is really bad.
Traveling.
This is not a game. At home, I would complain about load screens, but actual travel from one place to another consumes a lot more time. Normally it isn''t too bad, you just switch off your brain and walk.
But somehow it''s more difficult if you''re traveling with another person.
At the beginning, I taught Momokawa about the coming dangers and how to deal with them. Then we talked about our skills and how they work, to enhance the teamwork.
Afterwards... nothing.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
No topics, no interest, but all this silence despite being next to someone is irritating. When I traveled with the hunters, we would always be quiet during the trip, but that was professional. Now it''s awkward.
Maybe because Momokawa and I would never do something as a team, under normal circumstances.
After two hours of traveling, we make the first break and I''m already mentally exhausted. We ran into some more wolfhoppers on the way and I was thankful for every encounter since this awkward silence would be interrupted.
¡°Phew, how is your level doing?¡±
¡°Still 5.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
Awkward.
¡°What about yours?¡±
¡°Still 37. No level up in sight.¡±
Double awkward.
Put two people together and if they''re not compatible, this happens. But in fact, there is something I like to know.
¡°After I left, what happened exactly with you and our classmates?¡±
¡°Now you''re showing interest... Well, I can tell you.¡± She suddenly acts like she''s important and grants me a big-time favor, but whatever. ¡°The first ones got homesick and didn''t want to do anything. But we talked to them, we tried to motivate them, even though I''m sick of being in this world, too.¡±
¡°Homesick...¡± I want to go home, but somehow homesickness don''t show up in a way, that would be severe. It''s more like missing home, instead of being sick.
¡°Then the ones who didn''t join the combat-group left for a research facility, so they could use their knowledge of home to get by and win the war without the need for us to fight.¡±
¡°Yes, a war we know nothing about.¡± In fact, I didn''t meet a demon so far and around the capital, you don''t feel anything war-like. The borders, on the other hand, are said to be hell.
¡°How much choice do we have? Masahiko-kun tried his best to keep everyone motivated and then he mentioned the words of the voice, who transported us all here.¡±
I remember those words. The reward of a perfect wish.
¡°And somehow instead of being homesick, everyone got strange.¡±
¡°Strange? How?¡±
¡°Don''t know.¡±
Let''s think about it. I didn''t get homesick, but I guess I''m broken in a way. The obsession of ''mastering'' this not-game might have to do something about it. Strangely, it''s too easy, now that I think about it.
¡°Maybe something other happened, when the gods granted us power?¡±
This thought haunted me since the first day, even if I couldn''t put my finger on it back then. If they can grant us powers, why wouldn''t they alter other things? Why are we adapting so fast? Are the inhabitants of this world even speaking Japanese or did someone planted something inside us which gave us knowledge of this language into our heads?
Why us? If they''re able to transport a bunch of high-school students to this world, wouldn''t they be able to...
Maybe there is a good explanation. Or maybe everything is a fraud.
¡°Here he goes again.¡± Momokawa sighs.
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°You don''t know?¡±
¡°Why are you looking at me like I''m trash?¡±
I hate that look!
¡°I''m not... Forget it.¡±
¡°Hey!¡± I feel a burning in my stomach and anger is welling up.
¡°We have to break that curse, right? You will teach me, I''ll accompany you on this stupid pilgrimage, and afterwards, we will have nothing to do with each other! So forget it.¡±
She seems to regret to team up with me, but she''s right. We don''t need to like each other or share our thoughts.
It''s better that way. We both just want to take advantage of each other.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Momokawa and I continued our pilgrimage and here and there we found a shrine on the way. We stopped at those and I began to pray, normally something like this.
< I want you to release my curse, you shitty gods! >
I''m not pleased! But every time I made a proper prayer after my truthful one, just in case.
After three days of pilgrimage, Momokawa gained three levels. Even if we just traveled, this form of approved Kill Stealing, sometimes called ''the bus'', proved to be pretty effective.
The teamwork less.
¡°I told you, you have to get the attention of the rockingers, so I can flip them over!¡±
¡°And I told you, that I won''t risk being hit by accident! You are the one who told me, they could probably kill me in two hits!¡±
¡°I won''t let them hit you, so you don''t have to worry!¡±
¡°Oh, and what if you are too slow? Or just mean and want to get revenge for something stupid?¡±
¡°As if!¡±
We reached the Vulkan-mountain range, which had some volcanoes within it. But the monsters here are too strong for Momokawa, so she needs to stay as far back as possible.
Sadly, if I try to take on a rockinger alone, it wastes a lot of time.
Rockingers are large turtle-creatures with rock-shells. They can spin around to make a slam attack. Just like in a game or anime. The easiest way to make them helpless is to flip them upside down.
But as long as they''re aware of you, they try to avoid that sorry fate. So someone has to get their attention, while another try to flip them.
The actual danger lies in flipping them because they can hit you if you get the timing wrong.
So it''s only logical to let Momokawa pull them, so I can flip them and then she deals the killing blow to the helpless rockinger.
Why can''t she understand this?!
Well, this is not the first fight we had. At the Vulkan-mountains, it''s much hotter and the enemies are tougher as well. So every provocation lets us blow off some steam. But at least it''s easier to initiate a conversation this way.
¡°OK, OK. Let me think about another strategy.¡±
I could try to flip them over if they use their spinning-dash against me. But if that doesn''t work, it will hurt like hell. Even though we have HP, it''s still painful to get hurt. Scratches and such can be ignored for a while and there are magic and potions, which let us regain HP and makes the pain disappear.
But pain still hurts!
¡°Guess, there is no other choice. Momokawa, be prepared to heal a lot of HP.¡±
After meeting another group of rockingers, I learned that two of them would deplete half of my HP since it''s hard to get the timing right if I¡¯m on my own. Even though I clearly out-level them, the curse and the [Student]-class are that much of a handicap.
I don''t want to use my spear as a lever to flip them since it might break. But doing it bare handed is painfully difficult.
¡°Ah, I have a level up.¡± At least that tyrannic class president is pleased. A level 9 [Tyrant], huh?
But there are also some upsides.
Since Momokawa cooks at camp, my meals were much better the last few days. Even though there is no rice, it still beats the meat I used to grill over a fire and the herbs, I collected.
Since Momokawa is a [Healer], she can brew some potions and poultices, so we have some resources in emergencies.
She never trained her [Healer] class, since she thought it''s a waste, but creating your own consumables can be a powerful tool. Even though she need some more skills to make real useful ones.
Another benefit of hers is magical healing, of course.
Normally, I would take my time to study my enemies and attack, if I''m sure to get the least damage possible. Now I can take risks and be healed afterwards. Too bad that I don''t get any XP since it would make grinding more effective.
And the moment the curse is lifted, there is no reason to slow me down by helping Momokawa leveling up. So this method will never work.
Momokawa should be glad, that I take my time to explain her some tricks. Most of the ones I taught so far were strategies I learned from Meldorn, while others are from games.
Like how to decide, which farming grounds are the best, time and risk-wise. How to raise money.
But I left some out.
Like pulling, since enemies always attack in groups. Or concentrated fire, since it doesn''t work that effective in real life. HP aren''t like in a game. HP are a numerical value of the current health, nothing more and nothing less. The wounds are still real. If you lose 10 HP, you might have a lot of little scratches or a flesh wound.
While a flesh wound is hurting, multiple scratches will bleed you out faster. That''s the reason, why concentrated fire doesn''t work: You can''t avoid harsh wounds if you don''t keep every enemy busy.
There is the [Vitality]-attribute, which lessens the impact and the resulting wounds of attacks. So a sword-cut, which might be deadly, may leave a flesh-wound instead. As long no vital area is hit.
Hits to the head seem to hurt as much as ever and you might lose conscious for some time. [Vitality] is more like additional armor, it protects, but doesn''t make getting hit safe.
It''s all incomprehensive. Why are some things game-like, while others are realistic? It''s confusing!
Nonetheless, our team-up works somehow. We keep it at a professional level and bear with each other.
¡°Katsuragi, how long are we supposed to climb this path?¡±
¡°About a day, still. Then we arrive at the shrine of Hei?quellen and afterwards it''s back to Esse.¡±
¡°Great...¡±
Mutual displeasure is our constant companion. Like a third party member.
Evening. We build up a camp and look over the things we collected the mob loot.
¡°Rockinger shells are pretty cheap, but if you sell them in the southern regions, the price will rise... Remember, tomorrow we might encounter magslugs: Don''t touch them directly, they''re poisonous. Their eye stalks are valuable, we have to collect them. Do you have any bags in your inventory?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Here, take one.¡±
¡°How much?¡±
¡°A rockinger shell.¡±
¡°Here you go.¡±
We divide the loot 50/50, but since Momokawa isn''t used travelling far from the capital, sometimes I sell her some of my items.
Vice versa she charges me for her cuisine.
Everything which isn''t part of our contract is charged. A pragmatic relationship.
¡°I''ll take the first watch.¡±
Normally, I would just go to sleep, since my [Dormurnal]-skill makes me as aware of sounds as when I''m awake, but my skills are sealed along with my classes.
Half of every day is camping since both of us need hours of sleep and mobs are around, we can''t let down our guard completely.
Back home, I would spend the evening playing games and maybe study a bit, if I''m waiting for events or parties. Now I look at my status, rearrange [Inventory], while planning further steps.
Momokawa brought some books, but I can''t read this world''s letters. She''s willing to teach me for monetary compensation, but since my [Fast Learner] was sealed, it would take weeks alone to learn the alphabet.
[Fast Learner] allows you to remember and learn information without repetitions.
Since I''m usually in the [Scout]-class, I don''t use it that much. The [Scout] doesn''t have the [Academics]-ability, so I can''t gain AP in it as well.
Even though my [Attributes] are still much higher than before, I feel like an actual student again. A student with no means to survive on his own and this time without hope to get over this phase.
But tomorrow we should get to the Hei?quellen and then everything will be fine.
Another night without enemies, after some hours I switch night watch with Momokawa and take some pelts from my [Inventory] as a mattress, additionally to my blanket and pillow.
I had problems at sleeping on the ground first and Momokawa still has. But at least in these mountains, the ground was warm, so it won''t be cold.
Volume 01 - Chapter 2-1 – The Chasm
Chapter 2 ¨C The Chasm
Next day, Momokawa and I arrive at the shrine of Hei?quellen.
We¡¯re standing in front of something like a gateway, which is the only way to get pass the shrine¡¯s walls. There are few buildings inside these walls.
But something is strange about it, it''s a gut feeling. And the fact, that the shrine looks abandoned. I can¡¯t see or hear any activity, plus there was no one at the somewhat gatehouse.
Even Momokawa is suspicious. ¡°Are you sure, that this is the right one?¡±
¡°You heard the directions? Then, this has to be the place.¡±
¡°Seems... scorched.¡± She''s right, these marks look and smell like that.
¡°Maybe it burned down? We only need the hot spring water, it doesn''t matter much.¡±
¡°But this is a shrine, too. You have to pray here.¡±
Again she¡¯s right and I don¡¯t like it. ¡°Well... let''s get inside. And keep your weapon ready.¡±
Since using a spear in a building won''t be easy, I put it in the backpack and draw my steel knife. Momokawa is using a dagger as a weapon. Fast and short weapons, perfect for buildings.
There were three buildings here. Most likely quarters, praying hall and a building for the hot spring itself. The one ahead should be the praying hall, so I take a peek.
¡°Bad news.¡±, I whisper back to Momokawa.
¡°What?¡±
¡°Lizardmen. Or something like that.¡±
¡°We''ll retreat.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
Momokawa gives the call and I agree. We don''t know if the lizardmen are hostile, but no risks here.
We can wait some days if needed. We have that timeframe.
One of the first things I taught her was not to attack an unknown enemy. And there are at least seven of them inside the praying hall.
...Plus four more who just spotted us while coming from another building. They tilt their heads, wondering what they just found, but there is only a fraction of hesitation before they draw near.
¡°Run!¡±
With that command, Momokawa and I run as fast as we could. We might still outrun them!
Suddenly, a fire blast appears right in front of us. The heat is intense and I can practically see my HP and SP drop before my eyes.
The blast is bright and dazzling. I cover my eyes and try to think about the next step. The exit should be right in front of us, the-
¡°We surrender!¡±
Momokawa speaks loudly.
¡°What?!¡±
¡°We don''t have a choice and I''m in command!¡±
¡°Argh...¡±
Anger wells up. This is humiliating! Especially, since she''s right. I can''t see much, they seem to have magic-users and I''m weakened. Also, Momokawa is weak in the first place.
More of the lizardmen are coming from the praying hall. Our situation is pretty bad.
I hate it.
I hate it, I hate it, hate it, hate-it, hate-it-hate-it-hate-it-hate-it-hate-it-hate-it-hate-it-hate-it-hate-it!
This is frustrating.
I... I lost!
I don''t lose!
Running away is winning! But I can''t guarantee a safe escape, someone is able to cast fire-spells!
Defeating your enemies is also winning! But this is risky.
Surrendering is losing...
¡°I will not!¡±
Be it stupidity or something else, but I don''t want to admit defeat.
¡°Idiot!¡±
Without caring about Momokawa, I swing my knife at the barely detectable shapes of the Lizardmen, my eyes are still dazzled, and feel some scales, skin and flesh cutting apart. Take that!
Then I get a blow to the stomach. And another one. Something trips me and after some additional hits, my whole body is covered in pain.
Everything turns black. Ah. So this is how it feels to pass out¡
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Idiot.¡±
¡°Sorry.¡±
I lost my cool back then. I want to load my save file! I know I can''t, this is real life!
Momokawa and I are in a shed. There are no ropes or shackles, but the shed is locked. No illumination. Momokawa tells me, the lizardmen will decide our fate later. They took our equipment, including backpacks, belt pouches, weapons and armor, just our clothes are left.
¡°But maybe it doesn''t matter. We might be killed either way.¡±
I''m negative again.
¡°Maybe. Or you just killed us.¡±
¡°Ugh...¡±
That hurts. Also, she''s totally right. I hate it.
If I have to guess the strength of the enemy... ¡°We have to presume, that a Lizardman is stronger than you and about as strong as me right now.¡±
Since I don''t recover HP or SP, I could simply check my status to guess their power level. I seriously hurt one with the knife and they needed some blows to knock me out.
In my weakened condition, I should still be on a level of a common soldier, at least in terms of raw strength. It¡¯s just a wild guess, but overall these lizardmen are probably along those lines.
But there is another problem: ¡°Additionally, they have magic-users. Fire doesn''t appear out of nowhere.¡±
Momokawa, who actually had something of a conversation with our captors, added: ¡°We can communicate, but they don''t like warmbloods.¡±
¡°What did they say?¡±
¡°Something like: ''The warmbloods are stupid to think, that they can fight us.'' And something about someone who will decide our fate. And some other stuff, that doesn''t make sense.¡±
Of course, she didn''t select her [Student]-class back then. So no [Fast Learner], huh? But is it that hard to remember some details on your own!? Our lives might depend on it!
¡°Phew...¡± No reason to count on her in the first place. ¡°We might escape from the shed.¡±
¡°And you think it''s not guarded?¡±
¡°... You''re right.¡±
¡°I''m right again.¡±
Women really love to be right.
¡°There has to be a way. I''m looking for a secret door.¡±
¡°Game-knowledge?¡±
Momokawa is full of despise.
¡°The only thing I have in mind right now.¡±
¡°I shouldn''t have agreed to come with you.¡±
¡°Well, level-5-san, I nearly doubled your level in just four days. And how long did you need to reach level 5? Two months.¡±
¡°But at least I wasn''t part of the menu!¡±
¡°Sometimes risks are needed. This simply didn''t pay off this time. It''s not my fault.¡±
¡°Oh, it is! You''re the one, who got me into this mess! Actually, it''s all your fault.¡±
¡°And I try to get us out of here, so shut up and think about a plan, class rep!¡±
¡°Now you''re calling me class rep? This is the first time, you ever called me that!¡±
¡°For I don''t care!¡±
¡°You stupid...¡±
She slaps me. I was about to do the same, but in the end, she''s still a girl.
¡°Bitch!¡±
¡°Nerd!¡±
¡°Fake!¡±
¡°Loser!¡±
¡°Whore!¡±
¡°What did you say?!¡±
¡°I see through your facade! You''re just an easy girl, who will use her looks to make people do what she wants them to!¡±
¡°You...¡±
¡°You act nice, but you''re just after getting records! A perfect fake!¡±
¡°I...¡±
¡°And do you know, why your friends dumped you? Because they''re all the same, all are egotistical jerks, who only act nice to get what they want, while looking down on everyone else!¡±
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°...¡±
Momokawa''s eyes are full of hate. I hit a nerve.
But there are tears as well.
Damn it!
Now I''m feeling almost guilty. Crying is unfair!
¡°And what about you?!¡± Her screams are shrill. ¡°You hate other people. If someone is nice to you, you assume that he wants to exploit you! Every time something doesn''t go your way, you''re throwing tantrums and destroys everything!¡± What did she say!? And it doesn''t stop there! ¡°You''re the one, looking down on others! You ignore people because you''re thinking, that they''re not worth your time. You disdain everyone who doesn''t agree with you and you''re the worst person I''ve ever met!¡±
My blood is boiling. She definitely didn''t hit a nerve, because what she says is not true! She''s just a bitch, which doesn''t know what she''s talking about!
¡°Let me go!¡±
I realize, that I grabbed her wrist. My head is burning and I was about to do something, even though I don''t know what.
But- ¡°Eskuse us. Bud we chall bring you to Muaotef.¡±
Two lizardmen are standing awkwardly at the now open doorstep. When did they open the door?
¡°Zis be mating ritual?¡±
And now my face was burning for a different reason. I let go of Momokawa and look down to earth.
¡°Bring us there.¡±
Momokawa, on the other hand, regains her cool, but every look she gives me hurts.
We arrive at the praying hall, where the leader is waiting for us. A normal lizardman is about 1,9 meters (6''3) tall, this one was much larger, about 2,3 meters (7''7).
¡°Me be Voice of Muaotef. The Great One will noaw talk to you.¡±
The eyes of the lizardman begin to glow in a strong orange light, almost like fire. His voice changes from deep to strange, which seems to resonate with the whole room. This voice is also burning if this makes any sense.
?We''re Muaotef, the Great One, the Flame of the Earth and Bringer of Decay.?
I''m definitely scared. Something about this voice makes me all chilly, despite feeling the fires of hell.
?We see. So you''re the ones. Something is unusual about you, but We know what you are. The so-called heroes. It will be a pleasure to see you dead... But wait... Not only heroes, you bear a great amount of divine power.?
We do what?
Wait, wasn''t the whole thing about the pilgrimage to collect a bunch of divine power on the way? And now it backfires?!
?You will not be killed. Yet. Bring them to Our chasm.?
The tenseness in the air vanishes. The light in the eyes of the large lizardman subsides. Is that... sweat on his scales? He looks like he just ran a marathon.
¡°Muaotef spoke.¡± His voice is back to normal.
It could be only my game-knowledge, but it seems that this lizardman is not Muaotef, only some kind of medium. Might Muaotef be an actual god?
At least this way of talking is familiar, not caring about the recipient at all, a typical villain monologue. And similar to the one, who brought us here, even though the voice was clearly masculine, instead of unisex.
But we are lucky so far.
As long we don''t count getting captured in.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Great. Simply great.
Momokawa and I are bound and led by five lizardmen. We don''t talk, but somehow she manages to burn me with stares of hatred along the whole way. As if everything is my fault.
Maybe it is. Or maybe she''s just bitching around. Most likely just bitching.
So I take the liberty to repay those stares with sneering and other gestures. Somehow I feel guilty for making our guards feeling awkward all the time.
¡°You know, wen wanting mating wiz female, you show you strong!¡±
¡°Beat up someone.¡±
¡°Or lifding a big rock.¡±
¡°Slaying rockinger aloone.¡±
I just wish, our guards would remain quiet. But maybe they think it would be easier to give me advice than enduring the mood between Momokawa and me silently.
The last one is most likely female, and she talks to Momokawa. ¡°Your male stronghearted. Fight against ss''rak even alone, despait the hopelezznezz.¡±
Ha! Even that lizardwoman is on my side! Wait, this is not the point!
But they acknowledged my resistance, even though it was futile.
This is the chance to learn something. ¡°Do we really have to go to this... Muaotef?¡±
¡°Ss''rak do what Great One says.¡±
It seems that the lizardmen are called ss''rak. And they follow someone named Muaotef.
¡°What is Muaotef. Another ss''rak?¡±
Oh, they want to kill me with their eyes!
¡°Muaotef be god! No mortal!¡±
So he really is a god... or maybe just referred as one. In both cases bad news. But I expected it, after seeing him taking over this large liza... ss''rak. The so-called voice of Muaotef.
How do I get us out of here? My SP are quite low, Momokawa didn''t replenish them. I''ll probably collapse if I fight now.
Well, that girl is pissed.
I have to apologize later. To please her, of course. I''m not wrong, but if a cheap apology can increase her mood, it''s nothing to be ashamed of. Especially as I need her spells.
But not now. We''re under observation and the ss''rak are serious about it. Even though they give me advice about mating rituals, which I don''t want to hear at all.
The journey doesn''t last that long, maybe two hours. Now we''re standing above a giant hole in the mountain range, it''s so gigantic, that it looks like the mountains were wounded and a part had to be amputated. The other side of this cleft is far away and since it''s so misshapen, it''s hard to guess its expanse.
It''s windy or more like gusts of hot air flies up from the bottom of that pit.
¡°This is the chasm?¡±
¡°Yes. You be on my back.¡±
I''m bound on the back of one ss''rak and nimbly he climbs down. These cliffs are steep! But this doesn''t seem to be a problem for the ss''rak. They climb fast and surefooted on all fours, which makes me realize, that I couldn''t climb back alone. Not without proper equipment.
After reaching the ground level, I''m released. Completely, no ropes left.
Even though I still don''t have my backpack and other equipment back, only clothes. And the cursed ring on my left ring finger, of course.
The same for Momokawa, just without the ring thing. She rubs her neck as if she''s missing her scarf.
She should be glad to not have it right now, it''s really hot down here, it''s like a hot summer day in the south.
Are volcanoes here? They should exist in this mountain range, so that might be the reason for that unreasonable temperature.
¡°You now down. Ss''rak go back.¡±
¡°Wait... you''re leaving us in that chasm? What if we escape?¡±
¡°All cliffs in chasm be too steep for humans. No escape.¡±
And we are left behind. But let''s stay calm. First, we need to plan out, what to do.
¡°Momokawa, we should... Momokawa?¡±
Without a word, Momokawa walks in a random direction.
¡°Where are you going?¡±
She remains quiet.
¡°Momokawa, we should stay together.¡±
No reaction. Should I already apologize? Seems to be too early. I just have to follow her.
And now she runs. No choice but to start running as well.
The air feels heavy, it''s hard to breathe, the temperature in this chasm is getting me.
This...
Shit, my SP are drained. And I have only few left!
I have to apologize.
¡°Momokawa, I''m sorry.¡± No reaction. ¡°Really.¡± We both know that I''m lying, but at least she can pretend to forgive me! ¡°Momo-¡±
My SP.
The last time I had so little left was at the training with the instructor, back in Esse. I''m panting and coughing, my running speed drops and I get dizzy. If this keeps on, I will die!
¡°Momokawa! Please, forgive me! If you do not...¡±
¡°Like I care!¡±
That''s not the answer I want to hear!
¡°Momokawa...¡±
My legs are softening and I trip. I try to catch myself with my arms, but they are like made out of lead. Ah, I''m finally dead.
¡°I hate it...¡±
Blackness.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
This has to be hell. I regain consciousness, but it''s hot and heavy and I''m sweating like crazy. With these pieces of information, I recognize hell even before opening my eyes.
Only one question remains: ¡°Is this the hell of the fantasy world or the hell of my world?¡±
¡°Neither. This is just a hot chasm.¡±
This is Momokawa''s voice. So she''s here, too.
¡°Ah, of course. If I go to hell, you will, too!¡±
¡°You''re not dead!¡±
I open my eyes and find myself at the point where I blacked out. Momokawa sits on her heels beside me, her elbow on her knees and her head in her hands.
¡°How long?¡±
¡°About an hour.¡±
I check my SP. Momokawa has replenished some.
¡°...It could be more.¡±
¡°Excuse me?¡±
There is a hint of danger in her words.
¡°Thanks?¡±
¡°Good boy. But it''s this place. This has to be almost 40 degrees (Celsius, 104 Fahrenheit). Even I lose SP continually.¡±
So she restored all of them, but the heat drained some over time? No, she restored most likely only something like half.
¡°How are your MP?¡±
¡°I can keep myself alive, as long as I don''t move.¡±
So she regains enough MP to cast the [Stamina]-spell often enough to replenish her own SP, but it won''t work as long as she has me as a dead-weight.
I hate it!
And I have no Mana Potions stored since I don''t have skills that use MP. Wait, I don''t have my backpack right now anyway, so I don''t even have any pots or other means of restoring my HP or SP myself, in the first place.
I''m totally at her mercy! I really hate it!
But why did she save me? ¡°You replenished my SP.¡±
¡°After seeing mobs here.¡±
¡°I see. What kind?¡±
¡°Magslugs and a weird looking bear, which eats them.¡±
So we are back to square one. To survive, we need each other. Even though this time there is no alternative.
She may survive on her own. It''s risky but possible. When she includes me, she will run out of MP and SP at some point. So I have to be sure.
¡°The ss''rak said there is no way out. Are you sure to risk everything to prove them wrong?¡±
Momokawa nods. We both understand. They told us there is no way, but we don''t want to die. So we have to find one.
¡°Let''s take a look at that bear. Change to [Cook], so you can see if it''s edible. We need as much nourishment as possible.¡±
If we can kill the bear and eat it, it might give us enough SP to survive a day or two. But in the end, my curse will kill me, if I don''t get rid of it. My Max SP drops every day, after all.
¡°And we have to study it.¡± Important rule: Study a mob before attacking it.
We approach the bear, which is at the end of some twists and corners, and watch it from afar. The bear has crimson fur and yellow eyes. It is twice as tall as a normal bear and it eats magslugs like these poisonous molluscans are delicious.
¡°Katsuragi, it''s edible.¡±
Momokawa eyes are full of greed and hunger. I guess my own eyes are the same. This might be the first time, both of us are facing death. Of course, there has been always a chance to die, especially when I was out there soloing. But seeing your SP falling and knowing that we have little means to regain those, we are experiencing a death clock.
When it gets to zero, it''s over. A final countdown.
¡°We have to watch it. See how strong it is. And if it''s too strong... it will sleep at one point!¡±
We need this walking food, but we have to kill it fast and without wasting much HP, SP and MP. But sadly, our impatience is leaking out. The bear turns its head to us and lets out a big growl. It stands up on its hind legs and spread its arms.
We don''t have weapons and no attack spells or skills. Retreat is no option, due to the hotness of the chasm, we can''t run as long as we want and need to. Especially Momokawa, as her Max SP are still quite low.
No choice.
¡°Momokawa, be ready.¡±
I step forward and spread my arms as well.
¡°AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!¡±
I yell as loud as I can and put every ounce of spirit into my battle cry. And the bear... flinches.
¡°I SEE!¡±
I laugh. That bear is big. A big coward!
¡°WE''RE HUNGRY!¡±
Maybe it can understand my words. The bear backs off and ran away.
¡°WAIT, FOOD!¡±
I was about to chase it, but Momokawa holds my arm with both hands. She is right, I should not waste SP. Especially, since the bear is running fast.
¡°Phew.¡±
¡°You do it a lot.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°That *phew* sound.¡±
A faint snicker escaped my mouth.
¡°Maybe.¡±
I just feel good right now. Even though we remain hungry and exhausted, but at least I''m relieved that I don''t have to fight a bear barehanded.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Nighttime.
We found some rockingers along the way and even though they didn''t have much meat, we could eat them. This time Momokawa approved of being the decoy. I flipped the rockingers and she dealt the final blow with a heavy rock we found.
I broke some of their bones to get something like weapons. But they weren''t steady, so most likely one or two hits, before they''d break.
We couldn''t start a fire without something to burn, we ate the rockingers raw and even though we could use their bones to remove the guts, it wasn''t too pleasant.
At the end, we got some SP back without magical healing.
I guess, it will take some days before the first one of us dies, as long as we keep hunting rockingers. And of course, it''ll be me, who will die first. Momokawa can concentrate on herself afterward and will be most likely be eaten by a mob within the same day. Precious.
But now we need to sleep. We found a cave, but it''s most likely one which is already known to the dwellers of this chasm. We have no light source, we can''t see anything in this cave. To not lose each other, we hold each other at the shirt.
¡°At least we don''t need blankets.¡±
Even at night, it''s still hot here. Are we maybe on top of a volcano? Additionally, the cliffs we found so far are really too steep to climb. The ss''rak are right!
¡°What about night-watch, Katsuragi?¡±
Normally we should take turns like always, but we don''t have time to waste, so sleeping in shifts might be a bad idea in the long run.
¡°What do you think, Momokawa?¡±
She wants to be in charge, so I let her decide.
¡°I... what do you think?¡±
Cheap!
¡°If we hide well enough, we might not be spotted. Or have at least enough chances to wake up, before they ambush us.¡±
¡°Idiot. We can''t find a good hiding spot if we can''t see.¡±
¡°Right... Then we should at least lean on the wall.¡±
¡°Guess there is no point in staying awake if you can''t see.¡±
¡°Guess so.¡±
¡°Katsuragi? Put your hand on the ground.¡±
¡°Hm?¡±
I do as she tells me.
And I feel something warm, which lays on top.
¡°So I can tell if you run away.¡±
¡°As if I would.¡± She''s the one who keeps me alive. Without her, I would run out of SP soon.
But feeling her hand is relieving. I guess, sometimes it is good to know someone else is there for you. Maybe I begin to feel a bit guilty for bringing her to this place.
Well, rather than that, I feel sorry for myself.
¡°Katsuragi, are you awake?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Are we dying here?¡±
¡°Probably.¡±
¡°You suck at comforting.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
¡°You should say something like: ''Of course not, I''m here to protect you.''¡±.
¡°Would you be pleased, to hear that from me?¡±
¡°No, rather disgusted.¡±
¡°Because it''s so corny?¡±
¡°Because it¡¯s you.¡±
¡°I see. Only your face is pretty.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Your personality is as wicked as mine.¡±
¡°It''s not.¡±
¡°You only are talking sweet to me so I will not leave you behind.¡±
¡°You call that sweet?¡±
¡°It has to be some tactic to manipulate men.¡±
¡°That''s stupid.¡±
¡°I will not fall into your traps, like a thousand guys before.¡±
¡°I don''t do that.¡±
¡°Of course you do. But don''t worry.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°I won''t leave you.¡±
¡°Katsuragi?¡±
¡°Because I need you.¡±
¡°Because of my healing spells.¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°...at least you''re honest. And a terrible person.¡±
¡°And you''re dishonest and a terrible person.¡±
¡°Idiot.¡±
¡°You too.¡±
We are both exhausted, but still arguing each other. Even though the voices are powerless.
¡°Goodnight, Katsuragi.¡±
¡°... Goodnight, Momokawa.¡±
This is the first time, we say ''Goodnight'' to each other.
Volume 01 - Chapter 2-2
Next day.
We weren''t night attacked by any mobs during our sleep, but I feel more exhausted after sleeping than before. Only the drowsiness is gone. There is also the strangeness of waking up beside Momokawa, even though we camped before, we slept apart of each other so far.
Momokawa cast [Stamina] on me, but she looks terrible herself. Her hair''s a mess and her face dirty. Maybe I''m the same.
¡°Where are we going, Katsuragi?¡± Her voice is hoarse, she''s as thirsty as I am.
It seems that Momokawa is sick of being in charge. Even though it doesn''t really matter who give the calls at that point.
¡°I don''t think, that the ss''rak were lying. We won''t be able to climb the cliff by ourselves. So we have to explore the chasm. Maybe there is a tunnel or such they don''t know of.¡±
The whole area is full of rocks and fissures, some large enough for humans to descend. There are several paths and the only way of orienteering was the sun.
¡°We should try to get to the inner area. It''s risky, but we will die here in a few days otherwise.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
Without objection Momokawa consents. That''s unusual.
¡°Why are you so... complying? Didn''t you want to be the leader?¡±
¡°I don''t care anymore. I guess, I don''t really like leading.¡±
¡°Aren''t you the class-president?¡±
¡°There is less leading and more complying.¡±
¡°I don''t understand.¡±
¡°Of course you don''t. Let''s move on.¡±
Something inside of her may be broken. Or it''s just the exhaustion. I really wouldn''t care to follow anyone, who had an idea what to do, but since it''s only the two of us and she''s in that condition...
Strange.
Normally I would think, that Momokawa is just used to let other do the work, while she reaps the benefits. But somehow I do not. At least this time.
Fatigue?
¡°Do you have your stones and bones, Katsuragi?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
Each of us is equipped with 4 bones with splintered ends and some stones for throwing. If we need a larger rock for smashing, there are a lot laying around.
We are as ready as possible.
I lead the way back to the place, I scared off the bear yesterday. I want to try to follow his trail. If there are so many mobs living here, there has to be water somewhere. This is the second priority.
The first would be finding a way out of here.
We are back and the trail of the bear is easy to track in the dirt, even without any skills. I learned a lot from Meldorn. I really have to thank him, if I get back to Esse.
If.
The trail leads further into the rocky area. We encountered some rockingers and magslugs, but magslugs had a weakness: Big rocks. There is no finesse there, but it works. After throwing two or three on one, Momokawa will kill it off with her splintered bone.
It''s exhausting as hell, but since we couldn''t kill them in one shot, I could let Momokawa get those XP.
Even though we don''t really care at this point. But doing this keeps us optimistic. Makes us actually think that we would survive. Comforting.
At midday we finally find something.
¡°A hot spring.¡±
Of course, we drink the water right out of the spring. It is hot, filthy and most delicious.
After quenching the thirst, Momokawa take a look at the spring.
¡°It seems to be deep enough to bath.¡±
As Japanese it seems to be appropriate to take a dip into the spring, but I''m hesitating.
¡°We don''t have time for this.¡±
¡°But check your SP.¡±
I take a look at my status screen... and all my SP are back! Except those MaxSP I lost due the curse over the days.
¡°I don''t know why, but this spring is revitalizing. As long as we have this, we can survive indefinitely.¡±
¡°Except food and the fact, that the curse will kill me in some weeks.¡±
¡°But we do have those weeks now!¡±
She has a point.
¡°And what have bathing to do with this?¡±
¡°Because I want to.¡±
¡°Alright, alright.¡±
I give up. At least I can rinse my sweat and take a short dip.
Momokawa glances at me.
¡°...Go away.¡±
¡°Why? If you take a bath, I want to take one too then.¡±
¡°You want to bath with me?¡±
Her eyes are condemning.
¡°Why are you complaining about this.¡±
¡°You... you''re a boy!¡±
¡°Of course I am. What do you... Oh.¡±
¡°You forgot?¡±
¡°Erm...¡±
¡°You forgot, that I''m a girl?!¡±
¡°...No.¡±
¡°You''re lying.¡±
She''s right. Since it wasn''t important, I didn''t really think of Momokawa as a girl before. There were some points where it was obvious, like the scene when she was crying, but her sex didn''t had much on an impact so far.
I like to take a piss without someone looking at me and grant the same favor to other boys, so bathroom breaks in the past days weren''t that impactful.
Also, I don''t like to be seen when changing and of course would leave, if another boy wants to change. Since I don''t interact with others much, it''s just natural.
But now, when I''m mentally exhausted and can''t stop worrying, I wouldn''t care anymore, if a boy watches me changing or taking a bathroom break. And I wouldn''t care about their privacy either.
But Momokawa is a girl. And there is a line, between boys and girls.
¡°You got twenty minutes, I will patrol around here. Scream if something is up.¡±
¡°No, you will just go behind that boulder and wait.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because I say so!¡±
And now she''s bitching around again. I guess with her SP, she got her spirit back, too.
But in the end, I comply. I sit down behind a huge boulder and lean back. The noises of the bathing Momokawa are... stimulating. Especially if I swap her face with one of my favorite female game-characters in my mind.
¡°You''re there, Katsuragi?¡±
¡°I am.¡±
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
¡°Any signs of mobs?¡±
¡°None, can''t search for them, if I don''t take a look around.¡±
¡°Don''t move. Just wait.¡±
This sucks.
And I couldn''t even relieve myself. She''s just doing it to force me into submission. I''m sure of it. The moment I peek, I lose. I have to endure it.
After about 20 minutes of mental and physical torture.
¡°Katsuragi, you can go in.¡±
¡°Finally.¡±
I take a peek behind the boulder, Momokawa have already her clothes on. The clothes are damp and emphasizing her body lines, her wet hair made her look especially sensual.
Too much stimulus. I keep hiding behind the boulder.
¡°Now you have to give me privacy.¡±
¡°I don''t want to.¡±
¡°How am I supposed to take a bath, then?¡±
¡°I could turn around?¡±
This is so unfair!
¡°Keep watch, please.¡±
¡°I will just go behind the boulder now. Fair dos.¡±
Shit, if she sees me now, she will know, that her plan to manipulate me using sexual charms have almost succeeded. I have to time it right, so she won''t see the uprising god. If she walks around the boulder, I will walk around the other side and she will never catch a glimpse.
Not yet. Not yet... Go!
With a swift movement, I walk pass her, undress quickly and dip into the hot spring.
¡°Did you want to get into the hot spring that much, Katsuragi?¡±
¡°...¡±
Now I feel like a fool. But at least it''s comfortable inside the spring.
I take my glasses off, since they are fogged. Only the [Scout]-class have heightened senses, normally I need those glasses, since I''m nearsighted. For battle I can take them off, so it won''t hurt much, if I switch from [Scout] to [Pikeman]-class, but right now there is no reason to not wear them.
Without glasses, without clothes, and without worries for the moment, I enjoy my first bath in a while.
I begin to sink in and blowing bubbles underwater.
¡°Katsuragi, are you drinking my bathwater?¡± Her voice is full of disgust.
¡°*Prrrrr...* *Cough, cough*¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°This hot spring seems to be part of an underground river.¡±
It¡¯s hard to see in the water, but after some swimming, I can tell that much.
¡°Does it help?¡±
¡°Probably not.¡±
Even though it may lead to an underground river, the tunnel might be too small for a human to swim through and I might suffocate whilst down there.
¡°But maybe it''s an actual part of the Hei?quellen? Because water that recovers all SP sounds pretty holy to me.¡±
¡°We can''t transport it.¡±
¡°Right.¡±
We have no spare waterskin, nor bottle, nor any other type of container. We could hunt a rockinger and use its shell, but that would be too cumbersome.
Survival comes first and for survival, mobility is the key.
¡°Well, let''s take a look... around.¡±
¡°What''s wrong, Katsura-¡±
While we were inspecting the spring, we had totally dropped our guard. Having just had a bath, we were too relaxed and didn''t notice that ostrich-like birds with long, curved beaks were in the middle of surrounding us.
They have a camouflage pattern in reddish-brown and gray on their feathers, so they fit well in this rocky area. There are at least thirty of them.
¡°¡°Retreat.¡±¡±
Without any prior arrangement, both of us are running towards the only spot that the birds haven¡¯t covered yet.
They begin to chirp loudly the moment we passed them and we hear more chirping coming from in front of us as a response.
This is like a pack of hunting wolves!
¡°Quick! To the right!¡±
We enter a trench that was there, and hear a strange galloping sound from behind us. Like ostriches, these mobs are running birds!
Dammit!
There has to be a way out of this situation. There¡¯s more chirping from in front of us. Have they cut us off? How many of them are around here?
The trench is branching! Left or right? Where is the chirping coming from?
We have to decide quickly. But Momokawa is already exhausted. Even though she has still her natural SP-regeneration, my max should be still quite higher and both of us started at full SP. So, of course, she will be the one who will hit the wall first.
But I need her to regain my spent SP later! Shitty curse!
¡°Sorry.¡±
I reach out and grab her hand to pull her along with me as I run down the path on the right. She doesn''t resist. We have no choice but to be as fast as possible.
But hope is fickle. Because after a minute of dashing we arrive at a cliff. Inside this trench is a cliff leading to an underground cave!
We don''t have light sources and no valid alternative. We could try to climb up the trench, but this just seems to be impossible.
But looking back... We don''t know how many ostrich-like birds there are but based on their chirping, there are a lot of them. We don''t even know how strong they are, but their numbers alone will be more than enough to crush us in battle in our current state.
Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. Except underground that is. By climbing down a cliff.
Precious!
¡°Momokawa, we have to climb down.¡±
She looks into my eyes and nods. She already knows what little chance we have. As long as the strange birds don''t follow us down there we might still survive.
Both of us run towards the cliff, but the birds have already caught up. About a hundred I would have to guess.
As the first ones push forward, I use my splintered bone to attack one of them. It is wounded, but the bone breaks in the process.
I draw the next bone weapon.
These birds aren''t hard enemies by themselves, I guess. I kick one of them and it¡¯s flying some distance.
But there are too many, and that¡¯s the problem.
Momokawa and I fight side-by-side, but sadly, our teamwork still needs improvement. The most we can manage is a tag team where Momokawa helps me out while I regain my stance after a struggle and ready myself to take over again.
She isn¡¯t used to fighting. And we¡¯re pushed back. Ten birds later, we have been driven to the edge of the cliff.
¡°Momokawa, look for a ledge down there. I¡¯ll hold them off.¡±
The last line of defense. Me versus around twenty angry birds, not to mention that the enemy reinforcements are still waiting right behind them. I feel like an action hero, only less heroic but more of an urge to piss my pants.
I''m already wounded in several places and I¡¯m bleeding. Maybe five more seconds before I''m overwhelmed by them.
¡°There is one, Katsuragi.¡±
I look to the place Momokawa is pointing to.
¡°Let''s jump.¡±
She nods. We take each other''s free, left hands and jump together.
The ledge is small. However, I land on it.
Momokawa doesn¡¯t.
I feel the pull of of another body, so I drop the bone in my right hand and push myself against this weight. No falling here!
¡°Katsuragi!¡±
Momokawa is panicking. I could see her clearly, how she is hanging on my arm, while under her dangling feet are several meters of free-falling. Seeing the bottom makes it really scary!
¡°Please, don''t let go!¡±
¡°I won''t!¡±
¡°Don''t let go. Please!¡±
¡°I won''t!¡±
She doesn''t hear me. She¡¯s not even looking at me but rather at the abyss under her feet.
¡°Please! Don''t let me go, don''t leave me behind!¡±
¡°MOMOKAWA!!!¡±
After yelling her name, she finally reacts.
¡°Look at me, Momokawa!¡±
She lifts her head to look up to me instead of down to her doom.
¡°I won''t let you go. I won''t leave you behind. I need you.¡± < To heal me and keep me alive. >
¡°I need you, too, Katsuragi!¡± < To pull me up the ledge. >
¡°We will do all what comes, together!¡± < Until my curse is lifted. >
¡°Nothing shall separate us!¡± < Until we''re back in town safely. >
¡°You and I, we will conquer all what comes!¡± < So we can survive. >
¡°And we will defy death itself!¡± < Who likes dying? >
While we encourage each other, our looks reveal our real intentions. But something is strange. My left hand, which is holding Momokawa, begins to glow. Or more precise, the cursed ring.
The following message pops up.
Curse temporary lifted.
Without hesitation, I change my class to [Pikeman]. My arms begin to grow thicker and stronger and I easily lift Momokawa up onto the ledge. It''s a small ledge and above there are a bunch of angry birds...
And now the angry birds jump down and try to attack us!
¡°Wait a minute,¡± I declare.
Momokawa''s mouth is gaping open, while she looks at me. I pick up the splintered bone I dropped earlier and even though it was more like a bad parody of a spear, I seem to be able to use [Spear]-skills with it.
¡°Duck!¡±
Momokawa takes cover, as I lift the bone to unleash a [Spear]-skill.
¡°[Whirlwind]!¡±
[Whirlwind] is a sweeping blow, a melee AoE.
It''s weak but it pushes enemies back. The birds are flying away from the ledge and before the next one could try, I climb up the cliff. With an athletic body like this, it''s not a problem.
Ah, they¡¯re waiting. Fine with me.
Let¡¯s begin the slaughter.
It took ten minutes before the angry birds finally understood that they would be wiped out by me. I may have broken my bone weapon earlier, but my level 37 body was more than enough to take care of those feather dusters.
They attacked me relentlessly but despite that, they could only give me scratches. As for me, a single strike was enough to break their avian bones. This is too unbalanced.
Before they could retreat, I had killed around half of them.
¡°Phew. That was close.¡± I take a look over the cliff and see an open-eyed Momokawa on the ledge. ¡°Momokawa, are you alright?¡±
¡°Katsuragi, is that you?¡± I guess my buffed self in the [Pikeman]-class gives off a different vibe than usual.
¡°Of course. I''m coming down.¡±
Even though the ledge is small, there is no need for Momokawa to climb up yet.
¡°What happened?¡±
¡°No idea, but I got a message saying that the curse was temporarily lifted, so I did a [Class Change].¡±
I open my status window and... I''m getting SP back! Slowly and I lose them again due to the hot climate here, but I¡¯ve got my normal regeneration rate back!
And my Max SP is back to normal! Even though it may be only temporarily, it''s still wonderful.
Welcome back, [Attributes], [Abilities], [Skills], HP, SP, MP and WP.
Wait, WP?
¡°Katsuragi!¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Look.¡±
Momokawa shows me her hand.
¡°What about it.¡±
¡°A ring.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
Momokawa was in fact wearing a copper ring . Did she take over the curse, instead?
I look at my left hand and the cursed ring is still there. Momokawa''s ring is similar, but the design is a bit different.
Mine has a male lion. Hers, a lioness. Are they a matching pair?
¡°Katsuragi... don''t they look like wedding rings?¡±
¡°Come on, that''s stupid.¡±
But as I say that, something new pops up.
Congratulations! You have just wed Momokawa Kyou.
As long as your married life is fulfilling, the curse will remain dormant. Additionally, you will be granted various bonuses as wedding gifts!
The more you deepen the relationship, the more WP (Wedding Points) you¡¯ll acquire and more bonuses as well. Check out your new status window, which contains a WP-bar, a list of actions which will increase your WP and a menu to buy bonuses with your WP.
You lucky bastard!
¡
In games, the characters would usually react in an over the top way to this. Like crying out with a ''Hueeeeh!?''-sound or something like that. That or they would lose it, constantly asking questions like ''why, how, what''.
I, on the other hand, am too shocked to react in such a way.
¡°Katsuragi... I have some strange pop up in my status screen¡ Katsuragi?¡±
¡°... Give me a minute.¡±
¡°I see, Then give me two.¡±
Under normal circumstances, we should be relieved to be alive after being chased by a horde of strange and aggressive birds. But instead, we''ve been dumbstrucked by the surprise and shock.
¡°Katsuragi? My level increased.¡±
¡°Did it?¡±
¡°Yes, I got two more levels.¡±
¡°Since yesterday?¡±
¡°Since bathing.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
The interesting thing is that, it doesn''t surprise me. Because nothing will surprise me for a while.
Character-design Momokawa Kyou
Volume 01 - Chapter 2-3
I, Katsuragi Kenta, and Momokawa Kyou were married unintentionally, but neither of us know how. Only that that the cursed ring is at fault, and Momokawa can''t remove her ring either.
So now she blames me and wants a divorce.
¡°At least until we''re out of here. My curse will be lifted for as long it continues.¡±
And there are already some other bonuses to it.
For one, we can check out each other statuses like they¡¯re our own, which will come in handy. So Momokawa doesn''t need to ask me how hurt I am and I can get an idea how to best manage our healing.
Additionally, as long as we stand next to each other, we get some small [Attribute]-bonuses, which will also help Momokawa primarily.
And quite obviously, we get shared XP.
Yes, we actually have a party system now.
Whenever I kill something, Momokawa will gain some XP for it. That''s the reason why she leveled up after I defeated those birds, I don''t know the ratio yet, but it might be 50/50.
¡°You see, it¡¯s not all bad. And since we''re about to lift the curse anyways, we only have to deal with it until then. Plus, we don''t even know if we can simply divorce.¡±
Somehow it''s strange to talk about divorce as a high school student. But in a sense, I''m a married man now.
¡°You seem oddly calm about it, Katsuragi.¡±
¡°It''s not my first marriage.¡±
¡°It''s not?¡±
¡°Of course not. Marrying is a normal thing in games.¡±
¡°I should have known it.¡±
¡°Just think of me like a boyfriend you took out of convenience.¡±
¡°That¡¯s even worse. You enjoy this, right!?¡±
¡°Kinda. There are a lot of benefits, so we can simply declare it as a partnership of convenience.¡±
¡°So you think so lowly about me.¡±
¡°Come on, this is just a means to an end. But you should take a look at your [Divine Magic]-ability of the [Priest]-class. You got a new skill, [Torch]. This might be a way to explore this underground passage.¡±
¡°Don''t look at my status menu!¡±
¡°You can take a look at me if you want.¡±
A vein pops up on her temple. She''s pissed!
¡°Momokawa, I''m against domestic violence.¡±
Saying these words, I get a slap across my cheek.
You gain 1 WP.
Teasing your wife is a fun thing to do, but don''t get carried away.
That is strange.
I have to check the lists at a later time, but maybe there are still some things which can be exploited there.
I¡¯ll just ignore the ''marriage''-part for now.
After some time of calming down, we climb down the cliff and Momokawa used her brand new [Torch]-spell. A white ball of light appears on her palm. It¡¯s as bright as a real torch.
I switch to [Scout]-class.
¡°Katsuragi, your entire body seems to reshape whenever you switch classes.¡±
¡°That''s normal. Since [Scout] has much more [Strength] than [Student] and [Pikeman] even more than [Scout], my muscles have to adapt to this. It''s all in the manual.¡± Actually, it depends on the stat-boosts of these classes, and their [Attribute]-growths, but it¡¯s easier to explain it like that.
¡°But our classmates doesn''t change much.¡±
¡°Maybe because they''re all choosing what they''re used to? I''m not very athletic, you know. So if I change to a fighting class, of course, I will get muscles. I''m sure that the Judo Musclebrain took something like [Grappler] as a class and so on.¡±
¡°That... might be right.¡±
¡°See. But let''s concentrate on what lies before us. I will lead. I have the [Darksight]-skill, so I will be able to see well in the dark. We still don''t have weapons aside from rocks and one bone each, so it¡¯s better to let me handle everything.¡±
¡°I was going to, If I get XP by doing nothing, I won''t even think about meddling in your fights.¡±
¡°... Let''s see about the ratio first. If you get only 10%, we should rather proceed with our standard tactic as long as possible. If the ratio is on the higher side, we might fare better with actual teamwork.¡±
Saying that, we explore the underground passage. It''s big enough so that two people could walk next to each other most of the time, but we stay in line. There¡¯s nothing that interesting, just a stone tunnel. I have already seen some while soloing, but Momokawa sticks close to me. Maybe the narrowness is getting her.
Then I heard something. ¡°I hear rushing water ahead.¡±
¡°The underground river?¡±
¡°Not sure. Look out, there is a crack here. Wait a moment.¡±
I use my [Sneak]-skill and look from behind the corner. There are several bats hanging upside-down on the ceiling. Or at least they look like bats. Since they''re coated by their wings, they could be anything.
I return to Momokawa.
¡°Several creatures with bat-wings ahead. How are your... wait.¡±
I can simply check Momokawa''s MP myself. No need to ask anymore.
Not good. Her MP are about half, and she has to cast [Stamina] for us regularly and even though our natural SP-regeneration lengthens the time until it''s needed, we should be really careful with every activity which would cost HP and SP.
The use of [Perception]-skills costs a little SP every time, but it heightens our chances of survival greatly. A needless battle on the other hand...
Even though, I, as a gamer, don''t like to ignore it. But without decent weapons...
¡°Katsuragi, what are you thinking about?¡±
¡°I¡¯m considering whether we should search for another path or climb back up. If we get to the hot spring again, we can rest due to the SP-recovery water until you get all of your MP back. But if this path leads to the underground river, we can still use its water and search for a way out of this chasm. I don''t know anything about these bat-thingies and we might be under-equipped to deal with them.¡±
Momokawa thinks about my words, while her right hand plays with the ring on her left. She often looks at the ring in disbelief. She doesn¡¯t accept it that easily.
¡°Are they sleeping?¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Are those bats sleeping?¡±
¡°I guess. Let me check again.¡±
I sneak back and strain my ears. A rhythmic sound of breathing.
¡°They are.¡±
¡°Can you sneak up to one of them, grab it and break its neck before it can make a noise?¡±
¡°... I could try the sneaking first. But it''s around the corner, so the light won''t reach far enough for me to see clearly.¡±
¡°I could move to the corner.¡±
¡°That might wake the bats.¡±
¡°If they''re bats, they should already know we''re here because of our voices.¡±
Good point.
I use [Sneak] to get to the bats and Momokawa slowly go to the corner. These aren''t bats, but a kind of mob. About as big as a child, these creatures have a greenish humanoid body. Maybe they''re actually intelligent and friendly.
Most likely, they''re not.
Quickly I grab one''s head with both of my hands, twist it in a fast manner and break its neck. Even as a [Scout] my [Strength] is enough to do this, these guys are frail!
The other bat-gnomes aren''t alarmed. Maybe their hearing isn''t any good. Easy victims.
Seven broken necks later, Momokawa and I checked our status menu.
¡°We get the same amount of XP. I don''t know if it''s 50/50, 100/100 or anything else, unless we kill something I know.¡± Remembering the amount of XP you get from what monster is the basis for efficient grinding.
¡°I see. At least I don''t need to take part in killing anymore.¡± Says the girl who suggested to break the necks of several creatures in their sleep.
And not only that¡ ¡°Katsuragi, these guys are edible. Let''s take one with us, until we find something better.¡± The [Cook]-class comes in handy here. I would say, this girl is already as much of a cold-blooded hunter as I am.
We continue our cave exploration. The deeper we go, the hotter it becomes. But this should be a sign, that we¡¯ve come close to the hot spring underground river¡ let¡¯s try to stay positive.
Half an hour after the bat encounter, we come to a big cave.
Sunlight is shining through a crack at the top, too small for a human to squeeze through. At the bottom is another part of the hot spring, but since the cave is spacious and some ventilation is ensured by the crack at the ceiling, it''s most likely the most tempered place we found so far in the chasm. At the shore of the hot spring, there are even some trees!
¡°Momokawa, this seem too good to be true, We should watch out, I''m sure something already made this place its territory.¡±
¡°Right.¡±
We approach the hot spring, but this time Momokawa goes ahead, while I keep watch. There is no one here at the moment.
Both of us drink some of the water to replenish our SP and agree, that we would stay here for a while. As long as I have my [Perception]-ability, we are as ready as possible. Of course, it''s dangerous, but this is the best place to take a rest.
Maybe there are other places like this in the chasm. Somehow the mobs have to survive here.
¡°Maybe the mobs who uses this place are diurnal. But there is no reason for both of us to be on guard. Take a nap, Momokawa. We need your MP.¡±
We didn''t sleep well, yesterday in that dark cavern, so she''s probably tired enough.
¡°Yes.¡±
We move to the trees and Momokawa sits down at one, leans herself against it and closes her eyes. The [Torch]-spell disappeared, but since there is a bit of daylight in this cave, my [Darksight] is still working well.
The shadows outside my 50 meters (164 feet) range make it hard to figure out where other entrances lie, so I try to stay focused. Usually, I would take a nap, too, since I have the [Dormunal]-skill, but after breaking necks of sleeping mobs I somehow have problems to think of the area as safe.
Staying focused on watch is hard. But it will be for an hour at most.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Speaking of time... We had 2 weeks to complete the pilgrimage. Four days of travel from Esse to Hei?quellen. This is just the second day in the chasm. If we hurry back, we most likely only need two and a half day back to Esse, once we escape this hell. But let''s count it as three days. So nine days are spent or occupied.
We still have five days left. Is it plenty, or not? I don''t know. Better to not think about it.
First, I have to keep watch. Wait, what''s this at the shore? Is that a skeleton? I approach the pile of bones.
A human skeleton. I throw a stone at it.
Why? Because it might be undead.
Even though I never saw one outside of fiction. Are there undead in this world?
At least, this skeleton doesn''t react to stones. So I have to take a look myself. This may be an adventurer or a soldier. But for me, this is a lifesaver. The clothes are racks, but the leather backpack was still usable. The clasp is broken, so it''s more of a bag now. Someone or something already searched through its content.
On the ground is a rusty knife. I take it and wield it in one hand.
[Rusty Knife]
Description:
This knife wasn''t used in years. Even though it''s rusty, it can still be used as a tool.
Status:
+2 Attack
Value:
1 Newgold
A knife. An old, rusty knife. Nothing special about it. But so valuable right now. And there is other stuff as well. A torn waterskin, a needle and some thread, a torn blanket, flint and steel and dampened torches.
If it was me three days ago, I would think of it as trash. But now I see it as a treasure, I collect everything and turn back.
I want to call out Momokawa, but I remember that she''s taking a nap. And I don''t want to wake her up. Especially after looking at her dirty self, which shows the burden of our current lifestyle.
Wait, what''s that? And why now?
I guess, I feel a lot of stress, too, since looking at a filthy girl with messed up hair and no dignity whatsoever makes me excited.
¡ She''s asleep, right?
Since I''m standing watch so no beasts attack one of us, I might as well... I mean, it would be bad, if some wolf would devour Momokawa out of pure instinct.
What am I even thinking about? Dammit. I hate her!
I know, that my excitement must be a survival instinct or something like that. Leaving offspring in times of danger. It¡¯s a totally natural reaction.
It¡¯s time to get rid of all of my frustration, stress, and irritation.
After I find a place from where I could detect most intruders while being away of Momokawa, I''ll finally relieve myself.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Afterward.
I cleaned myself up and made sure, that there is no smell left behind. All traces should be removed.
It''s time to wake up Momokawa. ¡°Momokawa?¡±
¡°Hn... Good Morning. Is something wrong?¡±
Good Morning? Since when does she say Good Morning? Maybe taking a nap improved her mood. ¡°Nothing. Why do you ask?¡±
¡°You seem different...¡±
Maybe because I''m much calmer now? ¡°I could relax a bit.¡±
¡°Do you want to take a nap, too?¡±
¡°Not needed. But I have something to show you.¡±
The treasures I found are laid out in front of Momokawa.
¡°That will be useful.¡±
She smiles faintly. Why does she act so sweet? Maybe she''s still drowsy.
Well, let''s go on. ¡°Do you know how to sew?¡±
¡°A bit. How about Katsuragi?¡±
¡°Well, every time I try to mend my pants, they''ll rip open again after five minutes.¡±
Ah, now she''s back to normal, rolling her eyes. ¡°I will try. But I need a patch.¡±
¡°A patch... Wait.¡±
I look at the neck-broken bat-gnome we took with us.
¡°How about the bat-wing?¡±
¡°This might work.¡±
I take the knife and the bat-gnome and cut off the wings.
Momokawa gives me instructions how to cut the leathery part to make a patch.
Mending the waterskin isn''t easy, especially since she can''t use [Torch] during the sewing process. The [Torch] appears on her free hand, so sewing and lighting isn''t possible at the same time.
But Momokawa is still working on it in that dim light. It''s slow paced, but she concentrates so much, that she doesn''t even complain a lot. And when she does, it¡¯s more about me, than the work itself.
Soon, the waterskin is repaired. It still leaks some water at the seam, but at least you could carry it around for a while.
¡°Good work, Momokawa, now we can- Quiet!¡±
I hear some heavy steps. Paw-like. A beast.
¡°Hide behind those trees.¡±
I activate the [Camouflage]-skill while laying low. My body and equipment are changing color to match the cave stone. Momokawa runs to the trees and hides behind them like I ordered.
Only the dim daylight illuminates the cave. And the master of this cave came in.
A large, red bear. Maybe even the same one we saw yesterday.
I released [Camouflage], this one is a coward. This time I have the [Scout]- and [Pikeman]-classes and able to simply kill it or scare it off without bluffing.
It senses me and turns its head around. And then it roars. Same as last time, huh? It''s easy to stay cool. I wield the knife and put a bloodthirsty grin on my face. The bear should back off any second.
Wuush!
Fast as thought, the red bear slashes at me and only my [Focus]-skill allowed me to evade the attack at the last moment.
¡°GROOOOOAAAR!¡±
This red bear is very aggressive.
I change my class to [Pikeman]. Even though I have no spear, the [Pikeman]¡¯s [Strength] and [Vitality] is still better than a [Scout]''s. With this, I''m better off in most combat-situation.
Is it me or are the bear''s claws glowing? Six claw attacks hit me almost simultaneously. My clothes are full of holes now. And much worse, my body, too. Is that a skill? Do mobs have skills? I never saw something like that before!
But my high [Vitality]-attribute allows me to stay on my feet, even though the wounds hurt like hell. I stab the red bear with the knife, but as the red bear has twice the size of a normal one, a little knife is only hurting it a bit. One or two stabs are not that dangerous to it.
Then I punch it in the face, additionally. Won''t hurt it much either, but at least it does inflict mental damage. I already realize, that the only way to survive this is to be on offensive. Since this bear does serious damage, I have to overpower it before it can do the same to me.
I stab and punch and stab and punch like a savage. I will attack every inch of its body!
¡°GROOAAAAAR!¡±
The roar unleashes a shockwave, which throws me back several meters. Another skill, I presume.
Now I lay on the ground, I couldn''t break my fall. The red bear plants itself in front of me.
Ah, I''m dead. I''m weirdly calm about it.
A red claw is raised and about to give me eternal rest. But it never came down.
A stone flies right into an eye of the bear. It growls painfully and I use the chance to change into [Scout] and activate [Camouflage] and [Hide Smell] at the same time.
The bear looks down at me but can''t see me. And much more importantly, smell. Both of these skills aren''t good if someone knows you''re here. But bears don''t rely on sight too much and my smell is already all over the place. So my weakened smell won''t attract attention, I hope.
The red bear sniffs around... And walks right to Momokawa. Damn it!
She saved me earlier. No choice.
I stand up and jump on the bear. The knife I''m still holding pierces the back several times, while I try to reach the neck. I stab and stab at its nape, hoping to damage the vertebras.
The red bear shakes violently, trying to get rid of me. Another rock flies right into its forehead.
We both fall, my whole body is in pain. The bear is about to stand up again, but then I saw it: It''s throat.
I draw upon my last power and slice it with one powerful thrust.
The bear suffocates from its own blood and throws claw attacks in all directions, one of them hit me in the stomach. Blood splashes everywhere, I''m done for.
But at least the bear finally collapses.
¡°[Heal]!¡±
And the pain eases.
¡°Are you still alive?¡±
¡°...Barely.¡±
¡°I know, I know. [Heal]!¡±
Magic healing is great. Under normal circumstances, I would most likely die because of the wounds.
¡°It might leave marks and it will still hurt a while, even if all of your HP is back.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
¡°You''re stupid, Coming out of your hideout.¡±
¡°I thought it would run away again when I''m aggressive.¡±
¡°Why didn''t you flee, when you were outpowered?¡±
¡°It would have attacked you.¡±
¡°I was hidden.¡±
¡°Barely.¡±
¡°Stupid.¡±
We know, that we need each other. Even though the curse is lifted for now, it might come back immediately, if I let Momokawa die. And Momokawa won''t be able to survive here without me.
My HP are at max again. Momokawa''s MP, on the other hand, are depleted. The hot spring only recovers SP, so we need to have another rest. Going on without Momokawa''s MP is suicide.
¡°We''ll rest for today, Let''s take a look, if there¡¯s some smaller cavern here. The bear must have a sleeping-place nearby.¡±
The big cavern has 4 exits, plus the rift at the ceiling. One of them leads to a small cave.
¡°Katsuragi, look.¡±
There are two cubs.
¡°So we killed their mother.¡±
These cubs are still as tall as human children. Their fur was orange, but maybe they¡¯ll turn crimson in some years.
¡°They''re so cute!¡± I see. This is what a typical girl reaction seems to be. ¡°And edible.¡±
Or not.
¡°... This is surprising.¡±
¡°We have the choice between the cubs, the mother bear, and the bat-thingy.¡±
¡°Let''s forget the bat-gnome, but wouldn''t the mother bear be better to eat? More meat.¡±
¡°Fair enough. She''ll be spoiled before we finish her.¡±
¡°But what do we do about the cubs?¡±
¡°What would you do in a game?¡±
¡°Kill them to get loot and XP.¡±
¡°Seems logical. Then we get mixed meat, too.¡±
In the end, it''s all about survival.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We skinned the bear-mobs and Momokawa cut them to pieces.
Being a [Cook] is very convenient.
I used my [Camping]-skill to set up the camp and start a fire. Without the skill, this could¡¯ve taken around an hour, with [Camping] it only took a couple of minutes. Even the wet wood of the trees and the torches lit in a matter of seconds.
We used branches as skewers and grilled the meat over the fire. With [Foraging] I was able to discern some eatable herbs and mushrooms, which grows at the large cavern.
This is a feast!
¡°¡°Thanks for the food!¡±¡±
I gulp down every bite.
¡°Tasty!¡±
¡°Thank you.¡±
It''s really delicious.
You gain 1 WP.
Eating your wife''s home-cooked meals is a blessing of marriage.
¡°Phew.¡± I ignore the pop-up.
Looks like Momokawa also got one. She''s obviously very annoyed by it.
I just go on. ¡°The fur might stink, but will make good sleeping mats. The cubs'' pelt can be used as pillows. Since it''s warm here, we need no blanket. This time we might sleep somewhat comfortably.¡±
¡°So, you really want to stay here for a day?¡±
¡°Without your MP, we can''t take the risk. MP is recovered over time and faster if you''re resting, so it''s obvious that you relax as much as possible, while I keep watch.¡±
¡°What about you? You will get exhausted mentally.¡±
¡°A small price to pay.¡±
¡°But your [Dormurnal]-skill makes it possible to sleep and keep watch.¡±
¡°I don''t remember telling you this.¡±
¡°I can check your status and skills anytime, too.¡±
¡°Well, it''s only sounds. So if something approaches soundless, we''re doomed.¡±
¡°This is the lair of the crimson bear. Nothing will come close to it. And I need you focused tomorrow.¡±
¡°Fine, we¡¯ll take turns.¡±
¡°You first, you''re still hurting from the bear, right?¡±
¡°Not as long I don''t move.¡±
Momokawa giggles softly. I chuckle a bit. We¡¯re already so downcast, that sarcasm becomes funny.
After finishing the meal, I lay down on the improvised bed.
¡°Katsuragi, Sleep well.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡±
It stinks, the fur feels too warm in this hot air. But I''m already falling asleep.
¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡
A part of my conscious is still active.
I hear every step Momokawa makes.
She''s stepping out of the cave. All thoughts are slow and elusive in my [Dormurnal]-state. I can''t activate other skills, like [Pitch].
I hear something, I designate the sound to an activity and can decide to wake up or not. This time, I wake up.
I use [Pitch] so I can make out Momokawa. A trickling can be heard.
Oh.
Bathroom break.
A strained exhalation, as if something big is about to come. Quickly, I deactivate [Pitch].
Even though breaks for this were made in the past, we kept our distance and didn''t speak about it. Momokawa was holding it in since arriving at the chasm. I totally forgot that she will need to do it, eventually.
I will never mention it, This is too private.
It¡¯s better to go back to sleep.
¡ ¡ ¡
Momokawa has returned. She''s walking up to me. And now stays still. She kneels down. I''m somewhat aware, that she takes my left hand in both of hers.
Do I care?
No.
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
She let it go and walks away.
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
¡°Katsuragi. It''s about time.¡±
I wake up. The information my [Dormurnal] collected are hammering my thoughts.
¡°Did you do something to me?¡±
¡°You know?¡±
¡°Somewhat. You took my hand.¡±
¡°I inspected your ring.¡±
¡°I see. Anything interesting?¡±
¡°Did you inspect it lately?¡±
¡°Honestly, no.¡±
But I better do now.
[Lion''s Wedding Ring]
Description:
This ring is a gift and a curse. It changes the ways of the world, to empower the wearer, but if not handled correctly, it will slowly kill him off. To harness the power to its fullest, you have to find someone you can trust and love completely, while sharing this gift and curse.
Status:
Unremovable. Marriage to Momokawa Kyou. Allows the usage of the WP-System.
Value:
0 Newgold
It''s different from before. What a bugged item.
¡°What about yours, Momokawa?¡±
¡°Here.¡±
She shows me her left hand and I can inspect the ring as if it were on my own finger.
[Lioness'' Wedding Ring]
Description:
This ring was created by the Lion''s Wedding Ring and is the symbol of trust, loyalty and love. While it burdens the wearer with a powerful curse, it allows to use a power, which defies the world at the same time. As long you remain faithful, the curse won''t harm you.
Status:
Unremovable. Marriage to Katsuragi Kenta. Allows the usage of the WP-System.
Value:
0 Newgold
¡°The WP-system... I haven¡¯t checked it yet.¡±
I open the status menu and looked at the WP-system. There are two huge lists. One with ways to get WP. Another which convert WP to special abilities and bonuses.
The ways to get WP are... flirting?
Some are sick. And others impossible. A rather harmless one would be: ''Call each other by first name or nickname. 1 WP/day.'' A rather mediocre one would be: ''Sleep next to each other. 1 WP/night.'' A rather hard one would be: ''Do A in the B, C times. 10 WP/D.''
I close the WP-store-list since the last one is way too borderline. My wish to use a censor-bar made me put letters instead those special words in there.
Even a short glance at the reward list is enough to see, that the lesser benefits are at least in the double-digits.
But man, what benefits! If we could raise the WP to 80, we could get- Did someone turn on the air conditioner? I feel chills all over my body.
Wait, it''s Momokawa. A dark aura of dread is surrounding her. She looks at me, as if I had stolen and eaten her ice cream sundae and whispered: ¡°Don''t think about it.¡±
¡°I didn-¡±
¡°Don''t! Think! About! It!¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
She''s smiling now. But her smile scares the shit out of me. Maybe I''m wrong and Momokawa''s true face isn''t the manipulative bitch. She may be rather a poisonous beast which is rarely unleashed.
I better close the WP-Store-list, too. And change the topic.
¡°You should get some real sleep, Momokawa. Tomorrow will be a long day.¡±
¡°You''re right, I have compounded some medicine with the herbs you brought me, take it. It will replenish some HP when you put it on a wound. So put one on your stomach, medicine is more efficient to prevent scars than my magic.¡±
It''s a herbal poultice. She made it out of herbs and the shredded blanket I found.
¡°Thanks, Sleep well.¡±
¡°Thanks, Katsuragi.¡±
After she falls asleep, I''ll take a dump, too.
The second day in the chasm ends.
Volume 01 - Chapter 3-1 – The Challenge
Chapter 3 ¨C The Challenge
We enter the fifth day in the chasm.
The previous days we explored the different cave exits while coming back to the red bear''s lair to rest. This underground complex is huge, so we needed a rather safe place to retreat to and being able to bathe and collect some herbs and other plants doesn''t hurt either.
We killed a bunch of mobs and I even got a level up in the meantime. Momokawa gained five more levels. So we''re level 38 and 16 now. The monsters here are strong enough to be even troublesome for me if I''m careless. So there¡¯s no wonder that Momokawa''s level is rising quickly.
But even with bathing from a hot spring, our appearance definitely suffered. I needed a shave and my hair became matted.
Momokawa''s hair is even worse since it''s longer than mine.
Our clothes were severely damaged, only the sewing kit we found kept them in place.
We smoked the bear meat to keep it edible for a few days, so no problems on that front as well.
Somehow we tough it out. Although we don''t have much of a choice but to go even deeper into the cave, unless we return to the surface of the chasm.
After a discussion, we decided that the underground way might be the more promising one.
So we leave our camp after arming ourselves and taking everything with us, which could be useful. We don''t plan to return to the lair anymore, it did a great job, though.
The mother bear''s pelt is carried on my shoulders, I want to keep it. It''s soft but tough to penetrate. Maybe it will be useful.
The plan, for now, is to follow the underground river as much as possible. Even though we meet some bat-gnomes on the way, this very territorial and aggressive race doesn''t stand a chance against Momokawa''s and my combined powers. Or the ''tank and heal afterward''-battle-strategy.
There are some other mobs here, like giant ants and termites. And they''re quite strong, too. But I''m still much stronger.
This cave normally wouldn''t be a great grinding place, too many tough enemies for too little reward. Good thing that those giant insects are on the weaker side.
Especially since we have to watch our SP in this chasm, the heat drains it too much over time.
Momokawa, on the other hand, could raise her level in the meantime and get more Max MP, which can be turned into SP by the [Stamina]-spell. These mobs would definitely too tough for her alone, but at least she won''t be killed by one or two minor attacks. Finally.
That eases our minds. If Momokawa dies, I''m as good as dead too. And she isn''t keen to be killed for obvious reasons.
The underground passage is moving further down, whenever we could we would follow the river. With my [Pitch]-skill I can press my ear on the wall to hear the water current. Momokawa''s [Torch]-spell gives us the needed light, even though my [Darkvision] is essential to navigate and detect enemies here.
But these skills drain my SP, I have to recharge them with Momokawa''s magic or with the water of the hot spring, we carried around in the patched waterskin. Depending on the current circumstances, like Momokawa''s MP, my SP-consumption, etc.
¡°Katsuragi, I need some water.¡±
I have just finished a sip.
¡°Here.¡±
I hand the waterskin over.
¡°Thanks.¡±
She pressed her lips at the mouthpiece and draw a sip herself.
You gain 1 WP.
An unintentional indirect kiss is a symbol of closeness.
And she looks like the water has transformed into bile. I''m too tired to comment on it. Momokawa, on the other hand, grows more erratic every time a message pops up.
¡°How much WP do we currently have?¡±
¡°Eight.¡±
¡°So eight times.¡±
We get them by spending time and doing stuff together. But since we have to work together to survive, we have to do some, like drinking from the same waterskin. It would be less annoying if the pop-ups wouldn''t have these weird messages at the end.
Momokawa dismisses the topic and asks another question.
¡°What time is it?¡±
¡°Hard to tell. I would guess around 2 p.m.¡±
In the big cave, we had the crack in the ceiling to determine the time by daylight. Here aren''t any pointers to that, so I guessed by how hungry I am.
¡°So about six hours, already.¡±
Since we don''t regain SP that effectively, by resting due to the hotness of this place, we use Momokawa''s MP to gauge when to rest. MP regenerates over time and a bit more when resting, but if we run into a hard encounter with insufficient MP, we''re doomed.
Momokawa''s MP are around 80%, so we don''t need rest now.
¡°Let''s have a break when we find an open part of the underground river.¡±
Then we can regain our SP with the water there and fill up the waterskin again.
We continue our journey down and after an approximate hour, we got into another cave. It seems to be huge, somehow, even though it was hard to see. Since the cave was covered in fog.
The water of the underground river is boiling here. The heat was immense and our SP was drained four times the speed as before. There is a kind of illumination, but since we could only see fog, there was no way to determine, what the light-source is.
Only that it''s everywhere.
What is this place?
A bridge made out of rock slabs is laying in front of us, which is the only way through the sea of boiling water. Normally I would presume, that this would be the source of the hot spring, but this is the place the underground river flows into. So the reverse direction.
¡°Momokawa, I think we should retreat.¡±
The heat is nearly unbearable, the SP-drain is crazy. It''s so foggy, that even I can''t perceive the area. And I got the feeling, something strange is lurking here.
¡°...No.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
I don''t want to be here. As a solo-player, you have to know your odds to be effective. And our odds at the moment are miserable.
¡°This might be the only way out. And I''m sick of this chasm!¡±
Don''t be irrational, woman!
¡°You already did some stupid actions. Now we do mine!¡±
Start to make sense! ¡°Anything could lie in wait for us.¡±
¡°Are we inside a volcano?¡±
¡°Hear me out, dammit!¡±
¡°Look, under the boiling water... is that lava?¡±
She is right. The light source here is glowing lava, which heats the water of the river and boils it. But there is still a layer of liquid there, which constantly boils.
Is something like that even possible? My understanding of physics couldn''t tell. But at least there seem to be no poisonous gasses. I check my status screen to be sure. No poison condition.
¡°Never mind. We have to retreat!¡±
?But you just have arrived.?
This voice... I remember it, it was the same the large ss''rak, the Voice of Muaotef, spoke with. Only much louder, clearer and more majestic.
And I remember a detail, I totally missed up to now. But can you blame me? I was pretty sidetracked back then.
The words Muaotef spoke that day: ''You will not be killed, yet. Bring them to Our chasm.''
This isn''t any chasm. It''s Muaotef''s. And we stumbled across his lair.
?So the heroes finally arrive. We were waiting for you.?
I couldn''t see anything besides fog and the voice was echoing across the cave. So loud even the rock vibrates.
?And now you''re powerless.?
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Ah, I see. We got pretty much messed up over the days. We raised our level, but we are run down mentally. Was this intentional or only a side-effect?
Momokawa keeps her cool. ¡°Are you a dragon?¡±
How could you ask such a question so calmly!? We should run away!
?...How do you know??
¡°I saw a westerner movie which kinda reminds me of this situation. Your voice in particular.¡±
?We see. Heroes indeed. Or more to say ''outsiders''. Dragons are just fairy tales in this world.? The rock drones, heavy steps are made. ?But We are more real than anything else.?
Muaotef shade appears in the fog. He''s at least 30 meters (almost 100 feet) tall. A short blast of fire from his nostrils dissipates the fog around him and a majestic creature with red and golden scales stands before us. His eyes are green and are shiny like a pair of emeralds.
And even though he does nothing particular intimidating, I''m overwhelmed by fear. All thoughts stopped. Even though I want to run away, my legs aren''t moving an inch. Even though it''s unbearably hot in this cave, my blood is freezing.
Momokawa is shivering, too. She¡¯s pale as a ghost and looks like she¡¯s about to faint.
We reach out to each other, holding our hands, to feel some human warmth. It¡¯s not like we do it intentionally, it¡¯s like a human base instinct, which just kicked in.
Satisfied with this reaction, Muaotef¡¯s mouth maliciously widens and the fog obscures his draconic figure back to just a shade.
My mental paralysis fades away, but the cold of fear is still present. And I question myself, how something like a dragon could do this to me. I''ve seen tons in games!
Maybe because you don''t realize there, how big a 30 meters tall creature really is. But even Momokawa who kept her cool until now is devastated.
?In the end, you''re just humans.?
That self-satisfaction. As if he knew, what would happen.
Is this an ''aura of fear''-skill? But even if it is, it doesn''t change how well it worked. My legs are still so soft, that running away is no option anymore. The only thing we''re running on is Muaotef''s palm.
?Which one brought you in this world? Tell Us, male.?
He must mean which god transferred us into this shitty fantasy world.
¡°I don''t know.¡± My voice is not shaking, too afraid of what to do if I won¡¯t speak clearly.
?Is it male or female??
¡°I couldn''t tell. The voice was unisex.¡±
?What about you, female human??
¡°I don''t know either.¡±
?What a pity. But as expected.?
Muaotef is losing interest. And I''m sure if he loses interest, we''re dead.
I need to keep him interested. Or get him into a conversation. To keep us alive. But I''m not good at this... But there is one thing, I''d like to ask him. Let''s go!
¡°Why did you bring us in the chasm in the first place? Couldn''t you ask us back there?¡±
?We can hear your heartbeat and smell your hormones. You can''t hide anything. You smell is full of fear and you don''t want to be killed, but We won''t waste Our time with useless questions anymore.?
We''re totally dead. Seriously. And I''m too shaken to do anything about it.
But then Momokawa speaks up. ¡°Great One, how can we please the mighty you? We''re nothing but ignorant children and less than dirt compared to you, but if we can do anything to stay alive, we will definitely do it. You just have to ask.¡±
These are most likely the most honest words I ever heard of Momokawa, but somehow her pleading sounds very persuasive. Maybe because she''s used to pleasing others for her own benefit.
?We know you''re just flattering Us, but We don''t mind.?
The luxury of the mighty!
?Cross this lair of Ours and you will find a staircase. Our servant ss''rak are there. If you want to stay alive, you have to slay their patriarch. Entertain Us.?
This is like a sick TV-show.
So he''s ready to sacrifice his servants for his own amusement? And since we don''t have a chance to resist, he can enjoy us being forced to kill sentient beings? I killed mobs before, but ss''rak are more human-like than anything I met before. Except for humans maybe.
But we have to survive.
¡°Very well.¡±
Momokawa made up her mind, too. It''s time to be pawns of a dragon''s entertainment.
?You have three days.?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We finally escaped the chasm. After crossing Muaotef''s lair and climbing up the stairs, we find ourselves in a sanctum of a temple.
A heavy stone door separates the entrance to the lair and the sanctum to keep the heat under control.
Since nobody is here, we rest first. This is the first time, we could use our natural SP-regeneration normally in days.
And probably the first time, we feel chilly at around 30¡ãC (86 Fahrenheit).
My legs are still trembling with fear and even though a priest of Muaotef might come in anytime, Momokawa and I need this rest to regain our composure.
But I''m still wondering about the quest we just took.
¡°Why did he give us three days to kill a one person? There has to be a catch.¡±
¡°It''s the patriarch. So he''s supposed to be heavily guarded, right?¡±
¡°Is he recreating an assassin game?¡±
¡°What''s this?¡±
¡°It became popular in recent years. You play as an assassin who better kill people quietly and without causing a stir. The challenge is the interesting part.¡±
¡°Or maybe he wants to see, what we''re capable of if we have time to prepare.¡±
¡°To conclude what other heroes are capable of?¡±
¡°Maybe.¡±
¡°But we are all different.¡± We have different classes, different personalities, and different strategies.
¡°Not for him, I guess.¡±
She may be right. Muaotef doesn''t think much of us. We''re just flies to him. At least that''s the feeling I got.
And I wouldn''t be surprised, if he breaks the agreements out of boredom.
I hate it! I don''t have an idea what''s going on and go blindly into the next danger.
Somehow I get the feeling, that my inner fire returned. I didn''t notice before that my spiteful personality was dampened in the chasm. I guess constant SP-drain would have such an effect.
¡°Let''s get this over with, Momokawa.¡±
¡°I don''t have a choice, do I?¡±
And even Momokawa''s meekness is disappearing.
A good time to take on some ss''rak.
I open the bronze door leading out of the sanctum and activate [Sneak]. This corridor doesn''t have any windows and is going upstairs.
At the end is another bronze door. I press my ear on the wall and use [Pitch] and whisper the things heard to Momokawa.
¡°Three people standing right in front. No other sound in ten meters (almost 33 feet).¡±
Our weapons are the rusty knife, six stones and three rib bones of the crimson bear. We only have the not closable backpack and the pockets of our clothes, so we couldn''t carry much.
Three ss''rak...
I guess I can take them on since I''m currently uncursed. But it might take too long and reinforcement could come. I don''t have any consumables, so I have to trust my basics.
I change my class to [Pikeman].
¡°Momokawa, I need a bone.¡±
She carries the backpack and the rib bones within. With one of them, I can use [Spear]-skills, but they break after one or two usages.
¡°Here.¡±
¡°Thanks. Now go back a bit, I will take care of all of them.¡±
Inhale. Exhale.
¡°Phew.¡±
I have to be fast, focused, and determined. There is no room for mistakes.
Bone in the left hand, knife in the right. I drop the fur, I need to be mobile. Everything''s ready.
I push the door open. I thrust the knife into the throat of the first ss''rak I could see, while it was flat-footed.
The second one is pierced by my [Speedthrust] directly into the heart. This skill is fast and strong, so even after the moment of shock, I''m able to overwhelm the ss''rak. The bone breaks, I draw the knife out of the first one and prepare for the attack of the third.
My plan succeeded, now it''s a one-on-one fight.
The ss''rak doesn''t need a weapon, it has claws, teeth, and a strong tail. With rending claw-slashes, it tried to hit me, but I jump back. In this fight, I would use my SP to the fullest, so strong and fast attacks in succession and great evasive movements are possible.
If I don''t end it fast, I will be killed.
But a knife is not a good weapon against a ss''rak. Scales and claws make it tough to go into the infighting and if you don''t watch out, you will get hit by the strong tail.
¡°Human defiels plaze of Great One. Dai!¡±
And suddenly all my vigor vanishes. It''s talking. This... is a sentient creature! It''s like killing people!
My body starts to cramp.
Move it!
I already killed two of them, so a third one...
I... killed two already.
Even though I only need to kill the patriarch. I already killed innocent bystanders, because they''re in the way. These thoughts hurt much more than the tail, who flicks me to the ground. The ss''rak''s eyes are full of hate.
Hate to a murderer.
Damn it! Move! I''m an a-hole, what do I care about, who I kill to survive!?
¡°Katsuragi!¡± Momokawa runs toward me and throws a bone in my direction. ¡°[Speedthrust]!, fast!¡±
I do as ordered. I catch the bone and use [Speedthrust], another broken bone, but this time my aim is off and only scraped the body of the enemy.
The ss''rack clinches me and is about to rip my throat out. Maybe it will need several tries, I''ve got some [Vitality] after all, but the damage will be immense either way.
I try to shake it off, but my cramped body is too weak. And then the ss''rak cries out. A heavy knife is stabbed into its kidney.
Momokawa.
She''s holding another knife and one stab after another is performed. Her face becomes more and more desperate with every attack, more and more power comes into each thrust. It¡¯s so unlike my clean kills from before, it¡¯s the brutality of someone, who¡¯s weak.
The ss''rak cries of pain and then for help and finally for mercy. But without any kind of wavering, Momokawa continues. The ss''rak let me off and is about to tear Momokawa apart with its claws.
I grab both of its arms and step on its tail. And close my eyes to blend out the picture of Momokawa killing this ss''rak slowly.
Finally, it¡¯s over.
You gain 5 WP.
You just got your life saved by your wife.
¡°We need to start moving. Take its knife!¡±
Ah, the knives she had are tools of the ss''rak. She took them from the two I killed.
But yes, we have to move. My mind is blank. Don''t think about anything, just follow her.
Momokawa leads us to the right corridor, we could already hear other ss''rak coming from the left.
We keep moving, but we realized something. Ss''rak are very good climbers, so they don''t need stairs apparently. Instead, there are big holes in the ceiling and a hoist in case large objects have to be moved.
They can simply climb the wall, but for a human, it''s impossible. And the hoist isn''t in use.
Dead-end.
¡°They''re getting closer...¡±
I try my best to stay focused, but the pictures of murder are on my mind. They could easily find us, if we run around, but will do definitely if we go into one of the rooms. There has to be a way...
¡°Wait. Momokawa, search for a room as contorted as possible.¡±
We both check the rooms around us and find one suitable. It was a storeroom, mostly full of junk and broken furniture. I change to [Scout].
I press myself to the wall at an inner corner and use [Camouflage]. My body and equipment changed color.
¡°Great, Katsuragi. Now they won''t find you.¡±
The sarcasm hurts.
¡°Shut up and come here immediately!¡±
Even if I move, my colors won''t change in any way, this is one of the disadvantages of [Camouflage]. It cost a lot of SP and I shouldn''t move while using it. But this time, it''s an advantage.
I take Momokawa into my arms and press her to the wall. Every inch of her body has to be covered with mine. Since the room is dark and contorted, it should be more difficult to figure out, that there is someone on the wall.
And I hope it''s the same case with two people. Momokawa seems to say something, but her face was buried into my chest.
¡°Quiet. They¡¯re coming.¡±
She falls silent immediately and the door opened. The ss''rak entered and take a fast look around.
¡°Not here. Lokk.¡±
They left. And we hear how they lock the room. Most likely to signal, that this one was already been searched.
¡°Phew.¡± At least some time is bought. ¡°Ugh!¡±
Momokawa punches me in the stomach. And again. I let her go.
¡°Ha... You almost suffocated me!¡±
Even though she is bitching around, at least she does so quietly. Is it me or is her face a bit green?
You gain 1 WP.
Whenever you''re in grave danger, a passionate hug will always help.
Read the mood, dammit! Well, I certainly stink, maybe it¡¯s just that. But most likely not.
¡°I will use [Pitch] on the door, so I can hear when someone''s coming.¡±
The ss''rak are searching the rooms and locking them afterward. Good thing we went into hiding fast enough.
¡°We''re safe for the time being.¡±
Today shocks come in plenty. First the fear I felt for Muaotef and now the dread of killing someone, who could talk to you. Murder instead of killing.
If mobs in games would cry for help while you slay them, that game would belong to the horror genre. Maybe the ss''rak we killed had a family.
¡°Don''t think about it.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Don''t think about those lizardmen.¡±
This is the logical solution. But not so easy. It sinks in.
¡°Dammit.¡±
How could Momokawa stay that calm about it? It''s like she murders every day! Or maybe she just has more backbone than me.
I feel pathetic. Almost got killed because I couldn''t suppress these thoughts for a minute. One minute!
I want to shout out, but we''re currently hiding. So I simply use [Pitch] and torment myself at the same time.
Volume 01 - Chapter 3-2
¡°Whateva it was, it be not hear anymoar.¡±
The ss''rak gave up their search, I could listen to their conservation. There¡¯s only one problem and it¡¯s that they: They don''t unlock all of the rooms. Including ours.
Maybe because it''s a pain and not every room is used here, just like ours.
But at some point, they will most likely unlock this room, so we have to stay alerted.
Great.
It''s so great, I want to puke.
¡°We''re stuck here for a while unless I break the door and then we''re almost back at the beginning.¡±
¡°So we need a plan beforehand.¡±
¡°Yes. But I have first to know, how could you even deal significant damage to a ss''rak?¡±
I thought about the whole incident over and over and a non-combat character like Momokawa shouldn''t be able to hurt a ss''rak much. Their scales are like an armor, it''d be hard to get through that with only one hit for her.
¡°You and I were close. Remember, there is a bonus to [Attributes] if we''re next to each other.¡±
¡°But it''s only minor.¡±
¡°The knife is powerful, too.¡±
I better take a look at the knives, the ss''rak uses.
[Ss''rak''s Knife]
Description:
This heavy knife is hard and sturdy. It''s difficult to wield as a weapon, but can deal massive damage when working with something which doesn''t move.
Status:
+30 Attack or +150 if the target doesn''t move
Value:
1,500 Newgold
This is... sick.
A normal longsword has an attack bonus of +80. So this dagger deals about twice it''s damage at an immobile target. Since the ss''rak and I were grappling, neither of us could move much and Momokawa got a really dangerous weapon.
What a loophole.
Or more like, does it work that way in real or is this a hero-thing?
It¡¯s not a game, I have to remember that.
I may have [Vitality] as a hero to mitigate some damage, but neither did I ever take no damage before, nor is there any inclination, that non-heroes have stats.
If they have not, it¡¯s logical. Even if you¡¯re strong, several stabs into the vitals will kill you. Train martial arts for decades, get a knife into your stomach and you¡¯ll die. Maybe it¡¯s like that.
So many stabs into me could actually kill me as well, despite being a hero. And if you take the knife¡¯s trait into account...
¡°Did you know about this, Momokawa?¡±
¡°No. I had to come close to heal you and decided, it wasn''t worth it.¡±
She''s right. Healing me in that situation wouldn''t have helped.
¡°Then I saw knives at their belts and took them. And it was the best choice to stab the lizardman.¡±
¡°...Thanks.¡±
I force this word out of my mouth. In this situation, Momokawa stayed calm and did the best she could do. I, on the other hand, showed a rather pathetic performance.
¡°Don''t let me do it again, it was scary.¡±
I''m scared of how calm you are! But instead of retorting, I try to get back to the topic.
¡°The ss''rak are difficult to fight with knives. Even with three of theirs, we''re still at disadvantage. We need to secure any asset we can. Let''s look around. This is a storage, so there might be something interesting.¡±
¡°Less of a storage and more of a junkyard.¡±
But Momokawa helps me to search through the room. Brooms with slightly broken sticks, worn out furniture, shattered lamps, separated nails and screws, torn leather stripes plus other trash.
¡°Hm... but maybe...¡±
I think I could try to don a knife on a stick to improvise a spear. Also, there is an old buckle, so we can try to fix the backpack we found in the great cave.
We start working, it¡¯s better than doing nothing.
Or more like I work on the spear, while Momokawa provides light with her [Torch]-spell.
¡°Katsuragi, I¡¯m level 17 now.¡±
¡°That''s twelve levels in nine days!¡±
¡°But it''s far too dangerous to do this continually.¡±
¡°I agree...¡±
¡°And we always seem to rest a long time after each battle.¡±
¡°We do.¡±
¡°Do you normally do it like that? Going right into danger to increase your level?¡±
¡°Hell no. Soloing is all about searching battles you can easily win.¡±
¡°But, wouldn''t you normally have to find a lot of monsters?¡±
¡°After I got my first class, I killed nearly a hundred weak mobs a day to increase my level.¡±
¡°Don''t be absurd, finding mobs and fighting them that often is impossible.¡±
¡°Not if you cut the recovery time. Get their loot, sell it, buy consumables and use them after a battle, until you begin to run out.¡±
¡°Consumables?¡±
¡°In this case mostly pots. So HP and SP-potions. After each battle, I used them and was ready for the next one. You don''t make much money, but if you need to, you can try to collect treasures by bypassing their guardians unseen. This is one of the reason, I wanted to have a sneaky [Class] in the first place.¡±
¡°Does that actually work in games?¡±
¡°Depends on the game, but it''s not rare.¡±
¡°So you left us because you wanted to increase your level that badly?¡±
¡°Ah... could we change the topic?¡±
¡°You don''t want to tell me? Why?¡±
¡°Because I don''t like to talk about it.¡±
¡°*Stare*¡±
Please don''t stare at me! ¡°I just... it''s... I don''t trust the ones who called us, OK!?¡±
¡°You mean the gods?¡±
¡°The gods who transported us in this world, the king who didn''t even meet us, the whole kingdom which fights an enemy I don''t know anything about.¡±
¡°The king invited each of us to dinner. Each party got an own dinner.¡±
¡°But what about this fight against demons?¡±
¡°I... don''t know. But Masahiko-kun and the rest should already have met them. They''re undergoing training at the border.¡±
¡°The more I know, the less I trust anyone.¡±
¡°...What about me.¡±
¡°What do you mean.¡±
¡°Do you trust me?¡±
¡°I have to, right?¡±
Momokawa picks up one of her throwing stones and throws it into my face.
¡°Ouch!¡±
¡°Idiot...¡±
¡°What about you, do you trust me?¡±
¡°Not a bit.¡±
¡°See?¡±
¡°You do things like leading me into a shrine full of lizardmen, fighting them when surrender is the better option, attacking a murderous bear on your own and hesitating when you''re about to be killed. Finally, you contaminated me with that curse and forced me into marriage at the age of sixteen.¡±
Each argument feels like an arrow in my back.
Quick, retort! Don''t lose ground! ¡°And you... erm...¡±
She healed me without complaining much, saved me multiple times, and didn''t mind to bow or adapt to every circumstance.
I know, I did some cool stuff, too, but Momokawa still has to do a real blunder. The only thing which could be criticized would be her level, which drags me down at times. And when I proposed this team-up, I already knew that I have to keep her safe, in the end.
So I couldn''t really complain about it.
I hate it!
Meanwhile, I carve out the hilt of one knife with another, so I could stick a broomstick into it. Afterward, I will try to pin it with some nails.
¡°Nothing to say, Katsuragi?¡±
¡°I¡¯m trying to concentrate...¡±
¡°Heh! Concentrate, of course.¡±
This woman!
¡°I''m sorry, OK!? But now we should focus on what to do next!¡±
¡°I have no ideas. I have not the slightest clue what to do.¡±
¡°We need the following: More combat strength, a way to get upstairs, a strategy and a fallback plan.¡±
¡°How?¡±
¡°Our final goal is to find and kill the patriarch, but I don''t know if I can do it.¡±
¡°Since you don''t have a backbone?¡±
¡°...¡± After the last blunder, I can''t argue with her about that. ¡°If it would be that easy, Muaotef wouldn''t give us that task.¡±
¡°How will he watch us... wait. Magic, right?¡±
¡°Definitely magic. Most likely with sound, too.¡±
¡°Magic TV.¡±
¡°Kinda. And I don''t know anything about the patriarch, this quest sucks!¡±
¡°We have no choice. Or do you want that dragon to be displeased?¡±
¡°I would rather die.¡±
¡°Same here.¡±
¡°We... we lack in everything: Intelligence, power, and resources.¡±
¡°So we should give up?¡±
¡°...there is a way to get at least some power. Maybe.¡±
Momokawa becomes suspicious.
¡°How? And why are you talking about it only now?¡±
¡°Because you will hate it.¡±
¡°Tell me.¡±
¡°We should grind WP.¡±
The temperature drops. Momokawa''s voice is cold as ice.
¡°... Why?¡±
¡°I checked the WP-store-list before and there are some strong bonuses there.¡±
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°But then we have to act... like that.¡±
¡°I know. But the systems doesn''t seem to be very smart. Even half-hearted gestures are rewarded with some WP. And there are some fairly easy actions on that list. Like holding hands for an hour uninterrupted.¡±
¡°Rejected.¡±
¡°We could think about it as a make-believe and-¡±
¡°Rejected!¡±
¡°... *Stare*¡±
¡°Stop doing that.¡±
I try my best to put every ounce of conviction and blame into my stare. But Momokawa simply ignores it after frowning for a bit.
We worked silently for an hour.
Nailing the knife onto the stick was pretty difficult. I use the hilt of the second knife as a hammer substitute, but I don''t want to damage the wood by using full force. But now I have a spear which might not break after using a few [Spear]-skills.
[Improvised Knife Spear]
Description:
A ss''rak knife on a broomstick, nailed together so it wouldn''t fall off that easily. It''s not really reliable.
Status:
+55 Attack or +110 if the target doesn''t move
Value:
100 Newgold
The value dropped immensely and its secondary trait became weaker. But finally, I have something like a weapon again. Now I try to fit the buckle to our worn-out backpack.
I have to cut the strap a bit since it''s too wide. Cutting leather was difficult, especially if you only have a knife as a tool. But maybe we can get the [Inventory]-option back that we lost with our original backpacks.
Momokawa is pondering and only reacts, when I ask her to relight her [Torch]-spell.
¡°No, still no [Inventory].¡±
That was too bad.
¡°You win, Katsuragi.¡±
¡°Hah?¡±
¡°It''s better to bend than break and we need everything we can get.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°Getting WP, of course! What are you thinking about?¡±
Doesn''t she realize that some time has passed and it already slipped my mind? But better to play along before she changes her mind again.
¡°Great! We have to see which actions seem to be doable.¡±
¡°...Yes.¡± Wow, what a look of displeasure!
Both of us start to investigate the ways to get WP. Luckily there is a list.
¡°First name basis... or nicknames. That''s acceptable, right Kenta-kun?¡±
¡°Ugh... I don''t like it. It somehow feels wrong.¡±
¡°What''s wrong about it, Kenta-kun?¡±
¡°Phew... I don''t exactly know.¡±
¡°What about a nickname, like Kenken.¡±
¡°That''s horrible!¡±
¡°Hm... Ken-kun?¡±
¡°That''s acceptable, I think, seems more like an alias.¡±
¡°Good. And now try saying my name.¡±
¡°OK...¡±
I don''t remember! I have to check the status menu. Momokawa''s first name was never important for me before. How do I read that kanji (ÐÓ)?
¡°Anzu.¡±
The temperature drops and my whole skin got chills. Momokawa is looking at me as if I kicked a kitten just now.
¡°You don''t remember my first name.¡±
¡°I... You''re right. I confess.¡±
¡°It''s Kyou.¡±
Kyou... like the kanji for misfortune, a perfect fit.
¡°So it''s Kyou, I see.¡±
¡°Don''t drop the honorific! We''re not actually that close!¡±
¡°Erm... Kyou-san?¡±
¡°Acceptable. So now we''re Ken-kun and Kyou-san.¡±
¡°On second thought, just drop my honorific. It''s weird if you start using one when you didn''t before.¡±
¡°Ken and Kyou-san.¡±
¡°This could be a title of a children''s story.¡±
¡°Well, Katsu- Ken, we are in a world full of fiction.¡±
¡°Point taken.¡±
Momokawa... I mean, Kyou-san doesn''t mind calling each other on first name basis at all. But I somehow feel uncomfortable. Maybe because we aren''t any closer than before.
I guess, I will get used to it.
¡°Hm... Holding hands for an hour each day... Ken, I would like to skip it.¡±
¡°But we''re resting pretty often, so using an hour to hold hands shouldn''t be...¡±
¡°That''s what lovers do.¡±
¡°We are a married couple, in a way.¡±
¡°Urgh... let me think about it.¡±
You don''t have to look so disgusted every time you remember that the cursed got us married in a strange way.
¡°Sleeping next to each other at night. No problem.¡±
¡°Huh? But Momokawa, that''s much worse than holding hands.¡±
¡°It''s ''Kyou-san'' and it''s not.¡±
¡°How?!¡±
¡°First, we did it already once, a few days ago when we first arrived at the chasm. And in the end, you don''t have the balls to do something.¡±
I... can''t argue with that.
So that''s the reason, why she is so defenseless in her sleep, even though I''m technically still a man, Because she knows I won''t dare to do anything to her.
¡°But wouldn¡¯t it be uncomfortable?¡±
¡°It''s 1 WP every night, so bear with it.¡±
This girl is a tyrant!
¡°Feeding each other... That''s too embarrassing, dismissed.¡±
How does she measure embarrassment? It''s illogical that sleeping next to me is less embarrassing than holding hands or playing the ''Ahn''-game.
¡°Ken, everything which includes kisses is banned.¡±
¡°I agree.¡±
¡°And the ecchi stuff as well.¡±
¡°I would rather put a censor bar on these. Some are hardcore.¡±
¡°Linking arms... it''s almost like holding hands...¡±
¡°We better not link arms.¡±
¡°But holding hands?¡±
¡°Less body contact.¡±
¡°I see. How about the lap things?¡±
¡°Which ones?¡±
¡°Me sitting on your lap, lap-pillow and such.¡±
¡°Please don''t sit on my lap.¡±
I would ''awake'' then and that would be awkward since there would be no way she won''t notice.
¡°How about lap-pillowing each other?¡±
¡°We have to make compromises at some point. Let''s remember it in case we have too few.¡±
The list is long full of lovey-dovey stuff. Others are conditional or hard to trigger, like saving the life of the other one. Neither of us wants to try that, since you could actually die.
One of the hardest conditions are things which get only rewarded when done subconsciously. Like an indirect kiss. These are simple things, but you can''t trigger them willingly because it wouldn''t be subconsciously anymore.
In the end, there are only a few acceptable choices. Our final decision is using the following actions to gain WP:
[Calling each other by nickname or first name], [Holding hands an hour a day], [Wife gets lap-pillow for at least 10 minutes], [Husband gets lap-pillow for at least 10 minutes], [Sleeping next to each other], and [Me eating her food at least once per day].
So we would gain 6 WP a day.
¡°Ken, which bonus should we gain first?¡±
¡°We need at least 50 WP before we get the cheap stuff that is actually interesting. Let''s first collect those and look what we need at that time.¡±
¡°We have only 15 WP, so in three days it''s impossible to gain the remaining ones with six per day. So why do we even care about that?¡±
¡°Only six we can achieve voluntary and controlled a day. But there are more we might collect unintended. And a slim chance is still better than no chance.¡±
¡°I agree to it, even though I dislike it.¡± Kyou-san looks tortured. Hey, I got her name mentally right.
But there is a question left.
¡°I ask myself, what happens if we sleep next to each other while holding hands. Would we gain 2 WP then?¡±
¡°No idea. We can try it out this night.¡±
¡°Let''s not if possible. If we miss the WP for holding hands, we will be vexed if we''re short one WP when we need it.¡±
¡°I see. So...¡±
Kyou-san deeply inhales.
¡°...so we should get it over with for today. Which one first?¡±
¡°Holding hands, since we need to do an whole hour. And maybe we should try to make a lap-pillow at the same time.¡±
¡°You or me, Ken?¡±
¡°I don''t care.¡±
¡°Then put your head on my lap.¡±
I don''t know why she chose this order, but I just have to lay my head on her lap. This is the first time I got a lap-pillow. And with a female classmate, to boost.
Even though there is no romance in this. Somehow Kyou-san appears to be rather used to it. She takes my head in both of her hands and leads it to her lap.
It''s warm.
Then she takes my left hand with hers. These are the hands with the cursed rings.
¡°Is there a reason, why you took the left hand?¡±
¡°We''re both right-handed.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
Logical choice.
Wait a minute.
From this angle, I can see clearly Kyou-san''s chest, when I try to look at her face. Even though she has a slender build, there is still enough to fill one''s hand.
This... is bad.
I close my eyes and try to imagine playing games on my PC to ease this inner stirring. I never paid much mind to Kyou-san before coming into the chasm and even there I did only sparsely.
But I feel like it will be much harder to do the same from this moment on. Since we''re holding hands and hers is clearly feminine, much smaller than mine.
Since I''m laying on her lap and feel her warmth and scent her smell. It''s a mixture of filth, sweat and something else. This must be a girl''s smell.
Am I developing a fetish or is this only because I can''t ban the fact that I''m kinda intimate with a girl and discover everything what''s different about us here?
Neither of us spoke. But I hear a light tapping.
Kyou-sans taps with the index finger of her right hand on the ground. It''s a regular and exact rhythm. Like the ticking of a clock.
...Wait, it''s really a tap per second. She''s counting the seconds!
Uh, she hates me so much, she can''t wait patiently.
I thought ten minutes are doable, but with this discovery, every second becomes painful.
But finally,
You gain 1 WP.
After a hard work day, getting a lap-pillow from your wife is a way to replenish your vigor and heal your soul for the next things to come.
¡°Exactly 10 minutes.¡± So Kyou-san really counted every second. ¡°In our time.¡±
¡°Our time?¡±
¡°The one, back in Japan. In Feuerberg, they have faster seconds and 100 makes a minute, 100 minutes and hour and 20 hours a day. Taniguchi-sensei says a day in Feuerberg are exactly 28 hours and 18 minutes in Japanese time.¡±
So they have longer days? I can''t tell, because I never saw a clock in this world, I guess. At least I should remember a clock, which uses only 20 hours for a day.
But this would mean, that the curse uses our understanding of time. What could this mean?
¡°Ken, could you please...¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°My lap.¡±
¡
I forgot that I''m still getting a lap-pillow from Kyou-san.
¡°... Of course.¡±
Actually, it is quite comfortable, when she''s not counting seconds, but we have to switch. Since we want to test if we can make several WP-actions at once, we can''t release your hands. So we have some trouble, since our left hands are linked, but in the end, we just need a bit of turning.
Now Kyou-san lays her head on my lap. It isn''t that special. She looks with a languid expression at my face first and then closed her eyes after sighing.
That''s not romantic at all.
¡°Back to topic, so that means the curse is able to tell how much time are 10 minutes in our world?¡±
¡°I think so, Ken.¡±
¡°Maybe it''s only converting it into another time. I calculate this... A day in this world is 28 hours and how many minutes?¡±
¡°18 minutes.¡±
¡°Let me see... Wait a moment.¡±
I change my class to [Student].
¡°Your belly got fatter.¡±
This- ¡°I know!¡±
Seriously, it''s not that bad.
¡°I think [Academics] might help. So we have 28 hours and 18 minutes, this would be 1,680 minutes plus 18 minutes equals 1,698 minutes .¡±
Even though it''s not like a calculator, my mathematical skills are much better than before.
Level 38 gives enough [Intelligence] to make these calculations much easier.
¡°Next, we...¡±
I calculate the numbers, but seriously, even with an enhanced [Intelligence] it was hard to remember my interim results. Since I can''t do it at once with a calculator, I ask Kyou-san to remember these for me, since [Fast Learner] apparently only helps with ''learning'' and memorizing ''knowledge'', not interim results. And it''s confusing, since their seconds and minutes are shorter than ours, but their hours and days longer.
¡°So 10 of our minutes are 8 minutes and about 29 seconds in their time.¡±
¡°I don''t think, it has a special meaning.¡±
¡°I guess so. So the curse really uses our time. But how and why? Does it have to do with us being heroes?¡±
¡°Maybe because ''we'' are cursed?¡±
¡°So the curse uses 10 minutes within the understanding of the cursed?¡±
¡°It''s a curse, so I wouldn''t be surprised.¡±
Kyou-san is somehow right. But I come across another problem. Sitting on your knees is hard. I''m not used to it, since at home I always sat on a chair, either at the dining table or my PCs or consoles. When was the last time, I sit on my knees for a longer period of time?
My legs are numb.
I change back to [Scout], hoping that my higher [Vitality] will fix it. And of course, because we still should use my [Perception]-skills, so that I can detect incoming trouble beforehand.
Kyou-san did count seconds to verify if the 10 minutes are accurate. Not because she wanted to end it quickly. In the end, she doesn''t mind doing something like that with a boy like me. She doesn''t care.
Well, at least it''s not direct hate, but it somehow hurts my manly pride.
That Kyou-san doesn''t think of me as a boy. Or at least a boy who''s worth to be bothered with.
She really has a lot of experience, but for me, it''s still very uncomfortable to do things like a lap-pillow with a girl.
Even though I don''t, particularly like Kyou-san. I just learned to get along with her grudgingly.
Somehow, I feel like my first more private experiences with girls shouldn''t be with someone like Kyou-san, who I don''t have feelings for.
Even though she''s a pretty girl, her personality is...
Is...
Hard to describe.
Two weeks ago, I would have said, that she''s a shallow girl with a pretty face, who fakes a nice personality for credits and benefits.
One week ago, I would have added, that she''s bitching around a lot and only takes responsibility if she''s sure she will have an easy time.
Three days ago, I would have called her a surprisingly obedient person, who does what is needed to survive, even though it''s inconvenient and straining.
And now I think, that I don''t know shit about her and she''s actually quite complex.
Maybe I just forgot that people aren''t simple.
You gain 1 WP.
Your wife is trying her best to make you feel as comfortable as possible, so you have to repay any kindness with a moment of privacy, so she can lean on you and recharge her batteries.
Without a word, Kyou-san lifts her head and sits up. Again, we have the inconvenience to have each left hands, but this time she simply sit next to me, facing the other wall.
I, on the other hand, pull my numb legs from under my body and sat down on my ass.
Neither of use says a word. My thoughts are wandering around. But it''s still uncomfortable to sit. I can simply lay down the crimson bear''s fur and-
¡°Ah.¡±
¡°What''s wrong, Ken?¡±
¡°I dropped the fur.¡±
¡°...You''re right. Where?¡±
¡°I think it was the sanctum. I remember putting it down for mobility, but then it... escalated.¡±
Kyou-san had to pull me with her to escape and we totally forgot about the pelt that time. Maybe it''s still there. Or maybe, someone took it.
We brought it with us for several purposes, but since it¡¯s big and unhandy, you can''t really fight while carrying it. That we lost it is a pity. But at least we''re alive.
For now.
A light shiver passes through my body remembering the dead ss''rak, albeit only for a matter of seconds. I feel human warmth through Kyou-san''s hand. It''s just like the first night in the chasm. Feeling someone''s warmth can be very comforting.
So just for now, I will engulf in this kind of comfort, while not even looking at Kyou-san''s face. So she won''t know that I need her right now.
And this way around forty minutes passed.
You gain 1 WP.
Holding hands is a many-sided expression of your emotions of each other. You can express joy, happiness, sorrow and comfort only through your fingers. Sometimes words aren''t needed.
So we can really perform multiple WP-actions at once. This will be useful. Like holding hands while sleeping, if there is no other way to accomplish a full hour.
Kyou-san and I separated from each other.
My hand is sweaty as well, but at least I don''t wipe it down like Kyou-san does. This reminds me of the start of middle school when the other children said I would infect them with the ''Katsuragi pox''.
Do I have any happy school-related memories at all?
Nevertheless, we''re still stuck in a storage room full of junk and with no idea how to get out unnoticed and how we can climb the next level. We don''t have any idea, what Muaotef is up to and how to kill the ss''rak patriarch.
The average ss''rak are strong enough to be a threat to me if they gang up or I let my guard drop. I''m not sure if I''ll be able to kill them if the situation arises again and Kyou-san can''t do anything about the whole mess on her own.
And I guess the patriarch will be even stronger than the common ss''rak. Basically, we''re still in mortal danger, but it''s not as bad as the chasm. In three days, I think we might wish us to be back in the chasm since Muaotef seems to be a dragon true to its word. He won''t let us go if we fail.
I hate it.
Again, I feel my blood-pressure rising and clumps of anger welling up my stomach. I want to slaughter all ss''rak.
But I understand, that this is only me throwing a tantrum. The frustration is just adding up and since I''m not in immediate danger, this side of me shows up.
I hate it. I hate how weak I am. In these last days, I fully understood how pitiful I really am.
¡°Let us sleep, Ken.¡±
Kyou-san interrupts my train of thought as if she knows what I''m thinking. And her proposal just blows everything away from my mind. Since sleeping would mean... sleeping next to each other.
Back then in the chasm, we were exhausted in a dark cave and touching one another was the only way to confirm, that the other person is still there. This time it''s still a dark room, but a minimum of light comes from under the door.
So my [Darksight] works. I can see Kyou-san clearly, even though she won''t be able to see that well, the moment she stops using [Torch]. The only way for danger to come is through the door and if I sleep with [Dormurnal] on, I will notice.
Altogether it feels different from the last time, it''s somehow less desperate and more... thrilling. Well, we only have to be to next other, so this might be surprisingly less exciting than I currently think.
Kyou-san and I lean at the door, so I can make out noises as early as possible. Our shoulders are almost touching. She extinguishes the [Torch] and I close my eyes. I''ve would have thought that the excitement would keep me awake.
But instead, I fall asleep in a second.
Volume 01 - Chapter 3-3
I open my eyes, where are we? Ah, the storage.
Where is Momo- Kyou-san? Ah, of course. She''s right under my nose.
Or more precisely my head is on top of hers, while she''s leaning on my shoulder.
You gain 1 WP.
Waking up next to your partner in the morning gives you vigor and vitality.
¡
Wait a minute!
I quickly lift my head and now Kyou-san starts to awake.
¡°...Morning already?¡±
¡°Erm... No idea.¡±
We''re still at the bottom of a temple or something like that and couldn''t see natural light.
¡°Ah, sorry for leaning on you. Must have happened after I fell asleep.¡±
Without much haste, Kyou-san simply backs off. She really doesn''t think anything of me. But somehow my head feels a lot clearer than before. Maybe taking counsel with one''s pillow is more effective, than I thought.
¡°Kyou-san, I think I know how we can get out.¡±
It''s so obvious right now, but somehow I wasn''t able to realize it yesterday.
¡°Of this room?¡±
¡°Out of this building.¡±
¡°How?¡±
¡°We have to get captured.¡±
¡°That''s... a pretty stupid idea.¡±
She is right, but even if we escape this building, we don''t know where the patriarch is and how everything else will play out.
¡°It''s a big risk, but the ss''rak will listen to us!¡±
¡°We already killed some of them.¡±
¡°But we''re messengers of Muaotef. Since they''re worshiping him, we might have a small chance instead of no chance. We need to ask to talk to the ''Voice of Muotef'' first, then everything will fall into place!¡±
¡°...I see some logic in your insanity, but there has to be another way.¡±
¡°We only have two days left, before Muaotef''s time limit is met. And even though I don''t know how he will kill us, I''m too sure that he can kill us.¡±
¡°How about...¡±
I knew it would be hard to convince her. But we know too little, have no means to climb the level and even if we force the ss''rak to take us up or do find another way, there might be still plenty ss''rak outside.
¡°...Ken, how do we even know that they won''t kill us?¡±
¡°We can''t be a hundred percent sure, but there are too many obstacles if we try it the other way.¡±
¡°But that risk is too high!¡±
We both look at each other eyes, but no one wants to back down. Normally, I would agree to Kyou-san. My idea is stupid. It''s basically letting yourself get caught and try to convince the ss''rak, that you''re with Muaotef and somehow convince the patriarch to fight us under fair terms, like a duel or such.
But as long as we are able to speak with the Voice, we might be able to earn some credibility. I''m sure, that this particular ss''rak will have some insight into our mission. I can only hope, that this one has some influence in the ss''rak society.
And the more I think about it, the less hope I have for any other plan.
Climbing up the wall, slaying every ss''rak I see and fight my way to the patriarch? That would be normal in a game, but this is no game, even though I got the feeling, this world tries to convince me otherwise.
We don''t even know, where the patriarch is and how the outside looks like. Even if we would be able to hack ¡®n¡¯ slay our way out of this building it would be meaningless if this is some temple in the middle of nowhere without any hint where the other ss''rak lives.
We lack information and we lack time to gather it, but since this building seems to have a shrine of Muaotef, the Voice might have quarters here. This has to link us to the patriarch!
Even though the chances of success were plummeted. By myself.
I can''t believe that the first thing we did, after getting out of the chasm, was killing the guards. But living for two months in this world, and especially the last few days, made me think that I actually have to kill every problem I come across.
Surely, I became like that because I was solo-hunting and killing for survival. And maybe Kyou-san trusted my judgment since these kept us alive in the chasm. Even though some would have killed us without her help.
But if she tends to trust my judgment...
¡°Please, Kyou-san. Trust me.¡±
I have to clutch at any straw.
¡°Ken...¡± Kyou-san is narrowing her eyes. ¡°Are you kidding? Do you really think, that line can convince anyone? Are your games like cheap romance movies?¡±
¡°Phew... I just thought I should try it. So there seems to be no other way.¡±
I change into the [Pikeman]-class and break the door open.
Even though Kyou-san is in a position to complain, she was never able to stop my plan in the first place. So I just will do it, if she wants me to or not.
The sound of the breaking door can surely be heard from afar and this will definitely get the attention of the ss''rak.
¡°You...¡± Kyou-san looks at me as if I just took her favorite book and threw it out of a window.
Then she looks around the room, maybe she tries to find a hiding place.
But she doesn''t have the [Stealth]-ability. I have.
Two ss''rak come in.
¡°Who you be?¡±
¡°My name is Katsuragi Kenta, a hero, and I have to talk to the Voice of Muaotef. I''m sent by the Great One himself.¡± Or would it be ''Themselves'', since Muaotef refers to himself in plural? Doesn''t matter, I just have to roll with it.
Kyou-san doesn''t find a way out and just gives up. But she''s looking at me, as if I had recommended her to trash-duty in school, while there are no tools to do so, forcing her to pick up everything by hand.
The ss''rak, on the other side, seems to be confused. They don''t know what to do in this situation. So I just need to tell them.
¡°In this case, you should get some reinforcement, then send someone to the Voice, so a meeting may be arranged.¡±
I try my best smile.
¡°Better we kill zem.¡±
¡°Yezz.¡±
Why!? That was my best smile!
Kyou-san sighs and steps before me. ¡°Please don''t. We''re really here in the name of the Great One and the ones who defied us before are now lying dead because they incurred the Great One''s wrath. Do you want to end like them, as well?¡±
¡°Zzzz... No. Better we do what tze female say.¡±
¡°So, female. What zhould we doo?¡±
This... is so unfair! Why are they listening to Kyou-san, but not me? This doesn''t make sense, if we put aside that I''m kinda antisocial, untrustworthy and put some players in my parties off in the past, while Kyou-san is... OK, it totally makes sense now!
So we are brought to the Voice of Muaotef.
So far so good. We''re in an audience room, which kinda looks like some voodoo hut. There are idols of dragons and strange symbols carved into the walls, multiple braziers burned different materials. Wood, bones, and coal.
The Voice of Muaotef, a ss''rak above 2,3 meters (around 7''7) is standing before both of us and six guards surround us. The Voice wears a strange crown made of bones and stone prongs. This is new, but maybe it''s too troublesome to travel around with that thing on your head.
¡°Zo you again. You ssurviwed and even came bakk.¡± He seems to be surprised and wary. ¡°You''ve chaanged.¡± He''s obviously looking at my belly, which doesn''t exist in my [Scout]-form. Even though it''s really rude! I''m not fat in [Student]-class, only a bit round!
¡°We did.¡± I try to ignore that insult and sound as confidence as possible. ¡°And we talked with the Great One, Muaotef in... his majesty.¡± I almost said ''in person'', but that wouldn''t be accurate since it''s a dragon.
¡°Zee. What do yuu want!¡± The ss''rak slurs their words often differently, so I had to focus on them with extra care.
¡°We''re sent by the Great One to challenge the patriarch to a duel.¡±
¡°...¡± The Voice is looking at me with narrow eyes. ¡°Zhat doezn''t maek zense!¡±
Uh, he slurred more than usual!
¡°Didn''t the Great One already told you?¡± Does that dragon really think, we sneak around in assassin style, killing the patriarch without anyone noticing us? It''s obviously impossible. Could you please give us a claw-armed hand, Muaotef-kamisama!? ¡°We need to go to the patriarch and declare this, you know?¡±
Why am I feeling dizzy? Ah, the Voice just slapped me with his tail and now I''m on the ground. ¡°Don''t you fool me!¡± He''s enraged. ¡°Ai''m zhe voizz, human!¡±
Ah, I totally see. Jealous, huh? I slowly stand up and grin. ¡°You know what?¡± I''m so calm, I''m scared of myself. I change into [Pikeman] and punch the bastard in the face. Feel the [Strength] of a warrior class, fool!
Kyou-san shakes her head in despair. ¡°Why...¡±
The Voice falls to the ground and spits some teeth out and seems to be semi-conscious. Even though it might be brutal, it makes me feel good. A bit of revenge for the chasm! Better to kick him, as long as it''s possible!
The guards were stunned before, since my [Class-Change] and punch were surprising, but now the point their knives at my throat. With hands up, I declare: ¡°I surrender, but let me speak to your patriarch!¡±
Well, this visit was pointless!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Stupid, jerk, idiot!¡±
Kyou-san and I are in a prison cell, and she¡¯s kinda justifiably pissed at me. We were brought here by the guards with no equipment other than clothes. Similar to the situation back then at the Hei?quellen-shrine. This time, though, it''s all in the plan, I made right before hitting the Voice.
But Kyou-san disagrees: ¡°And the worst of it, I wanted to surrender at the shrine back then, while you did something stupid! But now you surrender and it''s still stupid! How can everything you do be so moronic!?¡± She lets off a lot of steam.
The prison cell is under the palace., while the palace is the center of a huge ss''rak city. The humans of Feuerberg most likely don''t even know that this city exists.
The temple where I hit the Voice may lie within the city walls, but seriously: I''m glad that I surrendered. To hack''n slay my way through a whole city would have been definitely impossible. Sneaking would have been difficult as well, since we''re most likely the only humans around here. A single mistake would be fatal.
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It would have been ideal, if the Voice just had cooperated, but since he''s a jerk, it wasn''t just possible.
¡°Shortsighted, easily irritated, quick-tempered...¡±
¡°Come on, Kyou-san. We''re inside the palace and I''m sure, the patriarch will talk to us. So far, everything is fine.¡±
¡°Don''t talk like that. This is the worst!¡±
¡°It''s not worse than the birds, the bear and definitely much better than Muaotef.¡±
¡°These times things escalated, but this is the first time we are at someone else''s mercy!¡±
¡°Phew... what about the first time we got captured?¡±
¡°Don''t remind me of that! Also, that''s different! You didn''t ask me, yet I even helped you to get to the Voice and then you hit him, because he was a bit angered! Why didn''t you try to please him!?¡±
And why didn''t you participate in the conversation? She¡¯s throwing a fit and acts irrational, so I can''t argue with her. ¡°Shouldn''t we do something constructive while we''re waiting?¡±
¡°Oh? What great idea do you have this time? Do you even need my opinion or are you going to do it either way?¡±
She has become very lively and spiteful in just one day. I guess she''s back to normal again. ¡°I thought if we''re waiting, we can at least get our WP for this day. So... holding hands and lap-pillows.¡±
Uh, now she''s looking at me, as if I had been caught peeking at the girl''s bathroom. The lowest of the low.
¡°Never mind.¡±
Well, I''m used to being looked at like trash and that girls despise me, so I should be able to handle it, I suppose.
¡ ¡
An hour or so passed, while I tried my best to not feel hard-pressed by Kyou-san''s relentless stares. Finally a group of ss''rak guards is here to take us to the patriarch. I''m bound, while Kyou-san can go without restraints. What am I, a wild animal!?
The throne room isn''t as large as I thought and more modest. The throne was nothing more than a large wooden chair, the furnishing pragmatic and the decoration made of bone, wood and copper.
The patriarch himself is a... well, he''s only about as tall as me, and since ss''rak have an average height of roughly 1,90 meter, the king is pretty short for one. And even though I can''t really point out why, he seems to be an old ss''rak. Maybe because his scales are paler, his features limber and his eyes glassier than those of the ss''rak I saw up till now.
¡°I see, you are the one the Great One sent, while punching his Voice out of commission¡± The partriarch''s voice sounds dry and humorless, but his way of speaking is more refined than the average ss''rak seems to be capable of. ¡°Why does the Great One sent you? And why did you do that to his Voice?¡±
I just need to address this problem directly, while ignoring the fact that I did something obstructive on the way. I take a look around, there are five Ss''rak guards here. I wouldn''t even dare to say what I''m about to say, if I hadn''t met the ss''rak before.
¡°To be frank, I''m not only a messenger in words, but in deeds as well. Muaotef, the Great One, sent us to challenge you to a fight to the death.¡±
The guards are shocked, but they don''t move. Strength seems to be important to the ss''rak, so I already figured that they won''t kill me outright by challenging the patriarch himself. Who could actually know that the love-advice I got before would come in handy?
¡°I see. So the Great One wants to test me. Guards, leave. These individuals are on a divine mission, what is to be talked about is only for the chosen.¡±
Reluctantly the guards leave the room. Hey, I''m bound with ropes, so I can''t do much! Meanwhile, the patriarch studies each of us with a calm demeanor. After a while of silent observing, he continues.
¡°You have to know that the Great One isn''t pleased with me. So I know, you''re assassins. But why did you attack his Voice? And why didn''t you ambush me? Even now you might be able to overwhelm me, you know?¡± He seems to be very amused and curious, which makes sense, if I try to see the case from his point of view.
Kyou-san and I exchanged subtle looks. She''s still pissed, but she will let me talk for now, since ''it''s my stupid idea which brought us here''.
¡°To be honest, there are several reasons. Even if we would slay you, in the end there is no guarantee that we will escape alive from this city.¡±
¡°So that''s why you challenged me before my subjects.¡±
¡°There are also other things we want and need. So if you accept our terms, we will comply with your conditions for this duel, as long as they''re reasonable.¡±
¡°And the Voice?¡±
¡°I didn''t like him! I just wanted to work together and he got a hissy-fit.¡± It was not because he insulted me with his stare to my belly and hurt me with his tail-whip.
¡°Keke.¡± The patriarch chuckled. ¡°You''re crafty and honest. But a coward, to yield to Muaotef''s orders.¡±
I couldn''t deny it. ¡°But it raises your own chance of success, and you don''t seem to like the Voice either.¡±
¡°You''re right.¡± I think the patriarch is grinning. Hard to say, without lips. But he¡¯s in a good mood, so punching the Voice was totally worth it. ¡°Say your terms, humans.¡±
¡°First, we have to fight to the death. Otherwise, Muaotef will not be pleased. Second, we are the humans which you guys attacked at the Hei?quellen-shrine. Give us our stuff back. Ah, and the red fur, that might be found yesterday in the temple is ours as well.¡±
¡°I see. So you''re the ones from the shrine. Now everything fits.¡±
I can''t tell why, but somehow this sounds like the patriarch means more than just these encounters. I want to ask him, but he proceeds by telling us his conditions.
These are the traditional Ss''rak rules for important duels:
1.) I have to fight him alone, since only males are to challenge other males to battle.
2.) Each of us will fight only in underwear and is allowed to take one item with us.
3.) We will fight in the arena, so everyone can see the battle.
4.) Wives can stay at the sideline to give moral support.
5.) Either the patriarch or the matriarch have to be the judge. Since the patriarch is fighting, this time the judge will be the matriarch and no, she''s just the coequal ruler and not the wife of the patriarch.
6.) When the battle begins, it will not be interrupted or stopped before one of us will die. In that moment, everything goes, even if it''s dishonorable, since battle is not about fairness, but survival. The only exception is interference from a third party, which will result in the judge making the call.
7.) After the fight ends, no resentment is to be shown to the victor.
So basically it''s a typical one-to-one duel, but with only one item, which would be my spear. I will be at disadvantage, since the ss''rak''s bodies are like weapons, so the patriarch can just take anything he wants, like protective gear. He seems to be old, but I don''t get the feeling that he''s weak.
¡°So if I lose, then Kyou-san will be able to walk away?¡±
¡°Yes, but if Muaotef has set his eyes on her, it''s only a question of time.¡±
¡°But you could escape so far.¡±
¡°Because the ss''rak trust me. If he would openly order to kill me, it wouldn''t be good for morale. So he has sent assassins and traitors to do this work.¡±
¡°... I would really like to know more about it, but I shouldn''t.¡±
¡°You''re right. Since tomorrow at the twelfth hour one of us will die. I let the items you requested be prepared. I call for you then, so you may choose what to use for our duel. Until then, you''re prisoner in our guest chamber.¡±
¡°How could you put ''prisoner'' and ''guest chamber'' in one sentenced without a flinch?¡±
¡°Kekekekeke.¡±
Too bad I have to kill the patriarch, since I begin to like him. But I hope I will be able to kill him without hesitation.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Somehow, we go from one waiting to another.¡±
Kyou-san is right. Since we escaped the chasm, we''re sitting around most of the time, while the rest is unnecessarily exciting. Like killing guards, throwing punches at religious figures and talking with someone, you have to kill to survive.
But there is a bright side. ¡°But at least we''re going somewhere. In terms of assassination.¡±
I''m not too keen to fight the patriarch alone without support, but if bringing Kyou-san to the fight would mean to face another ss''rak, it''s doable. Since it would definitely be the strongest female warrior or such.
This doesn''t mean, that I''m that optimistic. ¡°But this battle might be harsh. The patriarch looks like a warrior to me. But at least the chances are better than being stuck at the temple forever.¡±
¡°I think, I can cheer for you at the sideline.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
Kyou-san sighs and repeats what she said: ¡°I said, I will cheer for you in the arena. We''re somehow married, so it''s fine with the rules. And maybe I will find a chance to cheat unnoticed.¡±
I''m actually moved. That Kyou-san would do something like that. None of us thought for a moment that fighting fair is an option, as long as we find ways to cheat without being caught.
In times like these, I notice that we''re more similar than I originally thought. We''re both rotten to the core, in multiple ways.
¡°Come, Ken.¡±
With a small hand gesture, Kyou-san calls to me. She sits down on the only bed in this room, a big one for two people. For some reason, when we were asked if we need one or two rooms, Kyou-san said she wants one with a big bed.
I sit down next to her. Then she forcefully takes my head and pulls it down on her lap.
¡°Ah.¡±
¡°Your hand.¡±
¡°Right.¡±
Seems like I did well enough for Kyou-san to forgive me.
And we start the WP-routine we decided on yesterday.
But before even a minute passed, it knocks on the door and without waiting, a ss''rak entered.
¡°Sowry, doh I dizturb?¡±
I blush, but Kyou-san is unfazed.
¡°Actually you do, but that means we''re called for?¡±
¡°Exzaktly.¡±
She separates calmly from me and even let go of my hand.
We are brought to a hall with two thrones. On one of these sits the patriarch and on the other the matriarch, I guess. Hard to tell the gender on ss''rak without hearing voices. But on her side was a huge sword with a black blade.
This room is actually more of a throne room than the other one. It might be a banquet hall. Items are lined up on top of a large table. All our equipment from before we were captured at the shrine at the Hei?quellen-shrine and the temple of Muaotef, even our armors. The red bear''s fur is here as well.
¡°Chooze one off thiise itemz.¡± Yep, that''s definitely an old woman ss''rak, the matriarch. Maybe even older than the patriarch. ¡°Zis item be ze one you use in duel.¡±
The patriarch takes over: ¡°You bring the item to the matriarch, so she can keep it until the battle begins to prevent any kind of cheating. Mine is the sword.¡±
¡°Ze sword be strong and heawy, but it be just sword.¡±
So he will wield that big cleaver. This will probably just cut through my spear with one clean strike.
I look at the items. The weapons we made at the chasm. The spear I foolishly made out of a broomstick and a knife, how silly I was. Probably it will just break after one attack, but somehow I just wanted a better weapon. But most likely I needed to do something to distract me since I was shocked.
The spear I wielded before we got to the chasm is still in the backpack, instead of on top of the table. It might a reliable weapon, but is it strong enough? Most likely not.
I could use a ss''rak knife, these are crazily strong, as long as you use it against an immobile opponent. But most likely there is no way that the patriarch will be unable to move at any point of the battle.
The waterskin and the fur are useless, so are the backpa- Wait, the backpacks! The ones we got when we came into this world! These are magical ones, which allows us to use an inventory!
I''m currently my favorite class, [Scout]. And I have a skill, called [Distraction].
It''s from the [Stealth]-ability and will make everyone look away from me for one second. You can use it to buy time to use another skill, like [Camouflage], but since it''s only one second, I considered it useless before. When you play solo, the targets will eventually find you, since there are no other threats to be aware of, which makes it only an SP-trap.
But now is different!
I activate [Distraction] and shove some few items into my backpack with one arm, the waterskin, and the improvised spear. The [Inventory] is still working like it should, great.
One is not aware of [Distraction], so they won''t think too much about it. They basically just looked elsewhere for a second and think that was intended.
I present the matriarch my backpack.
¡°Hm... unuzual, but...¡± She looks into it and shakes it, but it''s still light and there is no rattling. ¡°This be one item.¡±
Yes! I have improved my odds by far, since even if I take out other items from my backpack in battle, this is due a mistake of the matriarch. After the start signal everything will go, I can use it to improve my odds.
The ss''rak''s strange sense of honor comes in handy.
The patriarch seems to be suspicious but doesn''t interfere. After the matriarch took the backpack, he says: ¡°The rest of the items will be handed over to you, if you win tomorrow. If you lose, your wife shall take one item as a keepsake, but the others will become my trophies.¡±
Ah, so he wants us to have no items over the night. Well, I can live with it.
We return to the room and gave each other lap-pillows, holding hands in the meanwhile and eat dinner.
Even though the ss''rak give us only soup and a strange kind of pastry, we greedily devour everything, since we had so little luxury in the chasm. We also got some kind of alcohol, which we diluted with water. We might be minors, but we''re in a fantasy world, so Japanese laws don''t oblige.
Kyou-san used her [Cook]-abilities before to determine if there is any poison in it and if we could even eat this kind of food as humans, but no problems there.
Our mood improves a lot.
¡°Ken, do you think, your trick will work?¡±
¡°Don''t worry. There are plenty of consumables in my [Inventory], like pots, bombs and such. I don''t think that you will need to do anything.¡±
¡°I see.¡± She seems somewhat relieved. ¡°Ah, I want a bath. And shampoo. And some new clothes.¡± Now that her worries are somehow eased, she begins to complain.
When I think about it, Kyou-san''s skin and clothes are still dirty. On her sleeves and under her fingernails is the dried blood of the ss''rak she killed. Even her hair is oily and barely combed. Normally you would call such a girl ugly, but somehow it doesn''t bother me much. More like, I enjoy it.
The two reasons why I enjoy it are: Seeing a pretty and shallow girl in an ugly state is satisfying and I myself am no better off. It''s nice to have a companion.
¡°Let''s ask the guards, if we can wash ourselves.¡±
The guards'' answer is a washing bowl, a sponge, and some hot water. We asked for clothes, but ss''rak, male and female, only wear a kind of kilt, to cover the shame and to have some pockets. They don''t actually need clothes or armors.
But seriously, how many days have I been in the same outfit? It must reek of my stench, I even sleep in these clothes! And my spares are still in the backpack. But now it''s time to clean myself!
Or so I thought. ¡°I will be first. Turn around.¡± Kyou-san says these words coldly, but I guess for her the feeling of being filthy might be even worse. She''s a girl, after all.
I turn around and suppressed the need to take a sniff at my clothes, so I can confirm how bad they really smell.
Kyou-san in the meanwhile... got naked right behind me!
This is the continuation of the hot spring-scene, only with no boulder to block my sight and the fact, that I won''t be able to relieve myself anywhere because we''re restricted to this room.
Help!
Unaware how every sound, from the rustling of the clothes to the movements of the sponge, is exciting me, Kyou-san takes her time to clean herself, extending this kind of torture.
Think about a game character, think about a game character. Uh, doesn''t that increase my lust, actually?
Prime numbers, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, erm... 29, 31, 33, wait, it''s dividable with 11 and 3. I hear the next sponge movement and Kyou-san sighs delightfully. Where have I been?
I want to push her down, that¡¯s what my body tells me.
Wait! Go away, desire!
I''m in mental pain, which becomes more physical every second. It actually hurts!
I would rather commit suicide before pushing down a girl like Kyou-san! A shallow woman who''s looking down on everyone and always put the blame on others! A girl with bountiful curves, a pretty face and a pleasing voice.
Please! Somebody, kill me!
After a few minutes which felt like an eternity: ¡°Ken, could you take a look at my face and tell me, if I missed something?¡±
I turn around and... Overkill!
Since her face is slightly reddened and completely clean, my heartbeat fastens. The pain in my lower body is almost unbearable and my reason hangs by a thread. One more push and I will push her down in return.
Calm down! ¡°No, you look fine.¡±
¡°Thank you. Your turn.¡±
The push doesn''t come. But I''m pretty conscious as I wash myself. And I face a problem: Should I wash my crotch? Since any stimulus might be too much to bear, it might be dangerous.
In the end, I washed it extra carefully, so there won''t be accidents.
¡°Let''s go to bed, Ken.¡±
Please, give me a break! ¡°I would rather sleep on the floor.¡±
¡°No, we have a bed and since we decided to sleep next to each other if possible, we should do so. We''re just a few WP short for a simple bonus, so we can see, if it''s worth.¡±
Oni, devil! And she was against grinding WP at first!
But if I object, she might find out, that I''m about to lose control and I will never let this happen! She will definitely exploit this and blackmail me afterward!
So I just try my best to lay next to her while facing the other way. Even though I am still excited, I might calm down over time.
But even an hour is not enough to lessen my desires and I can''t relieve myself in this situation without her noticing the smell or the stains! I might get up and do it in the corner, but that''s still too risky.
¡°Ken... you''re awake?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°If you''re thinking about having sex with me, since it might be your last night...¡± She pauses. What? What kind of development is this? Is Kyou-san actually aroused, too? Maybe being with a man that close for so long makes her sexually frustrated, too. ¡°...forget it!¡±
And it got flaccid.
Of course, it''s actually better than being aroused all the time, but not much. My ego is shattered. Even though it''s only natural, that someone like Kyou-san would act like that.
At least I can now get some sleep.
Volume 01 - Chapter 4-1 – Rise, Hero
The last day of Muaotef''s deadline and the duel between me and the patriarch of the ss''rak. If I win, I will live and then I will get the water of the Hei?quellen-shrine, return to Esse and get rid of the cursed ring. If I lose, then I''m dead, but I would be dead either way, if I disappoint Muaotef. So nothing changes.
Even though I can''t be sure that the dragon won''t kill me regardless after I slay the patriarch. But, this is my only chance.
This time, I will not hesitate to take someone''s life. Even though this thought is supposed to make me feel sick. Ugh, when I close my eyes, I can still see the one, Kyou-san killed. Maybe this picture is much more present, than my own murders, since it was that brutally gruesome.
Kyou-san seems to be fine with it, but maybe she''s tormented on the inside. Not that I should bother myself with her worries, I have enough to deal with myself.
For now, it would be the coming duel. But I have several advantages.
I''ll have my backpack, which gives me access to a variety of consumables and my weapons, so my equipment overall should be superior. My battle-senses are sharpened due the time in the chasm, while my opponent doesn''t seem to fight that much anymore. And finally, I have the power of heroes, so I''m especially powerful for a human due the class-system.
My opponent on the other hand might be from a physically superior race, which has scales as armor and claws plus a tail as weapons, but in the end, it''s still an old lizard. His experience might be a bother, but in the end I should win the fight, as long as the fighting ground won''t be too disadvantageous.
So it comes down to the arena, but since the patriarch chose his greatsword, this is most likely no climbing challenge. Maybe just a simple platform like in the coliseum.
I''m ready to go. I change to [Pikeman].
Kyou-san and I already collected all the WP we could, but we''re still short a few to get one of the cheap bonuses. I would like to enlarge the area of the attribute-bonuses we gain by being near each other, but it would still be only 5 meters with the cheapest one.
We both are brought to the arena ring and the yelling and cheering crowd of ss''raks is welcoming us. I was stripped to my underwear beforehand. The arena itself is just a simple platform, so everyone can watch the fight from the stands.
Kyou-san is being sent to the sidelines. I could walk up to her in battle, if I want to, even though none of us is supposed to cross the line, which is drawn there. On the other end of the battle area is a ss''rak, probably the wife of the patriarch.
The patriarch himself is kneeling in the inner circle which is drawn in the middle of the ring and in the center of the circle stands the matriarch. I join them and kneel down across the patriarch.
Then the ceremony begins.
The matriarch is speaking in a loud clear voice in the strange pronunciation the ss''rak share, but I was focused on the patriarch, who seems to be as tensed as I am.
This is good.
I try to imagine myself killing him, to prepare myself to do the deed. I''m still mostly calm, just a bit of excitement is building up. But my mind remains clear.
The matriarch finishes her speech and gives each of us an item: The patriarch gets his black sword and I the backpack.
¡°Begin!¡±
I push myself back with my arms to jump back and on my feet and see, how the patriarch is slowly getting up. I should better end it quickly! I just have to open my backpack, take out my spear and use [Speedthrust] once or twice to dominate this duel early on.
So I open my backpack and... it''s an empty backpack. No inventory-screen is seen. What''s going on? I equip the backpack with a bad feeling and check its status.
[Heroes Backpack]
Description:
This is a backpack of a hero, a gift from the gods which allows the heroes to gain access to a pocket dimension, known as [Inventory], to store and retrieve large amounts of items. Each such backpack is aligned to one specific hero.
Status:
Gain the [Inventory]-skill; Momokawa Kyou only
Value:
0 Newgold
¡
¡°This is the wrong one!!!¡±
¡°Of course, kekeke.¡± The patriarch is standing and lifts his sword sluggishly, while hissing his words, which were nearly swallowed by the roaring crowd. ¡°Because I switched them. For a hero to use the inventory for this kind of duel is shameless. So duel with a backpack, like you wanted to.¡±
Shit! I hate it! Die in a drain, old fart!
So the patriarch has some insight of heroes and I''m practically unarmed now. But at least he can''t use the sword that well with his old body, so I just need to keep myself mobile and try to think of another action.
The patriarch lifts his left hand. ¡°[Flaming Sphere]!¡±
A ball of fire is flying towards me, I quickly dodged that one by an inch. So he''s a mage? I see, the sword is to catch me off guard, it''s a strategy. Or maybe he learned some spells, after being too old to wield his weapon efficiently.
But his spell doesn''t seem to be that powerful. Do normal people have MP? Can I let him use up all of them and then attack?
No, I have to be quick. I change class to [Scout] to get the most of my mobility. I sprint towards the patriarch.
¡°Fool.¡± He swings his sword, but I was easily able to dodge it and get into point-blank distance. I will smack him for good!
Suddenly, I was thrown back and my ears are ringing. What was that? Ah, of course, it''s like that roar of the bear. I didn''t know that ss''rak can use that, too.
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I can barely stand, since my sense of balance is off, but I will be able to dodge another of these [Flaming Spheres]. I lock my eyes on the patriarch, as a [Scout] I have the [Focus]-skill, which will make it much easier to dodge projectiles, magical or not.
But instead of using fire magic, the patriarch becomes... bulky. Each of his limbs grows twice as large and the torso seems to be ready to explode of power. This is like a certain perverted hermit in a well-known manga.
¡°[Blade Tornado]!¡±
The patriarch rises his sword and a whirlwind begins to surround him, the air pressure pushes me back again. This time, I got some cuts on my body.
Can it be, that I''m actually at a huge disadvantage?
The patriarch uses fire, roaring, whirlwinds and have grown muscles. Even before I ended flying, the patriarch is already dashing towards to me in an amazingly speed, ready to strike. I don''t have time to think of anything or react!
... wait! [Distraction]!
One second is enough to throw his aiming off, the sword missed me by an inch and I could feel the cold black metal rubbing my skin. Who called this skill useless, huh!?
The impact of my landing let me roll over the floor and I feel slightly dizzy. This was close and I don''t know, if I can rescue myself next time.
This isn''t good.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
My name is Momokawa Kyou.
I stand at the sideline of an arena and watching a duel, which determines my future. But the one I have to entrust this future to is losing. Badly.
His name is Katsuragi Kenta and I despised him once, since he is a disgusting, corpulent boy who looks constantly down on others, even though he has no reason to.
But after coming to this world, everything changed. Suddenly, we had to take on an unreasonable request or we won''t be able to return later. Ken disappeared after a few days. We only realized it after we wanted to form permanent parties, and the numbers didn''t add up. But nobody really cared for him. He has no friends in class or school. Or at all, I think.
I started my party with Masahiko-kun and the others. We decided, that each of us should specialize in one aspect, since it makes sense to be the best in what you do. I wanted to be the supporter, since then nobody would force me to be too active on the battlefield.
We found out, that you can learn classes, if you''re with someone who actually do the profession. So I started at the church, the priests there used herbs and magic to heal the needy. And when I got access to the [Healer]-class I chose it without hesitation.
My first mistake, the [Healer]-class is only using herbs. No magic.
Then I learned the [Priest]-class and was able to use magic. This was great, I could magically close any wound, even though the effect differs between hero and non-hero. Heroes are able to fight again, as long as their HP and SP are replenished, a non-hero will recover faster, but it''s not like you can simply rejoin an ongoing battle.
Finally, I was able to do the role I imagined, but then Masahiko-kun had the idea, that each of us should bring skills, which would be useful while camping. So I learned the [Cook]-class, my second mistake.
All of my class-slots were used up and I didn''t have any offensive potential left. None of my classes grants me a significant [Strength]-boost and I don''t have any offensive spells. And in this world you have to kill, to become stronger. And I did realized it too late.
Even though I was able to kill a monster sometimes, Masahiko-kun and the others grew impatient. We fought and when the heroes were about to go to the border to level up faster, I was left behind. I was angry. Angry at Masahiko-kun and the others, since they left me, even though they actually cared for my well-being. And angry at myself, since I didn''t think it through, before I used up all my class-slots.
I had the option to go to the teachers and become part of the non-combat group, but I hated that idea. I wanted to show everyone, what I''m capable of. I''m the class-president after all and I wanted to be with my friends and instead of the shame, I felt at that time. So I hunted monsters every day.
But it was difficult to do it alone, even though I could heal myself, the groups of monsters were too large or too strong, so I practically walked around all day with one or two kills per day. And then my anger became despair.
I had to help the church a few times to earn my life-expenses. A useless hero like me would be a burden, otherwise. I felt like a part-time worker who had trouble to make ends meet, even though I had some money, my whole lifestyle was hanging on a thread.
After the chancellor told me, that they won''t support me much longer, if I don''t get results, I was outraged. And scared. Even though I could still sleep in the temple, I would have to pay for food and other life-expenses. Even though I saved money, it wouldn''t be enough in the long run, if I continue to hunt monsters like before.
And then Ken returned. He was the same boy as before, but while I couldn''t adapt to this world, he easily did so. Although it wasn''t kind to him, too. He was cursed and needed help and suggested a team-up, so we could aid one another. The despair and frustration I had until now, were the reasons I consented to his proposal. My fourth mistake.
Although it started out fine, in the end he put me through danger after danger and his own curse got put onto me. But somehow I gave in to all of this. Maybe because I''m so sick of everything, that I don''t even care anymore.
I still dislike Ken, he''s also not fond of me. But somehow it''s better than back in school. Maybe because he has grown. Not physically, even though his body changes when he switch between classes, but I think he somehow got a bit more doable.
This partnership of convenience isn''t so bad in the end. Even though it brings trouble. I even had to kill someone, but seeing him die would be worse. Anyone would prefer killing a stranger than losing someone you care about.
Care about?
Strange, maybe there is more to it than I thought. Maybe there is something like a feeling of actual partnership in this. Only a little.
That must be the reason, why I''m so unnerved at the moment. Because I see him getting his ass handed to him, again, and know that this will inevitably lead to his death. And there is nothing I could do at the moment.
Even Ken seems to be out of ideas, he barely dodged this last attack by using his strange [Distraction]-skill. Why doesn''t he use the backpack? Is it broken?
Wait, isn''t it mine? That embroidery on the front side was made by Teru-chan! But he definitely handed over his own backpack, so... someone replaced them! Was it the patriarch or the matriarch? I was about to object, but the rules... Cheating is allowed, as long the item makes it into the fight. We wanted to use that to our advantage and now the shoe is on the other foot.
Ken, you idiot, should have realized it sooner!
I check his status menu, his HP is at 62%, his SP at 48%. [Distraction] costs some SP, but I guess the strain consumes a lot more. Every evasive movement is using up his SP and he makes some desperate ones.
Should I cast magic? No, at least the patriarch knows magic and it will be noticed if the wounds disappeared on Ken''s half-naked body without him doing something. I can''t cheat that way, without getting both of us killed.
The patriarch changes his bulky body-form back to the skinny one again and attacked with magic from a distance, but this time he doesn''t aim for Ken himself, but the surrounding.
¡°[Fire Pillar], [Fire Pillar], [Fire Pillar]!¡±
Each shot makes a fire pillar, which emanates fire and heat to the surrounding. Ken''s SP begin to drop continually, it''s the same as the chasm.
Wait... he only uses magic, when he have the skinny form... might he be... No, it must be!
¡°KEN!¡± I don''t like to shout, but since the spectators are too loud with their cheering and booing, I had to: ¡°HE HAS TO BE A HERO!¡±
Ken looks shocked, but he turns his head to the patriarch and I saw the patriarch moving his lizard-lips. And I knew, what he said: ¡°She is right.¡±
This isn¡¯t good. I didn''t even know that there are non-human heroes. Is he from another world, too?
But there isn¡¯t a moment of rest for Ken, since the patriarch changes class again and becomes a warrior, who attacks with his greatsword. Since the patriarch is a hero himself, he surely knows how to defeat one.
There is barely a chance to win this fight. I look over the status menu of Ken over and over again, but there is nothing, that would help for long.
Ken''s SP is falling quickly. Is that what the patriarch wants? To tire Ken out and then kill him afterwards?
And I realized, that there are two things which might increase the chances. One would be the attribute-bonuses we get, if we''re next to each other. ¡°KEN, COME HERE!¡± And the other would be... This is within the rules, but I hate Ken for the fact, that I''m going to do that!
But my own life depends on it, too.
Volume 01 - Chapter 4-2
I don''t know why Kyou-san wants me to come to her, but apparently I need to relocate the whole duel to do so. Well, it''s simpler than it sounds, I just have to decide in which direction I''m pushed around.
Or I''m simply punched in that direction, while coughing blood, seeing red and being unable to stand up, like right now. The punch hit my face directly, just after the patriarch changed into his warrior-class. Somehow I get the feeling of karma.
But at least I''m closer to my target destination. I crawl the rest of the distance quickly and now, in front of Kyou-san, the pain eases. Ah, the attribute-bonuses. My increased [Vitality] make it easier to ignore the damage. I also change class to [Pikeman] to enhance my [Vitality] even further, since moving around is not possible in that state.
With shaky movements I stand up and face the patriarch, who approaches slowly and carefully. Maybe he thinks, something is off. He''s careful, since Kyou-san called out for me, but there is no real need. I just got a minor buff. And it only lasts as long as I''m within one meter of Kyou-san.
¡°No Ken, face me you idiot!¡±
¡°Who are you calling a- hrmph!!!¡±
I turn my head and was silenced. In a manner, I never would have thought possible.
You gain 50 WP.
Who would have thought, that none of you ever kissed before, it''s romantic, it''s unthinkable! I never considered this, so I just made up this entry and since it will never come again, don''t even try to exploit it! But you can still get 1 WP a day by kissing each other or 5 WP by kissing only once per week, which is a bit more romantic, but less effective than confirm each other feelings each day.
A girl''s lips are... warm and soft. And moist and is it me, or are they a bit blistered? Maybe due our time in the chasm... Wait, what am I thinking about?!
And why are all ss''rak cheering loud enough to make me deaf? Are they thinking this is a cheap soap opera? It''s not like any of us have feelings for each other. On the other hand it''s my first kiss, so having it with someone I don''t care about is a bit disappointing.
Wait... the pop-up said none of us have kissed before, so... Kyou-san never kissed before, too!? But she... but she... she''s a bitch! Or is she not?!
Without hesitation Kyou-san separated from me and wiped of her lips with one of her blood-soiled sleeves, while mumbling ¡°I was about to get the 5 WP, but...¡±
This is much better! I mean, the WP, not getting her first kiss, which is kinda disturbing, actually.
But with 50 more WP, we could... ¡°[Shared Inventory]!¡± I won''t be able to actually buy that, since I''m in the middle of a duel and not able to operate the status screen...
Wait. Why is the patriarch waiting patiently with a cheesy grin on his face? Why didn''t he cut me in two pieces while I was still being kissed by Kyou-san? And why is he smirking? Is he enjoying this kind of soap opera as well? Damn it! I''ll show him!
I open up the status menu, select the WP-store and buy the [Shared Inventory]. I confirm the message and it says, I have to wait for my spouse to confirm, too.
Kyou-san confirms and I try to take out something from the backpack. The [Inventory]-menu appears and I see all the items I had in my backpack before plus the ones which obviously belongs to Kyou-san''s. I retrieve a potion and my spear.
Finally, I have my weapon back. With this, the chasm wouldn''t have been as unnerving, since managing single-use-weapons sucks!
Retrieving items from the backpack leaves most ss''rak shocked, but I gulped down the SP-potion, right before the patriarch slashes at me. ¡°How could you do this! This is impossible, human!¡± His confidence waned the moment I could use my equipment and rage is distorting his lizard-features. As far as I can see, he''s losing his temper, since I foiled his plan.
I block his attack with my spear, but I already feel how it is about to break: ¡°Spouses share everything, no?¡± That''s for smirking at me for being kissed! ¡°Fall back, Kyou-san! [Whirlwind]!¡±
This skill is actually a melee AoE, but can knock back single enemies as easily as multiple ones. While the patriarch is still out of balance, I will take that chance to damage him. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡±
But my skill is blocked: ¡°[Iron Defense]!¡± The tip of my spear is hitting him and the sound of metal on metal rings through the area, the force of the impact almost made me let go of my weapon. He uses his shoulder to push me back, he''s got obviously more [Strength] than I do.
I used a HP-potion, the matriarch is still not saying anything about me using items. So since it''s in-battle and Kyou-san didn''t cheat in an obvious way, it''s still legit. I was concerned because a kiss is obvious, but well, it''s not like this and me pulling items from my backpack is obviously related.
Now finally the real fight can begin! And I''m still at a disadvantage, since the patriarch''s level is probably higher than mine.
This was already clear as day, seeing how old he is. He might have even lost some of his [Attribute]-values, since he''s grown old. But even though his magic wasn''t that impressive so far, his skills as a warrior are way above mine.
He could probably kill me with one skill, if I let my guard down. From now on, it might be better to draw everything out. I still have some consumables, so I''ll hopefully outlast him. Let''s think about it as a boss fight in a raid, they''re simply too hard to defeat without brains, endurance and resource-management.
Yes, if I change my mindset like that, my situation isn''t that bad at all.
Both of us are eyeing each other. He probably waits for an opportunity, while I just try to figure out a plan. With my [Inventory], I have multiple possible strategies and my aim is to deplete the patriarch''s SP, like he did with mine.
Battle of attrition, I must pressure him, while avoiding his lethal strikes.
My hand wanders to the backpack, but before I could grab an item, the patriarch is already rushing at me again, his heavy blade comes in an wide arc: ¡°[Full Moon]!¡±
Before his attack, I already stepped back, but I''m still cut! And not just once, several minor cuts are all over my body. And even the floor. Damn it, skill!
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
I''m bleeding in my half-naked state and before anything else, I grab a HP-pot and drink it. I regain my HP, the cuts on my body close, but I still lost some blood, my Max SP is reduced as a result.
So this is his aim. He knows exactly, how the hero-system works, so he can exploit its weak spots.
But with the potion, I got another item. I throw my smoke bomb.
Smoke fills the arena and I change to [Scout]. My senses are enhanced, so I got the edge here and with my [Sneak]-skill, I''m able to move nearly soundless. Time to bring out some other items.
Or so I thought. ¡°[Gust]!¡± The smoke disperse and a skinny patriarch smiles at me.
¡
I hate heroes.
This time I try my stink bombs. I retrieved them, thinking that it would be great to land a bullseye point blank, while being hidden in the smoke, but now it''s just the item I have on hand.
I throw two of these little spheres, but the patriarch is just smiling liplessly. ¡°[Gust].¡±
The bombs are deflected, right in my direction. The stench tears my eyes, but since it isn''t a direct hit, it doesn''t do much to me. Except burning some SP, which I better recover, when I have the time.
This is a misfit. If I try to be crafty, he''s using his magic to counter me. If I try to be brave, he overpowers me with his warrior-skills.
But as long as I remain distant and use tricks, the patriarch will stay in his magic-using-class, which isn''t his strong suit. I hope I have enough combat-items. My quantity of bombs isn''t that great, since I try to not rely on them. They''re expensive!
While I''m considering my options, the patriarch doesn''t hesitate. ¡°[Flaming Sphere]!¡± As a scout, it''s easy to dodge with my [Focus] on the patriarch. ¡°[Fire Pillar]! [Fire Pillar]!¡± Ah, he''s using that spell again.
It creates a pillar of fire, which burns for around 30 seconds. They''re obstructing my path, being near them is bad for my SP, since they''re hot, and touching them will definitely hurt me. But he''s just trying to starve my SP again, this is no problem, if I... ¡°[Ember Arrows]!¡±
I could foresee the effect of this spell with [Focus], every movement made it clear. It''s a barrage of small fire projectiles, which covers an area densely. But the area itself isn''t that big, so... Shit!
The [Fire Pillars]! They''re blocking my escape!
I try to evade the [Ember Arrows] as good as possible, without [Focus] I would surely get more than three clean hits and several graces, but this attack series isn''t over. The patriarch changes class and rushes with the sword at me: ¡°[Quicksword]!¡±
Without the [Scout]''s agility and [Distraction], I would have been stabbed. So I just got a nasty cut at my side, while the patriarch regains his stance, I drink another HP-pot. My HP-bar was almost gone for a moment!
Is this the difference actual fighting experience!? Hunting monsters isn''t anything like that! I should have the upper edge with my [Inventory], but I feel helpless. I''m getting more damage than I can recover in time!
As a [Scout] I can''t directly fight back efficiently, but then I miss out [Distraction], which might only to be able to divert the attention enough to throw off his aiming a bit, but is still vital for my survival.
I throw another smoke bomb, mixed with a stench bomb. It won''t last long, but I need any moment I can get. There has to be something I can do. I look at the spear in my hand, which is currently doing nothing and change back to [Pikeman].
The patriarch is about to use another [Gust], I''m sure. So I just have to [Speedthrust] him, while he cast the spell.
And here it comes: ¡°[Gu-]¡±
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡±
¡°[-st]!¡± Damn it, it''s aimed for me!
So [Gust] is strong enough to knock me back, while I use my skill. Even though the fog is only blown away on my pathway, this is another failed strategy.
Smoke bombs just buys time.
Stink bombs are useless.
Fire bombs are only dangerous when they hit and [Gust] would also be able to deflect it. That spell is annoying! So bombs in general aren''t that effective.
I still have a stash of recovery potions, so if I can survive long enough, I should be able to win, like my original strategy proposed. But I don''t know how many tricks are up to that lizard''s sleeve. This is risky and there is no room for mistakes.
And as I have to buy time and am in constant need to recover my HP, my SP are in danger. What should I do? And why is Kyou-san not cheating!?
OK, she''s probably looking for a way, but doesn''t see one. She''s trapped in a city full of ss''rak, so she won''t make any move, that might turn the whole city against her.
¡
I got an idea!
Jumping into the remaining smoke cloud, I change to [Scout]-class again.
The patriarch uses another [Gust] to blow my cover away, but I already activated [Camouflage]. But with only a slight delay, the patriarch changes again for some serious sword action. ¡°[Quicksword]!¡±
Since I used [Camouflage] in the smoke, my whole body is now in a smokey blaze of colors. After the smoke dispersed, it was obvious were I stand. A fatal mistake, you might think.
But as the patriarch is rushing at me with unprecedented speed, he stumbles right in front of me and falls over, I change to [Pikeman] and used a new item: The make-shift spear, made of a broomstick and a ss''rak knife and ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± stabbed him.
I had another skill all along. [Set Trap], which allows me to quickly put up a trap I have and enhances its effects. Like that foothold trap, used to hunt larger prey. Suitable for ss''rak, too. With this skill, I was able to set it up within two seconds, but it wasn''t hidden. So I used [Camouflage] while holding the trap, so it becomes smoky, too and laid it in front of me.
As he was recognizing me, he just oversaw the trap, which had the same pattern. He was too keen on taking advantage of my ''mistake'', that he didn''t take a good look beforehand. And now I stabbed the make-shift spear in his side, which does a lot of damage on an unmoving target. The impact of the fall due his own skill''s momentum rendered him still for a short while, fulfilling that requirement.
This is a clean hit!
But my skill is too strong for that self-made weapon. The broomstick broke into two halfs, the knife still in the patriarch''s side. At least I still have my real spear and without mercy, I stabbed at the lying ss''rak repeatedly.
Finally, the patriarch got the first blood. But after my third stab, he used [Iron Defense] again and his scales became as hard as metal, like a real armor, so further damage lessened. He stands up again and for me it''s time to retreat for now.
Before he can escape from the trap, I should be able to drink potions and recover my HP and SP. Or so I thought.
Instead, the patriarch didn''t even tried to escape, he rather changed class again and hurls one [Flaming Sphere] after another at me. I can dodge them, but it''s hard to drink a potion meanwhile.
...Cooldown. One of his skills can''t be used repeatedly, so he tries to overcome this time frame with offense. Some KIs of bosses are like that. That''s what my guts telling me, my gamer instinct. And only one skill seems to fit the bill: [Iron Defense].
It''s most likely a defense buff, which is strong, but short-lasting and has a long cooldown. This would be the reason why he didn''t rely on it much and explains his combat tactics.
¡°Phew...¡± I exhale, I need to be brave now. This is no game, but now the next attack has to count. I only have one [Spear]-skill, which could land a killing blow, [Speedthrust]. But to use it, I need some space to build up momentum. And the movement has to be in a straight line.
I will be hit. I will lose HP. And I will feel pain. I could even die. This is not a game.
But I''m a coward. Deep inside I''m afraid to continue the battle for much longer. Even though it''s scary to put everything in a final assault, it''ll be over soon. It''s more frightening to imagine to fighting on, hanging on a glance of hope.
I''m really doing it.
I''m an idiot.
I take aim. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡±
¡°[Fire Pillar]!¡± Guessing my move by my stance right before, the patriarch is using his [Fire Pillar] to cut off my path. I have still the time to cancel my skill.
But I proceed.
Flames are burning my half-naked body, it really hurts all over and my HP is dropping at a dangerous speed, but I already know what I wanted to hit: The ss''rak knife in the body of the patriarch.
The spears tip stabbed into the rest of the broomstick and with a unsavory sound, the knife pierces through the body of the patriarch. There is a hole in his side! He coughs blood, while I feel dizzy, since I took a large amount of damage.
I take my spear in both hands and, using the blunt side, knock the patriarch down. With a fluent movement, I stab him again. And again. My emotions are in a swirl of pain, anger and panic. Just stay down! This is the only thought I''m currently capable of.
I''m exhausted. I stabbed him numerous times by now. He has to be dead.
But he isn''t. He''s wounded all over his aged body, but he turns around, so he can lie on his back. He''s not much more than a bloody mess.
He''s not looking at me. He''s looking at his wife, saying farewell with just a glance.
Then he closes his eyes, accepting his death. And I''m the one who has to do it. ¡°Sorry...¡± It''s the only way. I truly believe it.
¡°Don''t be.¡±
A final stab through the heart. My hands are trembling and I feel a strange sense of guilt and relief at the same time. I can practically feel how the life before me is extinguished.
I think I can kill people now. That''s what I truly believe.
Volume 01 - Chapter 4-3
I don''t really know what happened afterwards. I collapsed after the adrenaline of combat subsided. And when I woke up, Kyou-san and I were already outside the ss''rak city. Supposedly we were carried blindfolded by two of the lizard people by the order of the matriarch. Most likely so we won''t know the exact location of their home.
Kyou-san is plainly looking at me, who needed some rest to ease the mental exhaustion. No words, no gestures, just a look. Even eye-contact is seldom.
What does she think? Why isn''t she saying anything? Maybe she''s reached a new level of disgust for me, who seems to have no qualm over killing someone anymore.
That''s right, I can accept the deaths I brought. Maybe it''s because they''re ss''rak, who are still quite different from humans. Or maybe I''m still in shock. But the feeling of terror I got when I killed the ss''rak guards, spurred by Muaotef''s presence, is gone now.
I still think it''s a shame, but I can easily live with it, I suppose. Something changed within me when I killed the patriarch, whose name I still don''t know. And I don''t even care, how he was called, he''s dead.
I killed the patriarch and they let me go, as if everything was fine. No retribution, no blaming, it''s their strange sense of honor. It''s anti-climatic, but I like it that way. Boring is the best! Even though the human race lost as a sentient life form.
¡°I''m fine now. Let''s go.¡± The ss''rak who carried us explained the way to the Hei?quellen-shrine. It''s not that far off. About two hours from the city to this place and it should us take another hour to the shrine, that makes 3 hours between the city and the shrine. At least for ss''rak, I felt how they climbed some cliffs while carrying us.
We walk down the path and Kyou-san is still not saying anything. It''s kinda like before, when we were traveling to this shrine the first time. It''s almost as if the time in the chasm never happened.
To think we actually grew closer there. It''s only back to normal.
An hour without any talking later.
We''re at the Hei?quellen-shrine. It''s time to end this stupid pilgrimage! We only need the water and go back to the capital. We should probably tell the king about this ss''rak city and Muaotef or more like, Kyou-san should. Well, I may support her on this, if she asks nicely.
Anyhow, it''s time to fetch some water. The shrine is still laid to waste, but this time, we won''t be disturbed and overpowered by ss''rak.
¡°Wait.¡± Kyou-san is finally saying something, but her voice is suspecting. ¡°Something is wrong.¡±
¡°Fine, fine, let me check.¡± I use my enhanced senses and run every [Perception]-skill I know, but there is nothing suspicious here. ¡°You''re just imagining it.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°...¡± I hate that stubbornness. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Female intuition.¡±
Facepalm. ¡°Look, there is nothing. You might be tense, but as long as I''m here, there is nothing to worry about.¡± As I turn around, Kyou-san grabs my wrist.
¡°Don''t go.¡±
¡°Phew... Just let''s get over this, OK!? If this makes you feel better, I''ll use my whole [Stealth]-skill repertoire, so you might feel at ease a bit. I''ll be back quickly.¡± I break away and use [Sneak] and [Hide Smell].
This is so stupid! I''m fully recovered, have all of my equipment back and I''m a high-level character. As long there is no Muaotef, there can''t be anything that might be dangerous for me here.
I sneak into the shrine and now I stand before the spring''s pool. Now I need only to fetch some water with a viol and we''re finished here.
Suddenly, a piercing sound passes through my body and my vision blurs. The pain is splitting my head! I stumble and fall, unable to maintain my balance. I think there is blood coming from my ears.
The HP and SP damage isn''t much, but there are some worrisome conditions. [Deaf], [Stunned] and [Dizzy]. This is a sound-based debuff.
My visions clears somewhat and I see several ss''rak before me, one of them is over 2 meters. It''s the Voice of Muaotef. Shit, he totally slipped my mind. He leads a pack of five, the other four are bulky and seems quite adept to use these maces they''re holding.
I can''t hear what the Voice is saying, but most likely it''s just a speech about revenge, his greatness and how you could attack me without me noticing. Only the last one would be interesting.
But for now, I should concentrate on staying alive. The four thugs are surrounding me and swing their weapons.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I, Momokawa Kyou, sigh. There is so much, I have to tell, but somehow looking at Ken makes me not say anything at all. It''s like my desire to tell him just vanishes.
And even if I say something, he just doesn''t listen. I really have a bad feeling in this shrine, it''s different from the first time, where the signs were obvious, it''s more like there''s something in the air, a malicious feeling, directed at us.
But he went, after all. Stubborn. Obstinate. Always doing what he wants, instead considering others.
I don''t want to get into another danger, so I waited, but the least I could do to confirm my suspicion is to observe his status. Even though it''s a curse, this one feature can come in handy. While the rest is a nightmare for the most part.
Called it.
A bit of damage, three conditions.
Ken''s in the building of the spring, so I can''t see him. But I should normally hear something from this distance. So it''s a silent danger.
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Maybe I should just run away. The curse might be horrible, but it got me some levels. I should now be able to take on most monsters on my own, when I return to Esse. I could rejoin Masahiko-kun and my other friends, my level now should be enough.
There is no gain in helping Ken, it''s only an unnecessarily risk. There will be most likely no compensation, only more of his constant whining.
There is the curse, but who knows how it work out, if he dies.
But there is another thing. A sense of responsibility.
Ken and I are partners in this undertaking and in the end, most of the things I did so far was healing and cooking. Well, I did kill that ss''rak back then, but that was a spur of a moment and I''m not keen to repeat that.
And Ken? He protected me, he gave me advice and when I was sick of everything, he took charge and brought us through the chasm. Even though protection and advice was part of the deal, he took most of the burdens.
I... owe him.
But let''s not be crazy. I check on him and if there is no reason to get involved, I won''t be. If it''s too dangerous, then I can still flee.
Slowly I tiptoe into the building. In times like these, I wish I had the [Stealth]-ability.
Still no sounds. Most likely I just have to go straight through the building to get to the spring.
I slip through an open doorway and suddenly, like a flip of a TV-switch, voices can be heard: ¡°-wiz magick, to zeal the zound!¡±
I know that voice. . The Voice of Muaotef, or more like the lizardman who''s called that. Ken really shouldn''t have hit him. Another of his rash, illogical actions. He probably just snapped for a silly reason.
I carefully look around a corner. There is the exit to the spring, which is enclosed by the shrine-building.
There lies Ken, who''s on the floor, obviously unable to move. Four lizardman are surrounding him, all of them are wielding club-like weapons with an iron head.
I think these were called maces. But the name beside, they''re surely able to break bones with ease.
I don''t know, how the hero-system works with broken bones. Would it downgrade broken bones as just HP-damage or add a [Broken Limb] condition? If it''s the latter, I won''t be able to remove it. I don¡¯t have a spell for this.
Most likely the Voice used some magic to make a certain area soundproof from the outside and since Ken relies too much on his skills, he fell into their trap. This would be his fault for not listening to me, so I have no reason to help him out.
If he dies, this curse on me may be undone.
¡
I roll my eyes and looks through my backpack. Both of us have a [Shared Inventory], so there may be some item of his, which will prove helpful.
There are still those bombs, Ken used against the patriarch. I stuff my pockets with them. They should prove useful.
I''m about to do something really stupid, aren''t I? Just let''s get over it.
I charge in, only looking at my target. Then I kick it, right into the stomach and it''s enough to let it fly a short distance, right into the spring water. Is this my higher [Strength] or am I just that good?
The target is Ken, by the way.
You gain 3 WP.
Even if you saved your husband''s well-being, your methods are quite questionable.
Shut up!
While the lizardmen are still wondering what just happened, I throw a bomb right into the face of the Voice. Uh, what a nasty smell, even at this distance it gives me headache.
The Voice, on the other hand, is coughing and wailing.
I evade a swinging mace, draw my lizardman-dagger and thrust at the arm, who was attacking me. I cut it, but it''s too shallow. Like I thought, with my classes, there was no way, that I can seriously hurt them at this level.
But it''s still going better than I thought. So this happens, if you gain some levels. I was already a more athletic type, but my body is so light and moves so well, that I''m feeling like I''m walking on air.
So this is what being a hero feels like.
I throw a smoke bomb, I want some concealment, so that the guards won''t be able to attack me as a team. The henchmen aren''t important, the Voice is. How did Ken called it... boss-mob? Somehow it''s important to get rid of it.
The Voice is still stunned from the stink bomb and with a quick motion, I''m standing before it. Then I stab with my knife. A deep cut is right in its stomach. Ah, these knifes are good when you attack immobile foes.
It''s not pleased: ¡°Yuu daaare!¡± And inhales.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± The region of the Voice''s lung is pierced by a spear. ¡°No more sound-magic.¡± Ken, wet from the spring water, is standing right next to me. The coolness of the timing and angle negates his usual disgustingness. So he can look plain, when he works hard.
You gain 2 WP.
With perfect timing, your white knight on a horse arrives and slays the monster. You sure are lucky, to have such an reliable husband.
Well, there isn''t much of a knight there. But at least he''s less Ken than usual. Maybe he could earn a positive impression, if he had actually said something cool. Like ''You won''t harm my companions!'' or ''It''s ungentlemanly to hurt a girl.¡± No, with the last one, his disgusting-level would go through the roof.
¡°You''re late.¡± It''s irritating, that what I''m feeling is a sense of relief that now Ken is here. He''s full of faults and won''t make anyone feel safe, but somehow he really became reliable. At least a bit and only until he does something stupid, which happens quite frequently.
¡°I nearly drowned.¡± He kicks the impaled Voice with his weapon, the lizardman is breathing stertorously on the ground, out of combat. ¡°But thanks.¡±
I kicked Ken into the spring well, since it has healing properties. And several other reasons, I have a lot of stress, which needs an outlet and Ken is responsible for all of it.
Maybe the healing factor was the thing, which let him recover or maybe his conditions just ran out, but in the end, he was in time. Let''s say that it was intentional. Yes, definitely. There is no doubt about it.
From out of the smoke, the four guards are approaching, but Ken knocked them back with a [Whirlwind] and follows with a [Speedthrust] to impale a single one, rendering it unable to fight. So two down, three remaining.
So strong.
But this is enough. If Ken takes out one more, it''ll be hard for them to retreat, since they can''t carry the wounded. ¡°Ken, wait.¡±
He gives me a baffled look. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°If we kill his servants, Muaotef might be displeased. Let them go.¡± A shudder goes through my body as I mention the dragon''s name. Muotef is like a primal force, reminding us that there are things outside our control.
Ken is shivering, too, but clenches his spear, as if he wants to assert, that he''s still in power. ¡°But they might come back!¡± He''s not thinking as clearly as usual.
¡°Listen to me, I''m in charge.¡± It''s too stupid to try to argue with that idiot.
¡°Since when?¡±
¡°Since the beginning.¡± He''s too stubborn. Ignoring him, I talk to the lizard people, who are observing us with a heated expression. ¡°Listen. We don''t want to kill you, so you may go with the wounded. Then we part ways forever. Your boss needs medical attention, so you should decide fast.¡±
Something changes within the attitude of the lizard people. It''s strange. The hostility recedes, and the three of them nods to each other. ¡°Agrreeed.¡± I already saw something like that, back when I asked some other lizard guards, if they would disregard killing Ken and me and bring us to the Voice.
There is something, which makes them act like that. I need to know what. Maybe it''s also part of the hero-system and can be used at-will.
But the lizard people don''t leave it at this: ¡°Yuu killed heeeero of Great One. Iz honorable fight, but ss''rak will no forget! Yuu dangarous!¡± Ken''s face is shocked.
The patriarch is Muaotef''s hero? This doesn''t make any sense. Why are they telling us such obvious lies?
I keep watching Ken, so I might be able to stop him, before he does something stupid. Again.
The three able-bodied lizardmen carry the two others and climb up a cliff, from which the spring comes from. Ken is looking at them with hostility, but doesn''t attack them. ¡°This feels wrong.¡±
¡°You can''t eliminate all of your problems. This was just payback for your actions.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± He avoids eye-contact. So he might feel a bit guilty about it.
I also sigh, in relief. I surely hope that I will never see reptilian monsters again, be it lizardmen or dragons.
Volume 01 - Epilogue
We''re on the way back, and even though I feel like there should be an epic conclusion to the adventure we had, it''s how reality works. Maybe playing games makes you believe, that every story needs to end with a big climax, instead of a simple walk.
But the feeling of still having open ends is unsettling me. Muaotef, his Voice, the whole Ss''rak city, these storylines are all still in progress. Maybe telling the king will put me in ease. And afterwards? I don''t know yet.
There is no reason to stick to Esse or Feuerberg at all, seeing things through. We just need to remove the curse and then I can go wherever I want, except back home. That door remains closed.
Most likely, I will grind my level to at least 50, before I focus on collecting money again. I really need to upgrade my equipment. Maybe the red bear fur will make a nice suit of armor.
Kyou-san and I are a bit more talkative around each other now. Even though I still feel a bit of a grudge because of letting the Voice and his minions go, I decided to forgive her. She saved me back then, after all.
What we are talking about? Mostly, we complain to and about each other. The other times it''s a random topic we thought up in the spur of the moment.
Something like ¡°To see, that Kyou-san is actually killing a rockinger on her own. Should I be proud?¡± When we first encountered a monster, Kyou-san decided to do it alone. She waited for the rockinger to use its spinning attack and then flipped the turtle-creature over and then stabbed it with her new knife. Fast and effective.
¡°Looks like you kept your promise, Ken.¡± She answered my question with a soft smile.
Yes, I promised her to show her how to get stronger, but to be honest, we surpassed my wildest expectations. We''re still at the basics, but Kyou-san is now level 20 and rockingers aren''t much of a threat now, as long as she attacks their undersides.
¡°I could have killed it for you, you know? We still get each 50% of the XP, regardless who gets the kill.¡±
¡°I simply wanted to see, if I can do it on my own now.¡± Somehow her smile wasn''t disturbing or cunning, it just expressed pure happiness. This excites me in another way than the sensual sounds of her bathing.
''I want to see if I can do it'' are the words of someone, who emerges herself into gaming and experimenting with several strategies to achieve victory in the end. Maybe I rubbed some of my gamer personality off.
Both of us bathed in the Hei?quellen and changed into spare clothes which were in our backpacks. We are still far from being clean, but at least we''re not filthy anymore. But the shrine was attacked, even without the duel and the payback afterwards, war between Ss''rak and the kingdom is surely about to come.
¡°I still can''t believe, that the patriarch was a hero. And a hero of Muaotef, no less.¡± I can''t make much sense out of it, but maybe this information is simply false. I still know too little of heroes to limit the possibilities.
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Is Muaotef able to appoint heroes because he''s special or maybe he''s not only worshiped as a god, but a real one? Are all gods dragons? Did he decide to kill his own hero out of wrath or is this a scheme? Maybe to motivate the Ss''rak that there is no other way than war with the human race?
I know too little. And I''m probably better off not knowing it.
¡°Phew... Honestly, if I never see Muaotef again, it''s still too early for me.¡±
¡°I agree.¡±
But even though Kyou-san agrees with me, I fear that we might not be as lucky. What will happen, when we report the existence of a dragon in the Vulkan-mountains? A dragon hunt? Who would do something?
Heroes, of course.
I will warn the king, but if he wants me to exterminate the dragon, I''ll decline. I''m too much of a coward. The fact that I can''t let the whole thing with the Ss''rak rest is the proof, how insecure I feel about it. And only thinking about Muaotef is giving me the creeps.
Yes, I''m a coward and I''m OK with it. And I think Kyou-san is the same.
¡°Is something wrong?¡±
Kyou-san is looking at my eyes. She looks directly into them and there is only a slight a hint of disgust left. And I no longer have the lingering feeling of sickness when looking at her.
To be honest, I just wanted to lift my curse in Esse and return south on the same day, but maybe I could stick around for a day or two to rest and see, what Kyou-san will do.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We, Muaotef, the Great One, the Flame of the Earth and Bringer of Decay, are looking through the ''Eye of Muaotef'', a simple Ss''rak formed to let Us see what he sees. He follows the human heroes, while being perfectly unnoticeable.
The male human was vigilant, but Our ''Eyes'' can''t be detected by him, since We personally reformed that Ss''rak to Our needs. Our ''Eyes'' followed both of them since they left Our hoard, at every step.
The reasons for the challenge of killing the patriarch were manifold. To see how human heroes behave, to see if they differ from Ss''rak heroes and of course to punish the patriarch, who had too much influence on the Ss''rak. Only We shall command them in the end.
But the most important reason was to check, which one of Our enemy gods summoned those human heroes. Whenever one hero kills another, their owners get a message. We lost a hero and a bit of influence, but since We know who got this influence, We can prepare to take it back with interest.
We hadn''t thought that, that one will make its move. We have to prepare a new strategy, since We never competed with that one before.
But now, We know of you and will be ready. Maybe you actually want to take Us on, try it!
The other matter is the curse of the two human heroes. It''s less of a problem, since it isn''t that powerful, but it doesn''t follow the rules. We want to research it and make it Our own, but We can''t without showing any weaknesses.
The game becomes interesting again. We will enjoy ripping Our enemies apart, old and new ones.
But for now We shall return to Our real base of operation. Since there are human heroes in Feuerberg now, We can''t simply take it over in a Blitzkrieg, We have to plan it out and use more resources on this.
Finally, new events and turns in this old, deadlocked game.
Volume 01 - Extras - Love is Gold Episode 1 & Forsaken
kentusrpg: "The poll was a success! We got 150 votes in total (counting both RoyalRoad and my blog) and we will now announce the results."
Kyou: *bow* "Thank you for your support."
Kenta: "By the way, isn''t it bothersome to have the names right next to the text?"
Kyou: "And how are the readers to suppose to guess who''s talking, if we don''t put our names there?"
Kenta: "How about if we use different speech colors?"
kentusrpg: "Denied. Too lazy."
K: "How about only using the first letter of the first name?"
K: "..."
K: "..."
K: "Doesn''t work."
MK: "Then let''s use our initials."
KK: "Seems appropriate."
God: "Since my pen name is more or less a bunch of initials, I''ll use this instead."
KK&MK: ""Denied.""
krpg: *sigh* ¡°Back to the topic. After assessing the data, we have an overwhelming result. Out of the 150 votes, only 5.33% care about the Kenta-only-story, with 8 votes!"
KK: "What''s wrong with these people! I''m the main character, dammit! You all suck! Except you 8 guys, you''re cool!"
MK: "Don''t blame the readers. It''s just proof that nobody likes you. In general."
KK: "Don''t act so high and mighty! How many votes were there for stories that only concern you, huh!?"
krpg: "Actually, more than half. 84 votes, that''s 56%."
KK: "Admit it readers, it''s just because Kyou-san''s a girl! You sexists!"
MK: "Don''t lash out at them either. These nice people just know how to evaluate a person. *turning to the readers* Thank you~! I''ll do my best."
krpg: "Well, it was a head-to-head race between these two stories the whole time, and it ended up in a tie. So I did something in between, granting more insight, rather than writing something entirely new. I hope that you all liked it."
KK: "Yes, exactly what we need: More Kyou-san."
MK: "Don''t pout."
krpg: *ignore* ¡°Now there are three things I want to add. First, there were some people who voted for ''Others''. However, without either comments or PMs, I can hardly address it. If you voice your wish, I may include it in the next poll."
KK: "Next?"
krpg: "Yes, I''d like to add something new to each each volume if possible. I can at least ask the readers what they''d like to read."
MK: "So Kenta will suffer defeat multiple times. I like it."
KK: "Bitch!"
MK: "You''re just a sore loser."
krpg: "Quiet, both of you. I have a last announcement."
MK: "Is it about me?"
krpg: "Among others."
KK: "Just spit it out and get it over with."
krpg: "Yes, yes. *clearing his throat* Since I got a private message, which really inspired me, I decided to put another Extra in, a variation of ''Kenta and Kyou in a game show''. It will be an interview instead, which is quickly written and a bit of non-canonical comedy."
MK: "Good for you, Ken. You''re not entirely useless!"
KK: "Shut up!"
krpg: "Please, may I continue? ... In the future, I want to add both a non-canon and a canon Extra in my volumes, so there will be two polls in the near future. The first will be when I publish the prologue of the second volume: There you may vote for the non-canonical content. And after introducing the next main-character, I''ll add another poll for the canonical content."
KK: "Another main-character?"
MK: "Why do I get a bad feeling about it?"
KK: "For me, it''s less of a feeling and more of a certainness."
krpg: "Well, you two, just like the readers, will have to wait for the second volume."
KK: "I''ll hate it as much as the first one, right?"
krpg: "What an optimistic attitude!"
KK: "...please re-"
krpg: "And without further interruption, let''s announce the results of the poll and start the first extra, the interview!"
KK: "Wa-"
Topic
Votes
A story about Kyou and her frustration about leveling up before meeting Kenta again
42 (28%)
A story about Kyou, when she was transferred to the fantasy world and her time with Inoue Masahiko and her other friends
42 (28%)
A non-canon story about Kenta and Kyou visiting a TV-show for lovers
24 (16%)
A story about Kenta and Kyou back in high-school
24 (16%)
Other
10 (6,67%)
A story about Kenta''s time with the hunters.
8 (5,33%)
Extra 1 ¨C Love is Gold Episode 1
Announcer (A): "Welcome to ''Love is Gold'', the show which reveals the true colors of a relationship. Today we''re welcoming a young, Japanese couple, Momokawa Kyou and Katsuragi Kenta."
*cheer*
KK: "..."
MK: "..."
A: "How sweet! You''re so shy, that you won''t even look at each other. Please, sit down. There are a ton of questions that I have to ask."
KK: "Spare me."
A: "Let''s begin! First, could you please tell us something about yourself?
KK: "Phew. Katsuragi Kenta, 16 years old."
A: "Sixteen? You can''t be married by law yet, you know? But well, this show isn''t about legality, it¡¯s about love~."
KK: "Then why am I here?"
A: "To show us your happiness."
KK: "There is nothing to show."
A: "Ah, so shy. You want to keep it all to yourself."
KK: "...nevermind."
A: "And what about your lovely wife?"
KK: "Who are you talking about?"
MK: "I think, he just got the ''wife'' part wrong. My name is Momokawa Kyou, I¡¯m also sixteen years old."
A: "So we have a pair of newlyweds. How did you first meet?"
MK: "In highschool. We were in the same class."
A: "You were? Did you elope?"
MK: "More like, we got kidnapped."
A: "How dramatic!"
KK: "It was rather annoying."
A: "Introductions are closed and now we begin the real deal. What do you like about each other?"
KK: "... ... The way she is, when she doesn''t talk."
MK: "For me, it''s ''nothing''."
A: "Man, you make it hard. What is your favorite activity as a couple?"
MK: "Being apart."
A: "And what are you doing, if you''re alone?"
KK: "Being happy."
A: "Well, that''s certainly something. What makes your relationship work?¡±
MK: ¡°Not having one.¡±
A: ¡°Seriously, please work with me here.¡±
KK: ¡°Then stop rubbing salt into our misery.¡±
A: ¡°I don''t do that. ... How was your first date?¡±
KK: ¡°Does constantly being in life-and-death struggles count as dating?¡±
MK: ¡°If so, then never take me out on another date again!¡±
A: "Ah, it seems there is a bit of a crack in your relationship. So what would be your favorite future development?"
KK: "Divorce."
MK: "His funeral."
A: ¡°I know that it can be difficult when the first problems arise, but you can fight through!¡±
MK: ¡°Fight through? So it''s alright, even if I kill him in the process?¡±
KK: ¡°Try me!¡±
A: "I get the feeling that you''re not shy but rather hate each other."
MK: "You finally get it!"
A: "Then why did you marry in the first place?"
KK: "It was an accident."
A: "An accident? Were you drunk?"
MK: "I wish."
KK: ¡°That would''ve made more sense than what actually happened.¡±
A: ¡°Would you like to share?¡±
MK: ¡°No. I''d rather trade our marriage away.¡±
KK: ¡°Hey, you''re the one who profits from it the most!¡±
MK: ¡°And suffer from it the most as well.¡±
KK: ¡°Oh yeah!? What about me!?¡±
A: ¡°Erm...¡±
MK: ¡°Ken, I know that living a single day of your life is more torture than I can ever imagine, but happiness and suffering are relative. So for someone like you, a bit of inconvenience doesn''t make much difference.¡±
A: ¡°Momokawa-san, that-¡±
KK: ¡°THAT''S IT! Announcer, love is a war, right!? Let me kill my enemy!¡±
A: ¡°Security! Security!¡±
Extra 2 ¨C Forsaken
?Welcome Heroes, we need you. You have to save the world from the evil demons, which wage war against humanity and the other races of light. You''ve been chosen to stand against the demons, but do not fear. People of your world become very powerful in this one and the reward is great. Each of you will have a manual which explains how your new powers work. The reward is a single, perfect wish for those who slay the demon lord and end the war, plus everything you accomplished in that world. You will be transported to Feuerberg''s capital, Esse. Help the king and his people.?
These words spoken by an unisex voice were what led my classmates and I to this world. For someone like me, who wasn''t into all that fantasy-stuff, it was too much information in too little time.
The world shifted, and after all that blinding light vanished, I opened my eyes and realized that the entire class was had been transported into another world. Nothing needed to be said, I just knew.
¡°Teru-chan, Eri-chan, everyone! Are you alright?¡± My first concerns were for my friends. The small Teru-chan, the smart Eri-chan, the strong Yamauchi-kun, the quiet Kita-kun, and finally peaceable Masahiko-kun, who can befriend almost everyone.
¡°Everything is alright, Kyou,¡± Masahiko-kun said, as he rubbed his eyes and smiled. He''s the sort of person whose smile can wash away all your worries. Even though he calls me by my first name, we''re just friends. That handsome boy was just someone who could shorten any distance, in a way that wouldn¡¯t bother you.
¡°Don''t worry, class president,¡± Yamauchi-kun said, as he shrugged everything off with a small laugh. He was always easily influenced by Masahiko-kun. His stubble-hair and the fact, that he was much larger than everyone else, with muscles bulging everywhere, made him look as steady as the mountain he''s named after.
¡°I feel sick,¡± Eri-chan''s groaned as her eyes were rolling. She had a ponytail and, even though it looked like she had an athletic body, she was actually quite clumsy and uncoordinated.
¡°Geez, you were always weak with rides,¡± Masahiko-kun exclaimed, as he patted Eri-chan''s head, her ponytail wagging like a dog''s tail. Both of them are childhood-friends, but isn''t that too much?
Well, I do the same to Teru-chan, who''s small and cute. ¡°Kyou-chan~, please stop that.¡± Every time I see her, I just have to treat her like a pet.
Kita-kun didn''t say anything, he just looked a bit pale. It''s hard to describe Kita-kun, he''s reserved and not very noticeable, so he often remains in the background.
Everyone was somehow mostly alright.
I took a look around. The teachers and most of my classmates weren''t in a good mental state. Some of them were groaning, while others couldn''t see well, and still others were looking around as if they were surrounded by enemies.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Well, we were surrounded in fact, by peoples in white robes. "Thank the gods, the heroes are here!" The one who spoke put his hands together in delight.
It was hard to call them anything other than priests. I could tell by how many of them were sweating, and how exhausted they were by whatever they did.
¡°We''re sorry to summon you, but we need you, heroes!¡±
Heroes? This reminded me of the words that unisex voice spoke. It also referred to us as heroes. While I could easily accept the fact that we were in another world, being called hero still seemed strange.
The priests roughly explained the situation . We were summoned to defeat the demon lord and thus end the war, since the people of this kingdom, Feuerberg, aren''t capable of this. Our summoning was an act of the gods, who answered the relentless prayers of the priests.
But before that, we would need to become stronger using the power of heroes.
The teachers were brought before the king, who originally wanted to have an audience with all of us but was denied access to us students for security reasons. Our teachers volunteered to be the first group to meet with the king, as they were adults.
At that point, I did not think that our teachers could do much to change our situation. Normally, I would have surely clung to the teachers, but for some reason, I just thought that they won¡¯t be able to solve any of the problems, that we were going to face. Maybe facing a crisis like this made me become more self-reliant and less naive.
Actually, I even felt a bit excited. Being summoned, wielding the power of heroes, this is something that would only happen in anime. Even I sometimes watched anime as a child, and dreamed about being a hero from a kid''s show. Now it can become true.
This joy was quickly dampened though. After Saegusa-sensei explained how we would have to earn our life-expenses and would either join the combat group or the research group, everything became a bit more real.
We had to decide. Combat or research? Me and my friends considered our options.
¡°Eri-chan, you should definitely join the research group,¡± I said. She was smart, so she may actually put this knowledge into practice.
¡°But what about Masa?¡± asked Eri-chan.
¡°I''ll join the combat group,¡± replied Masahiko-kun.
¡°Then I''ll do the same.¡±
¡°Eri. It''ll be dangerous.¡±
¡°For me to let you do this on your own...¡±
¡°I''m thankful, but I''d rather see the girls join the research group,¡± uttered Masahiko-kun, as he smiled wryly.
Sadly, I don''t have any talent which might prove useful.
Even the fat Yamaguchi-san had something. Her parents are cooks in a restaurant and she was such an exquisite cook that she would help out there sometimes. These skills and her knowledge about recipes might come in handy for strengthening the food quality and widening the possible food sources here. She may even add some Japanese food to this western country in the long run.
My grades aren''t bad but I''m only good at learning. I never had any interests in science or other subjects. Thus, I could not think of anything that would prove useful in this medieval fantasy world.
So basically, I''m already set on joining the combat-group.
Kita-kun, Yamauchi-kun, and Masahiko-kun would join the combat-group as well. Masahiko-kun was good at sports and almost everything else and liked to put his talents to use. The other two wanted to support him.
Eri-chan would also join the combat-group.
¡°I''m interested in how much I can improve myself. I''ll also join,¡± declared Teru-chan. The small, cute Teru-chan would also join us. She was always dissatisfied with her height and all the problems it brought. Now she could overcome them by using the powers of heroes.
¡°Then it''ll be the six of us,¡± I affirmed. It wouldn¡¯t be so bad if I was with everyone.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The training was hell! The instructor, a bulky old man, pushed our bodies far beyond their limits. However, after watching Katsuragi the first day, everyone was pumped to not be as pathetic as him.
Katsuragi stayed away after his sorry performance. Nobody missed him, so everyone thought he just skipped. We would learn much later, that he actually vanished after the first day, after questioning his roommates and the servants in the castle.
Not that his disappearance would make a difference.
After two weeks of training, everyone of us got the basic stamina and we had to decide where to train.
¡°I guess, it''s better to focus on certain roles. Nobody could possibly cover everything alone.¡± Masahiko-kun explained his thoughts. It was already settled, that the six of us would form a big party. ¡°I played some games with a similar system, so if we go by my knowledge, half of us should excel in melee combat.¡±
¡°Half? So many?"
¡°Yes, since there will be some, who won''t be able to handle close combat and need to be protected, like mages. The more melee fighters we have, the more space we can cover.¡±
¡°I want to be able to fight!¡± Teru-chan already decided.
¡°Teru-chan, you shouldn''t. You can''t even stay calm in arguments, so you may be in the way.¡± I tried to change her mind, she''s not suited for weapons!
¡°Class president is right, Kurosawa-san.¡± Yamauchi-kun was also uncomfortable. ¡°It''s a job for men.¡±
¡°Don''t give me that. I will be fine and we need three to protect the rest. Also we can''t rely solely on you boys, because Kita-kun should do archery.¡± She was right. Kita-kun was a kyudo-club member, so choosing archery seemed to be appropriate. ¡°So one girl will have to do it.¡±
¡°Let her, if she wants to.¡± Eri-chan''s smile was a bit crooked, but in the end, nobody could stop Teru-chan. That''s what she decided on and she is stubborn. Hopefully, she will change her mind and pick another class at some later point.
So the front-line was decided: Masahiko-kun, Yamauchi-kun and Teru-chan. Kita-kun approved to become an archer.
"What''s left?"
¡°Most likely spell attacks and magical healing.¡± For me, it was clear. I couldn''t imagine myself killing monsters at this point, so I wanted to take a back seat and help my friends by supporting them.
Eri-chan would be taught by the magicians, while I''d train with the priests, who wield the [Divine Magic], which is able to cure wounds instantly. Masahiko-kun and the rest would continue their training with the instructor. Everything seemed to be alright.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Another week passed and there we were: Masahiko-kun, the [Fighter], Yamauchi-kun, the [Warrior], Teru-chan, the [Soldier], Kita-kun, the [Archer], Eri-chan, the [Wizard] and me, the [Priest].
I wasted one of my class-slots in the process, but that was the fault of the hero-system! Who would''ve thought that the [Healer]-class wouldn''t include magical healing? I still have one slot left, though, so it wasn''t that bad.
All of us gathered to hunt some monsters. The ones around the capital were weak, so it was alright to do it on our own. We needed to gain experience in working as a party and the soldiers of Feuerberg have other things to do, like ensuring that only weak monsters would remain in the vicinity.
They were diligent in that task. Even finding one of these weak monsters was problematic, since there are so few left, it just took too much time. Only after two hours of walking did we see some.
Two snakes, big enough to eat a cat whole, with a violet pattern on their scales. The instructor told us about the monsters around here, so we knew what they were: The weak violet snakes, which aren''t even poisonous.
¡°Uaaaargh!¡± With a wide arc, Yamauchi swings his axe, but misses by around a foot. ¡°Erm...¡± Then he got smacked by its tail. ¡°Ouch, ouch!¡± It doesn''t seem to hurt much, so I can ignore that as the healer.
¡°[Dirt Sling]!¡± Eri-chan aims at the same snake with her wand and a bit of earth broke free from the ground, clustering itself to a bullet, which blasts towards its target.
Yet Yamauchi-kun was busy trying to hit the snake and steps in the line of fire of Eri-chan''s spell, not being aware of what he''s doing. He was missed by a hair''s breadth, while the snake was long gone from the point Eri-chan aimed to: ¡°Where are you aiming.¡±
¡°Daichi!¡± Masahiko-kun engaged the other snake, which was about to jump Yamauchi-kun. He parried the attack with one of his swords, but was thrown back by the impact, right into the bulky Yamauchi-kun, who toppled and fell in the process.
¡°Hm.¡± Without hesitation, Kita-kun unleashed an arrow from his bow and hit a snake, which tried to attack the prone ones. The arrow hit the target in the side and with a fluent movement, Kita-kun drew another arrow but hesitated to shoot, looking at Teru-chan, who tried to get herself into melee combat.
Masahiko-kun jumps right on his feet and moved his arms, as if he tried to shake off pain. ¡°Good job, Katsuo!¡± While one snake was in pain, the other was about to attack again, but Masahiko-kun interfered by wildly slashing both of his swords at it. ¡°Everyone, try to take the other one down! I keep this one busy!¡±
Teru-chan was stepping from side to side before, unsure when and where to engage, but now she thrust her spear at the wounded snake. Her spear didn''t pierce in much. ¡°It''s hard!¡±
I could see the faces of the three, Teru-chan, Yamauchi-kun and Masahiko-kun, who tried to take on the snakes in melee. Their faces were full of fear, insecurity and, for some reason, joy.
Then finally, Yamauchi-kun stood up and decapitated the wounded snake with one strike. ¡°That easily!?¡±
As my eyes were wandering back to Masahiko-kun, he was already dealing the finishing blow to the other one. ¡°...puh. Is everyone alright?¡±
Eri-chan shook her head. ¡°Those were the easy ones?¡±
Yamauchi-kun muttered: ¡°If you could aim better...¡±
¡°What are you saying?¡±
I interfered: ¡°Stop, both of you. This was our first battle, so of course there is room for improvement. Yamauchi-kun, let me tend your wounds.¡± With a single [Heal], I performed first aid. ¡°Masahiko-kun, you''re next.¡±
¡°Thank you. Good work, everyone. We should debrief this fight.¡± Masahiko-kun was always someone, who took the initiative if needed.
There was already some discontent between Yamauchi-kun and Eri-chan, the former criticized the teamwork in general, like how Kita-kun took his time to shoot. ¡°I can''t shoot an arrow, when you''re moving around like crazy.¡±
I can already see the problem. ¡°It''s a lack of communication. We should address it.¡±
Next fight, a single violet snake.
¡°Yamauchi-kun,-¡± ¡°I''ll take-¡± ¡°Wait, Kita-¡± ¡°Give me-¡± ¡°I''m about-¡± ¡°Everyone, one-¡± ¡°-aside!¡± ¡°-the back¡± ¡°- I''m almost!¡± ¡°-room¡± ¡°-to attack!¡± ¡°-after another!¡±
We defeated it, but each of us calling into the battle made it even more difficult to coordinate our movements.
¡°We need a leader.¡± Masahiko-kun states wryly. ¡°I''ll propose Kyou.¡±
¡°Me?¡± Why should I take that responsibility?
¡°¡°Her?¡±¡± The other to girls were as surprised as me.
¡°Why, Masa?¡± Yamauchi-kun asked calmly, while Kita-kun just shrugged his shoulders.
¡°Because Kyou is not engaged in combat, she can concentrate on what''s going on everywhere. It should make it easier to coordinate everyone.¡±
¡°I may be the class president, but I have no experience in giving orders.¡±
¡°Kyou, you can do it.¡±
¡°Hear me out. I''m already overwhelmed by watching. I think you would be the better leader, Masahiko-kun?¡±
¡°Me?¡±
Everyone, myself included, nodded. Masahiko-kun is a natural born leader and if he had been running for class president, he would have surely been voted in. He just didn''t want to.
People flocked around him. So it only seemed natural for him to make the calls.
The person in question... ¡°Please don''t look at me like that. ¡ Geez. Alright, we can try it. But only under one condition.¡± Everyone of us waited tensely for his next words. ¡°We''re more than friends now, we''re a party. So let''s call each other on a first name basis. It''s for our teamwork!¡±
With this, we grew closer again. Our teamwork grew more polished and with only a few start-up problems, Masahiko-kun became a dependable leader.
It didn''t take long, until... ¡°OOOOH!¡± Yamauchi- ¡ Daichi-kun gained a level. ¡°I feel stronger!¡±
¡°Congratulations!¡±
¡°I got a skill!¡±
Joyous days of taking time to adjust to this lifestyle.
¡°You know.¡± Masahiko-kun shared his thoughts. ¡°We''re supposed to travel at some point, so I think, it would be good to learn classes, which make it easier and more enjoyable.¡±
I approved. ¡°A good idea. Maybe we should talk with the soldiers in the castle about what would be needed on a long journey.¡±
There were several things.
Daichi-kun: ¡°I''ll take [Blacksmith], we need to be able to mend and repair our equipment.¡±
Katsuo-kun: ¡°[Leatherworker].¡±
Eri-chan: ¡°I think something like [Merchant] would be good. We need to restock and such and maybe there are some [Abilities], which could lower the prices.¡±
Teru-chan: ¡°I guess, someone who is able to set up camp, hunt and such will come in handy. I''ll learn with the scouts of the kingdom, maybe there is a [Scout]-class.¡±
Me: ¡°It would be good to have a good meal every day. I read about [Cook] in the manual, so I''ll get that class.¡±
Masahiko-kun: ¡°I wanted to try the [Blacksmith] as well. What to do... [Carpenter]?¡±
¡°Maybe something like [Diplomat]?¡±
¡°Another good idea. Well, there are still some other good jobs out there.¡±
We hunted some monsters every day, slowly increasing our level and getting used to fighting and living in this world. Well, everyone''s level increased except mine.
¡°Maybe the [Priest]-class has a high XP-requirement?¡± Masahiko-kun suggested that idea. It was possible. There was a different pacing in leveling for everyone, after all. Magic-users may need more experience before leveling up.
Yet my level didn''t increase, while Masahiko-kun just hit level 10.
At the beginning of our hunting, I had to sometimes step in, when the rest were in trouble, but it became less frequent over time.
Though that one time, in our first fight against wolfhoppers, I had to help Eri-chan, who was constantly attacked by these strange furry grasshoppers, which distracted her so much, that she couldn''t cast a single spell.
I killed one of them and gained a level.
¡°Finally, Kyou!¡± Masahiko-kun put his hand on my shoulder. ¡°It''s your time.¡±
¡°Actually...¡± I already had an idea. Our party-progression was uneven, because everyone got a different kill count.
So I needed to kill monsters by myself, to increase my level. To do so, I had to fight. For fighting, I needed a class which supports me in that, since even though I wasn''t bad at sports, I was not good either. My body was unsuited for fighting!
The problem is, I don''t have any class-slots left!
I... can''t. I can''t level up like the others.
Later that same day, I was about to knock on Masahiko-kun''s door, so that I could talk to him.
¡°ERI!¡± But before my hand even touched the door, I could hear Masahiko-kun''s angry voice behind the door, so I put my ear on it. The sounds were dampened, but I could follow the conversation.
¡°You know it''s true.¡±
¡°Aren''t you and Kyou friends!?¡±
¡°We are. And that''s why I said it.¡±
¡°Please explain it to me.¡±
¡°Everyday we try to travel farther away from Esse and there are more monsters, even these wolfhoppers are there. That''s too much for her. She needs to increase her level in a safer location.¡±
¡°Then we''ll go with her. The other hunting grounds can wait.¡±
¡°Masa, I know that you''re only thinking about her, but how would she feel?¡±
¡°Kyou... does have her pride. But it''s our responsibility as her friends to help her.¡±
¡°And what about our responsibility as heroes? Didn''t you just preach yesterday to the others, that we were chosen for a reason and we need to use these powers not only for ourselves, but the ones who put their hopes on us?¡±
¡°...I did. But-¡±
¡°Masa. Calm down.¡±
¡°...¡±
¡°Hear me out...¡±
I was not dense enough to not understand what this conversation was about. It was about kicking me out.
I knock.
¡°...yes? Who is it?¡±
¡°It'' me.¡±
¡°Come in.¡±
I originally wanted to talk with Masahiko-kun how we could address that problem of mine, but with this prelude, I just began a casual conversation between friends.
...I didn''t want to think about what just happened.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I really should have said something back then. I feel the regret. Currently, I''m strolling aimlessly around Esse. ¡°If you''re so sorry, then don''t leave.¡± Yes, they left. The chancellor proposed a more intense training routine for the heroes, who are already used to the monsters around capital.
While I was left here.
My head feels heavy and I constantly sigh. ¡°If you''re concerned about me, then help.¡± I would''ve never declined their help. How did Masahiko-kun come to the conclusion, that I have a lot of pride?
Maybe I do. Maybe that''s why I feel so depressed.
¡°If you''re sure, that I can catch up, then wait for me.¡± Seriously, please wait.
I''m tearing up. No good. I rub my eyes with a sleeve.
No time to be depressed. It''s time to hunt some monsters!
Violet snakes, again.
I get bitten, I attack with my dagger, back and forth. The moment I see two monsters, I have to retreat, since taking one alone takes a lot of courage, damage and time.
Patience. Resilience. I need to only take on one after another.
¡°Sorry, Momokawa-san. We wish to support you with your training, but we''re at war, and need every person and coin. You''re a [Priest], if I remember correctly. You may help the church for a salary and use it for equipment and other things. We must think of the future, too.¡±
That chancellor!
He was kind before, but now explains me in a friendly manner, that they intend to cut me off. Weren''t you the ones, who got me into that mess? And tell me, why are you acting like someone from ''Hello Work!'', trying to get me into any occupation, that seems plausible.
Laying down on my bed, I try to figure a way out of my misery. Do I have no choices anymore?
Why. Why?
Tears.
I didn''t know that I''m that much of a crybaby.
¡°...why...¡± Why. ¡°...why...¡± Why. ¡°...*sniff* WHY!¡± Pain, trouble, a whirlpool of feelings. ¡°TRAITORS!¡± Why did they leave me. ¡°HYPOCRITE!¡± Why summon me to throw me away. ¡°IDIOT!¡± Why did I select the [Healer]-class? ¡°MORON!¡± Why did I blindly follow Masahiko-kun''s suggestions, without thinking for myself?
Pain, pain, pain. Numbness, who got pierced by pain again and again.
The tears on my face are hot, as if I am releasing the fires of my anger bit by bit, drop by drop. Only frustration is left behind.
¡°UUUUAAAAAAAH!¡± There is nothing that I can do.
Don''t break. Bend. It''s a bit hard now, but everything will be better. The last bit of hope is whispering into my mind.
The tears lessened.
It''s just not my time yet.
I... want to go home. When did I last have that thought?
Otou-san. Okaa-san. Kouki.
The whispering of hope is overshadowed by the memories of my family. I can still remember their voices, their faces.
Their warmth. I cuddle with it. Even though it''s only a memory, I indulge in it.
The next day, I ask for a job in the church. I need to bend. Times are hard and I need to accept it.
Accept it and be thankful for what you¡¯ve still got.
Why do I still feeling like crying? I have to be strong.
I still feel the pain.
I will most likely never return home again.
Still, I have to persevere.
There is nothing left.
Everyday I feel a bit more numb. I can accept it.
Day after day. Working some, hunting others. Hunting is always accompanied by frustration. I can only take monsters one-by-one and I need hours to even get sight of them. If there was more than one, I had to retreat.
Still, I don''t want to die by fighting more than I can handle. So many wasted days.
Night after night I cry into my pillow, until there are no tears left. Every time it becomes less. Finally, they stop.
Another day. What should I do today? I have some earnings, but the chancellor talks to me once a week and every time he mentions my stagnation and how they need their funds.
One day he will surely cut me off entirely.
So do I raise my level? Not that I could increase it at all. If I consider my non-existing leveling progress, it''d be safer to raise funds. I don''t want to, but what choice do I have.
I feel depressed again.
The people around me are always cheerful or focused on what they do, so I feel even more depressed. I look at those people with envy.
Every time I see someone down, I''ll feel better about myself.
How can that be? That''s disgusting. I''m disgusting. I''m turning into someone I''m not.
Why is it so familiar though?
Ah, because it''s like him. Like Katsuragi.
Someone who''s delighted by the suffering of others. The worst. So I''m about to become like him?
Is that the fate of someone without friends? Yes, I''m as friendless as him.
No, Masahiko-kun and the others are waiting for me! I have friends. They''re just... not here.
What great friends they are!
What did I do to deserve this? Why am I on this end of the stick?
I tried to please everyone and got popular in the process. If you''re popular with most people, there will be always some, who will dislike you for it.
When someone was getting in my way, I tried my best to overcome that obstacle. Maybe I went overboard sometimes, but I''m just a weak girl, so I have to use what''s available to me.
I was a good daughter, a good sister, and a good friend but now I''m left without anyone.
I''m all alone in this fantasy world.
Nonetheless, I will overcome it. Like always, I will stand on top at the end.
Even though I can only feel lonely and abandoned for now.
Ah, there is someone else, who''s sitting alone in the courtyard. Dead eyes, messy hair, a armor made out hide. Glasses... wait, isn''t that ¡°Katsuragi?¡±
Before I could stop myself, I talked to him.
Maybe because he''s the first Japanese I have seen for a while, or maybe because I just thought of him, which made this meeting even more unbelievable. At the same time, I had someone to talk to. Especially someone, who''s as down as me.
I¡¯ve made many mistakes until now. Taking the [Healer]-class. Not taking a battle-focused class. The fact, that I avoided talking with Masahiko-kun about my problems before my friends left me.
And now, unknowingly, I¡¯m about to make the biggest mistake by far: Talking to Katsuragi.
I should have known better: Nothing good comes from speaking with Katsuragi.
But I¡¯m desperate and that foolishness will take its toll.
Volume 01 - Afterword
Hey there, kentusrpg here. I''m surprised , that my first volume of I hate being wed in a fantasy world! is done. Though my novel still needs to be edited, I am proud of the work of fiction that I have written. However, I am more proud of the fact that I was actually able to complete my novel¡¯s first volume than of my work of fiction¡¯s inherent quality, as I am not certain it will really ever be read and enjoyed by others...
I was inspired by web novels like Tate no Yuusha, Slave Harem, Master of Monsters, Arifureta, and others to create a story with world-transcending heroes in a game-like system.
I think highly of some those works of fiction but they are not perfect. Sometimes their balance seems to be a bit off, other times the characters become unlikable at some points in the plotline, and occasionally the story is prolonged by several things that I do not care about. I personally don''t mind a slow story, as long as there are cute girls and interactions between characters to deepen their relationships. You need a rest here and there, after all, but if this goes on and on and on, it becomes pretty frustrating.
Well, whenever I used to think about the numerous weaknesses of these works, I would shrug my shoulders and think that I have no reason to complain, since I did not spend many hours and sleepless nights to write all that stuff down. And this brought me finally to my own original work and the fact, that now I know how hard it really is to sit down and just write stuff. Of course now that I have, I really do have the right to complain!
My work is probably also suffering from imbalance between character- and plot-development, but hey, spend hours writing and publishing a story, before you wise-crack! :3
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Names:
Here we go with some details. Written below are some names of some characters in English and Japanese. Yes, I actually thought about how to write these character names in Japanese since each name in Japanese can has multiple meanings, depending on which kanji are used.
Katsuragi Kenta (¹ðľ ÖtÌ«): Kenta is written with the kanji ''humbleness'', which is, of course, not exactly his strong point. At least not until the end of the first volume, when Kenta was taught some humility. Probably. Katsuragi (written as cinnamon wood) was selected because it is pleasing to the ear and because it is one of the more common surnames . I realized too late that the reason the name sounds so good is because it''s not that different from the name of the character Katsuragi Keima from TWGOK, but oh well: The name stays!
Momokawa Kyou (ÌÒ´¨ ÐÓ): The surname, Momokawa, is written as ''peach river'', since I wanted to somehow have the word ''peach'' within. It''s sweet on the outside, with a poisonous kernel on the inside, which describes Kyou''s character quite well. And this leads to the first name, ÐÓ (apricot) read as ''Kyou'', which isn''t that uncommon (even though Kenta mistook it for ''Anzu''). You can also write Kyou as Ð×, which means ''calamity''.
Muaotef (¥à¥¢¥ª¥Æ¥Õ): This name is actually self-made, even though I altered the name Duamutef, the Egypt guardian god of the Canopic jars, for my means. You would pronounce it as ''Muh-Ah-Oh-Teff''. It¡¯s kind of a tongue twister for English natives, but I wanted to make a dragon''s name exotic. For those who don¡¯t know Japanese, the name is simply written in Katakana, so there is no hidden meaning. At least in human tongue.
In my next volume, we will have a new main character! Since my novel¡¯s description includes a ¡®harem¡¯ tag, the new character will obviously be a girl . Stay curious! I hope for positive feedback, so I that I can motivate myself to continue adding some sentences every day.
Volume 02 - Prologue
Finally. We¡¯re back in Esse! Behind walls which will protect us from the harm of the outside world.
Holding back my tears is hard. Finally, I feel safe. It has been so long¡
Even Momokawa Kyou-san, the beautiful but composed girl who travels with me, looks delighted. Both of us had our share of trouble so far. Lizard people, a dragon, multiple life-endangering situations, and a duel to the death are more than enough to let you cherish the safety of city walls.
¡°Let¡¯s go to the church, Kyou-san.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
I should mention that both of us are usually cynical, selfish, and disrespectful, but after all the ordeals we had to survive, even we could be surrounded by a pink-colored aura of pure happiness. It may be only for a limited time, but seriously: I don¡¯t care right now.
Kyou-san and I go to the church and meet up with the priest who specialized in breaking curses. ¡°Ah, you were the one with the cursed ring. You slimmed down quite an amount.¡±
¡°Erm¡ yes.¡± Originally, only I was subjected to a cursed ring, which made me weak, unable to recover anything by myself and forced me to stay in the [Student]-class, which is my original form. Normally I¡¯m a bit round, my currently selected [Scout]-class just slims me down. ¡°Actually, the curse got worse.¡±
Even though the penalties disappeared, the curse spread to Kyou-san as well. She is wearing a nearly identical ring now. Both are simple copper rings with engravings. Mine has a lion and hers a lioness.
I explain roughly the circumstances to the so-called expert on curses. He silently nods to himself during my explanation and then concludes: ¡°This is unusual, but I should be able to dispel both. Especially since I started the ritual with both of you, to be on the sure side.¡± Kyou-san and I had to go through a pilgrimage to the hot springs of Hei?quellen and pray at every shrine on the way.
This pilgrimage was to collect the divine energy crucial to remove such a powerful curse. To start this whole collecting process, we had to pay a lot of money to the church into executing a particular ritual, which will now find its end.
¡°So let us begin¡¡± The priest starts to chant a prayer and¡ ¡°Strange. This is¡ odd.¡±
¡°What¡¯s odd?¡± Kyou-san asks in a wary and suspecting way.
¡°I can¡¯t explain why, but there is no divine power inside any of you at all.¡±
It can¡¯t be! For what reason did we do all that crap? ¡°We did keep the time limit, and we prayed at every shrine on the way! We even have the holy water of Hei?quellen! How can this be!?¡± I¡¯m about to hit him.
¡°I¡¯m not sure¡ it seems it¡¯s already used up. I can¡¯t even sense traces of the collecting ritual I performed.¡± Are you serious? What kind of crappy ritual suddenly stops working without any reason!? ¡°Well, we can just restart it.¡±
Anger and frustration are welling up. I have to return to Hei?quellen, only a stone throw away from the ss¡¯rak!? I can tell that I¡¯m furious and show it through my stare.
Honestly, would you have kept your calm here? This last whole pilgrimage was a disaster, and now we have to do it again?
Yet there would be an icing. The priest smiles at us. ¡°That¡¯d be a donation of 300,000 Newgold.¡±
I don¡¯t clearly remember what happened afterward, but I had to be removed by guards. Since the church is part of the castle complex, there are always some available here.
Probably, I didn¡¯t take that well the fact that they¡¯re charging for the whole ritual again. I may have hurt some people in the process, but I¡¯m innocent. They¡¯re to blame!
I see, this is the reason why last time the 300,000 Newgold weren¡¯t ¡®paid,'' but ¡®donated.'' So that there won¡¯t be refunds, huh? This customer service sucks!
Kyou-san and I, a bit roughed up from my rampage, are sitting in the courtyard.
¡°Phew.¡±
¡°*sigh*¡±
Both of us sigh heavily and lifelessly. Even though there are only minor injuries for the victims of my outburst before, I should better not show my face at the church for a while. Not that we have the money needed to redo the pilgrimage in the first place. We barely got enough the last time and now we¡¯re broke! And even if we had the necessary amount, I honestly doubt that one of us would have the will to repeat this whole journey.
¡°Ken, I will kill you one day.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not my fault.¡±
Both of us have dead eyes.
¡°But you got me into it.¡±
¡°Sorry.¡±
I can¡¯t even argue.
¡°What should we do?¡±
¡°¡see the bright side?¡±
Actually, the curse is not all bad. Well, for me it is, but for Kyou-san it¡¯s more of a blessing.
The reason is that whenever one of us kills a mob, we both get 50% of the total XP. Since Kyou-san lacks offensive power, this is an easy way to raise her level. She¡¯s the perfect example of an XP-leech!
Both of us gain some secondary benefits from the curse, but there is one big downside: The curse forced us into a strange form of marriage. We basically get rewarded for being flirty, and it could be that the penalties of the original curse return if we¡¯re not by each other''s side.
Since we never separated since this form of ¡®marriage¡¯ happened, we don¡¯t know the details.
Normally, it wouldn¡¯t be so bad, but the real annoying thing about it are these:
You gain 1 WP.
In prosperity as in adversity. You share the same worries, but as long as you stick together, both of you and your love for each other will solve all the problems.
Oh, so we get WP (Wedding Points) for worrying about the same things together¡ how great.
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Yes, these pop-up messages are very annoying.
However, if we collect enough WP, we can buy some bonuses at the WP-store, which appeared on our status screens.
Currently, the curse gives us the following benefits: The ability to check each other status, a small boost to attributes while standing next to each other, the fact that we split gained XP, and finally a shared [Inventory].
¡°Kyou-san. We just have to collect money, and on the way, we can spend some WP to make our life easier. Like getting more XP out of mobs. Or being able to use each other''s skills. There are a lot of interesting stuff there, so it¡¯s not all bad.¡±
Uh, Kyou-san is looking at me as if I have licked her recorder. It¡¯s a mix of shock and disgust.
Well, to collect WP we have to act flirty. There is a list of actions that can get us WP, but some have special conditions, and others are going way too far, like taking a bath together.
At the moment we grind some WP by doing minor stuff: Holding hands, lap-pillows, calling each other on a first name basis or nickname, me eating her home-cooking, and finally sleeping next to each other (without any sexual activities). Each day brings 6 WP, but that¡¯s too few to actually gain one of the bonuses I mentioned in just two or three months.
¡°Ken. Will you come into the castle or take a room in an inn?¡±
Now she completely ignores my words. Well, could be worse.
¡°I¡¯m not sure. On one hand, we need to tell the people in the castle about Muaotef, on the other hand, I¡¯m not too keen on returning there.¡±
After a few days in this world, I left the castle to find my own way. I didn¡¯t trust anyone, not even the god who brought us here. Well, I still don¡¯t.
Well, in the end, I think they¡¯re better than Muaotef. He is a dragon who we met on our pilgrimage and I¡¯ve never felt such fear before. He¡¯s a menace, and I would do anything not to meet him again.
There is a city of his ss¡¯rak servants¡ªlizard people¡ªmost likely unknown to the kingdom of Feuerberg. It¡¯s deep in the mountains, only a few days away from the capital Esse. We don¡¯t know what he¡¯s planning, only that it can¡¯t be good.
¡°I guess¡ I will take a room after selling the stuff we collected. I don¡¯t like to be dependent on the castle-folk. Also, since we try to sleep next to each other whenever possible, I think it¡¯s better to avoid strange rumors. At least when those people know us.¡±
Since Kyou-san lived in the castle before, she¡¯s well known there. I guess she still has most of her stuff there, so she will probably want to stay there.
¡°Do you know the inn already?¡±
¡°Yes. The Gilded Eagle. A cheap one in the west district.¡± This is the recommendation of my hunter-mentors.
¡°I will go there after I¡¯m ready. We will talk about what to do then.¡±
Kyou-san plays with a strand of hair. I¡¯m sure she wants to clean herself thoroughly. We had a long journey, so we¡¯re not exactly presentable.
¡°I will sell our loot first, so we have our funds ready.¡±
¡°You won¡¯t. Just go to the inn and take a bath. And wash your hair!¡±
Should I argue? No, let¡¯s not. I¡¯m too tired for that shit.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Traveling with a girl can be tricky.
Even though I am not particularly interested in Kyou-san, I somehow grew more conscious of her.
Additionally, there are moments in which my lust is stimulated, and that leads to me relieving this special kind of stress whenever I get a chance.
As there are only a few opportunities when traveling with Kyou-san, I used this moment of solitude as well.
Even though I try my best to not think of her while doing it, as she was the one who actually awoke these emotions, it is hard to replace her face with a game character¡¯s.
I still try.
Now I take a bath, wash my hair with this world¡¯s strange hair soap, and change my clothes. I take my time so I feel clean and relaxed for the first time in about two weeks.
I even clean the interstices of my glasses as good as possible. I don¡¯t need to wear them as long I¡¯m [Scout] because my senses are enhanced, but somehow I want to wash off everything that has happened in the last two weeks.
Only the irremovable ring on my left ring finger is left.
Married to Momokawa Kyou-san, huh?
The class president and one of the prettiest girls in my school. Popular as well. Though the fact that she fakes a nice personality while being nasty in real is a big minus. I, on the other hand, was just a gamer who couldn¡¯t have cared less about her.
How things can change.
In the evening, Kyou-san shows up in my room. If I hadn¡¯t relieved myself before, I definitely would react now, since she¡¯s back to her best shape. Her hair is almost silky, her skin smooth and unblemished, her lips moist and shiny, even the dirt under her fingernails is removed.
Her clothes are clerical robes which enhance her curves in a way I can¡¯t explain. She reminds me of some really sexy female white mage characters.
I totally forgot how pretty she actually was.
¡°¡Ken, wait here a minute.¡± With this, she is gone again.
Well, let¡¯s wait.
Five minutes pass and she returns with a bowl of water, scissors, a broom, dustpan, and a brush. ¡°Sit on that chair. Your hair is a mess. I will cut it.¡± My hair is a bit long, but I can still see clearly. As you might suspect, I¡¯m the type who go to the hairdresser whenever it becomes too impractical and not one day before. ¡°This will give us some WP, too. So do as I say.¡±
¡°Phew¡¡± The WP got me.
*Snip, snip*
I sit down on the chair, and while Kyou-san begins to comb and cut my hair, we talk about our next steps.
¡°First we have to talk to the king or chancellor about Muaotef, I would rather leave this to you alone, Kyou-san, but every detail we forget can prove fatal. Then it¡¯s about raising money again, for these money-grubbing priests to redo the ritual.¡±
Unless its a scam, but since I don¡¯t have anyone else to rely on, I just have to hope for the best. They kinda have a monopoly here and looking for another option will take time, getting there even more. Maybe the involuntary trip to the chasm royally fucked up the ritual? I don''t know.
I lack the necessary knowledge to understand the whole process. So I have to rely on an expert for now, even though it might be just a way to get money¡ But seriously, if they scam people like that on a regular basis, they shouldn''t be able to retain their status, right? The people from the church seem to trust his expertise, and because there is magic in this world, even other people like the wizards of this kingdom will know whether he¡¯s a quack or a pro¡ right!?
...
Well, if they mess up a second time, I can still look for another way to get this curse removed.
¡°Redoing the ritual?¡± Kyou-san sighs. ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice, do we? I don¡¯t want to.¡±
¡°Me neither.¡± This thought is depressing, we¡¯re both emotionally scarred from the last pilgrimage. ¡°But maybe we¡¯ll get a reward for our information. By the way, why didn¡¯t you want me to sell our stuff? Rockinger shells and such aren¡¯t really valuable enough to keep.¡±
¡°I want to try something later.¡±
*snip*
¡°What?¡±
¡°You¡¯ll see. Don¡¯t move your head.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t you cutting too much?¡± I can see whole hair bundles falling.
¡°You will thank me later.¡±
Somehow I have the feeling that Kyou-san is having fun. Even though she actually doesn¡¯t give me many emotions to work with.
I should be prepared to shave all hair afterward as she might just bust it.
¡°Done. Look at the mirror.¡±
I take a look, expecting the worst.
But actually¡ It was really short but not much else to say. She cut it cleanly, and I couldn¡¯t see any skin. ¡°It¡¯s¡ short.¡±
¡°I think it looks good. Less sloppy than before at least.¡±
You gain 3 WP.
Having your wife cut your hair is a symbol of trust in her skills, and it gives her the opportunity to shape you to her liking a bit.
These WP are cheap. Though I feel the urge to run my fingers through my hair all the time. This hairstyle is so unfamiliar. Also kinda cold.
I help Kyou-san sweep up my hair. Farewell, hair, but this is as far as we go together.
¡°Then we should head to the castle now!¡±
¡°It¡¯s already evening. Let us sleep.¡±
¡°¡¡±
Now that Kyou-san and I are cleaned up, sleeping in one bed like before seems much less¡ casual. But in the end, there is no logical reason to decline. Only my lust.
¡°Ken, leave the room.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°I want to change into my pajama.¡±
Wait, wait, wait. We might have slept in the same bedding sometimes, but so far we were fully dressed. Bringing a pajama in now is unfair!
¡°Why a pajama?!¡±
¡°Because I¡¯m sick of sleeping in my clothes and I don¡¯t want to sleep in a nightdress. Even the pajama is just a resewed robe.¡±
¡°Then I want to sleep in my underwear!¡± I want to sleep comfortably, too!
¡°Rejected! Clothes or maybe pajama, as long it covers up most.¡±
Ah, this girl is so irritating!
Character-design Katsuragi Kenta
Volume 02 - Chapter 1-1 – The King, the Princess and the Quest
The next day, Kyou-san and I visit the castle.
Even though the church is a part of it, it¡¯s being about two and a half months since I last went into the actual castle building.
¡°Good morning, guardsman-san.¡±
¡°Oh, Momokawa-dono! Great to see you again!¡±
¡°Thanks. Ah. Hallo, cook-san.¡±
¡°Momokawa-kun, you¡¯re as pretty as ever. Is this your boyfriend?¡±
¡°No.¡± Uh, so cold. Her smile vanishes from existence in a fraction of a second.
Kyou-san takes time to greet anyone we meet. Why is everyone so nice to her and some are even including me!? I mean, she¡¯s the hero who got left behind because she was weak. There is no reason to be so friendly to her¡
They are luring us into a trap!
¡°Ken, do you actually think that they¡¯re tricking us?¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t they?¡± I whisper my words and look around carefully. With my [Perception]-ability I should be able to see through their farce.
¡°No. It¡¯s my [Persuasion], idiot. Isn¡¯t there something like this in games?¡±
[Persuasion], one of the seven attributes.
[Strength] for damage and physical prowess.
[Vitality] for pain-tolerance and resistance.
[Dexterity] for eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.
[Agility] for speed and reaction time.
[Intelligence] for memory and math.
[Luck] for¡ being lucky, I guess. It seems to work into all kinds of things.
Finally, [Persuasion], which describes how¡ Erm, what was it? Can¡¯t be so important. It¡¯s my lowest stat and I simply ignored it, so when I read about it from the pamphlet of the manual that was given us, I deemed it unimportant and then forgot about it.
¡°What is [Persuasion] again?¡± I could re-read it, but it¡¯s not worth the effort.
¡°It measures how non-heroes react to you if you try social interactions.¡±
¡°So the more you have, the more people like you?¡±
¡°No, it¡¯s more like ¡®trust¡¯ or maybe ¡®success in doing what you want to¡¯. For example, if I request something, the request is more likely to be fulfilled. If I threaten someone, it¡¯s more likely to intimidate them. If I lie, it¡¯s more likely to be believed as true.¡±
¡°¡ What an evil [Attribute]!¡± No wonder Kyou-san has that much of it!
¡°Are you thinking something rude?¡±
¡°No¡ but wait, it¡¯s only within social interactions and what again?¡±
¡°It doesn¡¯t work on heroes. Before we went to pilgrimage, my [Persuasion] wasn¡¯t enough to get much better treatment. Teru-chan had a higher score than me and now that I think about it, I felt the difference already back then.¡±
¡°¡Who?¡±
¡°Kurosawa Teruko. ¡ One of our classmates? ¡ My friend?¡±
¡°The one with the ponytail?¡±
¡°That¡¯s Eri-chan. Teru-chan is small and cute.¡±
¡°Ah, the shrimp. So she¡¯s called¡ Teru?¡±
¡°Kurosawa Teruko. Can¡¯t you remember your classmates names?¡±
¡°You remember that I don¡¯t care about these guys at all? Let me count¡ I know five names at all. Well, six now. Kurosaki Teruko!¡±
¡°¡I want to make a comment, but I don¡¯t know where to begin with.¡± Kyou-san is holding her head as if she has a headache.
I see, so Kyou-san¡¯s [Persuasion] went up quite a bit. Though it¡¯s just natural since she was Level 5 when we started the journey and she¡¯s now level 20.
¡°Wait, is that the reason why the ss¡¯rak were listening to you but tried to kill me whenever I tried to negotiate?¡±
¡°Most likely.¡±
¡°Then why didn¡¯t you tell me then?¡±
¡°I needed some time to figure it out.¡±
¡ Dammit, Kyou-san! Stop making sense!
I take a look at all the people in the castle corridors. Most of them are most likely servants and there are some guards here and there; even though it¡¯s supposed to be the royal castle of the kingdom, its inhabitants are mostly commoners. There is currently only one guy that wears fancy clothes and he just walked into that corridor from behind a corner.
Wait, don¡¯t I know that guy? When did I see him? ¡ ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t it the chancellor?¡±
¡°Oh, that one you remember.¡± Kyou-san doesn¡¯t seem to feel great seeing the chancellor. Maybe something happened, but she has to be the one to speak to him since I don¡¯t really know him.
I met him back when we were summoned, saw him a few times, but since I disappeared after two days, he won¡¯t remember me.
Kyou-san inhales deeply: ¡°Good. I¡¯m ready.¡± I think she almost pumped her fist, but hesitates after giving me a quick glance. ¡°Excuse us, chancellor-san, but we have to talk.¡±
¡°Oh, Momokawa-dono. Long time no see. I heard you came back yesterday, so I wanted to visit you. Yet when I had the time, you weren¡¯t in your quarters anymore and nobody knew your whereabouts.¡±
¡°There are reasons for this, but my companion and I have important information to share. It¡¯s about a danger which might befall the kingdom.¡±
¡°I see... The king is attending to government business, but this seems to be important.¡±
¡it¡¯s that easy? Wait¡ [Persuasion], huh? What a cheat-like stat. Even though I don¡¯t really need it since I don¡¯t talk to others.
We are brought to the king¡¯s study room. Why is a king at a desk and reading and writing stuff there? This seems strange, shouldn¡¯t he be like¡ in the throne room all the time? No, that¡¯s in games, in reality government work is most likely like this.
The chancellor clears his throat. ¡°My king, I¡¯ve brought you the hero Momokawa Kyou-dono and her companion¡¡± He looks at me.
¡°Katsuragi Kenta.¡±
¡°¡Katsuragi Kenta, who¡ wait¡¡± He just stumbled. ¡°-erm, who are bringing important information regarding the security of Feuerberg.¡±
¡°Katsuragi Kenta? Ralf, this is a strange name.¡± So the chancellor is called Ralf?
¡°Yes, he is the hero who left us early, before even meeting you.¡± Ah, after hearing my name, he just remembered me, that¡¯s why he stumbled earlier. ¡°Even I¡¯m surprised to see him here, to be honest, especially since I think he looked different back then. Let¡¯s hear them out.¡± The king nods and the chancellor clears his throat again and turns to us: ¡°You¡¯re in the presence of King Heinrich von Stolzherz V, king of Feuerberg, Protector of the Flames of Freedom!¡±
The king is a tall man with blonde hair and a full beard, his orange eyes seem to burn, they¡¯re that intense. Yet he looks at us with a poker face, waiting for what we have to report.
¡°Sir.¡± Kyou-san bows and after hesitating a bit, I imitate her. ¡°We were traveling to the shrine of Hei?quellen in the Vulkan-mountain range.¡±
The chancellor inquired further: ¡°The one, who got attacked and raided? We got the message from pilgrims which visited the shrine after the attack. There were some priests there, do you know what happened to them?¡±
¡°No, but we saw the raiding party. Ss¡¯rak.¡±
¡°Ssr¡¯ak, the lizard people? On this continent? In Vulkan?¡±
¡°Yes. We were captured and brought into a chasm and¡¡±
Time to cut in, since I don¡¯t want to go into details here: ¡°The chasm is a hard place to survive. You can¡¯t climb the cliff, unless you¡¯re a ss¡¯rak or bring climbing tools. We had to look for another way. We found an underground passage which led to a strange lava cave and there we saw¡ a dragon.¡±
¡°Dragon?¡±
¡°A dragon?!¡± This time even the king seems to be shocked, despite his attempt to keep a calm face. So dragons are special existences in this world, at least. Though they may be just a myth, just like in our homeworld.
¡°Yes, a dragon. It¡¯s called Muaotef and he¡¯s the leader and god of these ss¡¯rak.¡±
The chancellor seems to be deep in thought. ¡°Muaotef¡ maybe the sages know something about him.¡±
The king doesn¡¯t care about the rumbling of his chancellor and asked: ¡°How did you survive?¡±
Well, this is uncomfortable, because we only survived by doing him a service. How can I lie about this?
Kyou-san butts in: ¡°He did not have much interest in us. He was arrogant and after what happened afterwards, we understood that he must have thought that we would die anyway.¡±
¡°What happened?¡±
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Words like that actually works? Is this the power of [Persuasion]? Even I begin to wish me more of it. They don¡¯t even inquire details! Or maybe they¡¯re waiting for the story to end before asking us questions. Like, why we were in the Vulkain-mountains in the first place.
Kyou-san and I decided to keep the curse-part a secret since it¡¯s our personal business. Also, the whole curse-break-department is part of the church, not the government. Both are mostly separated in this country from what I know.
Kyou-san continues the story. ¡°We saw a city full of ss¡¯rak and encountered multiple of them in battle. We could only run and survive with our power as heroes, but that advantage did not last long.¡±
The chancellor and the king seem to be engulfed in Kyou-san words. They¡¯re totally caught. This seems like brainwashing.
¡°Because we met another hero. A ss¡¯rak and a hero of Muaotef! We faced him, two versus one, only Ken¡¯s zeal and all the levels I had gotten from surviving in the chasm saved us. We won the battle, but failed to eradicate the city. There were too many ss¡¯rak for us! I don¡¯t know, what they want, but they are malicious and strong.¡±
Two versus one!? Stop lying! I want to scream, but Kyou-san is giving me a look, telling me to shut my face. Going into a fit would be detrimental right now and she knows it, so I¡¯ll just glare at her with my most furious expression! You bitch!
¡°I see. Momokawa-dono, Katsuragi-dono, you did well. Heroes are stronger than the average person, but not invincible. This doesn¡¯t call for a group, but rather an army. Can you try to show us on the maps where the city lies, so we can send scouts?¡±
We try our best to be helpful and, thankfully, this doesn¡¯t seem to be something only a hero can accomplish.
The king is pleased with us: ¡°You should better get some rest, and¡¡±
Suddenly, the door opened and a middle-aged woman comes into the room. A servant, not a maid, which are surely a product of imagination. ¡°My liege!¡± She kneels before the king and presents a small message like the ones carrier pigeons deliver.
The king takes the message and while reading it he changes color often: red, white, blue. Powerless he hands the paper over to the chancellor who reads it and begins to tremble with a hardened face. What¡¯s written there?
After the chancellor reads the paper, the king exclaims: ¡°Send a message to the border. If they can¡¯t send suitable soldiers, they should send the heroes. No, send a message to the whole kingdom! The one who brings her back alive will be highly rewarded! How much, chancellor?¡±
¡°500,000 Newgold would be appropriate.¡±
¡°500,000 Newgold for the ones, who bring her back! Double if unharmed!¡±
Kyou-san and I exchange looks, then she asks: ¡°Who?¡±
¡°My idiotic daughter!¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Katarine von Stolzherz, crown-princess of Feuerberg. She¡¯s 15 years old and quite capable from the sound of it. She¡¯s skilled with the sword, able to use divine magic, and well-loved by everyone. The problem is she¡¯s also headstrong and naive.
After it was decided that the kingdom will summon us heroes, she became convinced that she, as royalty, has to play a more active role in the kingdom and especially the war. To please her, she was sent to the southwest to organize the supply lines to the front even though clerks did most of the actual job.
It appears that she got sick of it and was recently seen at the frontlines. The same one where the heroes¡ªmy classmates¡ªare. Without any guards or servants, she has left her post and has fought against parties of bandits and demon-soldiers and even defeated them all by herself, without returning to her actual task.
The problem is that she¡¯s the crown princess and should not engage in unneeded danger. But since Katarine-hime is such a powerhouse, and stubborn to boot, normal guards or soldiers won¡¯t be able to bring her back safely.
As the ¡®not normal¡¯ soldiers play key-roles in the war, all the hope lies within the heroes and incredibly skillful non-heroes who are able to actually capture her. Her combat-strength is also the reason for this high reward and twice as much for capturing and transporting her unharmed.
500,000 Newgold is no joke, you can buy about anything up to a house with this. In addition to that, if the king owes you, you can count on several benefits in the future. There is no reason not to try if you¡¯re confident that you¡¯re fit for the task.
For us, who needs 300,000 Newgold for another try to break the curse, this is almost a god-send. Then we¡¯d still have 200,000 left, 100,000 for each of us. This is still enough for me to upgrade my entire equipment, though I may just get more consumables for quick power grinding.
If I want to return to Japan, I need to become stronger. I don¡¯t trust the god who claims that he will sends us back if we kill the demon king and end the war, but whatever comes, first I need the power to realize the decisions I make.
An additional benefit of being powerful is survivability, of course.
Kyou-san doesn¡¯t know about my thoughts, but still wants to lift the curse, since she really hates the fact that we are kinda married. While raising 300,000 Newgold will probably take us about one or two months of serious grinding at my pace¡ªand I really doubt that she can keep up¡ªa quest which might take a week or two is preferable.
Even if we don¡¯t capture the princess, we¡¯ll be at the border and can get some materials and monster drops which are more valuable in the capital than the regional ones. Since it¡¯s hard to collect those in a war-zone, we¡¯ll get some bonus payment.
The only downside: We will probably run into our classmates.
I think for Kyou-san it¡¯s a mixed blessing, since she was left behind. Still, some of them are her friends. On the other hand, she¡¯s with me.
For me, it¡¯s complicated. Normally, I wouldn¡¯t mind it, since I don¡¯t particularly care about any one of them, but in the end, I was kinda bullied. Not in a physical sense, only socially. Still, I don¡¯t really want to see those glares and experience that behavior again.
Yes, the girls will look at me like I¡¯m puke again and the guys will probably make fun of me. I¡¯m confident that my level is much higher than theirs, though. I¡¯m level 39 and Inoue Masahiko, the alpha dog, was level 18 just about 4 weeks ago.
Maybe it¡¯s payback-time?
Well, for now it¡¯s traveling with the carriage the chancellor arranged after we agreed to search for the princess ourselves as well.
You gain 1 WP.
A lovely evening carriage-ride is romantic in its own way, but also gives you the opportunity for holding hands, snuggling and other ways to show your affection, while observing the rolling landscape.
Except, that this is not romantic and there is no affection between us.
Kyou-san sold our loot before and we bought two pairs of gloves, better to hide our rings for now. Too bad there was no time to find someone who would be able to make my crimson bear pelt into an armor or another piece of equipment.
Yes, Kyou-san sold and bought everything. With her high [Persuasion]-attribute she¡¯s able to haggle the prices to some degree. I really want to get a higher [Persuasion] now, but it¡¯s my worst stat. I have less then half of Kyou-san¡¯s, even though I have about twice her level.
I guess her [Priest]-class heightens her [Persuasion], while none of my classes does the same.
Generally your [Attributes] are level-dependent, but how much your level changes your stats depends on your class. I guess it is a [level] x [class factor] thing. But the math doesn¡¯t add up, so there might be several other factors in there, but at least my [Strength] as a [Pikeman] increases more per level than the [Strength] of my favorite [Scout]-class.
In the end, there is a lot I don¡¯t understand.
Still, there are some possibilities outside the hero-system, to strengthen ourselves. We do gather all these WP for a reason.
¡°What kind of bonus should we purchase next? Personally, I think we should save the WP up, until we get an XP boost. At the moment we only get 50% each, but even though you profit, my progress has practically halved.¡±
¡°Ken, how long do you think we¡¯re going to stay cursed? The WP-amount is too high to aim for it, unless you think we¡¯re going to be stuck for months.¡±
¡°Erm¡ right.¡±
Well, we need 500 WP for this and we only gain 6 WP per day regularly. But with our WP so far, we should get it in about two and a half months, considering the current WP and the irregular ones.
The only bonus we have so far is [Shared Inventory], but attaining it brought some problems.
Since our inventory simply was put together, we had to rearrange it and it took some time to reach a consensus on how to do it, since it¡¯s important to know exactly where each pot is. It would suck to grab a SP-potion when you want to cure a poison-effect instead.
Maybe that¡¯s like moving in together.
There are still more bonuses to get. I end up thinking about how to spend those WP all the time, it must be my gamer-mentality. Finding ways to exploit and power-game are always fascinating.
Which brings another aspect to my mind: How to bring down bosses! ¡°What do you think, should we ambush the princess while she sleeps and tie her up?¡±
¡°Ken, that is no way to treat a girl.¡±
¡°But since she¡¯s able to fight bandits and such alone, it might be too hard to capture her unharmed otherwise. What are we supposed to do? Talk to her? Isn¡¯t she stubborn?¡±
¡°No matter how stubborn she is, she is still a girl. I will talk to her, befriend her, cook for her, slip some sleep-drug into her meal, and keep her sleeping, while transporting her back to Esse.¡±
This¡ is far worse, than my suggestion. Since the princess was called naive, I think it might work, but this strategy is wrong on many levels. Is this how girls treats each other?! Or is this only Kyou-san¡¯s way of dealing with nuisances?
I know she has a bad personality, but seriously: This is outright evil.
As if she knows what I¡¯m thinking, she continues. ¡°Ken, I¡¯ll only use my [Healer]-class abilities, so it¡¯ll be more of a narcotic. This might be the first time the class is actually useful.¡±
¡°I think it might be a very useful class, once you get the hang of it.¡±
Kyou-san dislikes the [Healer]-class. She took it back then because she thought it includes magical healing. She was wrong, it¡¯s basically only compounding and physical treatment. However, crafting classes can be very powerful as long as you know what you have to do.
¡°Name one thing which can¡¯t be replaced by magic.¡±
Uh, hard. Having consumables around is practical, but considering Kyou-san¡¯s personality she will refuse to accept the gamer¡¯s kind of reasoning. Is there something else?
I take a look on Kyou-san, who¡¯s furrowing her brows. Is me looking at you directly so bad!? Seriously! But looking at her brows, my look wanders to her black hair and I get an idea.
¡°Couldn¡¯t you try to compound shampoo?¡±
¡°!¡±
She¡¯s actually interested. Hair washes are hard to get, even in the inn I used only a kind of soap, but in the end, my hair is still not as smooth and clean as it should be by Japanese standards. Even though I didn¡¯t care much about hygiene back home, after months even I feel the desire for modern cosmetics. Kyou-san, as a girl, is likely much worse off than me.
¡°It¡¯s not as easy as you might think! I don¡¯t have an idea where to start.¡± Ah, she resists my idea.
¡°But your [Compounding]-ability should help there. The basics for shampoos are easy, first select your tensides and cotensides, alkyl sulphate is a common tenside. Then-¡±
¡°Wait! How do you even know about this?!¡±
¡°It¡¯s only chemistry.¡± We might not had this exactly in class, but I picked it up in some self-study. Good grades for more playtime without nagging parents. Kyou-san, shouldn¡¯t you, who most likely don¡¯t play games, study more instead?
¡°¡I totally forgot that your grades aren¡¯t bad.¡±
¡°¡hey!¡± Actually I¡¯m rank 19 in school! Remember that! I¡¯m second best in class!
¡°Keep going, but make it simple.¡±
¡°Erm¡ you have the [Herbal Lore]-skill, this shows which substances are in herbs, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°If you look for alkyl sulphate there, you have the basics for a shampoo. Afterwards I guess, you need to rely on your [Compound]-ability.¡±
¡°Great advice, model student.¡±
¡°I only read about it! It¡¯s pure theory with few actual examples and we¡¯re in a fantasy world!¡±
However, I guess we¡¯ll try it at some point. At least it¡¯s better than nothing, I guess. Yet there is still one topic I¡¯d like to discuss: ¡°Why did you lied to the king and chancellor? About us fighting the patriarch together?¡±
¡°Didn¡¯t we?¡± She tilts her head in wonder.
¡°Don¡¯t even try.¡±
¡°You used my backpack, so it counts as-¡± After seeing my face, Kyou-san corrects herself: ¡°It was a quick way to shorten the story, since I didn¡¯t want to go into the details. You need to feed some details in a deception to make it interesting and plausible enough, so I wanted to create the impression that we more or less ran through the city together.¡±
¡°And you wanted to show off.¡±
¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t expect you to understand. I have my own issues as well.¡± Come to think of it, she complained a lot about the chancellor, when we met again in Esse.
¡°You¡¯re owing me for that one.¡±
¡°Yes, yes.¡±
She¡¯s so not serious. ¡°Phew.¡± I¡¯ll let it slide for now, since it¡¯s too much of a pain in the ass, but I¡¯ll remember it.
Another question: How long is this journey supposed to take? I mean, the idea of traveling with Kyou-san isn¡¯t that bad in itself anymore, but we already ran dry of topics to talk about. Strange, I never felt the need to talk to someone before. I guess it¡¯s because I had my games... Hey that¡¯s it, let¡¯s talk about games!
¡°Kyou-san, did you play games back at home?¡±
¡°¡¡± She was looking at me as if I have presented a turd right under her nose. Maybe this was a bad idea. ¡°Some. My younger brother has a WiiU, so sometimes I play with him. He¡¯s twelve and a brat, but cute enough.¡±
¡°Then sport games?¡± Since she plays with her brother, these seems to be more likely.
¡°Racing, Mario Kart, some titles I don¡¯t know.¡±
Like I mentioned before, I mostly play RPGs. I do care about story or customization, so a good classic one on a console is as good as a modern MMORPG. But these games don¡¯t seem to be Kyou-san¡¯s forte and gaming itself doesn¡¯t seem to interest her one bit. Although this opens another topic. A nasty streak hit me, I wanted to paint Kyou-san in my colors. In a way.
¡°You asked me to teach you about the hero-system, but back then there was only time to explain you some specific tactics, so since we got some time with nothing to do, let¡¯s finally go through the basics to how I got so strong!¡± Time to talk about MMORPG-theory.
Volume 02 - Chapter 1-2
The most important thing you need for MMORPGs is endurance. If you¡¯re not playing the hell out of it, you won¡¯t get anywhere. You need to keep going, for hours and hours.
After that comes the understanding of the system. If you¡¯re able to judge what strategies and builds are working and which are not, you should be able to make your character strong enough that your actual gaming skills don''t matter for the most part. If you build a perfect MMORPG-character, even a monkey should be able to play it effectively.
For heroes like us, there are many similarities between the hero-system and the game-systems of MMORPGs, but there are significant differences as well. Like that you can¡¯t see how much damage you actually do on an enemy. You also need to actually swing your weapon instead of just clicking your mouse. In addition, the camera is first person, which makes it hard to counter enemies coming from the side. Though I should be glad that there isn¡¯t the typical MMORPG-cluttering of the UI (user interface) as well. I mean, this would be annoying as hell if I can¡¯t see that much because there are too many windows open.
However, it would be great to know how stats exactly work. So far, there is no indication that monsters or non-heroes have stats. They just¡ are. So how do our powers interact with those without a status? It¡¯s still a mystery.
It would be great if there would be online guides. With them, you can understand the system. Which also means that you can evade trap-builds. Without such guides, you become like Momokawa Kyou-san: A miss-skilled character, who already chose all of her four possible classes. OK, [Student] was mandatory, but without a guide, she couldn¡¯t know that the [Healer]-class didn¡¯t include magical healing, that a hero usually only gains XP by killing monsters, and that her other class-choices¡ª[Priest] and [Cook]¡ªmay be practical in general, but bad for leveling up.
Like I said, she could have avoided it with a proper guide. We do have a manual, but it lacks a lot of specifics. There are classes mentioned, for example, but it doesn¡¯t explain what these classes do. This caused Kyou-san to waste her class-cap and now she has to make the best out of it.
The main difference between a game and this world is that this world is real, despite the game-like hero-system. If we die here, we will stay dead. So the first thing you have to realize within this system is that one death is game over. You have to invest in survivability. For this, there are a lot of things to think about.
It¡¯s not only the amount of HP (Health Points) but food, a place to sleep, and means to get clothing, equipment, and other stuff. This is the reason why I tried to get the [Hunter]-class, even though I ended up with [Scout]. By choosing this path, I got [Stealth] to avoid getting seen and to keep an edge in battles, and the means to hunt for food, pelts, and other drop-items.
My most important method of surviving is being able to run away, while I only attack monsters after observing their strengths and habits, waiting for the right moment to test out a single one before taking multiple enemies at once.
¡°So first, check out your escape routes.¡±
¡°I thought your ¡®strategies¡¯ would be less¡ cowardly.¡± Kyou-san narrows her eyes.
¡°Being a coward is the best way to conquer any game safely. Using traps, ambushes and such will increase your chances to defeat your enemy, especially the unknown ones. At least strategies like these will give you time to run away. And within your safety margin you can try different strategies to make the killing the least difficult or to decrease time without bringing too much risk into it. And after you get all these down, it comes to¡¡±
¡°Comes to?¡±
¡°Farming.¡±
¡°¡What?¡±
¡°Farming for XP and items. Defeating monster after monster after monster and getting their stuff and increasing your level at the same time.¡±
¡°Ken, you realize that we were doing this the whole time? How should this be a new tactic?¡±
¡°I did it for at least twelve hours per day. A lot of kills.¡±
¡°Tw¡ twelve hours? This is insane?¡±
¡°This is nothing. Sometimes I even spent eighteen hours a day farming. As I explained: Endurance. Well, back in the day, since monsters don¡¯t respawn in this world-¡±
¡°Re-what?¡±
¡°Respawn. Well, different from games, the monsters won¡¯t magically reappear after some time when you kill them. So instead of farming in one spot and singling out a specific type of monster, I fought everything I could. Within my safety margin of course. This is the reason why I got my [Perception]-rank so high, so I can perceive the enemy before contact and decide if this is an encounter worth fighting. Also, [Track] of the [Survival]-ability to find new mobs is a real time-saver.¡±
¡°So all you say is: Be careful and kill a lot of stuff?¡±
¡°If you are soloing, this is the way it goes, yes. [Perception] and [Stealth] for survivability and my combat abilities for the kill.¡±
¡°I have neither¡ wait a minute, if you did so much ¡®farming¡¯, why isn¡¯t your equipment much better? I think I saw much better equipment in the stores in Esse.¡± She just checked the stats of my gear, the fact that we are able to see each other status can be very annoying.
¡°Didn¡¯t you realize it while sorting our inventory? Pots and consumables. A lot of them.¡±
¡°Pots? And what?¡±
¡°Potions, since I can¡¯t heal myself magically, I used pots. And consumables are bombs and hunting traps, for example, everything which you can use only a limited amount of times. I practically invested most of my earnings in stuff like that while saving some on the side. This is a dangerous strategy, but the consumables are much cheaper than equipment, and they bring some better edge to fights. As long I can kill with my current gear, there is no need to change it. If I can farm twelve hours because I got enough items to restore or avoid damage, it¡¯s worth the cost.¡±
In fact, the hero-system can be merciless concerning HP, but it¡¯s somewhat forgiving for Stamina Points. As long I have SP, I can somehow manage it, as long as I got no bad conditions. Since I have my [Scout] and [Pikeman], I¡¯m fine. They make my body fitter, so there are fewer chances for muscle strains, headaches or sickness, even if I overdo it a bit. Even if I stay for hours at the same spot while scouting, I recover quickly from bad ailments.
¡°Basically,¡± Kyou-san ponders: ¡°Instead of building a good basic, you rushed regarding killing monsters, since you can restore stamina and health as long as you know how to run away?¡±
¡°Yes, and sometimes I sneaked into lairs to skip the combat and get some treasures, so I can maintain the status quo.¡±
Kyou-san rubs her nose-bridge. ¡°Somehow I think I will never be able to do this. This is wrong on so many levels.¡±
¡°Well, for you, the bus is still the way to go.¡± Her face already said that she had no idea what I¡¯m talking about. Again. ¡°Partner up with a high-level character. Under normal circumstances, you just need to get the kill, like we did before. But now you¡¯re riding the Katsuragi Kenta bus all the time for some healing in exchange.¡± Actually, she¡¯s currently more of an XP-leech.
Since we are both under this strange curse, we share our XP 50/50 no matter who gets the actual kill. This is actually very beneficial for Kyou-san, and since I¡¯d get many disadvantages without being ¡®married¡¯ to Kyou-san, it¡¯s better than nothing for me. Still much worse than being not cursed!
¡°Can¡¯t I just drive that bus over a cliff?¡± Why is she smiling innocently while saying some cruel words?
¡°Erm¡ how about this: Just use the blessings and ignore the bad things?¡±
¡°So I should ignore you?¡±
Uh¡ I feel like I lost all but 1 HP. Why am I the only one trying to make this work? I mean, I had her almost¡ less hostile. She wanted to make that kill to see if she can do it! What happened between there and now? ...Should I just throw her out the carriage? What happens if I do that? Will the curse reactivate and would it be possible to get it dormant again? I don¡¯t know, and I don¡¯t want to risk anything for now. Just keep up with it until we got this princess!
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Ken. It¡¯s a joke.¡± Her voice is hollow, and I can clearly hear her lie. ¡°Just go on.¡±
¡Whatever. Considering the fact, how useless Kyou-san is most of the time, I¡¯ll get enough chances to get revenge. ¡°Then we should go to the roles. We can adapt our strategy a bit now that I¡¯m fully back to action and you got some levels.¡±
¡°No need. You kill, I watch.¡±
¡°¡fine. It¡¯s not like you would do any good either.¡± In some regards, it might be better. It could affect combat negatively if I try to rely on her since she sucks at it. Better to make it work by myself. ¡°But actually I wanted to talk about party-roles.¡±
¡°You mean classes?¡±
¡°Not exactly. Generally, in RPGs with parties every character has some strengths and weaknesses, special skills and such. In MMORPGs it¡¯s often determined by their classes, but it¡¯s usually so that there is a general party-role which is fulfilled by several classes.¡±
¡°¡examples?¡±
Ouch, how do you explain party-roles to a person who doesn¡¯t have any experience at all? ¡°There are a lot of roles, depending on the game, but let¡¯s go with 4 archetypes. First is the tank, more or less a knight who attracts enemies and endure their attacks thanks to their great defense. When a tank does its job, the overall damage is reduced and everyone can act like they want to. Then there is the DD, the damage dealer. A character who can deal a lot of damage, mostly to single targets. They¡¯re great to take down key enemies quickly and efficiently. I would fall most likely with my [Pikeman]-class into this role. Then we have your role, a supporter. Often a character who heals and buffs¡ strengthen the party with spells. Finally, the crowd control who is able to give enemies bad ailments and can take them out of combat for a time, so the party can concentrate on a few enemies first. Might be a mage. This would be the basic four roles, even though there are a lot of different ways to discriminate.¡±
¡°Why having these roles?¡±
¡°Because it¡¯s easier to concentrate in one needed area and being a specialist while your weaknesses are covered by your other party members. Also to encourage teamplay.¡±
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¡°And why exactly are you telling me this?¡±
¡°Classes in the hero-system are similar. All have strengths and weaknesses, and we need to cover the most important things. You and the other students started out with these thoughts, right?¡±
Uh, Kyou-san looks like I broke her pencil, just after borrowing it. ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s bad!¡±
¡°¡Yes and no? Please?¡± She¡¯s still not hurting me, even though her stare makes me feel uncomfortable. ¡°While it was bad in your case, the general idea isn¡¯t bad at all. Only the hero-system is, since it doesn¡¯t allow parties and sharing XP. As we are an actual party, I¡¯d like to put you to work a bit. I had to cover up a lot by myself and was specialized in soloing before. So can I count on some healing if needed and without questioning and waiting?¡± We¡¯re going to the border, and I can¡¯t just run away as long as I have to watch over Kyou-san; I need to be able to endure a lot of pressure from enemies.
¡°¡All right. But I¡¯m only doing this healer-role.¡±
I called it supporter, but now Kyou-san might get a bit more active as well. Like back then, in the chasm. Somehow this is relieving and pleasant. Strange.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We arrive at the W?chter-fort, one of the strongholds at the border of Feuerberg-kingdom. This is the place where the princess initially worked in the organization department.
The carriage ride was very uneventful and mostly just strange silence, since Kyou-san and I just can¡¯t find a common topic to talk about longer than a few minutes. Especially since my sole hobby is gaming and we both didn¡¯t enjoy school for its education. Or in my case, at all.
Actually, I¡¯m surprised that we can even talk about things for some minutes and didn¡¯t give up trying to find a common topic. At least now I know that Kyou-san likes movies, TV-dramas, and girl magazines, while she keeps her fashion-knowledge only up to date. She enjoys talking with her friends about a lot of different stuff which I translate into: Wasting her time.
Well, back to topic.
The W?chter-fort is an old one, which is mostly useless nowadays because the border was extended and new watchtowers were built. Still, it¡¯s the ideal place to do border-related work without being too close to the actual war-zone.
¡°Hey, isn¡¯t it class rep?¡±
A familiar voice shouted out, and I notice someone from my class. I think? At least it¡¯s a Japanese juvenile, so the chance is good. I take a good look again. Even though I try to remember his name, I have already forgotten his face, despite just looking at it.
No, no chance. I guess I saw him in class though. It¡¯s a good thing we wear gloves to hide our cursed rings. It would be pretty uncomfortable to answer questions regarding the matching rings considering how Kyou-san and I acted towards each other in class. Or nowadays.
Kyou-san nails his name. ¡°Tetsukawa-kun! Long time no see.¡±
So this is Teshizawa-san, huh. He¡¯s clad in light armor and has a regular sword on his waist, he seems to be like a soldier. Most likely one of the first to die since I have the feeling that I¡¯ll forget his existence the moment he leaves. Just like an extra.
¡°Wait, isn¡¯t it Katsuragi-kun?¡± Hey, why did he ¡®-kun¡¯ed me? I don¡¯t even know him! ¡°I couldn¡¯t recognize you at first, even though I was sitting right next to him back in class. Talk about embarrassment.¡± He laughs like an idiot.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Teshizawa-san, I can hardly recognize you either.¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t even get the name right, even though I just used it,¡± Kyou-san rebutted.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s Katsuragi-kun.¡± Why does this Teshizawa talk about me like I¡¯m some kind of joke?
¡°More importantly: Tetsukawa-kun, are other of our classmates here?¡±
¡°Everyone.¡± Oh god, my day just got worse. ¡°After we received the king¡¯s call, we all came here to hear the specifics.¡±
¡°Just like us, even though we were in the capital. However, since the princess was stationed at the W?chter-fort, they thought we might learn more here.¡±
¡°The captain said we will begin when everyone is here and ready. Maybe we¡¯re waiting for you two?¡±
¡°This might be the case¡ Ken? Where are you going?¡±
¡°Ken?¡± Teshizawa-san wonders.
Not that I care. ¡°To the woods. It¡¯s time to eat lunch, and I won¡¯t go into that fort unless it¡¯s for information. I¡¯m sure, an hour or so will be enough. Tell the captain that I¡¯ll be back by then, Teshizawa-san.¡±
¡°Erm¡ OK? Are you sure? By the way, class rep, why do you call Katsuragi-kun ¡®Ken¡¯?¡±
¡°¡stuff happened. I¡¯m sorry, Tetsukawa-kun, I have to join him because of said stuff¡ Please don¡¯t tell anybody about my involvement with him, right?¡± Kyou-san apologizingly winks at Teshizawa-san and joined me on my way to the woods.¡±
Teshizawa-san turns back and into the fort. Kyou-san catches up with me, and I dart a glance at her. ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to rejoin our classmates and talk about old times?¡±
¡°Are you crazy? Like I could face them properly while being¡ that with you. The less we talk, the better.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
¡°But seriously, lunch in the woods? This is so¡ stupid!¡±
¡°I¡¯m not going into the woods to eat lunch.¡± Even I could tell that I have an evil grin on my face while saying this.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
One hour later we are in a conference hall, waiting for the captain to give us the details about the runaway princess. This is the first time in a while I actually see my classmates. It was the whole combat-group¡ªall 20 students¡ªin one festival hall. Everyone somehow adapted to this new world. They swapped the school uniform for different clothes and armor: We have some robed wizard-types, the lightly armored soldier-types, and the heavily armored warrior types.
No one except me seems to have a non-military, non-wizardly equipment. I guess my [Scout]-class stands out, even though it might be military-related, too. My gear, however, was bought from different stores in different places instead of the same armory which is probably the reason why they look like that.
Despite this change, however, they¡¯re still the same like before: A herd of mindless goats without outstanding personalities, except their few alphas. The one who is the alpha of alphas is still Inoue Masahiko, he wears semi-heavy armor and two swords on his back. Oh... Of course, he comes to us, what a surprise! Bah.
¡°Kyou! Glad to see you. Are you alright?¡±
¡°Yes, Masahiko-kun. Glad to see you, too.¡±
For someone who doesn¡¯t want to face her former friends, Kyou-san really seems to be happy to see Mr. Handsome McFake. All his glorious personality has to be a front to hide his actually vile character. He¡¯s like a male Kyou-san, only with even less honesty! She¡¯s at least nasty towards me, while he won¡¯t easily allow any chink in his fake-armor.
¡°How are you, Kyou? I was so sorry to leave you behind, but in the end, I was only thinking about you. Are you sure you can partake in this? What is your level?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s 20.¡±
¡°Great! I knew you''d catch up! You¡¯re ten times smarter than me, so I was sure you would figure out a way to level up quickly! Now you can rejoin us!¡±
¡°Erm¡ No, Masahiko. Not now.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Look at his face, full of concern! It almost looks like he¡¯s really disappointed! This man should receive his acting award!
¡°Well, you see¡ I¡¡± Kyou-san isn¡¯t looking Inoue into his eyes. She seems to be embarrassed. ¡°I have temporary obligations.¡±
¡°What kind?¡±
¡°This one.¡± Without even asking me, she pulls me by my sleeve right into Inoue''s field of view, which I was actually avoiding until now.
¡°Isn¡¯t it¡ Katsuragi-kun?¡± Why does everyone ¡®-kun¡¯ me? ¡°Long time no see! I was worried you might have been killed, all alone out there. I¡¯m so glad that you¡¯re still alive! Look at you! You look really great!¡±
OK, let¡¯s translate these lines.
¡®Long time no see¡¯ means ¡®Oh, you¡¯re still here?¡¯
¡®I was worried you might be killed, all alone out there¡¯ means ¡®You¡¯re so helpless that you need someone to watch over you since you can¡¯t survive society!¡¯
¡®I¡¯m so glad that you¡¯re still alive!¡¯ means ¡®Now I can continue to laugh at you inwardly!¡¯
Finally, ¡®Look at you! You look really great!¡¯ means ¡®You were so fat that this artificial slim-down due to your class makes you look human again!¡¯
...I want to kill that bastard!
¡°Katsuragi-kun? You¡ well, I guess it¡¯s good that you didn¡¯t change that much.¡± Inoue appears to be a bit unsure what to say after looking at my face, but he smiled nonetheless and turns toward Kyou-san again. ¡°You¡¯re working together for now?¡±
¡°Yes, temporarily. I thought at first I can rehabilitate him a bit, but¡ come on, don¡¯t look at me like that, Ken!¡±
¡°Oh, you grew closer?¡± Inoue¡¯s wondering. Most likely because Kyou-san is calling me ¡®Ken¡¯. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that you two could ever become friends.¡±
¡°It¡¯s just part of the rehabilitation. We aren¡¯t friends, just classmates and well¡ he did help me out a bit.¡±
¡°Ah, I see. Katsuragi-kun is a gamer, after all. Of course, he might know one or two helpful things.¡±
¡°Yes. And he¡¯s very good at tracking people! He even found the tracks of the princess already!¡±
¡°Kyou-san!¡± She¡¯s really giving him the details! Without holding back, she tells Inoue the position of the tracks and the direction they¡¯re going to.
¡°They may be a few days old, but this and the information we got from the chancellor in the capital beforehand means¡¡±
¡°This¡ Kyou, this is great! Katsuragi-kun, you¡¯re great! With this, we might cut some time!¡± Look at his face. Not showing the greedy grin he surely has! ¡°You better tell everyone!¡±
¡°It¡¯ll be good to see everyone- look!¡± The door opened and the captain entered the room.
¡°Ah, I need to go back to the others. We¡¯ll see each other after the meeting?¡±
¡°Maybe. Ken is very keen on the reward, so I guess I have no choice but to leave as early as possible.¡±
¡°Ah, I see. Let¡¯s have a fair competition.¡±
¡°We will.¡± Smiling, Kyou-san sees Inoue off, while the captain begins the meeting.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
After an hour long meeting, all of the heroes know about the personality and skills of the princess in addition to her last known whereabouts which is actually this fortress. Occasionally, Katarine-hime returns to the W?chter-fort to deliver some bandits and leaves before the guards can organize themselves. Each time in a different direction.
Inoue Masahiko thinks that this girl is a headache. However, since Kyou and Katsuragi-kun have already found her newest tracks, he and his group already have a big issue solved.
His party contains his old clique from school except for Kyou. There is Yamauchi Daichi, a former judo-club member, who became an axe-wielding mountain of armor, a [Warrior]. Kita Katsuo, who was a kyudou-member, is naturally an [Archer] now. Inoue¡¯s childhood friend, Akiyama Eri, was able to learn the [Wizard]-class, an offensive spellcaster. Her and Kyou¡¯s good friend, Kurosawa Teruko, wields a spear with the [Soldier]-class to support from the rear. Finally, there is Inoue himself, of course, who got into dual-wielding swords with the [Fighter]-class.
They are the biggest and highest level party out of the five groups, well, six if you count Kyou and Katsuragi-kun in. Inoue is level 28, but since he sees himself as the leader, it¡¯s natural that he has to be a good example for everyone.
After the meeting ended, Inoue looks for Kyou and Katsuragi-kun, still hoping to get Kyou on board again. Sadly, they have already left. Maybe Kyou will rejoin them if Inoue¡¯s party gets the princess back, even though the princess seems to be a bit of a wildcat.
¡°Let¡¯s go, everyone! Naturally, we won¡¯t lose to any of our classmates!¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±¡±
¡°I already know where to look for Katarine-hime¡¯s newest tracks! We just need to be faster than her and everyone else!¡±
Inoue leads his group in the direction Kyou gave him, right into the woods. They were able to find the track Kyou mentioned and follow it.
Suddenly Eri vanishes with a loud scream!
¡°Eri?!¡±
¡°Eri-chan?!¡±
¡°¡°Eri-san?!¡±¡±
¡°I¡¯m OK!¡± Her voice comes from above! She¡¯s hanging upside-down on a tree in a sling-snare!
¡°Wait, I¡¯ll help you!¡± After two steps, Inoue feels how the ground under his feet collapses. A covered trap hole?! He falls hard on his butt, it hurts and in the trap are thorns! He¡¯s covered in several minor cuts now, which sting like hell! What is going on here?!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Sorry Masahiko, it¡¯s for the reward. And vengeance. Sweet, sweet vengeance!¡±
¡°Kyou-san, why are you monologuing?¡±
¡°I just got the feeling that Masahiko¡¯s group fell into your traps. You¡¯re quite evil for even thinking about preparing those beforehand.¡±
¡°You were the one who wanted to lead them right in and upgraded the traps with thorns, spikes, and stones.¡±
¡°Ken, could it be that we¡¯re actually the worst?¡±
Kyou-san and I are laughing. It might be on the lowest level, but we¡¯re getting along just fine now. We¡¯re united in our hate for our classmates. Or something like that.
You gain 1 WP.
You might be the worst, but you actually do things together. But seriously, rethink your behavior.
¡°See, even the damn curse is thinking we¡¯re going too far!¡± Kyou-san¡¯s honest laughter is full of glee. It¡¯s somehow charming.
Kyou-san was able to use her [Persuasion] on the captain, convincing him that it¡¯d be better for us to hear about the princess¡¯ recent whereabouts before everyone else, since we both already know most of the basics from the chancellor and can start searching immediately.
He had only one more piece of information: The fact that the princess delivered some mountain bandits two days ago and slipped away again afterwards. She most likely returned to the mountains. I already found her tracks when I prepared the traps. This information only confirmed our clue.
We slipped out right after the meeting began, since there would be nothing new, and to get a headstart. The others will probably follow quickly if they have the [Track]-skill as well, but for now, they have the traps to worry about.
Now, let¡¯s catch this princess, get the reward, and undo the curse!
Volume 02 - Chapter 2-1 – The Heroes, the Monster and the Plan
We¡¯re on our second day in the mountains. While getting to the mountains was quick, everything slowed down there as it became harder and harder to keep tracking the princess. Not only does she leave fewer traces in this terrain, but this area is also quite inhabited. I¡¯m talking about monsters, of course.
¡°Kyou-san, heal!¡±
¡°Yes, yes, I can see it!¡±
While defending against three human-sized furry-things, like long-haired bears, I have a hard time not falling off one of the many cliffs. This terrain is the reason why I can¡¯t evade that well, which leads me to tank more attacks than usual.
These creatures are called bearingtons and their blows are quite powerful. Even though they are slow, they have long claws and are nimble climbers. I have a grave disadvantage terrain-wise. Normally, I would just use the superior reach of my spear. However, one misstep and I¡¯ll fall down a cliff and might break my neck! I have to stay on the safe side and can¡¯t use my full physical play.
This means I get covered in blows, strike back, and defeat them with endurance, a real battle of attrition. But it hurts! Even healing magic won¡¯t let all cuts disappear instantly, they merely close and will heal completely in time.
¡°Hah!¡± I push one bearington from a cliff, this is the only strategy I can muster, even though I know it¡¯ll be back in a minute. Damn dexterous climbers! Yet it gives me that bit of extra time. I sure wish I could relocate the battlefield, but I have some ¡®extra luggage¡¯ to take care of.
It takes like forever, but finally I¡¯m the last one standing. ¡°Phew, I hate these things.¡± Nonetheless, I cut them up for meat and fur. ¡°At least they¡¯re tasty.¡±
Kyou-san looks pissed: ¡°Figure a way out to control your damage intake! This doesn¡¯t work out in the long run!¡±
¡°Sorry?! Why don¡¯t you try being in the front for a change!?¡±
¡°I do what I¡¯m supposed to do! You¡¯re level 39, shouldn¡¯t you out-level them!?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know? They are tough, and I can¡¯t isolate them, because you¡¯re just standing there!¡±
¡°If I wouldn¡¯t, you¡¯d die!¡±
¡°Do you think I don¡¯t know!?¡± Getting hurt all the time is pretty unnerving! I don¡¯t have a better strategy, however. Kyou-san is frail after all and needs this sort of protection. Therefore extra luggage. ¡°Phew¡ just let us keep going.¡± I¡¯m sick of this, but arguing won¡¯t help.
I guess we¡¯re both a bit strained. For the last two days we¡¯ve done a lot of climbing and fighting enemies, which aren¡¯t even that strong objectively speaking, but very annoying due to their terrain-advantage. Additionally, the only clues we have about the princess are the carcasses she leaves. We already heard that the princess is a powerhouse, but seeing all these dead mobs on the way makes me feel a bit uncomfortable about meeting her.
We are trying to get to one of the summits to get a clear view, maybe even see a campfire at night. I didn¡¯t imagine mountain-climbing would be like this before. We had to turn back several times because of paths leading only to dead-ends. We lack the proper equipment and knowledge to climb most cliffs, and if there is a chasm, we might need hours to get around it.
In the Vulkan-mountains there were trails, so we didn¡¯t need to actually climb much, especially since the ss¡¯rak carried us through most of the rough terrain. In this mountain-range we have to do all of this on our own.
We walk for half an hour in silence, then my [Perception]-ability-enhanced senses finally catches something: ¡°I hear people talking a bit in front¡ Sounds familiar¡¡±
¡°Maybe our classmates?¡±
¡°Did they already catch up?¡±
¡°Already? We lost a lot of time since we¡¯re practically lost here!¡±
¡°Hm¡ I¡¯ll scout ahead.¡± I use the [Sneak]-skill and [Hide Smell]-skill, just to be sure.
In fact, a hundred meters (330 feet) further are some faceless people. They have to be my classmates! I move up a bit and use [Camouflage]. My skin, hair, and clothes take the color of the rocks around me. It¡¯ll be tough to see me now. At least until I move, but now it¡¯s time to listen.
¡°We are lost, right?¡±
¡°We can climb down any time.¡±
¡°The [Track]-skill is quite unreliable, right?¡±
¡°It makes tracks easily visible and helps to discern them, but there are very few here.¡±
Three of my classmates, all girls, are sitting around, having their backpacks, which are their [Inventories], next to them. They are taking a break. If Kyou-san and I continue, we will run into them.
So they¡¯re like us, regularly finding and losing the princess¡¯ tracks. The fact that they¡¯re here only cements that we¡¯re basically lost and most likely moving in circles.
Wait, what do I hear? It¡¯s a group of bearingtons, and they are approaching. Since I hide my smell they¡¯ll definitely attack the group of girls. What should I do?
I know: wait. It doesn¡¯t look like the girls are hearing them and therefore a group of four bearingtons nimbly climbs up the cliff below and attacks the girls. ¡°Bearingtons!¡±
¡°Attack!¡±
In unison, all three of them face off the bearingtons and since they are actually working as a team, they don¡¯t have half as much problem as I¡¯d have, despite my probably much higher level. Dammit, teamwork!
Well, time to do the deed. I use the [Sneak]-skill to get to the backpacks of the girls¡ªwho are too distracted by the bearingtons¡ªand throw all of them down the nearest cliff. You can still see them, but it might take a while to get them back. Then I return to my hiding place.
After the battle, the three of them return and their reaction is just gold: ¡°Ah! Our backpacks! Where are they!?¡±
¡°I found them! How could they fell off the cliff? Was it a monster? What kind of monster would do something like that!?¡± Me.
¡°Ah! We can¡¯t just leave it! Our whole equipment is there!¡±
¡°Mari, you should climb down!¡±
¡°It¡¯s impossible! We need to find a way down!¡±
¡°No¡ please no!¡±
¡°But we have no choice¡ let¡¯s go.¡±
This was refreshing. With a feeling of fulfillment in my chest, I return to Kyou-san. ¡°Why are you smirking like that?¡±
¡°No reason.¡±
¡°Creepy.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The journey continues. ¡°She might have been here. These mobs were cut recently. Maybe two hours ago.¡± If these cut up cow-sized caterpillar-monsters are the work of the princess, she has an elegant and efficient way of wielding her blade.
¡°Are the tracks going upwards?¡±
¡°No¡ down the dale. Since we found them again, I suppose princess had the same idea as us and wanted to climb up for a better view, but why would she now go into a dale¡¡±
¡°Look, Ken! There is a cave down there.¡±
She¡¯s right. Kyou-san points to a cave-entrance in the dale, which is big enough for horses. Yet why would she¡ ¡°Right, she¡¯s searching for bandits and demonic threats up here, so a cave like that might be interesting for her.¡±
¡°But how can we climb down?¡±
¡°Phew¡ Jumping is out of the question, but if we search for a path, we might lose her again. But we have an advantage, she most likely doesn¡¯t.¡±
¡°Which is?¡±
¡°[Inventory]. I stored a lot of rope when I was soloing. Time to use it.¡±
After finding a big rock as an anchor point, we tie three of our ropes together, enough to reach a platform far down the cliff we¡¯re standing on. It¡¯s good that we have our [Attributes], which are far better than our ¡®real¡¯ abilities as students.
However, climbing down about 40 meters (about 130 feet) of rope isn¡¯t as easy as we thought at first. You can actually fall quite deep if you mess it up! Yet our bodies just do what we want them to do, even after some muscles begin to ache, which makes this whole process just long and a bit scary.
Sadly we need to leave the rope behind, but this is an investment. From here on it¡¯s much easier to reach the dale and we rush to the cave. Maybe we can pick the rope up again later.
Stolen novel; please report.
We arrive at the cave¡¯s mouth, but something is strange. We could hear barking, full of pain! I nod to Kyou-san and go in first, only to see carnage.
One person vs. a small army of some strange, small, dog-like humans. Are these kobolds? They¡¯re wielding a wide array of weapons, including stone spears, rusty swords, tattered axes, and bone clubs.
Their enemy is a single blonde girl. Her hair just reaches her shoulders and is held back by a black hairband. Above a black suit, she wears hardened leather armor pieces, covering her chest, arms, and legs. She also wields a long, slender blade.
Her eyes are like embers, and she might be about the same height as me. Even though she doesn¡¯t appear to be muscular, she moves with powerful, yet elegant movements.
By the way, she¡¯s murdering these kobolds all by herself. Seriously, she just chopped up a kobolds hand, caught the junk-axe within, threw it in the same motion into the opposite direction¡ªsplitting the head of another kobold into two¡ªwhile she thrust her sword through the body of a third one.
Everything which enters the reach of her sword is about three times dead. It¡¯s so fast and merciless, it¡¯s actually beautiful.
¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¡± Kyou-san mutters. As I suddenly stopped moving, she took a glance by herself and is about as shocked as me. ¡°I feel almost sorry for those guys. See, they try their hardest, I can imagine them screaming ¡®For the tribe¡¯ or something stupid like that, but this is¡¡±
¡°This isn¡¯t a battle. It¡¯s a one-sided massacre.¡± This blonde whirlwind even evades thrown spears and other missiles, like sling bullets.
I¡¯ve made a decision: I change my class to [Pikeman] and run toward this bloody scene. Then I use [Speedthrust] to kill a kobold from behind! ¡°I¡¯m here to help you!¡±
The girl gives me first a look and then a beaming smile: ¡°Great!¡± Her voice is clear and cheerful, while her hands kill two other kobolds in that exact moment: ¡°Please look after my back!¡±
¡°Don¡¯t forget me!¡± Kyou-san enters the fray, passing through the frightened but determined kobolds. ¡°I¡¯m a [Priest], so I can heal everyone!¡±
¡°A priest! Now we are invincible!¡± She looks like she just got well-needed reinforcement. Even though Kyou-san and I only want to get on her good side, since we¡¯re afraid of her!
Only a few minutes later, everything is over. Even without our interference, the battle would¡¯ve ended only about twenty seconds later, I guess. I just got a few kills and Kyou-san did actually nothing. I really did my best to kill as many as possible to increase our XP, but the blonde girl is just too fast at murdering things!
She easily placed 2nd in my list of things I¡¯m most afraid of, only trumped by Muaotef who¡¯s a fucking dragon! This girl doesn¡¯t deal in DPS (damage per second), but in KPS (kills per second)!
¡°I''d like to thank you for helping me.¡± The girl bows politely. ¡°I was in deep trouble. I stumbled about these kobolds when I was searching for bandits. However, as they trouble the people as well, I asked them if they could stop that and then it became like this¡ Ah, where are my manners? My name is Katarine von Stolzherz. What are your names, if I may ask? You don¡¯t seem to be from around here.¡±
Of course, we¡¯re Asians in a country full of western-like people. Well, these people often had a tinge of fantasy-like elements in their appearance. For example, the princess has eyes which are orange-yellow, just like ember. Her father had these eyes, too. ¡°My name is Katsuragi Kenta. A summoned hero.¡±
Kyou-san gives me an angry look, but we can¡¯t hide that! We look totally different from the other people. ¡°My name is Momokawa Kyou. Also a hero.¡±
Surprisingly, the princess takes both of our hands in hers: ¡°This is the first time I meet you, heroes! It¡¯s an honor!¡± Even though her glove-covered hands are full of blood, her eyes are sparkling and she acts like innocence itself. How can someone be a machine of murder while keeping this kind of purity!?
Ah, she¡¯s faking it. Must be. Well, then I fake it as well. ¡°It¡¯s an honor for us, too, princess.¡±
¡°Oh! How do you know?¡± Princess looks deeply shocked.
¡°You just told us your name, and even though we¡¯re from another world, we have lived here long enough to at least know that.¡±
¡°Oh, I see. Yet I¡¯m not a princess at the moment¡ well, I am, but I¡ don¡¯t act as one, right now. Please call me Kati!¡±
¡°A nickname? Ka¡ Kach¡ Phew¡¡± This is hard to pronounce with a Japanese tongue. It sounds like Kachi.
Fortunately, Kyou-san has an idea. ¡°How about Rine-chan? It¡¯s less obvious if you go undercover.¡±
¡°Undercover? This sounds cool!¡± Ah, her demeanor just slipped! Also, her eyes glimmer dangerously. ¡°I mean, it sounds exciting¡ wait¡ cool, since we¡¯re now friends! Yes, we¡¯re friends, and friends don¡¯t need to be overly polite to each other! Great! I have new friends! I¡¯m Rine!¡±
¡°You can call me Kyou, Rine-chan. And this one you don¡¯t need to remember.¡±
¡°Hey! Kenta! Katsuragi Kenta!¡±
¡°Hehe. You¡¯re teasing Kenta, right Kyou? Since you both are close!¡± Kyou-san is looking at Rine like she just stole her favorite doll and threw it in a pile of shit.
Rine¡¯s smile vanishes from existence and she¡¯s looking at me full of concern while mumbling her words carefully: ¡°Is it just me or did Kyou look at me like I stole her favorite doll and threw it into a pile of dung?¡±
Are Kyou-san¡¯s looks so expressive that everyone can translate them precisely!? Are they their own form of language!?
¡°Sorry, Rine-chan.¡±, Kyou-san¡¯s smile returns: ¡°Ken and I have a bit of a strange relationship, so it was just a bit weird calling us close. But to put it simply: Yes, we¡¯re friends, too.¡±
I jerk a few times upon hearing these words. I¡¯m about to vomit. I¡¯m sure, Kyou-san¡¯s mouth is tasting like shit right now, but it¡¯s all for our elaborate scheme: Becoming friends with Rine so we can take an opportunity to deliver her back because we¡¯re too afraid to try the direct approach!
¡°I¡¯m glad!¡± Rine¡¯s smile returns as if she takes these sickening words to heart.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Let¡¯s take a break!¡± Rine acts like she¡¯s overjoyed.
We are¡ less so. Since Rine is dead-set on finding bandits or demons within the mountains. We backtracked a bit, climbed up our ropes, recovered them, and walked on these endless mountain-trails for two hours! Including several mob-attacks! Yet most of the kills were claimed by the princess who doesn¡¯t even get any XP for this! Frustrating!
I have to keep my cool, this is all for our goals. ¡°Well¡ I¡¯ll make a fire.¡± Since we have an [Inventory], we can collect firewood easily on the way. Kyou-san already took out her cooking supplies since she¡¯s a [Cook]. It¡¯s her usual job.
¡°Rine-chan, could you please look for water? Maybe a stream or such? If you don¡¯t find anything, it¡¯s not too bad. About fifteen minutes sounds right before coming back!¡±
¡°Of course!¡± With gleaming expression, Rine begins her search. Now we¡¯re finally alone.
After confirming Rine was not in hearing range anymore, I begin: ¡°Before we discuss anything, I would like to squeeze a lap-pillow here.¡±
¡°*Sigh* Then let me be first.¡± We¡¯re still grinding WP, so I sit on my knees. Kyou-san lays her head on my lap while sighing. ¡°It¡¯s hard to do these things when that girl is around.¡±
¡°Right. How can we even explain the one-hour-hand-holding-session?¡±
¡°¡doing these things with you is disgusting in itself, but at least nobody is watching, usually.¡±
¡°Thank you?¡± One day I might grow accustomed to this verbal abuse. Or snap and do something I might regret later. Might. ¡°But how should we handle her? Tying her up in her sleep seems to be a lot more reasonable now. Safety first!¡±
¡°I could try the sleeping-drug, but it''ll be hard to move her while we are in the mountains. We¡¯re attacked too regularly by monsters.¡±
¡°Right¡ But there isn¡¯t much choice, right? Unless we want to wait until we catch a bandit or two who we can deliver to the fortress. This might take too long.¡± There are also still our classmates to consider, and our own safety, of course, since this girl may stir up more trouble in progress than Kyou-san and I can handle. ¡°Well, for starters, we act like her posse until we find an opportunity. For now, she thinks we help her since we got a serious case of ¡®helping people¡¯.¡±
¡°I would actually feel bad for tricking her if it weren¡¯t for that reward and the curse-removal.¡±
¡°I won¡¯t. She¡¯s just a fake.¡±
¡°No, Ken. She¡¯s actually that naive.¡± Where does that come from? Kyou-san and I know Rine only for few hours. ¡°Maybe she even thinks of us as her first real friends. She wouldn¡¯t survive one day at school without being bullied.¡±
¡°Wouldn¡¯t she just break everybody¡¯s bones, then?¡±
¡°You have no idea of bullying, right?¡±
¡°Only on one end.¡±
¡°Ken, you weren¡¯t bullied!¡±
¡°I know. Only kinda.¡±
¡°No, it¡¯s¡ just forget it, it¡¯s a waste of time to explain it to you.¡± Kyou-san turns her head and sinks deeper into my lap. ¡°This makes me sick.¡± If she nestled her head a bit above, this would be arousing. In actuality, her face is just above my knees to get the least lap possible.
¡°Well, Rine is able to take care of herself with brutal violence. So-¡±
¡°Just forget it! I¡¯m sorry I said something like that! Doing it in your presence was unbelievably stupid of me, so leave it at that!¡±
¡°Ah¡¡± She overpowers me verbally in succession, which makes it impossible for me to make a comeback without losing more ground. That¡¯s our socially adept and manipulating class president, alright.
After ten minutes of lap-pillowing we finish our camp preparations, and a tad later, Rine returns: ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t find any water.¡±
¡°No problem, Rine-chan. I¡¯m about to cook, so could you help me?¡±
¡°Cooking? Gladly!¡± She looks genuinely happy. I, on the other hand, am about to hurl.
Kyou-san put an iron plate on a frame above the embers of the fire and take out bearington-meat. ¡°I already stewed it and minced it. Since Rine-chan and I became friends, I¡¯ll make steaks today!¡±
I¡¯m about to complain that Kyou-san has only tried to seriously cook¡ never! But it¡¯s all part of the befriend-plan, so I can¡¯t make a fuss here.
¡°Please cut the vegetables, Rine-chan.¡±
¡°Leave it to me!¡±
Rine takes a knife and the way she holds it makes me feel uncomfortable. Kyou-san is looking after the meat, so she can¡¯t see that Rine¡¯s gripping the bulb and the knife like a preschooler. ¡°Wait-¡±
My warning comes too late, Rine cuts into her finger. ¡°¡¡± Tears are welling into her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡ well, worry about the turnip. I¡¯m sorry. I got my blood on it.¡±
Kyou-san hastily leaves the meat to look at Rine¡¯s hands. She takes it into her own. ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll heal it right away.¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m the one who¡¯s at fault. I can heal it myself.¡± She winces when Kyou-san fastens her grip.
¡°You won¡¯t!¡± She casts the [Heal]-spell and the cut closed, even though it was still there.
¡°¡Kyou¡ thank you¡¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±
¡°¡may I ask you something?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Why didn¡¯t you remove your ring for cooking?¡±
What!? Wait, of course Kyou-san wouldn¡¯t cook with gloves on! How did Rine notice though?
Kyou-san remains cool. ¡°I can¡¯t remove it.¡±
¡°¡I see, even though I don¡¯t. I make no sense again, right?¡±
¡°It¡¯s OK, Rine-chan.¡±
Strange, wouldn¡¯t everyone think about a wedding ring here? Or are people here not wed with rings? ¡ Should I even care?
After that incident, Kyou-san finishes the cooking on her own. Now we¡¯re eating from wooden bowls, steaks with some grilled vegetables. It¡¯s delicious. Not that I will ever say it.
¡°It¡¯s good, Kyou! It¡¯s on a par with the cooks at the castle!¡±
¡°Well, I do have the [Cook]-class, so it¡¯s natural.¡±
¡°[Cook]-class?¡±
¡°It¡¯s a hero-thing.¡±
¡°Ah, the one where you can pick up skills which normally takes a long time to learn. Like fighting and making Kenta all bulky! So cooking, too? That¡¯s great, I¡¯m jealous!¡±
No, Rine, I¡¯m jealous of your capacity of killing everything you see without the need of changing class! If I were as strong as you, Muaotef¡¯s chasm wouldn¡¯t be a challenge¡ except for Muaotef himself. Somehow I can¡¯t picture how even Rine would be able to fight him. Strange, I didn¡¯t see Muaotef do anything, but¡
¡°Why are you shivering, Kenta?¡±
Suddenly, Rine¡¯s face is right before my eyes. ¡°Woah! Too close!¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Rine cocks her head.
¡°Back away!¡±
¡°Oh. Sorry.¡± She does as I say. Now I have space to breathe. ¡°Are you alright?¡±
¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just a bad memory.¡± Why isn¡¯t this fear declining?
Kyou-san gives me a knowing glance, but I can see her tremble slightly as well. If this ¡®aura of fear¡¯ of Muaotef is really a skill, it¡¯s still working. We were willing to do anything to stay alive when he was before us. We couldn¡¯t even muster the slightest dishonesty, we were basically helpless. I hate thinking back on it.
I try my best not to dwell on it, though it makes the rest of the meal taste dry and stale.
Character-design Katarine von Stolzherz aka Rine
Volume 02 - Chapter 2-2
Some time later, I pierce a bearington to death with a powerful thrust. These suckers are really everywhere on these mountains!
During this fight I got hurt again. Even though Rine cuts down the bearingtons like grass, she¡¯s not covering me in the slightest. So I get the same injuries as when I¡¯m fighting alone but not all the XP? Thank you very much!
You know, you can have too much trust into your teammates!
¡°Kenta! You¡¯re hurt! Wait, I¡¯ll heal you.¡±
¡°Wait, Rine-chan. I know, you can use [Divine Magic], too, but healing people is the only thing I¡¯m good at. Concentrate on fighting and spare your magic for emergencies.¡±
You gain 1 WP.
Your wife is jealous!
¡°On the other hand¡ uh¡ please¡ heal him. *pant* I¡ think I¡¯m sick.¡± Kyou-san¡¯s face is green and she¡¯s retching. She backs a bit away, maybe she¡¯s really about to hurl and doesn¡¯t want to have anyone see it in that case.
This hurts! You¡¯re hurting me, Kyou-san!
¡°Poor Kyou. Maybe it¡¯s altitude sickness. But first comes firsts. [Heal]!¡± My wounds close, but I¡¯m pretty messed up over days of being injured and having these injuries magically healed. ¡°You really look bad. You should let me handle the battles for a while. I can¡¯t let you go on like this.¡± Her ember-like eyes are full of concern. ¡°Please think about it.¡± Then she turns around. ¡°Kyou, I¡¯m coming to you!¡±
Rine leaves me alone here. ¡°What a fake.¡± I hate it! She acts only nice since she wants to be liked!
¡°Kenta! We found a mountain spring!¡± I roll my eyes and follow Rine¡¯s voice. Kyou-san sits by a small waterhole, repeatedly scooping water with her hands and drinking from it. I can faintly smell the scent of vomit. Damn you, Kyou-san!
¡°I was so worried since I didn¡¯t find any water before, but look at this!¡± Rine is already ready to fill up her waterskin but is patiently waiting for Kyou-san to recover. ¡°It¡¯s pure mountain water! I¡¯m so glad, I thought I busted it, even though both of you are pros at camping outside¡¡±
I can¡¯t comment on the last part in any way. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I say half-heartedly to keep up our cover. ¡°However, the spring is the reason the bearingtons were here in the first place. We should remain careful as other monsters might come for water.¡±
¡°¡You¡¯re a genius, Kenta! I never thought about it, but even monsters need water to live!¡±
I can¡¯t muster any answer to such open admiration. ¡°I will take a look, maybe I can find something before it finds us.¡±
¡°You know, Kenta? You¡¯re like a ranger.¡±
¡°I¡¯m just a [Scout]. And being careful keeps us alive.¡±
¡°Thanks to you, we are safe. But please, call me if there is something to fight! That¡¯s the only thing I¡¯m good at, and I don¡¯t want to see you hurt anymore.¡±
¡°¡¡± Normally, it¡¯s a man¡¯s job to say something like that, but dammit! This girl is beautiful! I just realized it while she was looking at me with her big ember-eyes. This might be the first time I can actually understand why some Japanese guys are attracted to western women. ¡°It¡¯s just scouting. Don¡¯t worry.¡±
I stroll around and activate several skills from the [Survival]- and [Perception]-abilities. My [Track]-skill has something. Talon marks from huge birds of prey. This might get dangerous, as neither the girls nor I have ranged weapons.
Also, there are quite a few other tracks. This is a vital spring for animal-life and monsters. I return to the girls, who are finished with filling up the waterskins. ¡°We should use the rest of today to find a place for the night camp.¡±
¡°Huh? Why?¡±
¡°Explain, Ken.¡±
¡°We have only a few hours left before dusk. Around that time, a lot of nocturnal monsters will go to the spring from all directions. For drinking and hunting. It¡¯ll be hard to leave the catchment area in time, so I¡¯d rather use the time to search for a cave or something. We might have to kill the inhabitants, but there are giant birds of prey around and I don¡¯t know if they are nocturnal, so I want to have some cover at least. It¡¯s also less likely we¡¯re disturbed while camping if we¡¯re not in the open. All of us are mentally exhausted. Rine might be physically exhausted, too, since she can¡¯t rely on a hero-status.¡±
For Kyou-san and me, physical exhaustion is measured in SP, so as long as we have some left, we are fine. Rine¡¯s body, however, is like a normal human girl¡¯s¡ most likely at least.
¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±
¡°No. Even if your body is still good, mental exhaustion is as bad as physical. We need to rest peacefully. We don¡¯t have any pressure, right?¡± Well, Kyou-san and I have, since there are classmates and therefore competitors on this mountain, though we¡¯re unlikely to run into them again.
¡°You¡ Kenta, you are thinking about so many things I didn¡¯t even consider!¡± Why is Rine looking at me with so much admiration? She sounds just like those newbies I trained in MMORPGs per voice chat, but her beautiful face is tipping me off. She must be trying to trick me!
¡°Ken, your first paranoias are acceptable. But please spare us the new one.¡± How comes that Kyou-san can read me so accurate?
The next part is simple. I just use the [Track]-skill until I find a beast trail. Done. Now I follow it until some larger game was splitting up from the trail and trace it further. ¡°The prints are wolf-like, so there might be a few, but, with a bit of luck, they have a cave.¡±
Indeed, we are lucky as the track really lead us to a cave. ¡°I will sneak in.¡± I use [Hide Smell] and [Sneak] for stealthiness, while [Darkvision] makes it possible to look into the dark cave. There are several wolf-like monsters, but they all have horns and are half-covered in scales. They number eight, all of them are currently sleeping.
I report back.
¡°Those are lizalupi, they shouldn''t be a problem,¡± Rine explains.
¡°They¡¯ll most likely wake up after getting a sniff of you, right? Have they good eyes?¡±
¡°¡I¡¯m sorry, I only know the name.¡±
¡°Phew. Well, I have a strategy. But if something goes wrong, you need to rush in, Rine.¡±
¡°What are you doing?¡±
¡°I think he¡¯s about to do something stupid.¡±
¡°Rine will position herself at the entrance, I¡¯ll sneak in. Maybe I can kill one or two before they¡¯re woken up by the stench of blood. I can mask my smell and have an optical camouflage so I might be overseen. If that¡¯s the case, they will come for Rine. Then I can attack them from behind and we have a pincer.¡±
¡°This sounds dangerous, Kenta.¡±
¡°Stupid as well.¡±
¡°It¡¯s efficient.¡± This should up my kill-count and therefore my XP. It¡¯s frustrating seeing Rine killing all the mobs when I don¡¯t get anything out of it. ¡°Like I said, I¡¯m counting on you if anything goes wrong, Rine.¡±
These appear to be magical words, as Rine¡¯s eyes are sparkling. ¡°You can count on me.¡±
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
¡°Even though it¡¯s stupid.¡±
I just ignore Kyou-san¡¯s remark and sneak inside the cave again. Despite being in my [Scout]-class, I should be able to kill one instantly if I aim for a vital spot.
Thanks to my [Stealth]-ability, the lizalupi don¡¯t notice me. I go to the furthest one back and aim for its neck with all my might. An ugly noise can be heard as I separated flesh and bone and a sudden rush came into the lizalupi, so I activate [Camouflage] right away. I just have to hope that their sense of smell compensates for bad eyes.
Ah, my luck! They look right at me and rush to me.
I swiftly swap to [Pikeman]-class and yell: ¡°Plan failed! [Whirlwind]!¡± I sweep the spear to knock back the incoming Lizalupi. Even though the darkness in the cave is somewhat annoying without [Darksight], I can still see their figures. This has to be enough.
¡°[Torch]! I¡¯m coming!¡± With the sword in one hand and a magical light in the other, Rine fearlessly rushes into the cave, within seconds two of the Lizalupi are slaughtered. She aims at their vital spots with precision despite her speed. Her weapon might be OP as well, so there was actually no need for any strategies in the first place. Still, I don¡¯t want to rely solely on Rine!
Most likely, I can take care of them all by myself anyway, I¡¯m level 39 after all! Also, if I don¡¯t kill them myself, I won¡¯t get any XP! Kyou-san neither, but it¡¯s about me! Yet I couldn¡¯t not involve Rine since she¡¯s right there¡ Wait a minute!
¡°Rine, don¡¯t kill them! I have to do it! It¡¯s a hero-thing!¡±
¡°Um¡ right?¡±
Well, keeping the lizalupi alive is still given, after chopping off their extremities. It takes about a minute until I finally can deal the deathblow to the last one.
Now, that the creatures are dead, Rine asks me: ¡°Why do you need to kill them?¡±
¡°Kyou-san and I grow stronger the more enemies we kill. It¡¯s one of the things we have to do.¡±
¡°Then¡ then why didn¡¯t you tell me before? We¡¯ve faced several monsters at this point!¡±
¡°I¡ I¡ I just realized it, OK!?¡± I couldn¡¯t possibly say that I never even thought of taking the Rine-bus since I have some pride left.
¡°Puh!¡± She¡¯s pouting!
Kyou-san annoyedly chimes: ¡°Could you please just leave it? Also, let me tend your wounds. Both of you!¡±
¡°Eh?¡± Is Rine wounded? Yes, there is a cut on her arm, on an area that only a thin suit covers. In general, the princess is only lightly armored with leather on some areas that are more likely to be hit. Other than that, it doesn¡¯t seem like much. Most likely to guarantee her superior mobility.
Did she get injured while dissembling these creatures on my command and therefore wasn¡¯t able to move like she used to?
¡ OK, I might be guilty of this at least.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Rine¡¯s mood improved after dinner, now she¡¯s as needlessly close to me as before. She¡¯s also prying again. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how holding hands is a hero-thing.¡±
Yes, Kyou-san and I are holding hands. I removed my right glove and took Kyou-san¡¯s left hand while sitting down. She explained that holding hands has something to do with the hero-system. ¡°It''s normally not a known fact, Rina-chan, that we heroes need to share the power we get from defeating monsters with each other through skin contact. But it takes quite some time, so hand-holding is the easiest way to do it. Right now, Ken is transferring the monster-power to me so I can become stronger, even though I didn¡¯t kill a single one.¡± If there were something convenient like that, most of Kyou-san¡¯s current problems wouldn¡¯t be there in the first place.
¡°It¡¯s just that it looks like both of you are more than friends. Same as with the lap-pillow before.¡±
¡°I told you, Ken had vertigo, so I wanted him to lay down and on my lap so I could observe his eyes more easily.¡±
¡°But¡ these are things lovers do¡¡±
¡°Come on, he and I as lovers? It¡¯s nothing like that.¡±
¡°Mmmm¡¡± Rine grimaces. ¡°I think it¡¯s wrong.¡±
¡°So you¡¯re interested in romance, Rine-chan?¡± What an unsubtle way to change the topic!
The princess reddens intensely, I never saw a face as red like this before. Maybe because she¡¯s kinda westerner? It¡¯s blushed in a pinkish tone, this is strange. ¡°O-of course, I do! Even though I have no say in marriage, I can still be interested in romance!¡±
Ah, she¡¯s the crown princess. So she already knows that she can¡¯t marry the man she wants. Well, it¡¯s a common storyline in RPGs. In games, it¡¯s custom to break that custom, but in reality, you can¡¯t, I guess. Might suck. Not my problem.
¡°Rine-chan, it¡¯s the other way around: Since you can¡¯t decide who to marry, you want to have some hot romance fantasies, right? Let¡¯s have a girl¡¯s talk.¡±
¡°Kyou-san, are you forgetting that I¡¯m here?¡±
¡°Why should I bother?¡±
¡°I¡¯m a man! I have nothing to do with girl¡¯s talk!¡±
¡°Ken, you have nothing to do with anything, so shut up.¡± I¡¯m abused! My wife is abusing me! Why isn¡¯t the law protecting me right now!? ¡°Rine-chan, what would be your ideal man?¡±
Rine steals a glance at me, maybe a bit unsure how to answer with me present, but then she just joined the ¡®Let¡¯s ignore the Kenta-trash¡¯-club. ¡°Someone smart. I tend to be a bit thick-headed at times, so I keep getting into trouble. Also someone strong! He should be able to protect me!¡± As if you¡¯d need protection! ¡°And he should be kind and even-tempered.¡±
¡°Ah, I can see it. How about looks?¡±
¡°What about it?¡±
¡°Do you like muscles, do you like them slender, or is a beautiful face a must?¡±
¡°Uhm¡ I guess something in-between. Too many muscles remind me of my instructor, that¡¯d be creepy, but if it¡¯s too skinny, then it won¡¯t do.¡±
¡°Ah, so rather vague...¡±
¡°My ideal would be Fabian Leise!¡±
¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±
¡°From¡ a fable. I¡¯ve liked it since I was a child.¡± She seems to be embarrassed. Trust me, witnessing this conversation is much more shameful than your fantasies.
¡°Ah, right. This world has far less media. So a fable-hero?¡±
¡°No, it¡¯s the husband of Miriam Leise, who¡ well, Fabian is¡ ah, why don¡¯t you know it? I can¡¯t explain it well!¡±
Kyou-san giggles: ¡°No need, I get it. You seem to be someone who¡¯s very devoted, right?¡±
¡°¡yes¡¡± How could Kyou-san come to this conclusion!? And how is she right!? ¡°What about you, Kyou-san? What would be your ideal?¡±
¡°Um¡ how about we start from the opposite of Ken?¡±
That¡ hurts! I mean, I don¡¯t like Kyou-san much, but if she says something like that with this bluntness, it hurts my pride as a man, however little I might have. I should say something, but I don¡¯t want to be part of this conversation either, so I just need to calm down, remind myself that Kyou-san is bitching around as usual, and there is no reason to take offense.
So she continues: ¡°Well, I think he must be handsome, after all. Caring, smart, and possibly rich. He doesn¡¯t need to be strong, but rather be able to avoid fights in the first place. Some kind of mindfulness is important, so he knows what I need without me saying it.¡±
¡°Oh, Kyou¡¯s scale is high.¡±
¡°Where I come from, it¡¯s normal.¡±
¡°Ohh!¡± Rine is easily impressed. ¡°Kenta, how about you?¡±
¡What? ¡°Don¡¯t drag me into this!¡±
¡°But now that we shared our interests, I want to hear yours.¡± Stop sparkling, eyes! Please, I can¡¯t defend myself against them!
I look at Kyou-san, she¡¯s making a face like I should just drop dead! Between her and the sparkling eyes, I can¡¯t decide which is worse!
¡°Come on, Kenta! Please!¡± Definitely the sparkling eyes! Ugh, don¡¯t I have any rights? ¡°Pretty Please?¡±
Men are weak creatures. Even I, who¡¯s not that receptive for the charms of a real woman, can¡¯t deny these begging eyes. ¡°Well¡¡± Wait, wouldn¡¯t that mean that Rine is my ideal type despite looking western?
Sexually speaking, there is a physical attraction to Kyou-san as well, but it¡¯s just me being horny. If I put Rine into these fantasies, what¡ Now I have the urge to leave and relieve myself, but for now, I have to fight down my upcoming boner with sheer willpower.
Rine is still staring at me with sparkling eyes. I shift my eyes away to not confront her. ¡°Come on, tell me!¡±
¡°It would be¡ Lita Blanchimont.¡± One of my first games, Atelier Iris. When I was a child, I kinda fell in love with that character. She¡¯s thoughtful, but lively and has a tragic fate, which had to be fought. Plus, she¡¯s cute! The game was fun overall, even though there was about no character-customization and the story is, looking back, a bit too easy. I was a child, so it¡¯s OK to have some nostalgia.
¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± While Rine is looking at me with sparkling eyes-
¡°¡a game character, of course,¡± Kyou-san sighs heavily, like if I¡¯m affected by an incurable disease.
¡°It¡¯s¡ a character in a story, you might say.¡±
¡°Oh, then we¡¯re the same, Kenta!¡±
¡°¡why did you grab my hand?¡±
¡°Because we¡¯re friends! Kyou also does the same!¡±
¡°¡please stop.¡± A girl¡¯s hand in each of mine. Kyou-san¡¯s in my right, for WP-grinding. Rine¡¯s in my left for¡ whatever reason. Even though I still wear a glove on that hand, her heat is transmitted through it.
¡°?¡± Rine cocks her head and slowly withdraws her hand. Then her face darkens: ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Her mood worsens in a blink.
¡°Ouch!¡± Kyou-san pinched my backhand!
¡°He¡¯s just nervous.¡± She smiles innocently. ¡°Because he doesn¡¯t have any friends.¡±
¡°Hm?¡± Even though the darkened expression on Rine¡¯s face remains, she¡¯s asking: ¡°Aren¡¯t you his friend, Kyou?¡±
¡°Well¡ something like that. We didn¡¯t get along in our world, but coming here all of a sudden and such made it complicated.¡±
¡°Ah¡¡± Rine¡¯s face darkens even more: ¡°Of course you don¡¯t want to be friends with someone from the kingdom which asks you to fight for us¡¡± What¡ why¡ an ominous aura of dark emotions surrounds Rine.
Even Kyou-san doesn¡¯t know what to say anymore. She looks at me and is transmitting her thoughts with her eyes alone. ¡®Come on, Ken, take her hand!¡¯
¡®Don¡¯t pass it on me! It¡¯s your fault!¡¯
¡®Because you¡¯re so much of a wimp, that you can¡¯t even endure holding hands a bit.¡¯
¡®I can¡¯t handle her! Please don¡¯t make me do it!¡¯
¡®Oh, so you''re not just dragging me into that curse-thing, but can¡¯t even endure some inconvenience to bring us out? Think of the reward! Without it, how can we remove that curse, huh? Now man up and take her hand or I¡¯ll show you hell!¡¯
I¡¯m not afraid of Kyou-san, I¡¯m just taking Rine¡¯s hand because Kyou-san¡¯s arguments are sound. It¡¯s not the non-verbal threat. Really!
¡°Huh?¡± Rine is looking at her hand, which is held by mine.
¡°I¡ I¡¡±
¡°Like I said, he¡¯s just shy, Rine-chan. See, everything is alright. He¡¯s holding your hand.¡± You coerced me!
Monsters! I¡¯m holding hands with two monsters! One is a soul-crushing tyrant, which takes any opportunity to torture me mentally and emotionally. The other one is a childish death-machine, which lives in a fantasy-world, both literally and figuratively, and she uses emotional outbursts whenever something isn¡¯t going her way.
And I¡¯m between! Please, somebody: HELP ME!
Volume 02 - Chapter 2-3
The camp is set and it''s time to sleep. ¡°Are you sure that you want to take the first watch, Kyou? I can do it.¡± Rine asks carefully.
¡°It''s OK. Just go to sleep already. I didn''t exercise much today, so the two of you should sleep.¡± Kyou-san voluntarily takes the first watch. The fire is mostly burned out and only embers remains, occasionally a twig or two are added to keep the cave warm. Night-watch is more than just watch out for enemies, it''s also taking care of the campfire.
Rine and I lay down and sleep.
As if.
I have the [Dormurnal]-skill, which allows me to keep track of my surroundings even while being asleep. So I only sleep until Rine''s breaths becomes regularly which takes about half an hour.
¡°Rine?¡± I ask her to be sure. No reaction, she''s asleep. ¡°So Kyou-san. What do we do?¡± Of course I''m whispering.
¡°I slipped something into her dinner, so she should be in deep slumber by now.¡± Kyou-san is talking aloud. She''s really confident¡ She also did it, poisoning her! I didn''t even notice. ¡°RINE-CHAN! It''s an attack!¡±
¡
¡ ¡
No reaction.
¡°So now we can tie her and...¡±
*swing*
Suddenly, Rine swings her sword, her eyes half-opened. She looks down, right in front of her. I follow her look and see a single bug-like creature, which is cut in half. Even at this distance, my [Perception] allows me to register that it has the stinger of a mosquito. Maybe it sucks blood line one, too?
What about the one who killed it? ¡°Oh... *yawn* Just a bug.¡± With a stupid grin Rine''s body falls back to the ground, while sheathing her blade. She... she''s asleep again.
¡°Ken, what happened?¡±
¡°Erm... a mosquito-like bug tried to suck Rine''s blood and she killed it while she''s asleep¡ Just to be sure: RINE!? ARE YOU AWAKE!?¡±
¡
¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡
No reaction.
Hearing my previous words, Kyou-san''s eyes opened wide. ¡°But... how? I mean, she should be asleep for at least a few hours.¡±
¡°Let''s do an experiment.¡± I take a red-hot twig from the ember of the campfire and throw it in Rine''s direction. The moment the twig is within an arm-length, Rine instantaneously draws her blade and swings at it. She splits the twig, causing it to spark only to swing her weapon again to quench those sparks with a fluent motion. ¡°... falling twigs are annoying...¡± She sheathes her sword and falls asleep again.
¡°RINE?!¡± I shout to be sure. Still no reaction. ¡°We know three things now. First, she appears to be able to act like me with my [Dormurnal]-skill, just instead of waking up, she slashes at everything dangerous in reach. Second, she''s barely aware of her environment and just realizes what happens after she murdered it. Third: I WON''T GET NEAR HER WHILE SHE SLEEPS!¡± She would kill me if I try to tie her up! Damn it, Kyou-san can be gutted if she wants to, but I won''t!
¡°Hm... we need to change the plan. Instead of sleep, I''ll aim for full unconsciousness next time.¡±
It might work, since the brain activities are at a bare minimum in a coma. Still, there is one thing which bothers me. ¡°Phew, why are you moving everything up? Didn''t we agree before, that it''d be hard to transport her down the mountains?¡±
¡°Because it''ll be harder to capture her the longer we wait.¡± Kyou-san is bitter about it, but she''s right. The longer we wait, the more opportunities Rine will have to realize what we''re after. Of course, there are also our classmates which might close in.
¡°I need to sleep before I can think of the next plan, you''ll watch the fire, Ken.¡± With these words, she lays down.
¡°Yes, yes.¡± Even though it''s unfair, I don''t have the energy to argue. If I complain about every little thing Kyou-san does to annoy me, I''d have no energy left to do the actual important stuff. It''s not like I can''t use this opportunity.
After a while, Kyou-san falls into slumber. I''ll soon sleep next to her, watching the fire is a task I can do with [Dormurnal], since I''ll hear it when there¡¯s no spitting. So we can still grind the WP for sleeping next to each other. Before that though...
Studying the sleeping faces of Kyou-san and Rine, I¡¯ve come to a decision. It''s time to leave that cave, go to a lookout where I can watch the entrance and relieve all the pent-up stress in one big session!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Next day.
Luckily, Rine doesn''t remember anything when she falls asleep. If anything, she feels sorry that she ended up not doing night-watch at all. In the end, Kyou-san was able to play the ''friendship-card'' which proved to be super effective.
We''re back to mountain-climbing, but somehow I''m on the edge. It''s like something is wrong, even though I can''t put my finger on it. I won''t tell the girls for now, since it might be only uneasiness. Maybe I feel like that because we''re trying to reach a peak? Altitude-sickness?
Oh.
¡°Ken, why are you looking around like that?¡±
¡°...enemies. Three crawling types, can only hear them.¡±
¡°Crawling? Maybe mountain-crawler.¡± Rine draws her sword. ¡°Are you sure? I don''t hear a thing.¡±
There! I run around a man-sized rock. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± With a tearing sound, one caterpillar-like mob is obliterated, guts are flying everywhere.
Two more are lurking there, but suddenly I start to gag. What¡¯s happening?
With a swift motion, Rine overhauls me and slashes the remaining two with a single strike. The guts burst out as well and now she also gags. ¡°The guts...¡±
Ah, I see. So the guts have some odorless chemical, which causes this nausea. Fortunately, it passes quickly, maybe about 10 seconds. Yet a deadly time-frame if you''re fighting multiple of them... is that their strategy? Lurking around, ambushing prey and if that fails, the first to die will immobilize the enemy with its nauseating guts?
Thinking of it, that body easily bursts open. Who thought of monsters like that!? How can they survive as a species!?
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°These are mountain-crawlers?¡± I ask Rine.
¡°No, mountain-crawlers are bigger. These are boak-crawler, I think.¡± Ah, so the cow-sized ones we found before are the mountain-crawlers. These mountains have too many caterpillar-like monsters!
¡°Let''s wait a bit,¡± I suggest, ¡°I still feel a bit sick.¡±
¡°Me too.¡±
Kyou-san agrees: ¡°Alright.¡±
¡°Ah!¡± I exclaim and look in the direction of the peak we''re aiming at. ¡°Shit.¡± There are at least a dozen flying creatures, most likely the ones who left the talon marks the day before. Those marks led me to believe that they were very big, but this is between a cow and an elephant! Each of those birds have two pairs of wings and a long, blade-looking beak. This alone is dangerous enough, but it gets worse: ¡°In their talons...¡± Boak-crawlers, just like the ones from before. Since these bird-creatures have four legs each, it''s 48 centipedes on the fly! ¡°RUN!¡±
Please let those birds be stupid! Please!
While the girls are still wondering what is happening, I¡¯m already on the run. After several meters of a head start, they finally got the hint and start moving. There is a problem though: We''ve not only been detected, but too are slow as well. The creatures are already catching up!
To make matters worse, the flying bastards are doing as I feared: They''re flying right above us and letting the boak-crawler fall. If they hit the ground, they¡¯ll burst and immobilize us with their gut-chemicals!
I change class to [Pikeman] and shout to Rine: ¡°Support my jump! Then run!¡±
Rine is looking at me confused but goes into position, hands hold together under her stomach. I run at her and jumps on this provisional platform. She propels me even higher, right into the first clutch of boak-crawlers. ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡±
Guts are splattered around me, but the [Whirlwind]-skill pushes enemies away, so the carcasses are flying even higher, smashing into the second wave of boak-crawler. Nausea overwhelms me and the last thing I thought was ''This will hurt'' as I fall without the chance to make it any less hurtful. I can see my HP decreasing at an alarming range. My Max HP has decreased as well, I might have broken something.
The third wave of boak-crawlers is falling right on me and while they burst, I take even more damage. My SP is decreasing as well, maybe because I''m suffocating with all this gagging. I try to stand up, but I can already see three of these bizarre birds approaching. These are the birds that have thrown wave one to three.
Ah, I''m dead. Nonetheless, I won¡¯t give the hell up! Every ounce of willpower goes into my body, trying to move it.
Then, *swing* with a beautiful arc, a sword is biting into the body of one of these creatures. Rine, you stupid idiot! If I say ''run'' to you, you should run!
Your aim is also wrong. How could you mess up your one-swing-one-death principle? Must be because she hurried to me. Of course, Kyou-san isn''t here, she''s smarter than that.
Rine''s resistance is short-lived. A fourth wave of falling boak-crawlers falls close to her and sets her gagging as well. You see, that¡¯s why I told you to run! One of these four-wing-creatures approaches her, the one she attacked just now. It looks heavily wounded, but its eyes burn with hatred. I see. She''ll die before me because she tried to help me. She''s really stupid.
I''m trembling! The world seems to tremble. Why am I trembling that much? Is it regret? Is it self-hatred? Is it pride? I don''t know, actually I feel kinda hollow inside.
Wait a minute, the world is trembling! At least the mountain! What... The ground! The ground rises right before my eyes while I''m unable to move! The earth under me is also shifting... I''m rolling in the direction that was uphill a second ago.
The winged creatures fall into panic and try to take flight. Could you please take me with you? We can still discuss all the ''you tried to kill me''-stuff, but I don''t want to be left behind when the earth and rocks around me are moving and about to crush me.
Ah, that won''t be my biggest problem now. I''m rolling down a newly formed cliff. Well, I''m dead. Seems to be fate. Next life, I want to be a gamer again.
Suddenly, something grabs my collar from behind, choking me: ¡°I got you, Kenta!¡± It''s Rine, who was able to shake off the nausea. Well, mine is over, too, but my body doesn''t move. It might be overwhelming pain which is shut off by adrenaline. Or something like that.
Rine is hanging on the still shifting ground and it becomes steeper and steeper. Her fingers dig deep into the earth, but my exact question is: How long until we both fall? ¡°Stupid.¡± My voice is groaning.
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Stupid! Let me go and try to save yourself! Helping me is killing you!¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°The ground itself is trying to throw me off the cliff! Just behave like the stupid princess you are and act as if you''re well-meaning while stepping over corpses!¡±
¡°You... you are trying to make me abandon you because we''re friends!¡±
¡°No, I''m not! I hate your guts! You act all noble and strong, while sacrificing yourself. I hate that!¡±
For a moment, Rine staggers, but then she embraces her determination: ¡°You just tried to safe Kyou and me by sacrificing yourself as well!¡±
¡°I just hate TPKs and especially those players who evoke them by not doing their job! One dead is better than a TPK, especially in raids!¡°
¡°TeePeeKay?¡±
¡°Total Party Kill, you dumbnut!¡±
¡°I have no idea what you''re talking about, so I''ll ignore you!¡±
¡°Immature brat!¡±
¡°Beh!¡± Is she just sticking out her tongue to me!?
¡°Lift me up, so I can spit on you!¡±
¡°Gladly!¡± Rine enforces her grip on my collar and tries to pull me up, but with a sudden motion the ground beneath us goes vertical. How the heck is that even possible?
For a moment, Rine has to carry both our weights with one hand alone. Then the earth under her hand broke away and both of us are feeling the gravity.
Ah, we''re lucky. Beneath us is one of these strange four-winged creatures. We''ll land right on it... wait, we''re unlucky, we''ll fall next to it, almost in reach, but with no chance to get it. My usual luck.
Well, we''re dead. The only good thing about it is that the person who I''m currently most irritated at will die as well. Too bad I can''t move and shove Rine aside, so we can bite the dust at different places.
Then something unexpected happens. Or more like ''happens again'' as suddenly another ground appears and picks the winged creature I mentioned before from the side. I can hear the sound of crushing bones and bursting blood.
On the other hand, we''re about to hit that new part of the ground. It¡¯s still about an eight meter (26 feet) free-fall. I guess, it can''t be helped. I can muster only a fraction of power, so surviving it is unlikely for me. Rine on the other hand... If I will die but Rine might survive, I may as well let her suffer by doing the following: I use the last bit of willpower, grab Rine''s arm, which is still holding my collar, and pull her into an embrace. I will impact first, hopefully I''ll die fast. Shielded that way, she will survive and my death will put her through mental hell! Serves you right!
The main-problem is about to happen: The landing... I close my eyes. ¡ ¡ Strange, is the earth giving in? Is it that loose? I open my eyes and see that the ground moved again. We have missed it and we''re still free-falling.
¡°HHHAAAHHH???¡± A deep sound is echoing all around us.
Another bit of ground appears below the one we missed and... captured us. The impact itself doesn''t hurt much, but the fact that I''m getting Rine''s knee into my stomach is kinda bad. Oh, who just spat out all that blood? Where do so much of my HP go?
Oh... Blackness engulfs me.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
When Rine-chan suddenly turned around, most likely to help Ken, I decided to move forward, propelled by the fear of death. It didn''t go well. I was captured by strange bird-like monsters the moment the earth trembled. I''m actually glad that I was not down there at the moment the earth began to move.
Because we weren¡¯t on a mountain. It¡¯s a gargantuan creature made of earth, rock and stone! It was laying there and the so-called peak was actually it''s butt!
I don''t know what happened to Rine-chan and Ken, but while this mountain-creature was standing up I could get a glimpse of the damage it caused. Several monsters were crushed by some of its minor movements.
Even though I still hold one hope at that moment: ''Please, let Ken die.¡¯ It¡¯s an ugly thought, but seeing the chaos down there from above and my current predicament, this is the only thing I could think of. There is still the possibility that his death will lift the curse which befell me, which might be better than the alternative. However, there was no curse-message-window and the ring is still on my finger, so all I can do is to harbor that wish which stems from too many small things that add up to a final straw.
Yet everything becomes worse. The creature made of a mountain attacks the flying ones and crushes them one after another with its big arms. It''s like it¡¯s catching bugs with its hands! Then something distracted the earth-giant, so two of the winged creatures can flee, including the one who holds me in its talons.
Now I just need a way to survive. With a bit of luck, Ken is currently bleeding out, only a few seconds away from dead and the curse will be lifted thereafter, then I¡¯ll find a way out of this situation, and everything will be fine afterward. No curses, no monsters, no need to worry about my life in the present and future anymore.
I might be lucky for a change.
Volume 02 - Chapter 3-1 – The Etna, the Fourbirds and the Separation
I regain consciousness and realize that I must be alive. Even though I should be grateful, I couldn¡¯t since I¡¯m in so much pain that I want to die.
¡°You¡¯re back!¡± An excited and relieved outcry. Something, which could be a hug¡ªor an iron maiden, for what I care. The force of those arms is so great that I can¡¯t even groan in pain anymore. ¡°I almost thought¡ *sob*¡±
I slowly open my eyes and see a crying, dirt-covered Rine bending over my body. At least she puts me gently to the ground and starts chanting one healing spell after another, all aimed at me.
My max HP is pretty bad, maybe because of all the major injuries I received by falling. On the other hand, my current HP is full to that measly account and healing magic doesn¡¯t change anything. Maybe I¡¯m broken beyond repair.
¡°DON¡¯T WORRY, BOY. THE PAIN MIGHT BE OVERWHELMING, BUT YOU CAN LEAVE IT TO ME.¡± Somehow a deep, echoing voice could be heard. I try to locate it, but moving my neck also hurts.
¡°Ah, that¡¯s Etna. It saved us.¡± Rine is pointing in a direction, but all I can see is-
¡°That¡¯s a mountain.¡±
¡°It''s Etna.¡±
¡°NOT QUITE. I¡¯M AN ETNA. THOUGH YOU MAY CALL ME THAT, MY KIND DOESN¡¯T HAVE NAMES.¡± Did this mountain just move? And is that clift a mouth? And these glittering holes, are they eyes? Is that a giant rock creature without a head, three legs, and seven arms?
I try to focus on it, but there is something in the way ¡ª a message box.
You''re separated from Momokawa Kyou.
The curse is going to return, step-by-step, coming at you and your beloved wife. After 47 hours the curse will be back at its full potency, so let your love overcome this trial!
¡
¡ ¡
¡°Aaaaaahhhhhh!¡±
¡°It¡¯s alright, Kenta. Etna isn¡¯t an enemy.¡±
¡°AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!¡± I double the volume since I totally forgot about that mountain-creature.
¡°YOU SHOULDN¡¯T EXERT YOURSELF BY SCREAMING, CHILD. I WON¡¯T HARM YOU ANY FURTHER. MOST LIKELY.¡±
¡°WHY DON¡¯T YOU KILL ME ALREADY!¡± This isn¡¯t addressed to anyone in particular, except life.
¡°ME, WAKING UP, HARMED YOU, BUT IT WAS NOT MY INTENTION.¡±
¡°DAMN IT! I HATE IT, I HATE IT, I HATE IT!!!¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Inoue Masahiko and his party are searching the mountains, believing that the princess returned there to capture even more bandits. They have overcome the traps, yet as Kyou had told them to use that route in the first place, there is a sour mood. Some of the traps were dangerous while all of them were well hidden, this must have taken some time to prepare, so it¡¯s unlikely that it was a coincidence.
The most likely suspects are Katsuragi-kun and Kyou. Masahiko is torn, as Kyou is a dear friend of his and he can¡¯t believe that she has partaken in that. ¡°What is Kyou thinking?¡± he mumbles for about the twentieth time today. If he could just talk to her to ascertain what exactly the traps are about. He and his friends thought continuous about it and even though there are a few ideas, some of them blaming it all on Katsuragi, there is no way to be sure.
Masahiko thought so much about it the last days, that he just imagines hearing Kyou''s voice in these mountains.
"STUPID BIRD, JUST DIE AND LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!¡±
This... wait a minute, it¡¯s really Kyou''s voice!
It''s a faint scream, coming from above. Masahiko could see giant, flying creatures there. Did the creatures catch Kyou!? It¡¯s too high to tell, barely more than a spot visible.
¡°Masa?¡± Eri asks Masahiko for a decision.
¡°Katsuo? Teruko?¡± As both have classes with the [Perception]-ability, they can make sure whether they really have their friend or if it¡¯s some sort of trickery.
¡°It¡¯s Kyou-chan, inside their claws!¡±, Teruko confirms.
Masahiko breathes in to calm himself and announces his resolve: ¡°We need to save her. She''s our friend, after all.¡± Everyone nods without any hesitation. ¡°Quick!¡± Currently, the birds are too high to properly engage and ensure Kyou¡¯s safety, but if they can follow them for a while, the conditions might change to their favor. ¡°We¡¯re coming, Kyou!¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Let''s summarize the last hour. First, while I was barely able to move, Rine constantly cast healing spells on me, even though I told her to stop. She kept it up, until her MP¡ªif she has it¡ªwas exhausted and she continues after she has recovered enough for another spell. Stop-and-cast. I broke every rib and have partial fractures in my whole body, which can''t be quite counteracted with Rine''s spells alone.
Etna, on the other side, did a lot of exposition, so much it would kill any game. Too much story in a short amount of time, especially since most of it was boring.
So I abbreviate it: Etnas are an old race of living mountains and sleep most of the time. Yet this one woke up after it took too much boak-crawler-guts. Etna is already about to fall asleep again, but since it''s sorry about what happened it wants to help us a bit.
The four-winged creatures are called fourbirds, which are roughly as intelligent as humans. They are vicious and cunning and invent new ways to hunt in their new environment. Normally, they live in the demon realm, but somehow a clan got a hold here. Well, we¡¯re just behind the borderlands, so it sounds plausible that they simply migrated here because of the battles.
Etna also noticed that one of our kind, that is a human, was taken by one of these fourbirds. This has to be Kyou-san, who surely fell into another hissyfit and wishes unreasonable things again. Most likely my death, since whenever things go wrong, she blames me for it.
¡°YOU WANT TO RESCUE THAT HUMAN?¡±
¡°Yes¡±, while Rine is full of vigor, I just shrug my shoulders.
¡°I''M MOVED. FOR A SPECIES OUTSIDE THE ETNA TO CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER, IT''S GREAT!¡± Could you please not cry sand? A big sand cloud is forming and I¡¯d like not to choke to death. ¡°I CAN''T HELP YOU MUCH. I CAN ONLY GIVE YOU MY BLESSING.¡±
¡°That''s more than enough, Etna.¡± Rine answers with a broad smile. I roll my eyes. What good could this blessing do.
There is no light show, no sound effect, just a message window after looking at that [Condition].
[Etna''s Blessing]
Source: Etna
Max HP +100%
Max SP +100%
Max MP +100%
Vitality +50%
Regeneration greatly boosted
Yep, I like being blessed. Please bless me more!
It might be a side-effect, but my Max HP rapidly returned to normal or more like double the normal. I can actually feel my broken ribs mending. The pain dulls, that''s great!
¡°TAKE MY BLESSING AND RESCUE YOUR FRIEND. I''M... TIRED... WILL SLEEP...¡± With these unspectacular words, the etna nods off.
¡°Will it really sleep until the final confrontation between the gods and the end of the world are about to begin?¡± Rine took into all the stories Etna told like a sponge.
¡°Is that important? It''s not like we''ll live that long. And it will probably be disturbed a few times again, before that happens. I mean, about a dozen gutting boak-crawlers in short intervals were enough to wake it up in the first place!¡± This certainly shows that this fantasy world doesn¡¯t even manage to make a mountain sleep for a century. Well, no time to dwell on it. My body feels better than alright, so I try to stand up. It works and I sigh in relief. ¡°Phew. We have to rescue Kyou-san first.¡±
¡°Oh, now you''re talking.¡± Rine is getting ready, too. ¡°You are friends, after all. We all are.¡±
¡°No.¡± Time to stop that shit. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I''m not so stupid to charge an enemy like the fourbirds alone with so little information, so I''ll work with that princess. Especially, when she can use healing magic and at some point my own recovery rate will cease to work. Still, that doesn''t mean that I have to continue this pretend game. ¡°We do it because I''ll die otherwise.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°And afterwards we''ll see. Maybe back to Esse.¡±
¡°I don''t want to. If Father gets me, he''ll make me do boring work.¡±
¡°And he''ll give me quite the reward, so just shut up.¡±
¡°Re-reward!?¡± After a second of shock, Rine''s mood darkens, but then it brightened up like a rising sun: ¡°Ah, I see! You want to keep me safe, after our rescue mission, since we almost died just now. But don''t worry, we''re friends, so we''ll stick together. Risking your life for each other is normal.¡±
This isn''t naivety! It''s stupidity! ¡°Please spare me! Just shut up, Etna told us the rough direction and I will try to [Track] it, even though I don''t think that flying creatures leave anything usable behind while flying!¡±
¡°Oh, you''re shy, Kenta.¡±
¡°And you''re annoying!¡± Still, I need her murder-skills to get to Kyou-san... Damn it! I hate it! I hate it!!!
This is the chasm all over again! I can''t split from a crazy girl who objects to anything I say while everything out here is trying to kill us!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Etna¡¯s movements were destructive. The century worth of dirt and plants that covered it has been spread all around the area. Even if these fourbirds have left any tracks, they¡¯re all gone now.
So the only lead we have is the direction they were flying. I¡¯d really prefer something like a flying pet or mount, or at least a goat, to pursue the fourbirds, but since we don¡¯t own some, Rine and I have to try to follow them on foot until I get some hint of where the fourbirds are.
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Well, climbing mountains is tiring, but I already am somewhat used to it at this point. Rine, on the other hand, is something I¡¯m not used to and just becomes more annoying every minute. ¡°¡®If I don¡¯t rescue Kyou-san, I¡¯ll die!¡¯ Kenta, that¡¯s so cool!¡±
¡°I already told you, we¡¯re cursed.¡±
¡°Bound to be together, cursed when separated. It¡¯s romantic.¡±
¡°It¡¯s horrible. You don¡¯t know Kyou-san at all. She just wears a facade around others. Before becoming lovers, I would rather date a... erm... how about...¡± A cat? A dog? An otaku-girl? I just have no idea. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter...¡± I think it¡¯s futile to explain Rine the facts.
Even though she¡¯s really annoying.
¡°Phew...¡± One foot after another. Searching for clues, finding a track. Maybe a fallen feather. Maybe a place where the fourbirds rested. But the chances to find those are microscopic. Most likely, the curse will return in full strength and I¡¯ll die in the end.
The fourbirds will probably eat Kyou-san before the day is over. At least I¡¯ll see what becomes of the curse when one of us is dead. Maybe it will just reset. Maybe it¡¯ll kill me off right away. Damn it, that¡¯s so depressing that I don¡¯t see any point in searching for Kyou-san in the first place.
In these negative thoughts, a grinding, optimistic voice chimes in: ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Of course, it¡¯s Rine. ¡°We¡¯ll find her. Trust me.¡±
I hate myself for being reassured by it.
If I look at the whole Rine-thing objectively, there is only one conclusion to draw: Katarine von Stolzherz is a cheater-character. She was brought up in royalty, but instead of confronting any responsibilities, she¡¯s now here doing what¡¯s fun for her.
She can murder about everything in her way, she can use [Divine Magic] and she got an attractive appearance. Everything about her, even her idiocy, is just making her look more beautiful and because she¡¯s beautiful, she¡¯s even charming me, who can¡¯t stand her.
All my life I thought my classmates were cheaters in life, but they¡¯re just trying to be a shade of Rine. I hate her! I hate her!
Half an hour after our farewell from the Etna. We climbed up another mountain and look around the area. The vast mountain range around us makes me dizzy. It¡¯s so much to cover.
Wait, what¡¯s that? ¡°Aren¡¯t those fourbirds?¡± They are so far away even my [Farsight]-skill has problems discerning them, aside from the four wings per creature. ¡°There are a bunch of them flying around that peak. About a day away, I guess.¡±
¡°Hm...¡± Rine is looking around. ¡°Isn¡¯t there a faster way?¡±
¡°How? Did you grow wings while I wasn¡¯t paying attention?¡± On second thought, Rine might be actually hiding a pair of angel-like wings, just because she¡¯s already too much of an imba-character.
¡°Sadly, no. But look.¡±
I look where Rine is pointing to and my mouth is agape. ¡°What... what is that?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t know, but it¡¯ll help us, either by choice or by force.¡± Rine is drawing her sword.
Below us is a furrow and there sleeps a dragonfly-like-creature It¡¯s bigger than a horse, and instead of chitin, it has fur all around its body, but the gigantic wings are insect-like.
Hundreds of questions are brimming in my head, like: ¡®What is this?¡¯ or ¡®How comes it¡¯s right there when we need it?¡¯, but in the end, the answer was probably something along the lines of ¡®Because Rine is a cheater!¡¯
Without further hesitation, I change into the [Pikeman]-class. Rine and I exchange looks and she begins to descend the furrow slowly while I¡¯m ready to charge in at any time.
Then she calls out: ¡°Hello? My name is Katarine von Stolzherz and I want to ask you something.¡±
The sleeping creature slowly awakens and looks at Rine in confusion. But it doesn¡¯t attack. Maybe it can understand human language?
Rine, excited about the success so far, asks her question: ¡°My companion and I are in trouble and we want to appeal to you if you¡¯re willing to let us ride on your back for a bit.¡±
The creature tilts its head and, after a second, it nods. It¡¯s... helping? Can it be? Can it be that there is actually a creature out there willing to help us? Wait... it has to be Rine¡¯s cheat-charisma!
¡°Great, um... I don¡¯t know your name, sorry. How about we call you... Winger?¡± I¡¯m pretty sure she chose the name because it flies and has wings. The worst part is that Winger nods to his new name. So Rine got another friend. Yay, a cheer for the princess. I¡¯m sarcastic, you know?
Winger bends its insect-like legs and Rine mounts him. Of course, she does so gracefully. I climb down the furrow as well and the sweet princess reaches out her hand for me.
I put my spear into her hand. ¡°Nah, I want to sit in front.¡± With that, I clumsily climb on Winger myself. It took a while, but in the end I sit right behind his neck and take my weapon back. The left hand is grabbing some fur so that I won¡¯t fall.
¡°Are you ready, Winger?¡± Rine exclaims. ¡°Take off!¡± With this, Winger begins to rise into the air. ¡°Kenta, give directions!¡±
¡°More left. Right, see that summit? We¡¯re going there.¡± Winger nods and begins to fly to the summit, higher and higher.
¡°It¡¯s great. I fly! I¡¯m really flying, Winger, you¡¯re great.¡± As if fired up by Rine¡¯s cheers, Winger begins to ascend even further and further. Rine is laughing at full strength. Like me, she feels how we glide through the sky, unbound from the shackles of gravity.
Even I smile. But for another reason. ¡°You¡¯re smart.¡± With a swift movement, I put the spear-pole in choking position, right below the larynx of Winger. ¡°You¡¯re flying quite high, even though there is no need.¡±
¡°Kenta, what are you doing?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, trust me, Rine.¡±
¡°OK.¡± So gullible.
¡°So Winger, you thought that you could trick us, huh?¡±
¡°Winger wouldn¡¯t do something like that!¡±
¡°Be quiet, Rine!¡±
¡°...ok...¡± So obedient.
¡°Trying to fly as high as you can, then one turn and we fall into our deaths, crushed into bite-size pieces, right?¡± Oh, Winger is trembling and sweating. Or something like that. It doesn¡¯t exactly sweat, but it¡¯s close enough. ¡°Sadly, I trust no one. I also have more than enough strength to crush your windpipe in this position. So either all of us live or die, isn¡¯t that great? If you understand, turn right.¡±
Winger turns right.
¡°Good. Do you see the plateau there? You will fly there and then we go our separate ways.¡± The plateau is about a one-hour walk away from the mountain. I guess about three hours of climbing to reach the summit. But if we get too close, the fourbirds will notice it and I can¡¯t fight while keeping Winger in check. No, because I trust him. I trust him to kill us off at the first available opportunity. Don¡¯t fuck with me, Winger!
¡°Wait...¡± Rine is beginning to understand that she was tricked. ¡°Why, Winger?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t you know? Because he likes humans. As food, that is!¡± So again, my suspecting nature saves the day. Now I need to save Kyou-san, too, or I¡¯m done for.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Katsuo, aim at its wings. Try to only graze it. Eri, be prepared to soften Kyou¡¯s fall with magic if our plan fails. Daichi and Teruko, we three will engage it if necessary.¡± Inoue Masahiko gives the orders to make that four-winged-creature land, even though he¡¯s also prepared for the other outcomes.
Don¡¯t worry, Kyou. We¡¯ll rescue you!
Katsuo is an [Archer] and he used the [Quadruple Shot]-skill for grazing every wing of that strange bird-like creature. The bird cries out and flaps its wings a few times. It can¡¯t hold itself in the air, so it drops weight. In other words, Kyou.
¡°Eri!¡±
¡°Right! [Wind Pillow].¡± Eri casts a spell which creates a puffer of air, mostly used to break falls, soften impacts, and can be used as a stepping stone once.
With a very unfeminine groan, Kyou falls into the pillow, which deflates immediately, and even though most of the momentum of the fall is broken, it¡¯s still not soft, Masahiko presumes. She doesn¡¯t move. She seems to have lost consciousness.
Unloaded, the bird-creature flies away, even though its slow. Katsuo and I exchange looks and he uses another skill to ground that creature. ¡°Engage!¡± We move out to finish the wounded creature.
But there is another bird-monster, which turns around to engage us in return. Arrows and wind blades fly at it, so it had to stop its nosedive. ¡°Teruko and others, please keep the flying one at bay, Daichi and I will finish off the grounded one.¡± With a spear, Teruko should have a much easier time than Masahiko or Daichi when it comes to stalling time against a flying enemy. ¡°Daichi, I will weaken it, you finish it off!¡±
¡°Ossu!¡±
Learning from the time Masahiko and his friends had to leave Kyou, they have established a killing schedule. As long as it¡¯s possible, the person whose turn it is will deal the final blow. While traveling to the border, they decided upon that. There were also suggestions to go back and help Kyou to level up, but in the end, Kyou is smart and they have to become stronger as fast as possible.
With a swift motion, Masahiko draws his two swords and uses a skill: ¡°[Dual Thrust]!¡± With both swords in thrust-position, he rushes at the opponent. It seems that most weapon-abilities have such a rush-skill at the low levels, maybe because it¡¯s that useful to shorten the distance between you and your opponent as fast as possible.
Both of his swords are stabbing the grounded bird¡¯s torso and he yanks both blades to the right, causing deep wounds. Since the creature is so big, he needs to deal more damage, since Daichi is preparing for the final strike. Most likely his [Earthcleaver], to decapitate it. So Masahiko has to bring its head down.
¡°[Steel Wolf]!¡± Like fangs, his swords are biting into the leg of the bird, it¡¯s a skill to trip the enemy while dealing quite some damage. Its tripping effect has worked against everything so far, so even though it¡¯s a large monster, it¡¯s now prone.
¡°[Earthcleaver]!¡± It¡¯s a mighty [Axe]-skill, which needs some charging time, but since Daichi was only waiting for an opportunity, it¡¯s already fully charged. The head of the creature is chopped off. The next on schedule is Teruko.
¡°[Speedthrust!]¡± Ah, she¡¯s already stabbing it, using a [Wind Pillow] as a stepping stone to connect to the flying creature. So you can use it even for a rush-skill. Masahiko is impressed by the resourcefulness of his friends.
[Speedthrust] is a strong rush-skill if the user can take a run-up. The bird crashes to the ground, while Teruko is caught by another [Wind Pillow].
The rest of the fight is easy, it takes seconds for the five of them to deal enough damage forTeruko to deal the finishing blow. But instead of bathing in their victory, Masahiko¡¯s party is checking on Kyou.
Eri takes a look at her. ¡°She¡¯s sleeping. Maybe all of this was too much for her.¡± Who knows how long Kyou was carried by this creature, it must have been a very stressful experience.
¡°Let her rest. I¡¯ll carry her.¡±
¡°Masa. I¡¯m the tallest one here. It would be more comfortable for her if I carry her.¡±
Daichi is right. He trains in judo since childhood and would be able to carry her well due to his training and tall build. ¡°I leave it to you.¡±
¡°Ossu!¡±
Eri seems to be hesitant. Maybe she¡¯s still worried about the traps from before and how Kyou is involved in them.
¡°We need to head to a safe location. When Kyou wakes up, I¡¯m sure she can explain everything!¡± Masahiko is worried about Kyou since they¡¯re friends and he fears that Kyou is in trouble.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Winger lands on the plateau. ¡°Great job, Winger.¡± Of course, I¡¯m complimenting it.
I wait for Rine to dismount. She doesn¡¯t seem happy. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Winger would do such a thing.¡±
¡°Naming a creature doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯ll be important.¡± By the way, I hate most mascot characters. They¡¯re annoying as hell!
Finally, it¡¯s time to say goodbye to Winger. I loosen the spear around its neck. Then I grab the spear near the tip with both hands, change into [Pikeman]-class and thrust the spear through Winger¡¯s cervix. Gamer Rule: Don¡¯t waste any XP.
¡°AH!¡± Rine shouts loudly. ¡°Winger! You... you killed Winger!¡±
¡°Didn¡¯t I already explained? Heroes have to kill to become stronger.¡±
¡°But...¡± Tears are welling up in Rine¡¯s eyes.
¡°Phew...¡± I sigh. Why is that girl so difficult? ¡°What¡¯s your problem?¡±
¡°You... *sniff* Winger and I couldn¡¯t become friends and...¡±
¡°He tried to eat you. There was no chance to begin with.¡±
¡°But...¡±
¡°Come on. Before we get spotted by fourbirds.¡±
Reluctantly, Rine follows me while shedding tears and sniveling.
This girl... is annoying.
Maybe it¡¯s because of genetic make-up as a male, but I can¡¯t endure it when a girl cries like that. Dammit, genes!
¡°...Come on.¡± I¡¯ve no idea what to say in this situation, so I¡¯m a bit clumsy. Or more like: A lot. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, OK?¡± Only sorry to make her cry. Winger¡¯s death, on the other side, was appropriate.
¡°...sometimes I think you don¡¯t like me.¡±
¡Huh!? Didn¡¯t I already say that I hate her, right in her face?
But I can¡¯t repeat that now because she¡¯s crying. I¡¯m a wuss. ¡°... I¡¯m bad at words. So let me say it straight: I need you!¡± I need you to rescue Kyou-san, so I won¡¯t be set under the curse¡¯s effects again and die at the end.
Her tears stopped, but she¡¯s still upset, looking down. ¡°You¡¯re only saying it. Maybe you¡¯re lying...¡±
I hate it! Why are girls so complicated? What does she want?
Something snaps in me and I take her face in both hands and forcefully turn her to me: ¡°I¡¯m not lying, I need you and now shut up and follow me!¡±
¡°Y...yes!¡± Look at her face, all flustered with that crying. Does she want to appeal me? Don¡¯t look like that, if you don¡¯t want to be violated!
Dammit!
I relieve myself sometimes, which should still be normal for a healthy young man, but I have the feeling I¡¯ve had a constant boner since my reunion with Kyou-san in Esse!
Is it because I¡¯m around defenseless girls my age the whole time? Or is it the curse? Please say that I¡¯m still normal since I can¡¯t stand the thought that I may have become so perverted that I¡¯d even jump on Kyou-san or Rine!
¡°Kenta, why are you walking slightly bend over?¡±
Don¡¯t point that out!
Wait a minute. It feels like a small devil is whispering to my ear. Rine is naive, right? So I might be able to convince her to ¡®help¡¯ me, right?
Wait, wait, wait, what I¡¯m thinking? It¡¯s Rine, Miss Killer! What would happen to me if I let her handle ¡®that¡¯? She might crush it!
¡
Oh. My boner is gone.
Imagining Rine ¡¯handle that¡¯ is a boner-killer. Yes, Rine can even kill boners. She¡¯s that deadly.
Good thing I had that thought before I did something like that with this monster in a girl¡¯s disguise.
By the way, deceiving her to do such acts would be criminal anyway.
I straighten out and finally answer Rine¡¯s questions, without even looking back: ¡°Just checking if I¡¯m sore from riding Winger.¡±
¡°Ah I see. I got some ache in my inner thighs. When we rest, I have to check if I have a chafing there.¡±
Why is she... ¡°Rine. Would you please not bring my attention to your inner thighs?¡±
¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±
¡°Because it sounds like you¡¯re trying to seduce me.¡±
¡°What does have seduction to do with my inner thighs?¡±
I facepalm. This time I face Rine. ¡°What do you think is right next to it?¡±
¡°...¡± She¡¯s really pondering? ¡°Ah! My vagina! Ah, I mean, eh...¡±
This is too much! First, a pretty girl who says vagina! Second, the embarrassed face she makes! The little devil on my shoulder is telling me that jumping on her might be the only way to deal with that emotion and I¡¯m about to listen to him.
But Rine draws her sword before I could even make a move. Then she looks in every direction. Are enemies here? I snap out of my sexual desires and use about every [Perception]-skill I know.
No enemies. Strange.
¡°Rine? Why did you draw your sword?¡±
¡°Erm... I somehow felt danger. As if someone was looking at me as prey.¡±
Ah, her instinct told her that a wolf was about to attack her. While her instincts are sharp, her brain is not.
Maybe it¡¯s for the better. No, definitely. It¡¯s for the better. Everything might be better than to assault Rine. Except assaulting Kyou-san. Ah, the worst would still be dying. Also, we wasted time by doing nonsense...
¡°Rine, I guess it¡¯s because we¡¯re near the fourbird¡¯s base. We should better concentrate, so no talking unless it¡¯s crucial. No crying, no laughing and other things that would distract me, OK?¡±
¡°Yes!¡± She nods earnestly.
Finally some calm.
Volume 02 - Chapter 3-2
We¡¯re almost there. I¡¯m currently using [Camouflage] to scout on the fourbird¡¯s nest and what a nest it is! Practically the whole summit is like a village made out of giant bird-nests. Two, four, eight plus six, fourteen. The only way up to this plateau is actually climbing, so it¡¯ll be hard to sneak in without being noticed, I think.
Since fourbirds are flying in and out, I can only roughly estimate the numbers of enemies to be about twenty adults and a lot of hatchlings, that might be dangerous, too. At least it seems they¡¯re still not able to fly.
At the center of the plateau, there is a rock spire surrounded by holes, which are covered by massive rock slabs. I can see a fourbird walking to one, lifting the rock with two of its four legs and dragging a living bearington out, which is fed to the hatchlings. Even though bearingtons can defend themselves, it¡¯s simply surrounded by four hatchlings, that open up its body with their sharp beaks and begin to drink the blood of the still alive monster.
After it got sucked out, the rest is eaten by the parent.
I feel sick.
Fourbirds are supposed to be as smart as humans, even though they¡¯re still monsters. So they feed the chicks the blood of the living. Are they vampire birds? They¡¯re definitely too big to prey on humans. Maybe the hatchlings can¡¯t eat flesh at this point in their growth. Their wings aren¡¯t developed and their eyes are still closed, who knows what they can eat right now.
But I should definitely count them as combat potential.
So if I have to sum up the fourbird¡¯s nest, it would be: They¡¯re many, they can fly and there is not much of a chance to evade them. Since their prey is in these holes in the middle of the nest, Kyou-san is in one of them.
I hate it!
I can¡¯t do anything here alone, I can¡¯t fight all these enemies. Even if I manage to sneak unnoticed to one of these covered holes, I might be unable to lift one of these stone slabs, especially not without being seen.
It was the right call to let Rine accompany me, but even with her, it might be impossible! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!
But I have no choice but to do it.
So I return to Rine, which is hiding behind a slope, which makes it hard to see her from most angles. ¡°Kenta, you¡¯re back!¡± Obviously. ¡°Did you find Kyou?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t see her, but I know where they keep their prey.¡±
¡°Great! So what do we do? Charge in?¡±
I facepalm. ¡°No. We don¡¯t. And can¡¯t.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°You know how we decided to let me climb the rock face since we couldn¡¯t find a path up there quickly? It was the right decision, since there is no path up there. Unfortunately, the climbing tour is long, even though there are ledges where you can rest, it¡¯s still very taxing. Even I, as a hero, aren¡¯t able to climb the distance without getting the [Strained]-condition. Despite all the advantages I have, I feel the pain. Plus, the moment we reach the top, we have to fight. That¡¯s too much to ask for.¡± Thankfully as long there is SP, my body won¡¯t rebel against this degree of abuse. Especially with Etna¡¯s Blessing, which increases my regeneration rate.
¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I think.¡± Only Rine thinks that these are reasonable conditions.
¡°Have you ever fought flying monsters?¡±
¡°Erm... no.¡±
¡°Yes, you have. You fought against the fourbirds, and that makes a loss. I already fought against the fourbirds, strange bat-gnomes, sickle-beaks, and Winger, of course.¡± When I mention Winger, Rine¡¯s expression becomes sour, I better continue before we have another argument. ¡°And what that taught me was: Don¡¯t fight flying creatures! Also, these fourbirds are huge, to boot! There are about twenty right now in the nest, plus their offspring, are you confident of defeating all of them?¡±
¡°If I have to, I will!¡± Her ember-eyes are burning with determination and I¡¯m about to let her do it on her own. Yet I have to maximize my chances to get Kyou-san back, which, so far, doesn¡¯t involve Rine getting herself killed.
The real problem is that I don¡¯t know the combat-strength of a fourbird, only that it seems to be stronger than boak-crawlers and bearingtons. At the plateau, I would have no problems defeating a dozen of bearingtons since I can actually move there and they can¡¯t use their climbing skills.
But if I consider their flight, I think that the fact that they outnumber us is the real danger. They are big and strong enough to lift and throw us down the cliff. Even if Rine can kill every bird which comes near her, she might have trouble with the amounts of talons per bird.
¡°Kenta, you¡¯re quiet. Say something.¡±
¡°I¡¯m thinking! Are you so bored that you can¡¯t endure a bit of silence!?¡±
¡°But... you look scared and haunted.¡±
¡°Rine, this is a serious situation, so of course I look like that. I can¡¯t be happy-go-lucky like a certain someone!¡±
¡°Try smiling.¡±
¡°Smiling!?¡±
¡°Yes, like this!¡± She smiles cheerfully, like a sun on drugs, just like out of a picture book. ¡°With this, everything will look brighter.¡±
¡°But only look, not be.¡±
¡°You¡¯re stubborn.¡± Without respecting my personal space, Rine mercilessly grabs my cheeks and lift them. ¡°See?¡±
I glare at her, but she doesn¡¯t mind. What an idiotic princess! I try to push her hands away, but her grip is iron, so I just yield and try to relax my face as much as possible, so that it will hurt less. Surprisingly, Rine¡¯s hands are soft and feminine, even though they spread death wherever they go.
After a minute of face-stretching, Rine let go and I rub my hot cheeks. She giggles. ¡°See?¡±
¡°And we are still clueless about what to do.¡±
¡°Then talk to me. I¡¯m not that clever, but if you talk to me, you might be able to order your thoughts.¡±
Stop making sense, princess!
But she¡¯s right. ¡°Phew. I resign.¡± While telling Rine my thoughts so far, she simply nods to every argument. I sit down after a while and consider the different problems aloud.
The only way to get there is an exhausting climbing tour.
We have a vital disadvantage in terms of mobility.
The fact that we¡¯re facing thirty-times the numbers.
Worries about being simply picked up and thrown down the cliff.
The impossibility to evade the fight.
And, of course, the unknown time-limit.
As I number these known problems, others came into mind.
That most likely, there are more fourbirds, which are currently hunting, so there may be reinforcements.
That we can¡¯t make a night attack since we won¡¯t be able to climb the cliff in the dark safely. Or at least not Rine, since she doesn¡¯t have [Darksight].
The possibility that the fourbirds will fetch some boak-crawlers again if we prove to be too strong for them.
The more I talk about it, the more hopeless it seems. But Rine is still nodding while smiling. And somehow it¡¯s comforting.
¡°...I guess that¡¯s all for now.¡± I end my worries at that point.
¡°Kenta, you¡¯re smart. So tell me, what are our strong points?¡±
Even I can tell that I look at Rine blankly. This question just blows my mind. It¡¯s just too unexpected.
Rine just smiles. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that.¡± She takes my face in both of her hands. ¡°Just tell me.¡±
¡°Our strong points? Erm... you¡¯re strong, really strong. You can fight like an overpowered cheat character, executing everything within reach in a matter of moments.¡±
Rine blushes: ¡°You may exaggerate here. But thank you. What about you?¡±
¡°I... I can use the hero-system.¡±
¡°Kenta, that¡¯s just a tool. Do you know what? I think you¡¯re clever, resourceful and able to handle every problem with ease since you can think things through.¡±
Now even I blush. A pretty girl looks straight into my eyes with a glint of admiration. How could I not blush at that praise? Saying that the hero-system is just a tool, more or less, the only thing that makes me remotely special is just too much! I could giggle like a girl right now, that¡¯s how much flattered I feel.
Tool... Tool! ¡°Rine! Thank you! I... I know what to do! It¡¯ll still be risky and I will rely on you a lot, but there may be a chance!¡±
¡°Rely on me, Kenta! We will rescue Kyou-san together.¡± Her hands leave my face and take my hand instead. ¡°I promise!¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Slowly I climb the cliff.
¡°Kenta, can you still go?¡± Rine¡¯s voice is near and her breath is tickling me.
¡°Yes, but don¡¯t breath in my ear! It¡¯s distracting!¡± And arousing, but I will leave that out.
¡°Sorry.¡±
There is a reason Rine can breathe in my ear. I decided to forgo my personal space and while I climb the cliff, Rine is riding on my back. Of course, I¡¯m in the [Pikeman]-class, since I need the [Strength] to climb with another human on my back plus her equipment.
The hero-system is a tool. It allows me to abuse my body, as long as I¡¯ve still SP left and can deal with certain conditions. But the most important thing about it, is that I can regenerate faster and use items to cure some conditions. The Etna¡¯s Blessing is also increasing my MaxSP, while it additionally enhances my natural recovery. So I can take the brunt of climbing that cliff so that Rine can fight at almost full strength at the summit.
When we get to the top, it¡¯s consumable-time. So I will use all these bombs and pots to create the best conditions for us while recovering my SP and cure the [Strained] condition with one of Kyou-san¡¯s poultices.
But climbing with Rine on my back is hard. It feels totally different since I got additional weight, which is toppling me, and I have to look carefully which of these protrusions can carry both of us.
Whenever there is a chance, we take a short rest on a ledge. Even though I want to hurry, it won¡¯t do any good if I run out of SP while still climbing.
So little by little, we reach the summit. At the last spurt, I ask Rine: ¡°You remember the plan?¡±
¡°Yes. The moment we¡¯re spotted, which might be immediately, you¡¯ll throw a smoke bomb. We can use it as cover to get to the center so that we can get to the spire in the middle. There we take position, so that we have one side less to worry about. Then I¡¯ll fight while following your orders.¡±
¡°Well memorized.¡±
¡°Eheh.¡±
She¡¯s even glad to hear that questionable compliment. Oh well, if this makes her happy.
Finally, the summit!
I lift ourselves over the edge and Rine climbs down my back. We¡¯re still not spotted since the fourbirds aren¡¯t looking in our direction, but it might be any moment.
And then I changed class to [Student]. Or more like, it just happened.
Rine is as shocked as me and whispers: ¡°Kenta, you¡¯re round!¡±
Flabbergasted, I stare at the message window, which just popped up.
The return of the curse begins.
For now, you''re forced to use the [Student]-class, but if your wife doesn''t return to you soon, the curse will come back at full power.
¡°WHAAAAAT!?¡± What''s with this timing!? Right when you challenge the boss fight!
Of course, all of the fourbirds could hear me shouting!
The nearest ones are approaching us on foot.
¡°Kenta!¡±
Rine¡¯s yell brings me back to reality and I throw a smoke bomb, I already got in my belt pouch. The bomb explodes in a smoke fog right before us and we hurry into it.
The fourbirds are flapping their wings and the fog begins to disperse, but in that time, we were already out, dashing to the spire, which is about forty meters away.
Then I finally say the words, which I owe Rine: ¡°Sorry, but I won¡¯t be as useful as we thought.¡±
Rine is not smiling, but she¡¯s not angry either. She¡¯s determined. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will shoulder everything you can¡¯t.¡± Who is this girl, which makes me feel like a damsel in distress? Isn¡¯t being helpless supposed to be a princess¡¯s job?
¡°Phew.¡± I need to put on my glasses since I¡¯m a bit short-sighted. Even though they¡¯re annoying in close-quarter melee, I need a perfect field of view for this fight. Done, I can see our enemies clearly.
Oh, I can witness those birds smirking, even it should be impossible since they have beaks. But they are certainly smirking at how vulnerable we are! Slowly two of them are approaching us, while the others on the plateau are looking at the spectacle like onlookers.
And then both fourbird fell. It was quick and merciless. Rine steps between the two of them and hews off two legs per fourbird. Unable to stand, both of them are falling sidewards and their heads bang together, rendering both of them unconscious.
¡°Two down, eighteen to go.¡± Rine cleans her sword from the blood with a swing and points it at the next group menacingly.
At this moment, the fourbirds understand. A real monster has appeared.
Some of them began to gather the hatchlings in a single nest, while the others are getting airborne. The real fight begins. I already took the opportunity to replenish my SP and put a poultice on my arm to cure the [Strained]-condition.
One of them is diving at us and I throw a stink bomb. Even as a student, I¡¯m still level 39 and my [Attributes] are still untouched. That means that, even in the weak [Student]-class, I¡¯m still much stronger than before the chasm!
The accuracy and range aren¡¯t to laugh at. I hit the beak and the fourbird goes into a tailspin. It crashes right before us and Rine jumps on its body, stabbing into the bases of its wings. ¡°Third!¡±
I hear the sound of rubbing stone and I already know what it¡¯ll be. One of them is getting the boak-crawlers from one of these holes. If they explode near us, Rine and I will be unable to defend ourselves due to excessive retching.
But I already have a strategy. ¡°Let me handle the boak-crawlers!¡±
¡°OK!¡± Rine is currently evading the attacks of two fourbirds, which comes from different sides, but at that moment, one shows an opening and before it could realize its mistake, it got cut from stomach to breastbone.
Let¡¯s rather concentrate on the air. There it is, it¡¯s flying in a curve, most likely trying to get above us. It¡¯s propelling itself with its four wings while being dragged down by the weight of two boak-crawlers.
I throw a stink bomb, but it¡¯s still outside my range. I would have hit it if I were [Pikeman], I¡¯m sure. I stay focused, though, as this attempt was only to calibrate my aim. ¡°Phew.¡± I have to ignore all the screams of terror and death right before me.
Then I got hit by a talon. It hurts! I¡¯m thrown several meters back and the landing is also painful.
Rine seems shocked. ¡°KENTA!¡± But before she can hurry to me, she has to evade a talon herself.
I totally forgot that Rine isn¡¯t able to cover me. She might be able to bring death to everyone in her reach, but she completely overlooked that fourbird, which bypassed her and attacked me.
I stand up, Etna¡¯s Blessing is increasing my [Vitality] and [MaxHP], so one hit isn¡¯t dramatic. But now the boak-crawler-carrier is approaching Rine, trying to fly over her. I throw another stink bomb, aiming at a boak crawler.
Like I hoped for, it bursts and it¡¯s enough for the other one to do the same. The fourbird is jerking and can¡¯t maintain its balance, it¡¯s falling down and hopefully broke its neck. But other fourbirds are about to get me. I dash as fast as I can back to my position, the fourbird which hit me already got Rine¡¯s treatment.
And another fell to her blade, which tried an aerial attack, Rine ducked under it and stabbed its ass from behind, ripping a whole new hole into its backside. So she¡¯s even able to defeat the flying ones!
This works much better than anticipated. At this rate, we won¡¯t run into any problems.
Rine¡¯s swords cut the fourbirds like a hot knife butter and another one goes down. ¡°The tenth!¡± We already got rid of half of them and two are fleeing with the nest where their hatchlings are in, so eight left. Even they don¡¯t seem too eager to fight us.
Slap! Suddenly, Rine is flying at me. Since I¡¯m unable to evade, she crashes into me and both of us are knocked against the rock spire.
Rine is spitting blood. Rine is... how? She¡¯s a monster! How could she... Something in my brain is clogged. What happened, anyway?
¡ One of the fallen fourbird, the one with the cut at the front, slapped Rine with its wings. She didn¡¯t realize that it was still living.
Some of the others are also standing up.
How could that be!? ¡°Rine, why are they still alive!?¡±
¡°You... you said, I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t kill them.¡±
¡°When did I say...¡±
...No. I did.
I¡¯m an idiot! A complete idiot! Because I forgot that Rine is stupid!
I said before that she shouldn¡¯t kill the opponents so that I get their XP. I didn¡¯t take it back. The reason why there are no chopped-off heads is that Rine is trying to disable the fourbirds without killing them.
Rine is so stupid that she is not able to tell that in this situation, it¡¯s essential to kill off the enemies since I won¡¯t have time to deal with any deathblows. She also doesn¡¯t have time to cripple them completely. So after the initial shock, they may return to the battlefield.
Rine is seriously hurt. She¡¯s bleeding on her head and most likely broke a rip.
¡°First, heal yourself.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Carefully she stands up.
¡°You must!¡±
¡°I can¡¯t, I can¡¯t!¡±
¡°Why!?¡±
The fourbirds are slowly approaching us. She has to heal herself. How could it be that Rine got hurt so bad? The attack was unexpected, but her level would be...
No, level is a hero-thing. Rine is a human. She may be in so much pain that she can¡¯t even concentrate on a healing spell.
But her answer is different: ¡°The moment I cast a spell, is the moment they¡¯ll attack all at once.¡± She looks at me and I can still see the fire of her determination in her eyes. ¡°It may be not much, but I can still buy time. I¡¯ll charge them and while I keep them busy, you have to defeat them. Ignore me.¡±
She¡¯s walking into her death. Willingly. Sacrificing herself. She¡¯s a princess, but much more of a hero than I am. It¡¯s stupid. ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid! You can¡¯t!¡± The fourbirds are still examining the situation, most likely still deciding if this is a trap. Plus, they know that the first ones to attack will probably die by Rine¡¯s hand and who would be eager to be that unfortunate fellow?
¡°Kenta. I also hate TeePeehKays.¡± She pronounces it wrong, but it¡¯s the same as what I said before. I hate if someone is not willing to sacrifice their own character to save the rest of the party.
In games, it is! ¡°Stop it! We will win! Both of us!¡±
¡°I can hardly stand, Kenta. If I don¡¯t charge, I¡¯ll just fall down and then all of them will attack you.¡±
¡°Use healing magic then!¡±
¡°I already told you...¡±
¡°NO! I TELL YOU!¡± I can¡¯t understand where all these emotions are coming. I don¡¯t like Rine, more like, I hate her! Normally, I might be even delighted to see her die right before my eyes. But not like that. ¡°I need you! I need you to rescue Kyou-san, I need you for the bounty, I need you for... I don¡¯t know, but I would hate seeing you die like that!¡±
Raw anger. The gamer¡¯s desire to accomplish our mission flawlessly. The feeling of reliability she gives. All of these emotions are confusing me, I give in to them and won¡¯t accept that outcome.
Tears are flowing down Rine¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Kenta...¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Masahiko¡¯s party sets up a camp in a bush-choked dell. They already ate and now they are more or less waiting for Kyou to regain consciousness. Katsuo and Eri are patrolling the perimeter, Masahiko and Daichi are watching the camp, while Teruko is taking care of Kyou.
Finally, Kyou moves. She slowly opens her eyes and looks around. ¡°What... Teru-chan? Masahiko? Daichi-kun?¡± She seems to be confused and tries to sit, Teruko is helping her. ¡°What happened?¡± Kyou doesn¡¯t seem to remember.
Masahiko explains: ¡°We saw you being carried by flying creatures and we saved you. But, in the process, they dropped you to the ground. We¡¯re sorry.¡±
Kyou¡¯s expression begins blank, but changes to a smile. ¡°Thank you. All of you.¡± She¡¯s looking around. ¡°Where are Eri-chan and Katsuo?¡±
¡°On patrol. They¡¯ll return any time.¡±
¡°I see.¡± She breathes in and out, calming herself. ¡°Is Ken here, too?¡±
¡°No.¡± Teruko looks at Masahiko, urging him to ask about the traps they encountered, but for now, he wants Kyou to take it as easy as possible. ¡°We don¡¯t know where he is. He might be...¡± Dead. But Masahiko couldn¡¯t say it in Kyou¡¯s face.
¡°He¡¯s alive.¡± Kyou is playing around her left ring finger. She¡¯s wearing gloves, but the way she did, reminded Masahiko of playing around with a ring.
¡°Did he give you a ring?¡±
Kyou looks like Masahiko told her that he invited a clown for her birthday party. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s magical, some minor bonuses.¡± She takes off the glove and shows a copper ring with some engravings, but still rather simple. ¡°It¡¯s not much, but he said it¡¯s better than nothing. Also, I don¡¯t exactly know if he¡¯s still alive, but I can¡¯t imagine him dying.¡±
¡°Me too.¡± Katsuragi-kun is too stubborn to die.
Daichi mutters something. He dislikes Katsuragi-kun much and Teruko also looks displeased. Katsuragi-kun is a bit unsocial, so that reaction is understandable.
¡°Kyou-chan!¡± Loudly, a girl is clinging to Kyou. It¡¯s Eri. She just came back from the patrol with Katsuo, who just nods to Masahiko. Everything is clear. Eri is whispering something in Kyou¡¯s ear, but Masahiko can¡¯t tell what it is. Maybe a girl¡¯s secret.
It¡¯s time to steel himself. ¡°Since everyone is here, there is one thing, Kyou.¡±
¡°Yes?¡± Kyou is tense. She already knows that this will be a serious matter.
¡°Is Katsuragi-kun blackmailing you?¡±
Ah, he hit a nerve. Kyou¡¯s eyes are wide open and she¡¯s nervous. ¡°How do you... what makes you think that?¡±
¡°We set out to find the princess. We used the route you told us and then we fell into several traps. Most of them were ill-meaning and... They were obviously aimed at humans!¡± There were thorns, rocks and other things, which made some of these traps really dangerous!
Kyou¡¯s eyes become empty. It¡¯s as if she¡¯s not looking at anyone here. Then she put her face into her hands: ¡°No... he didn¡¯t... it¡¯s impossible, he can¡¯t... no. No! NOOOOOOO!¡±
Surprised by her extreme reaction, Masahiko tries to calm her down: ¡°Kyou, it¡¯s alright! I believe you, you didn¡¯t know!¡±
¡°KEN, YOU IDIOT! YOU DAMN IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU!¡± She screams these words to the air, aimed at a Katsuragi-kun, who is far away.
Even Eri and Teruko, which were the most skeptical ones, try to calm Kyou down.
Masahiko doesn¡¯t know what exactly Kyou and Katsuragi-kun are to each other, but it was obvious that he betrayed her trust big time.
A reaction and facial expression like that can¡¯t be acted.
¡°JUST DIE ALREADY!¡±
Even though her words might be a bit overboard.
Volume 02 - Chapter 3-3
¡°Kenta...¡± The crying Rine is looking at me and nods. ¡°Yes, we will do it together. We''ll survive together forever! Nothing will stop us!¡±
The moment she utters these words an ominous light shines. From below.
I get the strange feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu. Where have I seen that light before? With a bad feeling, I look to the light''s source. It''s a ring. The cursed ring on my left ring finger, which even shines through my glove.
A second glow appears, in front of me, engulfing Rine. ¡°No. No. No-No-NoNoNoNoNoNoNONONO!¡± Of course, my loud denial does nothing. Only a message-window pops up and I don''t even need to read it, to know what''s written there.
Congratulations! You have just wed Katarine von Stolzherz.
You finally got your second wife and it''s a princess to boot. You may gain WPs with your new sweetheart, the same way as with Momokawa Kyou.
Since your new wife is not a hero, she will be transformed into one, gaining access to all the advantages of that status. Additionally, her backpack will become an [Inventory], so you may share your [Inventory] with your new wife, as well. This is a wedding gift, be thankful.
Your luck has just doubled!
While Rine''s whole body is engulfed in the strange light, I fall into despair. How did my luck double? Ah, because my luck is negative, of course it can be doubled. It¡¯s just double the negative value! So my misfortune became that much greater, huh?
¡°Kenta, something strange is happening to me.¡± Oh, what a coincidence, something horrible happened to me at the same time! ¡°The pain is dulling, I can breath normally now, and I see things at the border of my field of vision.¡±
¡°Rine, just ignore it.¡±
¡°And the fourbirds are backing away.¡±
¡°You shine, Rine. They think that you''re charging death rays or something.¡±
¡°Why is your voice so lifeless.¡±
¡°I feel the urge to kill myself, and I don''t have the energy left to do so.¡±
¡°Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?¡±
¡°You may throw me off the cliff.¡±
¡°Kenta, we said to survive together.¡±
My eyes are tearing up, but I don''t have even enough emotional energy left to cry. Slowly, I take my spear out from my backpack and clench it. There is still work to do. I need some exercise. ¡°Rine.¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Kill.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
Without any hesitation, Rine is rushing to the fourbirds, that try to get away. They sure know what''s best for them.
Even I, the [Student], stupidly charge right in since I don''t want to think about anything right now. The uninjured fourbirds lost all confidence of winning and left their wounded kin, that rear up, since they know they can''t escape.
With the usual casualness, Rine amputates their legs and chops their heads the moment they fall to the ground. Finally she''s serious and the quickness is nothing to laugh at.
I, on the other hand, am not that deadly, but without hesitation I pierce the heart of one of the fourbirds, goring it like a pig in fiction. My mind still refuses to work right, there is no feeling of accomplishment or satisfaction, just emptiness.
So, the two of us fell into a killing spree. The fourbirds didn''t stand a chance.
At the end, we only got the wounded ones. With no power left to muster, I sit down. Actually, my SP is still OK, it''s more of a mental fatigue: ¡°Phew...¡±
¡°We did it.¡±
Without a word, I nod.
¡°Are you sure you want to take a rest? Here, among all the corpses? While Kyou is still imprisoned?¡±
¡°At least she can''t run away.¡± I may murmur that, but stand up nonetheless. Rescuing Kyou-san is the only reason we did this stunt. ¡°Let''s try to uncover these holes.¡±
¡°OK. But what are these things?¡±
¡°What things?¡±
¡°The ones at the border of my field of vision.¡±
¡°Phew... one thing at a time. Just ignore it, like forever.¡±
¡°Nn? It''s that bad?¡±
¡°Not bad, but now is not the time.¡±
Rine must talk about the HP-, SP- and MP-bars and the minimized status window. They are within the peripheral sight and if we try to concentrate on them, they''ll grow and move into our line of sight. But since Rine tries to just look at them, her pupils are wandering around without seeing them. Maybe it''s easier if you know PCs or other digital screens. I never had much trouble with it and the trick of how to open them is written in our manuals.
I don''t know much about optics, but there may be a relation between modern media and operating your status screen.
Nonetheless I may look at Rine''s stats, which also appeared right next to Kyou''s minimized status window. I just take a casual glance.
¡°WHAT!?¡±
¡°Are the enemies here!?¡± Rine has already drawn her sword and is trying to look in every direction.
¡°No... sorry, I... it''s nothing.¡±
This is unreal! To understand it, you must compare my attributes and Rine''s. I will use my stats as a [Pikeman], as these represents my fighting capabilities better.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Most of her stats surpass mine with ease, while her level is much lower than mine! Even where my [Attributes] are higher, it''s not by much of a margin if you consider the level difference.
How can her level be similar to Kyou-san''s while having these stats? Is the [Princess Knight]-class that much of a cheat!? I want it, make me a princess, just let me have this class!
Also, how can this machine of destruction have less [Strength] than I, if she butchers everything with ease? Is this another cheat?
It doesn''t make sense!
¡°Kenta. You''re looking scary. Is it that serious? Am I sick?¡±
I just spaced out. Concentrate! ¡°No, in fact it''s the opposite. But let''s talk later, we uncover these holes first.¡±
I better try to find out about her cheats when we rest.
Currently, my [Strength] is far below Rine''s, since I''m stuck to the [Student]-class, but with Rine''s help, it''s possible to move these stone slabs and look into the holes.
The first, more boak-crawlers.
The second, another bearington, which is slayed by Rine before it could do anything. As I gave her the kill-order before, she doesn¡¯t hesitate. But since we''re -urgh- married, I should get XP, too.
I wonder if Kyou-san is also getting part of the XP. I check my status and I think I got less than before for killing a bearington.
Before Rine joined our cursed-club, I got only 50% of the kill and I guess, now I get a third. Three people, a third of all XP, anyone of us does.
¡°Kenta?¡±
¡°Sorry. I''m just thinking.¡±
¡°Don''t worry. Kyou has to be still alive. I''m sure that she''s fine.¡±
¡What has Kyou-san''s well-being to do with it? Maybe I want her to be alive, but a bit of suffering would do her good.
We shove another slab to the side, and then another. More boak-crawlers, some mountain-crawlers, bearingtons and some of the holes are empty, and the more holes we open, the more irritated I grow. In the end, we can''t find Kyou-san at all.
¡°DAMN IT! I HATE IT! I HATE HATE HATE HATE IT!!!¡± I cover my face while yelling, bending my body in anger, which wants to be unleashed, but the frustration is far worse. ¡°WE DID THIS WHOLE SUICIDE-COMMANDO FOR NOTHING!¡± This is the nest, she has to be here! If she died, I would surely get a message, and she even gets XP for Rine''s kills, so Kyou-san has to be alive!
It''s not like I have no time left, I still have a SP-cushion, so it won''t kill me that quickly. But if Kyou-san is not here, then I don''t even know where to look. Searching through a whole mountain-range is too much to feel comfortable with, it could take months I don¡¯t have!
¡°Damn it!¡± I kick against one of the boulders, it hurts, but the pain is worth it, since I could vent at least some of these aggravating emotions.
Something wraps around me. It''s warm. It feels like a person. ¡°Don''t worry.¡± It''s Rine. She''s embracing me from behind. ¡°We''ll find her. I promise. We can do it. Together.¡±
You gain 1 WP.
Your wife is bringing comfort to you, who suffers through a life crisis. She may not be able to solve all your problems, but at least she''s there for you.
Damn curse! Why am I having this life crisis in the first place!? It''s all your fault!
¡°Kenta... maybe I got hit on the head. I see things... ''You gain 1 WP... Bringing comfort to your husband... husband? I don''t know what that means.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I can''t take it anymore. I''m about to jump from the cliff... ¡°We need to talk. A lot.¡± But in the end, I submit. This is how things are and whining about it won''t change anything.
I already told Rine some bits of the whole mess, but if I want her to shut up, I better tell her the whole story.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Kyou finally ended her screaming tantrum and now it''s like all her energy is used up. Neither her eyes nor her movements have any life in her. She''s just staring at nothing and sometimes, Masahiko hears a wail.
All of his party-members are huddling together to determine what to do.
Masahiko speaks up to his friends. ¡°We need to take care of her. That''s what friends are for.¡±
Daichi scratches his chin in response. ¡°What did he do to her, that she would react like that? I never thought Katsuragi would even be able to deceive someone, and now she looks like he betrayed her big time.¡±
Eri gives her own thoughts: ¡°It''s a world of magic. Maybe he''s brainwashing her and after they separated, the mind control is wearing off.¡±
For a moment, Katsuo¡¯s face darkens, but then he answers in his usual dry tone: ¡°... It could be.¡±
Teruko¡¯s petite frame shudders in empathy. ¡°Poor Kyou-chan. And I thought she might have betrayed us.¡±
Since none of them knew the truth, they jumped into their own conclusions.
Masahiko remembers something. ¡°The ring. He gave her one, it might be a mind-controlling device.¡±
¡°What do we do?¡±, Teruko asks.
¡°We must take it. Daichi and Katsuo, you will hold her down, Teruko and I will fixate her arms and Eri, you will take the ring. Any questions or other suggestions?¡±
All of them comply. While trying to be unsuspicious, all of them surround the lifeless Kyou. ¡°Let''s go!¡±
Two boys push a single girl down, without knowing the context, it''d look criminal. Daichi is pushing down her body and Katsuo is holding her legs. Masahiko holds down her left arm and Teruko her right and Eri is pulling down her glove. The copper ring is in plain sight.
Kyou, of course, isn''t taking that well: ¡°Are you crazy!? What are you doing! Get off of me!¡±
¡°Sorry, Kyou-chan!¡± With an apologizing face, Eri is pulling down her ring... or more tries to. ¡°It doesn''t move?¡±
¡°Is it stuck?¡±
¡°Try harder!¡±
¡°Kyou-chan, this might hurt!¡±
¡°Wait, don- Ah! Stop! Hurts!¡±
¡°Masa, it''s not working.¡±
¡°Let''s switch!¡±
¡°Stop it, you all! It can''t be removed, listen to- Ouch! STOP!¡±
Even though unable to put up any resistance, Kyou is still trying her best to escape the hold. At the end, Masahiko''s party realizes that there is no way to remove that ring by force without risking Kyou''s finger.
¡°Teruko, Eri, bring the rope.¡±
¡°Masahiko-kun, what are you trying to do to me!?¡±
¡°Kyou, I''m sorry, but we have to be sure.¡±
¡°Masa, hold her arms down, she''s clawing me!¡±
¡°Sorry!¡±
Swiftly, Masahiko takes both of her arms and fixates them over her head to the ground.
¡
¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡
Finally, some calm.
While binding her, Kyou bit, scratched and pinched everyone in reach of her arms and the moments her legs were unsupervised, she kicked out. This amount of resistance just cemented the suspicion Masahiko''s party had: Katsuragi-kun has to mind-control Kyou! Kyou would never hurt her friends like that on her own account! Masahiko is sure of that. They even had to gag her to stop her constant screaming!
Now Kyou is looking at Masahiko and his friends with contempt.
¡°Masa, what do we do?¡± Daichi seems to be conflicted.
¡°I don''t know. We should think about it together.¡±
¡°In front of her?¡±
Masahiko wants to discuss it with all of them, but they can''t go to a place Kyou-san can''t listen to. Otherwise, she might be attacked by monsters while she can''t defend herself, being bound and gagged. So he asks his childhood friend. ¡°...Eri, do you have a spell to deafen her temporarily?¡±
¡°Sorry, I don''t. But there may be something in our equipment.¡± In the end, they improvised using clothes. A scarf was wrapped up several times above her ears. This should at least make it hard for her to understand what will be said.
Matsuhiko begins the meeting: ¡°Does anyone have a bright idea?¡± He keeps a low volume, that way Kyou won''t be able to hear them. Of course, nobody answers right away. The silence shows how little they could do, right now. ¡°We don''t know anything about this mind-control.¡± Masahiko reminds the gang the root of their problems. ¡°So the only thing we can do is ask Kyou or Katsuragi-kun.¡±
Teruko sniffs. ¡°Asking her won''t help and why should Katsuragi undo his stuff? Should we force him? ¡ Wait, that''s an option. Beat him up a bit, beat him up a lot, and then force him!¡± It should be said that Teruko can''t stand Katsuragi-kun.
¡°Teru-chan, you''re right! He will pay for what he''s done to Kyou-chan!¡± Eri dislikes him, too.
¡°He thinks he''s all great, but now he went too far. He called me a good-for-nothing bootlicker for Masahiko and I always wanted to beat him up for this. Now we''re not at school and he did something horrible, no reason to hold back! Time to take him down!¡± Even Daichi had one or two episodes with Katsuragi-kun.
¡°Me too,¡± Katsuo may have the most complicated feelings about Katsuragi-kun out of all.
Masahiko feels like helping Kyou lost in priority to beating Katsuragi-kun to a pulp, and even though Masahiko didn''t hold a grudge before, now with Kyou on the line, he doesn''t dislike the idea of being a bit rough to him.
¡°So we''ll do this. But how do we find him?¡±
This time, Eri got the idea. ¡°We might use Kyou-chan for this. They may be connected or maybe there is some form of communication they can use.¡±
After discussing the details, it''s time to confront Kyou once more.
Volume 02 - Chapter 4-1 – The Curse, the Wife and someone else
Rine and I are still on top of the summit. We have set up a camp, since this is still the best place for a night¡¯s rest within hours of walking and climbing. I put some bearington-meat on a bone, which serves as a skewer, and grill it over our campfire.
Good thing, Kyou-san and I filled our [Inventory] with some firewood beforehand. But we have to organize it again, since Rine¡¯s equipment just jumbled up our entire order!
If you use your inventory, a window appears, in which you just have to concentrate on the specific item and then you can take it out. The size of that window is vast, so if you want to take things out in a hurry, you have to know where which item is. It appears that it even gets bigger, whenever someone joins the curse.
You can rearrange items, but now with Rine in our ¡®party¡¯, it just sorted itself by a system I can¡¯t understand and which is totally counter-intuitive. Why did the drop-items wander to the upper-left corner of the window, where you normally would put your consumables?
¡°Phew¡¡±
Rine is checking the skewers and I try to concentrate on the parts of the whole ¡®becoming a hero¡¯-shit, I¡¯m going to talk about. How should I initiate it? I told her to sit down, then I suggested that we first set up for camp and now I ran out of things we could put before.
¡°Alright, here goes nothing. Rine, it¡¯s time for our talk.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± She nods strongly, as if she has waited the whole time for it, preparing herself. Well, most likely she did.
¡°I¡¯m blunt. You got cursed.¡±
¡°Cursed? The one you talked about?¡±
¡°¡Don¡¯t know exactly, but they are at least related.¡±
¡°Ah. I don¡¯t get it.¡±
¡°Look at your left hand.¡±
She does what I told her and surprise colors her face. She¡¯s looking at the ring, which magically appeared on her hand back then. She really didn¡¯t notice until now, didn¡¯t she? What an airhead.
¡°It may be the same curse as mine or a curse invoked from it, but now we¡¯re both suffering. So¡¡± I want to say that I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m feeling more awkward than sorry.
¡°Hm¡¡± She tries to remove the ring, but of course it doesn¡¯t work. ¡°It looks like Kyou¡¯s. It has even the same motif.¡±
She¡¯s right. A lioness is engraved into the ring. It looks exactly as Kyou-san¡¯s.
¡°And because of that curse, some things happened. At first, you became a hero. What you can see at the edge of your view is related to that.¡±
Rine widens her eyes. Then she tilts her head, checking out my face. Now she¡¯s trembling. Then, she starts to giggle.
She believes me! She believes me and is glad about it!
¡°I¡¯m a hero¡ I can be a hero¡ *giggle*¡±
Let¡¯s put a downer on that, she¡¯s irritating me!
¡°Also, the curse got us in a strange relationship, which it calls ¡®marriage¡¯. So for the curse, you and I are husband and wife.¡±
Even though I hate that circumstance by itself, it¡¯ll be kinda satisfying to destroy Rine¡¯s happy mood with something like that.
Rine¡¯s giggling suddenly stops, hearing my words. Then she becomes red as a tomato: ¡°You and I¡ married?¡± Halt! Why is the atmosphere turning pink and cloudy? Is the air currently sparkling? It¡¯s scary! ¡°Kenta and I¡¡±
Someone! Something strange is happening to Rine! Her eyes are dreamy and yearning and I can¡¯t tell why!
¡°Dear!¡± Without a warning, Rine knocks me over.
You gain 1 WP.
Being embraced by your wife after making her happy may be standard, but it¡¯s still heartfelt.
She¡¯s crushing me! Is this an embrace or a wrestling technique?
Her leather armor is pushing into my chest, making it hard to breath. Wait, it¡¯s a bit flexible, so I get the faint impression of what¡¯s below the armor, but in the end, I can¡¯t feel anything besides the pain!
With a hard time breathing, I can¡¯t do anything but groan and tapping on Rine¡¯s back. Time out! Time out!
She finally realizes what she does to me and lets me go.
¡°Huff¡ huff¡ I thought I would die.¡±
¡°Ke- Dear, I¡¯m sorry.¡±
¡°Stop calling me that! Why are you even happy about it!¡±
¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I be?¡± She¡¯s tilting her head, as if I asked her a stupid question.
¡°Just tell me!¡±
¡°Dear¡ Kenta¡ You¡¯re smart, right?¡±
Well, I¡¯m not a genius or so, but I may be a bit smarter than the average student. ¡°In comparison to you and most around me, yes.¡±
¡°Also, you¡¯re strong! You¡¯re able to fight alongside me and even cover up my mistakes.¡±
¡°You¡¯re way stronger? But yes, I did grind some levels, so I¡¯m currently the strongest hero¡ at least among my classmates.¡± None of them could beat me, though there may be more heroes out there.
¡°You may be sometimes emotional, but you don¡¯t let your emotions get the better of you. You still judge calmly and even if you¡¯re not, you do the right thing.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not emotional! And of course I decide the best course of actions based on reason!¡±
¡°And even though I mess up so many times, you¡¯re still with me and helping me. You¡¯re unbelievably kind.¡±
It¡¯s more about her being useful, but I may be actually kind. Kind enough to not abandon Rine at a crucial moment, even though she¡¯s driving me crazy. ¡°Let¡¯s go with it.¡±
¡°So Kenta, you¡¯re my ideal!¡±
Wait, wait, wait. How did she jump to that conclusion?
What did she say about her ideal, during that damn girl-talk? The ability to remember details is crucial to enjoy a good story to its fullest.
Clever, strong, kind, and even-tempered.
¡
That¡¯s me.
I¡¯m such a sinful man.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
¡
OH NO! IT¡¯S ME! ¡°Wait, wait, wait, Rine! Don¡¯t jump into conclusions! There is no way that I¡¯m your ideal man!¡±
¡°Kenta, I know you¡¯re modest, but after you helped me fight these kobolds in the cave, I already felt that you may be the one. But since you were together with Kyou, I tried to distance myself from you.¡± How did you distance yourself from me? You use any opportunity to invade my personal space! ¡°And now we¡¯re married!¡±
¡°We¡¯re not! It¡¯s the curse! It only pretends us to be! Don¡¯t listen to it!¡±
¡°But¡¡±
¡°No buts! Keep your calm! If you and I were married, I would also be married to Kyou-san. Did you get the feeling that we get along?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Such naivety! ¡°But you and Kyou married¡ Kenta, you cheater! Criminal! Sinner! How can you do this to Kyou!? And humanity!¡± She¡¯s hitting me relatively weak in the chest, which means that my ribs are only feeling like they¡¯re breaking instead of actually doing so.
¡°Ouch! It¡¯s the curse! The curse!¡± Even though the pain will subside quickly, it¡¯s still pain and I¡¯m not someone who would get off with it. One, two, three hits later, Rine finally stops, even though she still looks suspicious. ¡°Phew.¡± This is troublesome. ¡°So monogamy is a thing in this world as well, I presume.¡±
¡°What¡¯s mono¡¡±
¡°Monogamy. Marriage with only one partner.¡±
¡°¡There is a word to it? I thought it¡¯s normal.¡±
¡°It is in my world; even though I guess there are some countries where it isn¡¯t.¡± I think Japan also had a time of¡ multigamy? What¡¯s the word again¡ poly. Polygamy. Like polyester.
¡°Strange.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t there any cultures here with more than one marriage partners?¡± Maybe this might point to the ones who made this cursed ring in the first place!
¡°Of course not! If there were, then- Ah! What do we do!?¡±
¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±
¡°We broke a divine law. You may only marry one partner!¡±
¡°First, we aren¡¯t married. Second, what would be the punishment?¡±
¡°Death.¡±
¡°Death penalty for polygamy? What¡¯s this!?¡±
¡°It¡¯s a divine law. Don¡¯t you know them?¡±
¡°Obviously not! Damn it! Why do the gods meddle so much! Can¡¯t they lie back and do nothing!?¡±
¡°What good is a god, who does nothing?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t know, don¡¯t care, but your gods are annoying!¡± From the one who brought me here to Muaotef, everything called a god is an enemy here! ¡°Just tell me about the laws.¡±
¡°There are only a few divine laws, which exist in every culture. Elves, dwarves, the folk, even the demons abide by the divine laws.¡±
¡°Even demons? Aren¡¯t they anti-god?¡±
¡°They serve their demon-gods. And we human-gods. It¡¯s a bit different, but in the end, everyone is the children of the gods.¡±
Wait, wait, wait! Why do I get this important exposition only now? ¡Maybe because I skipped the tutorial? ¡°Go on.¡±
¡°Where was I? Ah. When there are too many divine-lawbreakers within a single race, then the entire species is exterminated by the gods. So says the legend.¡±
¡°You can¡¯t be serious. Just because some people decide to marry more than one partner, their entire species is going to get wiped out? What kind of bullshit is that?¡±
¡°It¡¯s only a legend, but to be sure, all cultures I know have decided upon the death penalty for breaking one of the laws. So there will never be too many lawbreakers.¡±
¡°So if this gets out, then you and I and Kyou-san are going to get killed?¡±
¡°¡Yes.¡±
¡°¡¡± This is no joke. But there is a bright side to all that: ¡°Good thing, this is a curse, right Rine?¡±
¡°But-¡±
¡°Right, Rine?¡±
¡°What-¡±
¡°RIGHT, RINE!?¡±
I can see a drop of sweat running down her cheek. ¡°¡Yes.¡±
¡°But to be on the sure side, we¡¯ll never talk about this. OK?¡±
¡°Right.¡±
¡°Good. Now that¡¯s off the table, take my hand!¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°WP-grinding. And don¡¯t look so confused, I¡¯ll explain it, but for now you take my hand and put your head on my lap. Meanwhile, let¡¯s talk about the hero-system, the curse and the other stuff, you better know, newbie!¡±
It¡¯s not the first time I run a newbie through a game system. This time, it only happens while holding her hands and her head is on my lap.
This is messed up!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
You gain 1 WP.
Your sister-wife is holding hands with your husband. You should try it together with her, to strengthen the bond between you three.
Grinding my teeth, I stare at the message. Again. He¡¯s probably only thinking about the WPs, but rubbing this whole mess into my face is excruciating.
He is stuck in the [Student]-class again and this might make him nervous. I¡¯m also sure the whole ¡®second marriage¡¯ is an accident, just like mine. I still want to kill him right now.
Probably he didn¡¯t even realize how much all of us are in trouble.
At least I¡¯m free, although I¡¯m sure that Teru-chan and Eri-chan are closely watching me. My own friends are doubting me!
Even Masahiko-kun, someone who is way too kind for his own good! He may be a bit arrogant and self-centered, but in the end, Masahiko-kun tries to think the best of people. That¡¯s why he¡¯s well-loved.
Daichi-kun has both feet on the ground and a keen protective instinct. He will never abandon a friend, but he doesn¡¯t think highly of self-serving people.
Katsuo-kun is a rather dark character, who can only properly communicate with his friends. I guess Masahiko-kun''s presence makes him feel better with himself.
Teru-chan is small and cute, but is secretly full of dirty thoughts, though she would never show that side to the boys. But that may be the reason she uses a spear as a weapon. Since she¡¯s short and dirty. Another small detail is that she¡¯s good at housework.
Eri-chan isn¡¯t that popular with the boys, but she isn¡¯t interested in the first place, since she has Masahiko-kun as a childhood-friend. They are probably still not going out, but she¡¯s measuring every boy against him, so who else would stand a chance?
They may have released me, but there was a condition: I have to take them to Ken. Most likely they think something like he¡¯s forcing me to do his bidding, but in the end, I¡¯d better return. Since I got a certain message¡
You and your husband were forced apart!
If you won¡¯t return to him, within two days, you will suffer the same curse as him. You¡¯ll be as one, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health.
I hope there is a ¡®until death do us part¡¯-part in this whole abomination of a wedding, since I really have the urge to kill him. Contaminating me with this curse! This plaque!
What have I done to deserve this? Maybe I¡¯m a bit harsh at times, but if I¡¯m not, who knows what Ken will think he can do with me.
He may have helped me level up, but this isn¡¯t worth it. Especially now that I know that I can¡¯t even separate from him without endangering my life. The SP-drain of his curse will slowly kill me.
So yes, of course I take every chance to get back to him! Here goes my female dignity, not being able to let a man go, always seeking him. I want it back!
However, there is a problem. Since I have no idea where Ken is, I have to find him. Having my friends around makes it safe, so I agreed to their offer. Maybe they¡¯ll kill him and I¡¯ll be free. Yes, that would be the best course of action.
¡no, that¡¯s only the frustration of how powerless I am about the situation speaking. Even if I want Ken to feel as guilty as possible, it¡¯s not like everything is his fault. But it¡¯s not mine either!
What do I do!? I¡¯m sure that most of my friends want to jump on an opportunity to make Ken¡¯s life miserable, but even if I don¡¯t mind him being a bit roughed up, I get the feeling that it won¡¯t end well for anyone¡ and for me the least!
Since it¡¯s already late, the provisional camp became a true one. I also need this time to contact Ken, even though I don¡¯t want to be seen while doing so.
So I have to create a situation where I won¡¯t be. ¡°Eri-chan?¡±
Interpreting my look right, Eri says: ¡°We¡¯ll be back in a minute.¡± Bathroom break. I stand up, but Eri stops me right there: ¡°Wait, Kyou-chan. Do you need your backpack?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t you?¡±
I¡¯m shocked. Does that mean that neither Eri-chan nor Teru-chan are taking ¡®after care¡¯? I suggest what I mean with a small gesture.
¡°Ah, sorry.¡± Eri blushes. ¡°I¡¡±
Most likely she doesn¡¯t know if she has to treat me like a prisoner or a friend, so she just was suspicious at every action, even me bringing my backpack with me, even though I¡¯d logically need something to wipe.
¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± I smile. I want to hurt her, but I smile anyway! I thought we were friends! You should trust me!
Both of us remove ourselves from the camp and after a minute of walking, I sit down behind a bush, so Eri-chan can see the back of my head. I take the backpack off my shoulders and pull out a writing pen and paper. After writing my message, I throw everything back into the backpack.
Ken is stupid. If he was half as smart as he thinks he is, he would have already figured out that we may use our [Shared Inventory] for communication. He only needs to find my message and everything will be fine. I even put it right in the upper-left corner of the inventory-screen, since he¡¯ll be irritated by it.
I stand up, go to Eri-chan and apologize. ¡°Sorry. Sorry I can¡¯t help you much.¡±
She¡¯s still watching me warily. ¡°Can¡¯t you talk about it?¡±
I shift my eyes slightly to the side. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Because telling them this story would not only be embarrassing, but also humiliating.
Good thing that many movies and novels have stuff like that, so it doesn¡¯t seem odd that there is a kind of control device which stops me from taking certain actions. They already figured out that the ring has something to do with it. So let¡¯s use it.
Eri-chan is embracing me. I pull her into my arms as well. ¡°Kyou-chan, both of us know what we¡¯re capable of. So I won¡¯t fully trust you.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t we friends?¡±
¡°Yes, we are. So we know a lot about each other.¡±
Relationships between girls may have some power-struggles. Before coming to this world, I was the one in charge. For now, it¡¯s Eri-chan. We¡¯re friends, rivals and enemies, all at the same time.
The one who manipulated the boys to abandon me was Eri-chan. And Teru-chan supported her wholeheartedly. Knowing that, I¡¯ll try my best to get payback as soon as possible. Now she thinks, this might be my chance to.
Naive. I¡¯ll take my time. Then you¡¯ll cry.
Eri-chan and I are friends. Because of this, we won¡¯t hold back!
Volume 02 - Chapter 4-2
¡°This was intense!¡±
Rine is still blushing because of the hand-holding and the lap-pillows. While she says she understands the premise that I want to grind these WPs, I¡¯m sure that she actually doesn¡¯t.
Her head is already too full with flowers to fit anything meaningful inside anymore.
After dinner and interviewing her thoroughly, I learned the five divine laws.
You may only serve one god at a time.
You may not change your gender.
You may not bring the dead back to actual life.
You may have only one partner in marriage.
You may not officially change your name, unless due to marriage.
These are very¡ strange. I mean, with all the possibilities to enforce divine will, they went with these five rules and are even threatening the mortals with genocide if they break them.
What about murder? Rape? Adultery? All the stuff the various religions in my world say are bad, aren¡¯t much of a big deal here, but woe betide anyone who changes his name, because it could cause his entire species to be wiped out. Bullshit!
¡nonetheless, I better write them down. Even though they¡¯re pointless.
The hero-system lacks a journal-function, so I can¡¯t reread the details of the setting, which means if I want to come back to it, I better write it down manually. What a shitty system! Journals are common nowadays!
Well, this world is not a game. So why should anyone include a function which would actually be useful?
¡°Phew¡¡± I open our [Inventory] and it¡¯s still jumbled. Let¡¯s look where the paper is. Wait, weren¡¯t only drop items in the upper-left corner just now? Why is there a paper? A letter? A letter from Kyou-san!
Hastily, I take it out and read it.
Just reading the first words, I rub my eyes and read again. I really think that I just read ¡®Die Ken¡¯ instead of ¡®Dear Ken¡¯.
Yep, ¡®Die Ken!¡± With an exclamation mark.
Die Ken!
Please, just die! I¡¯m currently with Inoue Masahiko¡¯s party and we want to find you. You must also be anxious about the curse, so tell me, where shall we meet? Be quick or you will regret it. Tell me the prominent landmarks you can see, so we can meet up at one.
Momokawa Kyou
P.S. I know you pulled Rine-chan into this!
I can see the anger she was feeling when writing that letter. We could probably meet up here, on top of this mountain, but then she would most likely complain that this is too stressful. So someplace I can see from afar, but won¡¯t be too hard to get to.
Also, since she¡¯s hanging out with Inoue, it should be better be a place where we can flee from them if things go wrong. They¡¯re still after Rine, even though she¡¯s our prey! But I¡¯m a bit vulnerable right now. So where should we meet up¡
I look around and see a mountain range, a tall mountain between smaller ones. Looks like a one-finger salute. This might work. There is a forest right before it, so there would be an escape-route.
I write down that location between some insults, using the backside of the same letter, and put it in the middle of the inventory-screen. Kyou-san always wants to keep the important stuff there for some reason.
Since Rine will just follow whatever I say, I see no need to tell her yet. While she¡¯s still trapped in her own delusions, looking at me, looking at her hand, giggling, smiling¡ªin short, annoying me¡ªI just check my status.
Still the same. How about [Abilities]¡ I may have ground some AP¡ too bad that there are no pop-up messages for level ups and acquired skills in [Pikeman] and [Scout].
What a joke. I got another [Survival]-skill: [Mountain-climber], which makes it easier to move around any mountainous terrain. Funny thing that I found it in my status while I can¡¯t use it. My [Scout]-class is blocked!
But why did I get it in the first place? Could it be that the skills you learn depend on your activities? Or your needs?
On the other hand, I only wear hide armor, so why did I get the [Chain] and [Cuirass] skills?
But [Hide] was the first I got back then¡ Then [Leather], [Chain] and [Cuirass]. So maybe it is related.
Let¡¯s take a look at the [Perception]-ability. The order of learned skills were [Farsight], [Focus], [Darksight], [Dormurnal], and [Pitch]. It seems almost logical, even though I needed [Dormurnal] the most. Maybe it''s a high-leveled technique, while [Pitch] is not. Aside from that, the sequence makes sense. I needed to see the monsters from afar, focusing on their movements and attacks and then I got [Darksight]. Wait, didn¡¯t I start cave exploration and night-combat shortly after attaining [Darksight]?
It¡¯s not like I needed [Distraction] from the [Stealth]-ability, either.
I guess I figured it out.
After collecting a certain amount of AP, you learn a skill, which reflects your past behavior, as long as your rank¡ªwhich is something like an ability-level¡ªis high enough for that skill. If you can¡¯t learn a skill, which fulfills the conditions, you learn a random skill, which is at your level.
If this is correct, I can decide the skills I learn myself to a degree. Or rather, I could, if I had any idea which skills exist! Ah! Hero-system, you¡¯re so non-transparent! How are we supposed to use you efficiently, if you offer no guide besides that shitty, detail-lacking booklet!?
¡°Kenta?¡±
If this was a game, I would message the admin!
¡°Kenta?¡±
Or better, just log out! I hate being in this world!
¡°Kenta!¡±
¡°What is it!?¡±
¡°You seem to be irritated.¡±
¡°I am. So be quiet!¡±
¡°We¡¯ll find her.¡±
¡°Who? The one responsible for that shitty system?¡±
¡°Kyou?¡±
¡°What about her?¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t you upset, because we couldn¡¯t find her here?¡±
¡°¡Uaah, I finally forgot! Why do you need to make everything worse?¡±
¡°¡sorry.¡±
Wait, just stop using your weapons! I¡¯m allergic to tears! Don¡¯t cry!
Damn it, now I have to apologize for telling the truth! ¡°I- ¡ I¡¯m sorry. You¡¯re- right!¡± I can hardly say a word because of the bitterness.
She looks up to me, even though we¡¯re about the same height, and uses her twinkle eye beam to destroy any form of resistance within me. Seriously, whenever I put her into a bad mood, she forces me to apologize and then hits me with a surprise attack. ¡°Kenta¡ may I sit on your lap?¡±
How¡ how did you come up with that!? There is no connection, what¡¯s going on, it¡¯s irrational! ¡°¡why?¡±
¡°You said you want to earn that WPs. And it¡¯s only a small thing¡ which would make me happy.¡±
I just pretend that I didn¡¯t hear the last part. I don¡¯t want to think about what''s going on in her head because I fear for my own sanity if I do that!
So Rine has looked into the list of how to earn WP and found something she wanted to do.
I don¡¯t want anyone to sit on my lap! I¡¯m a healthy young man and Rine is an attractive woman. Nah, more like a beautiful girl with the behavior of a child, so only physically attractive. But nonetheless, I may ¡®react¡¯ if she sits on my lap.
I casually check her bottom. Yes, it¡¯s beautiful. The healthiness inside me expresses its desire to fondle that behind. It seems round and firm and her pelvis are ideal for child-making. Thinking about having this nice ass right in front of my son is quite arousing, but this is this and that is that. Mind over body, accept your arousal but never give in.
So I give her my answer: ¡°After considering my options, I must decline.¡±
Oh no. Not again! Don¡¯t look like you¡¯re about to break out into tears! I totally forgot about that.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
...there is only one way out. ¡°Phew¡ you won. Let¡¯s get over it.¡± At least I¡¯ll get a WP out of it.
Like a sunrise, Rine¡¯s whole facial play changes from depressed to pure happiness.
I change my sitting position, so that Rine may sit on my lap. I just have to recite Buddhistic prayers, while she sits there.
Wait, I don¡¯t know any. So I have to make it up, I guess.
Slowly, Rine approaches me and she seems to be very careful, which only makes me more conscious about it. Come on, she only will sit on my lap. It¡¯s like with children. Except that I never had a child sitting there before.
With an expression between excitement and embarrassment, Rine finally sits down and her butt is squirming on my thighs.
Stop it! Stop rubbing your ass in that location!
Let¡¯s begin the self-made Buddhistic prayer ¨C gamer style!
¨C You shall not lust after a woman who doesn¡¯t game, since she won¡¯t let you spend your free-time on a PC!
¨C Don¡¯t let the temptations of real life obstruct your attitude about gaming.
¨C Gaming is more important than having a life.
¨C You shall remain faithful to your marriages within games and¡ but games aren¡¯t real, so it¡¯s technically allowed to pursue love and lust in real life as well.
¨C Don¡¯t let that comfortable and alluring butt destroy your reason, mind over body, soul over mind and gaming is your soul. So if you¡¯re touching this ass, remember to do so soulfully.
Dammit! I¡¯m already at the point I can¡¯t think of anything else but the sensation of my thighs!
Wait, wouldn¡¯t I forget about Rine¡¯s butt if I fondle her breasts instead, which are easily reachable from this position?
No! Don¡¯t give in! If I do, Rine will never leave me alone! She¡¯ll surely insist that I¡¯ll take responsibility!
I was wrong! Rine is no fake! She¡¯s pure! So pure that it¡¯s way more troublesome than her being deceitful! Because I can¡¯t oppose her honesty!
I¡¯m no monster.
At least concerning someone like Rine, whose personality seems to stem from a game! No normal human could be so direct about her feelings!
¡°Kenta? Are you uncomfortable? You¡¯re backing away.¡±
¡°Ignore it, please. Just sit still and do nothing.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
And what does she do? ¡°Don¡¯t lean on me!¡± Maximum body contact!
¡°But it¡¯s more comfortable.¡±
¡°Not for me.¡±
¡°Please?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t think that ¡®please¡¯ will solve all your problems!¡±
¡°But¡ you¡¯re warm.¡±
Pervert! She¡¯s a pervert! And you, son, stay low!
Rine is warm as well, it¡¯s a kind of warmth which can only be transferred by other human beings. Now that I think about it, she¡¯s a princess. Following the stories of princesses in fiction, she may actually feel lonely. Never having much contact with anyone, except servants, not feeling personal warmth.
As if!
I¡¯m sure she was always a spoiled brat, without a shred of real empathy, unable to restrain her urges. So she constantly verbalizes them, pressuring everyone around her with emotional outbreaks if they won¡¯t do her bidding.
A true princess!
I want to throw her off my lap, but it¡¯s for WP-grinding. Grinding needs endurance and since I¡¯m a gamer, that¡¯s what I have most.
¡°Phew.¡± So I just sigh. And wait.
You gain 1 WP.
It¡¯s natural for a young couple to seek bodily contact and having your wife sitting on your lap is a good method to fan the flames of youth.
Finally!
¡
Wait, Kyou-san mentioned that she knows how Rine and I are ¡®connected¡¯ now. Does she get all these WP-Updates, too? That would mean that she knows about everything I do with Rine.
Is there no privacy in this ¡®marriage¡¯?
Somehow I get the feeling that Kyou-san will be angry with me, but most likely only because she hates me and it looks like I¡¯m exploiting the whole ¡®second marriage¡¯ mess.
Why do I get the feeling that I miss something fundamental here, though?
¡°By the way, Rine? When do you plan to get off?¡±
¡°Hm? Oh. Can¡¯t I just stay?¡±
¡°No? We got the WP.¡±
¡°Tomorrow then.¡± With these words she stands up and smiles at me.
I facepalm. I get the feeling that I¡¯ve done that quite often since I met Rine. But there is no logical reason to decline another session. Since it gives WPs.
And it should be quite profitable over time.
Let¡¯s calculate a bit. The XP-boost is 500 WPs and we have currently 112. That¡¯s 388 left. Kyou-san and I grind about 6 WP per day plus some irregular ones. If Rine just does the same as Kyou-san, we can add another daily 6 WPs. Wait, she sits on my lap, so it¡¯d rather be 7 WPs. If I estimate that we get about a half WP per day due to irregular actions, we would get 13.5 WPs per day.
That¡¯d be 28.74 days, so 28 days, 17 hours, 45 minutes and 36 seconds.
¡
Wait, something is wrong! I may be good at math and did countless calculations back home on my PC to optimize my characters in my games, but I¡¯m not that good!
Following a feeling, I open my status and there I see it. A new [Academics]-skill, [Calculator]. It basically just makes me a calculator. Even though I want to call it useless, I can¡¯t help thinking that I¡¯m constantly calculating things like XP-gain, WP-ratio and other system-related data. I sure would have needed that skill much sooner!
On the other hand, it supports my theory how I learn specific skills. I must have got the [Calculator]-skill because I¡¯m doing all this math the whole time. But before that, it was more important to learn about this world, so I learned [Fast Learner] first.
But if I can utilize it, then¡
¡°Kenta? What are you thinking about?¡±
Suddenly feeling Rine¡¯s breath on my ear, my thoughts are wiped out. Unnerved, I turn my head to Rine, who again came unnecessarily close to me. ¡°Thanks to you, nothing.¡±
¡°Hm?¡± Her typical head-tilt. She doesn¡¯t understand.
¡°Nevermind. Can¡¯t you just lay down and sleep now? I''d like to wake up early and it¡¯s not safe enough for us to sleep at the same time.¡±
¡°OK¡ could you tell me a story? Since it¡¯s still early?¡±
What is she-¡ no, Rine being childish is already an established fact. So why do I even bother to argue?
¡°I don¡¯t know many.¡± I could retell a game story or some simple fairy tales, like Urashima Tarou or Momotarou. Maybe some western ones, too. Let¡¯s go with Momotarou. We did a play back in middle school. I was a tree and oni underling #1. The first one, who got murdered. Somehow I¡¯m pissed off, again. Let¡¯s just get over it.
¡°A long, long time ago, there was an old couple¡¡± I¡¯m not that good at storytelling, and I had to stop here and there to remember the story line again, but in the end, I got it more or less right¡
She¡¯s finally asleep.
¡ I can¡¯t believe how beautiful Rine looks when she¡¯s asleep.
However, I keep some distance. I haven¡¯t forgotten that a sleeping Rine has a death zone around her. Her sword is right beside her, so coming close would be a fatal mistake.
Like so often, I use this time off to look at my status. Or more like, Rine¡¯s in this case. There are some [Abilities], I didn¡¯t know of before, like [Animal ken] and its [Riding]-skill. So Rine can ride a horse very well, huh?
But even though she has some active abilities, there are only a few skills. She earned every single one of them the hard way. [Divine Magic] and [Sword] are particularly high-ranked. Even though she shares some of Kyou-san¡¯s [Divine Magic]-spells, there are still differences. Rine doesn¡¯t know [Stamina], but [Delay Poison], for example.
Since Rine probably already had her skills before becoming a hero, I can¡¯t prove my theory regarding skill-acquiring.
For example: Why doesn¡¯t Rine have skills like [Nightly Death Zone], [Killing with one blow], [One murders all] and [At-will crying]? That¡¯s what she does all the time! At least she has one single [Sword]-skill [Dismember], that actually disturbs me. It¡¯s an attack-combo with heavy blows, which actually might chop off limbs.
But that¡¯s not the main-reason why she¡¯s so OP. It¡¯s her sword!
[Friedensbote]
Description:
A royal treasure of the Feuerberg-kingdom. A sword blessed by the human gods and a gift of the founder of the ''von Stolzherz''-family to his heirs. It''s true power can only be unleashed by its rightful owners.
Special (Exorcist):
Double damage vs. undead and demons.
Special (Heritage):
All special traits are only active if someone of the von Stolzherz bloodline wields the weapon.
Special (Increase attack):
Adds twice the wielder''s level to Attack.
Special (Keen Edge):
Manifold increase of keenness.
Special (Prevail):
Increases attack depending on the level of danger the wielder is exposed to.
Status:
+250 Attack (basic); +298 Attack (wielded by Katarine von Stolzherz)
Value:
Invaluable
It¡¯s like an end-game-item. The higher your level, the more powerful it becomes. Additionally, it becomes stronger, the more dangerous it gets, who knows how much of an increase that brings?
I still don¡¯t know how exactly [Attack] and [Strength] are related to each other, but her weapon clearly outclasses my spear even without any boost, and her [Strength] isn¡¯t too far behind from mine.
Also, even the hero-system struggles with a price tag. Even if I sold it, I don¡¯t know if I can get enough for a second decurse-attempt. Well, not like I can return to Esse after selling it. It¡¯s a royal treasure, after all.
Again, I compare her stats with mine. I¡¯m sure I''m missing something.
Ah.
The etna¡¯s blessing. It has run out.
I guess even such an overpowered status boost only lasts half a day.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It¡¯s morning when someone wakes me up with a sickeningly gentle wake-up call. ¡°Wake up, my dear.¡±
I jump up as if stung by an adder while shivering. I¡¯m wide awake and see Rine who already put on her armor and with a dreamy look on her face. After doing some breaths of unease, I ask the important question: ¡°Why are you calling me that? Again!?¡±
¡°Because we¡¯re married.¡±
¡°No, we¡¯re cursed! Read my lips: We-Are-Cursed! We-Are-Not-Married!¡±
She listens to my words with her typical head-tilting, and after a second, she nods in disappointment. I hope this won¡¯t become a daily routine. It¡¯s bad for my sanity.
With this matter at least temporarily closed, I explain today¡¯s goals. ¡°I¡¯ve contacted Kyou-san and we will meet up before the woods of these mountains.¡± I point at the rocky one-finger salute.
¡°OK.¡±
¡°Kyou-san is surely accompanied by some other heroes. They¡¯re also after you, so you¡¯ll hide behind some trees and wait for whatever comes. If everything goes right, Kyou-san will join us again and then-¡± Should I tell her that we will hand her over then? Well, let¡¯s see about it, after we meet up. ¡°-then everything will work out somehow.¡±
¡°OK.¡± She smiles like there is no worry in this world. It makes me sick, but at least it¡¯s bearable, unlike her tears.
Climbing down the mountain we were on was the hardest part of the whole trip. Since Rine is in kill-mode again, any combats are a cake-walk here. As long as I keep her back covered, at least. Now I know that Rine is more of a glass-canon character, so I have to cover that. Especially as I¡¯d like to depend more on her from now on.
The curse is getting worse though. I¡¯ve the first minor [Attribute]-debuff, but I can still fight these kinds of opponents without any major problems. Actually, it¡¯s still easier fighting them in this state compared to the time when I had to protect Kyou-san as well. I just have to worry about myself, after all, aside from giving Rine the small assist here and there.
Now that I¡¯m on my way to retrieve Kyou-san, the pressure has lessened and I can finally relax a bit. I even converse with Rine! ¡°And after school, you return home and can play games.¡±
¡°What kind of games? Cup-and-ball?¡±
¡°No, video games. It¡¯s¡ well, where should I begin¡¡± OK, I do most of the talking, but it¡¯s her fault that she asked me about Japan. Even though I miss home and have yet to return, it¡¯s nice to talk about it.
Seriously, as long as Rine is quiet, she¡¯s quite a pleasant comrade. Well, the same goes for Kyou-san. Why can¡¯t both of them be quiet most of the time? Is that too much to ask for?
We arrive at the location. ¡°So, this is the rendezvous point. I don¡¯t sense anyone here, but this is for the better. Rine, we¡¯ll go into the woods.¡±
¡°Why? Shouldn¡¯t we wait here?¡±
¡°Like I explained before, you¡¯ll hide in there. It won¡¯t do good if fake¡¯s party detects you. Also, I¡¯d like to set some traps.¡±
¡°Why? For hunting?¡±
¡°Something like that.¡±
¡°Kenta, I see you smiling, but it¡¯s kinda sleazy.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
Volume 02 - Chapter 4-3
¡°Are you sure, Kyou?¡±
¡°Yes. I feel it.¡± I blatantly lied about how the ring is conferring to me the place where Ken wants me to go. Masahiko-kun and the others are wary. They didn''t forget about the traps, so we¡¯re currently moving at snail''s pace.
Teru-chan has changed into [Scout]-class, the same class Ken has, and takes her time to investigate every centimeter in our path. Knowing Ken, he wouldn''t use the traps to catch us here. His tendency to put safety first will lead him to safeguard a retreat route.
Should I tell them?
No, I want to see how this all plays out. Even though I might get some of the same drawbacks of the curse as Ken, there is no guarantee that he will be able to resist the combined force of Masahiko-kun and the others.
Seeing their performance first-hand, I realized just how much of a difference teamwork makes. So as long as Rine-chan doesn''t interfere, I''m positive that the [Student]-Ken will be defeated. They could most likely even take him out if he has all of his powers.
But Rine-chan will probably interfere.
I haven''t told Masahiko-kun and the others about her yet. Knowing Ken, he won''t let her participate that easily...
I''m not like him. I don''t constantly think about details, but this gives me a headache.
If this was only about my friends and him, I would never side with him under any circumstances. But there is Rine-chan, the curse, and most importantly, my own well-being to consider.
Masahiko-kun and the others only want to capture Ken. If I told Ken that, he would go overboard, which might be dangerous for my friends. As long as he''s in the dark about their intentions, he will most likely only think that they want to capture Rine-chan, which makes it easier for my friends.
But if I tell Masahiko-kun about Rine-chan, he might actually try to capture her as well, not knowing how dangerous that princess is! Even though I can''t imagine that she would do much harm to other people, it''s still possible that she considers breaking bones as ''not much harm''.
Headache.
Teru-chan interrupts my thoughts and points with her spear to the ground. ¡°Masahiko, there are no traps here, but I can see tracks of two people.¡±
¡°Two?¡±
Ken, you idiot! Didn''t you consider someone else might also have the [Track]-skill?
¡°Do you know who this could be, Kyou?¡± Masahiko-kun directly asks me, looking at me with his usual open-minded face.
¡°Erm... I have an idea. Are these a woman''s tracks, Teru-chan?¡± Seems like that cat is out of the bag anyway.
¡°Probably.¡±
¡°Then it might be... the princess''.¡±
Everyone is bewildered by my words.
The broad-built Daichi-kun put his arms akimbo. ¡°The princess? Are you sure, Kyou-san?¡±
¡°Like I said, ''might be'', Daichi-kun.¡±
Everyone exchanges one look and I realized that they now think that Ken has Rine-chan under his control as well. This is not what I wanted!
¡°How do you know?¡±
Eri-chan becomes even more annoying! ¡°Because... we met before, but were then attacked by those birds.¡± Staying as vague as possible.
I can clearly see the wish in the faces of my friends to have another strategy-meeting. Everyone other than Masahiko-kun wants to exclude me from this. They don''t trust me at all, and I wouldn''t either if I were in their shoes.
¡°Kyou, what do you know about the Princess?¡± He naturally asks me, as if I''m really part of their group. This trust hurts a bit.
¡°Like the people of W?chter told you, she''s good at fighting and dangerous. So be cautious, even Ken and I didn''t dare to challenge her directly. But she''s also easy to trick.¡± They need to know that much to deal with her.
¡°I see. So Katsuragi-kun might have tricked her.¡± I seldom see Masahiko-kun angry, but this seems to be his limit. ¡°First Kyou, now the princess. We need to stop him so he may redeem himself!¡±
Masahiko-kun, you''re also too trusting. Nobody besides you thinks he''s worth a second chance. This includes me as well, and I''m technically his ally.
I have to admit, seeing Ken getting beat will fill me with pure joy, because he deserves it. His arrogance, his words, his complaints, his insults! However, I''m a great person, so I will only look at his deeds. Like when he attacked the ss''rak in Hei?quellen, the chasm, getting me cursed as well, the chasm, meeting Muaotef (in the chasm), when he attacked the voice of Muaotef, or went on a rampage back in the church... Considering all of this, why am I still his ally?
I guess, I''m the responsible one in this partnership.
Masahiko-kun is also a responsible one. This shows in how he tries to rally his party and give instructions: ¡°Well, thinking too much about all possibilities would be a waste of time, so I suggest we speed up things a bit. Teruko, follow his tracks, see if he tried to set a trap up. Daichi, when we see him, please stay behind with Kyou and act as her bodyguard. Also, keep a close eye on her, since we don''t know how much Katsuragi-kun can interfere with her actions. Eri, you''ll stay back as well and provide us with cover, if necessary. Katsuo and I will build the center. Any comments or questions?¡±
Everyone shakes their heads. I can¡¯t believe how great of a difference it is when Masahiko-kun gives instructions and when Ken orders people around. It¡¯s not what you say, but how you¡¯re saying it, after all.
These inner conflicts are eating at me, and I need to find a way to not make everything end in disaster.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
After a while, Masahiko and the others can finally see the forest and Katsuragi-kun, who leans on a tree, waving at them.
Masahiko waves back, while speaking in a soft voice: ¡°Does he know that we''re coming? Those in the rear will stay back, about twenty meters (about 65.6 feet) from him. The rest comes with me.¡±
Everyone, including Kyou, is tense. The princess is not here. She might be held hostage, hidden somewhere. Or maybe she''s skulking in the forest. Nonetheless, Masahiko has confidence in his friends, so there is no reason to not openly approach Katsuragi-kun and have a talk.
¡°Yo.¡± Katsuragi-kun makes a casual greeting, even though he doesn''t even look at them. His eyes are on Kyou, who he can see over Masahiko''s shoulder.
¡°Good day, Katsuragi-kun.¡± Even Masahiko couldn''t keep the tenseness out of his words. ¡°You knew that we were coming?¡±
¡°...¡± There is no sign that he even listened to him. ¡°Ah, yes, yes. Thank you for rescuing her, you saved me.¡± Even though his words would normally include gratitude, he has the same tone as if Masahiko has just picked up a book Katsuragi-kun accidentally dropped.
It''s just like always: Whenever someone tries to converse with him he will stare at you with disgust or act like that person is not even there.
Normally, Masahiko can deal with that attitude, but considering all circumstances, he''s not able to do that at the moment. There are small details bothering Masahiko though. For some reason, Katsuragi-kun wears his glasses again and his body shape is more like the one he had in Japan. Well, actually slimmer compared to back then, but still not in shape.
Does he have a wizard-type-class now? Maybe one, which is able to control minds?
¡°Inoue, what are you looking at?¡± Katsuragi-kun clearly shows his annoyance. This is like back in school. Somehow it''s reassuring, since this is just the usual Katsuragi-kun. But Katsuo is staring daggers at him, one hand at his bow, while Teru is clenching her spear.
Masahiko needs to be the calm one. ¡°We need to talk.¡±
¡°Do we?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And it''s impossible that I can speak to Kyou-san first?¡±
¡°It''s about her.¡±
¡°Phew.¡± It''s his usual sound, which always comes if he''s annoyed at someone or something. ¡°Then be quick, I don''t have the time.¡± He assessed his whole situation in one glance, just like a seasoned veteran. He knows that he has no choice but to talk it out this time. This is not the usual Katsuragi-kun. So being in another world will change everyone, after all.
Masahiko speaks in a calm manner. ¡°I have a few questions.¡±
¡°Then ask.¡±
¡°Are you and Kyou really comrades?¡±
¡°...¡± He seems to be hard-pressed by this question already. ¡°We''re a team. For better or worse.¡±
¡°And there is no blackmail, deception, or other means of coercion involved?¡±
Masahiko sees how Katsuragi-kun''s eyes quickly look at his left hand. He wears gloves, but he might have a ring underneath. The same as Kyou, or a bit different: A master-ring. Masahiko doesn''t want to believe in that theory, but that doesn''t mean that he will overlook that possibility. He shoulders the safety of his friends as their leader.
¡°There might?¡±
This is honest and confusing at the same time! ¡°What does that mean?¡±
¡°It''s private.¡±
¡°Katsuragi-kun!¡± The same glares at Masahiko, and shows his stubborn side. Masahiko can see him holding back the insults he would normally use. Danger is in the air.
¡°So, fake! Now let''s make it clear: Are you giving me Kyou-san back?¡± His voice is filled with malice, much more than usual.
Katsuo is drawing his bow, Teru readies her spear, and Katsuragi-kun doesn''t even flinch.
¡°Stop, both of you!¡± Masahiko wants to resolve it peacefully, if possible. ¡°Katsuragi-kun. Watch your words. This sounds like you''re threatening us.¡±
¡°... Inoue, I''m not in the mood to play along with you. So call your dogs off before this becomes serious.¡±
Calling his friends ''his dogs'' is already too much, but Katsuragi-kun''s hand is also wandering to the knife at his belt. He''s overflowing with killing intent.
The same for Teruko and Katsuo.
This won''t end peacefully. Everyone already knew that. But that''s not what Masahiko wanted!
A single voice is intruding into this hopeless situation. ¡°KEN, YOU IDIOT!¡±
Kyou calls out to Katsuragi-kun, who is certainly annoyed by her words. Ignoring Masahiko and the others, he yells: ¡°JUST BE QUIET AND BE RESCUED! OR BETTER, JUST RUN AWAY AND WE WILL MEET UP!¡±
His remark causes Daichi to be even more cautious about Kyou''s intentions. He''s ready to prevent any escape-attempt, even going so far as to ready his axe.
Not that Kyou cared about that. ¡°STOP BEING STUBBORN!¡±
¡°AND YOU STOP BEING ANNOYING!¡±
¡°JERK!¡±
¡°BITCH!¡±
¡°YOU''LL PAY FOR THIS, YOU HEAR ME!?¡±
¡°THEN COME AND MAKE ME!¡±
Witnessing this confuses Masahiko-kun even more. He didn¡¯t know that Kyou could actually that rude. Or was it more like informal? Doesn''t it seem like they''re actually getting along?
¡°MASAHIKO-KUN, PLEASE HIT HIM FOR ME!¡±
¡°Erm...¡± Unsure how to deal with this situation, Masahiko tries to regain his composure.
Katsuragi-kun, on the other hand, is agitated. ¡°Bring it on, fake!¡±
¡°I won''t hit you for that!¡±
¡°Come, you finally have a justification.¡±
Masahiko is about to cry, because he can''t deal with Katsuragi-kun any longer.
¡°Masa. If I may?¡± Teruko is clearly eager to do the deed. Katsuo nods in approval. So it still comes to this!?
¡°Now you''re showing your true colors. All of you, ganging up on me.¡±
This isn''t right. Everything within Masahiko is telling him that. ¡°No, Katsuo. I''ll-¡±
Suddenly, there is a sound of breaking undergrowth. A number of monsters appear. They have four spider-like legs plus a chimp-like body with gorilla arms.
Katsuragi-kun is visibly shocked. ¡°No... why monkey-spiders?¡±
Behind them, there is an especially large specimen. Bitten into one of its spider-legs is a large bear trap.
¡°...I hate it.¡± Seeing that, Katsuragi-kun seems to be in dismay.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Why? Why? WhyWhyWhywhywhywhywhy!?
Argh, how could this happen!?
I miscalculated! And they are monkey-spiders! They are hard enemies even without my debuffs! I hate it!
¡°RINE, FOLLOW ME!¡±
Without hesitation, I run through the fakes towards Kyou-san.
Even though both other fakes, ponytail and musclebrain, are still a bit overwhelmed by the situation, they still react to me. Ponytail is chanting a spell, while musclebrain builds himself up to stop me, the axe ready to strike.
Annoying!
Rine is already beside me. She just runs that fast. ¡°Just distract the guy for a bit.¡± Musclebrain will most likely overpower me, so I rely on Rine for this.
¡°OK.¡±
Trusting in my decision, Rine accelerates. She stands right before musclebrain, and before he even realizes what just happened, she makes a pirouette and veers behind him. It doesn¡¯t even take a second. This is an expert move!
While musclebrain tries to grasp what just happened, I''m able to slip by him. Seems like he''s not even worth being hit by Rine. Too bad.
Ponytail is still chanting, but I don''t have time to think about why she needs so long. ¡°I don''t stop for girls!¡± I believe in gender-equality. So I lariat her.
Come on, she''s a hero, this will be quite painful and cost some HP. Though seeing her coughing and wailing is very satisfying.
¡°Kyou, come with me!¡± Rine grabs Kyou-san''s wrist and pulls her along.
¡°Rine-chan?¡±
¡°Keep running! And pass Kyou-san to me!¡± The curse is still working.
¡°Here, Kenta!¡± Rine lets go of Kyou-san, who has a hard time to regain her balance.
¡°Don''t pass me!¡±
¡°Don''t complain!¡± With this, I take her hand, while still keeping running.
The curse is dormant again.
Don''t let go of your wife! Even though stealing her back is kinda romantic.
Shut up!
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I change to [Pikeman] and cast a glance behind. Musclebrain is at ponytail''s side, fake, the dark one, and shrimp are occupied by the monkey-spiders.
Did I trigger an event? A mob swarm?
Well, if I pass them off to the fake''s party, it''s not my problem anymore.
¡°Ken, what are these things!¡±
¡°Monkey-spiders! They would be around my level.¡±
¡°What!?¡±
Kyou-san tries to slow down and let go of my hand. Hey, we''re about to retreat, you know?
¡°You... ''pulled'' these monsters to us?¡± Hey, she''s using almost the right term! It would actually be ¡®aggroed¡¯, and it¡¯s more or less the perfect ¡®train¡¯, since I dropped them onto fake¡¯s group.
¡°It was an accident. It just happens to work out!¡±
Kyou-san is looking at me as if I have just declared that I only watered the flowers while being covered all over with blood.
Then she runs into the wrong direction: Towards the monkey-spiders.
I call out to her, trying to stop her. ¡°Wait! What are you doing!?¡±
¡°I need to help them!¡±
¡°They need to retreat!¡±
¡°Kenta, what''s going on?¡±
¡°Rine, you, Kyou-san and me will retreat immediately! It''s dangerous!¡±
¡°But Kenta, Kyou is already running into the danger you''re talking about.¡±
This girl... The moment I look away, she''s away!
¡°Kyou-san, wait!¡±
¡°No! They''re in danger!¡±
They certainly are. Being surprised by the situation, they have already engaged the monkey-spiders. Geez, they only need to run away. Monkey-spiders aren''t good at running long distances¡ Wait, of course they won''t know that.
Monkey-spiders use short bursts of speed, which makes them seem like they''re fast. They''re able to outmaneuver anyone who doesn¡¯t understand that.
Also, the big one seems to be especially dangerous. A boss monster? It''s still waiting, observing everyone in fake''s party and ours.
¡°Kyou-san, we can just call out to them that monkey-spiders are bad runners, and then everything will be fine.¡±
¡°How can everything be fine!? Masahiko-kun and the others are surrounded by them!¡±
¡°They still have back-up.¡± Namely musclebrain and ponytail.
¡°Eri-chan is still suffering from your attack and the monkey-spiders are closing in on them!¡±
Well, I might be to blame for that one.
¡°Kenta, let''s help them.¡± Rine suggests something crazy.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because Kyou wants to help them.¡±
¡°Ken. Please!¡± No! Don''t you dare! Stop it! You can''t!
I''m hit by a combo-attack! Both, Kyou-san and Rine, are looking at me with big-eyes, appealing to me! Even though I know that Kyou-san is just pretending, she looks just as earnest as Rine. They know that I have no resistance to that!
¡
¡ ¡
¡°...fine. I''ll do it.¡±
Kyou-san''s tone totally changes. ¡°Good. Now go and do your work! Or I''ll run away and trigger the curse again!¡± I knew she was faking it!
¡°We''ll do it together!¡± Rine, on the other hand, is excited.
Looks like I no longer had a real choice in the matter. ¡°Phew...¡± Oh well. Time to get serious. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± In an instant, I closed in on the spider-monkeys near musclehead and ponytail stabbing one of them.
¡°Katsuragi!?¡±
Hey, musclebrain! Don''t look at me like a fish. ¡°Kyou-san, take care of ponytail.¡± The spider-monkeys are wary of me, but it''s not time to wait and see. ¡°Musclebrain, the moment we clear the way, you support your party.¡±
He doesn''t like me giving him orders, but I don''t have the nerve to argue with him. Since I don''t have the slightest idea of what he''s actually capable of, I can''t count on him, so I send him away. Which, incidentally, might match what he wants.
But there is someone I can count on, at least a little. ¡°Let''s go, Rine.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
I rush into the enemy''s line and use [Whirlwind] to open it. Rine is covering my back, using quick slashes to those who try to attack my flanks. Teamwork!
Using this opportunity, musclebrain runs through the opening and falls upon the monkey-spiders, which are surrounding the other three, at the rear of the fight.
Ponytail was healed in the meantime. Time to make her work. ¡°Ponytail, if you know any mez or other forms of CC, use them!¡± We need to face fewer enemies.
For now, it''s all about evading attacks, while counterattacking if possible. Not the best place to be.
¡°What!?¡±
She doesn''t even know what I''m talking about! Play some games, girl! ¡°Anything which hinders them!¡± Can''t be picky here.
¡°Erm... [Earth Grasp]!¡±
A hand made of earth appears under one monkey-spiders and grasps its leg. That''s it. ¡°[Speedthrust]! And now something, which will actually stop anything, idiot!¡± I''m fighting three monkey-spiders at the same time, which isn''t recommended!
¡°[Gust]!¡±
Of course she knows this overpowered spell! With one spell, several enemies are pushed back, but that''s it. Well, at least she has the decency to chant the next spell.
Ah, that''s a long one. What are you thinking!? How am I supposed to buy enough time for your spell to work!?
¡°Kenta, do you need help?¡±
¡
Rine is already finished. Around her are the disassembled corpses of at least four monkey-spiders. Here I¡¯m fighting at my limits and she¡ ¡°Could you take over for me?¡±
¡°OK.¡±
I just ignore my opponents and run toward fake and his friends. Now it''s time for the main event.
Considering everything, fake''s party isn''t that bad at fighting. They display excellent teamwork. While fake is on the offense, shrimp protects his back. Musclebrain shields the dark one from enemies, so he can use his bow despite being surrounded.
But they still don''t get what monkey-spiders are about. Dammit, just look at their pattern you useless dirtbags!
¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± I knock some of the monkey-spiders away. ¡°Just get away from here!¡±
¡°Katsuragi-kun!¡± Fake actually seems to be delighted to see me. This feels wrong.
¡°Shut up! Just retreat and let-¡±
*BAM*
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
What just happened?
Blinking several times, I find myself on the ground. Several meters away from Inoue.
I was just hit, and I took moderate damage.
It''s the boss monkey-spider. I can''t read monkey-faces that well, but he seems to be pissed. At me especially.
How does it know that it was my bear trap!? Well, I just need to stand up and-
*BAM*
Ouch. It hurts. I got hit again. I thought that I just let my guard down before, but in reality, it''s so quick that I couldn''t keep up. Probably a monster skill.
*BAM*
Another one. It''s just chaining them up. Stop doing that! The pain and the damage will just add up that way!
¡°Kenta!¡±
¡°[Heal]! [Stamina]!¡±
Ah, thanks. Your concerns are warming my heart. More importantly though, Kyou-san¡¯s healing spells are actually doing something, which is much better than moral support.
Well, Rine is still busy, evading a myriad of attacks, while murdering every monkey-spider in range. Since she has to shield Kyou-san and ponytail, she¡¯s kinda occupied.
¡°[Earth Bind]!¡±
Ah, and ponytail finally finished her spell. Like [Earth Grasp] before, hands made of earth appear, but instead of just one, there are quite a few. These earthen hands grab the ankles of the spider-monkeys surrounding Inoue and his crew much firmer than the one before. The mobs are actually struggling with it. A proper CC (crowd control), huh?
Too bad that it only targeted the enemies around Inoue. Because the boss mob is still free to do whatever it wants with me.
Thank you for not caring about me, bitch!
*BAM*
Ah, I should just stop thinking about anything else but the boss mob. My body is aching, but I''m still fine.
I stand up and spit out the next words. ¡°Kyou-san, be prepared to heal me often!¡± There is only one way. Currently, I''m neither able to see nor react to the enemy''s skill. That''s why I change into [Scout].
This will seriously cut into my defensive capabilities, but on the other hand, my [Agility] increases substantially. Plus, I can use the [Focus]-skill.
I can see it!
I jump to the side, while the boss tries to tackle me. Ah, so a turbo-tackle, huh? But still, close! I could practically feel the attacker''s breath!
In a fluid manner, I change back to [Pikeman] and attack. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I miss. It quickly jumped to the side. Then *BAM*, another turbo-tackle. While being knocked back, I change to [Scout] again.
So this pattern won''t work. With the time-lag between changing classes and attacking, the boss is able to brace itself, evade my attack and counter.
Another turbo-tackle, I''m able to evade it again. Yet each time I do that, it drains some SP due the stress. Moving in short bursts is exhausting!
¡°[Stamina]!¡± At least Kyou-san knows what she is doing. Unlike me.
I only have an instant to react to its skill, and even though I can evade it, I''m not confident about countering it.
Ah, I know.
I take a few steps back, increasing the distance between me and the boss. I don''t need a close-quarter-fight right now, but a turbo-tackle!
...why does it open its mouth?
*Wooosh*
Following a memory, I throw myself hastily to the side. A ball of web passes me. This bastard is trying to restrain me! Don''t change tactics midway!
¡°Mez it! Or paralyze!¡± Mez stands for ''mesmerizing'' and refers to effects which render a mob inactive. Since I have magical support with ponytail, I want to make use of it!
I may use a bomb for a similar effect, but I fear the moment I use the [Inventory] will be the moment I get tackled.
Why am I kiting the boss in the first place? Can''t Inoue and his friends take over? Are they still struggling with the monkey-spiders, despite the CC?
¡°Kenta, I''m finished here. Do you need help?¡±
Ah, Rine. You''re a lifesaver. Already finished with the enemies I passed to you.
¡°Rine-chan, Eri-chan''s spell won''t hold for much longer, Masahiko-kun and the others need your help. Ken is only fighting one enemy. He can endure it for a while!¡± Ah, Kyou-san. You''re a pain in the ass. Do you even know that I¡¯m fighting a boss monster, or even know what a boss is? ¡ It¡¯s entirely possible that she wouldn¡¯t care either way.
Still, I don''t have the luxury of arguing here, so I just have to hope that she will keep up the healing.
The boss is watching me, aiming for every moment my concentration slips. Is it aware that I want it to turbo-tackle again?
My options are quite limited if I want to seize the moment of surprise. I should have really bought a bow, even though it depends on ammunition. That''s the only weapon-ability the [Scout]-class can learn. Now I miss the offensive option.
I haven¡¯t prepared the skill sets for boss battles yet, dammit!
Here it comes! The monkey-spider boss swings one of its muscular arms at me. I dodge it, but the next comes right afterwards. Thankfully, my [Agility] is high, so I react in time. You suck! The pattern is easy to read!
I kinda feel like Rine right now, dancing around between multiple attacks without breaking a sweat. These normal punches aren''t that fast.
Wait, why do I see three fists?
This time, I could only narrowly escape an attack, since suddenly a third fist appeared and took me by surprise.
¡ Four? No, five.
Oh shit. There are no additional fists, only optical illusions. It''s a skill! I can''t move right or left without being hit. Staying here is also no option. So backwards!
It''s following me by using a regular spider monkey speed burst and the skill is still in progress! I can''t-
I can''t see. I can only hear the sound of crushing fists and feel the pain of being hit several times. It finishes up with one heavy uppercut, which sends me flying in a big arc. I can taste my own blood. This attack is devastating.
¡°[Heal]!¡±
The pain dulls, but it''s still there. My body feels numb and powerless. My sense of time is thrown off. I''m still mid-air despite the feeling that some time has already passed.
¡°[Stamina]!¡±
The problem of being hit is that it depletes your HP, since your body takes damage, and SP, because of the stress. So I need twice the number of spells to remain capable of battle...
The worst part is that there is another problem. The monkey-spider boss is speed-bursting right to the point where I''ll land. It has actually overhauled me while I''m still in flight. So unreal.
If it uses the same attack skill again, I''m done for. The spells I just got aren''t enough.
I''m dead.
¡°[Wind Pillow]!¡±
OK, this is a new one. And it''s not Kyou-san''s voice.
Suddenly, the air around me becomes viscous and I lose momentum, falling down at the point I was currently at.
Ponytail, you might actually be not as bad as I thought. Or you''ve realized that your survival depends on me. I may forgive you.
Ah, the boss realizes that I have stopped and is using a turbo-tackle. It will hit and kill me even before I crash-land. Ponytail, you suck as support. You''ve just wasted MP!
¡°[Protect]!¡±
This one is new as well, but this time it¡¯s Kyou-san. There is no way that she could see what the boss is trying to do right now. Considering my distorted sense of time, she might have cast that spell right after [Stamina].
But it works! I feel warmth around me and the impact which hits me is pillowed. A pillow about as thick as a CD box, but a pillow nonetheless. A [Defense]-buff, when did she learn that?
Finally, I feel the ground again. First with my face, then my elbow, somehow I overturn, and my knees are next. After that hurtful experience I stop, lying on the ground like a sack of rice.
My vision is blurred, my head is dizzy and I''m about to vomit, but that means I''m still alive.
Time to let everything out. ¡°Buaaargh!¡± I heartily let my gastric juices spread. It hurts. My body hurts so much!
¡°Kenta! Don''t die! [Heal]!¡±
¡°Keep going, Rine-chan! [Stamina]!¡± Kyou-san is about to mimic me, her voice is full of nausea. Maybe she''s weak against vomit.
You gain3 WP.
Both of your wives are by your side, while you''re at death''s doorstep, doing whatever they can to save your life.
¡°Cover Katsuragi-kun!¡±
¡°Ossu!¡±
¡°Kch!¡±
¡°Fine, fine.¡±
So they finally managed the small fry? Calling spider-monkey at our current levels small fry might be overdoing it, but seriously, aren''t you too late!?
And why are two of you actually dissatisfied with covering me!?
My vision clears up and I can see how everyone is surrounding me. So eight versus one, huh? I like it. Yet there is something I like even more: Not being in pain.
While Kyou-san and Rine are healing me, Inoue and the others are engaging the boss.
Musclebrain already has defined muscles, but the proportions are changing. He''s changing his class. ¡°[Turbo Tackle]!¡± Ah, it''s the same skill the boss uses! So it really is called [Turbo Tackle]. But seriously, musclebrain''s skill is much weaker. The base stats are just too different.
Without breaking a sweat, the boss uses [Turbo Tackle] as well and flicks musclebrain away, as if he''s just an annoyance. With a loud noise, the bald guy crashes right next to me, but he''s still somewhat fine, just grunting, coughing up blood and moving stiff. Seems like he is using a class with some [Vitality].
Man, seeing him like this makes me happy. Even though he actually was willing to help me out, I just can''t help it.
Seeing his dog pummeled like that, Inoue cries out and begins his attack. ¡°[Wolf Fang]!¡± A combo-skill, both of his blades are swinging and thrusting high and low, putting some cuts into the forelegs and body of the boss.
Damn it, fake! You drew first blood!
¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± The dark one is covering Inoue.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± The shrimp is stealing my move! ¡°[Perforating]!¡± Now she uses one I want to know! I could really use a skill which makes several spear thrusts in high-speed. I severely lack instant damage skills!
Oh, she got bitch slapped by the boss. That attack is definitely not a skill, but still amusing.
¡°[Heal]! Kyou, Kenta''s recovering! He''s smiling from the bottom of his heart!¡±
¡°[Stamina]! No, he''s just smirking.¡± Kyou-san is flustered, most likely she cares about the midget.
Ah, shrimp just flinched. She''s still alive. But seriously, you''re pathetic.
Despite these failures, acting as a team is a useful tactic. Inoue''s party is able to pressure the boss enough to disrupt the boss'' rhythm and moves, but every time it could find an opportunity to fight back, it''s able to K.O. one of them. So teamwork is good, but they¡¯re too weak to pull it off.
What is ponytail doing the whole time? Ah, another long incantation? Oh, seems like it¡¯s about to end. ¡°[Slow]!¡± The boss'' movements just slowed down immensely. Now even Inoue''s party should be able to deal with its attacks now.
Why didn''t you cast [Slow], when I was fighting the boss?
Ponytail walks to musclebrain and, after a moment, she casts another spell. ¡°[Heal]!¡± Ah, she did take up a class with [Divine Magic], maybe [Priest]?
Kyou-san is annoyed. No, actually she''s furious. ¡°You''re ready to go, right!?¡± Snarling at me, she hits my stomach. Glaring a short death stare at ponytail, she walks over to shrimp.
¡°Kenta, what shall we do?¡± Rine is unsure if she should support Kyou-san or Inoue''s party.
¡°We observe. It must have an ace up to it''s sleeve, so let¡¯s be cautious and wait for an opportunity.¡±
The boss shoots a white ball from its mouth and it hits the dark one, who is knocked down and covered in a web. So that is what happens if you''re hit by it. This attack is not slowed down by ponytail¡¯s spell. Since it''s a projectile? Well, not that it''s likely that either Rine or I will be hit by an attack as slow as that.
While the dark one is struggling to escape the web, Inoue has to fight it without any coverage. Now he''s targeted by the flurry of blows which almost ended me.
This skill is actually affected by [Slow], so my guess seems to be right: If it¡¯s part of the body, it¡¯s slowed down. Not that it helps Inoue much. He is flying away in a big arc, but the boss doesn''t care about him, he''s not even worth chasing.
On the other hand, my eyes couldn''t stop following Inoue.
¡°Kenta! We need to help.¡± Rine is getting more impatient.
¡°No, they''re fine. We need to get as much information as possible, before we engage it.¡±
¡°You''re smiling... sorry, you trust them so much and I...¡±
¡°Don''t worry about it.¡± I¡¯m just enjoying the show, while considering my actions. The real question remains: Will it attack us or one of the others? ¡°Be sure to cover Kyou-san if necessary. She''s still frail.¡± And I need her.
¡°OK.¡±
Ah, the monkey-spider boss is running towards Kyou-san and shrimp. Only an instant later, Rine runs in their direction as well. The boss and her have made eye-contact.
The boss changes targets. With [Turbo Tackle], it sprints towards ponytail, who was healing up musclebrain. She is hit in the back. Come on, it''s slow compared to before!
Ponytail is pushed back and doesn''t stand up. Useless!
¡°Eri-san!¡± Musclebrain, only barely back on his feet, charges at the boss, but is hit by a web ball, before he could even touch it. He''s now unconscious and restrained.
I drop down and use [Camouflage].
The boss is looking for the next target and seems to be unsure if it really wants to engage Rine and the ones she is protecting. It must have felt the presence of a fellow monster.
So the question is: If I''m hidden, who is left? The dark one, who cut himself free from the web with a dagger and is now raising his bow. Before he could even shoot, he''s already [Turbo Tackle]d. Another one down, huh?
Ah, Inoue is back up and charging the boss. Stupid, everyone of them. Especially him, since he didn''t get any healing so far. He might actually die. His problem, I presume.
¡°Ken, you bastard! Stop hiding and start helping!¡±
Kyou-san, I just want them to feel how it is, to fight the boss. Instead of saying that, I sigh and stand up. ¡°Phew. Kyou-san, look at these jerks. Save those who are about to die, but don''t go overboard. They''ll only be in the way, even if they try their best. Shrimp, if you''re awake, cover her. Rine, you and I will charge in now.¡±
¡°Geez!¡±
¡°OK!¡±
Both of them have very different moods, Kyou-san is angrily annoyed, but I don''t think that anyone has died yet, so she should just calm down. Rine is determined.
I change into [Pikeman]. Let''s get serious. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± My spear pierces right into the back of the boss, who cries out of pain. That happens if you turn your back on me!
¡°Katsuragi-kun, let''s do it together. [Wolf Fang]!¡± Inoue seizes the distraction for his own attack.
Rine is swinging her blade right into the left hind leg. No chopping? Ah, we''re ganging up on a single enemy, so the amount of danger is actually not great enough for Rine''s usual performance. Or maybe the boss is too tough.
But hey, she got at least halfway through!
It¡¯s now limping shrimp, Kyou-san doing emergency treatment, the half-dead Inoue, Rine and I against the monkey-spider boss. So basically four and a half versus one. Three of those are Rine.
Instead of using skills, I attack normally, aiming at some sweet spots. For me, it''s more important to disrupt the enemy''s movement, while Rine will deal the damage. Plus, there is Inoue, who at least participates.
But the boss'' movements are becoming faster.
Inoue knows what this means. ¡°Careful, Eri''s spell is about to end.¡±
¡
I want to facepalm. So it will move fast again, huh? At least Rine already dealt some damage to the legs, so...
Well, wounded legs won''t slow down its jabs, like Inoue has noticed. He''s staggering, but remains conscious. What''s up with this guy?
Hey, why is the boss suddenly turning to me? *BAM, BAM, BAM* With some [Turbo Tackle]s I''m isolated. Why is it after me? What did I do!?
Rine catches up. The leg-injuries are slowing the boss down, making it hard for it to outrun her. ¡°Don''t forget about me!¡± With a swift thrust, she pierces the boss in the back, the point of her sword is emerging from its side.
With a roar, it uses the flurry of blows, Rine is able to dodge the first few ones, but even she can''t keep up with the increasing speed and is blown away. So this is the difference between [Skill] and normal movements.
But I already disengaged and changed to [Scout]. I check Rine''s status and it''s bad. She won''t survive a second hit, that glass-canon!
Wait, what''s that? A hand. A large gorilla-hand just landed a few meters away. Did she chop it off, while being hit by that thing? Well, the danger level was quite high, there.
The boss is looking where its hand used to be with disbelief. A fountain of blood spurts from the stump and pain surely followed. ¡°*GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOON!!!*¡± The sweet, sweet sound of a suffering boss.
¡°Heh!¡± With a satisfied smile on her face, Rine stands up and brushes off the dirt on her armor. She looks like an anime-main-character. ¡°I''ll get the other one next!¡± Without even considering failure or death, she''s about to charge in again.
There is only one choice left for the boss. It may be anti-climatic, but it''s the only intelligent option it could perform: It runs away.
It''s not as fast as it used to be, but still fast enough to escape the half-beaten us.
I seriously want to get the kill and the XP! However, chasing it might be too dangerous, who knows when we''ll catch up and what kind of monsters we will encounter?
I look around, hoping to find something which will combine safety with XP. And there I found it. A bow. It''s the dark one''s. He dropped it when he took his beating. It''s not mine, can I really use the weapon of another person? Of someone who helped me when I was about to die?
Luckily there is a way. ¡°Yoink!¡± With one word alone, ownership of the bow is transferred to me. ¡°Yoink!¡± I pick up an arrow from his quiver. Then I change to [Scout] and take aim. ¡°Phew, it''s hard to draw.¡± I didn''t know that you need so much power to draw a bow.
Stupid reality!
Is that enough? Only one way to find out.
I let the arrow fly.
And it hit. Sadly not the boss, but Inoue, who is falling down, eyes as wide open as mine¡
Oops. The arrow totally didn''t fly like I had aimed it!
¡°¡°MASA!¡±¡± Shrimp and ponytail, who just regained consciousness, are rushing to him and ponytail cast one healing spell after another.
¡°...ugh...¡± Since he''s whimpering, he must be alive. Good.
¡°Yoink!¡± With another use of the magical word, I take the dark one''s quiver from him and put it into my backpack. ¡°Rine, take Kyou-san and follow me!¡±
Both girls are as shocked as everyone else, but Rine is following my orders without even the need to think. Good girl!
I just want to get away from here!
Volume 02 - Epilogue
¡°Phew, we got away.¡± I stand atop a small knoll and use [Farsight] to be sure. There are no signs of any pursuers.
Kyou-san faces me, smiles, and hits me. Forget about slapping, it¡¯s a heavy blow right into my face, and even though her [Strength] isn''t that high, it''s powerful enough to throw me off my feet, landing me on my butt.
Maybe I deserve it.
Rine doesn''t interfere. She''s just smiling awkwardly. ¡°That was... unfortunate.¡±
¡°No, that was idiotic!¡±
¡°It wasn''t on purpose. Kenta is obviously a beginner with the bow.¡±
¡°And then he panicked, stole the bow and arrows in the confusion, and ran away.¡±
¡°...like I said, unfortunate.¡±
You tried, Rine, but even I can''t defend my actions. That was half-assed, I could''ve looted the dark one more if I hadn''t run off so soon.
Well, for Kyou-san it''s a complicated matter, since she''s originally part of that posse. But I need her at the moment, so she has to come with me.
Maybe I should try to console her. Some of my decisions weren''t that great. Maybe it wasn¡¯t a good idea to place traps in an unfamiliar forest, so I''ll take that to heart. It would be better to intervene in fights earlier next time as well, so they won''t drag on until the debuffs run out. Finally, next time I use a bow in an actual fight, I better practice beforehand.
¡°Kyou-san, that was an accident, and I''m somewhat sorry.¡±
¡°We could have talked with each other.¡±
¡°...¡± As if I could hold a decent conversation with those morons. ¡°At least they¡¯re still alive. And look: Rine is here as well!¡± So we can finally say farewell to this quest.
Kyou-san looks at me as if I''m an old man suffering from Alzheimer¡¯s. ¡°Ken, do you really think that we can return to Esse?¡±
¡°... Kenta, you were serious!?¡± Rine is shocked to hear these words from Kyou-san. So she really didn¡¯t believe me when I said that we want to return her to her father. That means she trusts Kyou-san¡¯s words more than mine, huh?
¡°Don''t worry, Rine.¡± I say some simple words.
¡°OK.¡± To great effect. Her worries just vanished.
I nod, satisfied. ¡°Why shouldn''t we?¡±
¡°Well, let me summarize.¡± She raises one finger and looks for a place to stab me with it. ¡°First, both of us accepted a quest to bring back the princess.¡± She raises her second finger, and her hand is dangerously waving before my eyes. ¡°We took any information we could beforehand, but disappeared right before the official briefing to get a head start. We spread false information and traps to hinder and hurt the others.¡± The third finger joins the others, each of them trembles. ¡°We found the princess and turned her into our comrade using unexplained means.¡± Her fourth finger jumps up. ¡°Then you led the pursuing heroes into a trap, instigating an attack of strong monsters against them. You even got caught up in your own plan, and had to use the others to survive.¡± Now she shows her full hand, making me feel uncomfortable, since she opens and closes it into a fist repeatedly. ¡°But you didn''t support them, so they took the brunt of the attack. And while the last enemy was fleeing, you shot Masahiko-kun, the leader of the heroes, in the back. You then took some of the equipment from another one of them and we all fled.¡± Instead of punching me again, she puts her hand to her forehead, as if she has a major headache. ¡°Seems like a genuine kidnapping case to me.¡±
¡
¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡
She may be right. Somehow, it could be seen that way. But before I can respond, Kyou-san already continues.
¡°There is a need for a lot of explaining here, and if we explain too much, or they have the means to analyze the curse, all of us are in grave danger. And if they know about the curse, they''ll definitely investigate it with all their power, since the crown princess is subjected to it. So they''ll learn everything, including the whole marriage mess.¡±
She has another point. Returning might be suicidal. Especially, since polygamy is punished by death. I''m sure that the king wouldn''t kill Rine, but that doesn''t necessarily extend to me. I''m sure they have their fail-safes, for the case where a hero becomes an enemy.
At least, if I were king, I wouldn''t let someone like me stay ''attached'' to the crown princess, and I would also have a defense mechanism for anyone who tries to oppose me, be it a hero or not.
There may be a chance that the king might actually be a cool guy, investigating the curse and finding a way to keep us all alive, but I personally think that the king is a big a-hole, who doesn¡¯t mind kidnapping minors to fight his wars. He even sent us after his daughter, who is clearly able to kill all of us heroes effortlessly, so really... Why should I trust him at all?
Especially after what happened today, with fake¡¯s posse. Kyou-san is somewhat right, even though she¡¯s most likely as agitated as me. Everything about our behavior seems to be perfectly villainous.
Ah, this is a pain in the ass. Since Inoue''s posse is still alive, they will surely tell the story in the worst possible way and make everything complicated. It won¡¯t even matter if we¡¯re first, which could be hard, as we¡¯d have to force Rine along and we may not be able to travel via carriage. In the end, everyone will trust them over me. Like always.
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But killing Masahiko¡¯s posse wasn¡¯t an option. Until now. I¡¯m actually considering it a bit.
Too bad someone here would be totally against it. ¡°So, Kyou-san. What do you want to do?¡±
¡°Honestly? Killing you would be a fine start.¡±
¡°Figures.¡±
¡°It''s all your fault! Ah! How can I even face them anymore!?¡± Kyou-san is holding her head, shaking it back and forth, and I think she¡¯s on the verge of tears. ¡°Everything. Is. Your. Fault!¡±
Ah, I was about to let her remarks slide, but she¡¯s annoying as hell! ¡°Your buddies didn''t want to talk at all!¡±
¡°You were the one who got all hostile!¡±
¡°Without me, all of them would be dead!¡±
¡°You''re the reason why they were in such a danger in the first place!¡±
¡°It''s not my fault they didn¡¯t retreat!¡±
¡°Jerk!¡±
¡°Bitch!¡±
¡°You massive moron!¡±
¡°Drama queen!¡±
¡°QUIET, BOTH OF YOU!¡±
My ears. They are ringing...
Rine is upset and glares at both of us angrily. ¡°THE SITUATION DIDN''T CHANGE, I WON''T RETURN HOME! KENTA DID HIS BEST, BUT IT WAS UNFORTUNATE. AND KYOU''S ONLY WORRIED ABOUT HER FRIENDS, SO DON''T BE MEAN TO HER! NOW ALL OF US ARE FRIENDS AND YOU''LL LIKE IT!¡±
Rine''s ember eyes are burning with anger and frustration. Her body is about to lash out, reflecting her honest personality perfectly. She''s about to throw a tantrum and I have the feeling that she will destroy everything in her way... For example, us.
Kyou-san''s eyes show that she reached the same conclusion as me. Yes, we''re afraid of Rine and we definitely don''t want her to burst under any circumstances.
¡°Rine-chan, it''s alright. Ken and I are just arguing.¡±
¡°Yeah, what she said.¡±
¡°No, you''re fighting and you have to reconcile.¡± Please, stop being so childish! ¡°Do it!¡± Why did you just draw your sword? Is she really about to snap?
We have to do something. Just like so often before in school, I need to make a false apology..
Same goes for Kyou-san ¡°... Ken... I-¡± She is forcing every single word out. ¡°I''m sorry for... being that... mean.¡±
¡°Kyou-san. Sorry...¡± Ah, Rine''s fire-eyes are focusing on me! She wants more than that. ¡°...for everything.¡±
¡°Good. And now both of you hug!¡±
...what!?
Kyou-san and I object simultaneously. ¡°Rine-chan, there is no-¡± ¡°No, we wo-¡±
¡°You will! When my father and I reconcile, both of us always hug each other. So do it!¡± She swings her sword once through the air. ¡°Do it. Now!¡±
Unsure what to do, Kyou-san and I look at each other. And then, with mutual disgust, we embrace.
You gain 2 WP.
Even though it may be forced, the two of you are finally embracing each other. Ah, how romantic!
Kyou-san may be pretty and has an attractive figure, yet the person behind it is just horrible. But I feel her boobs. Soft.
¡°Uuh... you smell like vomit.¡± Hey, that was because of whiplash! Try getting thrown through the air several times in short succession.
Then suddenly, we¡¯re pressed together even further. It''s Rine. She¡¯s embracing both of us. ¡°Now we''re all comrades, friends, and maybe...something more!¡± So is this the reason why she was that eager for Kyou-san and I to hug? So she can turn it into a group hug? ¡°*giggle*¡±
The curse was right, when I ¡®married¡¯ Rine: My sorrow has just doubled.
What should I do? Where should we go?
I hate it. I hate this world!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
There are several hero-parties in the mountains, but not all of them are still eager to find the princess. One of these parties is the team of Hoshibashi and Yoshimura. They work together as a team of two without help from other heroes.
Hoshibashi used to hang around with some delinquents, but he was never a leader type. More of a follower, but he never cared about that.
Yoshimura was someone who did everything seriously and tried hard, but only got mediocre results.
They never talked much to each other before they came into this world, but they ended up as roommates by chance when they were still in Esse. Now they''re friends.
Coming to the mountains was a waste of their time. But both of them welcomed the chance to gain some levels here. They want to be the strongest in this world. Since hard work is directly rewarded, Yoshimura can finally get results, and Hoshibashi follows his lead, becoming stronger than ever before.
Capturing the princess is not on their minds, because they have already set their eyes on the next task. After meeting an information dealer, they decided what they wanted to do once they had finished leveling up.
If the dealer, Correo, is right, then there exists a method to remove a selected class and regain the class slot. But the location of this secret is heavily guarded, so they need to raise their levels beforehand. They must be ready, so they can take on the elves, when the time comes.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
In a forest, there is a pitiful creature bleeding out. Several cuts to its legs and body, plus a missing hand slowly takes its toll on the creature¡¯s energy. It''s about to die, but it still struggles, while it''s hiding in its lair and waiting for the danger to pass by. Its remaining hand holds the stump, trying to stop the blood flow.
But then there is a cackle, then a crackle. Then the creature falls, hit by a bolt of lightning.
Akiyama Eri looks at the dead body and checks her status. ¡°I leveled up six times.¡±
Kurosawa Teruko enters the cave, the lair of the monkey-spiders. ¡°There are a lot of items here. Some might be valuable.¡±
Then Yamauchi Daichi follows, lending Kita Katsuo and Inoue Masahiko a shoulder respectively.
Masahiko is badly wounded, so he has to recuperate. But while the big monkey-spider was still alive, it was too dangerous to take a rest. So the girls decided to take it out.
Only they actually witnessed how their leader got shot. It was all Katsuragi''s fault. Everything was part of his schemes and in the end, he kidnapped the princess and Kyou.
Masahiko himself was hit out of the blue and wasn¡¯t able to process the events, but after hearing the details from the girls, he felt played with. He will trust the girls, who risked everything during the attack.
It''s painful to see how powerless he is, nonetheless. Kyou may be in danger, but magical treatment can¡¯t cure blood loss, so he can¡¯t follow her immediately. Several days of recuperation might be needed, maybe even weeks. Plenty of time for Katsuragi-kun to run away and take a low profile.
Katsuo isn''t fit to pursue them either. Since healing Masahiko had taken so much effort and resources, he wasn¡¯t treated completely. Although they used up all their bandages, there was little the girls could do to help him recover quickly, aside from giving him their best wishes.
They aren¡¯t in a state to chase Katsuragi and the girls he took. So they have to return and report everything to the king.
Masahiko''s heart hurts. He wants to save Kyou, but he can''t.
The girls find something. Teruko points to a nest-like structure, filled with assorted objects. ¡°Look at all that. This is like a treasure trove!¡±
Seems like the monkey-spiders enjoyed taking trophies, and they had a lot of them. Maybe they raided bandits and merchants as well? There are some hints to it, like boxes full of clothes or a merchant''s scale.
And there is one more item. A sword. Masahiko thinks it looks beautiful. The kind of sword he dreamed of having, back when he was still a kid.
It was a fateful encounter.
A/N: [Sleepurnal] was the name of [Dormurnal] for a while. Will be replaced when I come around updating this very first status-page I''ve made to the current style.
Volume 02 - Extras - Love is Gold Episode 2 & The Wish, the Reality, and the Decision
krpg (kentusrpg): ¡°Somehow this story got some attention. Thanks for reading and following us so far, we''re now at the end of Volume 2!¡±
MK (Momokawa Kyou): ¡°*bow* Thanks for your support.¡±
KK (Katsuragi Kenta): ¡°Yeah, yeah, thanks and so on.¡±
Katarine von Stolzherz: ¡°Thank you very much!¡±
KK: ¡°And now we got another one in this small corner.¡±
Katarine von Stolzherz: ¡°I''m proud to be part of the team, but why is my full name written beside my speech?¡±
krpg: ¡°Well, we''ll change it to initials.¡±
KS: ¡°Is this better?¡±
MK: ¡°Why are there so many ''K''s here? Do you have a K-name-fetish, kentusrpg?¡±
krpg: ¡°Not really, but somehow it turned out that way.¡±
KS: ¡°Is my first name a problem to you? Can we stick with something else?¡±
krpg: ¡°We''ll make you into RN, for Rine. Even I don''t use your full first name.¡±
RN: ¡°*sparkling eyes* Woooooooh. I''m now Rine on a different level! *looking around* Where is Kenta?¡±
MK: ¡°He was just here a moment ago. ¡ Ken, even you can''t hide in the corner!¡±
KK: ¡°It''s just too annoying! After doing the whole volume, I''m tired!¡±
MK: ¡°Come on, it''s not like much bad happened to you!¡±
KK: ¡°Let''s recount... first, I met up with my former classmates and each of them still sucks. Second, I was trapped on a mountain with you again. Third, I met a monster beyond all reason, who is attracted to me. Fourth, I was nearly killed by the fourbirds. Fifth, I was nearly crushed by the Etna. Sixth, I was about to feel the full curse again, because you can''t keep yourself safe. Seventh, I was almost killed by the fourbirds again. Eighth, I''m now tangled up with the monster I mentioned earlier for long term. Ninth, I was caught up in a deadly battle with the monkey-spider boss! And then... well, nothing.¡±
MK: ¡°Wasn''t the monkey-spider episode your own fault? And didn''t you get almost my friends killed? *groan* How can I ever look them into the eye again! It''s your fault! You killed my friendship!¡±
KK: ¡°Can we agree, that we hate Volume 2?¡±
MK: ¡°...yes.¡±
RN: ¡°I like this volume, since I got to meet you!¡±
krpg: ¡°I like it as well, since publishing it gave me a lot of new comrades. And with Rine, both of you have noth- litt- not everything to fear!¡±
KK: ¡°Suspicious.¡±
MK: ¡°You corrected yourself several times... I have a headache.¡±
RN: ¡°I may not be perfect, but I''ll try my best to meet your expectations!¡±
KK: ¡°Stop linking your arm with mine!¡±
krpg: ¡°Well, let''s take a look at what people think about all of you.¡±
KK: ¡°You really don''t want to elaborate on Volume 3, right?¡±
krpg: ¡°Exactly.¡±
KK: ¡°Well, then I''ll sit just in a corner and-¡±
krpg: ¡°For Kenta, I read comments like ''weak-willed'', ''without balls'' and ''tamed''.¡±
KK: ¡°For those who says stuff like that: I don''t care, what you think.¡±
krpg: ¡°Maybe they think, that you''re a bit passive.¡±
KK: ¡°Seriously, if people are that interested, I have another thing to say: F*ck you! *one-finger-greeting*¡±
MK: ¡°Don''t show the readers the middle finger.¡±
krpg: ¡°He made his point clear, so don''t mind it. Next to you, Kyou!¡±
MK: ¡°Yes! I''m sure that-¡±
krpg: ¡°The loudest voices of the readers don''t like you much.¡±
MK: ¡°*petrified* What are you saying?¡±
krpg: ¡°They don''t like you much. At least most comments I read. There are even some, who wants me to kill you.¡±
MK: ¡°...*tears begin to build* Why?¡±
krpg: ¡°Well, mostly because of your abusiveness and how you treat Kenta. Someone called you even a ''judgmental bitch.¡±
MK: ¡°... *sob* I may be harsh sometimes, but it''s Ken! *crying* Why do the readers hate me?¡±
KK: ¡°Because you would fake tears to get their empathy!¡±
MK: ¡°Shut up, tamed dog!¡±
KK: ¡°Shut yourself up, bitch!¡±
MK: *crying* Waaaaaah!¡±
KK: ¡°Stop your fake crying!¡±
RN: ¡°Erm... what should I do?¡±
krpg: ¡°Just let them be and listen.¡±
RN: ¡°OK! What are the readers saying about me?¡±
krpg: ¡°Most of those, who were giving comments at all, likes you and even early in the story some were always asking, if you and Kenta get ''married''.¡±
RN: ¡°This is bad!¡±
krpg: ¡°No, it''s not?¡±
RN: ¡°It is!¡±
krpg: ¡°Why?¡±
RN: ¡°I''m singled out! This way, I''m not the same as Kenta and Kyou!¡±
krpg: ¡°That''s correct. What is bad about it?¡±
RN: ¡°We''re friends, so they should hate all of us the same way! What should I do!?¡±
KK: ¡°*sulking*¡±
MK: ¡°*crying*¡±
RN: ¡°*confused*¡±
krpg: ¡°You know what? I''ll just go on with the Extras. Don''t involve me in this.¡±
Opinions of the characters about the readers may not reflect the author''s opinion.
Extra 1 ¨C Love is Gold Episode 2
A (Announcer): "Welcome to ''Love is Gold'', the show which shows the true colors of each relationship. Today we''re welcoming a young couple, Katarine von Stolzherz and... Katsuragi Kenta?"
*cheer*
RN: ¡°Hello everyone! I''m glad to be here!¡±
KK: ¡°...¡±
A: ¡°This has to be a mistake!¡±
KK: ¡°...hello again.¡±
A: ¡°How did you even got past the gate?¡±
KK: ¡°...ratings.¡±
A: ¡°And what about Momokawa Kyou?¡±
RN: ¡°Kyou is still at camp. I''d like to have her here, as well, but she declined.¡±
KK: ¡°Why didn''t anyone asked me if I wanted to show up?¡±
A: ¡°Let me check my cards... Terrific! You''re married to two women at the same time!? Bigamy!?¡±
KK: ¡°...isn''t the show not about legality, but about love?¡±
A: ¡°And what has this to do with you?¡±
KK: ¡°Fair enough.¡±
A: ¡°Well, let''s try to remain professional. Since Katsuragi Kenta was already in this show once, we can skip him. Katarine von Stolzherz, tell me about you.¡±
RN: ¡°Katarine von Stolzherz, 15 years old. I''m the crown-princess of the Feuerberg-kingdom and a run-away now.¡±
A: ¡°So after meeting Katsuragi Kenta, you decided to elope?¡±
RN: ¡°Elo- *blush* No, I met him after I left.¡±
A: ¡°I see, I see. To be sure, he didn''t take advantage of your situation and kidnap you to demand ransom money, right?¡±
KK: ¡°Why should I do that!?¡±
A: ¡°She''s a princess, after all.¡±
KK: ¡°As if someone could kidnap her!¡±
RN: ¡°Actually, some people tried it once.¡±
A: ¡°Really?¡±
KK: ¡°I can see where this is going.¡±
RN: ¡°Yes, when I was twelve. I never met them again, but father ensured me, that they are still alive. I was a bit rash.¡±
A: ¡°What is that suppose to mean?¡±
KK: ¡°Would you like to find out? Just try to hit her and at least I can see some worth coming here.¡±
A: ¡°I think I''ll refrain. I really don''t like that smirk on your face.¡±
KK: ¡°Don''t mind it.¡±
RN: ¡°What are you talking about?¡±
A: ¡°We were wondering, if you could tell us, how you first met.¡±
RN: ¡°When I was fighting goblins, he and Kyou came to my rescue.¡±
A: ¡°It sure seems like a heart-throbbing story, but somehow I can''t imagine both of them doing something like that.¡±
RN: ¡°They did! They really saved me.¡±
KK: ¡°She''s exaggerating. ¡ seriously.¡±
A: ¡°I''ll just roll with it. Both of you: What do you like about each other?¡±
RN: ¡°Kenta is smart and always looking out for me.¡±
A: ¡°How precious! And Katsuragi Kenta?¡±
KK: ¡°... ¡ sometimes she makes me feel better about myself.¡±
RN: ¡°Kenta!¡±
KK: ¡°Stop hugging me, it''s sickening!¡±
A: ¡°What passion! She really likes you!¡±
KK: ¡°Yes, and she won''t stop!¡±
A: ¡°You''re proud of it, aren''t you!¡±
KK: ¡°More like desperate.¡±
A: ¡°Next question: What is your favorite activity as a couple?¡±
RN: ¡°I... *blush* When he''s explaining things to me. Kenta is so smart and cool!¡±
KK: ¡°When she listens. Since that makes her not do other things!¡±
A: ¡°You''re quite a good match.¡±
RN: ¡°Kenta, he calls us a good match!¡±
KK: ¡°We''re not at all. Like, polar opposites.¡±
A: ¡°But it''s the differences which makes a lot of relationships bloom.¡±
KK: ¡°Just shut up!¡±
A: ¡°No, I won''t! This time, we¡¯ll get the ball rolling! What are you doing, if you''re apart?¡±
RN: ¡°I daydream about Kenta.¡±
A: ¡°How sweet.¡±
KK: ¡°... I think I''m about to hurl!¡±
A: ¡°And you, Katsuragi Kenta?¡±
KK: ¡°If I''m away from her, I try my best to lengthen the time as much as possible.¡±
A: ¡°So that she can miss you that much more. What a schemer!¡±
KK: ¡°There is so much wrong with that sentence, that I don''t know where to start.¡±
A: ¡°Then let''s go on instead.¡±
KK: ¡°Please don''t.¡±
A: ¡°What makes your relationship work?¡±
RN: ¡°Love.¡±
*massive cheering in the audience*
KK: ¡°*facepalming* Please, don''t.¡±
A: ¡°Katarine von Stolzherz, you''re wasted on Katsuragi Kenta.¡±
RN: ¡°Kenta is great!¡±
A: ¡°He has another wife besides you!¡±
RN: ¡°I like Kyou!¡±
*Wooooooooh!*
KK: ¡°You''re the cheapest audience ever.¡±
A: ¡°We''re just that kind of show. Let''s resume: How was your first date?¡±
RN: ¡°What''s a date?¡±
A: ¡°It''s when you go out together to romantic places, spend time together and have lovers'' activities, like linking arms, feeding each other, conversations and flirting, kissing-¡±
RN: ¡°Kenta! We''ll go out on a date!¡±
KK: ¡°No!¡±
RN: ¡°We Will!¡±
KK: ¡°Stop dragging me!¡±
RN: ¡°Kenta, it''s important that we go out on a date.¡±
KK: ¡°Ouch, ouch, stop twisting my arm, you''re going to break it!¡±
RN: ¡°We''ll go on a date. Right now!¡±
KK: ¡°I''d rather have my arm broken then-AAAAAAAAARGHHHHHH!¡±
A: ¡°...we need a medic!¡±
Extra 2 ¨C The Wish, the Reality, and the Decision
What does it mean to be a princess? That''s the one question I''ve never asked myself. Because I was born as one. It''s a part of me, like my two feet or my blonde hair.
My teachers always lectured me on the means of being a proper princess. They taught me all the responsibilities and how to act as such. But on the other hand, they always made me feel that I¡¯m a princess, just because I was born as that and that alone makes me important. I¡¯ve never got it.
Day in and day out, I''d spend my days in closed rooms, reading, writing and calculating, then spending my evenings at parties or important dinner meetings.
Only when I was outside training swordsmanship with Gottfried, did I really feel alive. And when I was reading books at night. About adventures, about love, about things outside my grasp, would I again get that alive feeling.
For some reason, the royal sword Friedensbote chose me as the wielder, which changed things a lot, as more time was given to me to learn fighting, but it was still not enough. My life still felt dull.
But this was all I knew.
Then one day, father told me, that the priest got a revelation, that they could try to summon heroes. Heroes, beings from another world, some of them are destined to be great. There are several people in this world who are very powerful, but every hero has the potential to outgrow even them. Only few of these heroes will become legends, but each hero can be a great addition to the battle prowess of any realm they''re supporting.
Feuerberg is at war. I don''t know the details, but our southern neighbors, the demon realm, is constantly either at war or in preparation of war with us. We''re hereditary enemies, because the demon realm is full of strange, twisted creatures, which are striving conquering all lands, and bringing nothing but destruction to all. Well, as far as I know. So it''s only natural, that we put a stop to it.
Until now, all the different tribes of the demon realm were scattered. Only one tribe at a time was able to go to war, but a demon lord arose, someone who was able to unite the tribes under his rule. Before he was able to completely organize his vast army, Feuerberg declared war and attacked. A preemptive strike.
The war isn¡¯t going so well. At first it wasn''t too bad, but the longer it takes, the more the demon realm is able to put up resistance. Feuerberg has been pushed back to our former borders. So it''ll be a great help to the people of the kingdom, if the heroes arrive and get strong enough to change the tide of war.
At least that¡¯s what uncle Ralf said. For me, heroes are beings, who get all the best parts of life: Adventures, love, everything! It''s something a princess doesn''t seem to get.
Or that''s what people are trying to teach me. I couldn''t accept that.
¡°Father! I want to take a more active part in the war!¡± War is bad, I¡¯ve learned that. But it''s necessary sometimes, and if poorly managed, it can bring ruin to a nation. If I can''t be a hero, I want to be as useful as one, using all my unique talents! I can fight a bit and will be useful at the front-lines! Or I can at least be helpful to the heroes I admire!
And this is how I was transferred to the border. But not the way I wanted to be.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°No, I''m sick of it!¡± Throwing a stack of paper through the room, I''m flailing with my arms around. All these inventory lists, accounts, budget allocations and reports are boring and tiring! And I don''t even need to do anything, except reading and signing these.
I''m currently at the W?chter-fort, which is near, but not at the border. The real action is dangling right in front of me like a carrot on a stick. Instead of fighting, I''m sentenced to do all the paperwork that makes big-scale fighting possible.
Father would call it work which befits a princess, but I don''t want to do that! I will not only miss the hero summoning, but can''t provide anything I want to Feuerberg! Where is the adventure? Where is the excitement? Where is the... the... love!
Slowly I stand up and pick up the papers I threw before. That''s what I am supposed to do. ¡°Thorsten?¡± The servant was sitting in the corner of the room the whole time, ready at my beck and call.
¡°Milady?¡±
¡°Could you please call Captain Ulf?¡± Ulf is the commander of the W?chter-fort, who is more or less in charge of my schedule.
¡°At your service.¡± Thorsten went through the door and after a few minutes, I can see the middle-aged Ulf.
He''s not wearing armor, but every step he takes shows me, that he''s ready to battle any time. Something only truly experienced warriors can do. ¡°Princess Katarine? How can I be of service?¡± Despise his appearance, he''s still a low-ranking knight, so he knows his manners.
¡°Captain Ulf, pardon me, but currently, I feel like I do nothing but sitting, reading and signing. I''d like to ask you for two favors.¡±
Ulf was already cautious. ¡°What kind of favors, princess?¡±
¡°I''d like to do some work outside this room, as well, there has to be refugees among the civilians and injured soldiers. Helping them would be most delightful, since they''re my people.¡±
¡°...your father gave me some leeway, so it may be possible, but I have to think about it. If something happens to you, it would be quite troublesome, so before I can agree to it, I need to be sure that your escort is adequate. ¡ What about the second favor?¡±
¡°I''d like to do some exercises after a day of paperwork and want to ask you, if I could spar with the soldiers of this fort.¡±
Ulf is frowning: ¡°That''s... Well, I heard that the princess is something else when fighting, but asking my men to serve you as training partners is... inappropriate.¡±
¡°Then would you like to spar with me? I think it''ll be a good lesson for me.¡±
This is how I truly feel. I don''t want to get rusty and I lack experience. So I want to fight as many different opponents as possible. The more fighting styles I encounter, the more experienced I''ll become. And someone like Ulf would be the ideal training partner.
¡°...¡± For some reason, Ulf is glaring at me. What did I do? ¡°Fine. When?¡±
¡°As long as your tasks allows it, I''d like to hold the sparring this evening.¡± Then I have some time to do some warm-ups.
¡°Then right before dinner.¡±
¡°Thank you!¡±
So a training lesson was set.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Swinging my training sword as the sun sinks, I practice sidesteps and spins. Even more important than your arms are your legs, when you fight. If the legwork doesn''t set the pace, your arms won''t follow.
Gottfried trained me in all the skills of swordfighting. Swordfight is not just about fighting with a sword, but making the sword part of yourself, transforming the whole body, sword included, into a deadly weapon. A sword is only a tool, so it shouldn''t be the center of your fighting style.
¡°*giggle*¡± Finally a bit of a work-out.
I step out into the courtyard of the fort and see how some soldiers are in the audience, while Ulf is naked above the waist. There is a bit of sweat glittering on his muscles, so he also warmed up.
I''m just wearing trousers and a blouse without sleeves. Why isn''t it proper for a woman to spar with her upper body exposed, while men can do that? Ah, because we have breasts. Even though I''m sure that there are men out there with very charming and distracting chests. Not that Ulf''s would be one of those.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
¡°Princess Katarine, are you ready? Or do you need more time?¡± Ulf was tense, maybe because he''s about to face me, the princess.
¡°In this fight, there are no titles, Ulf.¡± This should calm his mind. ¡°I will hold nothing back, I''d like to ask you the same.¡±
For some reason, Ulf tenses up even more. What did I say? ¡°Fine.¡± He looks at a soldier: ¡°Give the signal.¡±
¡°Erm... ready... go!¡±
*clash* It takes less than a breath before the sound of wooden sword strikes ring throughout the courtyard.
Ulf is using a two handed sword-style, his blows are bound to be heavier than mine. But it makes his actions stiffer, so I use my wrist to wind my weapon around his wooden blade, trying to hit his hands.
But Ulf is experienced, he let go with one hand and tries to disarm me, using my own momentum.
Too bad. *Wam!*
Instead of caring about what could happen with my sword, I punched him right on the nose. This stopped his maneuver, but Gottfried would be disappointed, if I ended it like this. So I kicked Ulf in the side of his knee, and struck his arm with my blade, and then spin out of the range of his sword.
¡°Another round?¡± I ask him. He was just careless, and that made him lose. If we were using real swords, I''d have chopped off his main-hand just now.
¡°...gladly.¡± Ulf rubs his smacked nose with the back of his hand and looks at it. A punch like that shouldn''t cause nosebleed.
Next round.
Ulf is attacking me constantly, but I can see how his shoulders move before each strike, so it''s easy to dodge by sidestepping. Sometimes I engage my wooden sword with his, to get a feel how much force there is behind each strike.
It''s not very strong. So he''s still testing me.
I time my step forward right after one of his attacks, making it all but impossible for him to use his sword to shield himself At the same time, I thrust my fist into his solar plexus and use my wooden edge to tap his throat. From this distance, it wouldn''t be enough to decapitate him with a real blade, but there is a chance to slit his throat.
¡°Another round?¡± Why is he holding back? I told him, that there are no titles here. He should use his all. Otherwise, I will hardly learn anything.
¡°...yes!¡± After the hit in the solar plexus, he had lost his breath, I know, how much that hurts. But he''s clenching his teeth, which is great! Endurance and toughness is important.
While I go back to my position, I hear some of the soldiers talk: ¡°I don''t know, if I''m about to fall in love or if I should be afraid.¡±
¡°I know what you mean. She''s gorgeous.¡±
¡°That''s our princess!¡±
They''re only exaggerating. I''m not that good. But it feels good to be praised.
The start signal. This time I''m the one who takes the initiative, but something is off. I better jump. Using the power of my momentum, I jump in a vertical spin, using my blade to strike from above.
At the same time, Ulf was swinging at the ground, causing dirt to fly in my direction, but since we both performed our maneuvers at the same time, it had taken too long. Good thing, that I had jumped, from now on, there is no need to see where I''m slashing at.
My wooden blade struck Ulf''s shoulder hard, as I land on my feet: ¡°Sorry! Sorry!¡± Ah, I was stupid again. Even using a wooden blade, I can still break bones. ¡°[Heal]!¡± I use my magic to lessen the pain. Please don''t let there be broken bones, I can''t heal them!
Ulf is only grunting and let himself fall on his behind. ¡°I''m done. I stand no chance against you, Princess Katarine.¡±
The soldiers are cheering me, but for me, it''s a hollow feeling. Ulf let me win. I''m sure of it. Because I''m still learning the way of the sword.
But maybe he didn''t want me to look bad to his soldiers. It''s not what I wanted! I turn to the soldiers. ¡°Excuse me... is there anyone else who wants to spar with me?¡±
The reactions of the soldiers are strange. Nobody said, that they want to try. Instead, they''re avoiding my eyes, looking at their feet or each other. ¡°No chance.¡± ¡°We can''t.¡± ¡°That would hurt like hell!¡±
¡°Please. If you want some sort of handicap, I can handle it!¡± Like no kicks or something like that.
But there is no volunteer. Not even a single one.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Time flows by. I heard the heroes had been summoned, but even now I couldn''t see them. Some of them had gone to the border, not even passing by this fort. All the while, I did my best to fulfill my duty, but there is little I can do.
There are people smarter than me, who could read then sign these papers much faster than I. And when I want to spar, I have to order one of the soldiers to do so, but I don''t want to force them to. They surely have their own unique circumstances. And sparring with the crown-princess could be troublesome for them.
At least I was able to do some jobs outside the fort. Like that one...
¡°Thank you, your highness.¡± An old lady is taking my hand.
¡°Please, don''t be. I''m sorry, that we can only pay so little in these hard times.¡±
¡°No, your concern is what I''m thankful for. And your presence.¡± The old lady is bowing to me. People always do, so I don''t mind, but her back seems to be aching.
¡°There is one more thing. [Heal]!¡± It won''t last long, but it might dull the pain a bit.
I''m not very talented in [Divine Magic], but it''s something I had to learn, just like my brothers and sisters. Eberhardt is much better than me. But I''m glad, that I''m able to ease some of the suffering of my people.
I''m in a village, together with several soldiers of the fort. And we have to do a bad thing: Requisitioning food for the army at the border.
If we don''t do that, then the soldiers at the border will go hungry, and then they''ll die either by weakness limiting their combat prowess or starvation. But what about the people in this village? We might pay them as much as we can afford, but they need their food as well.
But every time I speak with the people, they thank me. I feel bad about it.
It''s not right.
¡°Princess, we have gathered the provisions, so-¡±
¡°Your highness!¡± A scout returns to the village. ¡°There are people coming this way. I think, they might be farmers, at least they look like ones.¡±
¡°We''ll wait for them here.¡± Everyone nods. It''s my order, after all. I''m a princess. ¡°But to be sure, we should be ready for an attack. Don''t draw weapons, but stay alert.¡± I just imitate what my teachers told me. Leading an army and standard tactics are two of the things, a princess must learn.
I''m still at a basic level, but I can still at least do, what my teachers would recommend.
The farmers are coming into the village, they''re almost twenty people. Men, women, children and senior citizens. Every single one of them looks tired and worn out. ¡°Welcome. My name is Katarine von Stolzherz, crown princess of Feuerberg. Please tell me what happened.¡±
¡°The princ- Your highness!¡± One above middle-aged man steps forward. ¡°It''s an honor to meet you.¡±
¡°And it''s an honor to meet you, too. What is your name?¡±
¡°J¨¹rgen Oberdeich, your highness. I''m the patriarch of our farming community.¡±
¡°Tell me, Patriarch Oberdeich, what happened?¡±
¡°Bandits.¡±
¡°Bandits? How many?¡±
¡°I don''t know, but I think more than two dozen. They came at night, surprising all of us. After slaying...¡± I can see the pain in his face and the tears he wants to shed. ¡°...after slaying some of us, they claimed the farm and we had to flee.¡±
¡°How do they look?¡±
¡°Well...¡± Oberdeich-san looked at the soldiers by my side.
¡°Milady.¡± The sergeant of my escort whispers to me. ¡°Most likely they''re deserters.¡±
¡°Deserters?¡± I''m not that good at whispering. ¡°Why would someone desert?¡±
¡°Not... everyone is of your noble heart, milady.¡±
¡°I''m not especially noble at heart. I just try my best to do what is right. That''s what everyone does.¡±
¡°Milady!¡± The sergeant is hitting his chest with his fist. ¡°War does strange things with people. We should remain cautious and return to W?chter.¡±
¡°While the bandits are still here? We can''t!¡±
¡°Milady, we don''t have the numbers to protect you.¡±
¡°Then don''t. It''s about the safety of my people!¡±
¡°Milady... What about the provisions? They need to get to W?chter, so we can resupply the front-line.¡±
¡°Then I''ll take half of the escort with me and capture the bandits!¡±
¡°That''s insane!¡±
¡°Oberdeich-san, where is your farm?¡±
¡°Milady!¡±
Oberdeich-san seems to be unwell, but after taking a deep breath, he explains it. ¡°Just follow the road until you''re at the erratic boulder. Then you can see it.¡±
¡°Alright!¡± Without any hesitation, I mount my horse and take off. ¡°Half of you, follow me!¡±
For some reason, everyone of the escort does. I think they''re as furious as me about these bandits. ¡°Princess Katarine!¡± They''re always calling my name from far behind, it''s almost like a cheer, but for some reason I don''t get the feeling it is.
¡°Faster!¡± I''m going to leave them behind. Why are their horses not catching up with me? Should I wait? No, I have to hurry. I have to get those bandits, before they can leave the farm!
After an hour of riding, I''m finally at the farm. My horse is tired, I dismount it. ¡°Thank you for bringing me here. Please stay behind in safety.¡± I''m not that good in mounted combat anyway.
I walk up the farm and see several wagons loaded with crops and barrels. Living cattle tied in tandem, while a single horse is serving as a draft animal.
And there are humans here, they have the armor of the Feuerberg army. So they really are deserters. Traitors and bandits! I can see only eleven of them, there must still be some in hiding.
¡°A girl?¡± One of the bandits is wondering. ¡°A warrior maid?¡± Since we went outside the fort, I was in battle gear, so they don''t recognize me as a princess right away.
¡°My name is Katarine von Stolzherz, crown princess of Feuerberg. I demand to speak with your leader!¡± I just need to do, what I''m here for.
¡°...¡± The bandits are looking at me with blank eyes. ¡°Well, it''s a girl, after all. Rape?¡±
¡°Seems logical.¡±
¡°But what if it is really the princess?¡±
¡°If this was really Princess Katarine, she would be surrounded by so many guards, that we would need to surrender. I don''t know what''s wrong with this girl, but I don''t care. She''s very pretty.¡±
¡°But look, she has ember-eyes! I heard it''s a trait of the royal family.¡±
¡°If she is, then I want to be first. Taking the virginity of a princess would be royal! And then we can demand ransom.¡±
¡°Actually, I think she is the princess. I saw her a few years ago, she might have ripened to such a beauty.¡±
¡°Wouldn''t it be better to keep her as a virgin and threaten the king to take it, if he doesn''t comply?¡±
¡°Seriously guys, if that''s the princess, then we shouldn''t harm her! I''d hate to get any retaliation from the guys at the top. There are monsters among them!¡±
¡°But guys! Princess Katarine is famous for being pure of heart! I want her!¡±
¡°Excuse me.¡± I interrupt. ¡°You people seems to have fun talking about it, but if you won''t let me see the leader, I have to appeal to you instead. If you drop your weapons and surrender, then nothing will-¡± Danger from left.
My hand is already at Friedensbote, my trusty sword. It slides from the sheath without hesitation and my eyes are wandering to the danger, it''s the bolt of a crossbow. Sidestep, deflecting.
¡°AH!¡± ¡ Oops. I instinctively deflected it into one of the bandits before me, who got hit at the shoulder. He''s now laying on the ground, crying out in pain.
¡°I''m sorry. It wasn''t my intention.¡± This is embarrassing. After talking all high and mighty, I wasn''t able to deflect the bolt in a safe direction.
¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°...¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± The eyes of the other bandits before me are darting at every direction, but in the end, all of them are pointing at me.
The crossbow-archer at the right dropped his weapon and points at me as well. ¡°Wa... wa-wa-wa!¡± He was in a blind spot before he shot, right behind the barn.
Why are they acting like that?
¡°So, now that no one is shooting at me, I would like to conti-¡±
¡°WHO ARE YOU!¡± A big man comes from the house. Maybe he heard the screams of pain of the wounded. He wears a insignia of a lieutenant on his armor. When he looks at me, his eyes widens. ¡°Princess Katarine!?¡±
Do I know him? I don''t think so. ¡°May I know your name?¡±
¡°...what a coincidence. Who would''ve known that you come here. Alone?¡±
¡°My escort is still on their way, they''ll be here any minute.¡±
¡°So we need to be fast. MEN! CAPTURE HER!¡±
At least I tried. The lieutenant is already swinging at me with his mace, but I just need to cut half of his hand off, then he won''t be able to wield it anymore. Sidestep, forward, and done.
¡°... ...AAAAAAAAAH!¡±
Another bandit comes at almost the same time. I don''t want to kill him, so I just need to knock him out with the flat of my blade, right in his face.
The next comes. They''re really moving slowly. And why don''t they all attack at once? Oh, another crossbow bolt. I''ll just deflect it at the one, who will come for me afterwards. So first, I punch the one who is coming at me right now, then I deflect the crossbow bolt at the one right next to him, then I thrust my elbow into the face of the one I punched before. With my feet, I''m kicking the shortsword he dropped in the direction of the crossbow archer. It hit him with the handle.
¡°What just happened?¡± A bandit, who missed his chance to attack immediately is wondering. ¡°Did she just take out the boss and four other guys in three seconds!?¡± The lieutenant is still able to fight, even though he seems busy holding the rest of his hand.
Enemy reinforcement comes from inside the barn, all of them have their crossbows ready. One of the bandits, who was already here shouts: ¡°DON''T USE-¡±
The reinforcement shoots a salvo. This isn''t good. I need to be quick. I jump to the side, deflecting three bolts in the process, which all hit bandit shoulders.
¡°I''m outta here!¡± One tries to run away. It''ll be better if the bandits would remain here, so they won''t cause trouble to the people. So I pick up a small stone with my blade and fling it at the fleeing bandit, who got hit on the back of his head and lost consciousness.
If I counted correctly, I''ve taken out eight of the bandits. The lieutenant could still rejoin the fight. It''s most likely less than a third.
One bandit steps forward: ¡°Since the boss is busy cringing in pain, I''ll do this!¡± He drops his weapons: ¡°I surrender!¡±
Another one complained: ¡°You can''t do this, it''s only one girl!¡±
¡°Are you serious!? Look at her victims! I don''t want to end up like this!¡±
One after another they drop their weapons. The first one adds: ¡°There are some guys out scouting the path, so I would recommend to wait here to capture them as well, your highness.¡± He just sold his comrades. That''s dishonorable!
Oh right, they''re bandits after all.
¡°Seems like I got everything under control here. Could the uninjured please help the wounded? This was so intense, that I might have been a bit too rough. And we need to find something to stop the bleeding of the lieutenant. And the ones who got hit by bolts.¡±
¡°Of course, your highness!¡±
They are very servile now. But that will help a lot. ¡°Thank you!¡±
My escort arrives after a few minutes and they are glad, that I was alright. Isn''t it more important, that the bandits are captured?
After capturing the scouts as well, we all go back the village to collect the provisions.
On the way home, I can feel the gratitude of the farmers, who now can return safely to their farms. It''s a good thing, that we got all the bandits. The area will be much safer now.
And it''s something that I can do. I''m a bit good at fighting, so using it to make my people safe is worthwhile.
Ah, helping people feels so good! It was a bit of an adventure, with swords flashing, villains be punished and in the end, everyone is happy! I want to do it again.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Several weeks later.
¡°Captain, we gotten reports of invading demon-soldiers. And bandits are attacking our supply routes. Some of them have their hideouts in the mountains. We can''t keep up with their mobility.¡±
I''m currently sitting on the ledge above Ulf''s room. It''s a bit hard to get here, but I can hear what is going on through the arrow-slits.
¡°As if we don''t have enough to do. ¡ we don''t have enough men. But we need to get things in order here, unless we want the front lines to collapse. ¡ I''ll write a request to the front, asking if they can send me some of the heroes or at least another troop of soldiers.¡±
The heroes? Then I could finally meet one!
But is this what I want? To ask the heroes to solve our problems?
No! It''s not their responsibility. It''s ours.
If the W?chter-fort is lacking the manpower to look for the bandits, then I will. There are many people, who could do my job here way better than I can.
But I can fight! I can defeat those bandits, until I find another way to be really helpful.
Ah, I''m about to do something stupid again. I know it, but I can''t help it! I might even have to turn my back to Feuerberg, when I do that.
Even though, I already decided it. I will take care of the bandits. I know now, that I can do it on my own.
This way I can not only do something I want, but it''ll help people in the process. And I will get at least a bit of the life, that I always wanted to have.
And maybe, one day, I will stand at the side of the heroes.
Volume 02 - Afterword
Hi, kentusrpg here.
The second volume is up and ends with much unresolved conflict. Kyou, who met her friends, but was unable to make up with them. Masahiko''s group, who loathe Kenta and only see the worst, when it comes to him. Masahiko, who has to give up on Kyou for now. Kenta and Kyou, who hold grudges against each other. A lot of relationships are turning sour.
But there is always a bright side. Or a bright character, in this case. Katarine von Stolzherz, also called Rine. She brings a strong contrast to Kenta and Kyou, because she''s actually a good person. But she also shares quite an egoistical side, which is expressed in stubbornness, tantrums, and the inability to compromise. Everything has to go her way. Despite that, she may still be the most likable person in this novel so far.
Putting a princess in the party is, of course, quite cliched and it''s on purpose. Since princesses in fictions are mostly either spoiled or bad-ass, I just went with both extremes at the same time for fun. It''s quite an unbalance, since she can''t fight well alongside with others and doesn''t think much about what may come in battle.
The really funny thing about her, is the fact that her and Kyou''s personalities were originally switched, but after fleshing out Kenta, it seemed to be inappropriate for him to have an ally from the start. And of course, I thought of the cheerful healer as boring. So now we have Kyou-san and her princess-like attitude and a down to earth princess, who''s a bit of a big idiot.
Rine is fun to write, since she''s always extreme. She even persuades herself that she likes Kenta, and if this is left alone, she just assumes that both of them are legitimately married.
Inoue Masahiko and his party also have their first official appearance (I''ve written this volume before the Extra of Volume 1). Masahiko has everything you''d need for a main character: he''s thoughtful, capable and trusts his friends almost blindly. He can even bear Kenta''s behavior most of the time. He''s such a nice guy, who''s designated as the symbol of hate by the unpopular kids in school.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
On the other hand, his friends aren''t that pure-hearted. Is he tricked and is the friendship only a false pretense? Well, human relationships aren''t that easy. But at least everyone is friends with Masahiko.
The curse shows its true color, it''s not only about being lovey-dovey, but also about polygamy. And for some reason, the gods forbid this form of marriage. Why is it alright to be a mass-murderer, but if there are too many polygamists within a race, the entire race must be wiped out?
If you think back to old mythology, it doesn''t seem that strange anymore. Greek gods are especially known for going overboard for small reasons, like transforming people to hideous monsters just because they thought themselves prettier than certain deities.
Now we have two heroines and we can gladly slap the harem tag on the story. Finally. Kenta''s sanity is at its end, being tortured by an abusive wife and an overeager one. While being tormented by his physical needs as well, which are constantly stimulated.
Rine would probably gladly help him with it, but sleeping with her would be a lifetime error. Maybe he should simply ask Kyou, she¡¯d give him a look that could kill any boner.
Next volume we''ll leave the mountains and relocate to the forest. And we finally get to meet a fantasy classic, the elves, which might be very similar but also different to the ones in other fictions.
Like last time, there will be a break, which lasts for a few weeks. In this time, I plan to rework some of the older chapters with my new editor, prepare the artwork for Volume 3 with my artist, and, of course, write new stuff.
I¡¯m still on and can answer to comments and such. So don¡¯t hesitate, but for those who also need a break: We¡¯ll meet again at the start of Volume 3!
Volume 03 - Prologue
I open my eyes, the room is dark. Strange. I woke up in the middle of the night. Especially since it''s not because of [Dormurnal].
I guess sometimes you just wake up without any reason. I''m still drowsy, so I rub my eyes and sit up. I''m in a bed. After sleeping outdoors the last few days, I''m so glad that I can sleep in a bed.
Did I wake up because it''s too comfortable? Sleeping on furs on the ground instead of a mattress doesn''t feel that bad anymore, but a bed still beats it by a mile. Seems like my body is already accustomed to a harsher environment, maybe it''s just that.
¡
Something is missing.
My weapon? No, my spear is here. Same goes for my knife.
What else could it be? I somehow get the feeling that it¡¯s kinda important, but I can¡¯t put my finger on it.
I take a look around, there is clearly something missing.
Ah, I remember. Why am I sleeping alone? Shouldn''t Kyou-san be here? We sleep together.
Bad choice of words. Usually Kyou-san and I sleep right next to each other. And we never go beyond that!
And where is Rine? She should be a few meters away on the other bed. Since she has the habit of killing everything within her reach while being asleep, if I recall correctly, it¡¯s called aimbot in First-Person-Shooters. Don¡¯t play them much.
But because of that, let¡¯s call it ¡®habit¡¯, she''s banned from sleeping near us. But now she''s also missing.
Strange...
I stand up and open a window. I look down to a lively village that seems to be inspired by a fantasy movie. But too bad it''s real. I, a Japanese highschool student, was actually transferred to a western fantasy world as a hero.
Momokawa Kyou-san is my former classmate and class president. Everyone in class was transported, including the two teachers. All of us are so-called heros, which means, that we''re more or less characters in a bad MMORPG, with status, inventory and other stuff.
Katarine von Stolzherz, nicknamed Rine, is the crown-princess of the Feuerberg kingdom, which summoned us into this realm. Due to abnormal circumstances she''s a hero now as well, despite being of this world and not pulled from a different one. As far as I know, people belonging to this world can¡¯t be heroes, which makes it so strange.
Both Kyou-san and Rine, are real beauties, so why do they accompany me? Because my life sucks! I want to return home, back to my PC, my consoles, and my games! And there are other reasons as well!
But I''m still stuck with these two.
And why is that so bad? Being stranded in another world with two beautiful girls? Wouldn¡¯t other guys kill me for that kind of situation? Simple. The princess is a killing machine with several screws missing from her head and the former class-president has a horrible personality. This is quite legit, after all, it comes from me, and I consider myself as an a-hole.
So as girls go, both of them are ¡°no-go¡±s.
But I have to stick with them. If anyone can switch with me, please do so. Gamers preferred.
¡ Thought so.
¡°Phew.¡±
But seriously, where are they?
There¡¯s no way around it. I stand up, put on my boots, my backpack and grab my spear. No time for armor. It might be urgent.
I open the door and hear a rustling sound. As if someone is crawling up to me on rocky ground, but the floor of this corridor is wooden. Talk about strange.
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Then the sound stops, even though whatever did it has to be right next to me. I hear breathing. On my ear. I look around, but there is no one.
Ghosts? I¡¯ve never met one in this world before, but it seems possible. This world is full of crap.
Hm... something seems to be downstairs. I think there is a rhythmic sound there, like someone is constantly hitting something.
Using everything I can do to sharpen my senses, I descend the stairs. Behind that door!
I open it abruptly and... I see Kyou-san''s back¡ªshe¡¯s standing in front of a kitchen countertop, chopping vegetables. Kyou-san''s black hair reaches right under her shoulders, and even though it doesn''t have the shine it used to have back in Japan, it¡¯s still well-kept.
A bit left of her is Rine, whose blonde hair is kept back by a hairband, and in her orange-yellow emberlike eyes is a questioning look. Well, I rapidly opened the door just now. So she must be wondering why.
She was just setting up the table. Then she smiles: ¡°Good morning, Kenta.¡± If you only knew that smile and her delightful voice, you¡¯d want to go out with her. But I know better.
¡°Morning, Ken.¡± Kyou-san doesn''t even look at me, and just resumes with her chopping. ¡°Either sit down or leave, but don''t stand in the way.¡±
Something isn¡¯t right. This seems to be too... normal?
Yes, it''s normal. So why am I so agitated?
I sit down in a chair and watch the girls work. Rine finishes first and begins to help Kyou-san with her cooking.
Our breakfast is Japanese styled. Grilled fish, rice, sausages, egg rolls, miso and some vegetables. I take my chopsticks. ¡°Ittadakimasu!¡±
The three of us are eating together. Sometimes Rine will say something, laughing like an idiot. Kyou-san humors her, while I just enjoy the meal.
It''s peaceful.
¡°Gochisou sama deshita!¡± I¡¯m about to lay down my chopsticks.
¡°Wait. There is more.¡± Kyou-san stands up. Is she going to get it from a cupboard or something like that?
¡°Ah, me too.¡± Even Rine is standing up.
Something is strange. All my alarm bells are ringing.
Then Kyou-san sits down on my left knee, looking up at me with her calm dark eyes. Rine sits down on my right knee, directing her strong, ember eyes at me.
Both of them place a hand on my chest and shift their weight onto it.
¡°¡°There is still us.¡±¡±
Their eyes, their voices... These are ''do me''-signals. It''s as clear as bells.
Death knells!
¡°Please, Ken. I¡¯ve waited for so long.¡±
¡°Not fair, Kyou.¡±
Their scents are alluring, their voices are yearning. They stroke my chest sensually.
And my body is shivering.
¡°No!¡±
The moment I try to throw them off, I was pushed down instead. Both of them hang over me, like hungry hyenas. I''m about to get reverse-raped!
¡°Mhh¡ Ken!¡±
¡°Kenta~~?¡±
This has to be a bad dream, I just need to wake up and-
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°*Gasp*!¡± Bursting up from the ground, I get a bit dizzy and try to catch my breath. My body is dripping wet with sweat. It''s night-time, and we''re still at the mountains, inside our cave. It really was a bad dream.
From the corner of my eye, I can see a glimmer, and following my instincts, I throw myself back down. Just at that moment a slender blade pierces the air where I was sitting just a moment a go. The arm of a girl is holding that blade¡ªit''s Rine. ¡°...missed...¡± With a horrible sleeping position, she thrusts at everything that moves around her with her blade. Like me.
I roll myself to the side, evading the blade just again.
¡°Ugh!¡± A very unfeminine grunt comes from another girl. I just rolled on Kyou-san, who was sleeping next to me.
Rine is already performing a third attack. I take Kyou-san in my arms and roll again, several times, to escape Rine¡¯s range.
After rolling over three times, I brace myself on my arms and feet, while looking at the sleeping Rine. She stays where she is. I can feel relief relaxing my body.
That was close, but neither me nor Kyou-san is dead.
Speaking of Kyou-san, she''s looking up at me with wide eyes. Her face is right between my hands, and while I''m on my feet, my legs are spread and encircle her. It might be seen, as if I''m about to mount her.
My head is in close range of hers, a distance which could be easily used for a kiss.
At first Kyou-san looks at me with a half-sleepy, but annoyed expression, plus many emotions I can¡¯t even tell. Then it subsides and she smiles. It''s a sweet smile, a smile I last saw when we were still back in Japan. She raises her arms slowly, as if to embrace me. Then she clutches my back and pulls up her knee.
¡°...¡± What just happened? Somehow, sounds, thoughts and visuals are delayed. Ah, it''s that moment, when you receive so much pain that your body needs more time to process it. ¡°... ¡ hiiiii...¡± I make a sound. Something in between whistling and wailing.
Kyou-san lets go of me and slides me to the side. Then she stands up and says something, but I can''t understand what.
Because every sense is overloaded by immense pain. It''s like my sense of feeling couldn''t handle it anymore and outsourced it to other senses. Yes, in that state, you can see pain, hear pain, taste pain and smell pain.
My body feels numb and I remain in the exact position where Kyou-san left me. I continue making that pathetic sound.
Slowly my hands wander to between my legs, a feeble effort of protecting the damaged parts.
Yes, you guessed right: Kyou-san¡¯s knee struck my balls!
¡°...hiiiiii...¡± Instead of listening to her outrage, I could do nothing but endure that unendurable pain. Tears well up and are shed without holding back. Only a man can understand this sort of anguish.
What did I do to deserve that!?
I rescued her from being fillet!
Thousands of complaints flash through my mind, but being unable to make sounds other than whimpering makes it impossible to verbalize them.
But bit by bit my senses returned. I can see Kyou-san, her arms akimbo, looking down at me. ¡°Come on, Ken. Stop crying like a drowning kitten. Show some balls.¡±
You just crushed them!
Volume 03 - Chapter 1-1 – How to form a party
This is the worst morning ever!
An almost wet nightmare, almost being stabbed, and finally a knee to the nuts. Afterwards, I was scolded by Kyou-san, who took opportunity of me not being able to argue, while Rine, whose fault it really was, didn''t even get much of a warning.
Yes, it''s Rine''s fault. When Kyou-san and I were sleeping, she sneaked into our bedding.
Why didn''t my [Dormurnal]-skill work? It should let me still hear sounds clearly while sleeping, and wake me up. So it definitely should''ve worked.
Well, it did, when I think about it. I could practically hear the sounds within my dream, but misinterpreted it. That may be the reason why my dream was so vivid. And when I wanted to wake up, I did, just like [Dormurnal] works.
Dammit, if I handled it right, it wouldn¡¯t have went this way. I have to be more careful!
After finishing taking a piss, I inspect my balls. They''re still red and when I do certain movements they¡¯ll hurt, but I guess they¡¯ll be fine.
I return to the others.
"Did they fall off?" Kyou-san greets me with a delightful smile. For some reason, she sees herself as the victim of all this.
"Almost. Do you have a black-belt in ball-crushing?"
"Believe it or not, but you''re only the second boy who I did that to."
"Oh, who was the first one, Kyou?" Rine chimes in, as if she isn''t at fault at all.
"A boy in grade school. I rejected his confession and when I was about to leave, he grabbed my shoulder."
And then she kicked him between the legs!? I feel sorry for him. Bro, if we ever meet, let''s drink tea together.
"But strange. I thought that [Vitality] keeps the damage low, Kenta. And Kyou isn''t that strong, so how could it hurt?" So explaining her new hero-status to her really did work.
"It''s a vital, they always hurt like hell when hit. I can be thankful that it wasn''t you." If Rine kicked me in the balls, they might have really gotten crushed.
¡°?¡± Rine is tilting her head.
¡°Nevermind.¡± I take a steel mirror and a razor out of my backpack and put some lotion onto my face. Then I slowly shave.
Rine watches me eagerly. Since the accident the day before yesterday, she''s been forbidden to move or speak, when I use a razor. She actually slapped me on the back, which made me cut myself. This girl is dangerously oblivious of safety hazards.
Blades are supposed to cut, keep your limbs by yourself when you sleep, and remember to wait until I leave before you change, girl! Don''t show me your peachy fruits, they''re poisonous!
I check out my chin and put back my shaving utensils after cleaning them. ¡°You may move.¡±
Like a dog, Rine comes up to me, as if she wants to be petted. ¡°What do you want for breakfast, dear?¡±
¡°Who''s that ''dear'' you''re talking to?¡±
¡°Erm, I meant you, Kenta.¡± She¡¯s even blushing a bit.
¡°Just what kind of hypnotism did you used on her, Ken?¡± Kyou-san is looking at me, as if I''ve put on a bear costume to hug little children sensually.
¡°She just uses self-hypnosis.¡±
¡°Kenta, I can''t use that.¡±
¡°Then why do you call me ''dear'' about three times a day?¡±
¡°Because we''re married.¡±
¡°We''re cursed.¡±
¡°Ah, so romantic. Being bound by a curse, with the man of my dreams.¡± Rine is drifting into her own world.
Kyou-san puts her hand on Rine''s shoulder and looks at her full of empathy. ¡°Rine-chan, we really need to do something about your nightmares.¡±
Uh, don''t remind me of nightmares. Why did I have a dream like that? It must be all that stress I''m currently undergoing, being stuck with two physically attractive girls my age. Even though I use every opportunity to relieve myself, it¡¯s still not enough.
I just hope that my body learned its lesson after getting disciplined. At least until I''m free from these two.
Let''s change the topic. ¡°Kyou-san, what about breakfast?¡±
¡°Rine-chan and I will eat it.¡±
¡°Does that mean, I won''t!?¡±
¡°Do you think, you deserved it? After last night?¡±
¡°I explained everything! It''s not my fault. I even saved you!¡±
¡°Then try to think how it was for me. First I woke up, because someone hit me with an elbow on my chest. Then suddenly I got embraced and rolled over and when I opened my eyes, I saw a hard breathing, sweating, repulsive Ken, who pushed me down. If this is your idea of saving, then maybe I should ask Rine-chan to save you as well.¡±
¡°...uh, imagining it, makes me want to hurl.¡±
¡°And while your pain subsides, my lifetime wouldn''t be enough to forget that.¡±
¡°...but breakfast!¡±
¡°Well, I''m no devil. If you kneel, apologize, swear fealty to me and commit suicide in the end, I might forgive you.¡±
¡°How is that not being a devil?¡±
Kyou-san lifts an eyebrow. ¡°...Rine-chan?¡±
Rine, who was still daydreaming, turns to Kyou-san. ¡°Yes?¡±
¡°I think, Ken needs a hug, but is too shy to ask.¡±
¡°Oh, I didn''t notice. I''m sorry, dear, I failed. But to make it up, I will embrace you firmer than ever before!¡±
¡°*Urgh*¡± When Kyou-san brought up the hug, I was already trying to run away, but Rine easily catches up and hugs me. Or try to squeezes my blood out, hard to tell. There are thousands of thoughts running through my brain, but one is prominent: Damn you, Momokawa Kyou-san!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
All three of us, Rine, Kyou-san and I, are currently at something which could be called a ''training camp''. After the disaster last week, Kyou-san and I had to give up lifting our curse for now, until we find another place, which would be able to do so.
Since we ''kidnapped'' Rine and ''ambushed'' the other heroes, we''re most likely considered traitors in Feuerberg by now. And even if we can explain that, it doesn''t undo the fact that we involved the crown princess into a ''marriage fraud''-curse, which might risk the extinction of all humans in this shitty fantasy world. I''m serious, that''s what could actually happen.
Thinking about how the kingdom actually treated us, who were summoned, or better kidnapped, by them so far, it isn¡¯t far fetched to think that they will do something we won¡¯t like.
So there is no way that we could return, especially since Rine doesn''t want to and she''s more than able to beat both me and Kyou-san into submission. Without even breaking a sweat.
For now, Kyou-san and I have to accept that the curse is something which will remain for a while. Since we can''t turn to Feuerberg anymore, we need to find another powerful curse-breaker.
And to do so, we need to make this party work.
There are several flaws in our teamwork right now.
First, Kyou-san doesn''t want to fight monsters, so if we encounter mobs, we not only have one party member less at the front, but we also need to protect her. At least, she heals us.
Second, Rine is not used to working with others, which makes it very problematic to fight alongside her, since half of the time, she''s blocking one¡¯s view or path and the other half, she doesn''t cover her partner''s weak spots. At least, she kills everything.
Third, both girls are nuts. Headstrong and hopeless. Kyou-san is calm, but has a bad personality and Rine is naive and overreactive. And I''m not that good with people. So the communication doesn''t work well.
These would be the major ones, but there are other small problems, which made us think, that it''d be better to improve our teamwork. And so, we started a training camp.
¡°So Rine, today I will teach you about [Classes].¡±
¡°OK.¡±
Rine is still new to the whole ''being a hero''-thing and since she started with even less knowledge about RPGs than Kyou-san, I have to teach her from the beginning.
¡°Everyone of us starts with a class. Kyou-san and I started as [Students] and your starting-class is [Princess Knight], which is overpowered, by the way.¡±
¡°What does ''overpowered'' mean?¡±
¡°That means you cheat!¡±
¡°I do?¡±
¡°Ken, stay focused.¡± Kyou-san is making breakfast; today''s menu is grilled bearingtons. Leftovers from yesterday''s dinner.
¡°Phew. If a hero fulfills certain conditions, he may take up another class. If you regularly cook, you will be able to get the [Cook]-class, like Kyou-san. If you use a spear for battle, you may take up the [Pikeman]-class. Got it so far?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°You may change between your classes, but once you take up a class, it will be set. If you have four set classes, you can''t pick up another. So you have [Princess Knight] and three others in total.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± I can see, how Rine is navigating through her status, she still uses her hands for this. A bit clumsy, but maybe it helps her to focus. ¡°I can currently select [Fighter], [Soldier] and [Priest]. Three classes, the right amount-¡±
¡°¡°STOP!!!¡±¡± Both, Kyou-san and I shout at the same time. Rine was seriously trying to select all of these classes.
The girl in question tilts her head, not knowing what she was about to do.
¡°Rine-chan, once you decided your classes, you can''t change them anymore.¡± No wonder that Kyou-san is worried about that, since she fell into a similar trap. She did choose every class deliberately, but did some mistakes on the way and is now stuck with 4 classes which can''t fight.
¡°And your [Princess Knight] has about everything these classes could offer to you. You should chooses classes which will help you in the long run. For example, I chose [Scout] for sneaking and scouting and [Pikeman] for its battle prowess. I still didn''t chose a fourth class, since I want to pick up magic.¡±
¡°But I want to change classes, as well. It''s so cool when you do it, Kenta. Then suddenly, you get all cuddly, slim and strong and do things I didn''t even know were possible.¡±
Well, even if it''s Rine, being praised makes me feel good. It''s like on the forums, if someone says the build you''ve introduced is great. It just makes you happy. And it certainly doesn''t hurt that Rine is pretty.
¡°Well, I guess I''ve done well. But if you wait for bit, you may choose classes that¡¯ll make you awesome as well.¡±
Kyou-san rolls her eyes. ¡°Stop smirking like an idiot.¡±
On the other hand, Rine seems to feel down. ¡°How long?¡±
¡°Depends. But you know what, if you get a new class, I will tell you if you should use it.¡±
Somehow this seems to cheer her up. ¡°OK.¡±
Seriously, what do I do about that girl. Either she''s emotionally crushing or blackmailing me.
¡°Here''s your breakfast, Rine-chan. Let''s eat.¡±
Kyou-san really didn''t make a serving for me. You just wasted a WP! Seems like I have to make something myself.
¡°Let''s share, Kenta.¡±
Rine is offering me half of her portion. Normally, I would decline, but there are two reasons not to. First, I get 1 WP per day, if I eat Kyou''s food. Second, it''s delicious. The more Kyou-san''s level rises, the better she can cook. It¡¯s the mystery of the [Cook]-class. It also makes preparation time much shorter. No idea how that works, but I don''t care.
So I take my cutlery and eat from the same wooden bowl as Rine.
You gain 1 WP.
Eating your wife¡¯s home-cooked meals is a blessing of marriage.
You gain 1 WP.
Even if you fight with one wife, the other can still console you. If the three of you work together, there is no way that there will be any heart-breaking.
Two at the same time. ¡°Phew.¡± Just ignore it.
Carefully, I check Rine, who also got similar messages. She blushes a bit and giggles, but isn''t about to jump me.
Kyou-san just rolls her eyes again.
Somehow, we are getting used to this. Every WP should be a good thing, even if it''s mentally exhausting!
We''re also grinding some WP every day. I do lap-pillows and hand-holding with both of them, while I sleep next to Kyou-san, eat her cooking, and let Rine sit on my lap. 11 WP per day.
With the irregular ones, I hope to acquire ¡°Increased Experience-gain¡±, soon. Currently, everyone gets only a third of the XP anyone of us acquired. This is nice for no-combat-Kyou-san, but I level up much slower than before.
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After a week of ''training camp'', I''m still only level 42. Rine is 34 and Kyou-san 28. It''s not that much, considering how much concentrated grinding we did. Not that this is a good grinding spot, the monsters aren''t challenging in itself, but within the terrain, they become much more difficult to handle than they¡¯re worth. But we''re not doing it for the XP, but for teamwork and in this regard, these mountains serves alright.
Well, breakfast is over. Now we start with boob-hell.
What is boob-hell? Rine teaching me archery.
I took a bow from an old acquaintance plus some arrows, but I still suck at shooting. I didn''t know before, that about every movement influences the arrow. And even though I now officially activated the [Bow]-ability with my [Scout]-class, I still lack [Skills] and the right posture.
Rine learned the basics for about every weapon, including the bow. After breakfast she teaches me. And today it''s the same as always.
First, I position myself sideways to the target, bow in the right hand. Then I place an arrow between my left fore- and middle finger, lift the bow, draw the string. I need this drawing style, since the bow is that stiff. It''s for experts.
Next time I meet the dark one from Inoue¡¯s posse, I will kick him, for not using beginner friendly gear!
¡°Kenta, draw further. I know it''s not your dominant side, but keep going.¡±
Why I shoot left-handed as a righty? Because my dominant eye is the left, according to Rine. When I''m not in [Scout]-class I need glasses and my right eye has a bit weaker eyesight, maybe it''s related.
But it''s not only that I need to use my weaker hand to draw the bow, the weapon itself is actually right-handed. Nonetheless, Rine asked me to learn the bow left-handed, so I won''t need to relearn it at a later point.
So I suck at archery, because the gear is not fitted for me! Maybe I should''ve bought one from a store, after all.
But there is still one question unanswered: How is that boob hell?
It becomes one the moment, Rine draws near me, put her hands on mine, while pressing her boobs on my back. She¡¯s not wearing her armor right now, so I really feel it! ¡°Mn. Why are you backing away? Straighten your back.¡±
The only thing which is about to go straight is the beast below, but it''s still hurt, which makes me flinch. ¡°What did I say about pressing your body on me?¡±
¡°That you don''t like it, so that I''m not allowed to.¡±
¡°So you remember? Then why are you doing it again?¡±
¡°Because I want to!¡± She''s pouting, but goes on with her instructions. ¡°Eyes to the target, lift the bow a bit, the arrow will sink while flying. Stop wriggling.¡± The more Rine corrects my pose, the closer she gets. And since we''re both about the same height, her mouth is next to my ear, blowing gently into it.
Good thing that Kyou-san is currently making poultices, since she would be amused by this sight. And it would be too embarrassing to show the bump in my trousers, which is still sensitive from being injured before, asking me to get some fresh air.
I release. The arrow, that is.
It flies only a few meters before hitting the ground, breaking.
Rine walks to it and is inspecting the arrow and me. ¡°It''s a straight line, this time. Good job, Kenta!¡± She''s smiling at me, as if I aced a test. No, my parents never were that excessively proud of my grades, so it''s something entirely new.
Actually, it''s sad and kinda insulting, to be that proud of me after I was only able to shoot straight, Rine. We did this for a week already!
There are only few arrows left, so for now, I shoot once every day, to get the repetition right, instead of actual skills. At least I got some AP. Maybe I''ll able to use [Bow]-skills before I''m even able to shoot properly.
After the actual shot, I repeat the drawing process without an arrow a few times, while Rine points things out without actually touching me. I have to get this form right, while the memory of shooting an arrow is still vivid.
With this finished, we go on with the next item on the agenda. Hunting.
Rine and I are walking the perimeter, while I use the [Track]-skill to find nocturnal monsters that passed our camp. We built it inside a cave and trapped the entrance, so it''s hidden and secure enough that the mobs won''t find it easily.
In general, the amount of tracks we find decline, as whenever we kill monsters, they stay dead. Not like they respawn or something like that. I just passed a corpse from three days ago and it stinks like acidic shit, half-eaten by some scavengers.
This is not a game. So at some point, monsters will most likely avoid this area, but for now it¡¯s still sufficient. At least I found some tracks here.
Most likely kobolds. More than a mob, it''s an actual race, just like humans or ss''raks, but while the human bandits around here fled after a single encounter with us, the kobolds just won''t learn that we¡¯re here.
For some reason, we also get XP when killing one of the races. I might feel pity for those kobolds, if they weren¡¯t walking XP-bags.
¡°Kobolds, I think twenty-three. Only adults, so maybe another group of raiders. Let''s hunt them first, I like to get their loot.¡± I love raiders, since they always carries valuables.
Next to improving teamwork, one of our secondary objectives is to get some decent equipment. I still wear a cheap hide armor and a simple hunting spear as my main-armaments. Then I got a steel knife as a sidearm and a Strongwood Bow, which isn''t suited for me.
Kyou-san has a simple cloth armor and a ss''rak knife, which is more like a dagger or shortsword to her. The knife is a decent weapon and powerful, as long as the target doesn''t move, but a ranged weapon would be welcome, so that Kyou-san might get in the mood to help us in combat.
But seriously, why is [Knife] the only weapon-ability she has and is bounded to [Cook]? Of course, she doesn''t use it enough as a weapon to get any skills and she normally selects [Priest] as her combat class, but this just won¡¯t cut it.
Rine''s equipment is overpowered, so she doesn''t need anything. Her leather armor is high-quality and her sword is a royal treasure, which is more like end-game-gear. Doesn''t have any sidearm, doesn''t need it either and even though she also lacks ranged attacks, she can just use the bow I''m currently using the moment I got a left-handed one.
So seriously. I need new gear the most. Since I soloed before I was cursed, I mostly ground like crazy and only bought consumables if I got into a tough spot and to lengthen my grinding cycle. I wanted to save some money, so that I could purchase some high-tier gear, before taking real risks.
But after spending most of it for a failed decurse-attempt and comparing my performance to Rine''s, I have no other choice but to get at least mid-tier gear.
Power comes first. With enough power, you can do everything.
And another step toward that goal is to find and slaughter some kobolds.
¡°Then let''s return to Kyou-san.¡± Even though both of us are more than enough to take care of them, I mean, Rine could do this on her own, it''s all about ''strengthening our teamwork'' in this ''training camp''. And I''d hate it if Kyou-san, who doesn''t fight at all if she can avoid it, bitches out the fun.
Man, I should totally let some of these kobolds through me, so that Kyou-san can participate in actual combat. Oh well, teamwork. I''m the only decent member of this party, after all.
After picking her up, the three of us track down the kobolds. OK, I do the tracking, while Rine looks for aerial dangers and Kyou-san looks displeased.
¡°Rine, this time we try tag-team. When I say ''change'', fall back behind me and cover my back. That means, you stay there and don¡¯t charge in just because you see an opening. I repeat, ''cover my back'' doesn''t mean to leave it in the open while you are killing some mobs.¡±
I have to make sure, since Rine has a history of abandoning me. Or swinging her sword in wide arcs while fighting side by side with me. Or watching me fight, when I take over her opponents, instead of changing targets. Somehow this tag-team-idea seems much more dangerous now.
¡°OK. What about thrusting my sword under your shoulder, to attack someone coming from below you?¡±
¡°Don''t ask something insane like that in a calm voice. We''re heroes, so one hit or two shouldn''t be dangerous, at least from the enemies I know of. A sword coming from behind would be much more fatal. Just keep a meter or two away from me, unless someone tries to attack me from behind!¡±
¡°What about their ranged support?¡±
¡°I''ll take care of that this time. So you have to train your tanking again first. Try to not let anyone get past to Kyou-san until I give the change-order. Any questions?¡±
¡°May I use my [Skill]?¡±
Rine knows a single [Sword]-skill for now, [Dismember]. She got some AP in the [Sword]-ability, but nonetheless only one skill. But she''s an irregular, a hero who shouldn''t be one. Who knows how that works for her.
After explaining to her how [Skills] work, she wanted to try it out immediately, but so far I didn''t let her. Since I want her to get the basic of teamwork down before she gets carried away with [Skills].
But I''m weak against her sparkling eyes. I just have to accept that fact. I guess, even Kyou-san has a soft spot for them. She allows Rine to help her with cooking, to clean up the camp, fetching water, ¡ wait, Kyou-san is skillfully manipulating Rine to make her ask, if she could do the chores.
Scary, Kyou-san!
The weak me, on the other hand, has to bow down to her eyes. ¡°Well, if everything goes well, you may use it on the last kobold standing.¡±
¡°Yes! I will-blaurg!¡± The sound comes from Rine''s face hitting my palm, after she tries to hug me. Take this: Palm barrier!
¡°*sigh* Stop it, both of you. You''re making me sick.¡± That''s Kyou-san, always more than ready to express her discontentment.
¡°How about taking it out on some kobolds?¡±
¡°No, thank you. I released plenty of steam last night.¡± She''s smirking! She''s totally smirking!
¡°Bluargh, Kenta! Let me-!¡± And Rine is still trying to hug me.
¡°Phew.¡± Even considering all I have done, I still can''t find a reason why I deserve being with these two. In a negative way. ¡°Let''s just keep going.¡±
This is surely the landscape for kobolds. Being sensitive to bright light makes it difficult to find a place to rest for a nocturnal species, but these mountains have plenty of caves to hide in.
And there is a hero within these mountains as well, who has an easy time following them.
We stand before the cave, they only used some bushes as a camouflage. ¡°Get ready, everyone.¡±
¡°My heart is pumping!¡±
¡°Can''t I just stay outside?¡±
¡°To get kidnapped again? Kyou-san, it''s all about teamwork.¡±
¡°Yes, leave the kobolds to us. I will not let a single one get to you!¡±
¡°I won''t fight unless it''s necessary, you know.¡±
¡°Not that you''d be that much of a help.¡± Another thought comes up. ¡°But seriously, won''t it be better to get some more experience in melee combat, while the enemies are still weak? You should be able to take care of a few. The things you learn by fighting yourself will help you stay alive in the long run.¡±
¡°I agree. Instructor said, that learning with your body is needed to feel the flow of the battle.¡± Good job, Rine.
¡°Geez, both of you.¡± Kyou-san is playing with the ring on her finger. It''s under a glove right now, but whenever she''s pissed, her fingers will go to that place.
But maybe we can persuade her at this pace. ¡°You already took care of some mobs before. You even saved my life.¡±
¡°Don''t remind me. Sometimes I regret that.¡±
Ouch! Rine, your turn!
¡°Please, Kyou! I want to fight beside you!¡± Good one!
¡°Rine-chan, healing is also fighting.¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡± Counter! Rine, don''t let her fool you!
¡°Rine, don''t listen to her excuses. Kyou-san, we started this ''training camp'' to strengthen our teamwork, right?¡±
¡°...right. Because we need to find a new way to break the curse.¡±
¡°Exactly. Since we had to watch how Inoue''s party more or less hold their own against the monkey-spider, despite being only mediocre, we decided that what we currently lack is teamwork.¡±
¡°But they get along.¡±
¡°You don''t need to get along to form a strong party! More like, people who are dallying are actually disrupting party efficiency, so not getting along is the key!¡±
¡°I follow you, but what does it have to do with sending me to fight kobolds?¡±
¡°Well, we established the fact that both of us doesn''t get along. So if you won''t participate, I''ll hug you.¡±
¡°...you wouldn¡¯t dare!¡±
¡°Rine, hold her. It''s time for a big hug.¡±
Before I could even end that sentence, Kyou-san already fled. But Rine has no mercy, she catches up to Kyou-san and holds her by her shoulders. Being stopped that abruptly, Kyou-san almost loses her balance. ¡°Let me go, Rine-chan!¡±
¡°Don''t Rine! It''s for teamwork! For friendship!¡±
¡°Right!¡± I said the magical words. Rine tightens her hold and turns Kyou-san around to me.
¡°Don''t, you can''t! Let me go, I...¡± With every of her words I draw closer and Kyou-san¡¯s disgust obviously grows. Now decide, which is worse: Fighting against kobolds or being hugged by me! ¡°I¡¯ll do it! I¡¯ll fight! Just let me go! Don''t let that scumbag hug me!¡±
¡
It was I who initiated it and I got the answer I wanted, but it still hurts. ¡°Let her go, Rine.¡±
The girl does as I asked and looks at me worriedly. ¡°Do you need a hug, Kenta?¡±
¡°Please don''t. No hugs.¡± I compose myself and just continue, my words and thoughts directed at the oncoming task: ¡°When I step out to deal with the ranged enemies, Kyou-san will cover Rine''s back. Then I switch with Rine, who will support me, while Kyou-san backs away. If you think you can continue, say so then, Kyou-san. Understood?¡±
¡°Yes!¡± An energetic answer from Rine.
¡°Yeah yeah.¡± A sulky one from Kyou-san. But she actually draws her dagger-like knife to show that''s she''s ready.
I switch to [Pikeman]-class. Rine and Kyou-san use the [Torch]-spell.
Let the massacre begin!
I charge into the cave and see the kobolds, who were standing watch. They''re dog-like creatures, but it''s impossible to call them cute.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± One is killed in one shot and the sound alarms the rest of the pack. I ignore the rest of the watch, since Rine and Kyou-san are right behind me.
Instead, I break through their lines to deal with the ones inside. Most of them are just awakening and the only light source was the approaching [Torches], but I could still see one of them holding a sling. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± Good thing that there is no cooldown.
I guess Rine murdered the rest of the watch, since she''s now standing besides me. Ah, Kyou-san is fighting the last one of the watch and she seems to be a bit too hesitant to really stab at him. If you¡¯re going to kill, do it right!
I nod to Rine, who nods back and throws herself into the mess. She''s like a whirlwind of death¡ªwith every slash she slices off body parts. And she evades every single attack, totally overpowering the kobolds, who try to win some space.
When I see a kobold with a short spear to throw or a sling, I kill it quickly. Even though Rine is able to evade those, it''s more about tactics. ¡°Rine, change!¡±
Rine steps back and I take over. ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± I push several of the kobolds away. ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± My new [Spear]-skill, which is not that strong in power, but ignores half of the enemy''s [Defense]. The kobolds are only wearing rags, but I''m still unfamiliar with the skill, so I try it out against different enemies to get a feeling for it.
I got hit by blood splatters, as Rine just stabbed a kobold who tried to get behind me. Good girl.
By the way, Kyou-san is still trying to get that one kobold. She should be much stronger than it, but it seems we were right. She''s not used to melee-combat anymore, and this makes it harder for her to use her abilities. She totally lost the feeling of fighting by herself by now.
¡°Change.¡±
Rine steps forward and I step back. The tag is working.
Oh, Kyou-san just got hit. And her HP-bar decreases a bit. ¡°[He-ouch¡± Ah, she got hit while she tried to heal herself. Should I help? Nah, still not necessary.
Why is she [Priest] in the first place, when [Cook] has the [Knife]-ability? Well, making a [Class Change] in combat takes a bit of time, so she might to want to play safe here. Not that she can actually use spells right now.
While I was half observing Kyou-san, Rine already finished all but one kobold, who''s cornered, unable to run away. ¡°Kenta, may I?¡±
Well, I told her before, she can. ¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Then let me see... [Dismember].¡± Rine''s sword is flaring up. Then she hacks once, a arm flies of. Two, a leg. Three, half of the head. Four, the second arm. Five, the chest. Six, the last leg. Seven, the tail. Nothing left, but she still uses two more strikes.
That was gory. Her sword stops shining and the moment it did, blood gushes from every part she just cut away. At the same time!
I think, I''m getting sick, the smell of blood is stronger than usual.
¡°... I did it!¡± That''s Kyou-san, not Rine.
Rine looks at her work and says: ¡°Cool! That''s strong!¡±
¡°That''s overboard.¡± It''s like a bazooka against pests! ¡°I limit that use of that skill. You''re totally open during it, so only use it against single enemies. Why didn''t you use it against the spider-monkey-boss?¡±
¡°I didn''t know I had it.¡±
¡°Seriously.¡± I walk to Kyou-san, who''s looking bad. ¡°If you want to hurl, do it outside.¡±
Kyou-san looks at me as if I just told her that I collect moldy bread. ¡°How can you fight, if it''s this sickening?¡±
¡°I have to. I want to return home.¡±
¡°You''re still thinking about it?¡±
¡°Aren''t you?¡±
¡°...don''t know. Recently, I''m only thinking about survival.¡±
¡°I understand.¡± I really do. ¡°But if I don''t think about returning, I think I''ll become a good-for-nothing.¡±
¡°You already are.¡±
¡°Just shut up!¡± Ah, and to think I was about to comfort her. Wait, why was I about to comfort her? Is this the improved teamwork we aimed for?
¡°Kyou, Kenta! There are treasures!¡±
Let¡¯s just loot these bastards.
Volume 03 - Chapter 1-2
¡°Let''s see.¡± Kyou-san and I are currently in [Student]-class. Both of us are identifying the items and calculating their values.
¡°This necklace is 4 Newgold.¡±
¡°Cheap stuff. But oh well, then 1233 Newgold.¡± The [Calculator]-skill is quite useful for determining your loot.
¡°The daggers aren''t worth anything anymore.¡±
¡°Give me one. Nah, unbalanced, not suited for throwing at all.¡± Same as the small spears.
¡°How about using slings?¡±
¡°Can you?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°We can ask Rine later.¡± The princess is currently watching the entrance, making sure that Kyou-san and I are undisturbed. ¡°She could teach you.¡±
¡°No thank you. It''s quite small, too.¡±
¡°I guess. Would you put that ring on your finger, Kyou-san?¡±
¡°No way. I''m sick of rings.¡±
Ah, the same as me. ¡°I''ll ask Rine later.¡±
¡°I can''t understand how she can act like that. She''s actually happy about this disaster.¡±
¡°I can''t either. I don''t even grasp how the curse works. How did it involve her, too?¡±
¡°Was she also hanging from a cliff?¡±
¡°No, she actually got hurt.¡±
¡°...You''re kidding me. That Rine-chan got hurt?¡±
¡°Kyou-san, people normally break their bones if they''re hit hard enough. Even heroes, though we have more of a leeway. But other than heroes, normal people can''t move that well with broken bones. So she was about to die as well.¡±
¡°So is this related to being on the borderline of death?¡±
¡°Could be. Or something we said that time might have triggered it. But seriously, I don''t remember it that well. I was in a bit of panic there. But I think the situation was somewhat similar to ours back then.¡±
¡°Then I know a good way how you would not involve anyone else.¡± Kyou-san is smiling in a friendly manner. I''m sure she''s about to bite me.
¡°And that would be?¡±
¡°Never talk again. I think it would also do wonderful for our teamwork!¡± I knew it! And she keeps that smile!
¡°...Just shut up and identify the items.¡±
I calculate the values, and including the loot we already had, we have an amount that would actually be enough for some decent gear. ¡°I think, one of our objectives is fulfilled. At least if we change it into coins.¡±
¡°Then let''s leave this place.¡±
¡°What about our other objectives? Grinding, farming, building up our stats? And you know... teamwork, teaching Rine and...¡± I''m not that up to the last ones, since it involves spending time with the two of them.
¡°Ken, let''s be honest. We''re as ready as we will ever be. But for me, I''m sick of not being able to bath or shower for days, being surrounded by mobs, being forced to be around you! The longer we stay, the worse our teamwork will be! You and Rine got the combat portion right, but interpersonally it''s slowly turning into a mess.¡±
Ah, she''s bitching. Maybe this is getting to her, even though I personally think that the chasm was worse. And she also survived through that.
¡°Phew.¡± But she may be right. Staying here too long might actually be to our disadvantage. At some point Inoue and his friends might return or we may run into the other heroes. Or the king will send more pursuers. ¡°Let''s get Rine and ask her about that.¡± But it''s not like I will simply comply with Kyou-san''s demands. It''s a matter of principle.
In the end, we returned to the camp to discuss the matter in detail. I personally think that Rine and I are doing well enough to actually build a common front, and at least she is about to get the basics of the hero-system down. So for her, there is no reason to stay.
Kyou-san and I are good as long as we stick to our predetermined tasks, but she''s neither willing to do real front training, nor can I force her to. The moment something goes wrong, I''ll regret not having her practice some other roles, but that only means I¡¯ll make sure that nothing goes wrong in the first place.
And for me, I think we can resume bow training while traveling. We got some loot, we can upgrade our equipment. I''d rather do some more level ups, but I guess it can''t be helped if Kyou-san is already sick of it.
Seriously, how did you plan to catch up before we met again? I know, it''s a bad spot for grinding, but with so little endurance you''ll get nowhere!
¡°Phew. So it''s decided: We''ll leave the mountains. The next question would be where to go. I¡¯m thinking about the Wildlands.¡±
¡°What''s that?¡± Kyou-san doesn''t even know.
¡°A region behind the western border of the Feuerberg-kingdom.¡± As expected, as a princess, Rine knows the neighborhood well. ¡°It''s unclaimed land. Only caravans, settlements and some city-states which function as trading posts are there. Kenta, why the Wildlands?¡±
Rine is actually doubting that decision. Well, there is a reason why no actual country hold claims there: There is nothing besides often changing landscapes, ranging from large mountains, big forests, great lakes and wide grasslands, plus dangerous monsters the moment you leave the trading routes. The natural resources are few, the land isn''t well suited for agriculture and its trading routes were only established, because it¡¯s some kind of no-nation. You can cover a lot of distance without paying tolls and taxes, which is very attractive to some merchants..
¡°I don''t plan to stay there for long. But since we want to visit a settlement we need to leave the country to be on the sure side.¡± Feuerberg sucks. We''re most likely wanted people, there is a war with the demon race and there is a f*cking dragon who knows us directly. ¡°And from here, we have only the Wildlands and Daemonicus as options. Unless we want to cross the kingdom.¡± Daemonicus is the realm of the demon race and as they and the Feuerberg-kingdom are at war, we shouldn''t even think about visiting it. At least for now.
¡°So there was no choice in the first place.¡± Kyou-san rolls her eyes.
¡°It''s not all bad. Since the Wildlands are dependent on caravans, we might hear what''s going on in Feuerberg and other countries. We need to find someone powerful enough to break the curse who''s not involved with Feuerberg. The only things I know about other countries are things my mentor Meldorn taught me. But that didn''t include curse-breakers.¡±
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Rine cocks her head. ¡°I''m sure I heard about the magical prowess of each country around here, but I didn''t pay much attention.¡±
Kyou-san sighs. ¡°So we really don''t have a choice. Anything else before we start packing?¡±
¡°I need to talk with Rine about her geographical knowledge. So that we will actually find a trading route instead of being stuck in the sticks.¡±
With that, we finally decide to continue the journey. Or rather, start a new one. With half-assed goals and minimum motivation from my side.
But I¡¯m starting to get used to not getting what I want.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Let us take a rest.¡± I, Momokawa Kyou, am expressing my desires.
¡°Again!? Come on, you were the one who wanted to leave that mountain range the most!¡± Ken is complaining of course.
¡°You got a skill for mountain-climbing. I don''t.¡±
¡°What about Rine? She doesn''t have it as well.¡±
¡°Check her status, she just doesn''t let it show.¡± In fact, even I''m doubting if Rine-chan is as tired as her SP suggests.
¡°I''m fine.¡± The person in questions denies it, too.
¡°Ah, just do what you want!¡± Ken is irritated but not keen to argue. This is his unsocial side. ¡°What a waste.¡±
¡°Then just go and fetch some water. Then we¡¯ll have enough when we camp.¡±
¡°And how should I know where water is here?¡±
¡°Aren''t you the [Scout]?¡±
He glares at me, but then he sighs. ¡°Phew, alright. I give you half an hour, so use it for the other stuff, too.¡±
What a choice of words. But he''s going. Finally what I want, some time alone with Rine-chan.
¡°Rine-chan, let''s sit down. We¡¯ll wait for a bit and then we can start the appointment.¡±
¡°Yay, the second wi-¡±
¡°Stop!¡± I put my hand on her mouth while whispering these words. ¡°Don''t forget how good his hearing is.¡±
She nods as an answer and we waited for maybe two minutes.
¡°This should be enough.¡±
¡°Yay! The second wife-conference! *Pachipachipachi*¡± She doesn''t only clap, but speaks the sound loudly as well. What do you mean with ''wife-conference'' anyway?
It''s the Anti-Katsuragi-Kenta-Summit!
¡°Rine-chan, are you alright? No discomfort?¡± Rine-chan is different from Ken and me, since she''s not from another world and became a hero in an irregular way. So I want to make sure that she''s alright.
¡°I¡¯m fine. To be honest, I thought it would be harder to climb these mountains.¡± I look at her. ¡°Why are you looking at me, as if I have eaten your snacks and try to hide it from you?¡±
My friends always told me that my looks are quite expressive. ¡°You''re hiding your exhaustion, right? Rine-chan, what did I say about being honest to me?¡±
¡°That we''re best friends and that best friends don''t hide anything from each other.¡±
Yes, Rine-chan is technically my best female friend right now. Since the friendship with Eri-chan and Teru-chan is currently more than just strained, the rest of my classmates are similarly estranged, and I don''t have other friends in this world, it''s currently Rine-chan.
It''s not like I dislike that girl, she''s just exhausting at times. Maybe we could become real friends one day, but for now, I need to have a bit of control over her and she''s easily influenced by certain words. ''Friendship'' for example.
Without me, she will fail in this world. She''s too naive. And someone has to protect her from Ken. I don''t think that he has the guts to make a move on her, but if she keeps on being aggressive, he might.
And Rine-chan deserves more than him. She''s actually a nice, optimistic girl, so I feel like I have to make sure that she loses her imaginary love for him.
¡°Sorry, Kyou. You''re right, I''m a bit tired.¡±
¡°Good girl.¡± I smile. She''s cute when she''s that meek. ¡°Hold still. [Stamina].¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± She smiles back. She actually didn''t need that spell, because a bit of resting would do the same plus more. But I don''t need to tell her that. Small gestures are the key to a healthy friendship.
¡°You''re always overdoing it. You can let yourself relax when we''re alone.¡±
¡°But I would feel bad. I''m a hero now, you know?¡±
¡°Don''t remind me.¡± I can''t keep my disagreement out of my words. ¡°It''d be better if you weren''t.¡± In many ways. If she wasn¡¯t a hero, Ken and I may have already taken her back to her father and used the reward to start a new decurse-attempt.
Well, the bright side is, that I''m not alone with Ken anymore: That guy is just unnerving. So having actual company is a nice change.
¡°But I''m glad. Not only friends, I got a mission, too: To defeat evil!¡±
¡°What about home?¡±
¡°Ah... erm, I guess, my brother will handle it. Or one of my sisters. I miss them, but I left home for a reason.¡± She''s really determined. ¡°Because it''s boring to become a ruler!¡± She''s laughing guiltily, but she''s really honest about that.
¡°Certainly. But let''s go to the real topic: Is there anything between you and Ken?¡± I know there isn''t, since I would definitely get an annoying pop-up, if there was. If any of us earns WP, all of us get a message.
But embarrassed by my words, Rine-chan blushes. It''s a real shade of red, I suppose that''s due her European complexion. ¡°No, no, no! Still nothing!¡±
¡°I see. Are you sure that Ken is worthy of you?¡±
¡°...I''m questioning myself if I''m worthy of him.¡±
¡°Rine-chan, trust me. I¡¯ve known him longer than you and even a sea urchin would be too good for him!¡± We were in the same class and it was already clear as day back then: He will most likely die a virgin. Some people just aren''t meant to be with others.
More than his looks, it''s about his day-to-day behavior. He looks down on others, doesn''t care about anyone other than himself, and doesn¡¯t have one iota of social skills.
So who would ever want to go out with or marry someone like him?
¡depressing. I''m so-called ''married'' to him and somehow a nice girl like Rine-chan convinced herself that he''s the one for her. I already confirmed it in the last meeting.
At least, Ken''s unhappy, too. Even though he''s lucky to have a connection to two beautiful girls, he''s still unhappy. On the other hand, doesn''t that make it worse? I''m bound to him and he''s still unhappy!? How dare he!
Relax. ¡°Rine-chan, just don''t try too hard.¡±
¡°Don''t worry. Even though it makes us heretics, we''re both his wives. I won''t hog him.¡±
Uh, here it is again. My mouth becomes sour, my stomach hurts. The thought that I would be jealous because of Ken sickens me.
Honestly, I may get along better with him now, but imagining a romantic relationship between the two of us is still impossible.
Even though he looks decent if he''s in his [Scout]-class, slim but strong. His new haircut does well with his mean eyes. He''s still not handsome, but - like I said - decent.
He''s dependable at times, but the moments he fans the fire outweighs those rare occasions. Additionally, he''s mean spirited. Well, I can be as well.
But he''s also smart in some cases. He tends to think things thoroughly, even though he often oversees the obvious. Nonetheless, for organizing and planning he''s someone you can rely on.
At the moment I would say, I slightly dislike Ken. Wait, only ''slightly'' dislike?
I put my face in my hands, since my head feels suddenly so heavy. Slightly dislike... How could that happen!?
¡°Kyou, is everything OK?¡±
¡°No.¡± If I weigh the positive and the negative impressions of Ken, I can see a strong disparity. Because all impressions are strong.
The Ken who snarled at me, when collecting papers at school.
The Ken who came to me, when I was left alone in Esse.
The Ken who attacked the Lizardman in Hei?quelle, dooming us to the chasm.
The Ken who would not let me go when I was about to fall from that cliff.
The Ken who punched the Voice of Muaotef in the face, almost killing us.
The Ken who courageously fought in the arena against the patriarch.
The Ken who was about to abandon Masahiko-kun and the others.
The Ken who returned to help me saving them.
The Ken who shot Masahiko-kun in the back.
¡ How? How could my feelings change that way?
I feel the warmth of another person. Rine-chan is hugging me. ¡°I can''t do much, but cheer up please.¡±
Let''s think about it another time. ¡°I''m good, Rine-chan. But we need to talk about some other things before Ken returns.¡±
¡°Bathroom breaks?¡±
¡ Sometimes this girl is even more vulgar than Ken.
Volume 03 - Chapter 2-1 – How to socialize with Elves
There are many differences between a game and real life, even if you''re living that real life in a fantasy world. In a game, rain is mostly just annoying, limiting your visual range. But on the other hand, it can make a game world more believable and beautiful.
In real life, you get wet. Even after using oiled coats with hoods, you''ll get wet if you''re not careful. Your clothes will rub against your skin, you feel cold all the time, your nose starts running, and you feel unpleasant.
By the way, I''m half-naked.
Why? Because Kyou-san didn''t have a coat for rainy weather.
So she demanded me to hand over mine, but I declined. Then she got Rine on her side, who looked at me puppy-eyed again, forcing me to give Kyou-san my coat. In the end, I did. At least it was worth a WP.
Since wet clothes aren''t very comfortable and they''ll be soaked in no time by this heavy rain, I removed my armor and most of my clothes, put them in the backpack and just went on. The cold is draining my SP continually, but at least Kyou-san casts [Stamina] at me a few times. But do you know what would be better? A rain coat!
It''s cold and wet. And lonely.
We left the mountains and the terrain is more of a hillside. There is little vegetation, but you could run into something hidden behind a raise.
¡°Phew...¡± I deactivate the [Track]-skill. I used it before to get a picture of the monsters around here, but the tracks are washed away. And it''s highly improbable that monsters will attack in this weather.
¡I take that back, I just heard some snarling. I use the [Pitch]-skill, it''s ahead of us. Seems like they''re attacking someone. I can hear wood shatter, a man''s yell and other indicators of an attack.
Well, not exactly my problem.
¡°Did you hear it?¡± Come on, Rine. It''s raining and you don''t have the [Perception]-ability, so you shouldn''t hear anything at all!
¡°No?¡± I shoot a glance to Kyou-san. ''Don''t let her do this.¡¯
''Understood.'' ¡°Rine-chan, I''m sure, you just misheard it.¡±
¡°Are you sure? This sounds like someone is in trouble.¡± She looks at me, as if she wants to check it out together.
No. Way. ¡°Rine, it may be a monster influencing your mind. So don''t do what it wants you to!¡±
¡°If it''s a monster, I need to slay it!¡± Ah, didn''t consider her heroic impulses. The only answer I can muster is a facepalm.
''Idiot''. Kyou-san sighs.
Rine charges right in and I follow her, retrieving my spear from the backpack.
It''s just behind the hill.
In front of us, hard to see because of the rain, is a covered wagon on a muddy road, being attacked by five mobs. The monsters are formed like beetles, but have the scales of a fish, a pair of muscular arms and the face of a shark. What are these mobs even called? Sharkbeetles? At least they''re only as large as big dogs.
Surrounded by them is a single humanoid shadow, it''s the yelling guy from before. The man is wearing a hooded cloak as well and he wields a saber. He''s not bad at fighting, dancing between the sharkbeetles, always attacking the ones which want to take a bite from the already damaged wagon.
I don''t need to get into details here. Rine comes, death flourishes and I help a bit, starting with a [Speedthrust] into the opponents. In the end, there are only five monsters. Nothing to be afraid of.
But Rine''s totally drenched now, in blood and water, since fighting while keeping the cloak shut is nigh impossible.
Same goes for the man, who has black, long hair and a beard. Black hair? But he''s clearly not Asian. So there are people like that, huh? In Feuerberg, most people had bright hair, like blonde, dark blonde, light brown, or red. I guess he''s from another country.
¡°Thank you, I thought we would be doomed. I''m a merchant. The name is Correo.¡± Sounds Italian to me. Yes, I guess the complexion would be also similar. ¡°And how is your name, brave barbarian?¡±
Is he talking to me? ¡°Barbarian? That''s quite rude.¡±
¡°I apologize, I jumped into conclusions after seeing your attire and your combat skills.¡±
Ah. I guess being half-naked automatically makes me a barbarian. I better check, if I got the option to choose the [Barbarian]-class... As I expected, it''s not that simple.
I''m being sarcastic, you know?
¡°I''m Kenta.¡± I leave out my last name. I would rather use a false name, but Rine will never be able to hold a secret identity, be it her own or mine: ¡°That''s Rine. And somewhere should be another one, Kyou.¡± Kyou-san didn''t follow us into battle, so she may be still a few meters away, hidden by the heavy rain.
¡°But strange, Kenta. An unusual name, this attire and an actual skill, everything would point to a barbarian. Or a hero. Ah, I see.¡± Did he see through me, even though I have a poker face? Or did he read Rine''s?
¡°Ken, it would help, if you hide your enmity. Good Greetings, I''m Kyou.¡± Kyou stands beside me now and smiles at that Correo-guy in her fake friendly manner.
¡°Well, in his shoes I would be careful too, so I don''t mind. And it must be fate to meet you, since I''m a special kind of merchant, you know. But please, let me first confirm if my daughter is alright.¡±
¡°Sure...¡±
Correo looks into the covered wagon. ¡°Ogra, are you alright?¡±
The voice of a young girl is answering, elementary school age, I think: ¡°I''m good, pap¨¢.¡±
¡°Ah, thanks to the gods. Please bear a bit with it, I have to talk to our saviors.¡±
¡°Pap¨¢, your eyes are shining. Are they customers?¡±
¡°Maybe, my dear. Maybe.¡±
Ah, so he''s a greedy merchant. I''m OK with it.
Looking at the faces of Kyou-san and Rine, both couldn''t follow the conversation. I guess Rine''s ears are only keen when it comes to detecting monsters to kill and people to save. Well, damage occurred, let''s roll with it for now.
¡°Dear custo- erm, I mean, life-saviors. A bit further down the road is an inn, let us travel as a group and I will buy you a meal.¡± Ah, he totally wanted to call us ''customers''.
¡°We''ll discuss that.¡± I sign my companions, that I want to talk to them in private and they follow me a few meters. ¡°Something is not right. He''s alone with his daughter, even though he seems to be able to defend himself, why should he be here?¡±
Kyou''s speaking openly. ¡°He''s a merchant. I'' m sure he cut the costs of bodyguards. And only one wagon, he may be poor.¡±
Rine is even simpler. ¡°We saved his life, so he''s simply grateful.¡±
¡°Less grateful than opportunistic, Rine. He already sees us as customers. I don''t like it.¡±
¡°Ken, he''s just trying to get a profit. That makes him predictable.¡±
¡°And merchants in the Wildlands are often not well-guarded, Kenta, since there are only a few bandits here. The scaleetles are only that active in rain, otherwise, they wouldn''t come near a trading route.¡±
¡°So they are called scaleetles? And what about other bandits, like human ones? Are they that rare?¡±
¡°If you camp outside the trading routes, it gets too dangerous, so only a few dare to do so.¡±
¡°Phew.¡± I mistrust that Correo-guy, but the others want to accept his offer. We return and I say: ¡°Throw a coat in and fine.¡±
¡°Go into the wagon, each of you. I will give you mine after we arrived at the inn, but for now, I need it to drive.¡±
This is definitely a trap! I use about every [Perception]-skill, but I can''t detect anything wrong, which only supports my theory.
Rine just goes in. ¡°Hello, I''m Rine.¡±
¡°Hallo. My name is Ogra.¡±
Dammit, Rine!
Kyou-san also enters the wagon. ¡°My name is Kyou. Nice to meet you.¡±
I follow them irritated. The inside is cramped with crates and between them is a single, little girl. She has black hair like her father and dark eyes. She might be around ten years old, her hair is tied into twin tails, a rather childish hairstyle.
She looks at me with the innocent eyes of a child: ¡°And who are you, sir?¡±
¡°Kenta. Get lost.¡± She reminds me of the little girls, who used to slander about me. I hate kids!
Kyou-san is rolling her eyes, Rine is tilting her head, but Ogra just smiled innocently. ¡°Don''t worry, sir. We won''t get lost.¡±
¡°Ah, that''s what he was talking about.¡± Rine, you''re on the same level as that pipsqueak.
¡°Phew.¡± I just give up and stay alerted, in case that this Correo-guy will betray us.
¡°What was that, sir?¡± Ignore. ¡°Are you tired? Do you feel unwell? Why don''t you have any clothes on?¡± Just ignore it. It will stop, if it''s tired.
Or if someone like Kyou-san starts a conversation with that pipsqueak. ¡°Ogra-chan, may I ask you a few things?¡±
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°What kind of merchant is your father?¡±
¡°A merchant, who deals with heroes.¡±
...What!?
What kind of merchant would specialize in trading with heroes!? Are there so many of them? Well, Correo only has this one wagon and his daughter is helping out. But that''s too much of a coincidence.
¡°So a hero-merchant, right? What are you doing here?¡± Kyou-san is asking the right questions, using a kid to find about its parent''s business. Evil. I like it!
¡°Pap¨¢ and I were in Feuerberg, since there are supposed to be new heroes there, but when we came to Esse, none of them were there anymore.¡±
This seems almost believable, but why didn''t he travel to the border to Daemonicus, the demon realm? Kyou-san catches my glimpse and responds to it. ¡°So why didn''t he follow them?¡±
¡°Nobody wanted us to know, where the heroes are. We only knew that they were ordered to fulfill a special mission.¡± Was that catching Rine?
¡°What kind of mission might that be?¡± The girl in question sucks at reading between the lines.
¡°We don''t know, but pap¨¢ decided to travel back. He hopes to find more clues in Aroahenn.¡±
¡°The elves?¡± Rine seems to be in wonder.
¡°Aroahenn? What''s that?¡± I have to ask myself, to get some information.
Even if means asking that brat. ¡°The forest-city of the elves. They know everything about heroes.¡±
¡°They do?¡±
¡°Yes, but only few may enter. The elves are dangerous and have magic wards and such. But maybe pap¨¢, who also knows a lot of heroes, may enter their forest!¡±
This girl doesn''t seem to know much. So it comes down to ask Correo directly later. But there are other things to learn. ¡°Rine, pipsqueak, what do you know about elves?¡± They may differ from the ones from games, so I have to be open-minded here.
¡°Sir, did you just called me pipsqueak? My name is Ogra.¡±
¡°Just shut up. Wait, don''t, tell me. Now! You too, Rine!¡±
¡°¡°You''re mean!¡±¡± Both of them are pouting.
¡°Rine, tell me.¡± But I already educated the princess a bit.
¡°Erm... Elves are the young folk.¡±
¡°Young? They aren''t immortal?¡± Wouldn''t you call an immortal race the ''old folk'', normally?
¡°They might. There are no old elves, as far as my family knows.¡±
So they stop aging? Well, it''s still in line with my basic knowledge. So because all of them look young, they''re called the ''young folk'', huh? ¡°Anything else? Are they bound to nature?¡±
¡°I think? Sorry, we don''t know much about them.¡±
Useless princess. Maybe a question she might rather know. ¡°Good at magic?¡± Militaristic potential.
¡°Definitely. Elves are very skilled, every one of them is supposed to be able to use magic. They know spells, we can''t even think of.¡±
Kyou-san interferes: ¡°So they know about curses?¡±
...could this be? The flag to another route?
¡°I think so. The elves know much and are capable of powerful magic. Why do you ask?¡±
I facepalm. Rine really forgot that we''re cursed! Girl, please! Stay focused!
So it really comes down to a talk with Correo. If he doesn''t stab us in the back, he may be a really good source of information.
Let''s push our luck.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We''re inside a run down inn. There are several ones at the trading routes of the Wildlands, they''re big, not well kept and the quality of food and drink is something I fail to express in words. Kyou-san is cooking much better, but oh well, it''s not me, who paid these overpriced meals.
Even though it''s outside Feuerberg, all we can see here are humans. But according to Rine, there are few other races but humans, who would even try to make something work in the Wildlands, especially this close to Feuerberg. I guess humans are actually quite tough, compared to others.
But seriously, most of the people here look no better than bandits. There are sleazy-looking merchants, furious-looking guards, poor-looking vagabonds, about every clich¨¦ of bad people is in here. Good thing that we keep our money in the backpacks and they''re only usable for us.
And in the midst of all this are we, five humans, who are targeted by stares. Well, Kyou-san and Rine mostly. But some are looking at me, wondering if I come from the south, same goes for Kyou-san. But nobody is that intruding to ask us this directly, they''re just wondering, while I can hear every word via [Pitch].
I better turn my attention to the people in front of me.
Correo and pipsqueak are sitting opposite of us. The girl is already at her third serving, while her father is drinking wine with a light meal. Today''s special is grout. Or something which was mashed into one.
I stir my grout listlessly, while exchanging looks with Kyou-san. Since her [Persuasion] is way higher than mine she should lead the conversation, but she''s reluctant. ''Serious, do it already, or do I have to!? Remember the ss''rak!''
''Don''t remind me.'' In the end, she gives in. ¡°So, Correo. You wanted to talk with us.¡±
¡°That''s right. You have to know, that there are quite a few heroes in this world.¡±
¡°How many. And you know that we''re from another world?¡±
¡°I don''t know the exact number, but across the races are hundreds.¡± Hundreds? So being a hero is not as special as I thought. Well, if we count every hero of any race, this number shouldn''t be as shocking, Feuerberg has summoned 30 with us. But Correo added another thing: ¡°And every hero is from another world.¡±
Wait, that''s a new information. If this is right, then there have to be more worlds than the two we know, since the patriarch I dueled against was also a hero. Is that the reason, why he seemed to be that different? What kind of world did he live in?
A few theories spring into my mind, but the conversation goes on. Kyou-san just keeps it fluent.
¡°I see. Ogra-chan told us, you''re a merchant, specialized in heroes?¡±
¡°Ah, my daughter...¡± Correo scratches his beard, like he was just caught. ¡°Well, she''s not off, but not right, either. I''m a relic trader.¡±
¡°Relic?¡± Kyou-san asked the question, I had myself.
¡°You already know magical items?¡± Like Rine''s sword or the cursed ring. ¡°You know, there are some, which can only be used by heroes or only be used on them, for some reasons. An example would be like this.¡± He takes a monocle from his breast pocket and put it on. ¡°So you''re a [Scout], you''re a [Cook] and what do we have here? [Princess Knight]? Never heard of that class.¡±
This monocle is able to see what classes we''ve currently selected? ¡°May I have it?¡± I wanted to hold back, but that''s too interesting!
¡°For 2 million Newgold, it''s quite precious, so I won''t lend it.¡± Money-grubber. Even though I was thinking about stealing it for a moment. Or two.
Kyou-san thrusts her finger into my side under the table, and continues without letting it show: ¡°Are all relics that expensive?¡±
¡°Most. But heroes tends to be rich and those who fight them as well. One of the main reasons for these prices is the fact, that relics can''t be reproduced, even by the best artificers. They''re gifts from the gods.¡±
¡°And what would be an inexpensive one?¡±
¡°This ring, which becomes warm, if one hero meets another of a higher level.¡± He seems to know some things about the hero-system. Well, he claims to be a merchant, who trades with heroes.
¡°Please, no rings.¡± Kyou-san rejected the offer, before the price even comes up. Even though it would indeed be a useful item, I feel the same.
¡°So you''re no potential customers?¡± Correo''s eagerness flows down a drain. ¡°This is... unfortunate.¡± You mean, we''re poor beyond comparison and you''re regretting buying us a meal. We saved your life, money-grubber!
¡°Pap¨¢, the poor folk want to know about elves.¡± Sorry, that you have usury prices!
¡°Ah, I see, I see. You know, I''m also dealing with information. About the elves... ten thousand.¡±
Kyou-san keeps her smile. ¡°Three. We already know a lot about them, so your information is less valuable for us.¡±
¡°Three thousand? How can I feed my little girl that way, you see how much she eats!¡± And so the haggling began.
In the end, we paid 6.159 Newgold, most of it in valuables.
¡°The elves. Elves are also called the ''young folk'', since no human so far even saw an old elf. Some people think of them as immortal, but at least it''s known, that elves can live hundreds of years and can be killed due violence. They avoid contact with humans and the few encounters between humans and elves weren''t that favorable for us. It''s common, that elves are bad omens, which should never be angered. If a human thinks in days and years, an elf thinks in terms of decades and centuries. Elves did take retributions for actions long forgotten on the descendants of the ones, who incited it.¡±
Similar to the elves in games so far.
¡°The nearest settlement of elves is in Aroahenn, northwest from here. I can show you a map... Here it is. And we''re here. So it''s quite a distance away from the trading routes, I also thought of visiting them, but for that, I need to hire some bodyguards first. The reason for visiting them is... the elves of Aroahenn are a insiders'' tip for relic merchants, since they''re investigating heroes and have some really powerful and rare relics.¡±
¡°What kind?¡±
¡°One of them would be one, which can let you deselect a class.¡±
¡°!¡± Kyou-san seems to be surprised and even I''m quite interested. Not that I need to delete one of my classes, but if there is an item like that, I may be more open to trying out new classes.
For Kyou-san, she''s surely eager to get out of her support-only role. Then she might select an actually useful class for combat and if the curse is broken on the way, she can rejoin her friends without a worry. Which would be a good thing for me as well.
Correo continues. ¡°But Aroahenn is quite well-guarded by magical wards, so getting in is nearly impossible. You have to be invited by the elves and the elven guards around the forest-city aren''t the welcoming kind.¡±
¡°What about the abilities of elves?¡± I take over the talk, since Kyou-san seems to be euphoric by the news. She even giggles so softly, that only I''m able to hear it.
¡°Good senses, masterful archers, powerful magic.¡±
¡°Would they know about curses?¡±
¡°If not them, who else?¡±
Then Correo begins his talk about history and other things, but they aren''t essential for now. We got the map as a gift, even though it''s more like a sketch, which is not that accurate.
¡°I see. Thanks for the information. Excuse us for a bit, we need to talk about what we learned. If we have further questions, we''ll let you know.¡±
We move into one of the two rooms Correo got us. It''s supposed to be used by the girls, since we couldn''t possibly declare, how exactly we''re related to.
¡°So, the elves.¡± I scratch my chin. ¡°Seems to be better than nothing.¡±
Kyou-san is not even trying to hide her excitement. ¡°I think visiting the elves is a wonderful idea. I can get rid of the [Healer]-class and there is a chance to break that curse!¡±
And for some reason, Rine is the cautious one. ¡°The elves are dangerous. But I think, we can deal with it together.¡±
Well, we got a consent. ¡°So nobody is opposed. Then the next question: Who''s for leaving right now, getting a head start, before that Correo-guy might do something?¡±
¡°Me.¡± Kyou-san raises her hand.
¡°Mn? What''s with Correo?¡± Rine cocks her head.
¡°I don''t like him, Rine. That should be enough.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
¡°So nobody opposed to that, either. We got his coat, we got his map, let''s climb down the window and run into the rain!¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Correo is sitting in his room and is using a spyglass. This spyglass allows him to observe people even through walls, as long as he knows the face and the target is within a range of a hundred meters (almost 330 ft).
¡°They left.¡± He says it to the girl, who is called Ogra.
¡°Master, I don''t like that guy. He''s looking at me suspiciously and called me ''pipsqueak''!¡± She''s sulking like the little girl she currently appears to be.
¡°This only means, our disguise worked. Be proud of my cover, slave.¡±
Yes, instead of being father and daughter, their real relationship is that between master and slave. She''s magically bound to him, unable to deny his commands. She''s his bodyguard, his servant, and his pretend daughter at the same time.
¡°But you''re right, those three are different from the ones we met before. The man is distrusting, the black haired girl calculating and the blonde one seems to be from a different world than the other two. But her swordsmanship is quite good.¡±
¡°Quite good? Seriously, Master, it would be problematic, if I have to protect you while fighting that one. She might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but her battle instincts are keen. The moment I directed the slightest killing intent, her hand was already at her sword. I would probably overpower her, but if I have to defend you at the same time... krrrrk!¡± The girl called Ogra strokes with a finger over her throat. She has a mad smile on her face, maybe she would actually enjoy fighting the blonde one.
¡°Your tongue is slipping again.¡±
¡°! Sorry, Master!¡±
Correo is a man, who dislikes the vulgar. He''s also someone who works for those who benefit him the most. Currently, he''s serving someone with a keen interest in the new heroes and who wants to get the elven relics.
So using the heroes to infiltrate the city of Aroahenn seems to be viable. They can show their strength, while being in conflict with the elves. And the moment they enter the city, the plan will come to fruition.
Volume 03 - Chapter 2-2
When you''re in a fantasy world, you can''t cut the traveling time. So if you need five days to get to a location, you have to be prepared to walk five days, sleeping outside five days, killing monsters attacking you for five days and so on.
Lucky for you, I''m the one who needs to endure it. For you, it''s a simple: ''Five days later''. Bastard!
¡°So this is the forest of Aroahenn.¡± I already crumpled the map Correo gave us and burned it. Why? Because I hate that guy! And it wasn''t that accurate either. So I needed to do something to get rid of this irritation.
¡°Ken, now that we''re here, we have to talk.¡±
¡°Talk about what?¡±
¡°Your face.¡±
¡°Are you implying, that I''m ugly?¡±
¡°As a matter of fact, you are. So let''s cover it up unless we wanted to be shot by arrows.¡±
¡°Bi-¡±
*slap*
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
Did Rine just slap her hand on my mouth? Why? It''s Rine!
Wait, it''s Rine. So she won''t like me calling Kyou-san a bitch. The blonde girl looks at me with apologizing eyes, but it''s like she couldn''t help it. Well, it didn''t hurt much, she was just so fast in silencing me.
¡ Why is Kyou-san upping her thumb to her? When did that happen!? Kyou-san is manipulating Rine behind my back! And I did let it happen, even though it was so predictable! When!? How!?
¡°Ken, let me finish. Do you remember the lizardmen?¡±
Slowly, Rine removes her hand. ¡°The ss''rak? Of course.¡±
¡°Do you remember how every single one of them, who saw you, tried to beat you up or to kill you?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Since I don''t want to risk anything, I would feel much safer, if you cover your face and won''t say anything. Like ever again. But for some days would be sufficient for now.¡±
¡°You''re jok- You''re not.¡± Maybe there were some problems in the past, but it''s not like I wanted these things to escalate. I''m almost innocent!
Now Rine chimes in: ¡°Kyou, Kenta isn''t ugly. He may not be handsome compared to some other men I know, but he''s not as bad as others.¡±
¡°His face may get a passing grade, but only if he would actually smile for a change. And I mean a heartfelt one and not one of his usual smirks.¡±
¡°That''s unfair, Kyou. Smiling is not his strong point.¡±
Rine, please stop. It''s a too pitiful display of a defense.
I rub my temple. ¡°Kyou-san, I let you do the talking, but I won''t cover my face. We have neither a mask nor do I want to restrain my [Perception] by one bit. Even facial hair is supposed to help you to perceive your surrounding, by feeling the air currents.¡±
¡°That sounds stupid, but as long as you''re quiet, it''s sufficient.¡±
So we walk towards the trees, I''m a step ahead of the rest. ¡°Wait. There is something. The air is... flickering a bit.¡± It seems like a TV, which tries to display a definition it''s not compatible with. You see things as they are, but it''s a bit blurred.
Without [Focus] and [Farsight] I may have missed it.
I take a pebble and throw it. It''s flicked away by that obviously magical barrier. I look for some more pebbles and repeated the process. ¡°We knocked. Let''s wait.¡±
And it doesn''t take long until the barrier opens up a hole, large enough for us to enter.
This seems fishy, but do we have a choice?
So we enter and behind us, the barrier closes. Then suddenly, I see several creatures around us, pointing their arrows at us. Elves, eight of them.
Or are they?
The elves I saw in games and movies are beautiful humanoids. They have pointy ears, but otherwise, they look like slim humans. But how do I say... these ones look strange.
Pointy ears, check. Beautiful... their eyes are wide and their irises are two-colored, an inner and an outer ring. Green and yellow is the most common combination, but one has red and green and another one blue and gray. The pupils are long, a bit cat-like.
Their nasal bones are also long, their cheekbones on the high side and the heads rather large compared to the rest of their bodies. These are rather short, and instead of slim, they''re more skinny. Even though some of them look female, they have no breasts. Not even a bit.
Their hair is bright, most of them have of light green color, but there is also one with copper-colored hair, someone with bluish green hair, I can even see two of them, whose hair was yellow. Not blonde. Yellow.
Wait a minute, is there a bit of green in their skin color?
No, elves are not beautiful. They''re strange. Different. I look at them and I can''t help to think, that they''re an entirely different species. All these differences are subtle in nature, but they sum up to something inhumane. Maybe that¡¯s why in Japan foreigners were considered as monsters centuries ago.
So unless these are the freaks, I suppose that there are no attractive, big-busted elven girls in this fantasy world. Again it proves me, that it''s not a game.
And it''s all summed up by their choice of clothes, which''s style is strange. And none of them wears footgear if you don''t count soleless cotton and leather laces.
The elves are calm. One of them slowly lowers the bow, his eyes has a combination of yellow-green, that''s a bit brighter than the rest. ¡°Hands in the air.¡± We do as he said. ¡°Before we begin with the standard procedure, there is one question we have to ask.¡±
Kyou-san stays calm and answers: ¡°Ask.¡±
¡°It''s for the male one.¡±
Hey, that wasn''t discussed! I thought I would just stay beside Kyou-san and do nothing. The same Kyou-san is definitely displeased, but nods at me.
No chance, huh? ¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Which one of these two do you pork?¡±
¡
¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ What!?
I look at Kyou-san, who''s as speechless as I am and Rine, who''s cocking her head, not understanding what was just asked.
¡°Can you repeat the question?¡± I must have misheard it.
¡°Which one of these two females do you pork. Or screw. Wedge? You know, nighttime actions.¡±
¡
Is he serious?
¡°Answer me, or we will turn you into a pincushion!¡± He lifts the bow and aims at me. The other elves are also aiming directly at me, instead of our general direction.
He... He IS serious!?
¡°Kenta has night action with Kyou, since they won''t let me join.¡±
¡ RINE!!!
I fall down to my knees, unable to support my weight with my weakening legs. Kyou-san is about to faint, rolling her eyes that much, that there is no iris to see.
The elves are laughing: ¡°Oh, we have a playboy here. Well, not our problem, but the black-haired one, huh? I just lost a carving knife, bastard! You seemed like one, who would do blondes.¡±
Why is there a strange sound? Ah, I''m hitting my forehead repeatedly with both of my palms. Please, stop! I don''t even know, who am I addressing, but please, stop!
¡°After we got the answer of that important questions, let''s start the interrogation. Who are you and what do you want here?¡±
I want to answer, but I''m busy hurting myself. Kyou-san is also putting her faces in her hands in dismay. So we have only one party member left, who could answer.
¡°My name is Katarine von Stolzherz, this is Katsuragi Kenta, that is Momokawa Kyou and we''re heroes. We''re here to visit the elves.¡±
Suddenly, the air freezes. The elves, despite not changing their facial expressions, are looking at us with hostility and most of them draw their bows. ¡°What did you call us?¡± The leader is obviously pissed. At least going by his voice, I can¡¯t tell by his body language.
¡°Elves?¡± Rine is tilting her head.
¡°Aera''jos! Don''t-¡± Before the leader of the elves could interfere, an arrow is shot at Rine, but without breaking a sweat, she draws her sword and deflect it with a swift motion.
Rine, you''re too overpowered, being able to do that! Even most of the elves'' mouths are agape! It¡¯s only slightly, maybe elves just don¡¯t have much facial expression in general?
¡°Please, Mr. Elf. I''m sorry if I have offended you.¡± She does a curtsy and apologizes. Even though the hostility remained, it calmed a bit.
The leader answers, still a bit in shock about Rine''s display of overprowess ¡°Katarine, I''m sorry for Aere''jos. But you have to know, that ''elf'' is a word used by humans, which is like an insult to us. If we called humans constantly ''dumans'', you would be also feel insulted.¡±
¡°I see... so how do you call yourself?¡±
¡°Alfar. Singular alfr.¡±
¡°Sorry, Mr. Alfr.¡±
¡°We''re the Ljos, which means ''The ones who lives in the light'' in common tongue. If you refer us as ''high-elves'' or ''light-elves'' we''ll kill you.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
Hey, isn''t Rine quite capable of taking over negotiations? She already starts to befriend them! Well, her [Persuasion]-value is high, after all.
¡°My name is Oro''hekk, by the way. I''m the leader of the guards. Katarine, there is another important question, I have to ask you.¡±
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°What are these things on her chest? They seem to be bouncy and needless.¡±
¡°On Kyou''s chest? ¡ Ah, her breasts? Human women do have those.¡±
¡°Do you have these ''breasts'' as well?¡±
¡°Yes. You can''t see mine since I''m wearing armor.¡±
¡°Ah, so what do you do with these?¡±
¡°...¡± She''s fidgeting. ¡°Adult stuff.¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Wo-Ho-Ho-Hooooooo!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± All alfar are celebrating this news in a choir. But at least they''re lowering their bows, to pump their fist into the air.
What a bunch of pubescent brats! Every one of them is looking like they could be around our age, despite being disfigured, so yes, you may have only one thing in your head at that age. But seriously!
Oro''hekk continued: ¡°Well if we consider everything, I think that you may pass after the last test. We need to see if your story about being heroes is true. Is there any evidence?¡±
Rine is looking at me. Kyou-san is still squirming, unable to respond. I think I can hear a quiet mix of whining, curses and strange noises from her.
I stand up and see, how an alfr girl is humping her waist. It''s not the least bit sexy, but very annoying. ¡°Do you know class-change?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Oro''hekk is totally relaxed, but his ears are waving a bit. What does that mean?
Nevermind. ¡°Then watch.¡± I select the [Pikeman]-class and my muscles grow. ¡°One.¡± Then I select the [Student]-class, my muscle mass decrease and my belly grows. ¡°Two.¡± Then [Scout] again. ¡°Three.¡±
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Oro''hekk put his bow into the quiver on his waist. ¡°That is quite a display. Even though I don''t know, which class makes your belly bloats.¡± I want to hit him! ¡°Aera''jos¡±, Oro''hekk turns to the one, who just shot at Rine: ¡°As punishment, you will run ahead and inform Ara''ainn about the coming heroes. She will be delighted.¡±
Aera''jos complains about being degraded to a messenger, but Oro''hekk only insisted and Aera''jos complies. Well, Oro''hekk called himself the leader of the guards, of course, he outranks that Aera''jos-guy.
The bowstring-happy alfr runs deeper into the forest and we follow Oro''hekk and the rest of the alfar at a slower pace.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
After the magical wards comes a labyrinth made out trees and bushes. Is this me or did we passed the same trees several times? Even though the way the branches are growing differs, the bark pattern seems to be the same. And I feel observed. By something hostile.
¡°We''re here.¡± Oro''hekk declares this while showing us a perfect panorama of the middle of nowhere. Seriously, some trees, scrubs and nothing else.
As I expected. ¡°So this is the part, where you try to kill us?¡±
Oro''hekk blinks in disbelief: ¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°You brought us deep into the forest, only-¡°
¡°Ken.¡±
¡°-only so that there will be no chance-¡±
¡°Ken.¡±
¡°-will be no chance, that we-¡±
¡°Ken!¡±
¡°Stop interrupting me!¡±
¡°Stop being a moron and look up.¡± Kyou-san points to the treetops. And there is something strange, the branches of several trees have formed like a basket, merging several crowns to something, which resembles a dome. Between the branches are sometimes big holes, which are covered up by leafs.
Is this a building? Are these windows and doors?
¡°Close your mouth, insects are flying in.¡± Kyou-san makes a sardonic remark.
Oro''hekk simply snickers and asks: ¡°Any questions left?¡±
¡°...¡± This is shameful. ¡°Yes, how are we supposed to get in?¡±
¡°Ah, humans. Almost forgot.¡± Oro''hekk steps forward. Addressing the tree he spoke. ¡°We like to enter you, would you be so kind to help us?¡±
And the tree lowers a humongous branch, which acts like a small bridge to the leaf-covered hole, which is supposedly a door.
Moving trees. This... is actually quite fantasy-like. But I don''t like it. I get the feeling, that every tree inside this forest might become my enemy.
¡°Kenta, look! It''s moving by being asked, this is unbelievable!¡± Rine''s eyes are sparkling. She''s so simple.
Kyou-san narrows her eyes, maybe she''s thinking the same as I am. Then she whispers with a shake of her head: ¡°Don''t think about it.¡±
We cross the bridge and enters the building. It''s... a mess.
Books, papers, and scrolls are scattered through the whole room and on all furniture, most of them seem to contain countless lists of numbers and quite a few of them are covered in dust.
The room in general, is dusty and unkempt. I can smell old leftovers, reminding me of my own room in Japan after a gaming marathon.
Some space was made, obviously just now, since I can still see the things which were thrown aside to free some sitting accommodation. On one of these seats is the guy, who was sent here by Oro''hekk.
I''ve already forgotten his name.
Well, let''s hope that this won''t be important anymore.
¡°Where is Ara''ainn?¡± Oro''hekk asked the alfr.
¡°Back in what''s left of the kitchen. After a hard negotiation, she''s preparing drinks.¡±
¡°...¡±
Hey, why are you silent?
And why am I hearing some strange noises from a room further inside this wooden building?
Steps are approaching, accompanied by clattering. Someone is carrying dishes, I think. And finally with a thud, that someone falls to the ground, the dishes fall to the ground and break.
Seriously, what''s going on!?
¡°...Ah.¡± I can hear the voice of a girl, who seems to wonder what just happens. ¡°I fell asleep.¡±
I throw a glance at Kyou-san, who doesn''t have the [Pitch]-skill and therefore can only hear faint, strange sounds without knowing what''s going on. Same for Rine, whose head is tilted.
Then I redirected the glance to Oro''hekk, who explains with a shrug: ¡°She''s rarely sleeps, so sometimes she falls asleep while standing. Or walking. Or eating. Or about every other form of activity.¡± Why are you so calm about it!?
Who is she, and why do we have to meet her!?
¡°Aera''jos, please help her.¡±
¡°Why do I have to?¡±
¡°Because I''ll put fleas in your bed, if you don''t.¡±
¡°I hate you!¡±
But that Aera''jos-guy does what the other alfr asked him to do. Actually, he seems even a bit eager about it. Strange.
We seat ourselves and after around two minutes, finally we can see that Ara''ainn-san-girl.
The way she''s looking... is about the same for me as the other alfar. High cheekbones, long, pointy ears, wide dark green dark blue eyes, and hair white as snow. I think, that she looks like a girl around my age, but it''s hard to call her pretty. At least from a human''s standpoint.
But even though she''s supposed to be so tired, that she even falls asleep while walking, she doesn''t have bags under her eyes. But I think the points of her ears are a bit sacked.
¡°Welcome to my research facility, I''m the one in charge, Ara''ainn.¡±
Kyou-san and I are looking at Rine, so she can take over the conversation. But she''s looking at me, for some reason, so I try to push the burden to Kyou-san, who sighs and does what she''s originally supposed to do. ¡°I''m Momokawa Kyou, that''s Katsuragi Kenta and finally, this is Rine-chan.¡±
¡°At least your names sounds hero-like. All of you are humans?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And all of you are heroes?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Then...¡± Without any sort of sign, Ara''ainn-san''s upper body lost all of it¡¯s tension. Before it could fall, I catch her by her shoulders. I was the first to notice, since I got the [Focus]-skill.
Ara''ainn-san is blinking several times, while the alfar are drawing their weapons, that Aera''jos-guy already had an arrow drawn on his string. Hey, I just helped her!
A bit of life comes back to the girl, I just caught. ¡°Oro''hekk and everyone else, he just caught me, when I fell asleep.¡± The alfr-girl sighs and looks me into the eyes. ¡°Hm... you''re quite a specimen. Did you catch me, to win a bit of my favor?¡±
I avert my eyes. ...She got me. That''s exactly what I would do and why I did so.
Even someone like me wants to befriend as many alfar as possible, after witnessing only the tip of the iceberg of their defense mechanisms.
Oro''hekk makes a gesture, and the guards lower their weapons. ¡°Sorry, Ara''ainn, we thought he was going to rape you.¡±
...What!? Hey, doing it with an alfar would probably feel like bestiality! They''re an entirely different species! Does anyone getting off, doing it with apes!?
¡°Sorry, Kenta-kun,¡± Ara''ainn-san explains. ¡°In alfar literature, there are a number of pieces about humans raping alfar women.¡±
¡
¡ ¡
...We have these in my world as well. I kinda feel guilty.
And some humans actually perform bestiality, after all.
¡°I have a question.¡± It''s a very important one to me. ¡°Why are you ''-kun''ing me?¡±
¡°...¡± She''s sleeping again.
I let her drop to the floor.
Oro''hekk is the first one to act this time: ¡°Everyone, drop your weapons until he drops his pants!¡±
This... is the worst.
After an hour, Ara''ainn-san awakens and her ear-points are a bit higher now. She sends the other alfar outside, being confident about being able to protect herself.
¡°I slept an hour, what a disgrace.¡± Ara''ainn-san seems to be crestfallen. ¡°Before we start, I''m sorry for them.¡± She means the other alfar, who take their jobs as guards actually seriously.
Well, they seem to be young, but... ¡°How old are they?¡±
¡°Oro''hekk just turned 648. The others are around three hundred. I''m 144 years old, by the way. Ah, not surprised. Are you knowing about our lifespans due to the stories of this world or your own?¡±
¡°So you know about us being from another world... Well, we heard, that Aroahenn has a lot of knowledge about heroes.¡±
¡°That''s me. I''m the one, who gathered it all. Me, Ara''ainn, the hero-sage.¡±
¡°Never heard of you.¡±
¡°...ignorant.¡±
¡°You...¡±
¡°Ken, keep quiet! And Ara''ainn-san, please don''t provoke him. He''s badly educated and we just got him housebroken.¡±
Anger is welling up, but I keep quiet. ¡°Bitch.¡± Almost.
Slap.
Rine slapped my mouth shut again!
¡°Well done, Rine.¡± And Kyou-san is encouraging her!
¡°Sorry, Kenta, but Kyou told me to do this if you call any of us names.¡±
I''m about to throw another insult, but who knows what Rine will do, if I keep doing that?
Dammit! I''m oppressed by my wives!
Oh shit, I have wives!
¡°It seems like Kenta-kun is hurting.¡± Ara''ainn-san steps closer to me and take a deep look into my face. ¡°In the heart, that is.¡±
¡°Ignore him.¡±
¡°I can''t because it''s funny.¡±
I want to hit someone. Each of this girls would do fine! Except for Rine, she can fight back. And Kyou-san, she got Rine on her side. And Ara''ainn-san, since there are several of her companions just outside and making them my enemy would most likely be deadly.
I''m out of girls to hit! I hate it!
¡°Kenta-kun.¡± Ara''ainn-san is looking at me apologizing. ¡°I''m sorry, I got carried away. Everything has a certain order. So let me re-introduce myself: Ara''ainn, the hero-sage of Aroahenn. The alfar hero of knowledge.¡±
¡ So Ara''ainn-san is a hero as well? Or is it just a title? ¡°So you''re from another world, too?¡± If she''s a hero, she has to.
¡°Yes, I''m from a place called Ljos on the planet Alfheim.¡±
Rine is excited: ¡°You''re from another world, too? Just like Kenta and Kyou!¡±
Ara''ainn-san''s look changes. It''s just a bit, but a small smile is forming on her face. But somehow I got bad vibes from it.
¡°Rine!¡± I put my hand on her head, forcing her face to my direction: ¡°Do you know, what you just implied?¡±
¡°Don''t be hasty, Kenta-kun. Just let me talk to Rine-san and everything will be fine.¡± Ara''ainn-san eyes are sparkling, but it''s different from Rine''s sparks of excitement. These are the eye-sparks of a vulture, who just found prey.
Kyou-san sighs. ¡°Keep it down, seriously.¡± She''s like the voice of reason. A very annoyed voice of reason who bears an unsaid threat in her tone. ¡°Ara''ainn-san, you too.¡± Even the alfr is taken aback by Kyou-san''s tone. ¡°Since you''re about to throw off the order again, let me get some points straight.¡±
Ara''ainn-san leans back. ¡°Do so.¡±
¡°You''re Ara''ainn-san, the hero-sage and a hero, plus the boss of this research facility, right?¡±
¡°Right.¡±
¡°And you research heroes, right?¡±
¡°Right.¡±
¡°We have some questions regarding that and we like to get the knowledge of the el-¡± She corrects herself, after a warning look of Ara''ainn-san. ¡°-alfar about curses. We can pay you.¡±
¡°I don''t want any money. I want to know everything about heroes!¡± Ara''ainn-san has a strange vibe to her. But somehow I can empathize with it.
She hates being in this world. I''m sure of it. And she wants to escape it. The same as me.
¡°Phew. Why are you studying heroes? Aren''t there other ways to return home?¡±
Ara''ainn-san seems to be surprised, that I was able to read her, but she remains calm. ¡°Because I can''t figure them out. There are wars, there are gods, who interfere in them, so far it''s strange enough but somewhat reasonable. But why heroes from other worlds? If there is a system for exceptional beings, why won''t the gods imply the system to people of this world? The heroes have to be the key to these mysteries. And solving it will probably solve my dilemma as well.¡±
Kyou-san and I exchange looks.
I already had my doubts, but cast them aside for now, to pursuit the power needed to make my own decisions.
Kyou-san asked herself these questions when she was left behind in Esse, while she went through her own sufferings. She didn''t reach a conclusion.
Rine wasn''t originally even able to become a hero, but now she''s one due to the curse. If she can, why can''t others?
There have to be logical reasons for it, but we know too little.
Ara''ainn-san has researched heroes and got a vast amount of knowledge about them. Enough to call her the hero-sage. As long as it''s not a self-proclaimed title.
Kyou-san nods to me, telling me, that she knows what to do. ¡°Ara''ainn-san, we have several secrets, but we can''t give you them for free. What we want are only two things: The most important thing would be the alfar knowledge about curses. The secondary objective would be the use of the relic, which can delete a class.¡±
¡°The first one is easy, but the relic... Even if you just want to use it, it''s a bit complicated. So what do I get for exchange?¡±
¡°This one.¡±
¡
¡ ¡
Kyou-san, why are you pointing at me?
¡°...to keep?¡± Ara''ainn-san asks in a tone, that I don''t like.
¡°For now only for investigations, after we got the information about curses, you may keep him.¡±
She''s serious, right? ¡°Doesn''t my opinion matter!?¡±
¡°Deal.¡±
¡°Sold.¡±
It doesn''t.
¡°Kenta, I think you were just sold.¡±
¡°Rine, I was.¡±
¡°Selling Ken for something actually useful is a bargain.¡±
¡°You can''t sell Kenta!¡±
Ah, Rine. You''re like a beacon of hope, easing the pain of my soul.
Kyou-san is looking at Rine as if she just declared, that you have put trash on an altar to worship it.
¡°Kyou, are you looking at me, as if I proclaimed, to worship waste on a shrine?¡±
¡°Sorry Rine-chan, I never considered, that anyone would actually stand for that thing if given a choice.¡±
¡°Rine-san, Kyou-san, can I consider Kenta-kun as an ugly specimen of your race?¡±
¡°Yes/No.¡± Both answered at the same time. Of course, Rine is the one, who denied me being ugly.
¡°Hm...¡± Ara''ainn-san is looking at my face. ¡°Maybe he''s cute? Hard to tell... So we might consider him as ''not handsome''?¡±
¡°At least/Maybe.¡± Rine, please! Don''t falter!
¡°How about you, Kenta-kun? Do you consider yourself as handsome.¡± Ara''ainn-san is looking deep into my eyes. She doesn''t want to tease me, she''s seriously curious.
I avert my eyes. ¡°...no.¡± And speak the truth. ¡°I''m not ugly, but...¡± I''m a bit round, my face isn''t that pretty and my eyes might be a bit mean-looking. But openly admitting it is hurting me!
¡°Don''t worry, Kenta-kun. For me, you''re fine.¡±
I hear undertones in her voice that fill it with a deep thirst for knowledge and implies: ''I''m fine for research as a lab rat'', but it''s still more support than I got from my own party members.
¡°Hm!¡± With a pouting face, Rine is putting her arms around my neck. ¡°I like Kenta the way he is.¡±
You gain 2 WP.
Even when facing despair, a single declaration of love can lighten your heart, making the world brighter again. Throw a hug in, and the happiness is perfect.
These pop-ups... I close it without hesitation.
Ara''ainn-san is watching us in suspect. Why? Does she know?
No, of course not.
But alfar have probably good senses, it seems, so she may have seen, that all of us were reacting at the same time to something. And decided to not ask us about it.
Wait, that''s not it! Her body is swaying, I think she''s about to fall asleep again. So maybe she was just looking at us like that, because her vision is blurring, while she fights sleep.
¡°Ara''ainn-san, may I make a suggestion?¡± I may make use of it to strike a bargain. ¡°We trade information. We about us and the hero-system and you will let us see the writings of curses of your people. And everything else will be negotiated after one side runs dry.¡±
This is reasonable and since she''s sleepy, she might not realize, that this would make us into kinda equals, instead of beggars.
¡°You¡¯re trying to manipulate me, right?¡± Ah, she''s keen on the uptake. ¡°But I don''t care. Be my guests, since we''re still outside of the actual village, I can do what I want. Stay a few days and tell me everything about you.¡±
¡°Are you all OK with that?¡± Unlike a certain other person, I ask the concerned people about their opinions!
¡°Sounds acceptable.¡±
¡°It''s OK.¡±
And so we became the guests of Ara''ainn-san.
Volume 03 - Chapter 2-3
Kyou-san wakes up beside me, so I decided to do the same. I awake from my [Dormurnal]-state and everything I perceive during that time hammers on me, and I got the chance to rationally think about a scene which occurred then: For some reason, Rine decided to walk up to us and after about ten minutes, she went back to sleep.
Creepy.
¡°You''re awake?¡± Kyou-san asks me while yawning.
¡°Obviously.¡±
Currently, we''re in a guest room, which was used as a storage room. A lot of useless stuff is here, mostly papers, which are made of fallen leaves. Alfar and trees have a strange relationship to each other. At least that''s what I believe.
This whole building was made for Ara''ainn-san and her research, she lives and sleeps here as well, just two rooms apart. There is a big hall for experiments, three studies, a kitchen, a living room, a bath, a toilet (which means you shit into a hole on a seat and everything falls down to the roots of the tree) and several storerooms.
And since Ara''ainn-san just keeps on piling, almost all space was used. Or rather misused.
Our room has three beds, made out of leaves and branches, like almost everything here. And it''s all alive and can move if Ara''ainn-san asks it to do so. So if she wants us dead, she can just ask our beds to crush us, while we sleep.
That''s why I used [Dormurnal] for this very first night. Well, there is little reason to not use it, it just has the demerit of not feeling well during sleep and especially when you leave that dream-like state. But as long as it keeps me alive, I''m OK with it.
Kyou-san does her morning routine, washing her face, checking her clothes, and she throws me out of the room to change. It''s like this every day.
And I''m sure that when she calls me back in, she''ll be back to her usual beautiful self. But for now I just stand in front of the ''door''.
¡°Good morning.¡±
My head is quickly turning to the direction of the voice. It''s Ara''ainn-san. Why didn''t I hear her? ¡°Do you have the [Stealth]-ability?¡±
¡°No.¡± She smiles slightly, but her smile is different from Rine''s or Kyou-san''s. It''s a smile of knowing about things you don''t. A bit arrogant. And it doesn''t even reach her cheeks, her eyebrows are also not moving at all. ¡°So you have [Perception], otherwise it wouldn''t irritate you so much.¡±
¡°Phew. At least you act the hero-sage part.¡±
¡°I did it most of my life. Why are you waiting outside the room?¡±
¡°So the girls may change.¡±
¡°And I thought you were engaged in a beddable relationship.¡±
I hit my forehead with both of my palms, feeling a mix of embarrassment and frustration: ¡°Why are you el- alfar like that!?¡±
¡°I don''t know about the others, but for me, humans are a species who always think about sexual intercourse.¡±
¡°How do you come to that conclusion!?¡±
¡°They''re in heat all year long, can be impregnated at an age of only 13 years, have strange interests like sex with animals, toys, and other things, I can''t even talk about without blushing, and if they can''t find someone to mate, they do it by themselves. That''s strange.¡±
I better not ask how alfar''s sexual biology works. ¡°The way you''re talking about it, really makes me doubt that there is anything that can make you blush.¡±
¡°Oh, there are quite some things. But because of these facts, it''s commonly a prejudice against humans, that they''re only thinking about sex.¡±
¡°So your pals only wanted to make fun of us, huh?¡±
¡°Most likely.¡± A small smile which annoys me.
¡°So let me make it clear: There is no such relationship between us.¡±
¡°So you''re into animals?¡±
¡°#?+!¡± Making a sound, which couldn''t be expressed in letters, I grab her shoulders.
Ara''ainn-san calmly looks at my hands and my face. Then she inhales deeply to do this: ¡°HELP, HE''S GOING TO RAPE ME!¡±
The leaves, which acts like a door, are pushed aside and suddenly, fingers are grabbing my eye sockets from behind. With a violent jolt, my head is pulled back and I look at the angry face of Kyou-san, the still drowsy Rine just behind her.
Kyou-san is turning her head back to the blonde girl. ¡°Rine-chan?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Punch him.¡±
¡°*yawn* OK.¡± Rine is even easier to manipulate when she''s still sleepy.
A hard punch and some explanations later, this misunderstanding could be get rid of.
I somehow get the idea, why alfar are called the ''young folk''. They''re forever stuck in puberty! I mean, Ara''ainn-san is supposed to be 144 years old and still finds amusement in acting like this! Same for Oro''hekk.
By the way, Kyou-san didn''t apologize for jumping to conclusions. How harsh can you be, girl!?
After this, in a negative way, exciting morning, we wanted to eat breakfast. But we couldn''t. Rine and I are speechless at the sight we saw after we entered the kitchen.
¡°Ara''ainn-san?¡± Kyou-san''s face is distorted in a mix between a friendly smile and a furious grimace. ¡°Why are these squirrels living in your kitchen?¡± Yes, there are animals here, which resembles squirrels. They''re spotted like pandas, otherwise almost perfect squirrels.
¡°Call me ''Ara''.¡±
¡°Ara-san? Why are there squirrels living in your kitchen?¡± Without even hesitation, Kyou-san adapted her question.
Ara''ainn-san fold her arms and closes her eyes. ¡°Because I chased the crows away.¡±
¡°And what was before that? Rats?¡±
¡°Kyou-san, do you have the [Divination]-ability?¡±
¡°Ara-san, when was the last time, you cleaned your kitchen?¡±
¡°Personally? I never have.¡±
¡°How many years have you lived here?¡±
¡°I moved in about a hundred years ago. Sometimes I travel around for new information, so the actual number of years I¡¯ve lived here is less.¡±
¡°Did someone else clean that place for you?¡±
¡°Yes, sometimes a helpful soul cleans here.¡±
¡°You''re the worst.¡±
I must agree. After seeing a sight like this, I can only feel sympathy for anyone, whoever cleaned that place up.
Calling it dirty is too much of a compliment. Somehow it gives the impression, that it was never clean to begin with, so there is no exact step to dirty.
The wooden walls, made from the trees, are coated with a thick layer of dirt, grease, and things, I can only recognize as leftovers. There are even some spider, insect and lizard corpses, who couldn''t escape the sticky surface and died a horrible dead of starvation.
If there was ever a floor, I can''t see any signs of it. It died, crushed by leaps of things, I can''t even describe. Part of it seems to be leftovers and dishes, but the dishes, made of wood, started to sprout, growing branches and leaves. Shouldn''t the wood of a dish be dead!? I hope it''s an alfar-thing, since seeing something like this as a result of not tidying up is quite disturbing.
In these heaps live about ten families of panda-squirrels, which looks at us as if we threatened their territory. And they''re quite intimidating.
¡°Be careful everyone,¡± Ara''ainn-san warns us. ¡°I was not able to reconquer the kitchen, so if we want to do something here, we have to negotiate with the squirrels.¡±
I can''t hold back: ¡°Ara''ainn-san, what level do you have?¡±
¡°I''m mostly about studies, so my level doesn''t represent my experience. I''m level 50.¡±
Only a bit above mine. ¡°So you, as a level 50 hero, are unable to get your kitchen back? What are these? Weresquirrels?¡±
¡°Squirrels with an unusual pattern and some history. They''re also the epitome of evil.¡±
¡°...What did they do?¡±
¡°After I chased them out the first time, they attacked me in my sleep and...¡± Ara''ainn-san shivers. ¡°...no single alfr could be a match for them.¡±
I want to know but don''t.
¡°Phew...¡± So we have to negotiate with squirrels!? ¡°Rine?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Please talk to them.¡± Rine has the [Animal Ken]-ability and its [Whisperer]-skill. With this, she''s able to converse with normal animals with words and gesture and understands answers. It''s not really talking, but similar.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
¡°And what should I say?¡±
¡°That they either give us the kitchen back or we will force them to.¡± I will never surrender to squirrels! My pride may be crushed on a regular basis, but I won''t back down here!
¡°I would feel bad if we need to kill them. They''re cute.¡±
¡°Rine, cuteness is a survival strategy of certain animals. So don''t be tricked by them! Every animal that''s cute, use its cuteness to survive, not to please you. It''s a coward''s tactic!¡± I would also use it if I was cute.
But I''m not.
Rine clenches her fist. ¡°I see. I''ll do my best!¡±
Ara''ainn-san''s ears straighten, Kyou-san rolls her eyes. How foolish, if you want to take something, be prepared to use force for it! And there are only few greater forces than Rine!
She enters the room and engages the squirrels in conversation: ¡°Erm, hello squirrels. This is the kitchen of Ara''ainn, so would you be so kind and leave?¡± She smiles and smiling to squirrels, makes that girl really look the fantasy princess part. I think, I saw some anime once, where princesses were able to talk to forest critters. ¡°If you don''t, this may become ugly. Please?¡± Rine cocks her head and I can feel a wave of persuasiveness coming from her.
The squirrels look at her, eyes wide open. And without a warning, they attacked, jumping towards Rine in packs. Or at least some of them.
Because Rine drew her blade faster than thought and killed three squirrels in a single strike, before they could even jump. Then she evades the first pouncing pack with a quick turn, elbows the fore-jumper of the second pack, right into the rest, causing them to scatter like bowling pins, while her sword thrusts at a third pack, which is now transformed into mince meat. While doing so, she steps back and crushes the pack she evaded before with her feet.
The squirrels who were about to attack as a second wave, go googly-eyed, not being able to comprehend how so many of them were murdered in less than a moment.
Even Ara''ainn is obviously impressed and confused, her ears are twitching and her eyes are wide open. Kyou-san is looking at the spectacle as if she''s watching TV. Well, I''m amazed by it as well.
After that moment of shock, the remaining squirrels flee in a mad rush. Yes, that''s the appropriated reaction, you damn squirrels!
For some reason, Rine is taking something like a fork from one of the heaps, binds a handkerchief around its handle and stick it right back: ¡°This kitchen is claimed in the name of Kenta.¡±
You gain 1 WP.
Isn''t she just adorable?
WP-system, let me ask you a question: Do you have seen the display right before that gesture? It''s hard to call anything adorable in this context!
Ara''ainn-san is shaking her head as if she''s unsure what to make out of it.
Kyou-san, on the other hand, giggles slightly. So she''s really amused by this? Or is she snickering about how dorky Rine looks? ¡°Rine-chan, before we can claim that kitchen, we need to tidy up. Ara-san, you too. And Ken, just hold a bag.¡±
So the rest of the morning is spent by making the kitchen usable.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Afternoon. After a late breakfast, Ara''ainn-san has arranged, that the scripts regarding curses are brought to her house so that Kyou-san and Rine can read through them. There is no curse-specialist in Aroa''henn, but it''s a place where the knowledge of the alfar gathered, so there may be some hints.
The reasons I won''t be helping them are two. First, I still can''t read the alphabet of this world. Someone has to teach me. Second, Ara''ainn-san declared that one of us will be interviewed each afternoon from today onward, and since we couldn''t send Rine in for safety reasons, it was either me or Kyou-san. And that gal promptly proposed me.
So now Ara''ainn-san and I are sitting in one of her studies and after we freed a chair from a uncountable amount of books, we''re about to start.
¡°So, Kenta-kun, are there any questions before we start?¡±
¡°Why are you ''-kun''ing me?¡±
¡°Seems familiar.¡±
¡°Last time I asked, you fell asleep.¡±
¡°I see. So any other questions?¡±
¡°Answer the first one, dammit!¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, the moment I answer that question, I''ll have to explain two hours of Alfr Speech, so I don''t want to waste much time. Let''s say it''s the result of the fact, that both of us actually used to speak different languages and now you understand the most appropriate term, even though it''s not a literal translation.¡±
¡°Hah!?¡±
¡°Has your world different languages?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Then try to translate a sentence in a foreign language and then translate it back into your mother tongue and you might get an idea.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± This is comprehensible. ¡°Can''t you call me something else?¡±
¡°Of course, Kenta-tan.¡±
¡°-tan!?¡±
¡°Well, you''re younger, so I have to use either the term of someone younger, but adult, or a child still growing up.¡±
Is the difference in Alfr Speech so great, that it transcribe into such extremes!?
¡°Is there a way to not use a -suffix?¡±
Ara''ainn-san frowns as if she''s not hearing right. ¡°...seriously, those strange sentences can only happen, when talking about languages. I keep it simple: Stop asking or I''ll choose an embarrassing nickname for you!¡±
¡°...please don''t.¡±
¡°By the way, you may call me Ara. No need for honorific, both of us are heroes.¡±
¡°How does calling you by your name is an honorific?¡± I mean, she''s called ''Ara''ainn'', that''s her name.
¡°Stop asking these questions, it gives me headaches. Just do it or I''ll call you Kennickle!¡±
...How!? How could you get to a strange nickname like that!? ¡°Ara-san!¡± Just keep it at a basic level and don''t think about it.
¡°What a pity, I liked Kennickle. But let''s keep civil about it. Kenta-kun, if you ever ask anything regarding languages without me initiating that conversation, I''ll call you Kennickle-tan!¡±
¡°...I somehow get the feeling, you''ll really do. Phew, alright, alright.¡±
¡°Phew? What''s that?¡±
¡°Don''t point that out!¡±
Ara''ainn- ¡ Ara-san rubs her ear and speaks with a calm voice. ¡°Alright. We''ll start.¡± She takes a quill pen and a paper from the desk and is about to write. ¡°Name, species, age, and classes in order, please.¡±
¡°Katsuragi Kenta, human, 16 years old, [Student], [Scout] and [Pikeman].¡±
¡°Next, homeland, mother tongue, date of transfer to this world, the place you were transferred to and who were the ones, that summoned you?¡± ...is she already finished writing? She didn''t even need a bit of a pause, before asking me her next questions! Her quill is moving at an amazing speed.
¡°Japan, Japanese, date of transfer... don''t know anymore, about three months ago. Then?¡±
Ara-san''s ears are waving in impatience. ¡°Place you were transferred to and who summoned you.¡±
¡°Esse in Feuerberg and do you mean the clergy or which god?¡±
¡°Clergy... I see. Reason?¡±
¡°To defeat the devil king.¡±
¡°Is it congruent to the reason, the god asked you to come?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And the reward is a single perfect wish?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I see, I see.¡± Ara-san is nodding to herself.
¡°What about you?¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Isn''t it a bit one-sided to only ask me?¡±
¡°Why would you want to know about me?¡±
¡°Because I don''t like the fact, that you learn that much about me while I don''t know anything about you.¡±
¡°Ah, I see. Well, Ara''ainn, Ljos alfr, 144 years old, [Accountant], [Druid], [Bookie], and [Acrobat]. I lived in Ivaslarihenn, Alfar Speech is my mother tongue and I was summoned on the 4th Firemount in 1681, Alfarmeet, in Aroahenn. I was summoned by the passed Elder Ohul''asar for stealing the knowledge of the God Datien. If I do that, I may be granted a single, perfect wish.¡±
¡°So heroes may have different quests?¡±
¡°Yes. But before we go into details, I like to get an overview about you, so I may skim it and remember everything when rereading it at a later point, without going through the whole text. So let''s stick with fast questions for now.¡±
¡°...OK.¡± Well, she''s efficient. Actually, I like it.
¡°Next question, do you know the identity of the god, which brought you into this world?¡±
¡°No. And you?¡±
¡°For me, it''s Elmli, goddess of knowledge of education. Never heard of her before being transferred, but she was already established in Aroahenn. Next: Did you ever met any other gods?¡±
¡°...yes.¡±
With a sudden movement, Ara-san is leaning forward me. If she had breasts, they would surely jiggle by that abrupt movement. But she doesn''t and her appearance isn''t appealing at all, so this pose won''t work. ¡°What''s its name? Appearance? Tell me everything!¡±
I guess, she never found a hero, who had an encounter with a god. ¡°Muaotef, with a bunch of titles.¡±
¡°Muaotef? From the northern islands? Bringer of Decay, Flame of the Earth, sometimes called the Great One?¡±
¡°Didn''t know about the islands, but these titles sound familiar.¡±
¡°How did he look?¡±
I try to picture Muaotef in my mind, his great body, the red and gold scales the... my body is trembling. Stay still!
¡°Oh... OHH!!!¡± Ara-san''s eyes are hungry again. ¡°So meeting a god in person can have such effects.¡± She seems to regret what she''s about to say: ¡°We''ll change the topic for now. Let me hear your story, from the beginning.¡± Yes, she is efficient.
¡°What about yours?¡±
¡°We''ll trade. For every moment of you, I''ll tell you an interesting moment of me.¡±
This seems to become a long session.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Nighttime. I left out important details, but now Ara-san has a rough idea, what I''ve been through. I left out important details, like the nuptial details of the curse, and I lied about Rine''s origin, but the more I told Ara-san, the more she told me about herself.
She was an accountant back in her world and was one of a hundred randomly selected Ljos-alfar from the whole planet, so much unlike my and Kyou-san''s case. These summoned heroes had different ages, different occupations, different continents, there was no common trait despite them being Ljos-alfar from Alfarheim.
Like our teachers and some of the students, she decided to make herself useful instead of fighting. And her way of being useful was to analyze the hero-system. For now, it''s still mainly in the information-gathering phase, she has the stats of all alfr-heroes who were at Aroa''henn at several points in time, their skills and about everything they could provide her. Her data concerning non-alfr heroes are sparse, but she did her best to cover it up as good as possible.
She also gathers and evaluate myths from this world concerning heroes and asked everyone to help her in this undertaking. And it seems, there is a lot of it. Comparing myths with each other, with actual data, she did all of that and more.
She''s just like me when I research character builds in the internet, using several wiki-pages and my own brain to make the most fun character.
¡°Ken, why are you smirking?¡± Kyou-san is in her pajamas and brushing her hair.
¡°Am I?¡± In fact, I am.
¡°Stop it, it creeps me out and I want to sleep.¡± Kyou-san is in a bad mood since she couldn''t find anything useful in the collections of writings the alfar brought here so far. But it''s only the first day of research.
Rine, who helped her, is still in a good mood. Since both of them are using [Divine Magic], they''re the ones who most likely can figure out how to break the curse. Seems to be priest-business.
¡°Kenta, I like your smile. It may look a bit devious, sinister and untrustworthy, but I can still feel the joy you''re feeling.¡± If it wasn¡¯t for her pure smile while saying it, I would be sure that she''s trying to insult me. ¡°May I sleep next to you today?¡±
¡°No.¡±
Maybe she''s more scheming than I thought. Trying to put me in a good mood to get her way. But seriously, it''s pre-school level.
So all of us went to sleep. Just to be sure, I still use [Dormurnal].
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
Waddling. Several. Strange.
I decided to wake up and only slightly open my eyes, relying on my [Darksight].
Panda-squirrels! They''re entering the room through the branches and leaves, that should act as doors and windows, like they own this place.
The air is filled with bloodthirst. There are about fifty of them. And all of them surround Rine''s bed. One of them is giving the call to attack...
I turn around to Kyou-san''s side and close my eyes. I try to blend out the sounds of the massacre, which is currently occurring.
You don''t attack Rine while she''s sleeping.
Volume 03 - Chapter 3-1 – How to become popular with girls
¡°...Why are there dead squirrels in my bed?¡± Sleepy Rine''s is puzzled by the sight she saw after waking up. She''s surrounded by a sea of dried blood and squirrel-cadavers.
¡°Rine, don''t think about it.¡± I could catch some sleep, Kyou-san, on the other hand, was plagued by nightmares. The sounds of the sleeping Rine, one-sidedly massacring the squirrels, weren''t loud enough to make Kyou-san wake up, but they invaded her dreams. I think, the smell of blood did its part, too.
Kyou-san is smart enough to have figured out what happened last night. ¡°It''s a prank from Ken.¡± And lied without hesitation.
¡°What!?¡± Backstabbing me again, huh?
¡°Kenta... Even though I''m glad that you like me so much, that you play pranks on me, this is going a bit too far.¡± Rine''s face is a mix between chiding and feeling flattered.
¡°It wasn''t me! It was your habit of killing everything within reach while sleeping.¡±
¡°Hn?¡± Rine tilts her head. Is that your standard answer, if you can think of nothing else!?
¡°Let me get a quick death count and then we should tidy this mess up.¡±
Kyou-san is snorting: ¡°It''s your prank, so you clean it.¡± You know what happened!
¡°I''ll help.¡± Rine, even though it is your responsibility in the first place, thank you for not pushing it on me.
So Rine and I clean it up, while Kyou-san is preparing breakfast. I think there are eighteen corpses, but it''s hard to be sure with all these crushed, bloody furballs and dismembered body parts.
After breakfast, I and Ara-san are sitting through another session.
¡°There are some points from yesterday''s story, that I want to go into. Especially about the curse and the one, you call Rine-san.¡± Uh, the two topics I''d like to avoid. ¡°It''s hard to read a human''s mannerism, but I think I hit a nerve.¡±
In fact, there are subtle differences between physical expressions between our species. For some reason, the pointy ears of the alfar are always moving, sometimes like some sort of facial expression, while their faces themselves aren''t that informative. The movements are small and subtle, it''s a bit doll-like.
So while she may have features like a human, she doesn''t feel or move like one.
Ara-san''s eyes, on the contrary, seems to be locked on my eyebrows to read my face. Strange.
¡°Then first about that Rine-san. You said she''s from another world than you and Kyou-san, which seems plausible. And that she was summoned before you, so she''s already settled in this world. But after remembering seeing eyes like hers before, I recollected my data. I found out, that there is a certain princess of the Feuerberg-kingdom, which, I quote: ''has blonde hair like the sun, eyes like embers and inherited the warrior spirit of Hagen of Feuerberg himself''. She''s called Katarine-san and before I go to her and ask her myself, I give you the chance to retell me that part of the story.¡±
She got me. So Ara-san not only collects data from heroes but also from the countries, which summons them. And she most likely had contact to Feuerberg''s royalty before. So I have no other choice but to tell her. The revised story.
So that''s what I do.
¡°Ah, I see. So the curse made her a hero? And now you three are bounded by it?¡±
¡°Something like that.¡±
¡°An interesting curse. I thought the ring might be a relic before, only working because you''re a hero, who could actually get these penalties. But the relics I know of don''t create heroes. Fascinating.¡± Ara-san still doesn''t know about all that marriage stuff.
I told her the negative effects of the curse since I hoped that she might know that ring, and that contaminate the curse keeps it in check.
Ara-san is writing something down and ponders, I can see it by her flicking her right ear. Maybe it''s comparable to rubbing one''s chin.
¡°You want to break that curse and for me, it''s something which is entirely new. A curse who can only affect heroes. So it''s in both our interest, that we delve into some details here. How did you contaminate Kyou-san and Katarine-san?¡±
¡°Hey, just don''t take my cooperation for granted.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, like I said, it''s in your own interest. You want to break the curse, but a curse like this is most likely unknown to everyone. If we can determine its true nature, we alfar might provide you with some hints what to do next. I''m only interested in the knowledge, so it''s an inexpensive price to pay.¡±
¡°What about that relic, which allows you to deselect a class?¡±
¡°I already sent word to the elder, but you''re sure to be still untrustworthy in his eyes. Work with me and I will actually vouch for you. Or I can ask the girls, but I think that it wouldn''t be in your interest.¡±
Ara-san''s sharp and self-determined. That''s the reason why she takes the reigns, whenever something picks her interest.
I have to be wary around her, but otherwise, she reminds me of someone from a guild I was in. An MMORPG-guild, of course.
¡°You really know how to make your point.¡±
¡°I''m just that interested. Even though I was an accountant before, I think I have the heart of a researcher.¡± She smiles. Or something like that. Her mouth corners are lightly up and her ears are standing up. ¡°Even though the case of Katarine-san seems to be more interesting, it''s better to go in chronological order. That''d be Kyou-san, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And it was in the chasm of Muaotef, right?¡± For some reason I could see a bit of regret, her eyes are narrowing and her ears are twitching.
¡°Yes.¡± Maybe she wants to know more about our encounter with Muaotef as well.
¡°Then let''s begin at the point, you were left in the chasm by the ss''rak to get in the same mood. That will help you remember the details.¡±
Back then... unable to climb the cliffs. Being constantly drained of SP, relying on Kyou-san''s healing. The mobs down there weren''t that hard, but the environment made every encounter taxing and dangerous and in the long run, we would''ve run out of everything. Then we found the spring, which recovers SP. The bath-time.
Ara-san''s expression was twitching when I came to that part, but whatever she had to say, she holds it back.
Then these ostriches with the saberbeaks. Too many to fight under these conditions. We had no gear, I was stuck in the [Student]-class. We ran into a dead-end and then... We jumped. Onto a ledge, but Kyou-san was falling. She was asking me to not let her go.
¡°What did you said to her?¡±
¡°Erm...¡± What did I say? Yes, I have ensured her, that I won''t let her go. Then the curse changed, Kyou-san was also affected since that point.
I told Ara-san everything as in trance. And with every word, I feel a bit of weight lifted off my shoulders.
Ara-san wrote everything down in her usual fast writing pace. ¡°This would be all. We should take a break. Do you want to drink some tea?¡±
¡°...yes.¡± Somehow I feel strange. I take a sip from the strong herbal tea and it revivified my whole body. My mind is clear again. ¡°What''s this?¡±
¡°Aeolferelda. Look.¡± The pattern on Ara-san''s dress has a strange, algal embroidery pattern on its sleeves. ¡°It''s an important tree to the alfar since it gives food, water, medicine, magic and protection to the people. There is only one of those trees in Aroahenn, maybe the only one in this whole world. In Alfarheim there are so many of them, but here we have only one. The life-giving tree.¡±
I feel a sense of nostalgia from her words. To be honest, the embroidery is so detailed, that it shows the full ugliness of these leafs, but for Ara-san it''s important.
I''m untypical considerate for a change. Somehow I feel even kinda sorry for Ara-san. I miss my games too, you know?
¡°Ara''ainn?¡± Something interferes in that damp atmosphere. ¡°Aera''jos here. I bring some provisions.¡±
Aera''jos. That name seems to be familiar. Without waiting for an answer, an alfr enters. Did I see that guy before? I think. It''s not Oro''hekk, but maybe one of his subordinates. That alfr carried a crate under his arm. And he glares at me, full of hostility.
¡°Thank you, Aera''jos.¡± I learned yesterday, that calling an alfr by its full name is formal. ¡°You know that you can put them in front of the tree?¡±
¡°I want to check on you occasionally. You tend to let yourself go if no one visits you from time to time. And I thought it''d be time to clean up your kitchen again.¡±
¡°The humans already did.¡±
¡°What!?¡± He glares at me again, but while I could read hostility from an alfr''s expression, this one is new. His eyes are narrowing, the ear points angle themselves to the back and his mouth corners are tensed up. Is that anger? Dislike? Or a face full of joy?
I can''t tell at all.
¡°Yes, they were really helpful. And I ate breakfast today as well. That Kyou-san offered me to include me every day from now on. Even though it needs some time getting used to, it''s tasty. And I actually slept two days in a row. So I''m fine.¡±
¡°Phew, seeing you at work, I totally forgot how much of a dirt magnet you''re supposed to be, Ara-san.¡±
My interference in this conversation was not taken well by the alfr, I may know: ¡°''Ara-san?'' How dare you to call her that? So informal!¡±
¡°Aera''jos, I asked him to. Both of us are colleagues as heroes.¡±
¡°If you don''t like it, then just drop dead.¡± I hate guys like him, who thinks of themselves and their acquaintances as high and mighty.
¡°You!¡±
I switch to [Pikeman], I want to teach him a lesson, but- ¡°[Entangle]!¡± Branches grow from the wooden floor and restrain me and the alfr-male. Ara-san just used a spell. ¡°Aera''jos, let him be, he''s my guest. And Kenta-kun, if you provoke him anymore, I will put you over my knee. Understood?¡±
I can''t read her expression, but her voice is as cold as ice. ¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡±
That guy left after Ara-san let him go, while she keeps me in this entanglement. ¡°I like to make an experiment. Can you free yourself from my spell?¡±
¡°...Seriously?¡±
The alfr''s version of a smile: ¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I change to [Scout] since this should give me some space to wriggle, but the branches just got tighter. ¡°Hm...¡± I change back to [Pikeman], the branches are rustling, but then they grow longer to adapt to my more bulky form. ¡°Strange. What kind of magic is this!?¡±
¡°It''s [Spirit Magic], unlike other magic, a semi-aware consciousness is inhering and controlling the spell. Back in Alfarheim, we just called it magic, it''s the only kind we knew back then. Communicating with spirits, asking them to reshape to our needs, a bit of our aura for a change.¡±
¡°That''s overpowered.¡±
¡°In fact, it''s the weakest form of magic I encountered so far. It only works where spirits are, in trees, in animals, in people, all life forms, living and deceased, but its strong point would be the utility.¡±
¡°This is supposed to be weak?¡±
¡°Try to break free and you see.¡±
I tense up my muscles and with a snap, some branches broke. Some new are growing, but with another jolt, I could break even more branches, breaking myself free.
The branches tried to get me, but became slower and stopped moving altogether.
But there is a question, I had. ¡°When you knew, that I can easily break through it, why did you conduct that experiment in the first place?¡±
¡°To see what kind of person you are. Your chosen procedure of solution gave me a bit more of insight.¡±
¡°What are you looking for?¡±
¡°I''m interested in you.¡±
¡°As a test subject?¡±
¡°In another matter.¡±
¡°Stranger danger?¡±
¡°*Sigh* only humans can be like that. Hear me out. Even though I must decline of becoming the sex toy of a human, I think that both of us could become friends maybe.¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡°Huh!?¡±
¡°Hm... is that confusion on your face?¡±
¡°Erm... yes!?¡±
¡°I thought that''s how humans make friends. Strange.¡±
¡°You mean, by experimenting on each other?¡±
¡°No, by simply asking others. We could also go the alfar way of making friends, but this might not please you.¡±
¡°Wait, why do you want to become friends with me?¡±
¡°Because you''re funny?¡±
¡°...E-...Y-... Arghh!¡± I can''t say a word which would describe what I want to say at that point.
¡°I¡¯ll just sum it up. I think that you and I are fitting for each other. In a platonic way.¡±
¡°Why are you always ensuring that I know, that there is no attraction from your side?¡±
¡°You''re human?¡±
Ah, my head hurts. This is too much for me! I totally forgot, that each of these alfar is a bunch of emotions, impulsiveness, and dirty jokes.
Ara-san noted something and mutters to herself. ¡°So words of affection lead to a mental meltdown.¡± She¡±s just Kidding with me! I want to hit her! Seriously!
This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Afternoon. For a change of pace, Kyou-san, Rine and I are taking a walk, together with Ara-san, since you need [Spirit Magic] to move inside the forest without getting lost. Every alfr can use it, it''s an inherent cheater-ability.
Rine is laughing and studying everything we see, every single tree, every single insect, she''s walking around us at a pace which makes me doubt that she actually is examining anything.
Kyou-san and Ara-san are currently talking to each other. Kyou-san is currently in her [Healer]-class and use her [Herbal Lore] to identify the herbs. ¡°This herb seems to be full of mana.¡±
¡°Yes, it''s iroelsa. It collects onto the mana in the air, just like any magic user or hero.¡±
¡°Mana is supposed to be a power, which comes from the planet itself, right?¡±
¡°That''s what the humans think. We alfar have another theory.¡±
¡°And that is?¡±
¡°Back in Alfarheim, there was nothing like mana. There were spiritual particles expelled by the Aeolferelda, which would stick to our bodies and form an aura, which couldn''t be seen by the eyes. But alfar can perceive it and use this aura to stimulate the spirits to do like we ask them to.¡±
¡°And mana?¡±
¡°Most alfar of this world think, that what I just told is the gist of mana, brought by another life-form instead, just like the Aeolferelda.¡±
¡°And you don''t?¡±
¡°I have few theories, but for now, I can only say this: SP come from an inner source and MP are from an external source.¡±
¡°You didn''t share anything at all.¡±
¡°I may, but considering your lack of the needed basic knowledge, it would take hours. And we make this forest walk to change the mood, right?¡±
¡°Right...¡±
To be specific, Kyou-san and Rine wanted to get out of this tree house. Personally, I had no problems, but I didn''t want to be left behind. There are still squirrels left, another crazy alfr may enter, and I need to keep an eye on my ''wives'', so there will be no another kidnapping incident.
I''m positive, that Ara-san and I could stay holed up in the house until there is nothing left to eat.
But those two, who were reading the whole day, need a break.
Kyou-san tries to inquire more of the alfr-girl. Or more like alfr-women? ¡°Then, Ara-san, what do you do in your free-time?¡±
¡°Sleep.¡±
¡°...¡± For some reason, Kyou-san has trouble to hold up a non-topic-focused conversation. Maybe because Ara-san''s personality is straight up and while she''s knowledgeable, she''s not very open to talks that aren¡¯t functional.
But nonetheless, Kyou-san tries again. ¡°Could you tell me about the world you''re from?¡±
¡°I certainly could.¡± Maybe I should get some advice from Ara-san later about how to make Kyou-san look like an idiot. She''s definitely good at that.
Talking about idiots... ¡°Where is Rine?¡±
¡°¡°...¡±¡±
¡°Oh boy.¡± I facepalm. At some point, Rine, who was strolling around us like a watchdog, just vanished. ¡°Ara-san, can you tell where she is?¡± I use [Track] and see the way we were going. ¡°Otherwise, I may find her.¡±
¡°Don''t go alone. The spirits are instructed to hinder you. Let me ask them.¡± Ara-san closes her eyes. ¡°I need to borrow your sight. ¡ There she is, surrounded by squirrels... How did this happened, show me what you saw... One squirrel led her away from us.¡±
¡°Thank you, Ara-san.¡± Kyou-san bows to her and looks at me. ¡°Should we wait?¡±
¡°I''m not too keen about seeing another massacre either, but for some reason, they decided upon attacking Rine after last night''s tragedy, so they may have an ace up their sleeves. But seriously, what is with these squirrels, they''re too smart for animals. Are they mobs?¡±
Ara-san is never at a loss for an answer. ¡°To be precise, they''re descendants of squirrels, which minds were awakened by the forefathers of the alfar of Aroahenn.¡±
¡°This means?¡±
¡°They''re technically still animals, but almost as intelligent as alfar. So they might be smarter than you.¡±
¡°I refuse being called stupid by someone of a never-mature race.¡±
¡°Ken, shut up! Ara-san, lead us to Rine-chan and stop teasing Ken.¡±
¡°Kyou-san? Did you just treat me similar to Kenta-kun?¡±
¡°Shut up and go!¡± Kyou-san is looking at Ara-san as if she was blocking the line of the checkout clerk in a supermarket.
Ara-san is blinking with wide open eyes and looks at me, I think she''s asking me for help. Seems like she totally got what Kyou-san''s look was telling her, despite only hardly being able to read a human''s facial expression.
I shrug my shoulders. Seems like Kyou-san gave up to befriend her. At least for now.
We hurried, I follow the tracks, while Ara-san makes sure that the trees won''t attack us. And Kyou-san is being useless again, but at least she''s not in the way.
We''re there, I could tell by the flying squirrel-body parts. Rine has her sword drawn and is defending against the squirrels, who are about to overwhelm her by sheer numbers. I can see how one got through her defensive footwork, only to get picked up and neck-broken by the Feuerberg princess.
They''re just squirrels in the end, even if some of them are able to get to her, they''re just too weak to do anything on their own.
And Rine just does her usual thing. Evading, attacking, counterattacking, using her whole body as something, that makes killing an art.
The squirrels retreat before we could even help Rine. The third loss of the panda-squirrels. I hope for them, that they''ve learned their lesson, since it may lead to genocide if they continue.
Fighting fairly doesn''t work, attacking her while she''s sleeping doesn''t work, pulling her away and ambushing her with masses doesn''t work. Most likely Rine is squirrel public enemy #1 by now. Generations will remember her as the mass murderer of the squirrel population, who single-handedly killed almost every single one of them.
...
I may try to make fun of it, but somehow I have the feeling, that this is actually quite accurate. I almost feel sorry for the critters.
¡°Kenta! Kyou! Ara''ainn! I''m here!¡± And the girl in question just waves at us, as if nothing was going on.
Someone next to me falls over. It''s Ara-san. ¡°I can''t believe...¡± She''s holding her mouth. Is she sickened by the display of violence? But she took it quite calm in the kitchen.
¡°Ara-san, everything alright?¡± Kyou-san shows her concern and knees down to her, checking her face and eyes.
Ara-san grabs Kyou-san''s wrist with her free hand. ¡°Kyou-san, I have lived a life, which might be short for a alfr, but long for a human. And I never witnessed a display like that.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Was it my imagination or did she performed a vertical spin, to attack and evade at the same time?¡±
¡°Yes, she did.¡±
¡°And did she stabbed three squirrels without even looking in their direction?¡±
¡°I didn''t count, but that''s what she usually does.¡±
¡°And did she catch a squirrel in the air, used it as a shield twice, before throwing it against another squirrel, which caused both of their skulls to be crushed?¡±
¡°I didn''t see that, but that seems like her.¡±
¡°Is this because she became a hero? Could she adapt that quickly to use such a common-sense-scorning fighting style?¡±
Kyou-san''s eyes shift to me, she definitely blames me for revealing that, but I had no choice! Nonetheless, she answers Ara-san: ¡°She did it before becoming a hero, too.¡±
¡°I... I heard that she has the warrior spirit of the hero Hagen, but that''s...¡± Ah, since the last attack Ara-san witnessed was inside the kitchen, she couldn''t see how Rine normally moves. The whole kitchen was a mess and since there were walls and the ceiling, Rine adopted a less sweeping fighting style.
Maybe I should mention the attack last night, only to make Ara-san even more unbelieving. Nah, another time maybe: ¡°Ara-san, let me tell you this. There are strange things in this fantasy world, things you can''t even understand and that defies common sense. And Rine is one of them.¡±
¡°She''s not even out of breath.¡±
¡°Like I said, it''s mysterious.¡±
¡°Kenta, are you complimenting me?¡±, Rine asks eagerly.
¡°Something like that.¡±
¡°Yay!¡± At least she''s happy.
Kyou-san helps Ara-san up and all of us continue the forest walk, even though Ara-san has still yet to digest what she just witnessed.
Rine takes my hand. I want to scold her, but we still have to grind these WP and last evening it was tedious to do so in the little time frame. So I''m a bit conflicted about it. And there is another problem: ¡°Do you plan to do it for an hour now?¡±
¡°Hn?¡± I should''ve known it. Rine isn''t considering WP at all. ¡°Ah.¡± Now she realizes? Wait, no. She''s just strengthening her grip. It hurts you know. ¡°Hehe.¡± And don''t laugh!
¡°I already saw something like this in a human town. Is that a human way to show affection?¡± Ara-san has picked up our verbal exchange. I think that alfar really have a keen sense of hearing. Those big ears aren''t for show, huh?
So they start off with two inherent [Abilities]: [Spirit Magic] and [Perception].
Isn''t that cheating?
¡°Phew. Something like that.¡± So alfar doesn''t hold hands, huh?
¡°May I try it?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Holding hands.¡±
¡°Erm...¡± I take a look at Kyou-san and we drift into our own little language, conveyed by looks only. ''What should I do?''
''Why do you ask me?''
''Because I have no idea.''
''If you weren''t holding hands with Rine-chan, this would never happen.''
''Do you think, I took the initiative?''
''No. *Sigh* we want to get her on our good side, so just do what she asks.''
''Why am I the one, who has to please her?''
''Just do it already!''
''Fine, fine.''
¡°Yes, you may.¡±
¡°...your eyebrows were moving more than normal, but I guess I got what I want.¡± She takes my free hand. A flower in each of my hands, huh? The one is a carnivorous plant and the other is more of a fungus than a plant, but it''s not like I have a choice her. ¡°You''re still wearing gloves. It''s rough on my skin.¡±
¡°I have one on my other hand, too.¡±
¡°But Katarine-san is also wearing gloves.¡±
¡°Phew, just be happy with what you got.¡±
¡°And your hand is big and lumpy.¡±
¡°Your hand is just skinny.¡±
¡°I think, that this form of showing affection isn''t meant for alfar.¡±
¡°What do your people do?¡±
¡°This.¡± Ara-san lets go of my hand and put her hand on my chest. ¡°Right above the heart, feeling the heartbeat. Yours strong. And rapid. Unlike an alfr''s. Come on, do the same to me.¡±
Well, if this is all she asks me to...
¡°Kenta? Is Ara''ainn asking you to put your hand on her breasts?¡±
¡ With this innocent notion, Rine destroyed any minority of this matter. Seriously, Ara-san may be female, but that''s it. I have no sensual feelings for her. She and I are different species.
Do alfar even have breasts!?
Someone grabs my earlobe. It''s Kyou-san, of course. She pulls on it, forcing my head to shift to her mouth. ¡°Don''t think about that.¡± A small, sinister whispering.
¡°I don''t plan to.¡±
Ara-san heard it of course. ¡°Ah, so putting your hands there is something bad for humans. Might be because of breasts. As expected for an organ, that only developed for sexual reasons.¡± Is this how human breasts are viewed in alfar culture!?
But seriously, is there a reason for breasts? I mean, the growing type human have, while most other mammals just have teetz or something like that, that totally serves the nursing part. Breasts are just full of fat, right? So what purpose does that serve?
Don''t misunderstand me, I like boobs like the next guy, but now, after hearing Ara-san¡¯s statement, I want to ask Darwin-sensei how breasts fit into his theory! I need that answer to make the right comeback!
While I was thinking that, Kyou-san hides her breasts from the curious eyes of Ara-san. It''s untypical cute of her. Normally she''s more of a prickly character.
Steps.
I use [Pitch]. These are steps I already heard. Someone from Oro''hekk''s group.
A male alfr comes from between the underbrush. ¡°Ara''ainn. There are new intruders and they''re quite violent.¡± For some reason, that alfr takes his time to glare at me.
What did I ever do to him?
Ah, he stares at Ara-san''s hand, which is still on my chest. So maybe he''s upset, because a human is seemingly close to one of his folk, huh?
Ara-san turns to the alfr again. ¡°Tell me the details, Aera''jos.¡± So this alfr is called Aera''jos. I think I heard that name before. Maybe I should try to remember it.
This Aora''jas-guy tells how two humans were camping right outside the forest for more than a day, sometimes shouting into the forest, that they wish to meet the alfar. Those two called them elves, which actually made the alfar pretty angry. Sometimes the humans use spells against the barrier and try to break it with brute force.
¡°Sometimes people like that appear, trying to get our secrets,¡± Ara-san explains before turning to the other alfr. ¡°Can''t you handle them on your own?¡± So Arr''jazz tries to recruit Ara-san for an ambush?
¡°Only as back-up. I''ll lead the ambush, so I want to make sure, that we have a reliable reinforcement for the case, something goes wrong.¡±
For some reason, Kyou-san smirks. I know that it''s the same face she had when she gossiped in school. It sickens me.
Rine heard the exchange but wasn''t interested in it. For some reason, she tries to draw near to me sometimes. Do you really think, that I will let my guard down around you? Well, sometimes I do, but not now!
Ara-san flicks her ear once. ¡°Well, I can see no reason not to. Everyone, do you want to join us?¡±
Hey, alfr-man. Keep it down! Your grinding teeth are hurting my ears! Seriously, what did I ever done to you? You''re so silly, A... What was your name again? A''Jazz?
Kyou-san answers. ¡°We would be happy to.¡± I exchange look with her. So information gathering, huh? Knowing what normal alfar are capable of. And because she''s about to see something fun. What does that mean?
¡°Fine.¡± Jazz... let''s call him Jazzman! So Jazzman complies. ¡°But don''t think of doing something stupid. Ara-san is more than capable enough to take you down on her own.¡±
One look to Ara-san tells me, that she''s highly doubting it. She''s most likely afraid of Rine, who still clings to my hand, like a dog who got his bone. Well, I wouldn''t cross Rine either, as long I have a choice.
So we followed Jazzman to the forest border. We hid in the underbrush, which changed shape to engulf us without restraining our movements.
From there, we just need to observe.
Jazzman is posing, pumping his fist into the air to let us know, where he is. He has five other alfar with him, while Oro''hekk and some others will stay inside the border. So they''re another back-up, so why does he even need Ara-san?
I activate [Farsight] to see, what they''re up against in the first place. Without it, I can see two human-like shapes, but with this skill, I...
I know both of them. They''re my classmates. Erm... The nerd and the delinquent. Don''t ask me for names! What are they doing here? There should be no reason for them to be here if they didn''t hear about the job-deleter.
Ah, there is another reason. One that makes too much sense to dismiss it. ¡°Kenta? Why are you looking at me like that?¡± The head-tilting Rine. If they heard from Inoue''s party what happened, they might have tracked us down to bring the princess back to her country.
What a pain!
¡°Ara-san, they''re dangerous. Can you signal your people chase them away?¡±
¡°Do you know them?¡±
¡°Well, you know that Rine is a princess. They''re hired specialists to retrieve her.¡±
¡°They''re what?¡± Said princess is shocked about the development.
¡°*sigh*¡± One sigh of Kyou-san makes me understand, that she saw through me entirely.
¡°You will tell me the entire story later, Kenta-kun. [Whisper].¡± Ara-san whispers some words after using that spell and Jazzman seems to react to it. Ah, [Spirit Magic] works on lifeforms, so it also works on alfar and most likely humans.
Is mind control possible with it? If so, did Ara-san used it on me in the past? When I talked about the incidents the curse spread, I felt strange. Did she use a spell on me back then?
For some reason, sometimes she says the spell''s name and sometimes she won''t. I can''t tell why and she might have used a spell back then without me noticing. I have to investigate it.
Jazzman''s party merged with the environment. Really, even I can''t see them anymore. Should I have used [Focus] on him? About three minutes later, the five alfar are emerging from the grass and bushes around the two heroes.
Instead of capturing them, the alfar used bows to shoot grazing shots to the arms and legs. Then Jazzman exclaims: ¡°This is the land of the noble alfar. Either you turn back or we will end your lives.¡±
This is quite menacing. Good thing that we didn''t call them elves before we encountered them. Looks like this pisses them quite off.
¡°Aera''jos is quite into it, right Ara-san?¡±, Kyou-san asks.
¡°Is he?¡±
¡°So no reaction...¡± What kind of reaction is Kyou-san looking for?
In the end, after being attacked and hurt by the alfar both of my former classmates fled in terror. Well, another problem solved.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Yoshimura and Hoshibashi finished their training and traveled to the forest of Aroahenn. The map Correo gave them was accurate. But so was his warning about the magic barrier. They couldn''t get through it.
They shouted, they pleaded, they tried to break through, nothing worked. So they decided to mimic a certain movie, waiting right in front of the ''gates'' of the elves.
Only to be ambushed in broad daylight. Before they could even react, elves emerged from the ground and they shot arrows at Hoshibashi and Yoshimura.
Yoshimura almost pissed his pants. Since he was a hero, he only bled a bit, but the shock of having his confidence he built up after the training crushed in an instant led to these feelings.
Hoshibashi was also at his wit''s end, so they retreated.
They tend their wounds with patches, which already healed most of the damage. ¡°In broad daylight! Elves are crazy!¡± Hoshibashi kicks against a bush.
¡°We need to get that item. But an up-front approach seems to be impossible.¡±
¡°Maybe we can dig under their barriers?¡±
¡°How long would that take? And wouldn''t they treat us as enemies that way? We can''t take the entire village on with only the two of us.¡±
¡°You''re right.¡±
Yoshimura takes a certain item from his backpack. It''s a whistle. ¡°If nothing else helps, we may ask Correo again.¡±
¡°But he will ask for another astronomical sum.¡±
¡°We have enough to pay him once or twice. His prices are reasonable.¡± Twenty thousand Newgold for these hero-class identifying manacles seems to be fair. But they bought the power rings instead and got the whistle as a bonus.
Hoshibashi calms down and make a suggestion. ¡°I think we should try again tomorrow. We need to show them, that we''re sincere. It''s like getting into a gang, if they don''t know you, they might rough you up first, to see how much of a character you have.¡±
¡°Is that how that works?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°I doubt it, but... As long as the wounds stay on this level, we can use that tactic. But if they go too far, don''t hesitate and kill them.¡± Even though Yoshimura was surprised by how easily the elves were able to sneak up on them, he had no doubt, that they would win a fight with them as easily.
This time the elves got the moment of surprise and neither Yoshimura nor Hoshibashi wanted to hurt them. But taking care of only a few of these elves wouldn''t be a problem. Since both of them have broken the hero-system.
Volume 03 - Chapter 3-2
It¡¯s evening, Ken and Rine are currently engaged in lap-pillows and such, so I step outside the room. I already did it for the day and Ken won''t bug me anymore. He really is keen to get these WP.
What is that sound? It¡¯s coming from the kitchen. Are the squirrels back? They should just give up, Rine isn''t an enemy they can take on.
Carefully I take a look, it''s Ara-san. She seems to be looking for something inside the cupboards. ¡°What are you looking for?¡±
Ara-san turns around to me ¡°Snacks.¡± She''s open about it. ¡°There were supposed to be some in the delivery today, but I can''t find them.¡±
Seeing how slender all elves we met so far are, I think things like calories don''t bother them. ¡°I put them on that wall cupboard.¡± Whenever I use the [Cook]-class, I can identify food and ingredients, so I already knew about these zuckies snacks. They are sweet, jellied branches, tender enough to eat them. ¡°If they absorb some sunlight, they after-ripen.¡± Additionally, I can read some menus to how to prepare those meals.
In the case of the zuckies, I unpacked them, put them on a plate and left them somewhere, where they can absorb sunlight without being in the way.
¡°Do they? I heard they become poisonous with too much sunlight exposure.¡±
¡°Strange.¡± I take the plate and look at them. The after-ripen is still in process. How can they be poisonous, if they... A new window appeared. It''s poisonous for alfar, not for humans. ¡°Sorry, my [Cook]-class didn''t consider you.¡±
¡°I see. But you''re able to switch that menu if you want." She pauses and takes another look at the zuckies. "So humans can eat them after this decomposition process?¡±
¡°Yes, it''s supposed to become quite delicious.¡±
¡°I see. Good.¡±
¡°...What are you planning to do with them?¡±
¡°I want to give them Kenta-kun as a present.¡±
This seems wrong on so many levels. ¡°Why?¡± Ara-san has clearly picked an interest in Ken, but while I thought, it''s only curiosity and the fact, that they got to know each other better in the course of the last two days, somehow I get the feeling, that there is more to it.
But it''s not the same kind of vibe I got when observing Aera''jos and Ara-san.
¡°I want to befriend him.¡±
¡°Again, why?¡± Objectively I should be glad for Ken, that finally there is someone who is willing to become his friend, but something in me rejects that idea. I think it''s called ''common sense''. Who would willingly befriend someone like him?
He doesn''t even try to get along with anybody!
¡°He''s funny.¡±
¡°Fun to tease?¡±
¡°Ah, that''s a good expression.¡± I can''t read Ara-san''s face, but I think she might have realized something. ¡°Yes, it''s funny to tease him. His reactions are always overboard and his eyebrows move in a strange way, which is captivating. Ah, yours are also moving!¡±
Of course they do, if I furrow them! It''s definitely curiosity, but I still don''t think, that this is everything.
Ara-san is someone I can''t read, neither her body language nor her intentions. She''s definitely different from other girls, maybe it''s because she''s an alfr. No, she seems to be a strange one among them as well. So she''s double-strange.
She may be on my side for now, but if things become complicated, she will surely turn. And since we were found by two of our classmates, regarding what Ken said, it has to have been Hoshibashi-kun and Yoshimura-kun, things are almost bound to become complicated.
Even though I can be glad it''s only those two losers, who knows what they''re capable of. Especially how things turned out with Masahiko-kun and the others, they might even think that they''re in the right.
And that''s why I have to befriend Ara-san. But she won''t let me.
Ironically, she wants to befriend Ken, so we''re in a line of unrequited friendship... wait. If I help Ara-san in befriending Ken, then my relationship to Ara-san becomes closer in the process. So it''s a win-situation.
¡°Kyou-san? Do you want to say something?¡±
¡°Please wait a moment.¡± Ara-san seems to be unsure what I''m thinking about. She can''t read my face either, so she doesn''t realize that I''m pondering.
My plan so far isn''t bad but has one fatal flaw. I have no idea how to befriend someone like Ken. Back in Japan, I couldn''t even get along with him and his hostile attitude towards everyone. I tried to be friendly to him up to some point, but any kind words were answered with snorting, grumbling, and malignant glances.
¡°I''ll help you, Ara-san!¡± I made my decision.
¡°With what?¡± Since there was such a pause, Ara-san lost the thread of the conversation.
¡°With your attempts to befriend Ken.¡± I still hold a grudge for his attitude back then. I couldn''t even collect a paper, without an arrogant grunt, which made every class president work which included him nerve-racking. This time, I will make him beg to become friends! With Ara-san that is, since the thought of me being friends with Ken is actually disturbing.
¡°Hm...¡± Ara-san is considering my offer. ¡°Having a human as a support to befriend another human seems to be advantageous, but I''m worried about one thing.¡±
¡°What?¡± I have no idea what she means? Maybe she noticed my bad relationship with Ken?
¡°If a female human tells me, how to befriend a male one, wouldn''t it be through mating rituals? Even though it would definitely be effective, I would be troubled, if Kenta-kun jumped on me, releasing his human urges on my poor alfr body. I''m just a woman, you know?¡±
¡
What is this girl talking about? In such a serious tone?
Well, considering Ken''s gaming habits, it shouldn''t surprise me, that he would jump an elf without a hint of hesitation, but why is Ara-san jumping into the conclusion, that I would give her advice on ''mating rituals''.
Headache.
I hold my forehead. Even though it''s not a migraine, it almost feels like one. I need a new word for this kind of headache, since they occur more often after I met Ken again back in Esse.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Please!¡± Rine''s big eyes are pleading me.
But I closed mine. ¡°No!¡± With a rough nudge, I push Rine from my lap and stand up immediately, so she won''t have a way to return.
At least, if this wasn''t Rine. ¡°Please!¡± Her foot hooks behind my ankle and with a shove to my shoulder, I''m pushed back on the bed again, and her blossom behind is already sitting again on my thighs.
¡°Phew, why are you asking me, while forcing me at the same time?¡±
¡°Hn?¡± Stop cocking your head, if you don''t have an answer!
And stop snuggling on me. So much body-contact tears me apart between lust and discomfort!
*Knock, knock*
Instead of a nudge, I literally throw Rine from my lap, while she was distracted by the sound. Now she lays on the floor and there is some water in her eyes.
I snort. ¡°Come in please.¡±
As expected, only Ara-san would knock. She looks at me, at Rine on the floor, which is about to burst into tears, her behind still uplifted. ¡°Sorry to disturb you. How long will one mating take?¡±
¡°Mating!?¡± Rine blushes and holds her cheeks, closes her eyes and began to drift off in the far realms of her imagination: ¡°ah... he will see... but I want him to... stop, Kenta!¡±
Unsure if I''m about to yell, cry or sigh, I rub my face with both my hands, massaging the mixed emotions out. ¡°Now is good.¡±
Ara-san blinks. ¡°Kenta-kun, it may be a fetish of yours, but I''m not interested in the mating of humans.¡±
¡°And you never considered, that this might be different from what you think?¡± - ¡°Ahn... Kenta, that''s embarrassing.¡± - ¡°Let me rephrase it: I''m not in any kind of personal relationship with either Rine nor Kyou-san and don''t plan to be.¡±
¡°Then why did you insist on sharing a room?¡±
¡°Stuff.¡± I decided to not directly lie to Ara-san anymore. She''s too good to find flaws within it and it''s exhausting to explain too much to her.
¡°I see.¡± She flicks her ear.
¡°Why are you here in the first place? Didn''t we finished today''s interview?¡±
¡°I wanted to ask you if you like sweets.¡±
¡°...why?¡± Does she want to hand-feed me? Training me like some pet?
¡°To befriend you.¡±
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¡ ¡°Hah?¡± Is she still going about this? ¡°Could you please stop trying to make friends with me?¡±
¡°It''s my decision to make the attempts and you only have to answer them.¡± What kind of logic is that? ¡°Back to the question: Do you like sweets?¡±
I take a glance at Rine, who jumped ahead to a life with children. Headache. Ah, just treat Ara-san like the princess, the faster you answer them, the less annoying it will be. ¡°...I eat them.¡± Well, I really love chocolate, but I don''t need to go into details.
¡°Good, so you eat them.¡± Ara-san turns around and leaves the room.
What was this about?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°What was this about?¡± I can only hold my head, as Ara-san returned to me after she went away to ask Ken if he even likes sweets.
¡°Didn''t you tell me, that I should consider his preferences before I should give him a gift?¡±
¡°Do you know the word ''subtlety''?¡±
¡°Theoretically.¡±
¡°*sigh* And what did he say?¡±
¡°He eats them.¡±
¡°...Without any remarks?¡±
¡°He asked me to not make friends with him.¡±
¡°...that''s all?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡ Back in school, there was an event...
''Katsuragi, we want to prepare some snacks for the sports meet and we wanted to ask everyone for their preferences. Do you like sweets?''
''¡''
''Katsuragi?''
''¡''
''Katsuragi! Don''t ignore me!''
''Stop bothering me. Just shut up and nag someone else!''
¡
Besides ignoring me first, he was very rude and when I turned away to ask Yamaguchi-san next, I could clearly hear some sort of insult coming from him.
What is this difference in treatment!?
Maybe it''s because Ara-san is actually trying to befriend him? Maybe he changed due the whole ''being in another world''-thing. Or maybe he has actually the hots for Ara-san. So many maybes, but seriously, whatever it is, it makes me angry.
¡°Kyou-san, why are you clenching your fist?¡±
¡°...no reason.¡± I change to a smile while forging my anger inside to something which will be used to make him pay for the things that happened. Including this world and our home world.
¡°So if he eats sweets, we can proceed with the plan.¡±
¡°He says, he eats them, so it''s not like he likes them. Food is generally hard to come by in this world since there are so many differences. Zuckies is something, I never heard about before, so I think there are none in our world.¡±
¡°You''re right, the fauna and flora are often quite different, there are only a few things in this world I know from Alfarheim. So you have to find replacements, if possible.¡±
¡°Is there a replacement for rice?¡±
¡°Please assume, that there is no specific plant from your world, that I know. I think our home worlds differed greatly in many aspects, so I''d be glad to hear more, but for now I like to set a plan up to make friends with Kenta-kun.¡±
She''s kinda stubborn. But at least it''s easier to talk to her, since I know one of her interests, even though I can''t possibly understand it. ¡°Were there games in your world?¡±
¡°Like board games, leaf games, sports competitions, and such?¡±
¡°PC? Console? Electronic games?¡±
¡°These are unknown to me. Is that something Kenta-kun likes?¡±
¡°For better or worse.¡± For better, since it prepared him quite good for this fantasy world, for worst, since they''re sure at fault, that his personality turned out like that. There are always these kids that are too influenced by TV and games and stop even trying to be social.
I put one hand on my scarf. Liking something and being overly possessed by it are two different kinds of things.
Ara-san flicks her ear again. ¡°So if I talk with him about these electronic games, he will be pleased?¡±
¡°...probably? At least he goes on and on and on if he has the chance to talk about them.¡± And it is boring. Telling me, how he had a character, which deals 50,000 damage per second, even though I have no idea, how much damage that actually is, relatively speaking, how he spent hours to get certain gear and... Oh my god, I actually listened to him. I''m sure that every word of his game prattle made me a bit dumber.
¡°Hm... Something else he likes to do?¡±
¡°Other than constantly complaining, whining, and falling into fits? Nothing as far as I know.¡± One of the problems we have is the fact, that I know nothing about Ken. I never asked him, since I''m not very interested in him.
I don''t even know his taste preferences since he silently gulps down everything I cook.
¡°But there are other ways to befriend him, Ara-san.¡±
¡°How?¡±
¡°Maybe you should reconsider your behavior toward him.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°Ara-san, considering the last two days, I want to insist on one point. Humans aren''t sex-driven animals.¡±
¡°...this doesn''t make any sense.¡±
¡°It does.¡±
¡°Kyou-san, do you masturbate?¡±
This headache again. I rub my temples. ¡°What does have this to do with it?¡± I will ''not'' talk about my private habits with this woman!
¡°Everything.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Almost every intelligent species has certain time-conditioned mating cycles. Humans do not. Maybe sexual intercourse isn''t the only thing on your mind, but it has to be a very vital part of everyday human life. Since it''s something we alfar don''t have, it''s very interesting.¡±
¡°So to cut it short, you''re having fun.¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
Ara-san is free-spirited. Considering the alfar I know, it might be an alfar trait. So this might be the reason, why I have so much trouble befriending her: I like to have some amount of control. So someone like her, who''s practically only bound to her whims, isn''t a good match to me.
I really thought, that Ara-san is more of an organized person and just bad at managing herself. Like taking work seriously, but being sloppy in housework.
So she''s much like Rine, but less predictable. Rine is caught by her emotions and these emotions are simple and direct, Ara-san is caught by her interests and these can be more complex than it might look.
For example, she definitely wants to befriend Ken, especially since he''s refusing. It picked her interest, how someone can be so strange like him and so she decided to take the course, which seems to be the most interesting.
Something just clicked within me. I think, I finally see a way to interact with Ara-san in a way, which will make us allies.
You can''t have enough friends in a fantasy world, but Ara-san, as a hero, is immune to my [Persuasion]-attribute. This just means I''ll just have to use my cunning.
¡°Ara-san, let''s move the talk to your room.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because we need to talk a lot. Especially about you. In our world there is a saying: If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.¡±
¡°Do I have to fight him? Well, I already heard about-¡±
I cut in. ¡°It''s a proverb. We already know about Ken a bit, but for further planning, it''d be ideal to know about you as well. Then we can make a strategy.¡±
¡°But I know myself already.¡±
¡°And I know how humans work. So we need to share.¡±
Ara-san seems to be skeptical, but complies. The moment girls are gathered in a private room, they will begin to chat and gossip. Nobody is safe from a pajama party!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I grunt. That''s natural since I had to wrestle with Rine while explaining her, why she still can''t sleep in the same bed as Kyou-san and me, she totally doesn''t believe, that she''s a murderous machine while asleep, despite having the proof of dead squirrel bodies.
At the end, I couldn''t convince her to accept it, but at least she will sleep in the other bed again. So tomorrow we''ll have to have that conversation again...
I really have problems with types like that. Even though I could only realize it by spending time with Rine. I''m so glad, that there was never a person like her to deal with before, though I would be even happier if I''d never met her.
Well, at least she contributes to the party. Kyou-san does as well, to be fair, but mostly outside of battle. Not much, but she does.
If they were some nameless player characters, I could better deal with them, but this isn''t a game and everyone got a real personality and if you''re not a fictional character, it''s not set in stone. Sometimes someone will do something completely out of character for reasons I can''t even imagine. There is much more going on in the inside of a person than what you can see.
If Rine would always be happy and clingy, then it wouldn''t be that hard. OK, it would still be annoying as hell, but her spurs of insight and attempts to obtain what she wants by any means are throwing me off.
Oh well. I think, that the me that thinks a bit fondly of the now asleep Rine is also out of character. Or maybe I''m about to burst again since her sleeping breaths are turning me on and make me imagine some scenarios, which are R-rated.
I need Kyou-san. She''s the one, who can kill any amorous feeling I have and seriously, it''s time to sleep and I want neither miss out the WP for sleeping next to each other nor a lack of sleep because I waited for her.
For safety purposes, I check her status, but it''s good. No damage, no conditions, everything as it should be, so she should probably be alright. Man, maybe it''d be better to get the radar first, before the XP-bonus in the WP-store. But I want that bonus, the earlier you get it, the more it''ll bring.
Since I have no radar to check, I better look for her myself. I use [Sneak], since I don''t want to trigger Rine''s self-defense mechanism and open the door.
First I''ll check the study Kyou-san used with Rine for research. Books and scripts are laying out on one table, while two of the four desks were cleaned and free. I take a book and yes, I can''t read the letters. It''s the same script as the ones I saw before. Ah, there is a piece of paper, written in Japanese. Notes.
Five different basic types of curses: Inherit, obsessive, parasite, smoldering, and extra-dimensional. Most cursed items are parasite... Kyou-san can be diligent. Perfect notes, at least if you''re taking them in class. Would be horrible to use them for learning, but considering that she more or less just copies from the books, it''s fine. She even wrote them in Japanese, maybe so I can read them as well?
Nah, it''s Kyou-san after all. Maybe it just happened without her noticing. I don''t know how this whole translation process works, so I better don''t interpret anything here.
How about Rine? Ah, I can''t read her notes. But Rine takes notes? This is unexpected.
But I should keep looking for Kyou-san. Maybe in the kitchen? Not there either. The study Ara-san and I used? Nope. Bathroom and toilet? No one inside. So no obvious choices... Better I ask Ara-san before I jump into conclusions.
Her room was... I think this one. I knock. No answer.
Seriously, I don''t have time for this. I open the door, it''s clearly not Ara-san''s room. It''s an untidy one, which might be a study as well. With my [Darkvision] I can see multiple creatures hiding in the shadows: the panda-squirrels, which are staring at me full of hostility, sure that I won''t be able to detect them.
I slowly close my door. My backpack is still in my room, so I can''t throw a stink bomb inside, to chase them out. Maybe the squirrels are planning their next step to overcome Rine and I surely hope, that they won''t try to kidnap any of us to blackmail Rine.
But man, why am I so cautious of squirrels!?
For starters, I return to my room and check, if Kyou-san returned. But she''s still not back, so I start to look into the other rooms, knocking first and then taking a look.
*Knock, knock*
¡°Come in.¡± Finally.
The door opens by an invisible hand and I see Ara-san in one of Kyou-san''s self-styled pajama, sitting next to the Japanese girl on the bed.
Somehow I get the feeling, that I''m not supposed to be here.
But I don''t care: ¡°Kyou-san, it''s late. Come.¡±
Kyou-san rolls her eyes and looks at Ara-san, whose left ear-point is standing up and the right sideways. ¡°Sorry, Arako.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, Momo.¡±
¡
What the hell is going on here? This newfound familiarity is only slightly annoying to me, but my instincts are telling me, that I should be careful.
...instincts? When did I drop to the ''woman''s intuition''-level? I start to think like Kyou-san!
¡°You may keep the pajama. Let''s talk more tomorrow.¡±
¡°With pleasure. Good night, Momo, Kenta-kun.¡±
¡°Good night, Arako.¡±
Without even waving my hand, I turn around and wait for Kyou-san to leave the room. The door closed automatically, like always when Ara-san is around.
¡°''Arako''!?¡±
¡°She asked me about Japanese culture.¡±
¡°Could it be, that you''re trying to brainwash her?¡± Kyou-san is looking at me as if I had just told her, how wet water was. ¡°You''re serious trying to brainwash her?¡±
¡°It''s called ''to befriend someone'', something you''re not familiar with, so you may think of it as brainwashing, but it''s all about socializing. Ah, since this is a foreign word for you as well, let me explain it to you like this: You can actually be nice to others and they treat you kind in return.¡±
Why does she sound, like she''s presenting me the best concept of the century?
I already know that she thinks of me as stupid, but I only care about it, when she''s pretentious like this.
So let''s return that ''kindness''. ¡°You know, there is another concept. If someone is entirely useless and leeches of the efforts of others, be it in combat prowess, XP-acquiring or other matters, while completely relying on the fact, that it''s impossible to get rid of said person, it''s called ''parasite''. And if she''s constantly nagging, complaining and slandering, it''s called a ''bitch''. And if someone is never grateful for everything someone else did for her, it''s called ''unthankful''. If someone is doing all three, you may call it an ''unthankful bitch parasite''. But excuse me, you''re more than familiar with things like this, right Kyou-san?¡±
Our glances strike sparks. We walk into our room without any other word, just trying to kill the other with eye contact only.
¡°...hn...¡± Rine moves, her head turns our way, her eyes only half-closed. She''s in sleeping murderer mode and about to draw her sword.
Geez! She really picks up any hostile intent around her, even if it''s not directed at her.
Kyou-san slaps my shoulder two times, gives the sleep-murdering Rine a smile and lay down on our bed. ¡°Phew.¡± That girl can really change gears fast.
But Rine is slowly closing her eyes again, satisfied with what she saw.
Just forget it for today and go to sleep.
Volume 03 - Chapter 4-1 – How to fix relationship problems
A few days went by. Some little things changed, like the relationship between Kyou-san and Ara-san. Both of them are hanging out together, sometimes Ara-san calls for Kyou-san for the daily interview instead of me.
When she does so, I learn letters with Rine.
¡°That''s a *Guyu*, like in wood.¡±
Could you please tell me, how that strange sound is in the word ''wood''? I get now, why Ara-san is annoyed when we talk about language, since it gives me a headache to form a connection between things which can''t be connected for me.
I''m currently in the [Student]-class, relying on [Fast Learner] to get this down, but I have to learn every letter by itself without having a logical consistency to anything Rine teaches me.
But when I read a word, its meaning just springs into my mind, so at least this works out fine. But writing... not so much. I can write words that I know the letters for, but only if I blank my mind and don¡¯t concentrate on what I''m writing, and that''s quite difficult.
The moment I think ''I want to write ''fish'''', is the moment it becomes ô~. I spent years of effort to learn kanji and now it''s all backfiring on me. So now years of schooling is not only useless but harmful if you ever find yourself transported into a fantasy world.
So better remember: Don''t get yourself transported into a fantasy world. It sucks in general.
Things that didn''t change so far: Ara-san is still in charge of us, the relic which allows deselecting a class is still in the village we can''t visit yet, and we''re still along way from undoing the curse. Kyou-san and Rine are still gathering basic knowledge about curses so they can figure out the hard stuff.
Another thing that didn''t change: Our levels. We got some AP, these are for raising the rank of [Abilities] and are always increasing by using skills and what the [Ability] stands for, my rank in [Perception] is quite high because I can¡¯t stop looking around.
They¡¯re less fancy than XP, but important as well. Mostly because they somehow relate to skills.
But while the AP are doing well enough, we''re clearly missing XP from killing mobs and this standstill is frustrating. But the moment we go out of the forest to hunt, the alfar might never let us in again.
For security reasons.
Even though Ara-san is kinda important here, she''s only one single alfr with little political means. She may be favored, but she clearly isn''t in charge of anything besides her home. So she can¡¯t decide anything regarding this. She can only ask for us.
That''s the reason why she can spend her evenings talking with Kyou-san or have discussions with me about the hero-system during the day. For some reason she asked me about my opinion about some details and my own theories.
Ara-san, as the hero-sage, has a lot of thoughts about the power of the heroes. But she''s still lacking numbers and experimental data to prove them. For example, she''s sure that [Attributes] are not only level-dependent, but also base-dependent. So someone, who was athletic before becoming a hero, should have higher stats with the same class at the same level as someone who didn''t practice a single day. A human would have different stats than an alfr with the same class and level since their base bodies are different.
Hearing and contributing to all these ideas is fun in a way. Reminds me of times, when I discuss per voice chat builds and strategies for MMORPGs.
And today we''re conducting an experiment. Combat data. This means Ara-san and I will fight in a sparring match.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s noon and Ara-san, Kyou-san, Rine and I are in a clearing. There is someone else here too: Jazzman! He checked in on us on a daily basis, and every time he glares at me as if I''ve committed a capital crime.
The spectators are surrounding Ara-san and me. She changed into her [Acrobat]-class, I''ll be in [Pikeman]. Every skill is allowed within our classes, but no [Class-Change], that would make the data unreliable. We want to get more of an idea how the difference in [Attributes] will work.
Ara-san''s best class for melee combat, [Acrobat], has high stats in [Dexterity], [Agility] and [Luck], moderate ones in [Strength] and [Persuasion], and is weak in [Vitality] and [Intelligence].
My [Pikeman] is focused on [Strength] and [Vitality], moderate in [Dexterity], [Agility] and [Luck] and weak in [Persuasion] and [Intelligence].
So she''s a quick fighter and I''m a basic one, stat-wise.
Her level is above mine, but not by that much. So number-wise, we should be almost matched, so we can actually try, how this difference in builds and therefore [Attributes] will actually influence the battle. She already has some data from other matches between other heroes, but the more, the better.
Ara-san is still in her dress, it''s similar tailored as a Chinese Cheongsam and is able to keep up with her excessive [Acrobat]-movements. She also wields a strange pole, which is made of three branches which are intertwined. One end is thick and heavy, just like a club, the other has twigs and leafs.
¡°On my mark.¡± Rine is the referee. ¡°Begin!¡±
Without a moment of hesitation, I begin with [Speedthrust]. Ara-san''s ears are trembling, a sign of bewilderment, but after the initial shock of this bold move, she reacts and uses a skill as well. [Windfeeler].
She jumps in the air, using her pole to hold herself up, and evades my attack. I swing my spear to knock that pole down, but she lifts it in the exact same moment to perform a somersault and attacking me from above.
It''s an attack with a large arc, so I can simply evade it. But instead I counterattack, thrusting the blunt side of my spear right in her stomach, before the staff could come down.
Ara-san grunts, which is definitely not a normal sound an elf would make, guess alfar are really different. Losing some momentum from my counterattack, the club-end of her pole hits my shoulder, but while it did some damage, it''s nowhere serious.
¡°You''re dead.¡± If I have used the pointy end of the spear like normally, I would''ve seriously hurt her, most likely making her unable to fight.
¡°Another round?¡± Ara-san is using her slight smile, but she seems to be in pain. ¡°After some healing, I mean.¡± Of course, we have our nurse, Kyou-san, who healed her, while throwing me hostile glares.
Same as Jazzman, who seems to be ready to kill me with stares only.
Hey, it''s a mock battle. So I won''t hold back more than necessary.
¡°Round two. Ready... fight!¡±
On Rine''s signal, Ara-san jumps. And it''s high, several meters. How is that possible? Ah, [Acrobat], huh? And now she begins to glow, while she begins to spin in the air.
Well, it may be untypical for me, but while Ara-san seems to charge some kind of airborne attack, I will just do it. I throw my spear, blunt side first again.
Ouch, that was bull''s eye. Or more like alfr''s eye. I aimed for her face, but to hit an eye socket wasn''t intentional.
If you can lose your balance in the air, then that''s what Ara-san did. I didn¡¯t only disrupted her skill-charging, she also fell like a brick.
And the second pain.
Seems like she couldn''t break her fall. Kyou-san is running to her and casts a healing spell again, while I pick up my weapon.
Rine is also kneeling down by her and casts a spell or two. ¡°Ara''ainn, please be serious.¡± Rine scolds her. Well, until now it''s a bit pathetic. Seems like Ara-san favors the spectacular, causing her to make these really flashy, but fail moves that are easily countered.
Jazzman is caressing the shortsword on his waist.
Please stop that, it makes me nervous.
¡°Third round. Ready... fight.¡±
This time, Ara-san moves in for a close quarters fight. I hate these! The only thing you can do is to try to land blow after blow while being beaten to a pulp yourself and reacting on less than a moment for incoming danger. Her [Agility] is higher than mine, so this should serve our experiment well. She should be able to own me in this.
Alternatively, she can be beaten by some powerful blows. A thrust with my spear pole will cause her nose to bleed before she can fall down and whimpers.
And that''s exactly what happened.
¡°Arako!¡± Kyou-san is again by her side. ¡°Ken! What did you do?¡±
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¡°Kyou, don''t be mad at him. He''s just better than her.¡±
¡°I am?¡±
¡°Not that much. Both of you are moving poorly, but Kenta is bolder and that''s why he breaks her defenses so easily.¡±
¡°Katarina-san, I did my best.¡± Ara-san seems to be a bit mortified. ¡°I block him and then he pulls through, throws me off and then attacks by himself. It''s like he''s not even thinking about it.¡±
So I''m actually a better fighter than Ara-san, who lives in this world for about a century? Is that talent? Or the fact, that she spent most of these years without any fighting?
Most likely the latter.
¡°Hey, human!¡± Ah, Jazzman is finally pissed. ¡°Fight me.¡±
I so don''t want to do this. ¡°No. Get lost!¡±
Ara-san''s the same opinion: ¡°You''re not a hero, Aera''jos, so there is nothing to gain from it. Even though I''m no one to talk.¡± Ah, she''s bitter about how easy I defeated her.
¡°I''ll fight Kenta instead.¡±
¡ No, Rine. Just no.
Kyou-san is smiling. It''s her pleasant smile, which scares me a bit. ¡°That''s a great idea. Rine is a hero as well, so it will give some very interesting- I mean, valuable data.¡±
No, Kyou-san. Hell no!
Ara-san is pondering. ¡°Even though their levels are significantly different, I guess it would give me some insight to Katarine-san''s combat potential.¡±
No, Ara-san. Please no!
But there might be a way out! ¡°You know, my dear alfr.¡± I put my hands on Jazzman''s shoulders. ¡°You''re lucky. You won''t get me, but the best of all of us, so you''ll have the honor to fight our precious Rine.¡± Don''t blame me for pinning this duel on Jazzman!
If you fight Rine seriously, it''s a short and brutal execution. But thinking about her holding back, using the blunt side of her sword, can only be like some long, slow kind of torture, which will break your bones and leave you to bleed to death.
I seriously don''t want to fight Rine under any circumstances. I''m afraid.
¡°You lowlife, I want to fight you! I don''t care about your women, but you''re the one who hurt Ara''ainn!¡±
¡°He called me ¡®Kenta¡¯s woman¡¯!¡± Rine blushes a bit, while she grins as bright as the sun.
But the other girl in questions stays calm. ¡°Aera''jos, it was an experiment. So even if it hurts, it''s all fine with me.¡±
Ara-san, you''re on my side.
¡°So stand aside and let Katarine-san and Kenta-kun fight each other.¡±
On my execution site.
Rine snaps out of her delusion and her face changes into combat-mode.
¡°Ready...¡± Kyou-san, stop being a referee for a fight, that won''t happen. And don''t smile at me like that, it gives me the chills. ¡°Fi-¡±
I put a hand in my backpack, pull out a smoke bomb, throw it to the ground and use the cover to run away.
Or so I thought.
¡°-ght!¡±
Even though I had the perfect smoke cover, I feel my knee kicked and bend, while a hand grasps my hair, and pull my head back. Ah, I can see the pommel, which is about to hit my face...
This will hurt.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Dear!¡± The moment my consciousness returns is the moment, my head is hugged. I know these breasts, it''s Rine. I guess I passed out after twelve repeated blows into my face.
I check my status, I was healed. Feel no swellings on my face as well, but I can taste my own blood and my nostrils are caked.
¡°You''re calling him ''Dear''?¡± Ara-san''s ears are moving. ¡°Kenta-kun, when you told me, that you don''t have a relationship with anyone, was it a lie? Ah, I see, so you want to add me to your dirty love nest by sweet talking me. Poor me.¡±
¡°Stop joking around. And Rine, let me go.¡± I actually feel good in your bosom, so please stop this.
You gain 1 WP.
Your wife took care of your sorry self, showing that she wants to be with you, even if you have your unreliable moments.
Who do you think knocked me out in the first place!?
I look at Kyou-san who just rolls her eyes, and Rine who giggles. Their reactions to these messages are usually that polar.
¡°Hey, where is that alfr?¡± I can''t see Jazzman.
¡°He left, after being called by Oro''hekk. Something at the border again. Seems like those two humans out there won¡¯t give up.¡±
They''re coming back on a daily basis, that''s annoying. Maybe I should ambush them by myself, making it clear that they stand no chance. But I''m still limited in my freedom here.
For Ara-san, who doesn''t know that they''re heroes, it''s an unimportant nuisance right now. ¡°Since Kenta-kun didn''t even try to fight Katarine-san, the data of the last fight is not worth anything.¡±
¡°What did you expect? Rine is much stronger than I.¡±
¡°Oh, Dear.¡± Rine blushes and holds her face in her hands, making an alluring pose. ¡°You''re exaggerating. I''m not that good.¡± And the worst part is, she means it.
¡°Who are you calling ''Dear''!? And you, Ara-san, just don''t give in stupid ideas, just because you''re frustrated by the fact, that I owned you!¡±
Ah, her ears twitch. I got it nailed down. ¡°You only won because my skills are rusty. I have not had a melee fight in years. I would incinerate you with my [Druid]-class.¡± Druids are supposed to be able to use [Elemental Magic] and [Spirit Magic], which is a strong combo.
¡°It was a test. So don''t get too emotional about it.¡±
¡°You''re just a poor winner!¡±
This girl... technically, it would be more like ''woman'', but calling her a ''girl'' just seems to be more appropriate. So: This girl is such a sore loser. I can''t stand them, even though I''m one as well.
¡°Ken, Arako, just try to stay calm. It''s time for lunch.¡± Kyou-san is putting a blanket on the ground, taken from her backpack with dishes follows after that. Today''s a picnic.
It''s something like cabbage rolls. I don''t know what kind of animal the meat is from, but I have the suspicion, that it''s squirrel. At least I never saw any meat in the provisions, that Jazzman brings over, so that''s the only explanation I have.
But oh well, it''s not like I saw every delivery. Although the thought, that the squirrels, which harass Rine on a daily basis, are eaten by us is amusing.
Can squirrel-meat even be eaten?
¡°Here, Kenta-kun.¡± Ara-san pours me some tea, Aeolferelda. It revives mind and body, even though Ara-san only has a limited supply of it, she shares it with us. It''s the closest you can get to green tea in this world.
I take a sip. ¡°Ahh...¡± It actually regenerates a lot of MP and SP, Ara-san explained it to me, that the Aeolferelda tree is like a mana generator. So even its dead leaves, from which the tea is made, are soaked in the stuff, which actually creates MP. ¡°Good as always. Thanks.¡±
¡°*sigh*¡± Seems like Kyou-san is holding back a complaint by drinking a bit as well. ¡°Thank you, Arako.¡±
¡°How can you drink that?¡± Rine''s sense of taste is a bit different, to be blunt: The tea is too bitter for her. Not only her personality, even her taste is childish. So she drinks water mixed with a bit of juice.
The cabbage rolls are delicious like every other dish Kyou-san serves us. This is a real upside of the [Cook]-class, Kyou-san can make everything tasty, as long as it''s even remotely edible.
Not that I''d ever say that to her. She''s conceited enough as it is, no need to encourage that behavior.
Ara-san enjoys the meal as well. You can tell that by her ears, which are pointed straight up while twitching slightly. Over the days I became sure that an alfr''s ears are like a human''s eyebrows, a vital part to interpret the emotion of the person.
Rine has impeccable manners when eating, not even letting a bit of grease on her mouth or clothes. Guess she really is a princess, even though she looks and behaves like some tomboy normally. I guess, she knows the etiquette.
I don''t care about table manners anymore. I just pick up the cabbage rolls with my hand and shove them in my mouth. My mother would scold me for this, but now that I''m in a fantasy world, nobody except the girls can see me.
Ara-san''s ears are moving, aligning themselves. ¡°Kenta-kun, everyone. I just got a message from the elder.¡± With [Spirit Magic] it''s possible to send a message through plants to another person, who has [Spirit Magic]. There seems to be a range limit and only a few alfr can use it, but it''s really handy. ¡°Tomorrow we may visit the village.¡±
Kyou-san is delighted: ¡°So we can see the relic?¡± Well, of course, she''s keen to deselect [Healer], even though I still think, that would be a waste. It''s a craft class, you know? I like those, it''s always a pleasure to organize equipment, materials, time and other resources.
But Kyou-san is thinking far ahead, for the time when she and I will separate, when the curse gets lifted. When that happens, she will need to take care of things by herself.
Ara-san takes another sip. ¡°Maybe. Depends on what the villagers have prepared.¡±
¡°What kind of item is that in the first place, Ara-san?¡±
¡°Didn''t I tell you? It''s a quill.¡±
¡°A quill... any other interesting relics there?¡±
¡°Most of them were taken by our own heroes for their quests, like our other powerful magic items. Some of said heroes are already confirmed dead, we don''t know about the rest. Without Aeolferelda we can''t call them.¡±
¡°So the tree also increases the reach of [Far Call]?¡± [Whisper] to anyone who the user can see, [Far Call] to any [Spirit Magic]-user within a certain range. Both have similar effects but are still different.
¡°Aeolferelda is the source of magic in our world. They''re everywhere in Ljosgrond, and they''re the basis for our culture. It was hard to adapt to a world with only one Aeolferelda. It''s very important here. Without it, we couldn''t hold the magical wards, which protects Aroahenn.¡±
Ah, I see. It''s basically like electricity. Something the whole society began to revolve around. You can live without, but it''s just not the same. Now, the alfar of Aroahenn have only one power plant, which is used to power the defense mechanism and is used to produce some other things than magic, like tea.
¡°But you said ''most of them'', so there are still some relics left?¡±
¡°Useless junk.¡±
¡°Like?¡±
¡°An amulet, which glows, if it''s worn by a hero. A bell, which rings, if you level up. And a belt, which vibrates, if you use a [Skill] while wearing it.¡±
Kyou-san and I exchange glances. ¡°¡°Useless.¡±¡±
¡°Like I said.¡±
¡°Couldn''t you use the amulet to identify heroes?¡± Rine asks.
¡°Only if they don''t show it by other means. [Class-Change], a wide array of skills, or simply showing your status to someone else.¡± Not that Ara-san can actually read our status windows since it''s in Japanese. But she copied mine and Kyou-san''s, while I ask Rine to copy hers since the princess is constantly learning or teaching and we do our best to let her and Ara-san never alone. ¡°So it''s useless unless you try to find out about the hero-status of a person, you have imprisoned. And we don''t make prisoners here.¡±
I better remember to not cross the alfar. ¡°The belt seems to be annoying, I mean, you use a skill and then suddenly something vibrates around your hips. And since I check my level regularly, there is no need for the bell. Ara-san, I thought that everything about heroes is collected here!¡±
¡°Nowadays, knowledge only. And that''s because of me, if I were to go, then there would be nobody left, who would even care much about all the details and workings of heroes. They don''t see the point of the investment in knowledge. They''re just putting up with my wishes.¡±
¡°Hard time, huh?¡±
¡°Arako...¡±
¡°Ara''ainn, won''t you come with us?¡± Rine invites Ara-san into the party.
...
Could you please try to read the mood?
¡°Why?¡± Ara-san is confused. I don''t have any idea why Rine even did this as well. But this may be her conclusion after being lost in her pink colored thoughts of friendship and such.
¡°Because you''re a hero, not a researcher. You need to put your powers to good use and I want to be friends with you!¡±
¡°Erm... thanks?¡± Ah, so that''s how you look after Rine runs you over with her words. Even though an alfr''s facial expression isn''t strong, Ara-san''s face is a picture-book example of being unsure of what to do.
¡°Yay, Ara and I are friends!¡± Ara-san looks are alternating between me and Kyou-san. While Kyou-san gives her a forced smile, I just sigh. Rine doesn''t even care. ¡°You may call me Rine as well, Ara.¡±
¡°Erm... I still prefer Katarine-san.¡±
¡°OK, Ara!¡±
¡°Aren''t you glad, Ara-san? You made a new friend!¡± Actually, it''s amusing. Especially since Ara-san tries to befriend me, she got befriended in an avalanche herself instead.
¡°This just came out of the blue.¡±
¡°Ara, I was the only one you''re not close to, so I felt left out. It''s not like I didn''t think about it before.¡±
Seriously, there was no introduction and no setup, this event just jumped into the middle part. If this were a game, it would be bad story design, but reality is just like that sometimes.
¡°But Katarine-san, I must decline your earlier offer. There is no advantage for me to join your party, instead, you can stay here until I have all the data I need from you. It might take a while since there are many unusual circumstances with you. But afterward, it''s back to analyzing.¡±
Somehow I feel it''s a pity. Ara-san seems to be a mage-type normally and would be a good addition to the party. And she''s someone, who actually tries to understand the hero-system, so we could always brainstorm about the things, which irks me as strange.
On the other hand, I''m also glad. Since having another person in this party would definitely tire me out.
Volume 03 - Chapter 4-2
Aera''jos is irritated. He doesn''t like humans, but that''s normal if you consider the long history of the alfar with them. For someone like Ara''ainn, who is foreign to this world, it''s hard to imagine what it means to have a hereditary enemy. Or at least something close to it.
In the distant past, humans and alfar tried to get along in a time when the gods have spurred the races to go to war with each other. But Elmli, the alfr goddess of knowledge and Vynnwor, the alfr god of war, decided it would be best to make an alliance with one of the less brutal races.
Little did they know about the hidden nature of humans.
They''re driven by their desires, which are so strong that they''ll devour everything in the end. The alliance held a mere two hundred years, before the humans raided the alfar in a swift motion, shattering the realm of the alfar into many pieces. Most of the survivors fled, so now the alfar are in the hidden places of the world.
Since then, many alfar did their best to avoid humans or members of the other races, choosing locations far away from them for their settlements. For a while, the Feuerberg-kingdom tried to convince Aroahenn to help them in the war against the demons, but even though the treason is in distant the past, the mistrust is still in the hearts of the alfar.
At least in some of them.
And for some reason, the humans began to call them elves, which is an outright insult. They are proud to be the Ljos, part of the alfr-race. Especially since the D?kk are legendary nowadays, they have to carry that name with pride for both tribes.
So seeing Ara''ainn getting along with these humans is grinding on Aera''jos'' nerves. Even though he has deep feelings for her, it isn''t him who has done so much for her, but them. Complete strangers, who were able to get close to her.
Twenty years of courtship and he never could do so much as flirt. And in less than a week, the humans have gotten all cozy with her. Even though they brought those other humans to Aroahenn!
¡°Aera''jos, keep your focus.¡± Oro''hekk reminds Aera''jos what he is supposed to do. Watching the wannabe-intruders. Seriously, they''re still trying it. Camping around like they don''t care, shouting into the forest, like some sort of savages, they get on Aera''jos'' nerves.
Oro''hekk is a veteran, he''s almost as old as the elder, the next in line. An alfr as old as him is like a beacon of wisdom. He doesn''t call any of the guards informally so he expects that others call him by his full name. ¡°What do you think, Aera''jos? Are both of them a thing?¡±
¡°Most likely.¡± Human''s desire is endless, especially their sex-drive. They''re supposed to mate with the same gender, which let any sane alfr ask: What''s the point if you can''t bear children?
Oro''hekk calls out to the rest of the group. ¡°They''re stubborn, so instead of scaring them off again, I think harassment would be the next step. Any suggestions, everyone?¡±
¡°We could throw itching powder at them.¡±
¡°Or maybe we can call them dumans for hours behind our wards.¡±
¡°Should we put some shit in their backpacks, while they''re not looking?¡±
¡°If we do that, we should set it ablaze.¡±
¡°Or we may put it in a bag, set it on fire, and throw it at them. When they try to douse the flames, then ''splash''!¡±
¡°How about we let them stay until one of them sleep? We knock the one on watch unconscious and then we scribble on the face of the one who''s sleeping.¡±
¡°Why don''t we take a piss on him instead?¡±
¡°Or we may sting him with a needle in the back, right into a point he can''t reach. And leave the needle in.¡±
¡°Itching powder in the underwear!¡±
¡°We could also steal their gear.¡±
¡°And throw it in a pile of shit.¡±
¡°Then we have to make a map so that they can get it back. Then they have to dig in the shit for it.¡±
¡°All of them are very good suggestions.¡± Oro''hekk interferes. ¡°But I''d like to make something big, like digging up a big hole, fill it with shit. Then we pretend to lead them to the village, make them fall into the pit, then throw itching powder from above, taking a piss and call them repeatedly ''stupid dumans''. And if anyone has any idea, how we can including the scribbling and the stealing, then everyone will be happy. Except for these humans.¡±
¡°You forget the fire.¡±
¡°And the fire! This is how the noble, alfr race does things!¡± Oro''hekk is really a wise leader, to able to combine so many ideas into a grand plan. ¡°These dumans will learn, that the alfar won''t back down!¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Hell yeah!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±
After some brainstorming, the alfar decided to use flammable itching powder, the powdered pololpo is much stronger when burned once, but it''s such a short burst, that you can''t be hurt by it, even if you stand right in the middle of the flame explosion. Additionally, the alfar will take the equipment from the humans, before they lead the humans to the ''village'' and scribble their faces, so that ''everyone can see, that they''re friends''.
The plan is perfect.
Since it will take time and planning to dig the pit and find enough animals to ask to shit into it, this will take a while. But tonight, tonight they will be able to pull it off!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Later that same night.
¡°At least they didn''t attack today.¡± Yoshimura and Hoshibashi returned every single day and were chased off again.
¡°Why don''t we just smack these guys the next time we see them?¡± Hoshibashi, as a former delinquent, was the one who suggested showing the elves their determination, but also the first to get sick of getting hurt every day.
¡°We know too little. Even if we beat them, there might be no way to get into the village. Elves are supposed to be very secretive, so stay patient.¡±
¡°And humans are supposed to be dumb.¡± A familiar voice, it''s the leader of the elves. He steps out of the shadows of the campfire, his voice is clearly irritated. ¡°So, what do you want to do today?¡±
Hoshibashi stands up and clenches his fists, but Yoshimura tries to calm him down with a hand motion. ¡°No. This is a chance.¡± Hoshibashi sits down with his arms akimbo while staring at the elf. ¡°Sorry about my companion, but he''s a bit angry after your treatment in the last few days.¡±
¡°You deserved it! Trespassing our territory.¡±
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°Again, sorry. But there are reasons for this.¡±
¡°Speak.¡±
¡°Erm... Who am I talking with?¡±
¡°Aera''jos. I''m adjutant of the guards of Aroahenn.¡±
¡°Aera''jos-san, my name is FortuneVillage. That''s my partner, StarBridge-san.¡± These are their surnames'' kanji in English. Both of them wanted to use aliases, just in case. ¡°We want to talk to your people since we have much information to offer to you. And goods. We''re originally mercenaries, so we come around a lot and we heard, that you collect relics. And we have some.¡±
¡°So you have relics? In those backpacks of yours?¡±
¡°Yes. And we want to trade with you.¡±
¡°I see, I see. Even though I''m curious, from where you heard about that information. It''s a tad old, currently, we''re not that much into buying things.¡± He smiles slightly, so it must be good. Yoshimura is trying to get something out of Aera''jos face, but it barely moves. Only the ears twitch from time to time, but Yoshimura can''t tell what that means.
¡°Could you make an exception?¡± Yoshimura was in his [Trader]-class, which has high [Persuasion] plus the [Conversation]-ability, so he was sure, the moment they''d talk, is the moment he needs to get into the village.
¡°Seems like I have no choice. Let me call for some more people. And of course, you have to give us your gear, keep your underwear. It''s just for security.¡±
¡°I won''t hand you my weapons!¡± Hoshibashi''s weapon of choice is a greatsword he can barely lift in his [Student]-class. As secondary weapons, he uses a club and a shortsword. His hands wander to his waist, ready to use both weapons at any time, even though he lacks the [Dual Wield]-ability, which limits the effectiveness.
¡°StarBridge - you humans really have strange names - let me tell you this. There are five of us still in hiding and pointing their arrows at you. So you can either agree with us and come into the village, or we make sure that you won''t be able to come back. An arrow in the knees tends to end any career as a mercenary.¡± Aera''jos voice is laughing, it''s something which can only be described as malicious glee.
¡°Please, StarBridge-san, stay calm. And Aera''jos-san, would it be possible to keep at least one weapon? What about clothes? And how can armor be of any harm to you?¡± Yoshimura tries his best, hoping in the effect of [Persuasion].
Aera''jos looks at both humans. Then he says with a shrug: ¡°Fine. Clothes, armor, and one weapon, but a big one. Hand over all your knives.¡± It worked! It actually worked!
Three of the five elves in hiding reveal themselves and take the backpacks and the weapons. Yoshimura keeps his longsword as a weapon and Hoshibashi his greatsword. Even though it packs some power, the elves don''t seem to mind.
Both of them were searched for hidden weapons, but there were none.
¡°Next comes the signs. Without those, you will be treated as intruders. Turn around, we¡¯ll paint them on your faces.¡±
This is somewhat strange but still seems logical. Even though Yoshimura can¡¯t help but think that Hoshibashi¡¯s face looks kinda dumb with all these symbols. Some of them seem strangely familiar.
But looking like that, they can finally follow the four elves.
Aera''jos explains: ¡°This is the wrong side. The entrance is about an hour walk away, so we can''t even open the wards for you on this side.¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡±
The elves around Yoshimura and Hoshibashi are strangely tense. But Yoshimura couldn''t tell, if they''re smirking or if this is a stern expression. He guesses it''s the latter, bringing strangers into their village is a big risk.
So the two heroes walk mostly in silence. ¡°We''re here.¡± After an hour of walking, Aera''jos explains. ¡°See that path? It''s the entrance.¡±
For Yoshimura there was no path to see, but elves are supposed to be nature-bound, so they may see something as a path, a human wouldn''t even notice.
¡°Go on. So that we can see you clearly. Just follow the path.¡±
Yoshimura and Hoshibashi exchange looks, then Hoshibashi murmurs: ¡°Just need to do it.¡± And walks ahead.
¡°Next to each other, please. And a bit more to the right.¡±
The heroes do like Aera''jos told them. Then they step on something, both are looking to the ground. Nothing.
¡°Strange.¡±
¡°You''ve just passed the first ward. Keep going. The next few steps may be strange, but afterward, it''ll be fine.¡±
If Aera''jos says so, Yoshimura has no other choice but to trust him.
Both of them take the next step together, just a step before they got between the first trees. And then the ground caves in.
They fell maybe 5 meters (around 16 feet) and landed in something muddy. Just that... ¡°*Bluargh*¡± Hoshibashi utters a cry of pure disgust. ¡°Got it into my mou- SHIT!¡±
Yes, it''s shit. Literally. The stench, the texture, it was too dark to see clearly, but Yoshimura was sure, that it''d look like shit as well and most likely taste like it. Well, Hoshibashi got a taste.
And something comes from above. A strange powder. It got into the hair and the skin. And it itches like crazy. ¡°And the finishing touch.¡± Something like a match is falling into the pit and the powder in flames.
¡°AHHHH!¡±
¡°NONONO!¡±
Both of them cried out in panic, but the flames disperse as quickly as they came. But somehow... the itch got even worse! They scratched themselves like crazy, but it won''t stop.
¡°You need some water to wash it off, right?¡± Several elves are at the top of the hole, dropping their pants and showing their... things... what is that? It''s strange and weird and something, which should be put in mosaic.
Yoshimura doesn''t know, how much genitals of mammals can differ. But what he does know now is the smell of elven urine.
And one single question is torturing him: ¡°Why!? How can you be so cruel!?¡± He was about to cry, feeling like a frog in the bottom of a shit-well. But in fact, they were far worse off. They''re chest-deep in the brown mass, their upper bodies itch like hell, they were tricked, humiliated and insulted.
¡°Tell me, human, what are we.¡±
¡°Assholes!¡±
¡°We''re the alfar. Never forget it. We don''t deal with you, dumans.¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Dumans! Dumans! Nananana-dumans!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±
¡°By the way, I''ll take your stuff. Don''t worry, we''ll pick you up tomorrow. Take this as a lesson and never come back again!¡± Then suddenly roots are growing at the top of the hole, covering it entirely. Yoshimura and Hoshibashi were left behind, robbed of their equipment and dignity.
Yoshimura can''t hold it in: ¡°WE''RE HEROES, YOU MONSTERS!¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
''What did he say?'' Aera''jos has a good hearing, even for an alfr. ''Heroes...''
¡°Good work, everyone.¡± Oro''hekk and the rest of the alfar, who lost the drawing, had to be the back-up, so they could just laugh and congratulate the lucky ones, who were allowed to directly interact with the humans. ¡°Aera''jos, as expected from you. Now we need to hide their equipment far away from here and make a map, then we''re good.¡±
¡°...could I do that?¡± Aera''jos wants to confirm some things.
¡°If you like working overnight, be my guest.¡±
¡°I personally want to make this the perfect prank.¡± Calling this a prank is a great understatement from a human¡¯s standpoint. But for the alfar, it was just a bit of fun time.
After talking with some of his peers about this big success, Aera''jos is running to the west. He confirms that nobody followed him, then he checks out the backpacks. Empty. Just like a hero''s. A magical backpack which can only be used by its owner. A special kind of relic.
So are they heroes? He won''t know unless he gets some proof and to do that, he will have to visit them again. It''d be better to just let it go.
But if they are heroes, then why are they chasing the other human heroes? And why didn''t they tell the alfar about the true nature of these intruders... The heroes at Ara''ainn''s side might be not what they proclaim to be.
Aera''jos knows too little and he is reminded of that. Better he hears those two out, especially since they''re in quite a predicament and that way of no harm.
Because every hero will raise Ara''ainn''s interest and everything that would proof that these three in her house are dangerous, would end up in killing them. Which would align with Aera''jos'' wishes.
He returns. Back to the root-covered hole. But the moment he saw it, the root-cover bursts open and a single, human figure jumped out it. It''s StarBridge, who''s full of shit, from head to toe, but his hair protrudes in strange ways, his eyes are glaring so much that they''re practically burning, and his teeth seem to be twice as big as before.
That''s no human, it''s a savage beast.
Aera''jos draws his bow and tries to meld with the shadows, but StarBridge is suddenly right before him, catching him by the throat and lifting him up. ¡°UUUUURHRHRHRGHHGHG!¡± An inhuman sound roars from his mouth.
The alfr could practically feel, how his neck is about to break, but then another person climbed up the hole, FortuneVillage. ¡°Hoshibashi, change!¡±
Suddenly, the fierceness of StarBridge vanishes and he looks only angry. Then Aera''jos is released, coughing on the ground. ¡°Let us kill this worm.¡±, StarBridge demands.
¡°No.¡± FortuneVillage is also angry, but his anger is as cold as winter. ¡°Aera''jos? Are you that?¡± Aera''jos only nods. ¡°I see. There seems to be a misunderstanding and even though it took us time and we had to overcome our disgust to dive into the muck long enough to get the itchiness away, we''re still willing to talk. At least I am, I won''t be sure about Hoshibashi, I mean, StarBridge. So say me, elf, are you ready to talk?¡±
The air around the two of them is totally different from before. Aera''jos feels a bit of fear, but he still can deal with that much. ¡°Was that a [Class-Change] right now?¡± How the wildness of StarBridge suddenly changed, after FortuneVillage gave an order, seems a lot like a [Class-Change], a hero would do.
¡°So you know? Yes, it was.¡±
¡°And you''re a hero as well?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Prove it.¡±
¡°... Here.¡± FortuneVillage let some kind of sheet of light appear with strange symbols on it. A hero''s status-screen. ¡°Satisfied?¡±
¡°Do you know, if you told so from the beginning, we wouldn''t have used the pit.¡± Aera''jos laughs about the absurdity of this situation. ¡°First, let me guide you to a place where you can wash you off, then we talk. You stink.¡±
Aera''jos might have been in a tight spot before, but he keeps his calm, despite this tad of fear. He''s a proud alfr, so he won''t be afraid of humans!
But maybe it''s time to talk to them on eye level.
Volume 03 - Chapter 4-3
Morning. Aroahenn.
The village of the alfar is unlike any I saw before. Some houses seem to be grown out of the treetops, just like Ara-san''s, where branches and leafs build an entire building. Bigger buildings are even made of whole trees, which twists around each other and then there are building between the roots of particularly big trees.
Branches are connecting buildings on three levels with each other, just like bridges. Vines hang from above, which are nimbly climbed by the alfar to get to higher level. Sometimes they''re intertwined like a net, so they can just jump down from a higher platform.
It''s like a huge climbing crag, but the roughly thirty alfar I could see treat it as normal. So alfar have amazing balance as well, huh?
Ara-san shows her slight smile, her ears are wiggling, she seems to be interested in our reactions. Her best, but still small, smile widens by a bit, as she sees my impressed look, she giggles due Kyou-san''s face of disbelief and seems to be unsure, what to make out of Rine''s open admiration.
¡°This is like another world.¡±
¡°Whooooaaa.¡±
¡°After you''re done staring, we''ll go into that building. It''s the elder''s hall, there we''ll meet with Elder Gaer''mon.¡±
But there is still one question, I want to ask. ¡°Where is our escort? Hidden in plain sight, ready to ambush us, if we do something stupid?¡± There is no way, that the alfar will let us do as we want here.
¡°Exactly. You already know how alfar do things.¡± Ara-san''s expression is harder to read than usual, but if I try to make it out of her voice, it''s somewhere between displeasure and cheerful. Strange combination.
We enter the elder''s hall, a building made entirely out of living trees. It''s like a big tower, but we already saw the elder at the ground level. He seems to be about as old as Ara-san or every other alfr we saw. His hair is dishwater blonde, his eyes have an inner yellow iris, shining like an amber, and an outer green one, who looks like an emerald.
Could it be, that you can measure an alfr''s age by the eyes? Ara-san seems to be still young for an alfr and has dark colored eyes, most of the guards have brighter eyes, Oro''hekk more than the others, and now we have the elder with his sparkling eyes.
Well, if we go by that, Rine must seem like an old lady for the alfar, too, since her eyes are bright and sparkling, too. But not like a gem, more like a forge.
Ah, I guess I read too much into it.
Or did I?
The elder steps up. ¡°Welcome to Aroahenn, humans. I''m Gaer''mon, the elder of this village. I wanted to see you all by myself before we decide what to do with you. It seems like you''re taking good care of Ara-tan, I''ve never seen her so well rested, well-kept, and jovial before.¡±
¡°Elder, could you please-¡±
¡°I remember like it was yesterday, when we had downpour after downpour, uprooting some of our trees, when Ara-tan''s house fell to the ground, sinking into the mud. Oro''hekk had to salvage her since she was dozing off and it took hours before she even considered to wash her dirty self off. She went out in the rain, since cleaning herself seems to be too much work.¡±
¡°I would really appreciate it, if-¡±
¡°Or the time Aera''jos came in panic into the village with an unconscious Ara-tan in his arms since the girl was so absorbed into her work, that she actually didn''t eat for days.¡±
¡°I beg you-¡±
¡°And there was one time when she-¡±
¡°AAAAAH!¡±
¡°Ara-tan, I am trying to talk with our guests.¡±
Kyou-san is smirking, holding a hand before her mouth, like an aunt from the neighborhood: ¡°Please keep on, Elder.¡±
I''m also smirking, holding my chin while nodding: ¡°It sounds interesting.¡± I somehow find this situation unbelievably amusing.
Rine is smirking as well, but I think she''s just mimicking us.
¡°I''m sure, the three of you are not smiling, but smirking! I can read it from your brows!¡± Ara-san, on the other hand, is embarrassed as hell, her ears are blushing and twitching like crazy. Even her still aloof face can''t hide it.
Normally, she''s more or less collected and in charge, but now she''s dominated by the elder. As expected from someone, who knows you for a couple of years. Every moment of embarrassment is saved only to talk about it openly at the next opportunity.
After sharing some of Ara-san''s less glorious deeds, the elder discussed with her about us. Ara-san''s estimation of us is: ¡°They''re dangerous in a fight but harmless in general. As long as we don''t provoke them, both parties will profit from sharing our respective knowledge.¡±
¡°Ara-tan, I can see, that your research will profit from this, but what about the rest of us? Oro''hekk told me about the two intruders, so there is a risk. If there was no risk, then I wouldn''t even care, but even if we chase those two outside away, won''t others still come for these three here? Especially for von Stolzherz-tan?¡±
All of us are alarmed, even Ara-san seems to be blown away that the elder knows it and told us. I take over the conversation: ¡°How do you know?¡±
¡°How can I not know about the ember-eyes of Feuerberg-kingdom''s royal bloodline? Come on, everyone knows!¡± He smiles, what arrogance! ¡°Just joking, I''ve already met two of their kind, Eberhardt and Cassandra von Stolzherz. I asked them about their eyes back then.¡±
¡°You met aunty and my little brother?¡± Thank you, Rine, for giving the necessary exposition.
¡°Didn''t Ara-tan already told you? Your people seek an alliance with us, to fight the demon country. Of course, they will send royalty as diplomats, as a sign of good will. Not that I''ve agreed to it. Human''s wars are human''s responsibility. There is nothing in it for us.¡±
¡°Hey, Elder!¡± I stand before the elder and don''t make a big deal about hiding my hostility: ¡°I don''t care about that war and such, so cut the chase and tell us, what you''re planning to do with us and I tell you if I''ll agree!¡±
¡°Ken!¡± Kyou-san hisses at me. ¡°Shut up!¡± Then she adds in a louder voice, directed to the elder: ¡°I''m sorry for him. He''s just an idiot. No, that''s an understatement, he''s incapable of clear thoughts 90% of the time, so just treat him like a mentally retarded person.¡±
¡°Who are you calling mentally retarded!?¡±
¡°You of course?¡± What are you making the expression, as if I''ve just asked if the sky is blue?
¡°Kenta, Kyou, please. We stand before a leader of a country.¡± And why is Rine the voice of reason again!? And it¡¯s a village, not a country!
¡°Ah...¡± Ara-san seems to be unsure what to do in this situation.
¡°Hm...¡± The elder is deep in thoughts. ¡°Considering this development, there is a rather important question I have to ask before I can decide what to do with you.¡± All of our heads turn to the elder. ¡°You and you!¡± The alfr is pointing at me and Kyou-san. ¡°Do you pork with each other?¡±
Double-K.O.
Kyou-san and I have seizures, our eyes are rolling backward, indefinite sounds escapes our throats and our bodies convulses. These words are so typical for an alfr and so inappropriate to the situation, they physically hurt.
¡°...I''m feeling sick again.¡± Kyou-san whines.
I groan. ¡°Why does everyone...¡± Ask that question? Jump to strange conclusions? Have not even a bit of common sense? Make my life a living hell? All the above?
¡°Yes. Both of them has night actions with each other.¡± Rine, not again! Ah, I totally forgot to explain her, why it was bad the last time! I regret! Please let me make a do-over!
¡°Oh? And I thought that Momo and Kenta-kun weren''t in that sort of relationship.¡±
¡°¡°We aren''t!¡±¡±
You gain 1 WP.
In prosperity as in adversity, in fun and embarrassed moments, the two of you share everything. And you even say the exact same words at the exact same time.
Yes, please add insult to injury! I obviously haven''t enough of that!
¡°Human relationships are complicated since they can''t keep it in their pants.¡± The elder gives a comment in a composed tone, which makes me want to yell at him. ¡°But regarding this... three weeks. You may stay for 30 days, it''s the usual time we give asylum. Then you have to leave.¡±
¡°This is plenty. Thank you, Elder.¡± Kyou-san is quick to thank, but the time frame it''s still more than I expected.
¡°Oh, only three weeks?¡± Ara-san is sighing. I guess for her, it''s only a short amount of time. So a week in this world has ten days, huh? And it''s still not one month?
¡°Three whole weeks? Please, don''t make me read all these books for so long!¡± On the other hand, Rine is opposing to study that long. Ah, she hated studying in the first place, that''s the reason why she even left home.
¡°Rine, the harder and faster you work, the less time we need. Just keep going, smiling like the idiot you are.¡±
¡°I''m aware, that I''m not bright, but it still hurts, if you say that like this.¡± She pouts. Man, what is with this girl.
¡°Elder.¡± I''ll just ignore it.
¡°Don''t ignore me, please!¡± Now she''s clinging to my arm.
The elder is jumping into conclusions by himself. ¡°Ah, I see. She''s the one you pork.¡±
¡°*grooooooaaaaaan....*¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°And don''t try anything funny. We''re still surrounded by other guards, so just behave.¡± Aera''jos guides Yoshimura and Hoshibashi to Aroahenn. After a long discussion, Yoshimura learned some interesting facts.
Yoshimura tries to be calm. But he couldn''t. Aera''jos told him and Hoshibashi about the other heroes here and there is one piece of information, that got his full attention: Momokawa Kyou-chan is here. He didn''t know it, but it''s a lucky coincidence. And for some reason, she was with Katsuragi and another girl-hero.
How did Katsuragi pull it off? Having two girls in his party, especially Momokawa-chan!
Well, considered what Yoshimura heard before, Momokawa-chan was left behind by her friends, so she most likely joined the party of the only person available. Even though Yoshimura was sure, that Katsuragi is dead.
Hoshibashi claimed to have seen them back in the W?chter-fort, but Yoshimura dismissed it. A miscalculation, but it''d be easy to convince Momokawa-chan to join their party if her only other alternative is Katsuragi.
Yoshimura has a crush on Momokawa-chan. For a long, long time. But whatever he did, it was never enough to gain her attention.
However, in this world, the cards got reshuffled and now he will show her, what kind of man he has become.
This is a chance!
¡°We''re about here. Stow your weapons into the backpack, every one of them.¡±
¡°Kch!¡± Hoshibashi clicks his tongue, but after looking how Yoshimura complies, he did the same. Yoshimura thought of his partner as reliable, but with some anger issues. Especially since he got ''that'' class.
Yoshimura put his weapons into his [Inventory] and he saw on the screen something strange. The map, that Correo-guy gave them, was blinking slightly. He takes it out. It''s normal in his hand, so why did it flashed in the [Inventory]-screen?
¡°What''s this?¡± Aera''jos takes the map from Yoshimura''s hand. ¡°A map? This is how you found us? So not only rumors, maps as well?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Another thing we have to tell Elder.¡± Aera''jos seems to be concerned or in joy, it''s hard to tell for Yoshimura. ¡°Everything stowed? Then let''s go.¡± He moves between some trees and thicket, which opens for him, like the whole time before. Who knows how hard it would be to move in this forest without an elven guide.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
And then they saw Aroahenn, with its unique buildings, which are made by the effort of living trees, its bridges, and vines. It seems to glow...
No, the glow came from elsewhere. From Aera''jos or more specific: Correo''s map, which still is in his hand. ¡°What...¡± Then there is a loud bang with a light-explosion.
Yoshimura sees colorful dots and hears strange noises. His sight slowly returns and he finds himself surrounded by many strange people. Horns, claws, wings, tails, everything is mixed. Some are twice as tall as him, others are only up to his knees.
But he knows what this is from his time at the border... demonkind! And they attack the village with roars of bloodlust and viciousness, ignoring the ones, who they just surrounded.
How... HOW? Yoshimura doesn''t even know what to think. They come into the village and then demonkind appears out of nowhere - no, from the map.
Correo!
They were used! They brought disaster to the elven village!
One of the demons, a particularly big one, bow down to them. ¡°If you want to get those relics, they''re under this tree, like the other treasures.¡± A droning female voice from something, which can only be seen as an oni. Two large, black horns on a red body, long arms with strong muscles, armor at the top, a striped dress-like undergarment with a bone armor over the chest-piece, and a long club made out of iron in her hands.
The oni groans as she was hit by three arrows. It''s Aera''jos. ¡°You tricked me! Duman scum!¡± He''s seriously pissed.
¡°Go, heroes. I''ll take care of the puny alfr.¡± The oni is full of confidence. ¡°It''ll take only a little time. The relic you''re searching for is a quill. If you have it, you''ll know how to use it.¡±
In situations like these, humans will show their true character. And so do Yoshimura and Hoshibashi. They run to the direction of the tree, the oni was pointing to.
Yoshimura sighs. Looks like they just switched sides. But who knows, maybe the demons are the better people. Being a dark hero doesn''t sound so bad as well. And considering the treatment they got from the elves, it seems only to be some kind of righteous judgment.
The elves are the true evil!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°What kind of explosion was that?¡± With [Pitch] I could clearly hear that the sound was like an explosion, I''ve never heard before. ¡°And there was something else mixed in.¡±
Battle cries are starting to emerge. This is most likely an attack, even though even I can''t think of anything, which could break through the wards of the alfar.
¡°We should help!¡± Rine is quick to decide that and before she even finished her words, she''s already through the door.
¡°Don''t decide it on your own. Phew.¡± I''m not that keen to help, it''ll get dangerous. But at least I can take a peek. ¡°Erm, everyone?¡± I turn to the ones behind. ¡°Could you look as well? I think that these things are demons, but I might err.¡±
Ara-san and Kyou-san are also taking a look and the alfr girl is the one, who confirms my suspicion. ¡°Yes, they look like demons. And they''re attacking the village.¡± Without any more hesitation, Ara-san joins Rine, who already butchers her way through the demons.
So demons don''t die with a body, but turn into midnight blue smoke?
How game-like!
¡°Ken, we should also help.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°First, there is Rine and Ara-san. I would feel bad if someone hurt them. And finally¡± Kyou-san draws close to me: ¡°We will gain the trust and the thanks of the alfar, so they''ll bound to help us with everything.¡±
How exploiting. But she''s right. It''s not like I have to go into grave danger, and if things go bad, I can most likely retreat. ¡°You know just the right words, Kyou-san.¡±
Time to change to [Pikeman]. I run towards Rine: ¡°Rine, change!¡± Rine steps backward and let me do my thing ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± And with this, a bunch of demons is blown away, some of the small ones already smoke badly. ¡°Change.¡±
Rine swaps positions with me and takes care of the ones, who are already on their feet. Ara-san is now beside me. ¡°[Icicle Knives]!¡± Ara-san conjures a fan of ice and throws it, it splits into five knives, which are hitting the enemies.
¡°Can you hold them with [Entangle]?¡± The same thing she used to keep me and Jazzman off each other.
¡°[Entangle]!¡± With this, the movement of several demons is entangled by the grass, branches, and roots, which grows like vines.
¡°Kyou-san!¡±
¡°Do I have to?¡±
¡°Just do it!¡±
¡°Uh...¡± Kyou-san still has her ss''rak-knife, which deals an enormous amount of damage to unmoving targets. With this, she can take care of the entangled, while I keep the free ones at bay, which are about to attack us.
It took only a little time before the demons here are either killed or have retreated. But something seems strange, they''re like mindless beasts, not much of a threat to have a longstanding war with anyone. Maybe there are some demons like this and others, which are actually intelligent?
At least it feels like killing mobs to me. But it''s better that way since it''s easier than killing sentient beings.
The guards of the alfar are also helping, they fight like heroes. But as far as I know, Ara-san is supposed to be the only alfr-hero here. Are these guys just that strong!?
Then something catches my eyes. Humans. Two of them, Japanese. Ah, they''re the ones, who were camping outside before.
How were they called? Nah, not that important.
One of them wields a greatsword, the other one has a longsword. Their movements are keen and their teamwork is superb. It''s much better than what Rine and I are currently capable of.
But why are they fighting alfar? And with such a success? The alfar they beat are as competent as the others, but the two Japanese parry the arrows slashes through blades and flesh. I think, each of them is stronger than me! How!?
¡°Kenta-kun, look.¡± Ara-san, I can already see it, but I don''t want to. ¡°How can they fight like that, despite their- KENTA-KUN!¡± Ah, she''s honestly pissed. ¡°Did you hide heroes from me?¡±
¡°Yes, I did and no, I don''t regret it.¡± Honesty.
¡°You... but why... Where is Oro''hekk!?¡±
¡°He''s fighting that big oni-type there, who just smashed Jazzman.¡±
¡°Who?¡±
¡°You know, Jazzman.¡±
Ara-san is looking in the direction I''m pointing to and see, how Oro''hekk is completely occupied with fighting that one enemy. And I''m glad that I''m not the one, who has to do this. That oni is way above the other demons, maybe their leader or even an actual boss type mob. The attacks are fierce, sending shockwaves through the air. I really wouldn''t want to fight it.
But Ara-san is pointing at the direction of the two enemy heroes. ¡°Kenta-kun, Momo, Katarine-san. Please help me with fighting those two.¡± So she wants us to fight our former classmates? Every other day I would agree, but this day, I feel clearly inferior to them. ¡°They''re moving to Aeolferelda! We need to protect it.¡±
¡°We''ll do it!¡± Rine is about to run off, but I hold her arm.
¡°Don''t decide on your own, Rine! Ara-san, these guys are strong. I don''t know why, but they are. Even if you and Kyou-san take over the support, Rine and I are having the most risk here! What''s in for me?¡±
¡°And me?¡± Kyou-san seems also to be against it.
¡°Momo, under the roots of the Aeolferelda is the treasury. The relic you''re seeking is there and I think they''re trying to steal it with the other treasures.¡±
¡°Uh... Only if Ken''s also going.¡± Her desire to get this quill and the wish to survive are even, so she wants to max out, huh? But I''m not going to fall!
Ara-san looks deep into my eyes. ¡°Kenta-kun. Please.¡± Determination, the will to die for the cause. She knows that she will if I won''t help her. But she''s ready to.
¡°Dammit!¡± How did she convince me!? Just by looking into my eyes? But somehow I feel like I really want to help her. Why!?
''I''m interested in you!'' What? ''I thought that''s how humans make friends. Strange.'' Hey, that''s not how it works! It''s...
I fell. I fell. There is something inside me. A bit of friendship.
Talking with Ara-san can be fun. She takes good care of us, siding with us. She''s a bit calculating, but in the end, she''s doing it to satisfy her curiosity, not for some ulterior motive.
I hate it. I hate it! I HATE IT! ¡°DAMMIT! I just have to do it, right!? Rine, stay right behind me! We''ll try to separate them!¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Happy about my change of mind, Rine obediently follows me.
I hate myself for doing this. Aren''t I supposed to be an A-hole? But somehow I get the feeling, I''ll regret it for the rest of my life if I won''t do it.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± Aiming for the bigger one, the one with the greatsword, I launched myself with my [Spear]-skill.
¡°Katsu-!? [Crescent Moon]!¡± with one swing, the greatsword creates a wind sickle, flying at me.
I abort my skill, sidestep and: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± just do it again. To abort a skill is hard, but it''s the [Spear]-skill I use the most. So I know exactly, how it works.
But- ¡°[Gust]!¡± The other one used the already known OP-spell against me, knocking me back.
¡°Don''t worry!¡± These words were passed at me by Rine, who just overtook me. ¡°Leave it to me!¡±
The greatsword is swung at her, but Rine jumps, uses the enemy''s blade as a stepping stone and smacks her knee right into the face of the wielder. That sounds like a broken nose. ¡°Aaaah!¡± And a lot of pain.
You may have [Gust], but we have [Rine], which is much stronger than that!
Ara-san speaks to the alfar around us: ¡°Retreat with the wounded! We have this under control!¡± Actually, I''d rather keep them in the fight.
Oh well.
I get back on my feet and lift my spear. The one with the longsword looks at us. ¡°Katsuragi. Class rep. We don''t need to fight.¡± Ah, Kyou-san also joined the fray.
¡°Then just give up, erm... you.¡± I give another option.
¡°It''s me, Yoshimura Rentaro! We were sitting next to each other in class! We even shared a room back in Esse! Did you seriously forget my name?¡±
¡°It''s less about forgetting and more about not trying to remember it in the first place. And who''s the bloody-nose?¡±
The delinquent yells out in anger while holding his nose. ¡°Hoshibashi Takashi!¡±
¡°My deepest condolences.¡± Some people just don''t know how to name their children.
¡°...I''ll tear you apart.¡± And now he''s angry.
Please, blame your parents for being so bad at naming you. Your name almost sounds like a tongue twister.
Yoshimura smiles wryly. ¡°Even though this is supposed to be a heartwarming reunion, things got quite complicated. Class rep, I know, this might be sudden and not the right mood, but please: We''re in the right here! The elves are evil! So don''t join with them, but with us. Ah, and the others may as well. Humans have to stick together!¡±
Why do I feel like a side note? This pisses me off.
¡°Yoshimura-kun.¡± Kyou-san is looking at our former classmate like a damsel in distress, then she looks to Rine and me. ¡°I can''t.¡±
Ah, because you''re cursed. Otherwise, you would switch sides? Or at least consider it?
Well, that''s Kyou-san for you.
¡°I see.¡± Yoshimura has made a conclusion by himself. ¡°Then we''ll take care of them.¡± ¡ Ah, she did it, so they''ll concentrate their attacks on Rine and me!
And don''t stick your tongue out so cutely, Kyou-san, it makes me vomit!
¡°Rine, be careful. Their teamwork is good.¡± Rine is a monster, she is a powerhouse and can even fight multiple enemies all on her own. As long as they''re weak. If these two gang up on her, she''ll probably sustain some damage, if this piles up, it''s over.
So the trick would be to keep Hoshibashi and Yoshimura separated, but this might become the trickiest part. And until then, I have to keep one of them busy enough, so that they can''t combo against her.
Considering the stuff they''ve shown, it might get difficult. ¡°Rine, I''ll concentrate on the one with the big sword.¡± Hoshibashi seems to be an easier match-up. I already have some experience fighting greatswords.
¡°OK.¡± Fast as thought, she steps up to Yoshimura.
Hoshibashi tries to interfere, but: ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± I knock him back. If I can keep it up, I''ll separate them.
¡°[Rocksmash]!¡± Hoshibashi swings his blade right into the ground and earth and rocks are flying at me.
¡°[Watershield]!¡± Ara-san conjures water around me, a hollow sphere which takes most of the force of Hoshibashi''s attack.
Surprisingly, the rocks are still coming pretty fast and powerful, but with the dropping speed, it''s rather easy to avoid them.
Nice support!
But seriously, what''s up with these rocks? The [Watershield] should''ve been more efficient than that! Are they bullets? Is it the [Skill]? Or is that how much [Strength] Hoshibashi has?
The [Watershield] falls and I shorten the distance between me and Hoshibashi. Letting him swing his sword seems to be dangerous. I take my spear in both hands like a quarterstaff and perform a flurry of blows with both sides.
It doesn''t make much damage, but he couldn''t counter with his sword. He throws a punch at me, but I evade it, even though it''s insanely fast and powerful. But for some reason, it doesn''t seem that dangerous.
I hook the blunt end of my spear behind the leg of Hoshibashi, then I pull his leg from the ground. He falls and I stab him with the spear into the chest. But his hide armor and his [Vitality] takes most of the impact, so I can''t impale him.
¡°Ah!¡± Irritated, Hoshibashi draws both weapons from his belt: A shortsword and a club. At the same time, he loses some buff, his arms and torso became sleek. Then he nimbly stands up and moves much faster than before. He covers me with blows and I can feel and see how my HP and SP are drained.
¡°[Heal]! [Stamina]!¡± But I got two supporters. While Kyou-san heals me, Ara-san throws [Icicle Knives], she hits Hoshibashi at the side and I take the opportunity to smack the point of my spear right across his face. But even so, it''s only a cut.
I need some distance. I step back, but- ¡°Whoa!¡± Feel another back on mine. It''s Yoshimura, who is more similar to a bloody bag than he used to be. I try to knock him down, but he pushes me away with ease, right back to Hoshibashi.
He has much more [Strength] than me, that''s why I hate heroes. ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡± Hoshibashi, buffed again, uses this opportunity to make a big swing from above with his shortsword, surely to half me. Ah, I''m dead.
¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± Or not, Ara-san shoots a spurt of water, powerful enough to knock Hoshibashi a few meters back. I kinda like that kind of support.
Thank you again, Ara-san!
Hoshibashi class-changes to his slender form again and picks up speed. Then he vanishes. How... I jump sideways and see how something, which looks like a patch of grass, is attacking me. [Camouflage]. Don''t use the skills I know against me!
Then he throws his sword, and while I do my sidestep, he closes in and swings his club, which hits me in the chest. Ah, this sounds like broken ribs. And it''ll definitely hurt in one, two... ¡°AAAAARGH!¡± The pain is nothing you could just shrug off with an ''Ouch!''. But my cry of pain is hurting me as well.
¡°[Heal]! [Heal]!¡± At least I got my support.
But I wasn''t the only one, who got hurt. The moment I realized I couldn''t evade the club, I attacked as well and Hoshibashi is coughing, since I almost smashed his throat with a horizontal thrust of my spear-pole.
Time to deal the finishing blow!
¡°[Falling Mist]!¡± And suddenly I couldn''t see anything. Yoshimura has cast a spell. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I try to stab the place where Hoshibashi was, but he''s already somewhere else. ¡°Damn!¡± He could use the fog to hide, using [Camouflage]. I did it often enough myself. ¡°Everyone, keep your eyes open, Hoshibashi has the [Camouflage]-skill!¡±
I change to [Scout] and use [Pitch], but the sounds of the battles elsewhere are too loud to locate the two of them. Especially, considering Hoshibashi may also have the [Sneak]-skill.
¡°Ken!¡± Kyou-san''s voice is coming through the mist. ¡°They don''t need to fight us, they-¡±
¡°Dammit!¡± I realized it.
¡°We must stop them!¡± Ara-san also got the idea.
¡°What?¡± Rine... didn''t.
¡°They need only to get to Aeolferelda,¡± Ara-san explains it and I can hear her already running. Then she hits an object, most likely a tree/building. She can''t see either.
¡°Ara-san, is there nothing [Spirit Magic] can do?¡±
¡°Nothing I can use. And the spell is strong, it makes all the spirits blurry.¡±
¡°Do you know how long this fog-skill is in effect?¡±
¡°Usually about a minute.¡± Ah, I can see how it begins to disperse already, just slightly.
¡°I can see a path, follow my voice.¡± Slowly I walk through the mist, which dissolves bit by bit. ¡°Here, here, here.¡± I just to say something, so that they can follow. ¡°Good, I''m through the mist.¡± I wait for the others to come and they do.
Then all of us run to Aeolferelda. The tree is easily distinguishable by its sheer size and these algae-like leafs. Hoshibashi and Yoshimura are right before its roots. Hoshibashi slashes at the door with another greatsword. So he had spares, huh? But the branches and leafs of the door regrow faster than Hoshibashi can cut them.
¡°Ha!¡± Triumphantly, I approach. ¡°You''re back in a corner. Give up!¡± Yoshimura looks badly battered, the result of a fight with Rine. Hoshibashi might be stronger than me, but as long as we can separate them again, I should do well with the support.
¡°[Heal]!¡± And Kyou-san''s treating my ribs. So everything is fine.
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± Except when it''s not. Suddenly, the red oni who was fighting Oro''hekk jumps in and burns the door to crisps. Hoshibashi and Yoshimura enter it, while the oni stands in our way. It appears to be female and somehow I recognize that voice, even though I''m not sure where from. ¡°Two down, two to go!¡± Jazzman and Oro''hekk are down. I hope the other two are not Rine and me.
Speaking of Rine: ¡°Kenta, what are your orders?¡±
¡°You ask me!?¡±
¡°You''re the one who knows best!¡± Since when? But Kyou-san and Ara-san are also faltering.
So I have to make a call? ¡°Rine and Kyou-san, this oni is dangerous. Some of us need to keep it at bay. Do that.¡± I have the theory, that this oni is the strongest of all, so only Rine can fight it. And she will most likely suffer damage by doing so or exhaust all of her SP. And since she won''t have any opportunities to cast spells herself, Kyou-san needs to be the support. ¡°Ara-san and I will follow the two others.¡± Yoshimura is hurt and Hoshibashi might overcome me in terms of power, but I still got Ara-san. This has to work out.
We just need to cover the healing with pots.
¡°Understood!¡± Without even wavering, Rine charges at the oni.
¡°Keep Arako save!¡± Kyou-san keeps herself ready to cast any spell necessary.
¡°Let''s go, Kenta-kun!¡± Ara-san and I use the moment, the oni is distracted with Rine to pass by it, into the roots of Aeolferelda. ¡°You''re worried?¡±
¡°We had a hard time before and now we have to deal with both of them on our own.¡±
¡°Don''t worry. I have home advantage.¡± Ara-san is smiling slightly, but very mischievously.
Volume 03 - Chapter 5-1 – How to be yourself
Hello, my Name is Katarine von Stolzherz, but my friends call me Rine. Except for Ara, she still calls me by my first name.
When I was little, people tried to teach me things even though I''m not very smart. I''m thankful for that, but I hardly studied outside my classes.
I''m sorry.
I had more fun playing in the garden with sticks and ¡®dueling¡¯ my brothers, but after I received some self-defense lessons, they didn''t want to play with me any longer.
My instructor said it''s because I''m naturally talented and with proper training, I might get as strong as nurtured heroes one day.
Heroes are special, they learn in a fragment of the time the skills and abilities of veterans. There are few non-heroes, who have the potential to be on equal footing with a nurtured hero, but there is still a level beyond that: With every summoning, there will be some heroes, which will rise above the others, who will leave their traces in history forever.
I wanted to become someone like that myself, but as someone born in this world, it was supposed to be impossible, there is that final wall, I could never climb. But if I can''t become as powerful as a legend, then I wanted to become as strong as possible.
But there was one problem: My responsibilities as royalty got in the way. I was allowed to keep swordplay as a hobby, even though it''s unladylike. My father¡¯s reason was that it''s good for self-defense and physical fitness.
And of course, it would be sad if a descendant of Ancestor Hagen could not fight.
In the end, I abandoned my duty as a crown princess. Our country summoned heroes and to be honest, I wanted to compete with them. Trying to be the best warrior I could be. I didn''t consider my position and just did so. That''s why I''m not smart.
Or maybe it''s the will of the gods.
I met Kenta and Kyou, two heroes and friends.
And I fell in love.
Kenta is my ideal man. He''s smart, he''s strong, he knows what is best for me. And he has a man''s face, a bit rough and it gives you the feeling that you can rely on him.
He''s kind, even though he rarely shows it. He doesn''t like bodily contact, but will keep up with me when I''m unreasonable. He might reject me at times, but I think it''s because he''s smart: He doesn''t want to take my feelings lightly.
He''s very considerate.
And he''s my husband!
Ah, I''m giggling again while looking on my left hand. Even though Kenta and Kyou think of it as a curse, but it¡¯s a dream came true I didn''t even know I had.
To be married to a hero who is sure to become a legend. Rings as a pledge of marriage is something which is very old, most people don''t even know of it anymore.
So romantic!
Ah, I''m giggling again! But I can''t help it, this ancient vow of love, it''s on my finger!
¡°You''re creeping me out.¡± Ah, I totally forgot that I''m facing a dangerous demon right now. At least I think it''s one since ''demon'' is a rather loose term for magical beasts and humanoids and other beings.
I think Kenta called this red horned one an oni.
The oni lifts its big, spiked club and swings it overhead.
You don''t attack overhead. It''s full of openings.
I step right into the giant woman''s reach, pierced her left knee, and then swings my sword, Friedensbote, sidewards to free it again. I feel how the blade cuts bone, muscles, and tendons.
While the oni lost its balance, I prepare an attack to its side, to open up her belly and incapacitate her, but then she spews fire from her mouth. ¡°[Oni Fire]!¡±
Quickly I roll to the side, but the heat is singeing me. Some of my hairs fall down.
I don''t like these kinds of attacks since it''s hard to avoid them completely.
¡°You...¡± The oni is looking at me wide-eyed. ¡°You evaded it point-blank!?¡±
The fire wasn''t that fast, I think everyone can do that if they''ve trained a bit.
¡°Kikikiki.¡± An eerie laugh comes from the oni. ¡°Finally a challenge! My wounds are burning like hell, it''s like some sword of demon slayer, that weapon! But I have some resistance to it!¡± She stands up, while she has some strange smile.
It looks a bit like Kenta''s.
She has a reason to. I cut her knee, but I see how the wound is closing. I''ve never seen something like that before, I only know about it from stories. So oni can regenerate?
¡°[Heal]!¡± I look back to Kyou, who cast a spell on me and I feel better. She then draws her large knife, ready to spring into action, putting on a serious face, while scared inside.
Kyou is brave. She doesn''t fight much but is ready to stand by my side. ¡°Don''t worry, Kyou. You don''t need to fight, look for reinforcements.¡±
¡°Look at me, midget!¡± The oni attacks again, this time she swings the club diagonally.
I jump and perform an overhead kick right to the chin of the oni. Friedensbote draws blood on the chest once and on her weapon arm twice.
I land and jump back. The wounds are already closing, but the oni seems to be confused. She rubs her chin, which bruised spot already got back to its usual red color.
So blunt trauma won''t work either.
She''s tough. I think I may not be enough, but Kenta has put his trust in me. Time to go on to the offensive.
Stab, stab, swing, kick, punch, elbow, swing, thrust! With a fast series of attacks, I corner the oni. Good thing her fighting technique is underdeveloped.
I think I have a bit of an effect, the oni seems to be stressed. And my sword really hurts her, since she''s a demon. But I thought the effect would be greater. Maybe that''s the resistance, the oni was talking about.
¡°Rine-chan, keep going! The more you wound her, the longer she needs to heal these wounds! [Stamina]!¡±
Thanks, Kyou. I wouldn''t have noticed that. I''m only good at fighting, so I don''t mind small details.
¡°Keep away!¡± With a screech, the oni swings her bat. I could evade the weapon itself, but I was thrown away by the wind pressure. ¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± I''m still airborne, so I have only little room to move. But the fire blast is flying right to me.
So I cut it. It exploded right into my face, but I twist my body to receive the least damage of possible from the explosion. I''m sure that normally, I''d been rendered unconscious, even with this maneuver.
But now I''m a hero, I can withstand it!
¡°[Heal!] You''re doing great, Rine-chan!¡± Everyone could do that after some training exercises, but Kyou is my friend, so of course she will praise me.
And I feel great because she does!
¡°You... you cut my fire!?¡± It''s really not that special.
I stand up and ready my blade for the next attack. Something is moving in the corner of my eyes, squirrels, but I''ll concentrate on what is right in front of me.
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¡°This girl is a monster!¡± Yoshimura drinks potions to regain his HP and the injuries he suffered still hurts. He wears power rings, relics which empowers all of their stats by a large margin and he still got pummeled like a sandbag by this blonde chick!
¡°Katsuragi is crazy. He has the eyes of a murderer!¡± But it was Hoshibashi, who was the closest to death, Katsuragi almost performed a killing blow. ¡°And the elven bitch is also annoying.¡± Hoshibashi also has power rings, nonetheless, he was almost overpowered by the two of them.
A girl who defies common sense, a guy who fights without mercy, and someone to back him up. While they have these large power-boosts, they didn¡¯t expected something like that.
Now both of them run through a dark tunnel and at the end is a big hall, several items are laying around on shelves and hanging from stands.
Where is the quill?
¡°[Fountain Gun]! [Fountain Gun]!¡± A voice from behind. Yoshimura feels like he is hit by a car, pain and a large amount of force throw him away. Same as Hoshibashi.
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What was that?
¡°[Entangle]!¡± The walls of the hall, made out of roots, are beginning to move. ¡°You''re inside Aeolferelda. Its magic is flowing through my aura and constantly supplying me with magic. Give up.¡± It''s the elven bitch with the white hair! And by her side is Katsuragi!
Hoshibashi and Yoshimura are held by the roots. ¡°Yoshimura, I''m gonna do it.¡± Hoshibashi is ready to use his trump card.
¡°Good idea.¡±
Suddenly, Hoshibashi''s hair protrudes. ¡°UUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± A sound of pure fury is roaring from him, not only his voice but also his arms and legs, his torso and every hair on his head.
Then he breaks easily from his bounds.
The [Savage]-class, power in its purest form. The angrier Hoshibashi gets, the stronger he will become. This, plus the power rings, and he''s an unstoppable force.
Hoshibashi also breaks Yoshimura free. ¡°Keep them busy. I''ll find it.¡± With only a nod, Hoshibashi charges at Katsuragi and the elf. He smashes the roots away as if the were only a nuisance and even though Katsuragi tries to intercept, he is knocked away with ease. With only one flick!
Then Hoshibashi tackles the elven girl, who crashed into a wall... No, the wall moved to cushion her fall...
Yoshimura uses this time to look for the relic. In a lonely shelf, there are only a few items, one of them a quill.
He takes it.
[Class Rewrite]
Description:
Can only be used by heroes to annul one of their classes. Write the class you want to annul somewhere on your body.
Value:
802,064 Newgold
Yoshimura has already used up all of his class slots. [Student], [Wizard], [Trader] and [Soldier]. But there is one class, which is utterly useless.
He rolls up his sleeve and writes ''Student'' on his arm. That was the plan all along.
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What the hell did just happened!?
I think, I flew around three meters into some kind of stand and lost consciousness for a second.
Hoshibashi just waved with his arm, hit me and I got bitchslapped. Ara-san was also attacked.
I guess the loss of consciousness before helps me to keep my calm, I grab an HP-Potion and drink it.
Then I look at Ara-san who is inside the wall, but she seems to be relatively fine. The relativity comes from what is going to happen next as the wild Hoshibashi is about to charge her again and this time, he will surely strike her again and again until she becomes a bloody mess.
I hate what I''m about to do. ¡°Hey, Shishishi!¡± I got his attention. Using his name proves to be successful. ¡°Come and get it!¡±
With a bestial roar, he charges at me.
Don''t you know any moves other than charges anymore?
I dive under his swinging sword and stab him in the foot. Then again in the knee.
I''m really calm now. Or maybe I''m just so pumped with adrenaline, that I''m above being scared or excited. Hoshibashi''s movements seem to be unrefined and slow.
But he can take these hits with ease, so I''m just buying time for Ara-san. Inside Aeolferelda she has been greatly power-up.
Aeolferelda''s spores
Fast MP-regeneration
+100% power for spells
+1000% power for [Spirit Magic]
Even though she got bested just now, [Entangle] wasn''t a strong spell in the first place. I just have to hope, that there are some stronger ones in her repertoire.
I jump back to evade an attack and see Yoshimura. Ah, we have to deal with both at the same time now?
Wait, is that Yoshimura? ¡°Ha... Haha... HAHAHAHAHA!!! What a power! What a relief! Great, so great! HAHAHAHA!¡± He laughs like a madman, and somehow the way he moves and stands is totally different than before. And he got a quill, sure the one, that deletes classes!
How do they even know about it!?
¡°Partner, I got the quill. Use it.¡± Partner? I guess they''re partners, but he didn''t call Hoshibashi like this before?
Did Yoshimura just use the quill? ¡°Yoshimura... which class did you...¡± Even though I got a suspicion.
¡°[Student].¡±
Dammit! ¡°Hoshibashi, don''t use it!¡±
But despite my warning, Hoshibashi walks to Yoshimura, or whomever he might have become.
I had already considered it, deleting my [Student]-class. But I''d never do that. It looks like a smart move at first, but the question is: What happens if you delete a part of your identity, which the hero-system acknowledges as mandatory?
¡°Don''t! [Speedthrust]!¡± This is only a vague feeling, and I don''t like my classmates, but this is going too far! I can''t even really explain it, but if what my guts say is right, then it''ll be something which I''ll despise.
But Yoshimura, or whoever he is, has other plans. ¡°[Gust]!¡± I hate that spell! I hate it, I hate it! I will again be pushed away like some-
¡°[Entangle]!¡± Suddenly, I''m gripped by roots, they keep me standing, where I am. So the [Gust] hit me with full force, instead of knocking me felt miles away.
But man, does this attack hurts, when you have to withstand the blow!
¡°[Root Lances]!¡± Roots grow from all sides and impale both, Hoshibashi and Yoshimura.
¡°Shit...¡± Hoshimura rolls up his sleeve and writes something on his arm. Don''t tell me... ¡°AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!¡±
Somehow I got the feeling, that he just powered up.
Did his hair grow spikier? No.
Did his muscles swell even further? No.
Nonetheless, he breaks off the roots and stands before us, bleeding, but otherwise fine.
¡°Seems like I underestimated you.¡± Yoshimura points with his finger at the roots, that got cut by the blade of wind. ¡°But I''m a [Wizard].¡±
When they lost the [Student]-classes, did other classes moved into the primary space? ¡°Who are you!?¡± This is unsettling. This is really getting under my skin.
¡°I''m the man who was once Yoshimura. That''s what my memories tell me, but is that who I am? I don''t know, but what I know is, that I''m a hero and a [Wizard]. Brought from another world to defeat the demon king!¡±
Hoshibashi is hitting his chest: ¡°I''m the [Savage], who shall be known as Star! Once I was Hoshibashi, I suppose, but now I AM more!¡±
Both of them are laughing at me. It''s eerie.
Are we in a bad horror game!? The way they move, speak, even their facial expressions, everything is different. It''s like some mad people took both of them over!
¡°Kenta-kun. They lost themselves. The memories of their life before becoming heroes. Only knowledge remains.¡± Ara-san seems to be sad, I''m sure that someone already tried it before those two.
I can only guess what she really means with that whole ''lost memories and remained knowledge''-thingy, but it seems to be bad.
Something is hollowing me out from the inside, seeing the both of them like that. I didn''t care about them. But now a part of them is gone, the most important one. So easily.
I hate this fantasy world! ¡°You got what you wanted, right!?¡± I''m pissed off by that world. ¡°So go away!¡±
¡°No, Kenta. Here are treasures! Isn''t it a heroes responsibility to loot everything?¡±
Ah, I know that mind-setting.
But while it''s OK in a game, don''t do it in real life.
¡°We will take the quill, everything else and burn down the tree while we are at it¡±
I stay calm. ¡°Why the tree?¡±
Ara-san, on the other hand, is trembling. Or more like, her ears are. So that''s what it looks like when this girl is angry. Not very impressive by human standards.
Yoshimura explains his thoughts: ¡°Because it may be important to the elves we despise. [Wind Weasel]!¡± With a spell, he slices some roots of Aeolferelda with a vacuum blade.
¡°[Blade Tornado]!¡± And Hoshibashi helps with a cutting whirlwind.
After the initial shock, Ara-san heals the tree with a spell.¡°[Regrow]!¡±
I want to end it. I really want to end it.
I guess, I finally found two bigger a-holes than me. Time to stuff these holes with a spear shaft! ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I hit Hoshibashi, who doesn''t even flinch. But: ¡°[Armor Piercer].¡± A flood of blood comes from Hoshibashi. My new skill I got a few days ago.
Finally, I found something for strong foes. It''s actually only as powerful as [Speedthrust], but it halves the target''s [Defense] during the attack, which is somehow related to armor and [Vitality].
It''s only usable if the target stays still, just like Kyou-san''s dagger, but if it hits, it''s pretty awesome.
Too bad that Hoshibashi is still standing. ¡°You!¡± I once again evade his attack, I guess it''s really predictable.
Maybe I''m just so used to fighting, that I can overcome the difference in raw power with experience and skill.
¡°[Root Lances]!¡± Ara-san is also in the game, using her magic to take on Yoshimura.
¡°[Wind Weasel]!¡± He cut the roots, which were about to pierce him, but they regrow and keep going. ¡°[Ember Arrows]!¡± He pierces and burns the roots, but the fire arrows are also flying towards Ara-san.
¡°[Windfeeler]!¡± Seems like Ara-san switched classes and escapes by using her staff as a jumping pole.
¡°Kenta, look at me! [Steel Slicer]!¡± While using my first name without my permission, Hoshibashi uses his powerful swing again.
While I was able to avoid at least that, I got bitchslapped again. This normal attack is nuts! I fly about three meters again into an earth-and-root wall.
I cough because me being slammed into the wall caused a dirt cloud.
Ara-san is slammed right next to me after she got hit by a [Gust]-spell. ¡°Is it me...¡± Ara-san coughs as well. ¡°Or are we losing?¡±
¡°Yes, we are.¡± And Hoshibashi is coming at us, lifting his greatsword to deal the final blow to at least one of us. Yoshimura is firing magic at Aeolferelda again. ¡°Let''s switch. Keep that maniac at bay and I will take out the other one.¡± I grab an HP-pot and drink it.
¡°Are you pushing the hardest part to me?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Then I will surpass your expectations and kill him.¡±
¡°Might be necessary to stop him.¡±
Without further ado, I run towards Hoshibashi. Ara-san casts her spell: ¡°[Root Lances]!¡± I changed course after he got stabbed by the roots, he''s now Ara-san''s responsibility.
I lift my spear: ¡°[Spee-]!¡±
Yoshimura lifts his hand: ¡°[G-]!¡± F*ck it. I throw my spear directly at him. ¡°[-us-]Ahhh!¡± Yoshimura is unable to cast his spell since he took a spear to his chest.
I rush in and punch him in the gut and the face: ¡°I hate that spell!¡± I yank my spear out, but while I do so, Yoshimura''s muscles began to grow a bit.
He changes classes.
Without hesitation, I pummel him with the blunt end of the spear once, so that he will fall into a good stabbing distance. But he blocked the attack with a headbutt. Is he real!?
At least it seems like it hurt a lot, but it''s not the effect I was aiming for. So I take some distance, ready to shorten it with a [Speedthrust]!
¡°I''m happy, Kenta.¡±
¡°Don''t call me by my first name, jerk! And don''t utter your masochism to me. It''s creepy.¡±
¡°I remember.¡±
¡°Is this one of these damn monologs?¡± I want to skip it because I intend to beat that bastard as fast as possible.
But at least I can take a quick look to Ara-san. She got Hoshibashi entangled and pierced, but she''s more or less spamming exactly these two spells, while Hoshibashi is slowly shortening the distance bit by bit.
¡°My memories from before are clear. From when I was in school with you.¡±
Shouldn''t I just attack him? I mean, if I can''t skip him monologuing, maybe I can use that extra time to beat him.
Nah, he''s watching my every move, and the way he holds his sheathed sword reminds me of some cheap copy of iaido. ¡°I can''t describe it, these memories are like a book I''ve read. But something I remember. That I hate you.¡±
¡°What did I ever do to you?¡±
¡°You talked to me like I''m trash! You never got my name right! You''ve bested me in every test and treated it like it''s natural. You''ve skipped class-duty on me, for some games.¡±
Did I do that? No, he must have the wrong guy.
Time to unleash my attack! ¡°And most importantly: You''ve stolen Kyou''s heart.¡±
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¡°Hah!?¡± I''m sure I wanted to attack him, but this needs some clarification.
I can see, how Ara-san is struggling with keeping the heavily wounded Hoshibashi at bay, he moves like he doesn''t care that he looks like a red fountain.
Sorry, Ara-san, but I need time to make sure.¡°What do you mean!?¡±
Yoshimura monolog continues, completely disregarding what I said. ¡°I suppose, I was in love with Kyou before. And jealous of you. So it''s only logical to be happy to beat you and claim the girl.¡±
You can keep her. That''s at least what I feel, but without her, my curse is sure to reactivate.
My motivation to fight Yoshimura suddenly dropped.
This is stupid. It¡¯s so stupid, that I can¡¯t even comment it.
¡°[Quicksword]!¡± With a swift movement, he shortens the distance and slashes at me. I parried the blow with my spear, but the blow is heavy, I can feel it up to my shoulders. ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡± He grabs his longsword two-handed and another blow, this time from above. And much stronger than the last one.
I''m able to parry it again, but the force pushes me down to my knees, then I get the crossguard in my nose by a third attack, I can smell the blood coming out of my nostrils.
Could I be in trouble!?
Volume 03 - Chapter 5-2
This is a headache. This is what I, Momokawa Kyou, truly believe.
Rine-chan has real trouble dealing with the oni, whenever she got her cornered, the oni would spit fire or use a strong blow to keep her away and during these times, her wounds would heal. Even though the regeneration keeps slowing down, it''s only a matter of time until Rine-chan makes the single mistake, which will turn a grazing hit into a full blow.
Ken called Rine-chan a glass-cannon and explained to me why, but seeing it by myself and trying to keep her in best condition is another matter. And of course, there are the squirrels. They look at Rine-chan full of hatred, but it''s only that: A look.
I''m ready to block them if they decided to attack, considering I can''t honestly do anything to this oni. She''s super-scary, I can feel the wind pressure of her strikes and I''m sure that I won''t survive a single hit.
¡°[Protect]!¡± I use a spell to increase Rine-chan''s [Defense], I have to recast it after about a minute. But with this, she might have a chance to keep on fighting even after being hit by a full blow.
There is only that little I can do. It''s frustrating. Rine-chan tries her hardest and keeps on smiling, Ken and Arako are fighting against my two former classmates and I can only help by keeping Rine-chan healed.
I... want to be stronger.
This might be the first time, I actually want that.
Before, I wanted to get a higher level, I wanted to have more power, but somehow this is different. I feel the self-disgust at being mostly useless when things get rough.
And the envy, when looking at Rine''s back, when she fights like a hero in a TV show. The ones I admire.
The fights between the alfar and the other demons aren''t over, slowly they shift towards the giant tree. I see alfar wounded and some are going down, while demons continue to turn into that midnight-blue smoke, so the fight goes well.
For now.
But there are still so many demons left and only so few alfar.
However, it looks like most of the villagers are able to fight, some use their strange magic to hinder the demons, while the others shoot with bows to kill them.
Few elites versus overwhelming numbers of rather weak foes.
¡°[Stamina]!¡± Rine''s SP are quickly spent since she uses wide movements to evade the oni-club so that she won''t be hit by the wind-pressure. But this is very taxing on her body, I''m sure that only the fact that she''s a hero now makes it possible for her to actually do it without muscle strains and cramps.
Isn''t there anything I can use? A new skill? No. Anything?
For a moment I remember Ken''s figure, how he fought the patriarch of the lizardmen. It''s almost like that, someone I know is facing a dangerous foe in a duel and...
I smile. I remember how Ken won that fight.
I open my backpack and take something out, it''s one of Ken''s bombs. A stink bomb. This might be the first time, they''ll actually come in handy.
Watching the fight, I wait for the right opportunity. Whenever the oni spit fire, there is a bit of a time-frame until she''s ready to attack again. Even though Rine can''t use that time-frame without being hit by the fire, I may aim for it.
Ken''s really rubbing off on me since I actually begin to analyze the enemy for things like that. Maybe that''s the effect of the ''training camp''.
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡±
There!
I hurl the bomb and it hit the oni right into her face. A foul stench and a gas cloud spread from the yellowish bomb. ¡°Buarks! Pfyu, pfyu!¡± For some reason, the oni isn''t only retching but also sneezing. And it sounds somewhat girlish.
¡°Great, Kyou!¡± Without wasting a second, Rine charges in. ¡°[Disme-!]¡± And then the squirrels attacked her. Kenta pointed out, that this skill leaves Rine open to attacks from the sides and back and the panda-squirrels, which were watching until now, used this to charge the girl. ¡°Ouch!¡± They attack with their tiny claws and teeth, causing Rine to waste this opportunity.
The oni recovered from the stench and is lifting her club to mash Rine. ¡°[Protect]!¡± There is nothing else, I can do! Sorry, Rine.
But the strike never came. ¡°Argh, my eyes!¡± Rine picks squirrels from her body and throws them into the face of the oni, two hit her eyes directly. Then Rine''s blade cuts into both triceps of the oni, while her other hand is busy getting rid of the squirrels, breaking some necks and flicking other away.
I throw another stink bomb at the oni. ¡°Rine, come here, I''ll help you!¡± At least I can tear off some of these annoying beasts!
Hopefully, Arako has an easier time than us.
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¡°Ara-san, aren''t you done yet!?¡± I get smacked again in the face, for some reason Yoshimura really likes to demolish it.
Do it to Inoue, he''s got a handsome face to destroy!
Ara-san most likely spent most of her MP, considering she has changed her class to [Acrobat] so that she can run away from Hoshibashi faster while recovering it with Aeolferelda''s help.
And as she jumps around, she gives me her estimation: ¡°He''s got [Regeneration] and [No Pain], this might be the [Savage]-class! This will take a while, so better hurry up and help me!¡±
What''s wrong with these guys!? Is getting rid of the [Student]-class that much of a power surge? No, even before they were crazy strong!
But with the deletion of their [Student]-class came their strange behavior and another power boost into play.
They''re cheating!
And I can''t do much at the moment! Yoshimura is kicking my ass in melee combat, but I really don''t want him to switch back to [Wizard] again, as I have fewer ways to fight a spellslinger.
Though his melee-class is clearly outdoing my [Pikeman]. We''re not that far apart at first glance, but his attacks connect sometimes and mine don¡¯t seem to do much damage.
And even with my hero-status, I feel the fatigue of the low SP and blood loss.
The only thing I can do is to keep close and make it impossible for him to use skills. Same goes for me, but I was originally planning to last until Ara-san beats Hoshibashi. But that bastard got some nasty skills, so even Aeolferelda''s buffs aren''t enough to make it a quick fight.
Ara-san jumps over Yoshimura and me, calling out to me: ¡°Keep the other one distracted so that I can switch and cast.¡± She may have recovered enough MP, but need time to actually use them.
So there is only one thing to say: ¡°ARE YOU F*CKING SERIOUS, YOU IDIOT!!?¡±
Hoshibashi is following Ara-san and his route is through Yoshimura and me! Don''t train that tough bastard to me!
Yoshimura shouldn''t be keen to get between Hoshibashi and his target either. But instead of evading, he actually throws himself on me, holding me down. I can see in his grin, that he''s planning to let me go at the last moment so that I''ll be run over by the high-powered Hoshibashi.
But that made it possible to perform a maneuver, which seemingly bypasses a hero''s [Defense]. I just learned it a few days before, and it''s not [Armor Piercer] or another skill from the hero-system.
Too bad for Yoshimura, that he didn''t perform a proper hold: I can still move a bit.
So I knee him in the nuts! His eyes are widening and his body relaxes, time to grab that bastard and throw him towards Hoshibashi.
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I see him flying and - Ouch! Good thing, I''m not him, since getting a knee in the nuts and being smacked away by Hoshibashi''s brutal strength right afterward is most likely hurting like hell.
Too bad that Hoshibashi is already right in front of me and I have no time to roll to the side. His foot is drilling into my stomach and I do something stupid again: I grab it.
Hoshibashi stumbles, falls on his hands, and throws an angry look back at me before he starts kicking out at my direction.
*Bam* A kick feels like a hammer strike.
*Bam* I''m about to let go, there is too much power, it''s about to push me back.
*Bam* And here we are.
Why do I keep doing things, which make me feel so much pain!?
¡°[Root Lances]!¡± At least Ara-san got the time she needed.
I take some pots out of my backpack and drink them like crazy, even though my stomach hurts like hell and I''m about to vomit.
Hoshibashi is more or less occupied by Ara-san''s attack and control spells, Yoshimura is also taking potions out as well.
How can he still stand? I kicked him in the nuts!
Dammit! Take out Yoshimura completely or bring down Hoshibashi?
¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± Hoshibashi it is. He''s currently held by Ara-san''s spells, so that''s a good opportunity.
[Armor Piercer] is really a skill made to fight heroes, it works very well. But seriously, how much blood have a human body? It looks like Hoshibashi lost twice his body volume of it, for sure.
¡°AAAAAAARGH!¡± And he''s still not down? ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡± He got stabbed multiple times, lost so much blood that there is barely a spot on his body which is not covered by it and he''s still swinging his sword like nothing happened!?
If this is the effect of [No Pain] and [Regeneration], I''d like to get these skills! Probably this, plus the bonus due deleting his [Student]-class.
I want to be a cheater, too!
¡°[Root Lances]!¡± This next spell of Ara-san hits Yoshimura. The alfr girl keeps her cool, her ears are standing up, I get the cold-blooded fury vibe from her. ¡°You won''t do anything to Aeolferelda anymore!¡± She really thinks highly of that tree and its buff is slowly winning us the fight. Ara-san is practically back to full magical power, while the rest of us are battered.
We will win this!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Rine-chan!¡± I shout out to my companion, who just got grazed by the oni''s club. The girl herself is fine, even though she was sent flying for a bit.
I''d really like to heal her, but I''m currently stabbing at a squirrel.
These critters brought another level of difficulty into this fight, even though they''re now more ambushing than charging. But it''s better to take them out now, instead of waiting for them to use the worst time to interfere again.
But the oni is also in trouble, her regenerating body needs more and more time to heal properly. And she looks exhausted, it''s several minutes of intense fighting, each of us is panting, even though Rine-chan and I are better off than the oni.
This is the difference between a hero and a non-hero, as long as Rine-chan and I have some SP, we can force ourselves to keep going.
There is only one thing I fear: The moment the oni hits Rine-chan for real.
Not counting the fact, that the other demons are almost here, which will make it even more difficult to preserve. Even though a hail of arrows is falling on the mass of enemies, they''re still coming closer.
This is hell. I don''t know if the whole battle is going in a good or bad direction, but it''s too much for me.
And why am I stabbing squirrels? This doesn''t make any sense!
My head is woozy and my body moves on its own.
Why am I doing this? It made so much sense until now, but there are so many things which don''t fit, it''s too much to process. So I keep on stabbing.
¡°[Heal]!¡± And then I heal.
It''s like it''s not me doing this.
I quickly look at my status, but there is no new condition. So there should be nothing wrong with me, but something is. I feel like I''m about to faint.
Ken''s status is looking bad as well. I didn''t look before since it would distract me, but now I can see it. He''s currently drinking a potion to heal some HP. But I have to return mentally to this fight!
Rine-chan is facing against the oni and I''m about to throw another stink bomb since the rest is no good. Fire bombs would endanger Rine-chan and smoke bombs wouldn''t help anyone now.
I''m looking at my status again, hoping to find a clue, and I noticed something. Finally, a new skill, or rather a spell, again!
[Exorcise]. What does this skill do? ... It damages demons and undead and can dispel some of their abilities.
This is... damage?
Is this real?
This would be something entirely new to me. A spell for damage.
I don''t know how this [Spell] will work, but I aim with my open palm towards the oni, mimicking Eri-chan''s spell casting. ¡°[Exorcise]!¡± A cone of faint white light shoots out of my palm, but I''m too far away. The oni didn''t even notice it since she''s too occupied with Rine-chan.
Do I really have to get closer? I don''t want to, it''ll be dangerous.
¡ But the spell might actually be powerful. And it will definitely help Rine-chan. She''s still my best friend in this world.
Rine-chan is about to approach the oni, ready to get close enough for another hit, the oni is about to spit fire, but I use this moment to sprint towards her. [Exorcise] uses up quite some MP, so I have to make it work. ¡°[Exorcise]!¡± The oni is bathed in the light.
Then, white flames springs from her red skin, which engulfes her completely in a bright bonfire. ¡°IIIIIAAAAAAAAAARGHHH!¡± This high-pitched howl of immeasurable pain will surely follow me into my dreams.
¡°Great, Kyou! [Dismember]!¡± A combo of strong strikes are slashing into the white, warping fireball, but Rine-chan''s face is in wonder, while she performs her sword swings.
And I know why: She didn''t dismember anything!
The white fire figure is racing out of Rine-chan''s reach, it''s currently less than a third of the height of the oni, but after getting out of there, it grows again. It''s like she warped her form to evade the attack at the last moment.
¡°That was scary!¡±, the oni complains. The flames are dying out and the red demon looks at me. ¡°Stay out of it, sis! [Oni Fire]!¡±
Red flames are flying towards me, but Rine-chan is rushing in, slashing at the fire. A small explosion, but Rine-chan stems her feet to the ground and withstand the blast. ¡°This was close.¡± The princess is brightly smiling while wiping off the sweat on her forehead with her arm.
Rine-chan you''re a real hero.
¡°Piu!¡± The oni is stomping on the ground. ¡°The two of you are annoying! And bringing this spell out is unfair! That''s why I hate humans! You''re so racist, that you''ve developed anti-demon spells!¡±
Is she serious? ¡°If you didn''t attack this village, I wouldn''t use a spell like this.¡±
¡°Don''t wisecrack me, sis!¡± The oni is looking at the cave under the tree and then back to us. ¡°Ah, I want to fight that one-¡±, she points at Rine-chan ¡°-but there is no time. Argh, why can''t I do what I want!?¡±
¡°I don''t want to fight you!¡± Rine-chan is stepping towards the oni. ¡°I want to beat you. You''re endangering everyone in this village and it''s time to put an end to it.¡± She''s not asking why the oni is doing it or for her to stop.
Rine-chan is always honest. That means, that the moment you anger her, she will let it out. And you don''t want to be the one on the receiving end.
Even the oni seems to get it, since: ¡°Look behind you!¡±
And Rine-chan actually does so. Stupid! She''s so stupid!
Using that chance, the oni is hurrying into the cave under the big tree. ¡°Wait!¡± Rine-chan is about to run after her, but-
*Squuuuuueeeeeeek* Squirrels jump her and hinder her movements. She shakes them off but lost some seconds. Nonetheless, Rine-chan wants to continue her pursue.
But we lost the chance. ¡°Wait, Rine-chan!¡±
¡°What?¡±
The other demons are here. Some alfar are also rushing towards us, but for now, we have enough to do. ¡°[Exorcise]!¡± I bath the demons in the exorcising light, but it doesn''t work! Why?
My MP are dangerously low. I need to save them now. So I make my dagger ready. Not fighting is no longer an option.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I trip Hoshibashi using my spear and pierce right into his back. I finally adapted to his brutal strength and could use it to damage him further.
I guess, all this fighting in the past made me actually quite good at it.
Ara-san is casting another spell, aiming at Yoshimura: [Root Lances]!¡±
¡°[Earthshield]!¡± He tries to hide behind a shield of stone and dirt, but it got easily penetrated. The onslaught of Ara-san''s spells is showing its effect, even though his magic is powerful, his SP must be almost gone as I most likely depleted most of them in our fight earlier and the damage is also accumulating. ¡°Aaahh... *gulp*¡± He''s clearly drinking a potion now, but it won''t help in the long term.
Ara-san is now high and mighty, she had her second wind and using Aeolferelda''s buffs to the fullest. ¡°Roots are carving their ways through the earth and even though your magic is powerful, I have Aeolferelda on my side. And now comes your friend: [Root Lances]!¡± She even got a spell left for Hoshibashi.
Both of them are done for. After comparing combat skills, strategy and raw power, we finally have the upper hand. I could already see our victory, but I don''t plan to be negligent.
I lift my spear to deal a fatal blow to the root-stabbed Hoshibashi. Maybe he will survive it. But I will do this seriously, so there is no guarantee.
You thought that your power-up will bring us down, and the initial shock was great, but we got you now. It''s time to end it for good!
*Burst*
I don''t like that sound. It comes from behind!
Oh shit, the oni. She got some wounds, but what about Rine? Did she-
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± The oni breathes fire, which burns roots and the bellow of Aeolferelda, flaming a tunnel through the tree. How powerful can you be, that''s a massive tree! It''s not like dry wood, it''s full of sap and water! ¡°Let me take those two and you''ll live.¡± The oni looks exhausted, but somehow I get the feeling, that she''s more than capable to take care of us.
And something tells me, that she''s slightly pissed off.
So there is only one thing to do: I step behind Ara-san and grab her under her arms. ¡°Go ahead.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun!?¡± She tries to free herself, but I won''t let her. The oni got pass Rine, so we won''t be able to handle her in this state.
¡°Your lot is dangerous.¡± The female, booming voice becomes happy, there is a bit of a laugh. ¡°But we can''t stay. I''ll take these two and some stuff and then...¡± She takes a shelf in one arm and the two injured heroes plus her club under the other.
¡°Stop it, we won''t-¡± Hoshibashi tries to fight against it.
¡°Shut up!¡± He got silenced by oni-fist-power. Ah, his head bleeds. Maybe his skull just cracked.
¡°Thanks.¡± Yoshimura seems to be delighted, he suffered much damage as a [Wizard]. His [Vitality] is most likely quite low in that class. ¡°We underestimated them and this place.¡±
¡°Shut up as well!¡± And another victim of oni-fist-power. The horned woman turned to us: ¡°I hope we can play again.¡± She cackles as she jumps through the tunnel she burned through Aeolferelda.
¡°Kenta-kun, let me go!¡±
¡°It''s just some stuff. We better go outside and look for Rine and Kyou-san!¡± Grudgingly, Ara-san nods and I release her. ¡°Come on!¡± Rine, better be safe!
In fact, she is, although a bit battered. But still, she''s fighting a horde of demons, who transform into midnight blue smoke after getting hit by her, side-by-side with Kyou-san and some alfar. Other alfar are casting spell after spell on Aeolferelda, trying to regrow it.
If you''re just outside the tree, you still get the bonuses, so it''s quite convenient to have the final line of defense here. ¡°Ara-san, help the others healing your tree. I can only fight.¡± And so I do.
Good thing that the rest may be numerous, but weak. I''d hate to fight another strong guy.
So we subdue the remaining demon forces.
Volume 03 - Epilogue
It''s over.
While Kyou-san and Rine are treating the injured with their [Divine Magic], I accompany Ara-san to check the cave under Aeolferelda to find out what''s missing.
Aside from the quill, the other relics are still there, but some magic items were taken away. But at least not the dangerous stuff, so it''s still alright.
I heard what happened outside Aeolferelda from the others, looks like we were lucky.
But some things are bothering me. The strength of the [Oni Fire] seems to be inconsistent or maybe the oni can charge it. This would make sense, she didn''t have the time to charge the skill much in the fight between Rine and her.
Or maybe it''s more effective against objects and trees. Don''t know, no way to find out. But even without that skill, she would''ve killed me and Ara-san, so I made the right call that time.
The squirrels disappeared after the other demons got to Aeolferelda, maybe they''re waiting for the next chance to exert revenge.
Generally, this whole demon attack has many question marks to it, so the elder is investigating the scenario. ¡°Phew. Only got some torn rib cartilage and some bone cracks.¡±
¡°Does it hurt?¡±
¡°Like hell, but I got my HP back so at least I can move fine, even though I need some real treatment later.¡±
¡°I see. I want to talk with you. About these two humans.¡±
This might turn sour. ¡°What?¡±
¡°There are several things, but first, my condolences. They''re never coming back.¡±
¡°Aha. Well, they brought it upon themselves.¡±
¡°They''re something similar but different now. The memories of their former life are information only, no thoughts, emotion or importance remains. It''s like when you read about your life from a history book. And their lives will be filled with new, real memories, which will make them entirely new people. It''s a path of no return.¡±
¡°Couldn''t they re-select the [Student]-class?¡±
¡°It won''t be the same.¡±
¡°I see. Well, there were many opportunities for them to die until now, so I think it''s alright. I mean, they could have been killed by mobs at the start of their hero-careers. And it''s not important, I have enough problems myself, so I don''t need to think about other people''s.¡±
¡°I won''t pry deeper into it, but there is another thing: I saw power rings on their hands.¡±
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°A strong relic. We had heroes who used them. If you wear one on each ring finger, all of your stats are raised.¡±
¡°What a cheat.¡± I take off my glove and look at my left ring finger. I can''t even use these cheat items since I got this one cursed ring I can''t remove. ¡°What a pain.¡±
¡°And there is a final matter. I want to conduct an experiment.¡±
¡°Now?¡±
¡°Yes. Now.¡±
¡°Phew... What a timing.¡±
¡°Now, after the battle and in this state of mental exhaustion is the only time to try it.¡±
I can''t even think of what she''s about to do, but at the moment, I don''t care about anything, so I don''t mind. ¡°Let''s get over it.¡±
¡°I''ll ask you some questions and you have to answer them truthfully.¡±
¡°This seems like a pain.¡±
¡°Please.¡±
¡°Alright, alright.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun.¡± Ara-san''s eyes are serious. ¡°Did you like fighting beside me?¡±
Why does she ask that question? ¡°...yes. You''ve got some good spells and know how to use them.¡±
¡°So if given the chance, would you fight on my side once more?¡±
¡°Yes, I''ll do so gladly.¡± She really is an asset, as long as she keeps on spell-slinging.
¡°And do you want to have more conversations with me about heroes and such?¡±
¡°You''re the only one who I''ve ever met, who actually cared about the system. Yes, I do.¡±
¡°And do you want to stay at my house, as long as possible?¡±
¡°It''s OK. Beats sleeping in the woods every day.¡±
Ara-san takes my left hand. ¡°...Do you like me?¡±
Ah, I see. Since I''m mentally exhausted, she wants to use that opportunity to build a friendship. That''s sly.
But maybe being friends with Ara-san might be actually fun. It''s not like we''ll stay in Aroahenn forever. So I open my mouth. ¡°Yes, I like you as a-¡± Wait. Why is my ring glowing? ¡°No. No. NononononoNoNoNoNONONO!¡±
And Ara-san is glowing as well. ¡°Seems like my experiment is successful.¡± Why is Ara-san glowing as well? It''s similar to Rine''s case, but she wasn''t a hero like Ara-san. And the glowing is more gentle if I have to compare it.
Wait, do I glow as well!? What is different this time!?
¡°Ara-san. Why!?¡± She knew this would happen, I can see it in her demeanor.
So tell me, why did you do this!?
¡°It piqued my interest. After listening to some of Momo''s and your stories and the fragments you let me hear from Katarine-san, I concluded that the ring has to be a powerful relic, which makes it possible to see the stats of each other and share the XP you gain. It''s like multiple people are treated as one.¡± She smiles. It''s her normal, slight smile, but her ears are giving away that she''s beaming!
¡°But how did you trigger it willingly!?¡±
¡°Simple. It''s obvious as an observer, and maybe you overlooked it as the one, who was involved? You need two conditions to be cleared. First, a great amount of power, the power of the pilgrimage ritual back with Momo, and the power of the Etna back with Katarine-san. Now we''re using the power of Aeolferelda, which resides in us right now.¡±
¡°And the second?¡±
¡°Something like a verbal contract, recognizing each other as friends.¡±
¡°Hahaha...¡± Ah, even a half-hearted laugh hurts. ¡±Ara-san. You may be smart, but you''re also an impulsive idiot.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
The glow dissipated and a ring appeared on Ara-san''s left ring finger.
Congratulation! You just wed Ara''ainn!
This was a piece of work, I tell you. Both of you are from different species, therefore there were some things to be done with the both of you, so you may share all the happiness a normal married couple would have. So please be ready to get accustomed to some unusual feelings and events.
Be sure to stay by the side of your new wife since it''ll take more of a toll on her. But by being there for her your relationship is sure to bloom.
Is there no end to your luck?
Counter-question: Was there even a beginning?
Ah, Ara-san is also reading the message. ¡°We... we...¡± Her eyes are rolled way back, I can only see the white of her eyes, despite the fact, that her double-iris takes up most of her eyeballs.
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¡°Never act without having accurate information,¡± I reprimand her. Her eyes are returning and she looks at me with a face full of shock, her ears don''t even know where to stand anymore. Somehow this is cute.
...Cute?
Ara-san is an alfr, she can''t be... She is. For some reason, the strangeness I feel when seeing Ara-san disappeared and is replaced by something else.
Attraction.
¡°Kenta-kun? Something strange is happening.¡±
¡°That''d be?¡±
¡°I''m wet.¡±
¡
¡°KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!¡± Looks like someone else, who is far, far away, got over the initial shock and tells us this with this outcry.
Seriously, I''m innocent!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The red oni put the two heroes down. ¡°Nobody following me? Fine, fine, fine.¡± Now that there''s no one looking, she falls back into her usual demeanor. Even her voice now sounds girly and childish, with a bit of malice in it. ¡°So, time to buck off the cargo.¡± Without any care, she tosses the shelf she stole right next to the heroes. ¡°Stupid sis, who almost got me revealed. I hate exorcism magic!¡±
The oni stomps on the ground, trying to get her irritation out of her system. She was enjoying the fight with that blonde girl, and then the black-haired one pulled out a nasty spell, which didn''t only hurt like hell, but is also a countermeasure for her favorite skill.
The oni inhales and exhales, trying to calm her mind. Then she pulls out a paper and a whistle from under her dress and blows the latter. It made no sound, but the one who put everything up should come shortly.
And *puff* here he is, using the paper to open a gateway. To do that, you have to use a special ink, and just one person can use it. This time it''s a human male with long black hair and a beard.
It''s Correo.
He looks at the unconscious heroes on the ground, who are bleeding badly. ¡°How did it go?¡±
¡°Bad, bad, really bad. Not for me, but in general. For some reason, the Katsuragi-boy and his two girls were there and aligned with the alfar. The blonde is strong, and my heart was pounding with awe and excitement! Rine! Yes, she''s called Rine. I want a rematch!¡±
¡°Did you lose!?¡±
¡°No, no. She just hurt me bad, but it already healed. And the other one almost got me with her [Exorcism], but don''t worry. I''m fine thanks to my ''condition.'' But without the midnight dolls, it would''ve been dangerous.¡±
¡°I see. So you did as I commanded?¡±
¡°Yes, master! I did, I really did! As good as possible, you see. I could only get a bit of stuff as I emphasized on rescuing our new allies!¡±
¡°I see.¡± Correo looks on the shelf, while the oni is tiptoeing. ¡°Well, maybe it will please M''lady.¡±
¡°Master, may I ask some questions?¡±
¡°*Sigh*, you''re a servant, you don''t need that much information.¡±
¡°But these are bothering me. Please, I want to serve you with full attention, so please explain it to me, so that I won''t be bothered by it anymore.¡±
¡°Your subservient behavior is only a farce, but you did adequately. Ask.¡±
¡°Why didn''t the map of Rine and her pals react when they went to the village?¡±
¡°Either they got rid of it, or they entered the village for the first time just a moment after these two.¡±
¡°Ah. And why did the midnight dolls took on the form of demons?¡±
¡°Because you never sell your services only once, if possible.¡±
¡°So you got another employer? Who would profit from it, when demons attack the alfr village?¡±
¡°Figure it out by yourself. There are more important things to do.¡± Correo kneels down in front of the two heroes. ¡°More war potential for M''lady. I only need to figure out how to persuade them.¡±
The midnight dolls, a hundred which could be put on a single piece of paper so that they can be transported easily, plus the instant transportation ink, are all gifts of the one who paid for Correo''s services.
And she will be pleased with the magic items and the heroes, Correo will bring her.
¡°Master, master! I still have one question!¡±
¡°What it is!¡± Correo is obviously annoyed by this disturbance in his thoughts of self-glory.
¡°Why are squirrels gathering around us? They did the same back when I fought Rine and even helped me! Are these yours?¡±
¡°Squirrels?¡± Correo doesn''t know about any squirrels.
But in fact, there are some, a big group actually, which surrounded them.
This is... unexpected.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Elder...¡± Aera''jos is lying in a provisional sick bay, he got several broken bones, ripped muscles, and he just got his internal bleeding healed by that blonde human, who was visiting him before, while the rest was taken care of by a herbalist. Not only got his body shattered, but also his pride took some hits. And now Elder Gaer''mon is asking him about what exactly happened. ¡°It was all my fault.¡±
It would be easy to hide the fact, but it would be irresponsible. Aera''jos doesn''t want to cover up this shame since it endangered everyone and maybe even cost some lives. After he was hit by that red demon once, he was out cold and couldn''t see how the whole fight went.
Aera''jos is responsible for everything, so he decided to come clean. To tell the elder about his involvement and how he led the two humans into the village.
Of course, Aera''jos didn''t know about the demons, which were transported in, but he wasn''t careful enough, so he didn''t use his lack of knowledge as an excuse. He only states the facts and how he thought, that the alfar would be able to handle it.
¡°And that is all.¡± He ends the story and asks himself, what would happen to him. What kind of punishment will wait for him? Banishment? That seems to be appropriate. There is no death penalty for alfar in Aroahenn, so banishment is the usual sentence for capital crimes.
¡°I see. So that''s how it is.¡± Elder Gaer''mon is pondering, rubbing his ear. ¡°It does seem to be less retribution, and more like an elaborated plan. There was no indication that the humans would bring the demons in here?¡±
¡°Not as far as I know.¡±
¡°Good. Take a good rest.¡± The elder was about to leave.
¡°Wait!¡±
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°What about my punishment?¡±
¡°Punishment?¡±
¡°For bringing this kind of disaster into our dear village?¡±
¡°Aera''jos, are you serious!?¡± The elder is wondering.
¡°I did fail the village.¡±
¡°Take a look at yourself. Most of your bones are broken! Isn''t that punishment enough? Somehow everyone survived, thanks to you and the other guards training every single one of our people in combat. We got many lethally wounded, but the two human girls are here to heal them, and we have our herbalists. This is a miracle, and I don''t want to spoil it by punishing someone, who''s so beaten up as you. If you''re so keen on it, then jump off a tree by yourself, but climbing it might be complicated with broken limbs. If you actually want to help our people and me, then get well soon and never, ever do it again, right? If I punish everyone for every mistake they make, then I wouldn''t have time for anything else. Plus, anyone could''ve been the one who got us into this mess, since it''s clear as day that this was a planned attack. If we have enemies among the demons, they were looking for a way in. And in the end, they would have done it somehow anyway. So be thankful that it was right now when we had help from the humans, who-¡±
¡°KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!¡±
¡°-who are trying to communicate through the whole village by yelling, even though I don''t know why. I will ask them now, but let me say this, Aera''jos: You''re part of our village, and as long as you don''t intend on harming us, this will not change. So instead of saying that you''re guilty, tell the rest, that you''re sorry. Seriously, youngsters these days.¡±
Aera''jos'' jaw wants to drop, but since he got bandages under his chin, there isn''t much room for this. The elder left the sick bay and left the speechless Aera''jos behind.
He was ready for a scolding, but he didn''t expect one like that. He looks at the other wounded in this room, and a single sentence left his mouth. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± Magical healing alone won''t be enough to quickly recover completely, and he will most likely need a month or two, even counting in the work of the herbalists. But now he''s motivated to get well soon and do whatever he can do to help.
He will become stronger. Strong enough, so that there will be no need to get help from humans in future.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
In Esse, the capital of the Feuerberg-kingdom.
¡°I see. I apologize about this matter, Inoue-dono, but it was my fault for not seeing what kind of character Katsuragi-dono truly was. I thought of him as shady but trusted in Momokawa-dono''s judgment. Who would''ve thought, that she might be forced to do as he says.¡±
The king of Feuerberg, Heinrich von Stolzherz V, deeply bow before Inoue Masahiko and his friends. They just returned and reported the matter regarding the princess to the king.
¡°No, I''m sorry that I couldn''t save her and Kyou.¡±
¡°Inoue-dono, you did your best, I''m sure. Going against my daughter is already a dangerous task, but doing so while being betrayed by the people you wanted to trust makes it almost impossible.¡±
¡°We''ll bring them back!¡±
¡°No.¡± The king denies the offer determined. ¡°If mind-control may be part of it, it''ll be too much for you, who are still growing. Inoue-dono and friends, you shall take up the training again. We''ll take care of this matter and don''t worry: It may take some time, but we''ll use our resources to gather a team of specialists. Your power is needed in the war, so please leave the matter with Momokawa-dono to us for the time being.¡±
¡°...yes.¡± Masahiko doesn''t like it, but he knows, that he''s currently lacking. ¡°But if we become strong enough, we want to participate.¡±
¡°That seems fair.¡± With this, the heroes are dismissed. ¡°Ralf.¡± The king turns to the chancellor. ¡°I have three tasks for you.¡±
¡°Yes, my liege.¡±
¡°First, make the preparation to announce, that Katarine lost her right to inherit the throne. Eberhardt is the next in line, so he will become crown prince.¡±
¡°Yes, my liege.¡± This step is only natural. Katarine might be mind-controlled, but first, she ran away from home, which questions her sense of responsibility, second, if she no longer inherits anything, she loses value as a hostage.
But she''s still family, his beloved daughter. ¡°Then gather experts to form a team for tracking and catching my daughter and everyone who is traveling with her.¡± But there is something more: ¡°And we need to get Friedensbote back, even if it chose her, it''s an important treasure of the kingdom.¡±
¡°I heard that Meldorn is currently in Esse.¡±
¡°A solid choice. There may be heroes among those kidnappers, but they''re still inexperienced and far off from the elite non-heroes. We should ask Gottfried since he knows Katarine well and is besting her in combat.¡±
¡°This might be difficult since he retired from active duty.¡±
¡°She''s his pupil. Maybe he will make an exception.¡±
¡°Yes, my liege.¡±
¡°And the final task: I want to make sure, that Inoue-dono and his party get the best possible training. Something about this boy is special. We summoned the heroes for their potential, and he and the ones he gathered around him have plenty.¡±
¡°Yes, my liege.¡±
Feuerberg is in trouble up to the neck. They couldn''t use much of their forces since they have a war at the front and a possible danger right in the neighborhood, the sword of Damocles right above their heads, called Muaotef. At least, if Momokawa-dono and Katsuragi-dono were truthful. But everything the scouts found out so far points to it.
You can''t be king if you''re indecisive. So Heinrich von Stolzherz V will do, what is necessary.
Volume 03 - Afterword
Afterword
Hello again, kentusrpg here!
This story became more popular than I''ve originally thought, so it makes me glad to write it. And we''re pass something like a first arc since I got all the main-characters I''ve originally planned for into the story.
When I started publishing everything, I always read comments like ¡°Don''t make it a harem¡± and such, but I already set the course and noticed at some point: This is a bit of a satire. Plus, I need these typical tropes, to keep it interesting for me to write. Especially, since it''s the story like I pictured them: A harem fantasy story with a character who doesn''t want one!
So look, what archetypes do we have?
Classmate (even class president) as a love interest ¨C check; she abuses the main-character whenever possible and dislikes him in general
Princess-character, which is also badass ¨C check; she''s overly badass and also an idiot, who get on the main-character''s nerves
Strange beauty from another race ¨C check; usually a love between them would be considered something in the line of bestiality and this story (like many others) forces them to take an interest in each other in a way, that''s above-threshold
And everyone likes the main-character ¨C check; one would use any opportunity to separate, the other is so clingy, that it annoys the main-character, and the last one is a no-no
There are still some archetypes missing, but this should be enough for now. Not that I''m out of ideas, but for the time being I don''t need anyone else.
Well, there are a lot of typical situations in this story, so I won''t sell it as something new, but I hope that the spin to it is unique enough to make it a pleasant read.
In this volume, the alfar are introduced, and my, are they odd. My personal problem with multiracial settings is usually that the other races are still much like humans or (like in Tolkien) are like idolized archetypes of what humans are supposed to be. The wise elves, the loyal dwarves, and such.
I''m a fan of mythology. Elves are known in Northern Europe mythology; the Norse referred to them as alfar, which are different from elves from the celtic mythology, who would be more like wood elves.
Norse alfar are mean, wise due to their age, but led by emotion and they don''t like humans much, tricking them and even the gods whenever possible. They''re like the embodiment of the bad side of humans. And what did I do to my alfar? They hate the word ''elf'' and are forever stuck in puberty, loving sex jokes, pranks of bad taste and other stuff, you wouldn''t expect from hundred years old people.
I experimented a bit for their appearance with my own drawings of Ara''ainn, and their physical behavior was mostly made up while writing the first draft of the story. I hope that the alfar seems strange to you.
So I had my alfar, but what about their view of humans? Well, I needed to pick something to give the humans some sort of alfr identity. Since there is so much fiction about bestiality, romance (and other things) between elves and humans and such, I decided that an alfr''s sexual life is more similar to many animals''. Means an actual mating period and little sexual variety, they don''t even have that much of fun while having intercourse.
Looking how human''s sexual biology works is fascinating and disturbing for them, leading them to think, that all that humans care about is their sex-drive.
I''m especially proud of the reactions of Kenta and Kyou, especially since I''m sure that I would act the same way, if someone asks out of the blue if I''d pork a girl I''m currently with.
In this volume, I go a bit into the setting and how languages work. To put it simply: There is only one single language in this world, even though there are different degrees in mastering it. The standard ss''rak, for starters, slurs their words.
Then we have the heroes, who got an auto-translation function build in. This is a vital part of the setting, so remember it: One language originally in this world and the heroes speak and understand it due to this auto-translation.
Some terms don''t translate, like names, places and plants, even though animal names do, as long as there is something similar in the respective languages.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
The way alfar names work is also a bit different. I won''t delve that much into it, as long as nobody asks me, but they have a name (Ara) and a title (Ainn), they gain the latter when becoming an adult. Ainn means something along the line of "studious".
Alfar uses prefixes to discern relationships, but as Japanese have their suffixes, those get translated by the hero-system. Ara''ainn hears Kenta calling her ''Ko''Ara'', while the elder calls her ''Ti''Ara'', which is used for little children. A growing alfr is something very little and cute for them, as they live so long, while their childhood is rather short.
So while the Ainn is part of the name and not translated, the prefixes aren¡¯t and are translated. Will knowing this help you? Only for some jokes.
Finally, I want to talk about Ara''ainn. I like her. She''s funny, being overly curious and ready to try things out, even though this backfired at the end of the volume. But this happen if you withhold vital information regarding the curse, Kenta!
What I like most about her is the fact, that she actually tried to befriend Kenta and got all the way. While Kyou wants to end the relationship and Rine is so absorbed in her own thoughts, that she forces her fantasies onto Kenta, Ara''ainn is interested in the boy himself, and both of them have enough similarities to make a friendship work.
But now, while it was all A-OK on a platonic level, the curse interferes. So it''ll be interesting, how things will unfold from here since both of them knows, that they''re not supposed to find each other physically attractive.
So that''s it. I hope that you read the next volume as well like always I''ll do a little break after one volume. We''ll work on Volume 4 during the break, so there will be fewer breaks between chapters.
Next time we start with the introduction of another secret of the hero-system and the beginning of the new adventure. Which means to go deeper into the Correo-plot, the oni and the lady they''re working for!
How to support the story
If you like to support the story, there are several ways.
The easy ones (no to little effort put into it and you remain anonymous):
1.) Vote on TWF. It''s easy, just a few clicks, no account needed, and you''ve got a vote, which will last one week. The higher the story is on the list, the more likely it is that more people will take a look.
2.) Like Button. Under each chapter is a like button. Use it, and the statistics are going to my favor. (If you need FB or something else, please tell me).
3.) Become a Follower/Favorite. If you aren¡¯t following the story via the Follower-option, consider doing so. Just go to the fiction page and choose ¡°Add to your Bookshelf¡± on the right side. This not only boosts my confidence, but the number of Followers and Favorites is also visible for everyone on RRL.
4.) Rate this story. If you have a RRL-Account, you can rate this story on the fiction page. The higher the rating is, the higher it is ranked, therefore making it easier for the search function to be found. There is also WLN, where you can rate this story, even without an account.
5.) Upvote and downvote reviews. You can do that on the fiction page as well, and yes, you need an RRL account. The more a review is upvoted, the higher it is on the list. The more it''s downvoted, the lower it is placed. So if you like to help, upvote the positive reviews, downvote the bad ones, and give visitors to the fiction page a more positive outlook to the story.
With the new version of RRL, up-/downvoting became a bit of a hassle (because the page reloads every time), but I''d appreciate it if you do it nonetheless.
Some effort involved (and you''ll lose your anonymity):
1.) Write a comment. I really like to read your comments, I''m easily pleased by praise, I''ll think about actual critique which is usable, and I like to converse with my readers in general. Even if you spot a typo, everything is fine. As long as you don''t write stuff like "I hate your guts," "your story is full of shit," and "I don''t like your MC," this is not really helpful. I can deal with critique, but I need reasons, I need personal outlooks, I need examples why something feels wrong.
2.) Write a review. Another way to increase the rank are reviews, also made on the fiction page. They have more "weight" when determining the rank of the story. Of course, advanced reviews have more weight.
To put it into perspective a half star rating without review made me fall 10 ranks, a 2-star advanced review made me fall about 80 ranks. So there is a lot of control here, how this story does on RRL.
Go the extra-mile
1.) Advertise the story. Be it on social media (there are also share-buttons at the end of each chapter), on other forums or fiction pages, blogs or by talking to friends, there are several ways to make this story known.
2.) Leave a review on WFG. If you have an account there, you can also make a review there. Of course, a positive one would help there.
3.) Apply as a proofreader. As a non-native, I need my PRs. And as I like to work on Volume 4 to some degree during the break to make releases more regular again, it''d be great if people would help me here. Especially as I have real problems right now in terms of PR, as my other two have some issues, which makes it hard for them to PR right now.
4.) Donate on PayPal and/or Patreon. I''m still trying to figure out a satisfying resolution for my Patreon, but for mere $2 it''s currently possible to read the next chapter before everyone else (still without PR though, as we''re still short-handed in that department). I''m still working on an end-solution, when I have one, I''ll make another announcement.
The donations will only be used for the improvement of the story.
I hope to have you again in volume 4!
Volume 03 - Afterword
Afterword
Hello again, kentusrpg here!
This story became more popular than I''ve originally thought, so it makes me glad to write it. And we''re pass something like a first arc since I got all the main-characters I''ve originally planned for into the story.
When I started publishing everything, I always read comments like ¡°Don''t make it a harem¡± and such, but I already set the course and noticed at some point: This is a bit of a satire. Plus, I need these typical tropes, to keep it interesting for me to write. Especially, since it''s the story like I pictured them: A harem fantasy story with a character who doesn''t want one!
So look, what archetypes do we have?
Classmate (even class president) as a love interest ¨C check; she abuses the main-character whenever possible and dislikes him in general
Princess-character, which is also badass ¨C check; she''s overly badass and also an idiot, who get on the main-character''s nerves
Strange beauty from another race ¨C check; usually a love between them would be considered something in the line of bestiality and this story (like many others) forces them to take an interest in each other in a way, that''s above-threshold
And everyone likes the main-character ¨C check; one would use any opportunity to separate, the other is so clingy, that it annoys the main-character, and the last one is a no-no
There are still some archetypes missing, but this should be enough for now. Not that I''m out of ideas, but for the time being I don''t need anyone else.
Well, there are a lot of typical situations in this story, so I won''t sell it as something new, but I hope that the spin to it is unique enough to make it a pleasant read.
In this volume, the alfar are introduced, and my, are they odd. My personal problem with multiracial settings is usually that the other races are still much like humans or (like in Tolkien) are like idolized archetypes of what humans are supposed to be. The wise elves, the loyal dwarves, and such.
I''m a fan of mythology. Elves are known in Northern Europe mythology; the Norse referred to them as alfar, which are different from elves from the celtic mythology, who would be more like wood elves.
Norse alfar are mean, wise due to their age, but led by emotion and they don''t like humans much, tricking them and even the gods whenever possible. They''re like the embodiment of the bad side of humans. And what did I do to my alfar? They hate the word ''elf'' and are forever stuck in puberty, loving sex jokes, pranks of bad taste and other stuff, you wouldn''t expect from hundred years old people.
I experimented a bit for their appearance with my own drawings of Ara''ainn, and their physical behavior was mostly made up while writing the first draft of the story. I hope that the alfar seems strange to you.
So I had my alfar, but what about their view of humans? Well, I needed to pick something to give the humans some sort of alfr identity. Since there is so much fiction about bestiality, romance (and other things) between elves and humans and such, I decided that an alfr''s sexual life is more similar to many animals''. Means an actual mating period and little sexual variety, they don''t even have that much of fun while having intercourse.
Looking how human''s sexual biology works is fascinating and disturbing for them, leading them to think, that all that humans care about is their sex-drive.
I''m especially proud of the reactions of Kenta and Kyou, especially since I''m sure that I would act the same way, if someone asks out of the blue if I''d pork a girl I''m currently with.
In this volume, I go a bit into the setting and how languages work. To put it simply: There is only one single language in this world, even though there are different degrees in mastering it. The standard ss''rak, for starters, slurs their words.
Then we have the heroes, who got an auto-translation function build in. This is a vital part of the setting, so remember it: One language originally in this world and the heroes speak and understand it due to this auto-translation.
Some terms don''t translate, like names, places and plants, even though animal names do, as long as there is something similar in the respective languages.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
The way alfar names work is also a bit different. I won''t delve that much into it, as long as nobody asks me, but they have a name (Ara) and a title (Ainn), they gain the latter when becoming an adult. Ainn means something along the line of "studious".
Alfar uses prefixes to discern relationships, but as Japanese have their suffixes, those get translated by the hero-system. Ara''ainn hears Kenta calling her ''Ko''Ara'', while the elder calls her ''Ti''Ara'', which is used for little children. A growing alfr is something very little and cute for them, as they live so long, while their childhood is rather short.
So while the Ainn is part of the name and not translated, the prefixes aren¡¯t and are translated. Will knowing this help you? Only for some jokes.
Finally, I want to talk about Ara''ainn. I like her. She''s funny, being overly curious and ready to try things out, even though this backfired at the end of the volume. But this happen if you withhold vital information regarding the curse, Kenta!
What I like most about her is the fact, that she actually tried to befriend Kenta and got all the way. While Kyou wants to end the relationship and Rine is so absorbed in her own thoughts, that she forces her fantasies onto Kenta, Ara''ainn is interested in the boy himself, and both of them have enough similarities to make a friendship work.
But now, while it was all A-OK on a platonic level, the curse interferes. So it''ll be interesting, how things will unfold from here since both of them knows, that they''re not supposed to find each other physically attractive.
So that''s it. I hope that you read the next volume as well like always I''ll do a little break after one volume. We''ll work on Volume 4 during the break, so there will be fewer breaks between chapters.
Next time we start with the introduction of another secret of the hero-system and the beginning of the new adventure. Which means to go deeper into the Correo-plot, the oni and the lady they''re working for!
How to support the story
If you like to support the story, there are several ways.
The easy ones (no to little effort put into it and you remain anonymous):
1.) Vote on TWF. It''s easy, just a few clicks, no account needed, and you''ve got a vote, which will last one week. The higher the story is on the list, the more likely it is that more people will take a look.
2.) Like Button. Under each chapter is a like button. Use it, and the statistics are going to my favor. (If you need FB or something else, please tell me).
3.) Become a Follower/Favorite. If you aren¡¯t following the story via the Follower-option, consider doing so. Just go to the fiction page and choose ¡°Add to your Bookshelf¡± on the right side. This not only boosts my confidence, but the number of Followers and Favorites is also visible for everyone on RRL.
4.) Rate this story. If you have a RRL-Account, you can rate this story on the fiction page. The higher the rating is, the higher it is ranked, therefore making it easier for the search function to be found. There is also WLN, where you can rate this story, even without an account.
5.) Upvote and downvote reviews. You can do that on the fiction page as well, and yes, you need an RRL account. The more a review is upvoted, the higher it is on the list. The more it''s downvoted, the lower it is placed. So if you like to help, upvote the positive reviews, downvote the bad ones, and give visitors to the fiction page a more positive outlook to the story.
With the new version of RRL, up-/downvoting became a bit of a hassle (because the page reloads every time), but I''d appreciate it if you do it nonetheless.
Some effort involved (and you''ll lose your anonymity):
1.) Write a comment. I really like to read your comments, I''m easily pleased by praise, I''ll think about actual critique which is usable, and I like to converse with my readers in general. Even if you spot a typo, everything is fine. As long as you don''t write stuff like "I hate your guts," "your story is full of shit," and "I don''t like your MC," this is not really helpful. I can deal with critique, but I need reasons, I need personal outlooks, I need examples why something feels wrong.
2.) Write a review. Another way to increase the rank are reviews, also made on the fiction page. They have more "weight" when determining the rank of the story. Of course, advanced reviews have more weight.
To put it into perspective a half star rating without review made me fall 10 ranks, a 2-star advanced review made me fall about 80 ranks. So there is a lot of control here, how this story does on RRL.
Go the extra-mile
1.) Advertise the story. Be it on social media (there are also share-buttons at the end of each chapter), on other forums or fiction pages, blogs or by talking to friends, there are several ways to make this story known.
2.) Leave a review on WFG. If you have an account there, you can also make a review there. Of course, a positive one would help there.
3.) Apply as a proofreader. As a non-native, I need my PRs. And as I like to work on Volume 4 to some degree during the break to make releases more regular again, it''d be great if people would help me here. Especially as I have real problems right now in terms of PR, as my other two have some issues, which makes it hard for them to PR right now.
4.) Donate on PayPal and/or Patreon. I''m still trying to figure out a satisfying resolution for my Patreon, but for mere $2 it''s currently possible to read the next chapter before everyone else (still without PR though, as we''re still short-handed in that department). I''m still working on an end-solution, when I have one, I''ll make another announcement.
The donations will only be used for the improvement of the story.
I hope to have you again in volume 4!
Volume 04 - Prologue
Prologue
Where are you?
My name is Katsuragi Kenta, and I''m currently hiding in a bush. Using my [Camouflage]-skill, I''m now hard to distinguish from the leaves of this plant, even my equipment, like my red hide armor and my bow, changed color to match. Additionally, I use another skill, which makes it even more difficult to detect me.
But the ones I''m looking for are good at hiding as well. I can only detect two of them, using my enhanced senses. The other four are nowhere to be seen.
So no choice but to do it, right? ¡°[Seeker]! [Seeker]!¡± In a fast manner, I draw two arrows from my hip quiver and shoot them at the two targets. My [Skill] will alter their course to a slight degree so that I can put emphasis on speed instead of accuracy.
Oops!
With a quick jump forward, I evade two arrows, which are aimed at me. So there you are. ¡°[Seeker]! [Seeker]!¡± The bad thing about a quiver is that you need to mind your movements unless you want all of your arrows to fall out, so I couldn''t do anything too rash, without closing it first.
I take cover behind a tree and put another arrow on my bow. It''s a shortbow, a new one I got. It''s adapted to my shooting style, using the right hand to hold the bow and the left to draw it. It''s actually high-quality, maybe only magic weapons can trump it.
All the four foes I know of are still in the game, but I hurt them. Even with [Seeker], they can dodge if they''re fast enough. I use my skill again to meld with my surrounding and nimbly climb the tree. I got some training regarding this.
My four opponents are looking for me, every one of them is an alfar. They know the woods much better than I do, but I can use my powers as a hero. I take three more arrows, putting all four of them on my bow. ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± One for each of them.
Of course, they reacted to my voice, but an arrow can be fast, and I got a good angle, so only one of them could evade.
I already took the rest down, they lie on the ground, not moving a muscle.
The remaining one fires back, I let myself fall and prepare myself for pain. But while I fall: ¡°[Entangle]!¡± Branches, grass, and roots grow, restraining the alfr. Then I hit the ground.
It really hurts, I can feel the impact on all my body, even though I tried to cushion my fall with my legwork.
Good thing I''m a hero, otherwise it would''ve broken my legs. Heroes are tough at least.
I shoot another arrow and hit the alfr, who''s trying to free himself, right in the face. Another one down.
Two left. I can only detect one of them with my [Pitch]-skill, hearing some small sounds within the background noises..
I look up and see, how an alfr swings down, using a vine, and draws two short clubs from his belt, while he falls the rest of the way.
Time to use my quarterstaff and attack. Left, right, left, left, up. It''s easy to unleash a flurry of blows with such a weapon when you use both hands, why do so few games address that?
In most games, staffs are slow weapons, which have a superior reach, but if you forfeit it, you have two ends, which can be swung much faster than two individual weapons.
Unable to block my onslaught, the alfr goes down.
*Clap, Clap* ¡°Not bad.¡±
I turn around. ¡°Oro''hekk.¡±
The leader of the alfar-guards is drawing a stick, which he holds like a sword. ¡°In so little time. It''s fearsome to see how heroes can grow that fast.¡±
¡°Don''t overdo it, old man. You''re still hurt, so you''re no match for me.¡±
¡°Old man? I''m a girl, you know.¡±
¡°...hah!?¡± Did I got it wrong the whole time!?
¡°Jinx!¡± But it was only a tactic! Using the moment I was baffled, Oro''hekk closed in and smacked me with his stick, right across my body.
But it''s only natural, that I was surprised! I mean, alfar are hard to discern in general and so much different from humans! There was a fair chance that I got the sex wrong!Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
He tricked me! Payback-time: ¡°You should''ve ended me!¡±
¡°If I want to win, yes. But if I want to test you, no.¡±
Yes, this is a test. We''re using non-lethal weapons, my arrows have cushion-heads, and instead of my spear, I use a quarterstaff.
And if this is a test: ¡°Then I have the obligation to best it!¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Ouch, are you crazy!? I''m still suffering from my wounds, you bastard!¡± Oro''hekk complains. He used every dirty trick he could think of (and I learned a few new ones this way), but in the end, I physically overpowered him.
¡°It''s your fault for taking part of the test while still recuperating.¡±
Twenty days ago, that''s two weeks in this world, the alfar village of Aroahenn was attacked by an army of demons. Oro''hekk had a fight with the most likely strongest foe there, a red oni, but was injured in the process. I heard like he covered the fallen body of one of his subordinates, Jazzman, and took a grave injury there.
Well, the oni was able to hurt Rine as well, so its combat strength is beyond questioning. And it seems like it recovered its injuries bit by bit.
I hate regenerating monsters. They always take so long to take down. In games.
In reality, these monsters might be even more troublesome, since you get exhausted more and more, while the foe retains its health.
¡°Ah, but Kenta-tan, you''ve passed the test, so everyone: Gather.¡±
The five other alfar gather around us, each of them is patting my shoulders. ¡°Congratulations!¡±
¡°Why did you shoot my face?¡±
¡°Great work!¡±
¡°Seriously, you could''ve aimed at my body, like with the rest.¡±
¡°Man, did you pummel me.¡±
¡°Was it something I did?¡±
¡°You did perfect!¡±
¡°Please, tell me!¡±
They approve of me. It''s a strange feeling since usually people look at me and say ''Uh, it''s Katsuragi.'' Besides in games, there people judge me by my skills. Ah, that''s what it is: Someone sees me, but judges me solely by my skills.
¡°So friends.¡± Oro''hekk takes something from a belt pouch. ¡°With this, Kenta-tan is now Kenta''aihr and not only this, but he also earned the title that he''s already proclaimed to have: He''s a ranger now!¡± Applause. The alfr are cheering and whistling me. ¡°And now, that he''s a ranger, he has also earned ''The Hood.''¡±
¡°...the ''what''?¡±
¡°''The Hood.'' It''s important.¡± What he took out is a hood. The kind you can wear just above your clothes. ¡°Every ranger, who''s not an alfr, has one. It''s like a uniform. Wear it and be proud of it.¡±
Hesitantly I take the hood. It''s as crimson red as my new armor. ¡°Are you serious?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Come on, Kenta''aihr, you don''t know about ''The Hood''? It''s essential!¡±
¡°There can''t be a human ranger without ''The Hood.''¡±
¡°''The Hood'' makes you about 20% cooler and makes you better at what you do.¡±
¡°Man, I wish I had ''The Hood'' when you hit me with your arrow in the face. It would''ve totally protected me. Even though I''m an alfr and don''t need ''The Hood'' to be a ranger, I totally envy you!¡±
¡°It''s an honor. Or do you want to say, that you look down on our dear alfr traditions?¡±
This hood... If I wear it, I''d be like Little Red Riding Hood.
But if everyone looks so expectant at me, how can I decline? Slowly I put the Hood over my head.
[The Hood]
Description:
A hood especially made for Katsuragi Kenta by the alfar of Aroahenn. It''s a gift after passing the ranger-test and can hide the face of the wearer quite well, even though it''s sure to attract attention nonetheless.
Status:
+10 Defense
Value:
200 Newgold
¡°Kenta''aihr. Please pull ''The Hood'' deeper. The reason for ''The Hood'' is, that no one can see, that you''re not an alfr. It makes you an equal ranger to us. It also trains your newly attained spirit sense, as it''s limiting your other senses, like hearing and seeing, so that you have to rely on them more during battle.¡±
So there is such a symbolism to it, while it also helps me training my new [Ability], [Spirit Magic]. I guess I have no choice.
I pull the hood deeper.
¡
¡ ¡
¡°Pffff...!¡± Oro''hekk laughs. ¡°He really did it!¡±
Then the other join in. ¡°We should''ve tried a facial mask as well! He would have totally done it as well!¡±
...somehow I knew it. ¡°Phew.¡± At least it''s still harmless.
They could''ve put itching powder into the hood as well. They would totally do it.
So who should I smack? Oro''hekk is still injured. Maybe all of the others? Sounds like a good idea.
¡°Ouch!¡±
¡°Don''t-¡±
Yes, this is the way to discipline these bastards for making fun of me!
¡°Kenta''aihr, stop it!¡±
¡°*groan* why the face again...?¡±
Ah, this form of aggression management is a marvel.
After hitting each of them once or twice, we came back to the ceremony. Oro''hekk continues. ¡°Even though he might not like ''The Hood,'' we have another thing, in addition to your alfr name and the recognition as a ranger, a personal title. Henceforth, you shall be known as Kenta''aihr, the Red Ranger, a hero of justice!¡±
Am I in a super sentai-show?
They just hit a nerve, and even if this is a total coincidence, I guess a few more punches won''t hurt.
At least not me.
Volume 04 - Chapter 1-1 – Class-up!
Chapter 1 ¨C Class-up!
Proofreader: ramna27, Orion Dye
Let''s rewind time a bit. Twenty days earlier.
I saw Ara-san, the white-haired alfr girl, who looked at me in wonder and unease. ¡°I''m wet.¡±
No, not to that particular moment!
And not the moment, Kyou-san charged in -her face distorted in fury- and yelled at me for reasons, I couldn''t understand since her voice was too shrill.
Or Rine, who followed only a bit after, only to ask a few questions. I couldn''t even discern if she was angry, happy or confused.
Let''s take the moment when we all calmed down, returned to our respective jobs in doing after-care of the just attacked village of Aroahenn, and afterward returned to Ara-san''s house.
We exchanged every information we had. In the end, we knew the gist of what happened behind the scenes. Much of the info came from the elder, who talked to the people involved, even the heavily wounded ones.
To sum it up: After we, Kyou-san, Rine and me, spent some days in Aroahenn to get some intel about curses, heroes, and a particular class-deleting relic, two other people appeared at the border of the forest, our former classmates Yoshimura and Hoshibashi.
We kept the alfr-guard in the dark about their identity, as we thought that they were aiming at us and especially the ''kidnapped'' princess of Feuerberg: Rine. We lied to the alfar and let them repel those two several times.
Then the alfr-guard Jazzman found out, that the intruders are in fact heroes like us. This made our former statement doubtful and to get the better of us. He decided to bring Hoshibashi and Yoshimura to the village so that they could speak to the elder.
He should''ve called for an escort, but he thought it''d be enough to rely on the alfar in the village.
The other heroes had a map, which led them to the forest of Aroahenn in the first place. From this map, about a hundred demons appeared, who attacked the village. Even though most alfr were capable of fighting, there were only about twenty real warriors among the whole settlement, so they were overpowered in quantity.
Jazzman didn''t hesitate and fought with the strongest of the summoned demons, the red oni. He was no match for her, so Oro''hekk jumped into the battle, while our party were still fighting with some demons.
The red oni also defeated Oro''hekk, as he tried to deflect an attack from the oni, which would''ve hit the beaten Jazzman. That happened around the time when we first confronted Hoshibashi and Yoshimura. When those two retreated, we followed them, same as the oni, and she cut our way to the treasury of the village, the place Yoshimura and Hoshibashi were aiming for.
So we split the party, Rine and Kyou-san took care of the oni, while Ara-san and I passed her and followed the two heroes into the treasury.
Rine and the oni had a brutal match; the ever-regenerating oni could deal with the murder-machine princess for a while. But due to Kyou-san''s healing and buffs, Rine slowly won the upper hand, while our useless nagger also attained a new spell for damaging the oni.
At the same time, Ara-san and I confronted Yoshimura and Hoshibashi, and even though the initial comeback from them was great, Ara-san was vastly buffed by that place. It was right under the Aeolferelda-tree, which is basically a source of magic. Especially the [Spirit Magic] the alfar used.
After Ara-san finally decided to use lethal force, even the buffs Yoshimura and Hoshibashi had were only enough to avoid death.
Then the oni came in, she could flee from her battle after a bunch of demons attacked Kyou-san and Rine from the sidelines. The oni melted part of the Aeolferelda-tree, took some stuff and fled with our beaten opponents.
Among the stolen stuff was also the relic I mentioned earlier: A quill, which had the ability to let you deselect one of your classes. Yoshimura and Hoshibashi used it to delete their [Student]-class, which clearly was a big power-up.
To be honest, if we hadn''t beaten them up in the first encounter before they deleted [Student], they would''ve wiped us.
After the oni had carried away those two, we returned to the alfar, which were busy fighting demons and healing Aeolferelda. We supported them and did some stuff to help them out after the battle. Like Kyou-san and Rine treated the wounded or how Ara-san and I were investigating the treasury to see, what exactly was stolen.
There Ara-san became stupid. If you put it positively, she was overcome by curiosity, as all the prerequisites were met to participate in our ''curse.''
She just believed, it wasn''t an actual curse and now we had this mess: A ''marriage'' with four people!
¡°So let me summarize it:¡± Kyou-san began in an annoyed tone: ¡°Arako figured out how she can be involved in this ring-thing, right?¡±
Ara-san added in an accusing tone. ¡°You held back information. I thought the curse part of the ring was something like a feedback since Kenta used a party-system without a party. I was interested, for it was a significant interference with the power of heroes, a relic like no other. Even though the other heroes use the hero-system, they don''t change it. If I''d have known about marriage... and all of you already shared it, what about the divine...¡± She blinked and tapped her ears. ¡°Yes, what about the divine law in such a case? Since it''s usually applied within a single species, does it count for the alfar that I''m part of a polygamy with humans?¡±
Yes, the divine laws. One of them was about polygamy. If there were too many people married to multiple spouses within a single species, it means genocide.
I''m dead serious. It''s as stupid as that.
¡°This law is exactly the reason why we didn''t talk about it before, Ara-san. And I don''t have an idea about if and how you''re counted?¡±
¡°If?¡±
¡°Technically, the messages says that you''re all, blergh, ''married'' to me. So if we go by the letter, we still count as one.¡± Since I was the only one with more than one spouse. ¡°But seriously, there is no legal claim. I don''t know why the curse chose to declare it as ''marriage,'' but I''m only going to marry once, and I''m sure that it''ll be none of you!¡± I pointed at the three of them: ¡°This one is a bitch, this one gets on my nerves, and the only acceptable one of you is from another species!¡±
¡°And you''re a dork!¡± Kyou-san rolled her eyes. ¡°But thank you for not being interested in me.¡± Her eye-rolling changed to a happy smile. ¡ That was dangerous! And totally inappropriate!
¡°Kenta!¡± Rine was about to break in tears. ¡°What did I ever do to get on your nerves?¡± How about the fact, that you''re trying to use your almost-crying just now to coerce me into saying what you want me to say?
¡°Kenta-kun, I''m acceptable?¡± Ara-san''s ears blushed. Hold it! For some reason, I was strangely conscious of Ara-san since she got curse-infected. It''s just like as if she was a human girl.
We''re different species, so please don''t make her attractive to me, curse! Are you trying to direct me into bestiality?
¡°From now on, Ara-san will be part of our team.¡± To be honest, she adds up nicely to us with her [Druid]-class. And she''s still acceptable in her [Acrobat]-class, so we got another member that''s more useful than Kyou-san. ¡°That means, Ara-san, that it''s in your interest to find a way to remove this curse!¡±
¡°Actually, if I weigh up the upsides and downsides, it''s not that bad.¡± No, don''t do that, Ara-san, we''re a team now!
¡°I know, right?¡± Don''t support her, Rine! ¡°But... we''re sinners...¡± Ah, she got negative again, so while she''s for some reason OK to refer herself as my wife, she''s down whenever she is reminded of the fact, that we''re breaking the divine law.
I had to remember that so that I could silence her, if she''s too annoying.
¡°Arako, are there any upsides for you?¡± Good work, Kyou-san!
¡°Several. But the most interesting one is that I get a good look into how the hero-system works. Did you know, that I can see your statuses and they''re written in Alfr Speech? Does that mean, that the hero-system use our understanding of language, instead of relying on the god''s influence?¡± I could see where that was going. Basically, she was just curious.
¡°What about the marriage-thing?¡±
¡°A small price to pay, if I have to say so. Marriage isn''t something alfar do often, so while I know about it, it''s not like I really understand its importance. Even if I did, it''s not like there are much chances to meet a man within my standards. At least Kenta''s fun.¡±
¡°Ara-san...¡± I wrecked my brain to find a way to persuade her to actually help us. She was really an asset, intelligent and knowledgeable. Wait, there was a way. ¡°You want to analyze the curse, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Then learning how to break it, is also part of this research. Additionally, if you''re helping us finding a way to get rid of it, you may keep the ring. Deal?¡± I held out my hand.
¡°Deal!¡± She took it.
Both of us retracted our hands in less than a second. There was some sort of electricity, or more like, it felt strangely... pink. I could only describe that feeling with a color.
¡°What was that? Arako? Ken?¡±
¡°Well, Momo. You know that Kenta-kun and I are different species. So there would normally no physical attraction to each other.¡± Don''t say it. ¡°The curse did something and now whenever I see Kenta-kun, I''m almost as horny as a human.¡±
What she actually said is even worse than what I''ve imagined!
Rine blushed: ¡°Horny...¡±
Kyou-san''s eyes were wide open, looking between Ara-san and me and then flashed a smile. ¡°Dirty.¡±
Why are you acting all sweet?
After this, we went to the planning phase. There were a lot to discuss, so I won''t get into details, but a certain comment from Kyou-san was very important.
¡°Too bad that the quill got away.¡±
¡°Yes. You were very interested in it, is there a class, you wanted to exchange, Momo?¡±
¡°[Healer]. I don''t have any attack potential.¡±
¡°If I remember, you have [Student], [Healer], [Priest], and [Cook], right? Then why don''t you class-up one of those?¡±
A discovery that blew our minds.
There was a way to strengthen one of your current classes, called ''class-up.'' And the worst of it: The option of classing up was mentioned in the manual Ara-san got, when she was transported to this world, but not the one Kyou-san and I had.
So the content of the manuals differ from hero-batch to hero-batch!
While ours went deeper about the essential functions of the hero-system and specific items like those XP-crystals I had yet to see, Ara-san''s was mostly about everything regarding classes. Class-up was one of the topics.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
If you got enough AP in several skills and also learned a variety of things, you might have a chance to class-up. But to do that you needed to mentally operate the status-menu in a certain way, which was everything but intuitive.
Even after opening the class-up-window right after learning it, I couldn''t class-up anything at that moment. Because there was an additional condition: A trigger.
There were only limited sources to class-up around the world, but it seems that every species had at least five different class-up options, and the usual trigger to attain a class-up was to have a mentor of the specific class-up teaching you.
For the alfar of Aroahenn there were the following options: [Druid], [Herbalist], [Ranger], [Spiritcaller], and [Woodwarrior]. Ara-san started out as a [Shaman] and classed up to [Druid].
So far, it was easy enough, have experience in your class and have someone teach you. But there were some issues along the way.
First, your class had to match with the class-up you want to do, so I wouldn''t be able to class-up [Student] to [Woodwarrior] for example.
Second, you couldn''t class-up twice using the same source. So if I class-up with the help of the alfar of Aroahenn, I couldn''t do so again. Another alfr country would be OK, but those are far apart.
Third, you had to be at least level 100 before you can class-up a second time in the same class-tree. There were higher level requirements to level up even further, and you can class-up three times in total.
Fourth, there was no real order in class-up, so I could class-up [Pikeman] to [Woodwarrior] by the alfar and for example [Knight] in Feuerberg afterward. Then I would end up being a [Knight] with the [Abilities] of [Pikeman] and [Woodwarrior] and individual stat-bonuses, reflecting these three classes. It was a vast realm of customization here.
Fifth, if you class-up your initial class, like my [Student]-class, there was a great chance that it will mess with your mind, wiping out every memory from before becoming a hero, while the rest was remembered like a book you read. You only retained the knowledge, but neither emotional nor sensory memory. It was the same as what happened to Hoshibashi and Yoshimura when they deleted their [Student]-classes.
Sixth, the class you like to class-up didn''t only need some experience, during the training you need to use the class you want to class-up. So even though you might learn faster the stuff you''re supposed to learn using the [Student]''s [Fast Learner]-skill, it won''t bring you closer to the class-up, if you wanted to class-up another class-up.
Knowing that, we changed our entire schedule since Kyou-san wanted to class up. Me as well, there was no way I would miss that chance!
By the way, Rine''s [Princess Knight] is already the second stage of a class-up, so she couldn''t class-up anymore with it before she was at least level 170. Additionally, this was her initial class, so even though she was an irregular, there were certain conditions to be met to class-up safely. But explaining what she can''t do at this point would be a pain.
Instead, she decided to learn a new base class. Or more like, she really insisted on it. She wanted to learn a crafting class, and asked me if she could. I like crafting classes, so I allowed her to do as she wishes. Even if she wasted that slot, she got two more and would at least be happy with her single choice she did.
While the three of us were busy learning classes and class-ups, Ara-san investigated the books and writings about how to break curses.
I decided to class-up my favorite class, [Scout]. I could class-up to [Woodwarrior] and [Ranger], I decided to choose the latter, since it enhanced what I like about the [Scout]-class while still being considerably good at fighting.
It appeared that about a third of the alfr-guards were actually rangers, even though only Oro''hekk was considered a master ranger. So I learned under him with the help of the other guards.
Meanwhile the elder allowed us to freely enter the village and I found some craftsman, who made me custom equipment to thank me for fighting these demons and my fellow heroes. Even the leatherworker was fine with making me a hide armor made out of the pelt of the crimson bear I killed back in the chasm, including an armguard with an implemented archery glove for the left side.
Following my example, Kyou-san also started organizing new gear.
You know the rest, I could class-up yesterday, and Oro''hekk wanted to put my new powers to a test.
[Ranger] is a great class. I don''t only have all of my [Scout]-class [Abilities], which got some new skills during the training, I also got [Spirit Magic] and three spells, one to hold, one to detect, and one to hide. I can finally use my MP for a change!
And most importantly: I can finally use [Spear]-skills in my exploration class! No [Pikeman]-dependence anymore for moderate battles.
The stat-bonuses of [Ranger] are higher than [Pikeman]¡¯s in general, [Pikeman] only trumps in [Strength] and [Vitality] by a mediocre margin. So basically, I can ignore that class for a while, unless I need more power and defense.
I definitely should find a way to class-up that one too.
But [Ranger] is something like my ideal class. If I would not have the title ''Red Ranger'', I''d be perfectly happy with it.
Dammit, alfar!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Back to today, right after the test of Oro''hekk and the others. ¡°...¡± I enter Ara-san''s house.
¡°Welcome back.¡± Ara-san greets me from behind the front door? Was she waiting for me? ¡°We have to talk.¡±
¡°About what?¡±
¡°About my sexual frustrations.¡±
I totally don''t like the direction this is going. ¡°Let''s skip the topic.¡±
¡°No. Momo and Katarine-san won''t talk to me about their masturbation habits, and I need the relief! But I don''t know how to. So do your duty as the husband and help your wife!¡± The way she''s rubbing her legs against each other and the way her ears are red-hot is arousing.
Wait, stop it. Go down, little me! ¡°I''m not here to talk about ma- about that!¡± I almost spoke out the word.
¡°But aren''t you the one, who regularly sneaks out from the house for some you-time?¡±
¡°... When and how.¡±
¡°It''s my house, of course, it tells me if there is someone entering and exiting it. Also, after you came back one time, I checked on you after you fell asleep and it was apparent, that you washed yourself.¡±
¡°Phew... did you used [Spirit Magic] to check up on me?¡±
¡°Indirectly. It''s my house, so I can sense through it whenever I want.¡±
¡°What a cheat.¡±
¡°I''m more shocked that you used to live in a culture, where magic doesn''t even exist.¡± Ara-san''s home world is a place, where the wildlife and the Ljosalfar live in harmony, more or less using magic to control life itself.
There are supposed to be other alfar, the D?kkalfar, underground. They used the magic of rocks, minerals, and stones, importing most food from the Ljos. An entirely different world than the one I''m from.
¡°We had games, so it beats yours.¡± Yes, Ara-san''s may have been better at health care, education, literacy, employment, survival rate for mothers and infants during childbirth, not mentioning the fact, that there were no wars since three millennia, my world still beats it, since the alfar never invented electricity and so there are neither PC, nor console games!
Only games you could play in dreams, theatrical plays which will conjure their special effects right into your mind, and other forms of entertainment, which might be more fun than everything I know from my world.
But no RPGs! Hah! ¡ Unless it''s TTRPG, of course.
¡°So now we established this fact, is Kyou-san back?¡± She''s the one responsible for the meals.
¡°Do you try to change the topic from my physical problems to something else, no matter how pointless it is?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, it''s really taking a toll on me, it''s so unnatural, that I can hardly think straight, so either you tell me how to masturbate, or I''ll fulfill my needs otherwise, and you''re right in front of me.¡± Why is she licking her lips? And why am I about to say ''Get over here!''?.
Dangerous!
¡°Did you try-¡± I just spit out every ounce of knowledge about how females relieve themselves I had. It takes a few minutes, but Ara-san carefully listens to every single word.
¡°As expected from a human male. You truly know a lot about how women masturbate.¡±
¡°Could you please never mention this word anymore and never tell anyone that we had this talk?¡±
¡°Yes. I will go right back to my room, and put it into practice.¡±
¡°Please! No details!¡± I rub my nose bridge between my thumb and fingers. ¡°What about Kyou-san?¡±
¡°She''s still not back. Katarine-san is. Anything else?¡± Ara-san really seems eager to go, and even though the thought of seeing one off to relieve herself is disturbing, it''s hard to say no, if she''s that desperate.
¡°Not for now.¡± And without a moment of hesitation, Ara-san turns around and runs to her room.
Following her example, I return to the room I''m currently using, since I plan to remove my armor. It''s not like I wear it all the time, it''s hot and uncomfortable. Plus, I have to do maintenance, and I can''t do so while wearing it. So checking for holes and loose straps, removing dirt and brushing the hide, it''s something I have to do every single day.
This armor keeps me alive, so I won''t complain.
Same goes for my weapons, sharpening, cleaning, probing. I got a new spear in this village, so I''ll most likely train a bit after maintenance, to get used to its weight and form. The bone blade is longer than the metal tip of my old spear, plus it''s slightly curved, made to dissect my enemies easier. Training will help, but if I truly want to get used to that, I''ll have to use it in actual combat.
But I barely farmed the last twenty days, since I was occupied with my [Ranger]-class-up. Well, still more than what I did before and now that I''m finished, I may make up for it.
Nonetheless, first things first. Back to the room, maintenance. I''m about to open the door the normal way but remember that I have [Spirit Magic] since yesterday. Ara-san taught me how to use it to operate the house like an alfr would and since it still doesn''t come easy, I can practice it now. If I use a skill, it just happens, but if I use the ability itself, I need to do it consciously.
Concentrate at the own forehead, without looking at it, until you feel a ball of energy within. Then stretch that ball out to the door. Ah, I failed. Again, concentrating, stretching. And again, concentrating and stretching.
Finally.
Then try to send your wish through the canal, that just opened up between yourself and the spirit you''re talking to. This is actually the easiest part, the door opens by itself.
¡°...¡± I see what''s inside.
Concentrate, stretch, and send the wish.
The door closes again.
¡
¡ ¡
I knock. ¡°Is somebody in there?¡±
¡°Dea- Kenta? Yes, it''s me, Rine.¡± I know. ¡°Are you about to enter?¡±
¡°I have the feeling, that I''d see something I want to forget if I do.¡±
I can practically see Rine tilting her head behind the door. ¡°I don''t mind.¡±
¡°I do. You have one minute, so make most of it.¡±
¡°OK?¡± At least I can hear the rustling. Good thing that she didn''t notice the opening door. Otherwise it would have ended in a very uncomfortable conversation I don''t want to be part of. ¡°I think it''s ready.¡±
I open the door manually and see Rine standing in the center of the room in common clothes. These were made by the alfar, especially for Rine. Her face was deep red the day she returned after giving the order to the tailor, who also teaches her. I guess it has something to do with breasts since she''s an alfr.
And not only because human girls have breasts, while alfr ones have none. Alfar love to rub stuff like breast-talk into a human''s face.
Rine''s new set of clothes consist of a milky white blouse and dark green trousers, it''s simple, but for some reason, the tailor decided to make it in a way, which emphasize her womanly figure. I guess as a prank, to show off her curves to the whole village.
And man, what kind of curves they are.
So while the alfar snickers about her get-up, since it shows off the sensual nature of humans, I can''t look at it at all without losing my focus. So I just concentrate on her face. And be not embarrassed about what I just witnessed!
Her eyes are sparkling with their usual innocence, how can she have eyes like this, when she just did ''that''? ¡°Are you alright, Kenta?¡±
¡°I''m thinking about human nature. But I originally wanted to fetch some things.¡±
¡°Do you need help?¡±
¡°...could you help me donning off the armor?¡± Armor is supposed to be hard to remove since it''d be dangerous if it comes off in the midst of battle. So even if one or two straps are cut, it should still be held in place.
This basically means, there are always a lot of things to do, when you don on or off the armor. There are belts, hooks, and removable parts, which make it annoying to do it alone. Therefore having someone''s help is really appreciated.
At least unless you don''t like being touched by others. ¡°Rine, could you stop fondle my sides?¡±
¡°I''m trying to open that belt.¡±
¡°Let me do it!¡±
In the end, we get it off. I start looking for faults and damage while removing dirt, leaves and two bugs. Then I clean the pelt parts with a brush, even though the armor is rather new, you can already smell the sweat ingrained to it.
Rine cleans her sword next to me. She doesn''t need to sharpen it, since it''s a magic blade, which packs so much power, that my new spear can''t even compare. The more endangered Rine is, the stronger the weapon becomes, a real cheat-item. So the never dulling trait is somewhat granted.
Both of us are silent, it''s actually quite pleasant. If Rine shut up forever, I wouldn''t complain, or at least if she would stop her nonsense talks. As long as Rine is quiet, she''s a fine companion.
The door opens, and our other companion comes in, Momokawa Kyou-san in a simple dress, who has dark rings under her eyes while wobbling in with several heavy looking books under her arm. ¡°I''m back.¡±
¡°Welcome back. You look like shit.¡±
¡°That''s still better than you...¡± Despite that comment, I smile at her. It''s my usual smile, which is more like an ill-meant smirk, but looking at Kyou-san in this condition is the highlight of my day.
Kyou-san also wants to class-up, she tries to upgrade her [Healer]-class to [Herbalist], since it would allow her to create herbal weapons and use skills to broaden her possibilities with them. So it''s more or less a controller-class, which works with debuffs.
Her other classes couldn''t be classed-up here, so she just tries to get what''s possible. It''s still a far cry from what she really likes to get, but it''s better than nothing.
In the beginning, Kyou-san was motivated as hell. Now she obviously forces herself through this.
Learning all the theory without the help of [Student]''s [Fast Learner] is a tedious task, but if she didn''t learn it as a [Healer], she would need much more practical skills to compensate. Class-up is unfair in this regard.
¡°What is this? An encyclopedia? Shall I help you learn?¡± I want to ask her knowledge about the different herbs to see, how bad she will be. Just like asking vocabularies.
¡°...I''m too tired to waste my time with you. Rine-chan, please wake me up in an hour.¡± With this, Kyou-san falls on our bed. Yes, due to circumstances we share this one.
¡°OK.¡± Rine is more or less used to this by now. So she just takes a worried glance at Kyou-san but doesn''t say anything anymore.
You gain 1 WP.
You taught your wife an important lesson, which bore fruit. Even though it would be better to do things like that together, you were still able to help her through a stressful phase.
Isn''t this about Ara-san? Dammit, curse-messages!
¡°Kenta, what did you taught Ara?¡±
¡°This interests me as well, Ken.¡±
¡°... It''s a secret?¡± Hey, I can at least try it.
How was I supposed to know, that I need an excuse for a message-window, popping up right after Ara-san done the deed!?
In the end, I beat around the bush so much, that Rine is entirely confused and Kyou-san too tired to bother anymore. Bullet dodged.
Unless they plan to ask Ara-san later.
Volume 04 - Chapter 1-2
¡°What is this supposed to be?¡± It''s almost dinner time, and for some reason, Ara-san and Rine are not only sitting beside me, but also holding my hands.
Ara-san explains it. ¡°It''s a measure to maximize WP and minimize the needed time. Holding hands for an hour is quite long, and if you do it three times a day, that''s three hours. Since you kept complaining, we thought about it and found the solution, that we just can do several things at the same time.¡±
¡°And since we''re waiting for dinner anyway...¡± Rine looks at me with upturned eyes, even though we''re about the same height.
¡°But when dinner comes, we need to make a break. And how does this work with multiples then?¡± After doing some tests with Ara-san, we found out that we can take breaks. But as I was out most of the days, there were little chances to learn more about it, like if there is a time-limit for the break to still count, or how it''ll work out with multiple people holding hands.
An hour is a lot, so I don''t want to waste it!
¡°We already thought about that, Kenta-kun, we don''t need to interrupt it,¡± Ara-san assures. ¡°It''ll be good for you.¡±
¡°I hope that it''s some training with [Spirit Magic], instead of the two of you feeding me.¡±
¡°We know that you''d never let us feed you voluntarily.¡±
Why don''t I like that almost non-existing smile? It''s not nasty or so, but it gives me the chill.
A few minutes later Kyou-san puts the food on the table. It''s something I hunted down yesterday, something similar to a deer. ¡°Here you go. Thanks for the food.¡± Here is definitely something going wrong, Kyou-san looks at me without any expression, it''s neither excitement, disgust or anticipation, her face is so neutral, that all of my warning bells are ringing and I look at the exit.
It just closed down. It has to be Ara-san.
She now takes an eating instrument similar to a fork, picks up some meat, dip it into the mushroom sauce and turns to me. ¡°Say ''Ahhhh.''¡±
¡
¡ ¡
Seriously, I was worried for a second. I just say nothing and- ¡°AH!¡± Rine just twisted one of my fingers!
Ara-san uses the opportunity and put the meat into my mouth, while Rine let go of my finger and closed my jaw with the now free hand.
You gain 1 WP.
The ¡°Ahhhh¡±-game, it''s a good opportunity for some serious flirting, so use it well to deepen your relationship.
Don''t f*ck with me!
I''m about to stand up, but the girls pull me down, using my hands.
¡ Let''s go rough.
I squeeze their hands with my own, hard.
¡°Ah, Kenta-kun! Stop!¡±
¡°...this hurts.¡±
Rine might beat me effortlessly in any fight, but I''m still above her in [Strength], even with my [Ranger]-class, so my grip might be stronger than hers. On the other hand, Ara-san never had a chance in the first place.
Now both are squirming, as I got their fingers.
Kyou-san is sipping some Aeolferelda-tea. ¡°Called it.¡± She''s still totally neutral. ¡°The next step would be, where Rine will break Ken''s fingers while trying to free herself.¡±
I loosen the grip. This is just too probable to ignore. ¡°Rine, Ara-san: Why did you make me do something like that?¡± I can ask them properly first.
¡°Kenta-kun, you''re rough. I have to worry about you breaking me, if - ah, ouch, please stop!¡± I just prevented the incoming nonsense by squashing Ara-san''s hand a bit more. ¡°I will just be honest: I thought it''d be fun- Ouch, no, please, ah!¡± I put some pressure for ten seconds and then soften my grip again.
¡°Rine?¡±
¡°Ara told me, that if I can do it, I may feed you. I want to. Please!¡± If I don''t look into her face, I won''t have to answer her begging eyes.
Seriously, that girl.
But- ¡°You know what? You may.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Kyou-san''s poker face slipped due to the surprise.
¡°Oh?¡± Ara-san''s blinking and her ears are swinging up and down.
¡°Really?¡± Rine''s probably smiling as wide as the horizon right now, with glittering eyes.
¡°Yes.¡± If you ask me, why I''ll endure being fed by Rine, there are several reasons. First, since I already started holding hands, it''d be a waste to interrupt it, and it saves time, so I have more for myself.
Second, it''s too exhausting to get overly excited about every little thing, so if I concede now, it''ll be less trouble overall.
Third, I want to get back at Ara-san, who instigated this and Kyou-san, who clearly enjoyed every second behind a faked calm.
Fourth, Rine is an idiot. It''s useless to be too harsh on an idiot, who can''t do better.
Fifth, I can set the rules. ¡°You may feed me, but only with these conditions: First, you have to be quick. Otherwise, we waste more time at dinner. Second, no ''aah'' or other gimmicks. Just feed. Last, don''t be overly conscious about it, relax and concentrate.¡±
¡°...yes...¡± She''s a bit depressed, since I degraded her to nothing else than a feeding bot, but by this, it''s ensured that it won''t be too taxing for me. ¡°Can I sit on your lap?¡±
¡°For the WP, huh? ¡ No.¡± This would be too much, I can barely endure her sitting on my lap without any additions.
¡°...here I go.¡±
Kyou-san and Ara-san are staring at us, while Rine is feeding me. Ara-san rubs her ear. ¡°What happened to you today? Did Oro''hekk used some [Spirit Magic] on you?¡±
¡°Nah.¡± I got another bite. ¡°I was only recognized as a [Ranger].¡± The next one.
¡°Is that so? Did you also got an alfr name?¡±
¡°Kenta''aihr.¡± I''d better keep the ''Red Ranger''-business to myself.
¡°...good for you.¡± She''s holding in laughter, she''s totally holding in laughter!
¡°What''s ''aihr''?¡± I don''t know much about the alfr culture, but it seems, that there is some meaning behind it, like with Japanese kanji, which can significantly affect the meaning of a name.
¡°Didn''t I told you, that it gets complicated when heroes talk about linguistics?¡± I don''t have any idea, what Ara-san actually hears since the hero-system translates everything she says into this world''s language, while everything she hears becomes Alfr Speech.
As long it''s normal conversation, there will be no difference, but when talking about grammar, translations and other linguistic stuff, it becomes pretty jumbled up.
It''s most likely saying a sentence in Japanese, put it into an English translator and translate it back in Japanese, the languages are different on a fundamental level, so there will always be discrepancies.
¡°Then let me ask this: What does Kenta''aihr imply?¡± Rine puts another piece in my mouth, which totally doesn''t fit the mood.
¡°That you have to train more.¡±
I chew and swallow slowly. ¡°So they''re calling me fat?¡±
¡°Something like that.¡±
I somehow feel sick, as Rine feeds me the next bit. But as alfar are so scrawny, every human must look fat to them.
Also, they did saw me in the [Student]-class, where I''m a bit roundish.
Rine is keeping feeding me.
You know what? I just won''t care anymore. That''s too stupid. They''re alfar after all.
Maybe I''m growing a bit. Or maybe I''m too lethargic to even complain anymore.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Evening. After training a bit with Ara-san to get used to the new spear, I return to the room. Rine isn''t here, and Kyou-san is sitting at the desk and studying. I take a look over her shoulder and see, how she''s brooding about plants.
¡°Where are your notes?¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Kyou-san looks over her shoulder.
¡°Your notes.¡±
¡°Why should I show them to you?¡±
¡°Why indeed.¡± I walk to the bed, take my backpack, open it, and put my hand into it. A window pops up, the [Inventory]-screen. Since I share an [Inventory] with all of the girls, I can just pull out their belongings.
Here they are.
¡°Stop it!¡± Kyou-san''s displeased, but I don''t care about it.
¡°Seriously?¡± I look at these notes, they''re written in Japanese, but it''s more or less just like taking notes from classes. ¡°What have you done the last twenty days? These are crap.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
¡°They''re not!¡±
¡°They are. Is this how you studied back in Japan? How was your average?¡±
¡°That''s none of your business!¡±
¡°You''re right, it''s not.¡± I give her notes back to her. ¡°But it''s my business how long it''ll take until you class-up as well.¡±
¡°It''s not like I was in the [Healer]-class almost the whole time, unlike you and your [Scout].¡±
¡°And I learned a lot these past few days. You got a mentor, you got the material, the rest is up to you, and it looks like you''re doing bad.¡±
¡°I''d like to know how you''re supposed to judge it?¡±
¡°You''re looking pale the whole time, you got red eyes, and don''t sleep well, so you need to sleep during the day to keep it up. Plus, even though your cooking is still way better than everything I did in the past, it lost quality. ¡±
Kyou-san is looking at me, as if I''ve told her about the adventures and wonders of some childish anime world, including the pink unicorn, the chocolate river and a rainbow made out of the happiness of laughing children.
¡°Don''t look at me like that. It''s not like I''m blind.¡±
¡°...no, you certainly paid attention.¡±
¡°Maybe you''re trying your hardest, but your hardest is sometimes not enough. You have to do things differently then.¡±
¡°...yes.¡±
¡°Studying is all about efficiency. First, you should make clean notes and reorganize the information and put it in an order you can learn best from. Writing stuff repeatedly is also helping, it''s called learning with your body. Plus, if you would write it down in this world''s script, the learning effect is most likely even better, since you have to ponder much more about each word. At least the names and functions.¡±
¡°...¡±
¡°What''s wrong with you? Why are you just blandly staring at me?¡±
¡°Ah, I... This is just unexpected.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°...¡± Why does she pause at every opportunity? ¡°It''s hard to express in words. Could it be, that Oro''hekk and the others actually did mess with your head today?¡±
¡°Why are you asking that?¡±
¡°Because you''re strange today.¡±
¡°No, I''m not.¡±
¡°You even let Rine-chan feed you.¡±
¡°I''m just tired of getting upset about every little thing. It''s not worth it.¡±
¡°But yesterday you were like alway-¡± She pauses again. ¡°Nevermind. Thank you for your advice.¡± She smiles, and it''s not one of her usual ones. Neither a fake one nor one of her evil ones.
Why is Kyou-san suddenly so meek? It reminds me about the time in the chasm. Back then, she was lethargic, but now there is something different.
If I wouldn''t know about her actual nature, I would most likely think of it as cute. ¡°Is there something in it for you?¡±
¡°...At least this didn''t change.¡± Why is Kyou-san sighing in relief?
Strange.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Later in the evening, Ken is currently enjoying alone-time in the living room, while Arako, Rine-chan and I gathered in Arako''s room.
Arako starts the meeting. ¡°The fourth wife-conference is starting. *Pachipachipachi*¡±
¡°¡°*Pachipachipachi*¡±¡± Rine-chan and I are clapping, even though I only do so halfheartedly. For some reason, these two are more or less enjoying the whole mess. Maybe it''s a way to accept it.
¡°This meeting is chaired by Momokawa Kyou.¡±
¡°Thanks, Arako.¡± Mentally, I call these meetings Anti-Katsuragi-Kenta-Summit, but with the inclusion of Arako, the nature of these conferences itself changed. It''s still more or less about Ken, but the focus shifted from being sure, that we''re dealing with him the right way, to being more about getting along with him now.
This is the seed I sowed myself, by helping Arako in her quest to become Ken''s friend. She just decided by herself to skip some steps and ended up being his ''wife'' as well.
¡°The first topic would be, as always, the question, if anyone has problems and trouble regarding Ken.¡±
¡°Me.¡± Arako shoots her hand up. ¡°I''m still sexually attracted to him, and it''s still hard for me.¡± Please, not again. ¡°I think I''ll be able to control it better from now on, but I think, the so-called curse has changed something in me permanently.¡± Arako still thinks of this curse as a form of hidden blessing, but I believe she''s in denial. She acts like someone who doesn''t admit when they''re wrong, even to themselves.
¡°We already know this. Or is there more than you already told us?¡±
¡°Yes. When I was in mating season before, my nipples swell, and my ears got flushed pink, that''s not the case here. Additionally, the desire for reproduction is different: While in the normal cycle I think about how great it''d be to have children, now I feel as horny as a human all the time.¡± I pull her ear. ¡°Ouch!¡± Alfr ears are especially sensitive. ¡°Sorry, I didn''t mean it like that! It''s only a proverb!¡±
¡°Rine-chan, what about you?¡± I''ll just ignore Arako''s words. While keeping pulling.
¡°I''m alright. He''s friendlier than he used to be.¡±
¡°That''s one thing I wanted to address. He showed something like actual concern for me for the first time.¡± This was surprising, Ken actually paying attention to me, even though there would be no direct benefit for him.
¡°I think he was always kind.¡±
¡°No, Rine-chan, he''s not.¡±
¡°Momo, I''d like to approve of Katarine-san''s statement, but am afraid that you will pull my ear even stronger if I do that.¡±
¡°Sigh.¡± I let go of Arako.
¡°Thank you.¡± She slowly rubs her ear, which is already red. ¡°In general, Momo and Kenta-kun are more or less still suffering from the consequences of being summoned. In general, there are several issues and phases, but unlike normal mental states, there are prominent differences.¡±
This is the first time I heard about that. So I''m currently going through some sort of phases? ¡°Tell me more about it.¡±
¡°It''s all based on my research of heroes and my own opinion, but I think when you''re being summoned, something is done to your mind. Until now, I heard of no cases of denial, depression or suicide as a short-time consequence for being summoned. Somehow the summoned heroes always keep moving forward.¡±
¡°Count me out from this conversation.¡± Rine-chan already throws in the towel. She has almost no interest in studying, even though I believe that she''s actually smarter than she thinks she is, but with complicated things like that, she loses all motivation to even try.
¡°Keep going, Arako.¡±
¡°I think that''s done so that there won''t be inept heroes. We''re summoned for a reason, so it won''t be good if we can''t even muster the will to fulfill it. But that doesn''t mean, that this form of mind-altering is healthy. Maybe those post-summoned-mental-phases are a reaction to deal with all this stress, and it differs from person to person, even though I categorized them for easier understanding.¡±
¡°And as what would you categorize me?¡±
¡°This is only my opinion, but I think you''re the lingerer-type. You more or less try to maintain a status quo, which you know about your own world, you adapt slowly, but are willing to do about everything, as long as you have your anchor points.¡±
Maybe Arako got a point, maybe not. When I think about the time, I was left behind by Masahiko-kun and the others, I felt loss and frustration. When Ken came back to Esse, I was ready to join him, it was for my own benefit, but maybe I tried to be at least with one of my former classmates? ¡°Why do you think that?¡±
¡°From your behavior towards Kenta-kun and your stories about the time before. You told me that Kenta-kun was ''kinda cool'' when he was fighting the ss''rak patriarch or other situations, but you still treat him bad. Even after all this time.¡±
¡°Well, he''s Ken.¡±
¡°But he''s not the Kenta-kun you used to know back in school. So maybe you''re trying to maintain that habit? Though I won''t pry any further, it''s like I said only my own opinion.¡±
She might be right. I don''t think so, but Arako left me with an option to not continue this point of the discussion. ¡°...then we leave it at that. What kind of type would be Ken?¡±
¡°He''s somewhere between returner-type and endurer-type. The returner-type is motivated by the possibility to return home, which let him adapt quickly, while most of them are so fast at accepting the summoning, that they may actually forget why they are doing it. The endurer-type, on the other hand, is mentally very rooted at home, but often willing to adapt. There is a bit of a difference since the endurer-type doesn''t necessary have a purpose and is more about accepting instead of adapting.¡±
¡°So how exactly fits Ken into it?¡±
¡°I think, he started out as a returner-type, but when he got the ring and mingled with you, he began changing into an endurer-type. Which means, that he''s accepting the curse, accepting that he has to be with us, accepting us in general, and just wants to get over it.¡±
¡°This seems appropriate. But why would he show now a ''kind''-side?¡±
¡°If you put alfar ¨C and humans of course ¨C into an extreme situation, they will change according to it. As far as I know, he didn''t have any friends back in school and his only regular acquaintances besides family were people he knew from the games he played.¡±
¡°Sounds about right.¡±
¡°Now he''s living beside others, eating beside others, fighting beside others, and his interpersonal conversations grew exponentially.¡±
¡°So you mean, he got social skills?¡±
¡°I wouldn''t dare to judge that. He gets along fine enough with us alfar, but it''s more that we know, that humans are strange in the first place, so it''s easier to tolerate your flaws.¡±
¡°So you don''t think that your immature behavior and love for pranks and sex jokes isn''t strange at all?¡±
¡°It''s not like we particularly fond of sex jokes, we do them only when humans are around.¡±
¡°This is wrong on so many levels... But you''re right, in human society, Ken would most likely not survive on his own.¡± He''s too blunt, unfriendly and fast to throw insults, which aren''t even clever.
¡°If we consider his type and the changing in his environment, I''d say that he might get over this post-summoning-disorder soon.¡±
¡°Will Kenta be happy then?¡±, Rine-chan interrupts. She''s tilting her head, and I can''t help but stare at her. ¡°I never saw Kenta laugh.¡±
I saw Ken laugh before. Like in the chasm, after he found out, that he scare the crimson bear away. Or when we were setting up traps for Masahiko-kun and the others, we laughed together the moment I was sure, that they were caught.
...That''s it. He laughed when he was relieved, and he laughed from schadenfreude. What about me? When did I have my last, real laughter?
¡°The only time I saw Kenta-kun laugh was when I did something, that wasn''t entirely thought-through. But Momo also hardly laughs.¡±
¡°Kyou laughs a lot.¡± That''s because I''m chatting with you. The same goes for Arako, but she''s a bit keener than that.
¡°Katarine-san, it''s linked to their condition. Back then, I was an obsessive-type, which only wanted to understand as much as possible about heroes and everything.¡±
¡°Did you change, Ara?¡± Rine-chan''s honest questions can hurt sometimes.
¡°Somewhat. It''s less of obsession and more of interest now.¡± For some reason, Arako lifts her chin, and her ears are set back close to the head. Is that the alfr way to puff out the chest?
¡°I see.¡± Rine-chan buys it.
¡°So basically¡± I meddle in: ¡°We can tell that Ken is changing and it might be for the better. Is there anything else?¡±
¡°Me!¡± Arako''s hand shoots up again.
¡°...¡± Most likely it''s about her physical condition again. ¡°Tell us.¡± But if she has something to say, I can''t deny it because of personal preference.
¡°Currently, Kenta-kun is giving Katarine-san a bit of slack, so I want to suggest her to not cross certain lines.¡±
Rine-chan is tilting her head. ¡°What exactly.¡±
¡°Like night-crawling!¡± Please Arako, don''t.
¡°What''s night-crawling?¡±
¡°Slipping into someone''s bed in the night.¡±
¡°I already did this once.¡± Is she talking about that one time, she sneaked into Ken''s and mine bedding, where things led me to slightly damage Ken''s manliness?
¡°Woooohoooo!¡± Arako, please stop making these sounds. Rine-chan doesn''t get it. ¡°How was it?¡±
¡°It was great as long as it lasted, but when I woke up next morning, nobody was there. I didn''t even notice how he vanished.¡±
¡°Ah, Kenta-kun, you lost your virginity before me!¡± Is Arako really that happy, that she''s about to cry or is she just getting along with her own joke? Often I''m not sure, what she''s thinking.
¡°Did he!?¡± Please Rine-chan, don''t look at me like that.
I silently shake my head while weaving my hand to gesture her, that Arako is totally wrong and that I''d never do something like that with Ken. My precious first time will belong to a person I love.
First time... no, don''t think about it. Ken never mentioned it again, so it''s like a silent agreement: We''ll try our best to forget it. What happened back in the fight with the patriarch took officially never place!
¡°Something is off with you, Momo.¡± Arako is keen to my mood changes, even though she can''t read them that well. ¡°What are you-¡±
¡°Nothing I want to talk about.¡±
¡°Kyou? You''re not looking good.¡±
¡°Really, it''s nothing!¡±
¡°There is no reason to hide anything from us, so-¡± Arako''s ears are twitching. ¡°Nn?¡± She looks down on her body and blinks. ¡°What''s this...¡± She lifts her skirt a bit and put a hand between her legs. After feeling something there, she takes her hand out again and looks at her fingers. They were red. ¡°What''s this!?¡± She lifts her skirt a bit and confirms, what exactly happens down there. ¡°I''m bleeding! And it''s running down my thighs!¡±
Seriously, Arako?
¡°You''re just having your period.¡± This timing is unfortunate, but shouldn''t she know her cycle? She''s really unprepared.
¡°This isn''t my period! I already had mine for the year! Blood is coming out!¡± So an alfr woman''s menstruation is different? ¡°Momo, please heal me! I''m injured! Masturbating injured me!¡± Arako is in panic.
Her panic is contaminating Rine-chan: ¡°I''ll help as well. [Heal]! The bleeding isn''t stopping! What to do!?¡±
Of course not, [Heal] doesn''t stop normal bodily functions. So it can''t stop the bleeding of a period, it can''t even dull the discomfort or pain. ¡°*sigh*¡± I can''t see it as anything else than a period. It may be human menstruation, but it''s nothing to lose your head about.
And what did she just said about the m-word?
¡°*Sigh*.¡±
This curse is really messing with our lives.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Miriam ¨C says. ¨C She ¨C then ¨C took ¨C the ¨C pitchfork...¡± I''m reading the book, Rine gave me. Or at least I try. I read the letters one by one and they become somehow words. It''s really taxing, but I slowly become better. Thanks to the [Student]-class and [Fast Learner]-skill.
Too bad that the book itself wasn''t particularly interesting.
What is this ruckus? Why are you screaming like that, Ara-san? Without my [Perception]-ability, I can''t hear the exact words, but for some reason, it seems like Ara-san is in a raging fit or something. Is she in danger? I open up her status and check her conditions. SP are slightly drained, as well as HP, and she got the [Bleeding]-condition, as well as-
Ah, she''s only on her period. I already got to see how that looks like on a status screen, I''m with Kyou-san and Rine longer than a month already, so of course I know the picture.
I''ll continue in my reading lessons. I won''t get involved in it.
That''s my right as a man.
Volume 04 - Chapter 1-3
Next day, breakfast.
I''m currently holding Kyou-san''s hand while eating, this certainly will cut some time, even though I''m not that good at eating left-handed. The other two are sitting on the opposite side of the table.
Ara-san''s picking at her food ill-tempered, she''s all moody today. This might last a few days. So periods really varies to person to person, Ara-san gets moody after the bleeding starts. I''m kinda shocked how calm I can take in that info.
¡°There is something I''d like to talk about today.¡± I put my cutlery down. ¡°Now we got the ''Increased XP-gain'' from the WP-store, and even though we''re able to get ''Increased XP-gain II'' after accumulating more WPs, I''d like to put a stop in grinding these for a while. For some tests.¡±
Usually, Ara-san would surely cut into the conversation, but I can hear only a small groan coming from her.
Rine''s eyes are wide-opened, and she looks at me like an abandoned puppy. I just turn my head to Kyou-san, who''s next to me so that I won''t be tortured by Rine''s eyes.
Kyou-san is looking at me as if I''ve said, that I''ll drop out from school to run a fast food stand. I don''t even know where that analogy is coming from. ¡°What does that mean?¡±
¡°I''d like to set out today at noon to a small journey. Just a few days, probably. I''ve classed-up, and it''s the first real opportunity to try some things out with the curse, without taking risks regarding Kyou-san.¡±
¡°What''s that supposed to mean?¡±
¡°That I can''t help but worry about leaving you behind since you''re prone to be kidnapped.¡±
¡°That happened only once, and you were practically there.¡±
¡°Yes, and it ended up that I had to set out to rescue you.¡±
¡°Do I really have to explain you, what your ''plan to rescue me'' led to?¡±
¡°Well, it wasn''t optimal, but-¡±
¡°It made everything much worse!¡±
¡°Kenta, Kyou! Stop it! You made Ara whine.¡±
¡°Katarine-san... they''re just too loud. My head hurts, my special place is unpleasantly wet, my limbs are aching, and I feel sick.¡± Please, no details, Ara-san.
But Rine is right. This leads to nowhere.
¡°...my bad.¡±
¡°Sorry...¡±
So Kyou-san and I apologized to Rine. Not to each other. But if we don''t apologize, Rine will make something which we won''t like.
¡°Back to topic... I want to separate from you girls for a while and simply hunt some monsters around here. We''ll get some XP in the process, and we can see, how the curse will affect us.¡±
¡°...I''m for it.¡± Ara-san would never say no to an experiment.
¡°Considering the fact, that I won''t see Ken a few days, this is a good idea.¡± Kyou-san also approved.
¡°I''m against it!¡± Of course. It''s Rine after all.
¡°So three for it, we won democratically.¡±
¡°I learned, that democracy only functions in small communes.¡± ¡ I totally forgot, that Rine got something like an education and she may be right, considering the fact, that we''re living in another world.
But it''s Rine after all: ¡°And we''re four people, a small commune by its finest.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Yep, totally worked.
Of course, there were some risks involved, but Ara-san most likely doesn''t care about them, as long as there is new knowledge involved and Rine won''t even consider any risks. The biggest problem that could occur is some irreversible effect which comes unannounced, but when Kyou-san was taken away by the fourbirds, there was a time-frame involved and a message to announce it. But that leads to another question.
¡°Kyou-san, back when you were caught by the fourbirds, did you got a message-window?¡±
Kyou-san continues with her meal. ¡°Yes,¡± she answers curtly. There might be something she wants to hide, but she shows me, that she won''t answer any inquiries.
That is answer enough: She got a message and there was something about it, she doesn''t want to tell me. I have a few ideas, but I''ll ponder about this another time.
I''ll just eat my meal, for now, get all the WP possible for today and make my preparations to go on a journey.
A few days without the girls. That will be paradise!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Noon. Leaving the forest of Aroahenn behind, I take a deep breath. Then I begin my walk out to the other forests around this region. Time to hunt some mobs. I already hunted some of them as part of my [Ranger]-training, but it''s the first time, I''ll explore some of the forests further back.
And with every step, I feel how some weight is lifted from my shoulders.
I leave several things behind: Kyou-san''s constant verbal abuse, Rine''s clinginess, Ara-san''s bad humor, it''s all gone now. No need to be bothered by periods, bad learning habits, childishness, it''s just me and nature. If I swapped nature with a dimly-lit room and a PC, it would be really paradise.
The first day is practically hunting monsters and farming some XP. It''s still only a fracture since they''re divided by four. But instead of 100%, it''s now 120% thanks to ''Increased XP-gain,'' so I get 30% of the XP-kills.
Additionally, when I lay down to sleep, I didn''t need to wait for Kyou-san, so that we can find a sleeping position, both of us are comfortable with, and there was no fear of Rine stealing herself into the bed.
Just lay down, use [Dormunal] and next morning, I wake up with no one beside me. It''s almost like a dream!
But the meals aren''t quite as good. There was an option to let Kyou-san put a meal inside the [Inventory], so I can pick it up there, but I want to do this first test with the least possible interference.
It''s around noon on the second day when I got a message.
You have no interactions with your wives for a whole day. There are two days left, until the curse will gradually reactivate.
So if someone steals a ''wife,'' the first curse-penalty will show itself in less than a day, while being away gives me three days time to reunite. Well, Kyou-san was the only ''wife'' back then, but I guess the same would happen if anyone of the girls is kidnapped. It''d be typical for this strange curse.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
I write a note and put it in the [Inventory]. In the afternoon, I got one of Kyou-san''s meals and a letter from Ara-san, which tells me, that there was a message this noon, which told her, that she would be affected by the curse if I won''t return within two days.
I''m sure, Kyou-san got a similar message, when she got kidnapped back then. Why did she keep it a secret?
Well, it''s Kyou-san. Most likely she didn''t want to tell me, that she will be fucked up as well if she''s separated from me. This is typical for her. It''s like she''s some sort of control-junkie.
Whatever, I''m above that. Or more like, being away from her makes it easier for me to not care.
Next point. When I ate Kyou-san''s home-cooked meal, nothing happens. No message-window, no WP-gain, nothing. Doesn''t it activate, unless Kyou-san is within a certain range? How far is this?
Time to ask Kyou-san something with another note. The answer came quickly, so she''s slacking off, even though she should study. Well, I got the information I needed: None of the girls got a WP-message for Kyou-san''s meal.
I write her back, that she has to study properly and that I know, that she kept the fact, that the curse can afflict her as well, a secret. This won''t teach her but will get under her skin.
So some sort of proximity is a condition to get WP, while the shared XP are unaffected. It''ll be better to not stray off too far for now. I don''t want the curse to reactivate again, and the sooner I come back, the more WP I can get. I''ll just try to make the best out of it.
I''ll only check if there is a message tomorrow morning as well and if it changed.
The result: There was one and the changes were minor.
You have no personal interactions with your wives for two whole days. There is one day left, until the curse will gradually reactivate. Hurry back to them, they surely miss you.
Well, one of them certainly. The other one maybe. And the third one absolutely won''t.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I want to make the most of the time alone, and it was almost noon, when I pass the border of the forest of Aroahenn, saying hello to Oro''hekk and the other guards, and return to Ara-san''s home.
Sighing, I look at the tree, which serves as the house: ¡°Phew, the good times are over.¡±
Something assaults me from behind: ¡°KENTA!!!¡±
You gain 1 WP.
After a long time of separation, you get greeted with a heartfelt hug, isn''t it great?
Yes, it''s not great.
Rine, you''re choking me, you know? And stop pushing these breast at me, they feel too good.
¡°You''re back! You''re back! Kenta *nuzzle*¡± Why are you inserting your own sound word into it? And stop smelling me!
¡°Phew... Rine, let go of me.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Rine, there are only two outcomes to this, if you won''t concede: You''ll either let me go, or I will try to break away, which will lead me being shoulder-thrown by you, causing me great pain and injury. If this happens, you''ll make me unhappy. Do you want to make me unhappy?¡±
¡°...no...¡±
¡°So let me go.¡± Slowly and reluctantly Rine loosens her embrace. ¡°Thank you. Phew, seriously, every single time.¡± At least this strategy still works. ¡°Anything noteworthy happened?¡±
¡°I don''t know.¡±
¡°...why?¡±
¡°Because I camp outside the house.¡± So it wasn''t Rine''s usual luck, which made her meet me the moment I came back. YetI didn''t hear her coming since she''s using her usual imba-feats.
The only question remains: ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Kyou is only studying now, and Ara is not fun anymore, she got worse.¡±
¡°Phew.¡± Maybe I''ll better camp outside as well. At least until one of them snaps out of it.
Looking at Rine, I think, it might be better to camp somewhere else. Her eyes are even more sparkling than usual, and I can see, how her hands are twitching as if she''s about to touch me again and can''t help it.
Seriously, why did I come back? Ah, my life depends on it in the long run, and even though it may take a month for me to finally die from an active curse, the way to this point is only a sorry one.
Usually, I''ll just go in, for delaying important tasks will invite even more trouble, but if Rine was so fed up with it, it might be really critical inside. At least she got her instincts.
As well as her hopes, she looks at me, as if I''m a kind of savior. I''m not. I''m just some gamer, who like to avoid any trouble with people I meet in real life.
¡°Phew...¡± I could stay away from that house until either Kyou-san got her class-up or Ara-san is over her menstruation. We still have a few days, until the elder will ask us to leave.
We may have helped to protect the village, but with Rine - the runaway princess of Feuerberg - here, the alfar will face other kinds of problems in the long run.
It may be unthankful, but it''s not like I can''t understand. Even I would throw out Ara-san, Kyou-san, and Rine if I have a choice. Well, technically, Ara-san could stay, but there is no data what happens if I only reunite with one ''wife''.
Wait a minute.
¡°Rine, let''s relocate the camp position. I can lead you through the forest.¡± Without [Spirit Magic], the forest itself will use its inherent magic to make you lose direction and lead you into a trap. But as a [Ranger], I got [Spirit Magic], so there is no problem with me around. ¡°We may crash at your mentor''s place.¡±
The former princess is now trying to get the [Tailor]-class. Since she wants to be useful to us but also likes to attain a ''commoner job,'' something she admired since long ago. I don''t even have an idea, where that is coming from, but the [Tailor]-class will sure be useful, since clothes tend to tear during fights and traveling, and even if I got some spares, somehow I''m getting caught up in more deadly battles lately.
¡°She will not be pleased.¡±
¡°I don''t care. Like, at all.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Even after reuniting with Katarine von Stolzherz, you''re still away from your other wives. The curse slowly returns. You''re forced to be in the [Student]-class.
¡°Phew.¡± What a morning. After crashing into the tailor''s place, there was a lot of time needed to persuade her to let us sleep here. The place is tiny, so there is almost no space, resulting us sleeping in the store on the ground.
Even after we, that means Rine, were able to get permission, I was barraged with questions regarding my relationship with Rine. The first one was: ¡°Do the two of you pork?¡±
I hate alfar.
Rine is already up. I can see how she works on a piece of clothing. She''s really concentrating on it.
She always puts all of her heart in the things she does. For good and bad.
I stand up and pinch my belly. Definitely [Student]-class. I almost forgot how it feels like to be in the natural state.
So reuniting with Rine bought me less than a day. I went sleeping as a [Ranger] and the [Dormurnal]-skill was active, so maybe twelve hours or so, hard to tell. But the fact that I didn''t hear Rine waking up tells me, that I''ve changed class before morning.
So this is the limit. This is my amount of freedom. Three days on my own, plus half a day after reuniting with one. Being near the others didn''t counter the curse, but I''m sure they got the WP-messages. So they already know, that I''m nearby.
Someone knocks at the entrance door of the store. Rine is too focused on her work to notice, so I peek outside the window. It''s Kyou-san and Ara-san.
Ara-san looks out of energy as if she has recovered from a deadly condition. I check her status, the bleeding-condition vanished, so she may be now over her menstruation. Though this was obviously taxing for her.
Kyou-san is also different. I can''t tell why exactly.
I also check her status. Class [Herbalist]. I look at her again, inspecting her arms and legs, which are in tights. I think she gained some more muscle, nothing bulky, more like a girl, who does something like regular light exercise. Not even that much, it''s just that Kyou-san was so weak before, that it stands out.
So she finally got it.
Wait, shouldn''t she be [Student] as well or are other rules working for them? Maybe they get the curse only after it returned to me at full power.
That''s unfair!
¡°KEN!¡± I guess either the guards told Ara-san where I am or maybe they came to the conclusion by themselves. At least Ara-san is somewhat clever.
Well, I can''t open the door. I''m [Student], so I have no [Spirit Magic] and the tailor didn''t give us the same permissions for her house as Ara-san.
There is nothing I can do. So I''ll be standing around, grinning.
¡°Momo, let me.¡± It was a short time, the door quietly opened. Ara-san entered and found me right away. Then she suddenly embraces me.
You gain 1 WP.
She really miss you and confer her feelings, while giving you a hug.
¡°I got that WP.¡± Without even blushing, she separates from me. I only feel the uncomfortableness I always feel after getting too much physical contact. Somehow this is like a professional relationship instead of a close one.
¡°Ken.¡± Kyou-san looks at me with her worst smile. ¡°I gained the [Herbalist]-class with my own power.¡± Her eyes are really looking bad, a bit feverish. Did she put some all-nighter into it? Well, if she cares about rubbing this under my nose, then I''ll let her. Not that I bother, whether she got the class-up or not.
The commotion also got the attention of Rine. ¡°Great, Kyou!¡±
¡°Thanks, Rine-chan. How is your [Tailor]-class going?¡±
¡°...¡± Rine tilts her head. ¡°Ah!¡± I get it; she totally forgot to check if she can select it. She almost does nothing with the hero-system, so it shouldn''t surprise me. Most likely she was able to select the [Tailor]-class for days.
While I understand it, I can''t help but grind my teeth.
It''s obvious that Rine selects the [Tailor]-class, as her well-defined, hard to see muscles vanished. Now Rine is all soft and squishy, almost like Kyou-san. So she''s also ready to go.
There is only a little time left before we have to leave Aroahenn, but somehow we''re almost at something like a new starting point.
Volume 04 - Chapter 2-1 – Party-up!
Chapter 2 ¨C Party-up!
Me, Kyou-san, Rine and Ara-san are sitting at the dining table. We''re discussing how to break the wedding-curse. ¡°And there is no way to do it here, Ara-san?¡±
¡°Yes. As long as the so-called curse is working on a curse-principle, there are only three kinds of magics, that are capable of lifting it: [Dark Magic], which utilizes curses, [Divine Magic], which can not only cure wounds but even cleanse magic, and finally [God Magic].¡±
¡°Is there a difference between [Divine Magic] and [God Magic]?¡±
¡°[God Magic] is how it''s called, it''s the magic, for want of a better word, that is used by the gods, while [Divine Magic] is something they created for the mortals.¡±
Kyou-san is frowning: ¡°So the magic is only ''divine'' because it was specially made by them?¡±
Rine tilts her head: ¡°Wasn''t it obvious?¡± She also uses [Divine Magic], plus she''s native to this world, so maybe it''s common knowledge for her.
¡°I feel betrayed.¡±
¡°Phew. So the gods use different magic, Ara-san?¡±
¡°Yes, even though I''m not sure if we can categorize it as magic. I believe that the whole hero-system is based on [God Magic], making us something entirely else than ordinary people. Also, there is one detail, which could prove troublesome in removing the rings.¡±
¡°You mean, that the curse was able to make Rine a hero as well, right? So if your theory is correct, the ring itself uses [God Magic].¡±
*Thud* Kyou-san just fell onto the tabletop. I can hear something like a wail. I''m sure only Ara-san and I could hear that: It was that soft.
Kyou-san already got the gist of the problem: If [God Magic] is involved, it might need another god''s power to undo it.
¡°Kyou!¡± Rine is checking on the girl. ¡°Are you alright.¡± What an inappropriate question.
¡°...no, I feel sick.¡±
Rine begins to count on her fingers, then shakes her head, lifts Kyou-san''s head up and checks the temperature: ¡°No fever. But your face looks horrible.¡±
She''s right. Kyou-san''s face is a mix of despair and pain, and that face makes me a bit happy.
¡°Well, let''s go on, Ara-san.¡± Ara-san looks at me with a wondering expression. ¡°This is still a theory, do you know of a way to be sure?¡±
¡°No. But if it''s not, we might find experts in [Dark Magic] and [Divine Magic] to take a look at it. Since Esse in Feuerberg is excluded because of your past delicts, we need somewhere else. I know that the city of Zethtrin has a lot of temples, so chances are high, that we will find a priest there, who is capable of having a deeper look.¡±
¡°Not priests again. Those people are money-grubbing bastards.¡± I can hear how Kyou-san is breathing in sharply, since she has the [Priest]-class.
¡°Zethtrin is big. I was there once, and I''m sure that there are some dark magicians there as well, in the criminal community. Besides, even when we won''t find something there, we''ll unmistakably get another lead.¡±
¡°Where is Zethtrin?¡±
¡°It''s a city-state in the Wildlands.¡±
¡°So we have to travel west?¡±
¡°Northwest. Last time, it took me a month.¡±
¡°Great. Just great!¡± I''m sarcastic.
¡°Isn''t it?¡± Rine doesn''t get sarcasm. ¡°We will travel to faraway realms, undergo several adventures, and find ourselves closer to each other than ever.¡± Please no.
Why is the hero-system so game-like, when they didn''t even implement a skip-function? We''re wasting so much time, if this goes on, we''ll need years to get back home to Japan.
But we''re cursed, so there is no choice, isn''t there? The alfar can''t help us, we can''t return to Feuerberg, so any lead is better than none.
So Zethtrin it is. ¡°A month, huh? Phew, then we need to start preparing. We need supplies, like provisions and consumables goods. I also would like to stock up on potions and others. Ara-san, can I leave the accounting to you?¡± Well, Ara-san was an accountant before she was summoned into this world, so she is the most logical choice.
¡°Then I need to know the budget. The goods we need as well, so we can split the budget and look, where we have to cut.¡±
¡°Which means?¡±
¡°We''ll make an inventory list, look at what we need to resupply, then go over the budget and...¡± Ara-san is an expert of traveling long distances. There was never really a need for exact planning when I was still grinding, but what she says and explains makes sense.
One month, huh? Better be prepared.
That''s why games are better: If you''re traveling far distances, you don''t need to get your head around all the details. You just start walking!
By pressing ¡®up¡¯.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s time we go. We''re in the village square, as the alfar wants to say goodbye to us. Elder Gaer''mon stands before the amassed alfar. ¡°It pains me, but you need to leave us, humans. We can''t give you asylum for any longer, even though you helped us to save the village.¡± At least we got most of the stuff for the journey at reduced prices and some presents, so there was a bit of gratitude here. ¡°Wherever you go, we wish you the best of luck. And take care of Ara-tan!¡±
¡°Elder!¡± Ara-san is wearing a green traveler cloak over her dress and has a bag-like backpack, her [Inventory], equipped. She uses her staff as a walking stick. She somehow gives the wandering mage vibe.
¡°Kenta''aihr!¡± Oro''hekk is walking up to me and is about to hit my shoulder. I smack his face instead. ¡°What was that for!¡± He has turned his face at the last moment, so that wasn''t a clean hit.
¡°I was just irritated.¡± Kenta''aihr my ass! Calling me fat! I''m just a bit roundish, you scrawny bastard!
¡°Well, back to topic.¡± Oro''hekk takes a few steps back, observing my movements. ¡°You may not be the first person, I taught the ways of the rangers, but you''re the first hero and human. I had a ss''rak before when I was younger and more foolish, and there was that one dari, who I lost a bet against, but even then, you were one of a kind. Nobody was such an enormous personality, had so much to fill, and- hey, let me finish!¡±
¡°If you make one more comment about ''that,'' I use everything you taught me to kill you!¡± Why is my ''mentor'' only like this!?
I take a glance to Kyou-san next to me, who is in her new traveling and combat attire. It may be less covering than her old cloth-armor, but the monster-hair that was used for her clothes are thick and cut-resistant.
I guess, less sweating and more mobility was the focus, seeing how I tend to get most of the blows anyways. For some reason, she still insisted on the scarf, though.
Kyou-san just got something from the herbalist lady, who trained her. ¡°Contraception. You just brew tea with it, then after an hour there will be no consequences for a whole day.¡± Kyou-san is looking at her, as if the lady just told her, that she should use a suicide pill if she''s about to be captured by the enemy.
What about Rine? ¡°Thank you very much, Zur''rea!¡± She''s hugging the tailor, who got no idea how to handle that body-contact.
¡°Katarine-san, I''m not into human girls! Let-me-go!¡± While she protests, she pulls on Rine''s hair, but Rine continues her embrace, even with tears in her eyes.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Of course, Rine couldn¡¯t gear up here, as her equipment is already top-notch, being a princess and all.
Finally, I look to Ara-san and the elder: ¡°Finally, you''re about to set on a journey to be the hero, who you already were 92 years ago. There is no need for us to worry about your health anymore, or about your sanity. Nobody has to provide you with food and tea and all the other stuff. Ara-tan, even if you won''t become a productive member of our society, at least we lost you as an almost dead-weight.¡±
¡°My research is significant for all heroes!¡±
¡°Yes, but what about us, Ara-tan? What about us?¡±
Usually, I think, we should regret leaving this place, but with a farewell like this, I can''t wait to leave the alfar behind and never see them again.
¡°Let''s go,¡± I say to the rest of the party.
¡°Gladly.¡± We have Kyou-san, the always ill-tempered healer, who is using abusive language and only shows her fake kind side to anyone but me.
¡°Goodbye! *sniff*¡± We have Rine, a walking machine of death, who''s always annoyingly cheery and all over me, not caring about the fact, how much I dislike that.
¡°See you in a hundred years or so.¡± We have Ara-san, the elf-mage-character, who may be older than the rest of us put together, but is forever stuck with the mind of a thirteen-year-old!
¡°Phew.¡± And there is me, who just tries his best to make it somehow work. I still want to return home, but the more I do, the farther it seems to become.
We leave the forest of Aroahenn and look at a map Ara-san had. ¡°Why is there no compass in this world?¡±
¡°That device that is supposed to tell you the four cardinal directions?¡± Ara-san never heard about something like that before, looks like every alfr has an inner compass, which only works in their world. There was no need for such an object at her home, and there are none in this world. I want to know why.
¡°Ah, I know that!¡± What? Rine knows something!? ¡°It was written in a report about heroes. There is something missing in this world, that''s why no human hero was able to make one.¡±
Is she talking about earth''s magnetic field? How does that function!?
More importantly though: ¡°Why do you know something like that?¡±
¡°I read everything hero-related in our library!¡±
I forgot that Rine is smarter than she looks. Or behaves. She''s just not paying much attention to anything, which doesn''t fit her interests or worldview.
Maybe I should consider to include Rine more often in the intelligent talk.
¡°Kenta, let''s hold hand while we''re traveling!¡± You already took my hand, you know!? And why are you cuddling at me, stop it! I roughly push her head back. Seriously, just let it be!
¡°I get the idea, that holding hands while doing something else is effective, but don''t stick close to me, dammit!¡±
¡°Kyou!¡± And don''t ignore me, if I''m saying something you don''t like! ¡°Take his other hand!¡±
¡°*sigh* Rine, he may need a hand free.¡±
¡°Then you''re next!¡±
¡°Alright, alright.¡± Kyou-san definitely shows how little she cares.
¡°Then I''m third!¡±
¡°Ara-san, you really like to make fun of us, right?¡±
The alfr girl is tipping her ear with a slight smile. ¡°Of course.¡±
I take another look at the map, and then I make a rough estimation of the cardinal direction using the sun, just like Meldorn taught me. ¡°About that direction. Ara-san, your [Stellar Navigation]-skill works like it sounds, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Then we go in this direction and correct it at night. We repeat that process until we hit the trade route, then we''ll follow it.¡± I want the shortest path, but also the safest so this is a good compromise. ¡°Let''s go.¡±
The moment I said that I feel a raindrop fall on my nose. Then one at my cheek.
An iron smell is in the air and clouds are accumulating above us. The sky wasn''t exactly clear before, but I hoped, that the weather remains rain-less.
So much to that.
¡°Everyone, rain gear.¡± We take our waxen cloaks from the [Inventory] and put it on. Good weather while traveling is only something you''ll get in games.
Dammit.
...Huh? I''m feeling stared at.
I take a look back. I see a single squirrel with a fur like a panda''s.
It''s only looking at us. But I know those critters. They belong to a tribe, which swore something like a vendetta against Rine. I haven''t seen even one of them since the fight against the demons.
Maybe they gave up, after seeing Rine going all out. Or maybe they were plotting something and realized, that Rine leaves the forest.
Still, something is strange.
Even though that squirrel isn''t doing anything, it¡¯s just looking.
Maybe it''s my imagination.
...I better keep an eye open. These guys are nuts!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I hate rain. My boots are soaked, every step I do makes a squishy sound, I''m cold, and my nose is running. Even with a rain-cloak, walking for hours in the rain is just too much!
It''s almost time to set up camp, and there is no cover to be seen. Looks like we have to use the tents, we got from the alfar. Good thing that we can transport them easily with our [Inventory]. Imagine it, carrying two two-person tents including tent pegs and rope on foot over vast distances!
I would almost be happy to be a hero if it wouldn''t be the reason, why I''m stuck in this shitty fantasy world in the first place!
Now we only need a good camping place. Well, everything here is the same, a few rises in the ground, grass, some trees. Nah, let''s stick to the trees. It''s not like there is any cluster of them, which could somehow serve as a shelter, but it''s still better than nothing.
¡°Phew. Do you see these trees there?¡± I point to the ones in the distance. ¡°There we''ll rest.¡±
Rine is squinting her eyes: ¡°There they are.¡±
Kyou nods in agreement.
Ara-san does the same: ¡°Are they?¡±
So this is the difference between an alfr and a human regarding sight. Why is the alfr losing here?
Usually, I have the feeling that Ara''ainn should be the one who can see in great distances... no, why should she? I mean, she lives in a forest, like all Ljosalfr, so why should she have a better farsight than humans, who also live in grasslands?
Darwinism might work even in fantasy worlds to some degree.
But I was sure, that I could only see those trees due to my [Farsight]-skill, but I was wrong. Maybe I should get better at discerning, what I can see with it and what I can''t. It may be easier for the girls in the long run.
Why am I even considering it?
It must be my running nose. Maybe I''m getting sick.
Then we arrive. ¡°Phew. Let''s get it over with.¡± I have the [Camping]-skill, which makes it possible, to set up a camp faster and even the wet weather doesn''t matter much. It costs some SP, but since the plan is to rest right afterward, it''s alright.
I set up the tents and a tarp, then lit a fire, while Rine gives me the things I need to do that. Kyou-san and Ara-san are getting water by placing pots on the ground. It''s better to not rely on the waterskins in the [Inventory], as long as we can fetch it otherwise.
After everything is set up, we sat down by the fire, using a waxed blanket to sit down. We got stools from the alfar, but if we put them out in this weather, they''ll just mold faster.
I doff my armor and remove my boots. ¡°Phew...¡±
¡°So this is the relieved ''phew'', I see,¡± Ara-san comments on me while she opens her half-wet dress at the side and let it down.
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
I slowly turn away. Ara-san is only standing there in her undergarment and even though she is scrawny, I feel this strange attraction again. Damn you, curse!
Now I''m facing Rine, who just freed her bouncy breasts from her armor and- Next direction!
Kyou-san is currently sitting with one knee tucked up, trying to get her kneesock out of it. ¡°Stop staring at my legs.¡±
Seriously, I can''t take it anymore. I just have to do something!
I quickly undress and walk out in the rain, only in my underwear. My whole body is cleansed by nature, same goes for my desires.
This feels good!
I throw my head back and let the rain hit my face. It''s almost like a shower, just cold and it tastes a bit like iron. There is no shampoo either. But somehow everything in me calms down.
I hear some steps behind me, splashing on the ground. It''s Rine, who also is only in her underwear. Of course, I had already seen them, since she keeps spares in our [Inventory], it''s cloth almost resembling panties and a corset. Kyou-san also wears them, since she only got one pair of modern underwear with her, the one she had when she was transported here.
My current underwear was native as well. But it''s close enough to boxers.
Rine is copying me, throwing her head back as well. She giggles while catching rain with her mouth. Her wet hair and the trickle, which is going between her breasts are enticing, but the rain washes these thoughts and feelings away.
Now Ara-san accompanies us, her gown-like underwear is drenched in a second, she let her ponytail down and her white, long hair is glittering as if it was a snowfield. She doesn''t mimic us but is dancing in the rain instead.
It''s charming. Like a being from another world. Actually, she is.
She laughs loud and sings a song without lyrics. I''ve never heard her singing before, her voice is a bit hoarse, but I heard worse.
An alfr girl, dancing in the rain like a fairy. What an image.
¡°Geez.¡± I can hear Kyou-san, as she hurries to remove her clothes as well. So she will join us, too? In fact, she does. The moment she steps out from under the tarp, she begins to smile, only for a second. Then something is catching up, melancholy.
¡°Kyou!¡± Rine is running to Kyou-san and takes her hands. ¡°Come on!¡± And pulls her out in the rain and out from her misery. Rine laughs like an idiot, but Kyou-san is joining in. In an honest manner.
Then Rine also grabs Ara-san''s hand, and all three of them are dancing together, led by the princess. ¡°KENTAAAA! COME! JOIN US¡±
¡°No way!¡± I don''t even know why, but somehow I feel like this moment is special and I don''t want to waste it with them.
¡
What''s this in the distance? Mobs? I would guess, about as tall as dogs, with the shape of a beetle, scales, shark-face and additional arms, which are packed with muscles.
Oh no, not them again. Sharkbeetles! No, they were called scaleetles.
We did fight them when we met that Correo-guy. Back then, five of them were no problem. But there are more. Even with [Farsight] I can see a mile at best with the rain, they''re coming at us with great speed and more and more appeared in my vision.
¡°Everyone, gear up! There are scaleetles coming towards us!¡±
¡°What?¡± Of course, Kyou-san doesn''t remember them.
¡°These things we fought, when we met Correo! And there are a lot of them.¡± Numbers might prove to be the problem here. Even if five of them weren''t a threat even before I classed up, now I estimate thirty of them, with more coming. ¡°And they''re fast.¡± I think that Rine and I could get away by running, but the rest won''t.
This is bad. We need to fight them. The last large-scale battle we fought was against the demons in Aroahenn, but those were easily turned into fog, except their boss. This time it may prove more difficult...
Scaleetles only attack on land, when it''s raining like this. This could be a coincidence.
Maybe.
Volume 04 - Chapter 2-2
We''re almost done with our preparations, but the number of scaleetles keeps rising there are a little over fifty right now. What a headache!
¡°Kenta, lead us!¡± Rine donned her armor and is waiting for orders.
¡°They''re almost here, Kenta-kun.¡± Ara-san had little to equip and was just going through her skill-list. She''s not that used to combat, so she hasn''t most likely used most of her [Elemental Magic]-spells in the field.
¡°Come on!¡± Kyou-san could also gear up quickly, but she used the time to prepare a bunch of consumables, putting them into her belt pouch for easier access. Reaching into your backpack can take a moment too long, after all.
I''m still closing the belts of my red hide armor, but there was one question I had: Why am I the leader!?
At least for combat, it seems that the girls are pushing the responsibility to me. ¡°Phew.¡± But there is little time to argue and to be honest, I wouldn''t trust the judgment of any of them. The process of elimination is telling me, that I have to make the strategy unless I want to invite trouble.
¡°Ara-san, this terrain isn''t well-suited for [Spirit Magic], so you concentrate on [Elemental Magic] since it''s raining, you can use water-spells while conserving MP.¡± When water-spells are used, you can either create water in the process or use the one around, latter saves a lot of effort, time and MP. ¡°Use AoEs, until they''re here, single target when they come close and when it''s an infight, cover Kyou-san as an [Acrobat]!¡±
¡°What does AoE mean?¡±
¡°Area of Effect, attacks that cover wide areas and multiple enemies. If possible, hinder the movements of some, so that we need to fight less at the same time.¡±
¡°Got it.¡± Ara-san is good as a CC (crowd control) or damage AoE, so we got this covered.
¡°Rine, you''ll be the first line of defense, just do your regular thing, and remember: No [Dismember]!¡±
¡°Got it!¡±
¡°Before they come, use [Crescent Moon], to decimate their numbers.¡± Rine learned some new skills over the last few weeks, which makes her even more deadly than before. But I guess, since she fought all her live without the use of skills, she tends to forget, that she has those.
She''s like a perverted mix between tank and DD (damage dealer), who tanks by dealing so much damage that the enemies won''t be able to do anything anymore. And I thought, I was a DD before.
¡°Kyou-san... Just keep behind Ara-san and try not to get in the way.¡± There is no place to hide her, and it''s safer for her to stay near someone, who can cut her slack.
¡°Hey! Don''t treat me as useless!¡±
¡°Well, you can heal us and recover our SP, so you''re just almost useless.¡± I can''t imagine a situation with a fight against numbers like these, where Kyou-san can actually cast one of her spells without putting herself in danger.
¡°I''ll show you.¡± Kyou-san changes to [Herbalist] and draws her dagger-sized knife to show her determination.
Come one, Kyou-san, we both know, that you''re no combat character.
I string my bow. I shouldn''t use it in the rain as much as possible, but if I want to survive, I''d better use it a few times, before they come. Scaleetles weren''t that strong. ¡°First line of defense will be there.¡± I don''t want them to attack our set camp, so let''s choose the rising there. ¡°The second line there.¡± Another rising. ¡°Kyou-san, you go to the second line, while the rest will go for the first, to attack with ranged attacks. Ara-san and I will fall back if they''re coming close.¡± I don''t need to worry about Rine. She''s probably able to fight all of these on her own. ¡°And no coats, we need the mobility.¡±
Rine can take care of herself, as long as she doesn''t do anything stupid, which isn''t exactly unlikely. But so far, that happened only once in battle, against the fourbirds. Plus,I was the one responsible for this by being too weak due to the curse.
Everyone moves to their positions. I put an arrow on my bow and stuck several more in the ground. The scaleetles are already within range, even if it''s hard to aim at one, there are so many, that I''ll hit something regardless.
Let''s try it. Put up a stance, pull the string, aim and shoot.
The course of the arrow isn''t exactly straight and a little shorter. So that''s the effect of the rain on an arrow in flight, less than I imagined. ¡°They need to come closer. Rine, you wait as well.¡± [Crescent Moon] doesn''t have that much of a range, and while we have another bow, it''ll be better to have her cover us later without any delays. ¡°Ara-san, blast them!¡±
Ara-san begins chanting. This will be a big spell. There are those, who are rather quick and can be used in a fast fashion and those, who needs chants, which can last several minutes.
But if it''s a water-spell, the casting time should be shortened in the rain.
Here it comes! ¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡±
The rain surrounding the scaleetles begin to amass and splashes at them. The impact disperses the enemies.
Even though they''re fish-like monsters, the scaleetles have to deal with brunt force here. I don''t know if there is something like magic resistance here or resistance against specific elements, but nonetheless, this spell is working.
Ara-san repeats the process, aiming for splitting the charging scaleetles into smaller groups. ¡°Don''t hinder the first ones. Keep striking at the mobs behind! Rine, our turn!¡± I put four arrows on my bow and use a skill: [Quadruple Shot]!¡± Three of my four arrows hit, two in one of the scaleetle, the third one got the leg of another, while the last one fell short.
¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± Unhindered by the rain, Rine''s sword draws an arc, which flies at the enemies, slicing some of them in half.
I grab more of the ground-stuck arrows, it''s faster to do it like that instead of fishing them out of my quiver.¡°Next volley!¡± We repeat the process one more time. They''re about to come here, the first group is decimated, but still strong. ¡°Ara-san, we''ll fall back! Rine, keep safe!¡±
¡°I will!¡± She''s hopping on the balls of her feet, preparing herself.
The first phase was a success, but that was also the easy part. The real trouble is about to begin.
With bearing shark teeth, the scaleetles attacks! Rine''s sword cuts right from above, while her other hand catches one of the teeth she just severed, throwing it in the eye of a second fish-monster. She trips a third with a sweeping kick, which turns into a roundhouse-kick while spinning, kicking the fourth one into the side.
She''s definitely alright, but there are too many for her to hold. Some scaleetles are taking a detour to avoid her and aim at Ara-san and me.
¡°[Sleep Blow]!¡± A blueish gust passes right next to us, the point of origin is Kyou-san, who holds the palm of her hand right below her lips. She puts a powder into it and repeats.
This is one of her new skills she learned from classing-up to [Herbalism]. Her new [Herbal Weapons]-ability got her a whole new array of skills, and because they are skills, things like rain don''t matter. Skills are always something special and can overcome physics with ease.
[Sleep Blow] bypasses the making a soporific, she just grinds the needed herb to a powder and can magically inject it, to blow a slumberous breath. But the effect is greatly weakened compared to an actually compounded medicine.
At least it''s enough to slow down the first scaleetles, I turn around and take my spear from the [Inventory]. ¡°Ara-san, keep going. [Whirlwind]!¡± I push the forerunners back, creating a new line of defense between the already established first and the second line. ¡°We''ll change the plan!¡±
I don''t intend to stay here for long, but Ara-san has to cover Kyou-san. Rine is still fine, but the next ones are coming, maybe half a minute before they arrive. Everything is still good.
Why do I have no skill, which makes me attack multiple times against multiple enemies!? [Whirlwind] is more about buying time than doing massive damage.
While standing my ground, I just try to poke each of the five scaleetles I''m facing.
¡°[Fountain Gun]! [Icicle Knives]!¡± Using fast spells, Ara-san shoots one of the scaleetles away, while her [Icycle Knives] hurts the others. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± The grass under the feet of one grew, it''ll be only held for a moment, but that''s all I need.
¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± My spear is penetrating the scales, bones, and innards easier than a hot knife butter. They seem to have moderate [Defense], but low [Vitality], if stats like that is even applicable to monsters. ¡°Ara-san, keep the next wave away!¡± Following my order, Ara-san begins to chant a new [Tidal Wave].
I don''t think, that I need her support with my foes anymore. I stab one scaleetle, directly into its upper body; it might not die immediately, but it''s gravely wounded.
¡°[Itching Breath]!¡± Kyou-san got that powder from the alfar, so it''s original effect is quite bad. Even in its weakened state, it causes the two scaleetles who tried to get to my left flank to squirm, making it easy for me to use that chance to kill the first, by thrusting my spear right into its sharky face!
The other one swings his fist at me, but it convulses, giving me enough opportunity to deflect the attack with my arm guard and slicing the sharp sight right over its eyes.
Seriously, these guys are easy enough, just a bit too small to hit them at good places. But oh well, maybe Kyou-san is a bit useful as well.
¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡± The next wave of mobs is delayed, enough time for me to finish up. Rine is about to end her enemies as well. Or what''s left of them.
¡°Ara-san, let the second wave come, hinder the next ones.¡± If a wave is about ten scaleetles, then there will be three more.
I use my hide-skills: [Camouflage], [Mask of Wildlife] and [Hide Smell]. With [Sneak] I change my position, waiting right there, were the scaleetles, which passes Rine will come.
Now they''re right before me: ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± The damage is greater than before, while the pushing effect is the same. That''s [Stealth]''s [Assassinate]-skill, a passive skill which increases the damage when I attack from hiding. If the enemy is totally unaware of me, I can deal up to double damage.
But man, that combination of skills to hide me is sure draining my SP. I''d better-
What is that idiot doing!? ¡°RINE! FALL BACK!¡± She slaughtered too many enemies and is now balancing on their slippery corpses, while she tries to kill even more. That''s dangerous! Even she''s bound to make a misstep there! When she does, then a pack of scaleetles will attack her, which might kill her in the end!
¡°OK!¡± She answers loudly, without much of a worry.
Girl, keep an eye on your surroundings!
¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡± Its effect is amazing as always, but it won''t delay the next wave enough before they''re coming at us.
Damn that rain! My armor is sticking at me, and I can feel it scraping at my crotch and my nipples. My spear, full of blood and water feels slippery to my hand, I quickly remove my archery glove and wipe my hands on my pants to get a firmer grip again.
Rine falls back a bit and readies herself. She already removed her gloves. When did she do that?
¡°Ara-san, keep the next wave busy, Kyou-san, cover her!¡± I hate that! It''s not as the former plan was totally overthrown, but we''re losing ground. The moment Ara-san is not able to keep the next ones away for a bit, we''ll have to face even more. It''s like the plan was flawed to begin with!
We only got half of the second wave, and now the third arrives, battered by [Tidal Wave], but still able to kill us, if we''re careless.
They''re charging!
Rine has her hands full, so they are trying to pass her: ¡°RINE, SKILL!¡±
¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± Some of them are sliced, but she takes a hit by doing so, a fist into the side. On the other hand, she just pokes the eyes out from the one, who dared to hit her.
¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± I hit three and push them back, but five jump at me at the same time. They knock me over, and I feel the wet, bloody ground, and a scaleetle, which raise his fits and hits me right in the face.
I draw my steel knife and wildly stab at it. I feel another scaly arm and stab at it as well. ¡°Ah! Die! Diediediedie!¡± I''m a bit frantic, but it''s quite effective. I roll over and stand up, seeing the lethally wounded scaleetles, which surrounded me just before.
Dammit, I let them pass me as well!
Kyou-san is stabbing with her knife at one. Her left hand wanders to her belt pouch and *boom*, a fire bomb is thrown right into its face. Though there is another one, but man, you can see, how much [Herbalist] pumps her [Strength]. Well, for now, Ara-san is covered, which is exactly the reverse of what I thought would be necessary.
But no time to observe it, I need to fight! I run towards the wounded scaleetles, stabbing them like a madman with my knife, picking up my spear with my other hand, throwing it into an approaching mob.
The fourth wave hits.
One, two, three attacks hit me. I''m surrounded by scaleetles, some are jumping at me, attaching themselves like some kind of leech. Only [Wild Eyes], which makes it possible to sense spirits, allowed me to get a very rough idea of the battlefield, as my vision was constantly taken away by scaleetles.
My SP are dangerously low, if I wasn¡¯t a hero, I would surely be long gone.
Numbers are scary! Taking on large numbers with small numbers is freakin'' scary! The enemies aren''t that strong, but I feel overwhelmed.
Ouch! One sinks its teeth into my barely protected arm, and it hurts! I try to shake it off, but that only widens the wound. And I need my knife arm to keep another one off me - while being pummeled by fists from different directions.
I see my SP-bar rising. Ah, Kyou-san must have cast [Stamina] on me. I can''t even hear anymore, except the growling of these beasts. I also got healed, but that shouldn''t be necessary yet, so why-
Then I got [Tidal Wave]d. Did you ever jump from a diving board from a height of ten meters (almost 33 feet)? Imagine how it feels, if the swimming pool comes to you instead. It chunked off a good amount of HP while being washed away by the water masses.
Usually, I would complain because of the friendly fire, but first, I can''t, because I cough like crazy, and then if it''s Ara-san, there might be a reason to it.
At least I got rid of the scaleetles. Except for the one who still has its teeth sunken in my arm. I stab it right into its nape.
I feel pretty much like shit now. But I''m still alive.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I look for other enemies, but it''s more or less over, only a few are left, and Rine is taking care of those. After the last one, she sighs and stroke her wet hair back. She smiles, even though I can see some red marks on her face.
Kyou-san is holding her arm, she got bitten as well. Her left eye is swollen, and the moment she realizes it''s over, she falls to her knees. ¡°*Sob*¡± Well, welcome to battle. You''re only four months late.
Ara-san''s sleeve is ripped, and she has some scratches on the arm, looks like she escaped being bit by a small margin.
I don''t know how I''m doing right know, but it''s most likely even worse than them.
The battle was probably only mere minutes long, but I feel like I fought for hours, even if I don''t remember most of it, since I fell into a stabbing fury.
But let''s look on the bright side, we got XP, we can get drop items, everything is fine.
I''m sarcastic, you know?
¡°Pheeeeeeeew...¡±
¡°That''s a big one,¡± Ara-san comments my sigh.
¡°Shut up!¡± I use my whole array of [Perception]-skills plus [Wild Eyes] to look for other enemies. There were none. Only a squirrel. With a panda-like fur. It''s running away.
Where is my bow? There! I pick it up, but the string snapped, and I won''t have time to put on another one. Dammit!
Should I tell the others about the squirrel? But what to do? There is nowhere to hide here. Should we break up camp and try to get away from here?
No, it won''t do any good. There may be a trap ahead, and we need to rest.
But I could tell them.
¡°Kenta-kun, why were you hurrying to your bow?¡± So Ara-san didn''t notice the squirrel.
¡°To look if it''s broken. Rain and such.¡±
Ara-san is looking at me, her ears are slightly flinching like she''s in wonder. Rine is calming down Kyou-san while healing her. Kyou-san is too busy dealing with her pain.
I''ll keep it a secret for now. I want the girls to rest, so making a fuss about it will be counterproductive. Good thing that Ara-san is still hardly able to read a human''s face.
Everything is still alright.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Phew. And you thought that [Healer] is a useless class.¡± Poultices are sometimes way more useful than using magic. While a [Heal] will close a bite-wound, it won''t really disappear, the flesh will just contract. But putting one of Kyou-san''s poultices on it will completely heal it overnight if you''re a hero.
¡°Shut up!¡±
We''re taking care of our wounds, Ara-san is back to her undergarment, showing Kyou-san the scratches on her arms. Kyou-san herself was the first, who got treatment, her arm is poulticed and bandaged, while an ointment was put on her eye. She will be OK after a while.
Rine only got some bruises, but that''s something that can be taken care of with magical healing and some rest. She''s now tying a bandage over the poultice of my arm.
¡°Now that everything is over, I like to confirm something.¡± I look at each of them. ¡°Since when am I the leader?¡± I mean, there was some weight behind my decisions before, but before we got to Aroahenn, it was just that: Some weight.
The three girls are looking at each other and then all eyes are on Kyou-san, who sighs and answers my question: ¡°We made the decision ten da- a week ago.¡± A week in this world is ten days, so Kyou-san might try to adopt that kind of common sense. ¡°Arako asked if there was a leader and explained to us, why a single leader is important.¡±
¡°...and you didn''t call me for something that important?¡±
¡°Ken, it started out as a girl''s talk. So why should we call you to that.¡±
I have something to say to it, but I hold it back and inquire further: ¡°And why didn''t you nominate yourself, Kyou-san?¡±
¡°Because it would be a pain.¡± Her whole body tells me that this is the blunt truth. ¡°It''s not like you give all the calls, the leader role is more for hairy situations.¡±
¡°That''s right.¡± Ara-san interferes. ¡°The alfr heroes made the experience, that it''s better to have one individual give the calls when things go wrong and quick decision-making is important. After hearing about your exploits before Aroahenn, you seemed to be the logical choice, Kenta-kun.¡± It''s hard to tell, what she tells with her body, but I think it''d be something like pride.
¡°Kenta is a great leader!¡± If Rine had a dog''s tail, it would be wagging. ¡°He always knows what the rest is doing, and he''s smart, so I thought you were the leader the moment we met!¡±
¡°You can see, Ken, it''s the obvious choice. Even I have to admit that you did a great job back in the chasm, if we don''t count the moments, you were so stupid that I can''t believe it even today.¡± That''s Kyou-san for you, no praise without an insult for me.
¡°I see. So, Kyou-san, Ara-san, and Rine: Now the most important question.¡± I take a deep breath: ¡°Nobody thought it would be logical to tell me!?¡±
Rine is looking at her feet. Ara-san is avoiding my eyes. Kyou-san looks back with squinted eyes: ¡°To be honest, you''re so bossy the whole time, I thought that you wouldn''t even notice.¡± Then her eyes relax, and she bows to me: ¡°I''m sorry. I was wrong. You''re not as dense as I thought.¡±
Bitch! If I hit her, I''m sure to get punished by Rine, but man, I want to pay her back! ¡°I''m sorry as well.¡± Then let''s use words. ¡°I never even considered that the former class-president would be unable to confer information to her former classmates. And unable to lead us as well.¡±
¡°Well, considering how it went today, maybe I should take a shot.¡±
¡°Momo, that''s not fair.¡± Ara-san interferes. ¡°If we consider the numbers, the relative strength, and the terrain, Kenta-kun did a good job. Even the weakest monsters can bring heroes down, at least as far as I know, and I know much. The hero-system is complex, and there are aspects, which aren''t even affected by it.¡±
After talking with Ara-san so much about the hero-system, I know what she means. Like the fact, that whatever your [Strength] is, there is a hard limit to what you can lift. Or whatever your [Agility] is, there is a hard limit to what you can run. And many more examples. To raise these limits, you need specific [Skills].
Ara-san looked into alfr heroes way above our levels, so she got knowledge which will come in handy. Even though the more I learn, the more strange I find things.
For example, one of the alfr heroes fought a golem, who was able to tear down a steel door. He got hit several times, but only got bruises. Then he was attacked by bandits in his sleep and was beaten up, resulting in bruises. Since a big-ass golem and a simple bandit are not the same in terms of punching power, it looks like there is even a hard limit to how far [Vitality] can downgrade incoming damage.
Same goes for the scaleetles today. Both, Kyou-san and I suffered a bite wound, but even though mine doesn''t go as deep as hers, my [Vitality] is way above hers, it shouldn''t even be much of a scratch, if we just compare numbers.
Well, there is a minimum damage in many games as well, the math isn''t always that easy.
So far, it''s somewhat reasonable, until you ask the following question: If the hero-system comes from the gods, why should they put a hard-limit to how much [Vitality] can decrease the damage? As long as it''s in place, the heroes remain vincible by non-serious threats.
So why only downgrade strong hits, while weak hits remain as they are? Well, heroes are still pretty hard to kill, because our bodies work even under abuse, but if you can go so far, that you can downgrade a hit, which should break your bones to bruises, why wouldn''t it be possible to downgrade hits that cause bruises to nothing?
At least the pain-tolerance goes up with [Vitality]. I''m sure if I were bitten by a mere dog before becoming a hero, I would''ve cried like a brat.
As a hero, the scaleetle bite hurts, but I''m not even flinching much, unless I move my hand, and therefore the muscles in my forearm.
Kyou-san, on the other hand, had to use a sedative to endure the pain. Her wound might be deeper, but it''s not like mine is not serious.
It''s all more complicated than it seems at first glance. This is not a game. It''s reality.
¡°Ken''s not even listening anymore.¡± Ah, I totally missed some sentences.
¡°Nonetheless, you have to do it.¡± For some reason, Rine and Ara-san are pushing Kyou-san right in front of me. The latter doesn''t seem remotely pleased.
Kyou-san is putting her weight from one foot to the other, while her right hand plays with the ring on her left ring finger. I look at her, and her eyes are turning away reflexively, but then they turn back to me and stare at mine. ¡°Sorry. That was too much.¡±
...what!? Since when does Kyou-san apologize earnestly? This doesn''t make sense!
Unsure what to do, I scratch my head. I look at Ara-san and Rine, who are piercing me with their eyes. Ah, I see. Kyou-san was forced to apologize by them. And now they want some reaction from me.
I look at Kyou-san, who''s all flustered. I haven''t seen that in a long time. I guess last time I saw such an expression was back in the chasm. I never want to return there, but I saw some sides of Kyou-san there, I''ve never known before.
Her flustered face is cute. She''s such a bitch at times, but she looks at least pretty. ¡°It''s fine.¡± Somehow I feel a bit of nostalgia. I guess Kyou-san wasn''t the only one who behaved differently in the chasm. ¡°Don''t mind.¡±
I might have said a thing or two, which wasn¡¯t great either, but I won''t apologize for it.
Nonetheless, Kyou-san''s eyes are softening. My eyes wander to her nose. I think there is still some hardened snot there. Then to her lips. A scene pops into my head. It''s not as if I forgot it, but I try not to think about it.Yet somehow the mood brings it back. While fighting the ss''rak patriarch, Kyou-san and I-
¡°Katarine-san, who''s about to jump who?¡±
¡°Wawawa!¡±
Usually, I should be annoyed by the peanut gallery, but this time I''m thankful. Because it got strange, I was about to give in to my lust. ¡°Phew.¡±
Kyou-san holds her head. I think she''s sweating a bit. But a small whisper leaves her mouth. ¡°Thank you.¡± Not like I can''t hear it, with my enhanced senses.
¡°Did I destroy the mood?¡± Ara-san is scratching her ear while pondering. But she blushed a bit.
¡°I think I just saw something, which I don''t know if I should love it or not.¡± Rine''s face is flushed pink, her ember-eyes are all over the place.
Seriously, I want to escape here. ¡°I will go on a stroll.¡± Maybe I''ll find one of these squirrels. That''s something worth doing. And I need to cool off.
The rain is still coming down.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I, Momokawa Kyou, don''t know why, but for some reason, Ken decided to stay awake. He''s sitting just outside the tent, under the tarp, right beside the fire. That he misses out a WP isn''t typical for him, but maybe he''s afraid of other monsters attacking, while his [Dormurnal]-skill is impeded by a tent.
Since we got two tents, each for two people, I''m alone in mine. Originally, it was planned that Ken and I would share a tent, especially since Arako still doesn''t know about Rine-chan''s ''sleeping habits.'' So she was more than willing to share a tent with Rine-chan and Rine-chan wanted to share a tent with Arako, it was hard to deny it.
I just hope that it''ll end well.
When Ken was away for a few days, I had no problems sleeping without him, but tonight I''m wide awake. I would use a soporific, but then it''d be hard to wake me up if something happens.
¡°Phew.¡± That''s the fifth time Ken makes that sound tonight. I can hear it clearly since it''s nearby.
Something is strange with me.
Why do I even count the number he makes his noise?
There was an obvious answer, but that can''t be right. I don''t like Ken. But I don''t dislike him either anymore. Maybe it''s the confusion. The confusion that I don''t dislike him anymore like I used to.
He''s the worst. He''s never kind, all he does is selfish, and you have to force him to do the obvious. He''s a misanthropic bastard!
But at some point, I stopped caring.
My hand wanders to the ring on my left finger. I really got a bad habit there. It only happened about two months ago. But that ring is a part of me now, even if I don''t like it. The picture of the lioness engraving is deeply ingrained in my memory.
A ring I can''t remove, a bond that can''t be severed. Maybe it''s that. The circumstance that won''t let me separate from him.
But how he looked at me today after I was forced to apologize to him. Even slimmed down, his face isn''t handsome. Even though he¡¯s got muscles in that form and stands firm against anything...
No, don''t even start there!
Maybe it''s like something I saw on TV. I''m forced to be with Ken all the time, and we were just in a life-and-death situation today. What was it called, ''suspension bridge effect''? To misunderstand excitement with love or other feelings?
Since teaming up with him, these situations have just increased and he is almost always by my side. Yes, now that I think about it, the knot of feelings begins to unravel. That''s right. I don''t feel anything for Ken. I''m just processing the events of today.
I feel relieved.
With a last look at the ring, I close my eyes, while smiling.
Everything is still normal. I have to think about some new insults I can throw at Ken for tomorrow and the days to come.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I sit in front of the fire, the rain is dropping onto the tarp. Good thing I slanted it out so that the water would trickle down at one side. Meldorn taught me well.
I''m sleepy, but that''s to be expected. Too bad I can''t keep up with using my detection skills without burning my SP. Otherwise, I would feel much safer. So I only use some of them about every ten minutes, keeping my SP-consumption in check.
Rine is still sleeping, and Ara-san is still alive. Kyou-san had a few problems at first, but now she''s in slumber as well. It''s easy to tell when using [Pitch].
No squirrels, birds or other animals so far. Or mobs. I rub my eyes, staying awake for long isn''t good, but I can do it.
Suddenly, I hear a quiet shriek, and the entrance to Rine''s and Ara-san''s tent opened up, Ara-san crawls out and scurries next to me. ¡°Wh---what happened?¡± She''s sweating a lot.
¡°Maybe you turned in your sleep.¡±
¡°I don''t know, I just felt something approaching and my body moved by instinct, only to barely see anything.¡±
¡°I warned you.¡±
¡°You mean about Katarine-san''s sleeping habits?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°So she was trying to kill me!?¡±
¡°Maybe. I think sudden movements are enough to trigger it or any sort of killing intent.¡±
¡°Uhh.¡± The tips of her ears fall. ¡°That''s the reason Momo was asking me constantly if it''s alright. But we could only get these tents.¡± Since Aroahenn was a small community, it was half a miracle that we got tents there anyway.
¡°Well, you can sleep in Kyou-san''s tent. I''m doing night-watch.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°The monsters.¡±
¡°...I can see that, but is that truly everything?¡±
¡°How did you come to that conclusion?¡±
¡°You were eager to patrol the area several times before we went to sleep.¡±
I see. So instead of blaming my discomfort, Ara-san reached a more logical conclusion. As expected from her.
Well, Ara-san should be able to handle this information. ¡°When we left Aroahenn, I saw a squirrel watching us. Then another one, after the fight with the scaleetles. Maybe they''re somehow involved.¡±
Ara-san''s ears are moving irregularly. ¡ I totally forgot, that she had an episode with these squirrels, so she''s most likely the last one, who could handle it.
Well, now the cat is out of the bag. ¡°Didn''t see another one until now and I guess, half of the night is over. We need to keep focused and don''t rush decisions. If we move by their calls, we''ve already lost. And... maybe, just maybe, I''m wrong.¡± However, if I''m right, the squirrels teamed up with the oni, and for some reason, they''re trying to bring us down. Correo had something to do with the demon attack and was also attacked by scaleetles.
Coincidence? I think not. He has most likely set up the attack by himself to earn our trust. Not that I''ve ever trusted him.
¡°I don''t think I can sleep anymore.¡± Ara-san''s not eased by a bit.
¡°Then can I leave night-watch to you?¡± If someone is awake, that''s enough for me. I''m sleepy.
¡°Don''t leave me alone here!¡±
¡°Phew.¡± I grab my backpack, take out another blanket and give it to her. ¡°Even by the fire, it''s still cold.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± She takes the blanket and put it around her.
Then she leans on me. ¡°Hey.¡±
¡°Please let me do it. I''m scared.¡±
¡ Look at that elf, who''s afraid of squirrels! If there were an NPC like that in a game, the whole game community would call it bullshit.
¡°Phew. Then let''s talk about what to do.¡±
¡°We don''t know much about what the enemy is capable of, except limitless cruelty.¡±
Just what did these squirrels do to you!? ¡°Actual night-watch might become mandatory. Plus, we didn''t level up much, so maybe we should stop here and there to try and grind some XP on the way.¡±
¡°But that will slow us down, making it easier for the enemies to put a plan together.¡±
¡°We''re well equipped, so there is nothing we can do. Like you said, we don''t know what the enemy is capable of, so we can''t put an actual strategy together. Also, we already covered up the basic formations.¡±
¡°Then maybe we should finally decide how to spend the WP.¡±
¡°I already thought about it. I''d go with a mix of [Attribute]-bonus-increase and to increase the range of them, those bonuses are rather cheap and good basics won''t backfire at least.¡±
¡°I thought you wanted to increase the XP-gain again.¡±
¡°That''s still what I want, but I think to increase our basics is still better in this situation. And if we increase the range, we can actually fight while benefiting each other. A boost to [Attributes] just by being near each other is helpful, especially if it''s not only slightly like now.¡±
¡°I can see what you''re talking about. How far is the range at the moment?¡±
¡°About one meter.¡±
¡°...that''s not much.¡±
¡°If we could increase it to ten meters, it would greatly help.¡±
¡°And if we do that, we might still have enough points to increase the bonus several times.¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Then we have to talk with Katarine-san and Momo about it.¡±
¡°Do we have to?¡±
¡°We all have to confirm each buy, and it would be troubling for them if they wake up with such a message popping up.¡±
¡°...fine.¡±
¡°Can you think of other ways to handle the incoming danger?¡±
¡°You mean besides strengthening ourselves?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Strategy-wise... I don''t think so.¡± I already know how the skills of each party-member work and I lack the insight of what the enemy is capable of.
If we over-prepare for something we already know, then we might be unpleasantly surprised the moment something else pops up.
So I think of another way: ¡°Maybe we could change course and directly go south first until we hit the road.¡±
¡°But the moment we do, we''re very predictable. In the wild, we can still take several paths, especially since we lack the points of orientation without the sun and stars, it''s harder to ambush us since we aren''t sure where we are going ourselves.¡±
¡°You''ve got a point. Are there any large settlements on the road, before we''re supposed to hit it? Just checking out the alternatives.¡±
¡°A few. Most of them are well defended against attacks from the outside.¡±
¡°Like Aroahenn, huh?¡± I saw how safe that was! Of course, I''m being sarcastic again.
¡°That was an attack from the inside, and it wasn''t that disastrous if we think about it. It was just sudden.¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah. But maybe there is another route, so we should go over every settlement that is there, plus everything you told me before, even the tiniest bit of information, that you might have forgotten to tell me.¡±
¡°You tyrant!¡±
¡°That''s me. Now, tell me!¡±
It''s about our lives, you know?
Volume 04 - Chapter 2-3
¡°Uhh...¡± I feel sick. I open my eyes.
You gain 1 WP.
Sleeping beside your wife is something, that should never taken for granted.
Why am I in the open?
Shit. I fell asleep. But it looks like [Dormurnal] was active at least. I didn''t even know that you really can fall asleep, while you''re sitting.
Ara-san is still leaning on me and makes some interesting sleeping sounds. But there is snot coming out of her nose.
Mine as well. My head feels heavy, and my body shivers. I think I got a cold. How could that happen?
I check my status. Yes, I got the [Disease: Cold]-condition.
[Disease: Cold]
Source: Illness
Reduces Health and Stamina by 15%.
Reduces Strength, Dexterity and Agility by 10%.
Reduces Vitality and Intelligence by 20%.
Reduces [Persuasion] by 40%.
Uh, what a bad condition. A bit like the active curse with the debuffs.
Walking a day in the rain, then being in underwear in the rain, fighting in the rain and sleeping in this weather. Seems reasonable to me, that I got a cold.
But oh well, I''m a hero. For training purposes to become a [Herbalist], Kyou-san made an abundant amount of herbal cold medicine. I just take a pill.
[Cold Medicine]
Description:
A medicine made by Momokawa Kyou by an alfr recipe. The herbs were adapted so that this medicine works for humans instead of alfar.
Effect:
Will suppress the effects of the [Disease: Cold]-condition for up to 8 hours, as long as you rest.
Value:
34 Newgold
So it won''t cure the condition, right? But I don''t like these debuffs, so I have no choice. I swallow the pill, and suddenly, I feel well. It''s as if I''d never had a cold in a first place.
That''s how strange heroes are. Just use an item, and you''re magically cured, or at least the effects can be suppressed. The wound in my arm is almost gone, the flesh is a bit pinkish, but that will abate soon.
Kyou-san made a lot of these cold medicines. There are some for alfar as well, most likely she began compounding those first and then switched the recipe, after getting some experience under her belt.
Oh, another medicine is taken out. I can hear, how Kyou-san is grumbling, looks like she caught a cold as well. I check her status. Yes, definitely the [Disease: Cold]-condition. Same goes for Ara-san.
Only Rine is fine. Guess the idiom ''Idiots won''t catch colds'' is true.
Kyou-san leaves the tent and is taking a glance at Ara-san and me. For about one or two seconds. Then she turns to the fireplace, there are still burning embers. ¡°If you''re awake, please make something I can work with.¡± She''s the one who makes breakfast, so of course, she wants usable fire.
¡°Hey, Ara-san.¡± I tap her head several times. ¡°Wake up.¡±
¡°Uuurrgh... *hayachoo*!¡± What a sneeze! ¡°I feel ill.¡±
¡°Here is some medicine.¡± That''s the one for alfar.
¡°Thank you.¡± She swallows the pill, and her face gets some color back, even though it''s still slightly green. But that''s the natural alfr skin color. ¡°Momo, please hurry up and learn [Cure Disease].¡±
¡°It''s not like I can decide what I learn.¡±
¡°To a degree, you can.¡± While Ara-san is going into her narration-mode, I take some dry twigs out of the [Inventory] and put them into the ember, to feed the fire. Then comes some branches.
¡°Good Morning, everyone!¡± Rine comes out of the tent, still with bed-hair, but as fresh and beautiful as ever. ¡°Ah, I''m the last one!¡±
¡°Just do your training.¡± First thing on Rine''s morning routine is some exercise. Then comes washing.
That''s what Kyou is doing right now. With Ara-san''s help, she put up another tarp like a curtain, so that I can''t see. But seriously, with my [Perception]-ability, it''s almost non-existent. I just decide not to look, hear, or think about what''s going on behind that curtain.
At least it''s not raining anymore, but it doesn''t look like the sun will shine today.
I get the fire going, and start shaving. I''ll wash afterward.
It''s a normal morning. No squirrels here either.
Breakfast. Today it''s some kind of poultry-soup. Time to bring up parts of the conversation Ara-san and I had last night. ¡°I want to spend WP.¡± I just say it. No reason to be indirect about it.
Rine is as simple as always. ¡°OK.¡±
Kyou-san, on the other side, becomes wary. ¡°For what? Didn''t you wanted to get the next XP-bonus?¡±
¡°That was originally my plan, but yesterday''s fight was too close.¡±
¡°So what are you planning to get? [HP transfer]?¡±
¡°That''s still outside our reach. I thought about strengthening the [Enhanced Attributes]-tree. To get more range and stronger buffs.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Kyou-san is thinking about it and looks to Ara-san, who nods. ¡°Agreed.¡±
¡°Then let''s do it. First the range, since in actual fights it''s too hard to stay within one meter (around 3 feet).¡± I open up the WP-menu, something I rarely do, select the WP-Store and buy [Increased Range]. The three girls approve.
Now we got 3 meters and a new option: [Increased Range II]. This will push it to 6 meters, so I select it as well, and now an [Increased Range III]-options appears. ¡°Six meters is fine for now.¡± Ten meters would be even better, but before that, I''d like to make the buff stronger.
I select [Increased Effect] twice and already ran out of WP. Further increasing the range is more costly than increasing the effect at this point.
I check my status. It''s like having three more levels. It''s not much but surely worth it.
But the cost... the work of all the days in Aroahenn are now depleted. So now we got: [Shared Inventory], [Enhanced Attributes: Increased Effect II, Increased Range II], and [Increased XP-gain]. That''s what we got after two months of serious WP-grinding. OK, we could''ve gotten more, but man, that''s still two months!
Let''s recount the sources of WP.
Kyou-san: Eating her meals, holding hands, lap-pillow to her, lap-pillow to me, sleeping next to each other, calling each other on a first name/nickname basis, 6 WP.
Rine: Sitting on my lap, holding hands, lap-pillow to her, lap-pillow to me, calling each other on a first name/nickname basis, 5 WP.
Ara-san: Holding hands, lap-pillow to her, lap-pillow to me, calling each other on a first name/nickname basis, 4 WP.
So it''s 15 regular WP per day. Can I up that somehow, without making more troublesome stuff? Ara-san only got 4 WP per day, and when she joined, there were new items added to the list, but Ara-san is vehemently denying things like putting our ears together.
One of the neutral aspects were putting your hand on each other chests, but even though Ara-san has no breasts, it''d be like feeling her up.
Well, there is another option. Letting her sleep next to me, like today. But I''m the most conscious about Ara-san''s sex appeal, which only works on me because the curse made us this way. When Rine sits on my lap, I may also be at the end of my reason, but that''s still me, I presume.
If Ara-san did that, I would be forced to feel aroused by the curse. So would it be safe? But if I let Ara-san sit on my lap and sleep next to me, that would be an additional 2 WP per day.
Now that I have the feeling, that we''re hunted by the squirrels, for whatever reason, it''d be best to take the WP-grinding more seriously again. Before my mind was taken by the class-up, so I was confident about my power, but enemy numbers are still worrisome.
Also since the oni can fight with Rine and her demon slaying blade almost evenly, I still won''t be a match for her on my own.
The decision is made. ¡°I want to grind more WP, so I swallow the pill and have something to ask you two, Ara-san and Kyou-san. Phew... Please add sitting on my lap to the lists of your daily WP-deeds!¡±
Uh, Kyou-san is looking at me, as if I just broke my campaign pledges right after getting elected.
Ara-san says lightheartedly, ¡°That won''t be problematic, I guess.¡±
But it''s Rine, who talks back, ¡°Sitting on your lap is what I do! If they also sit on your lap, then we have to hug every day!¡±
¡°Only when hell freezes over! I hate hugs!¡± That much body-contact sickens me!
Oh no, she''s about to cry. ¡°Then please let me sleep with you and Kyou-san!¡±
¡°¡°No!¡±¡± Kyou-san and I denied in unison. That''s the one thing we will never ever let her do!
¡°Why!?¡±
¡°We told you when you sleep, you''re dangerous! To us as well!¡± Especially me, I once got my balls almost crushed because of you and Kyou-san!
¡°But... *sob*¡±
¡°Ken, just look for something, that is even halfway bearable! Like linking arms.¡±
I totally forgot, that linking arms was something as well. This would be actually better than sitting on my lap! No, it''s linking for at least 30 minutes, so it''d be a waste of time if I do it thrice. Especially with all the hand-holding.
Ara-san chimes in: ¡°I think it would be fair if everyone got the same amount of WP with Kenta-kun as Momo. If we add ''sitting on his lap'' to Momo''s deeds, then all of us should aim for 7 WP, which will be seven minor activities. And each of us should have something unique.¡±
¡°That''s fair!¡± Rine''s eyes are still tearing up, but the determination in them is pressuring.
Kyou-san rolls her eyes. ¡°Since I''m the one to cook, I already have one. And I''m okay with sitting on your lap once per day, even though you denied it not long ago. I thought you''d prefer Rine-chan to do that... Never mind. The rest is up to you.¡± She continues to sip her soup.
¡°If I sit on your lap, then I''m up to 5 WP.¡± Ara-san ponders. ¡°For my unique activity, I''d like something alfr, how about hands on chests?¡±
¡°And we already explained to you, that it''d be inappropriate.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, for me it''s a simple manner, just like holding hands, and we only need five minutes of it, so it''s fast and efficient. It''s only inappropriate, since Katarine-san and Momo have their utters- I mean, breasts. Which are supposedly made out of fat, which makes them entirely pointless, I might add.¡± Suddenly, Ara-san squirms.
Kyou-san''s eyes are hidden behind the wooden bowl, but I think she just pierced Ara-san with her eyes through it. So Kyou-san is not only a bitch but a witch as well! I better remember that.
Unsure what just happened, Ara-san continues, after looking around. ¡°As long as nobody else is feeling offended by it, it''s fine.¡±
¡°What about me?¡±
¡°Five minutes for 1 WP.¡±
¡°Pheeeeew...¡± That''s an argument. Normally, minor WP-actions take more time, even lap-pillows needs at least 10 minutes, and they''re supposed to be more intimate. I don''t know how the WP-system judges that, but walking and doing stuff for a long time, while one hand is stuck to a chest would be impractical. Maybe that''s why there is a difference. ¡°What about the others?¡±
¡°I don''t care anymore.¡± Kyou-san was against it when Ara-san showed it to us the first time, but now she''s indifferent to it. Things change, I guess.
¡°What about you, Rine... RINE! Stop dreaming, whatever you do! And take that hand from your chest!¡± I''m sure she''s daydreaming about me putting my hand on her voluptuous chest, which I kinda want to do, but that''s a path that will only lead to misfortune.
¡°I... whatever you say, dear!¡±
Whenever I feel like hitting that girl, I instantly remember that I shouldn''t dare to try.
¡°So, Kenta-kun?¡±
¡°Phew. Whatever.¡±
¡°Yes! Now another item for the list.¡±
¡°I was thinking about sleeping next to each other at night, like with Kyou-san.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, I like you, but not that way. So please don''t create an opportunity, to make it easy for you to night-crawl me.¡±
Is there a reason, why I can''t hurt her a bit? Nope. So I pinch her ear.
¡°OUCH!¡± Fast as thought, Rine takes Ara-san''s bowl from in front of her feet to safety, for Ara-san is flailing with her arms and legs. That''s effective! ¡°Not my ears! There are myriad nerve endings in there, so don''t pinch them!¡±
¡°I see.¡± I let loose. So alfr ears are like human lips or fingers. Maybe I should ask Ara-san about what alfr ears actually do. There has to be a reason, why they''re so sensitive.
¡°Ken, wouldn''t be the tent too small for it? We barely can put the safety distance between us.¡± Kyou-san''s words are correct.
¡°We have additional tarps, so I could build it in a way, where we''re shelters from three sides while having direct access to the fireplace-tarp and Rine''s tent would be at the other end.¡± And it wouldn''t obstruct my [Dormurnal] that much since there is at least one side open.
¡°I don''t want to sleep alone!¡± Of course that one''s complaining.
¡°Rine, I only have two sides to sleep by, so you have to deal with it.¡±
¡°But- *sob*¡± Oh no, not again!
¡°Rine-chan. It shows how much Ken trusts you. So be the adult girl you are and show him, that he''s right to believe in you.¡±
That''s good, Kyou-san! She will totally buy that!
¡°In exchange, you may not only link arms with him once a day but also feed him at breakfast. Two things only you will do!¡±
That''s bad, Kyou-san! She will totally buy that!
¡°OK!¡± The way she smiles is just like a child''s, but it sends shivers down my spine. I want to forbid her to do these things, but I''m afraid to do so. I''m sure that Rine would rather put me under emotional pressure, instead of beating me up, but I never dared to make her really angry at me.
So I accept, I guess?
¡°I still didn''t agree to sleep next to Kenta-kun.¡±
¡°Arako, it''s one WP for doing essentially nothing. It would be crazy not to do it.¡±
¡°...that seems reasonable.¡± Ara-san is as easily bought as me before. Kyou-san is using the different character traits of the other girls to make them comply.
At my costs, that is.
After everything is discussed, the new plan to grind WP is the following.
Kyou-san: Eating her meals, sitting on my lap, holding hands, lap-pillow to her, lap-pillow to me, sleeping next to each other, calling each other on a first name/nickname basis, 7 WP.
Rine: Linking arms, feeding me at breakfast, sitting on my lap, holding hands, lap-pillow to her, lap-pillow to me, calling each other on a first name/nickname basis, 7 WP.
Ara-san: Putting hands on each other''s chest, sitting on my lap, holding hands, lap-pillow to her, lap-pillow to me, sleeping next to each other, calling each other on a first name basis, 7 WP.
¡
What a pain.
¡°Kenta, here it comes. Say ''aaaaaahn''¡± Rine is already trying to get me to eat a spoonful of soup, it''s breakfast after all.
What a big pain in the ass.
Volume 04 - Chapter 3-1 – Close-up!
Chapter 3 ¨C Close-up!
I look at the ground.There are some suspicious tracks here, humanoid boots. Some paws also, but as far as my [Track]-skill tells me, the owners of these paws are bipedal. Maybe some sort of canine or feline human? Hard to tell, I have never seen paws like this before. They don''t particularly look like dog, cat, or bear paws.
Counting the boot and paw tracks there should be eleven creatures, wearing light equipment. Either scouts or bandits, I guess.
Or someone, who are trying to ambush us. The squirrels and their possible allies can''t know, what exactly I''m capable of, so it would be reasonable, that they hire some bandits to attack us, despite me being able to find their tracks.
¡°Is something there, Kenta-kun?¡± Ara-san, whose hand I''m currently holding, looks at the tracks, but as expected, she doesn''t recognize them. The sharp senses of alfar are useless if the alfr in question doesn''t know, what she''s looking at.
¡°I think these are the tracks of bandits. Eleven of them.¡± There shouldn''t be many bandits in these parts, but I can''t think of anything else, that would make sense. ¡°Two of them have strange paws.¡±
¡°Maybe hynoars?¡±
¡°What''s a hynoar?¡±
¡°I don''t know how you would describe them, but they have a very feral nature. And fleas, so I would recommend, to not get too close to them. Especially, since sharing fleas is a sign of friendship for them.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Rine, who until now has observed me like in a trance, is totally buying that. ¡°And I thought, that hynoars acknowledge everyone strong in their pack, while they don''t have real friends.¡±
¡°That''s only half-correct. Most people don''t want their fleas.¡±
Kyou-san and I are exchanging looks, and we had the exact same thought: Considering what Ara-san thinks about humans, she''s no reliable resource of information regarding any of the species.
I signal Kyou-san with my eyes to ask Rine: ¡°Rine-chan, since we''re humans, maybe you should tell us what you know about hynoars ?¡±
¡°Hynoars... they used to live in a hunter-gatherer society, but since the lands far from civilization are dangerous, there are only a few left, who uphold that tradition. Many of them are still following that lifestyle to some degree by becoming mercenaries or bandits. Some include themselves with the settlements of other people by becoming hunters.¡±
¡°How do they look?¡±
¡°They have paws instead of feet, human-like hands, a bushy tail and canine snouts. Their pelts range from black to gray or brown, same as their eyes.¡±
Some sort of dog-human?
¡°What about their personality?¡± Kyou-san, that''s a smart question.
Ara-san is about to say something, so I put my hand over her mouth. ¡°Hrf!¡±
¡°I heard they care more about the pack than themselves. And everything is structured in their lives: Everyone exactly knows how they can provide to the pack. Additionally, there are several leaders in each pack. Whenever a new situation arises, there is someone else who takes the leadership. Like a leader for hunting, a leader for diplomacy, a leader in battle, even a leader for retreat. So if you ever meet a hynoar, you have to be careful, especially if you don''t know, what tasks that hynoar exactly has. Never provoke the pack. They also dislike selfishness.¡±
Well, if it comes to this, we better not let selfish Kyou-san take over the negotiations.
¡
Why are you looking at me like that, Kyou-san? Do you think, that I would suck as a negotiator as well?
¡
Well, you''re probably right. So if we ever meet a hynoar pack, we let Rine handle that, right?
¡
Come on, girl, don''t give me that look, you know, how black your heart is.
¡
Bitch!
¡°Kenta? Why are you and Kyou exchanging so many looks?¡± Rine cocks her head. ¡°Can I join in, too?¡±
¡°HRF!¡± Ara-san is still trying to escape from my hand, which is grasping her mouth. I let her go. ¡°Huff... I didn''t know you were into those kinds of games. Poor me, subjected to the perverted will of-OUCH!¡± Good thing that I now know that pinching her ears will make her stop. ¡°I''m abused! My husband is-OUCHOUCHOUCH!¡±
Well, for her it''s most likely just a short, sharp pain, like when somebody hits your fingertips. I asked her this morning about her ears.
In fact, with these ears, Ara-san can feel sound-waves even before hearing them, feeling the air currents around her, which makes it hard to surprise her.
There are also receptors for auras and spirit particles. It''s like a sense humans don''t have: Feeling the immediate environment and the life within. Or something like that, she tried to explain it to me, but how do you explain to a blind one, how it is to see?
I may have [Wild Eyes], but compared to what Ara-san does, it''s like some cheap replacement.
Well, it''s not like Ara-san is exactly using those senses like she used to in her own world: The aura and spirit senses are not working properly in this fantasy world.
Ara-san thinks this world''s fundamental differences in comparison with Alfarheim, her home world, are at fault. The magic she learned before is also different from the one, which is used here.
So many questions.
¡°The tracks are going south, so maybe they just want to ambush a caravan on the trade route.¡± I use [Farsight] to look around. ¡°But the terrain around here doesn''t change, so when they come, we''ll see them.¡± Too bad I never found squirrel tracks, but to be honest, I don''t think these critters even leave tracks.
They''re something like alfr-squirrels and therefore have a special bond to plants. I can''t even see Ara-san tracks usually, since the blades of grass she tramps down immediately stand up again. Only today, with the wet ground, she leaves tracks in the muddy earth itself.
If those tracks are really made by bandits, should I expect more than those eleven? Maybe one or two alfar, maybe others, who don''t leave any tracks? ¡°Ara-san, just to be sure: Even alfar become bandits sometimes, right?¡±
¡°Of course not.¡± Her ears are drooping down, maybe the equivalent of a furrowing brow. ¡°They only become self-employed, self-exiled acquisitors forcefully redistributing wealth.¡±
¡°So basically, bandits.¡±
¡°If you dumb it down.¡± It''s hard to tell whether Ara-san is currently joking or not.
Well, the tracks are from yesterday, and it rained the whole day. So as long as there is no trick to it, there shouldn''t be more than eleven.
Even though I can''t help but think, that Oro''hekk wouldn''t have left tracks even with the wet ground. Ara-san does so, but she''s not really what you''d expect from a typical alfr. If we weren''t around, she would let herself totally go and become a lazy bum again.
Let''s just assume for the time being, that the owners of the tracks are about to ambush the trade route and not us.
¡°I made a decision. We will stick with the original route.¡± The sky is still clouded, it''s hard to tell the direction with the sun, so even if we don''t make any further changes in direction, it''ll be hard enough for us to keep the current course.
Actually, this is a plus: If even we don''t know where exactly we''re going, it''ll be just as hard for anyone else to figure out more than the general direction.
What I''m worried about is, what happens if some ambushers go ahead and wait for us. We''re bound to hit the trade route at some point, and there are some settlements we''ll pass before arriving in Zethtrin. There will be plenty of opportunities to find us.
And when they do, they can send a new wave of monsters when we leave the settlement, so we won''t be able to hide behind walls and murals, or people.
Is breaking the curse worth it?
We could just change directions and go somewhere else. It doesn''t have to be Zethtrin.
We could just forget about this curse and concentrate on the actual tasks, like slaying the demon king. Just farming until we hit the level necessary and do the stuff!
This curse isn''t so bad in itself. It''s dormant as long I''m with-
Nah, I better break that curse. Being with them drives me crazy. Kyou-san is a bitch, and Rine''s annoying me. Ara-san would be OK if we didn''t feel physically attracted to each other by the curse.
But the current state is barely endurable. So breaking the curse still comes first.
You gain 1 WP.
Even if you''re from other cultures, or maybe especially because you are, it''s still important to communicate your love to each other with simple gestures.
Ah, Ara-san and I have held hands for an hour now.
The moment she lets go of my hand. ¡°My turn!¡± Rine is eager to fill-in. ¡°I want to link arms first!¡±
¡ ¡°Phew...¡± Thanks for nothing, Kyou-san.
But if I resist, then Rine might do anything to make me do it, be it tears or force. I can''t fight any of it effectively.
Her arm serpents around mine and I can feel how her armor is pushing against me. Same with the soft cushion underneath it, just like always.
¡°Tehehe.¡± Rine grins like an idiot and tries to lean her head against my shoulder, but we''re about the same height, so are our shoulders, which makes it difficult to impossible. ¡°Nuh.¡± She pushes her underlip forwards in displeasure and tries to lean her head on the side of mine, but before that can happen, I push it back. ¡°Kenta?¡±
¡°Just linking. Nothing more.¡±
¡°But...¡± She pouts, but I don''t care. The grip around my arm fastens, and she sticks as close to me as possible.
¡°It''s hard to walk that way.¡± It really is, since there is almost no leeway for the left arm, which makes my movements more clunky.
Instead of saying something, Rine confers her unwillingness to reason in a single, fiery stare. Plus she puts her other hand on my arm to make a point.
What a pain. ¡°Then at least hold my hand as well.¡± We should be able to grind both WP at the same time.
¡°OK!¡± She doesn''t see through my reasoning and is rather happy to grab my hand with her arm-linking hand. That''s uncomfortable, but if I can cut the time, I''m willing to bear it.
It''s all for the WP.
But seeing Rine''s stupidly happy face makes me reconsider it. I may be willing to cut her some slack because she''s doing what I say most of the time, but we''re in a real situation here and seeing someone smiling like that is just inappropriate.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Not that I told her about the squirrels. Only Ara-san and I know for now.
If we let Rine know, it won''t change anything, and Kyou-san can''t change anything. So there is no reason to tell them, all I need is Ara-san for the planning, and she is willing to keep it a secret.
Everything''s still fine.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Something is wrong with Ken. Sure, he always looks like everyone irritates him, but something feels more... urgent about it.
I think it started when we left Aroahenn. I was a bit occupied after the scaleetles attacked, but now it''s clear as day. He wanted to raise the WP-income and the way he looked at the tracks, everything is telling me, that he''s expecting something bad to happen and he won''t tell me what.
But maybe he told someone else.
Rine-chan is out of the question since she''s too open, so what''s left is Arako, who just joined me in the rear. Let''s ask her in a soft voice. ¡°Arako, what is Ken hiding?¡± No need to be subtle about it, I can''t read Arako''s face well and, even though I know most of her ear movements, it''s still hard to implement that knowledge in actual conversation.
Her ears are straightening up, that means she''s alert. ¡°What are you talking about, Momo?¡±
I look at Ken, whose back has also straightened up. He has good ears due to his [Ranger]-class. I may not be able to read Arako that well, but I can read him like a book, even from behind. That''s how good I learned to know him.
So he actually told Arako.
¡°Arako, Ken may be an idiot, a low-life, and a scumbag, but he knows if something is wrong. And he''s terrible at hiding it.¡± I want to know what he knows.
Arako is flicking her ear, but I think her other ear is twitching a bit. ¡°Momo, I''m not sure, if now is the time to talk about it.¡±
As long as Ken doesn''t figure out that I know he''s listening to us, he will most likely wait until the last moment, before he interrupts us. So I only need to interrogate Arako indirectly. ¡°Is someone following us?¡±
I observe Ken''s reaction: He slightly tensed up his shoulder. Rine-chan cocks her head, wondering why he just did that.
So I''m right.
¡°How did you come to this conclusion?¡± Arako tries to hide it, but even I can see, how bad she is at that. Her social skills are as underdeveloped as Ken''s, her voice is slightly trembling, and she refuses to look me in the eyes. At least she keeps the volume low.
¡°Whenever Ken''s concerned with anything, it''s due to his paranoia, but sometimes he might be right.¡±
Ah, he feels irritated and is about to cut into the conversation, but he''s barely holding himself back
I feel the corners of my lips rising. It feels good, that Ken is on edge, when listening to me. ¡°So what are we talking about? Ss''rak? Other heroes? Someone from the Feuerberg-kingdom, trying to recapture Rine? Alfar? He seemed to be concerned about them just now. Demons?¡± For someone who has been in this world for just four months, it''s already quite a list. ¡°The oni? The squirrels?¡±
¡
Seriously? Arako just cringed, while Ken is ''phewing.'' I hit the mark with the panda-like squirrels. Well, if I consider the fight with the oni, it shouldn''t surprise me.
But there are two important questions: Why can''t they let it go? And why do we have a real reason to be concerned over squirrels?
Ahh, this world is just crazy.
¡°So Arako, what is it?¡±
¡°I...¡± Arako is certainly concerned about what she should tell me. I have to remember, that she is actually trying to be friends with Ken, so she doesn''t want to do anything, that might spoil it. But that doesn''t mean, that I don''t matter to her.
Well, that''s why I let a backdoor open. ¡°If you can''t tell me, Arako, just say so. I can ask him later.¡±
Arako''s ears relax. I didn''t even know before seeing it, that that is even possible. ¡°Thanks, Momo.¡±
¡°You''re welcome.¡± Ken''s still tensed up. No, he actually tensed up even more, since Rine is pulling his hand closer to her stomach, wanting as much body contact as humanly possible.
What does she see in this guy? He doesn''t even like her. Rine-chan is definitely too good for him. She''s kind, maybe a bit selfish at times, but otherwise selfless. She has talent, style, and is royalty, about everything that puts her far beyond any girl Ken should be able to get.
But for some reason, she believes that she loves him.
What kind of girl would be Ken''s level?
Maybe one of the ugly ones, who don''t have any redeeming quality?
Or maybe a fat one, that is more of the homely type?
Not that he would start dating any of these by himself, it''ll be more, that his parents will ask him to do several marriage interviews, so that they can get rid of him.
Since I can''t imagine Ken becoming something other than a person, who lives off his parents.
Something like the shame of the family... Ken''s an only child, right?
I don''t know. He knows that I have a younger brother, but I don''t even know if he has siblings. I wasn''t that interested before, but maybe I should ask him about his family situation. What is his mother like? How can she even handle a son like that?
Looking at how bad he is at dealing with physical contact, it could be, that he''s not only a single child, but also has only one parent left, most likely his father.
That''s still no reason to become a jerk.
I really have to know what family situation he has, but asking him might be not the best way at this point. While we somewhat grew closer, it''s not like we''re friends.
Maybe I should use the opportunity to ask Arako when he''s not around. She might actually know stuff like that, she and Ken have often talked to each other. Mostly about the hero-system, but I''m sure that there were conversations about other topics as well.
Yes, asking Arako about Ken seems like a good idea.
Seriously Rine-chan, I don''t know if your armor is blocking the feeling, but it looks like you''re trying to get his arm between your breasts. Are you feeling up to him?
Sometimes I''m not sure, how far Rine-chan exactly matured.
She seems to know about sex, but I don''t have the feeling, that she actually has sexual desires. The way she''s sticking to him looks so... indecent.
I can''t see Ken''s face, but his body tells me, that he''s somewhat excited.
Rine-chan is a beautiful girl, even I have to say that, and I could hardly tell the people of this world apart at first, let alone determine how good they look.
Well, I''m still a Japanese beauty, so I don''t need to be ashamed.
But whenever Ken is looking at her, he appears irritated, but also a bit pleased.
When he''s looking at me, he''s usually just annoyed.
Ah, my appearance is suffering by being in this world. I have no cosmetics, so my hair started to become a bit straggly, my lips are dry, as is my skin.
Even though I wasn''t into cosmetics and a flashy appearance back in our world, I lack the basic needs right now, so maybe I should put some more effort into it.
Shampoo. I want shampoo instead of that local hair-soap. I did some experiments when I was learning [Herbalist], but so far I''m not confident in my results.
Now, that I''ve classed-up, I should give it another try. Moisturizer... how do I even make that? Maybe I should ask Ken, for some reason he knows stuff like that.
No. I¡¯d better not.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Phew.¡± We''re currently taking a break. I want to take off my boots because my feet are feeling strange, or to get out of my armor, as I''m sweating like crazy, but it''s only a short break. I drink from a waterskin, Kyou-san and Ara-san are currently away, most likely to take a piss.
Not that it would be hard to see them, if I look around, the area still doesn''t cover well, even though it''s not exactly a plain. It''s just a strange grassland, that has nothing else.
¡°May I take a sip?¡± I''m currently sitting on a stool and Rine is on my lap. She asks me while turning halfway to me, making her butt move on my thighs, which is a bit arousing. But I think, that I somehow got used to it, I have already let her sit on my lap once per day for several weeks.
¡°Sure.¡± I give her the waterskin and she drinks from it.
You gain 1 WP.
An indirect kiss can be as romantic as a normal one, especially if it comes unintended. That only shows how natural it is to share everything.
¡°*Cough, cough*¡± Rine chokes on the water. I hit her back a few times. ¡°Thanks.¡± Her eyes are a bit teary. ¡°That was a surprise. I read kiss and then...¡±
¡°It''s an indirect kiss.¡±
¡°What''s that?¡± Don''t people of this world know indirect kisses?
Well, it''s a fantasy-world, so why would they have Japanese common sense? ¡°It''s the exchange of saliva indirectly. Like when drinking from the same container, or using the same fork. Something like that.¡±
¡°But that''s no kiss.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
Rine is putting her fingers on her lips. Then she looks at my face.
No, to be precise... ¡°I know what you''re thinking, and it won''t happen!¡±
¡°But Dear-¡±
¡°And don''t ''dear'' me! Seriously... stop. Stop looking. Stop putting your arm around me, stop-¡±
You gain 1 WP.
Your wife''s favorite place to sit is still your lap.
Seeing the signal that the lap-session is over, I push Rine away. She lands on her feet and is looking unsatisfied, while caressing her lips.
I feel a bit of a chill. The WP-system put an awful idea in Rine''s head, and I''m the one, who has to pay for it.
There is only one thing I can do, and I did it already several times to no effect: ¡°Rine, we are cursed, right?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°So we''re not wed. Because if we''re wed, we would be evil sinners, breaking divine law, and criminals, deserving the death penalty, right?¡±
¡°...yes?¡±
¡°Basically, there is no romance involved in the relationship between the two of us, right?¡±
¡°There is.¡±
¡°No, there is not!¡±
¡°There is, there is, there is! Kenta, I l-¡±
¡°DON''T!¡± I put my flat hand over her mouth. ¡°Don''t say it.¡± The moment she says these words out loud, it becomes more complicated.
Rine''s taking my hand and pulls it to her cheek, snuggling at it. Her lips are parting, about to say something, but she doesn''t. Instead, she sighs blissfully.
That''s wrong on so many levels. It hurts, somehow it hurts. ¡°Rine, just-¡± I pick something up with my ears, it''s Kyou-san and Ara-san, returning to us. I roughly draw my hand back, Rine''s looking at it longingly, but I turn away. ¡°I''ll go take a piss.¡±
I pass Ara-san and Kyou-san, who are talking about something, but I don''t listen to it.
My thoughts are occupied with Rine.
I don''t like her, she''s stupidly pure and gets me into trouble, like helping people and such. The way she''s looking up to me is just troublesome.
Why is a girl like that thinking, that she''s in love with someone like me?
She told me that I''m her ideal man, but I know that she and I just don''t fit and she should know it as well. What could that girl -or any girl- see in me?
Some words float around in my head. Words that Kyou-san said when we just met Rine. ''Rine-chan, it''s the other way around: Since you can''t decide who to marry, you want to have some hot romantic fantasies, right?''
That''s right. Rine just selfishly projects her delusions onto me.
I have to keep her around, the curse will strike back otherwise, but that makes her think, that she is in a romantic story.
She is into that book that she lent me. I started reading it, but I''m still at the beginning, which wasn''t very interesting at all.
But actually reading something is a good way to learn letters, that''s why I started reading it in the first place.
Maybe I should spend more time with that book since it could help me understand Rine.
But not now, when we''re chased by these squirrels. I won''t relax and read a book until we get away.
It has to wait.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Arako knows a bit about Ken''s personal life. He still has both parents, no siblings, and his grandparents are still alive and doting on him, like many grandparents do.
Ken didn''t tell her much, maybe speaking about his family is awkward for him, but he''s ''getting along'' with his parents, that''s how he phrased it.
Nonetheless, I have a bit of insight on his family matters. I can''t make any conclusions with it, but maybe there lies the key to finding out, why he''s so much against physical contact.
With this knowledge, Arako and I returned to the others.
Ken passes us looking as if he was just bitten and walks towards some bushes. His face looks haunted.
Rine-chan is left behind, totally confused and on the verge of tears. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be ''heartbroken''.
¡°Come here.¡± I draw her into an embrace.
¡°Thanks.¡± She mutters softly, putting most of her weight on me. She''s heavy. It''s not only because she''s taller than I am, but also because of her armor and weapons.
Nonetheless, I pat her head, while she''s lifeless in my arms.
I wonder why she''s like that, and I have a few theories, but it''s not the time for that: Now she needs some comfort.
Stupid Ken!
¡°Everything will be alright,¡± I whisper to her, and she just absorbs every kind word I say. ¡°I''m here for you.¡±
She''s still my best friend in this world. She may be dimwitted, but she''s a good girl. Her only mistake was to develop feelings for Ken, even if they''re fake.
However, the pain she feels is real. Whatever happened, she put a lot of feeling into it and was rejected by Ken. And that hurt her.
It even hurts me, when I look at her.
¡°Is she alright?¡± Arako is oblivious to the scene. I don''t know if it''s because she''s alfr or because of her personality, maybe a bit of both. ¡°Can I do something?¡±
¡°Just embrace her.¡± Some human warmth might be needed, even though Arako''s not human.
With a bit of hesitation, as if she tries to test the waters, Arako draws nearer to Rine-chan''s back. Then Arako lunges at her, really awkwardly, but well-meaning.
All three of us are now a cuddling bunch. After staying in that position for a while, Rine-chan begins to revive, and we could separate. Arako seems to be confused, but in the end, everything worked out.
For now at least.
Actually, I want to say a lot to Rine-chan, but now is not the best time. I also want to speak with Ken, but I need to get the perfect opportunity, where he can''t escape the conversation.
Making this party work takes a lot of effort.
Even though Ken is technically the leader, he has almost no social skills, and he won''t be able to take care of the interpersonal relationships, so I have to do it.
He might be the one who knows best in battles and he might be able to take care of day-to-day business with the help of Arako, but without me, everything would fall apart at some point.
If things fall apart, who knows what will become of us.
So even if Ken''s the core of the party, I''m the one, who holds everything together. Without me, he is nothing.
This thought makes me smile.
¡°Kyou?¡± Rine-chan asks me. ¡°Have you ever kissed?¡±
My thoughts are blown away, only a memory resurfaced. The taste of sweat, blood and something else on my lips. In the heat of battle and the cheering crowd, the moment when my determination and something else overruled my disgust. The mean looking eyes wide open, an irregular breath coming out of his nostrils, a bit of a voice leaking out.
Instinctively, my fingers wander to my lips, tracing them.
Rine-chan''s ember-like eyes are looking at me, expecting an answer. I could lie, but who knows what Ken already told her. Or more likely, told Arako. ¡°Yes, I did. Why are you asking?¡±
¡°Was it Kenta?¡±
¡°There were... circumstances.¡±
¡°How did you do it?¡± She asks earnestly, without even a bit of jealousy. She''s just curious.
¡°Rine-chan, like I said, there were circumstances. We didn''t do it because we wanted to.¡± To be honest, I was the one who forced it, but at that moment it felt like a chance to increase the odds, even by a bit.
I swear, it was a matter of pragmatism!
¡°...¡± Rine-chan is mustering me, her underlip is a bit pushed forward. ¡°Is there a way, I can do that, too?¡±
No, just no. I don''t want even to imagine Ken and Rine-chan kissing. ¡°I don''t think so. I think, that there will never, ever be an opportunity to do so.¡±
¡°Does Kenta hate kissing?¡±
...I don''t know. He was shocked back then, and a bit disturbed, I think. He also turned back to his opponent right afterward. ¡°I think, he doesn''t like it.¡±
¡°I see. So there has to be another way... Ara? How do alfar kiss?¡±
¡°We don''t kiss.¡± So Ara-san''s half-sunken ears were a sign of disgust this time. ¡°It''s unsanitary, obnoxious, and weird.¡±
¡°But how do you kiss? Or whatever you do? To show someone, that you love him?¡±
¡°You mean, a gesture of closeness? That''s ear-plugging.¡±
¡°¡°What''s that?¡±¡± Rine and I are both wondering about that.
¡°You put your ears together. They contain important organs and are very delicate. There is supposed to be some sort of connection going on, when you do so, so it''s deemed to feel otherworldly.¡± So it''s basically kissing with your ears.
I''m not sure if there will be no infection risk at all if you do that.
¡°So ear-plugging... I''ll try it!¡±
I roll my eyes, not even knowing if I should be interested or repelled by that thought.
Volume 04 - Chapter 3-2
¡°More hynoar tracks. It''s another group, no boots. They''re traveling northwest.¡± So we have a pure hynoar-group heading northwest and a mixed hynoar-human group traveling south, both groups crossed our path.
I thought that only monsters are supposed to be here, far out in the Wildlands.
In fact, we fought them several times already, against some kind of grassy toads, a pack of great boars with horns like bulls, and some reptile chickens. The monsters around here are not very difficult. Except for Kyou-san.
She looks like shit, hardly able to keep her disgust hidden, but she''s protecting Ara-san, while the alfr-girl casts spells. She''s even using the [Cook]-class.
Is she seriously trying to get [Knife]-skills? Just what happened!? It''s Kyou-san!
Well, she sucks like always. Ara-san sucks as well, but as long as she sticks with casting spells, she''s quite capable.
Regarding melee combat... even with her [Acrobat]-class, Ara-san is unable to cope with it that well, unless she concentrates on dodging. I hoped for more.
She''s just not used to it enough and tries to be flashy instead of effective.
I would really like to take some time to grind a bit and train both of them properly, but the main focus remains on the journey and to be honest, it''ll still be faster if I do what they''re not capable of.
It''s a matter of simplicity.
Plus, I''m still worried about the squirrels, so I want to get away as fast as possible.
¡°I want to pick up speed,¡± I explain to the girls while pointing at the tracks. ¡°Normally, bandits are supposed to be rare here, but it''s the second group of people, which crossed our path for no apparent reason. Maybe there is a good reason, but if that''s the case, I can''t imagine it''s good for us.¡±
It could be hunting parties, looking for a dangerous monster, which would mean, that said dangerous monster would be here.
Or they could be bounty hunters, and I''m pretty sure, that a bounty is put on our heads for kidnapping the crown-princess of Feuerberg. So even if we''re not their intended quarry, they wouldn''t mind catching us, when we meet.
The worst would be, that they''re somehow linked to the squirrels. And since I''m suspecting, that the squirrels and the demons are working together now, it would mean, that a whole lot of trouble is chasing us, for whatever reason.
The girls have different reactions to my suggestion of raising our speed.
Rine is simple. ¡°OK!¡±
Ara-san is eager. ¡°I''ll try my best, but we better don''t overdo it.¡±
Kyou-san is still fighting her disgust. ¡°I don''t think I can do that.¡±
¡°Phew... try some stomach medicine. Like our cold, it should suppress your stomach issues." Being a hero has its advantages after all: "We''ll compensate the exhaustion with spells and SP-pots. We still might overwork our muscles, but for that we have poultices and medicine.¡±
Even if we can burden our hero-bodies with much strain and can still force them to move, even if they''re overburdened, it doesn''t mean, that there is no damage at all.
We''ll heal faster than regular people, and we can counter the consequences with consumables, but there is still a limit. Ara-san told me some details, with her vast knowledge about the hero-system.
First, you won''t die outright, just because you''re at 0 SP, but you will enter a state of delirium, which then might lead to death. Some of the alfr-heroes that returned to Aroahenn told her, that one of them died, by overstraining his body for too long.
Second, if you get too many sore muscles, pulled muscles, sprains, exhaustion, hunger and other rather small issues one after another, there is the [Worn Out]-condition, which, for some reason, is only curable by resting for a day. There is no known spell or item, that can remove it.
How random is this!?
Ara-san has many theories about how the hero-system changed our biology, but things like that make it hard to understand how exactly this is supposed to work.
Well, we have to challenge it for a bit.
After Kyou-san is ready, we''re picking up the speed. I roughly guessed by how much we can move faster, without coming too close to any bad ailment.
During the travel, I hold Kyou-san''s hand, she''s the weakest link, and when she shows any signs of strain, I''ll know right away.
Just cover it up as a standard hand-holding-session.
¡°Why are you constantly looking at me?¡± But she surely doesn''t fail to annoy me.
¡°Are you alright?¡± Instead of explaining my thoughts, I decided just to make sure, that she feels well. I can look at her status, but in the end, these are just numbers.
¡°Since when are you concerned about my well-being?¡±
¡°Kyou-san, I''m just asking, if you''re alright.¡± I don''t have time for bickering; I''m still trying to figure out if I dare to lengthen the time of travel or shorten the breaks in-between.
¡°...¡± Kyou-san''s face turns forwards, not even looking at me. ¡°...I don''t feel well. My stomach is still a bit upset, the cold is still ongoing even though suppressed, and-¡± She musters her free, left hand. Her eyes directly wander to the ring on her finger. ¡°A lot is going on.¡±
I didn''t ask for that. Is there any point to it?
¡°Also...¡± Kyou-san turns to me again. ¡°You. Won''t. Tell. Me.¡± She stabs me in the side with her finger. ¡°You used to tell me, whenever you made some plans or had pressing concerns, but now you only ask Arako and treat me, like I''m some sort of nuisance!¡±
¡°You are-AH!¡± She pinched me. How can being pinched hurt so much, if you have a bunch of [Vitality] and HP? It just doesn''t make sense!
¡°I may be a nuisance for you, but you''re a pain for me. So we''re even!¡±
I pick her hand from my side and hold it firm, but now that all four of our hands are intermingled, we have a hard time walking, so I release the pinching hand again. ¡°So, why are you pissed off?¡±
¡°You ignore me and my opinion! All four of us are part of this, and even if I complied to let you make the calls, it doesn''t mean, that you shouldn''t involve us! You''re only the leader in combat!¡±
¡°So I should involve Rine as well?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°But... we never involved her in decision-making before!¡±
¡°Now it''s different!¡±
¡°Are both of you talking about me?¡± Rine blissfully chimes in, when she heard her name coming up.
¡°Phew... Rine, we''ll talk later.¡± I''m still feeling unwell about the scene from before. ¡°And Kyou-san, please answer my question: Do you think, you can keep that pace going?¡±
Kyou-san blinks a few times. ¡°That''s what you were talking about?¡±
¡°Of course. What else?¡±
¡°...¡± She clearly just swallowed some words. ¡°I think I need some SP soon. Should I cast the spell?¡±
¡°For starters. I like to limit the SP-pots we''re using today as much as possible. But keep at least half of your MP. We''ll use pots when you''re past that.¡±
¡°Alright...¡±
¡You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
That travel pace is a bit burdening, but now, that we''re finished with making camp, I must say, that I''m proud of us. We nearly cleared double the distance, even though I''m a bit concerned for another reason.
The number of goods that we have to use to keep this pace up makes it less attractive to do it repeatedly. Kyou-san''s spells are cheap, as long as we don''t run into a hard fight, but SP-pots and the cold medicine aren''t.
We can replenish the medicine, but for that, Kyou-san needs to compound these, it''ll take time and herbs.
Also, I''m not too sure, where we can buy more SP-pots from now on, as we''re not exactly planning to hit many settlements until we arrive in Zethtrin.
Maybe Kyou-san could also learn to compound a substitute, but for now, she can''t.
By the way, Kyou-san holds up much better than Ara-san, who just expends more SP than the rest of us. Is it because of her being an alfr? I don''t know, but Ara-san needed the consumables the most.
I have to look into it later.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We''re camping near a small stream, which was not mentioned by anyone when we planned the trip. Ara-san also didn''t know it before, so we have either strayed from the course, or we had insufficient information about the terrain.
The stream itself is no problem: We can just jump over it. But every water source includes the danger of meeting monsters.
At least there are some trees and bushes around, so we built the camp as hidden as possible. We didn''t set up the tents, just a blanket on the ground. Plus a small fire, for cooking only, but it''ll take some time until enough embers are there to use it.
¡°Buh.¡± Rine is sitting on her heels and pouting. Her elbows are on her knees, while she holds her head with both hands. She watches me, who is sitting straddle-legged on a stool, right before Kyou-san and Ara-san.
Kyou-san''s face shows her hesitation, while she''s stealing glances at my thigh. Ara-san''s ears are upright with a bit of waggling.
I sigh. ¡°Phew.¡± It''s lap-time. I was the one who suggested that, but I''m not looking forward to it. But it''s better to do it quickly. In this regard: ¡°Both at the same time?¡±
Ara-san''s ears are blushing lightly. ¡°Momo, he just told us that he''d take us both at the same time! This makes my body heat up.¡± She rubs her thighs together, and this is strangely arousing and disturbing at the same time.
Kyou-san rubs her nose bridge. ¡°Seriously, Arako.¡± Then she looks at me or more like, the most unpleasant place. A small sigh escapes her mouth: ¡°At least that''s normal.¡± She should know, that I''ll hear it with [Perception], but maybe that was intentional.
Of course, she''s talking about ''that.''
Actually, it''s already half-awake, it just doesn''t bulge my trouser yet. But seeing Ara-san like that, makes my body remember that it was changed so that I''m basically into bestiality.
Or would it be alfriality?
Doesn''t matter, when I don''t focus, I have the hots for Ara-san. Same goes for Rine. And even Kyou-san, if she''s quiet.
Remember, all of these girls are no-goes. Ara-san is from another species, Rine is clingy as crazy, and Kyou-san is a nagging bitch.
Is there still no one, who wants to trade with me?
...I''m sure that some sick bastard would kill me for not being happy with this situation.
¡°Let''s just get it over with.¡± The irritation in my voice is easy to hear. ¡°If we try both of you at the same time, we might cut time again and be more efficient. And Ara-san, I''m only talking about lap-sitting!¡±
¡°That''s too ba-, good! That''s good.¡± Ara-san panics a little, her ears are down and shiver. ¡°I need to focus more, or I might end up behaving like a human.¡± She puts her hand on her chest, taking deep breaths.
Kyou-san is playing with the ring on her finger, while she frowns. ¡°I like the idea of not wasting time, but...¡± She doesn''t even end her sentence, staring at my lap as if it''s a trap.
¡°Let''s just do it.¡± I slap my thighs to show them my determination. ¡°Just get over here!¡±
With open displeasure, Kyou-san straightens her skirt, while Ara-san just comes closer. ¡°Left or right side?¡± She flicks her ears and then decides: ¡°Right!¡± I don''t know her reasoning, and I don''t care.
Ara-san''s butt is touching my thigh. She tries to find a good way to sit until she ends up with her body facing right,stable and balanced.
I check her class. [Acrobat]. Maybe that''s the reason her behind feels meatier than I thought it would.
Stay low, son! It''s not the time for you, yet. Maybe it will never be the time, but stay strong, don''t be led astray. That girl is not human! You can not have children with... Maybe I could?
I mean, something changed with Ara-san and me, so maybe the curse really made it possible for Ara-san and I to have children. If the curse can make Rine a hero, then it could also be capable of making Ara-san able to carry my children.
Stay low! Don''t think about it. That goes for you and me, son!
The moment I believe it, might be the moment, I fall for her. I mean, she''s intelligent, we get along well, and she''s somewhat interested in me, so when the species don''t matter anymore, there is no logical reason to not...
Wait, Ara-san is a sloven, who can''t even get her life organized, as long there is nobody who leads her. She may be good at her work, but she takes poor care of herself.
Plus, she likes sex jokes too much. So there are reasons, why being involved with her won''t do me any good.
¡°Hey. Don''t stare at Arako.¡± Kyou-san stands in front of me, her arms akimbo and in a bad mood. She inspects between my legs. I''m glad, that the lower armor parts are a bit stiff, making it harder to see. ¡°And don''t move.¡±
She turns around and let her body fall on my thigh. For a moment, she''s wiggling, about to fall, and reflexively my left hand wanders to her upper body. Even though I was about to grab the natural handholds of a woman''s body, I realized it early enough to switch to her hip instead.
Kyou-san turns her head to me but doesn''t say anything. Her breathing is flat, and her face is a bit red, most likely due to anger or shame, but she''s smart enough to accept that it''s hard for her to sit on my lap that way without some stabilization.
This might be the reason, Ara-san changed to [Acrobat]. In that class, she has the [Balance]-skill, which enhances her equilibrium manifold.
After breathing in deeply, Kyou-san put her left hand on my shoulder and put some weight on me. I don''t like it, but it''s still tolerable. Rine often leans on my whole body, which is much more contact.
Kyou-san is soft. Her whole body is.
Rine''s skin is soft as well, but she works out, so after a bit of pressure, you''ll feel her muscles.
But now that I hold Kyou-san''s hip, I can feel almost no resistance. It''s not fat, just softness.
The way she leans on me is tingling some male instincts, I totally forgot about. Like the wish to protect her, even though I truly want to get rid of her. But without that fake smile, saying no word, she''s currently so defenseless.
But why is Ara-san mimicking her and begins leaning on me? ¡°Ah, my own Kenta-kun-pillow.¡± She even puts her head on my shoulder! Well, Rine did it as well, but there is a problem: Ara-san''s ponytail is now in my face, making it hard to see or breath!
My right hand is slowly approaching her face and rips it off my shoulder. ¡°No Kenta-kun-pillow here!¡±
¡°Buuuh!¡± Rine makes every effort to tell me, that she doesn''t like it to be left out. Girl, we did it already today. Lap-sitting, that is.
For some reason, Rine stands up. ¡°Don''t come closer. I''m serious!¡±
¡°I will!¡± She''s still pouting and doesn''t listen to me at all. ¡°I want to join you! It''s unfair that you three have fun without me!¡± Now she turns around, walking backward with her butt first. It''s her usual beautiful butt, which makes me crazy at times.
And she''s aiming right to the point, where a god wants to rise, between Kyou-san and Ara-san!
¡°Girl! I have only two legs! There is no lap left, and the point you''re aiming at is bad!¡± I look at the two girls on my lap. It looks like we have to abort this try since otherwise, Rine will join in...
Ara-san isn''t even looking at me, she''s more or less wiggling on my thigh, while her ears blush.
What are you even thinking about!? And stop looking so hot!
On the other hand, Kyou-san sighs. ¡°Just suggest something different for her to do.¡±
That''s actually a good idea, almost as good as just throwing both girls from my lap and running away. Nah, not so good of an idea, if I think about it. Rine will catch me and force herself on me.
At least that''s the vibe I''m getting from her.
So I just follow Kyou-san''s advice. ¡°Rine, it''s impossible. Is there anything else you want to do?¡±
Rine''s movements suddenly stop. Her head turns to me, her eyes are sparkling: ¡°Anything I want?¡±
There is only one answer: ¡°No.¡± When I look at these eyes, I''m sure, that she will ask me for something like a kiss or something.
My eyes are wandering to Kyou-san, who still leans on my body, looking between Rine and me. This girl was my first kiss.
Stop it!
That was directed to my son, who''s about to do ascension to a god, ready to create life. He wants to be freed and do his deeds. And he''s constantly whispering into my ear, that I have three girls here, who are more than capable of helping.
¡°Pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!¡±
All three girls are turning to me, Ara-san twisted her body a bit, but still holds balance without any form of support. Kyou-san grips my shoulder tighter and tries to do the same, her breasts just brushed my shoulder. Rine just tilts her head sidewards.
After I let some steam out, I can calm down my voice. ¡°Rine, just wait. I''m currently doing something, and if you feel left out, then it''s a pity, but we already did much today. Now is not your turn!¡±
¡°But you just asked me, if there-¡±
¡°Yes, and now I decided otherwise. You have to wait!¡±
¡°But-¡±
¡°Rine.¡±
¡°Kenta, I... *sob*¡± She''s about to burst into tears. What a pain! I have only a little resistance to this!
I could easily close my eyes and try to ignore it, but that won''t stop it, I think. And I''m not able to cover my ears as well, I still have two girls on my lap!
I try to facepalm, but the normal motion would lead to me embracing Ara-san, which causes me to stop.
Kyou-san whispers something. ¡°Just say to her, that she should stop crying because you like her smile.¡± There is a definite undertone of reluctance in her words, but technically it''s not a bad idea.
Just that it would make me sound like some playboy, which would put me on the same level as Inoue Masahiko, aka Fake. Since Kyou-san doesn''t have my good hearing, I lower my head to her ear: ¡°Don''t give me pick-up lines!¡±
Kyou-san almost lost balance, looks like my breath on her ear was a bit of a surprise. ¡°Don''t do it ever again!¡± She''s agitated. ¡°Then just say something nice to Rine-chan for a change!¡±
Ara-san chimes in. ¡°Maybe you could ask her to be patient since you have some other idea for later. Then you''ll win time.¡± That''s somehow convincing, but I think it stems from Ara-san''s laziness to deal with things, which doesn''t interest her.
¡°Rine. Please don''t cry.¡± We already did it today, but I have an idea. I stretch my right hand, the one on Ara-san''s side, to her: ¡°Here. You can hold it until we''re finished.¡±
And the sun, which is known as Rine''s smile, is rising. She takes my hand as if it''s something precious and cuddles with it. Seriously, she kneels down, to put her cheeks on my hand, as if it''s some sort of stuffed animal.
What''s wrong with this girl!?
You gain 1 WP.
Making all of your wives happy shows your capabilities as a husband.
Another irregular one. I often have the feeling, that this curse makes things up as it goes, but this would require some sort of intelligence.
If it was intelligent though, wouldn''t it notice that I don''t have any prerequisite for being a husband at all?
Volume 04 - Chapter 3-3
Now that we finished dinner and brushed our teeth, Kyou-san comes to me. ¡°Now tell us finally.¡± Rine and Ara-san are standing behind her, the girls are mobbing up to me, even though Ara-san knows as much as me. Reminds me of school. ¡°Tell us, Ken. What are you worrying about?¡±
¡°A lot. I worry about so many things that it''d take days to recount them all, but I guess you''re talking about the tracks and stuff.¡±
¡°...we can talk about the rest another time. For now, we concentrate on this.¡± Kyou-san''s strangely calm. Rine looks puzzled, as if she doesn''t know, why she''s exactly here, joining this conversation. Maybe she was OK with how things went so far. Ara-san rubs her ears awkwardly.
¡°Well, you more or less got it figured out. When we left Aroahenn, I saw one of these panda-squirrels observing us. It happened before when I was alone, so maybe it was waiting until we left the forest as a group. Then we got attacked by the scaleetles, and it''s the same like back then with Correo.¡±
¡°So you think Correo and the squirrels joined forces?¡± The way the squirrels helped the oni back then makes it plausible, so Kyou-san is fast on the uptake,
¡°Most likely, and Correo is somehow involved with the demons. He used Hoshibashi and Yoshimura to smuggle his forces into Aroahenn, and I''m sure that he intended to do the same with us.¡±
¡°I can''t believe it.¡±
¡°Come on, Kyou-san, it''s obvious! He even gave us the same map!¡±
¡°Not that. I mean, it''s perfectly clear that Correo was using us as well, but what I can''t believe is, that you correctly remembers Hoshibashi-kun''s and Yoshimura-kun''s names.¡±
She... has a point. I generally don''t remember names. But I don''t want to forget those two.
They''re only enemies now, but they practically forgot who they are, so I feel kinda obligated to remember them as they were. Even though I hardly knew them.
Not that I would tell Kyou-san this.
¡°Disregarding Kyou-san''s comment, there are other things that are strange. We are in the Wildlands far off the road. So if what we heard about this place is right: Why are we not facing monsters more regularly? We had our fights, but these weren''t too hard. It''s like someone removed the monsters around here somehow, but if that''s the case: Why?¡±
¡°Do you think, the ones who left the tracks did this?¡±
¡°Not necessarily. If this Correo-guy can smuggle a battle-force into Aroahenn, who knows what he is capable of. If he can call scaleetles, maybe he can scare away other mobs. But for what reason?¡±
¡°But are you sure, that he''s after us? Why should he be?¡±
¡°I don''t know.¡± That''s exactly why I''m stuck. As long as I have no idea why he''s after us, I can''t narrow his possible plans down. If he wants to kill us, for whatever reason, it''d be simple. But then he should''ve used all his resources when the scaleetles attacked.
So he has to have other objectives.
¡°Ken, stop thinking about it all by yourself. That''s why we have Rine-chan, Arako, and me here. Let''s discuss this together.¡±
¡°I''m included as well?¡± Looks like Rine is a bit surprised.
Ara-san''s eyes are half-closed, indicating that she''s thinking of this meeting as a bit of a pain. Normally, she would add further notes to her research during this time, but nonetheless, she sits down on a stool, ready to talk.
Each of us sits down, and we began discussing. It''s almost like a guild discussion via voice chat, just that you can actually see your conversation partners. And that there is only one gamer involved, which makes it much harder.
Like there is an idiot.
¡°I think it''s the oni, or how you called it. The red, horned demon, which I fought. It wants to take revenge on Kyou!¡±
¡°On me!?¡±
Then there is a bitch.
¡°And you''re sure, that you didn''t do anything, which might put off Correo, Ken?¡±
¡°You were always there when I was with that guy!¡±
¡°But when we first met him, you were some seconds alone with him, since Rine-chan and I went into the wagon before you.¡±
¡°What could I possibly do in mere seconds!?¡±
¡°More than enough.¡±
And there is a scaredy-cat.
¡°You all forget, how evil the squirrels are! They might have made a pact with this Correo, and their condition for it was, that all of us will be exterminated!¡±
¡°Ara-san, could you please explain, what they did to you?¡±
¡°I can''t! If I do, they will come and get me!¡±
What a pain. In the end, we''re as smart as before, but somehow I still got the feeling, that something changed.
¡°It''s time to go to bed, but I want to keep night-watches. So we''ll all sleep here.¡± That''s the reason, why I didn''t set up the tents. ¡°Two persons at the same time. Ara-san and Rine are one team, the other is Kyou-san and myself.¡±
Kyou-san seems a bit offended: ¡°How did it come to these teams?¡±
¡°Ara-san and I have to be on different watches since we have the best night senses from all of us. Then I considered combat potential overall, and putting Rine and me on watch at the same time would concentrate too much of it at a single spot. So this is what''s left.¡±
¡°...you really thought it through.¡± She''s playing with the ring on her finger while furrowing her brows. Then she smiles at me. ¡°Good job, Ken.¡±
I feel my whole body shivering. I''m sure, that''s what Kyou-san is after, sending a chill down my spine, by praising me while giving one of her fake smiles.
¡°That''s smart, Kenta!¡± And Rine is copying her, which makes it a combo-attack!
¡°Seems appropriate.¡± While Ara-san clearly doesn''t understand Kyou-san''s intention. ¡°But will the ''sleeping next to each other''-condition work this way?¡±
¡°Let''s find out. Kyou-san and I are going to fetch some sleep first.¡± That''s because I wouldn''t dare to wake Rine up later on. ¡°But before that... hand-chest.¡± Means, that Ara-san and I will put our hands on each other chests, an alfr way to show closeness to each other.
It''s the first time, I''ll put my hand on Ara-san''s chest, but seriously, it''s not like she has breasts. She''s an alfr after all. So I try to make it as nonchalant as possible.
Let''s see, my hand is supposed to go right above her heart... yep, no breasts at all.
But it''s still a bit exciting. I''m healthy, after all, and that''s the first time, I have my hand on a girl''s chest. I try to inhale and exhale slowly, keeping the feelings bottled up.
¡°This...¡± Ara-san''s ears are blushing, and the blush is wandering into her face. ¡°This is strange... It never felt so... *pant* warm, when I did it before. Could you move your hand a little to the right? Ah, thanks. That''s better.¡± She calms down, which is more than I can say about myself.
Her hand on my chest doesn''t feel different from before. I don''t want to think about, why she was so sensitive when my hand was still in the former position, but I can''t help but wonder: Besides a more frequent period, and a certain sex drive, did Ara-san also got more erogenous zones?
STOP. THINKING. ABOUT. IT!
¡°Kyou! Let''s try that, too!¡± Rine, who was absorbed in our actions until now, uses her idiotic smile, to ask Kyou-san a question.
While the girl in question rubs her nose-bridge. ¡°...fine.¡± ¡ Kyou-san? Is that you? Why did you comply?
¡°Yay!¡± Rine puts her hand on Kyou-san che- breasts! I can''t call it a chest, Kyou-san has breasts! Maybe not the biggest ones, but still plenty. Rine''s hand is even sinking in a bit.
Kyou-san doesn''t seem to mind and put her hand on the chest-piece of Rine''s armor.
Rine realizes that it won''t be the same this way. ¡°Wait a bit.¡± She lifts her hand from Kyou-san''s breasts and starts opening the belts of her chest piece. She removes it and reveals her bountiful peaches under it.
Yes, Kyou-san never had a chance. Rine''s juicy fruits are just a step above.
Then both girls put their hands on each other breasts.
¡°Ah, Kenta-kun! You just moved your hand!¡±
¡°...sorry.¡± This view has just charmed me, so I slipped off.
I look at a displeased Ara-san, who moves my hand back to place. ¡°And you''re supposed to look at me and feel my heartbeat. Otherwise, it doesn''t work.¡±
Such a nagger. Well, I look at her. Her white hair, her eyes with the double iris, dark blue and dark green. The slit pupils. The long nose bone and high cheekbones. The face, which should feel strange, but seems so attractive to me. It may seem dreamy or lifeless if you''re not used to it, but I can tell that she''s focusing on me.
Under my hand, I feel her heart. It beats faster than mine.
Is it because she''s alfr?
Or because she''s a girl?
Or maybe just because she''s smaller than me? I heard that small animals have a much faster heartbeat-rate.
Words escape her lips. ¡°I can barely feel anything under your armor...¡± Should I take it off? I had better not. ¡°Your heart beats faster than before.¡±
Time flies by in silence. And then:
You gain 1 WP.
The alfr hand-chest is a way to show closeness, much like human hand-holding. Be sure to please your unusual, but lovely wife by respecting her culture.
I remove my hand, Ara-san does the same. Rine and Kyou-san also stop hand-breasting each other. While Rine laughs and Kyou-san also giggles, Ara-san and I are exchanging awkward looks.
This is strange. No, I''m strange. Something strange is happening with me.
It''s not my usual horniness, which is already more than I can handle, but something else.
Maybe because I feel the bud of friendship with Ara-san. I don''t make many friends, especially outside the internet, so I''m more or less clueless regarding some things.
Maybe it''s something like a teenage-drama, but how should I know?
I don''t even know if I want to stop it.
¡°Kyou-san, we''ll go to sleep. Ara-san and Rine will take up watch.¡±
¡°OK!¡±
¡°Certainly.¡±
¡°Then turn around, so I can change.¡±
Kyou-san changes into her so-called pajama and brushes her hair afterward, while I just don off my armor. Both of us lie down, after taking some cold medicine, while Ara-san and Rine begin some conversation.
I just fall asleep, while using [Dormurnal]. My consciousness begins to fade out, while some awareness stays.
¡
¡ ¡
They''re still talking. Ara-san sits right next to me, while Rine is beside her.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
For some reason, Rine turns her head to me while still talking. Her head closes in, Ara-san is holding her breath.
I wake up and open my eyes: ¡°What are you doing, Rine?¡± My mind is flooded with all the stuff that happened during my sleep, which means that I process the whole conversation until now within seconds. ¡°Ear-plugging?¡± Wasn¡¯t that one of the things that appeared on the WP-list, after Ara-san got involved? An alfr way to show love to each other?
Rine smiles at me, it''s her idiotic smile. ¡°Please!¡±
I''m too tired for that. ¡°No.¡± I turn around, put a hand on my ear and am about to sleep again.
¡°Katarine-san, Kenta-kun. I just heard something approaching. Monsters... be prepared.¡±
I sit up and use my array of [Perception]-skills.
Ara-san''s right, there is a pack of monsters there, some strange abomination of black and red hedgehogs, as large as humans, with thick spikes, which are slightly opening and closing like a stork''s beak. Some sort of transparent fluid is leaking out of the spikes.
There are only eight of them, but they look dangerous.
Rine holds her blade, she won''t be able to see them, but she looks at the right direction. Her determination is showing.
...I think she''s more dangerous than the hedgehogs after all.
The hedgehogs are only fetching water from the stream, but I still consider fighting them. It''ll be a great way to earn some XP.
¡°I want to ambush them.¡± I declare my intention.
¡°OK.¡± Rine is always on my side.
¡°Do we have to? We already moved so much today.¡± Ara-san complains but is picking up her staff.
¡°Kenta, we should wake Kyou.¡± Rine makes an unusual suggestion. Well, not unusual for her, who always wants to do stuff together with her friends.
¡°Then do it.¡± Kyou-san surely doesn''t want to wake up for some random mobs.
¡°Kyou!¡± Rine shakes her a bit.
¡°...Rine-cha*yawn*¡±
¡°We''re about to ambush monsters, Kyou. So prepare yourself.¡±
Kyou-san takes a glance at me, then she looks at Rine again and nods. Slowly she stands up, takes her cloth armor and turns to me. ¡°Turn around.¡±
She''s really preparing herself, huh? How unusual.
What''s wrong with her? I almost have the feeling that Kyou-san is actually trying to be part of the team.
¡°Ken, what''s better. [Cook] for the slim chance to work for a [Knife]-skill or [Herbalist] for the [Strength]?¡±
¡
WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER!?
Not that I let this expression show on my face. ¡°[Cook] for starters. It may not be a combat class, but more skills are useful. When things turn dangerous, switch to [Herbalist], it still beats [Cook] and [Priest] in [Vitality]. But don''t forget to occasionally change to [Priest] for healing.¡±
¡°This whole changing classes during combat is a headache.¡±
¡°You just missed one of the vital parts of the hero-system until now.¡± Changing classes is necessary to make the most use of being a hero. But there is another important factor: ¡°Ara-san, I think we could try taking these hedgehogs out without magical support, so change to [Acrobat] for now. That class isn''t bad at all, but you have too little experience with fighting in close combat, that''s why you suck.¡±
¡°You just don''t like my moves!¡±
¡°You''re just trying to be too flashy!¡± Maybe I should ask Rine to train her.
But the moment I ask Rine that, she''ll surely insist on training me as well, and I can go without getting the crap beaten out of me on a frequent basis.
¡°So here is the plan.¡± It''s quite simple. I use [Ranger] to get closer, then I try to take one out. Rine will charge in right afterward, then we will see how dangerous these hedgehogs actually are.
If they''re weak, we will let Ara-san and Kyou-san join in. If they''re moderate, Rine and I will train one of them to our rearguard and take on the rest.
If they''re strong, Ara-san and Kyou-san will change classes to support us.
¡°If anything goes wrong, the escape route is along the stream, downstream. It''s simple enough that all of us can do it. If we''re separated, we''ll use our [Inventory] to communicate, let''s find one spot on the stream to meet up then. So don''t forget your backpacks and definitely don''t lose them! Everything clear?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I''ll do my best!¡±
¡°I''ll show you the power of flashiness!¡±
¡°Then let''s start.¡± I use [Sneak] and [Mask of Wildlife] to soundlessly merge with my surroundings.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Being an alfr among humans isn''t always easy. ''What is your opinion, Ara-san?'' Why didn''t Kenta-kun asked me something like that?
Now we have to face some black hedgehogs and I think that I should know them. Maybe some of the other alfr heroes told me when they were fighting in these plains.
Or maybe I had even fought them some decades ago. But they couldn''t be powerful in that case since I''ve already forgotten them.
Nonetheless, Kenta-kun is too rash, he surely wants to turn them into XP. But he''s human, so it seems only natural for him to make rash decisions, despite his rather analytical nature.
I gently flick my earlobe, it stimulates my brain by sending a neurotic signal to it. It''s a good method if you want to think about or try to remember something.
This way, I already got a new clue, how to find out what I know about these hedgehogs.
Maybe I wrote it down, so my [Linguistic]-skill [Memory Note] might work. It''s a rather unreliable skill, which is dependent on my [Intelligence]-attribute. It just gives me a chance to remember the words I wrote down about a certain topic, the higher my [Intelligence]-attribute and the more relevant my search term is, the better the probability.
I change to [Bookie], I always note things in this class. ¡°[Memory Note]: Black hedgehog.¡± Katarine-san and Momo look at me a bit confused, as I whisper these words. There are only a few [Abilities] that has silent active [Skills], so in most cases, you have to say it out loud if you want to use a certain skill.
Some memory resurface. Sticky blackhogs. That''s what these monsters are called.
They release some fluid, which will harden if it comes into contact with a non-blackhog. I wrote it in my notes to try to make a Monster Almanac, which was too much work in the end.
I tried a lot of things in the last century, and I didn''t even figure out the hero-system completely. The math behind it is inconsistent, which makes it hard to derive a formula. Many variables need more data to be calculated.
But I should indeed warn Kenta-kun about these blackhogs. Though there is one problem, he already used [Mask of Wildlife]. Unless I want to shout out to him, I have to use [Whisper] to contact him, but I can only use it if I can feel the spirit of a person.
The spell [Mask of Wildlife] meshes the spirit of a person with the environment. I move my ears, feeling the surroundings with them.
I''m no Oro''hekk, but I''m still an alfar. Kenta-kun shouldn''t be so hard to detect, he''s a beginner in [Spirit Magic] and there is only high grass as vegetation here, so there isn''t much spirit to mesh in.
There, his strong spirit. It always amazes me, it has such sharp borders despite being pa''ar. It dulled in the last three weeks, but something seems to hatch, which makes me ask, what exactly will happen.
I have to concentrate since I feel a throbbing, which certainly doesn''t belong to me. This curse really messes with me, giving my body undesired urges, whenever I''m seeing Kenta-kun, interact with him, or even think of him for some time.
My body isn''t mine anymore. I know that, and it feels strange. I''m sure that the moment Kenta-kun starts to lust for me, I will fall like a dead branch from a tree. And somehow this thought is even exciting. It''s wrong at some level, but thinking of it makes this throbbing even stronger.
¡ I''ve forgotten to [Whisper] Kenta-kun about the blackhogs, he already attacked one, using his [Assassinate]-skill to increase the damage, while he aimed at the neck.
Of course, the blackhog fell.
I better change back. [Acrobat] like Kenta-kun wanted or [Druid], which would be wiser. ¡ [Acrobat] it is. Even if he doesn''t praise me, we''re currently something more than friends. He depends on me, which makes this throbbing even intenser.
I feel a surge of power in my legs and back. For some reason, alfar-heroes tend to have less change in muscle proportions when they change their class than other species, maybe it''s because alfar have more efficient muscles?
Kenta-kun retreats while fighting back, Katarine-san is already beside him with her [Torch]-spell in her palm, but both of them let one of the blackhogs through. ¡°Momo, be prepared. If their liquid hits you, it''ll harden.¡± I take my staff in both hands, the thick end in front of me.
Momo inhales deeply. ¡°I''m ready.¡± Is she?
I still have problems discerning human facial expressions, I can only see that it''s a bit tensed up, but maybe she looks stern and ready.
When Katarine-san charged in, she also had a tensed up face.
¡°[Torch]!¡± A light hovers above Momo¡¯s left palm.
Taking a running start, I jump over the blackhog; It¡¯s time to use a powerful attack. I charge up [Stingfall]; I feel how something is holding me in the air, it¡¯s a side-effect of the charging process.
Momo clenches her knife and step back little by little. Then suddenly she leaps forward, with a wordless battle cry. She holds her magic light in one hand, her weapon in the other and tries to stab the blackhog in the face, but it turned, so she faces its spikes.
She stops at the last moment, but the blackhog rolls sideways, trying to bury her. Not only that, the liquid is splashing, hardening on her clothes and face, even her boots are glued to the ground.
But my attack is ready: ¡°[Stingfall]!¡± I aim at the blackhog and shoot towards it with my staff, just like an arrow that got shot by a bow.
Too bad that I forgot about the spikes.
I hit the blackhog hard, I could hear its bones break, but I scraped by some spikes, giving me several scratches along my upper body. Some parts of my dress are sticky, but it doesn''t impede my movements.
At least I prevented it from hurting Momo too much. She also received some scratches and now looks at me with wide-opened eyes. ¡°Arako, are you alright?¡± She breaks free from the hardened liquid, which bound her to the ground.
I answer truthfully. ¡°It hurts and stings, but my attack got in perfectly!¡± Kenta-kun complained about me being too flashy, but when I make an attack like this, it just makes me happy. In addition, it''s gorgeous.
My alfr instinct tells me that everything is alright with this attack. Period.
Something is up. My ears are picking something up. Spirit. I align my ears and can sense something above us.
My eyes are following the signal, and I can see an owl. Not like an owl in Alfarheim, this one has long feathers and a curved beak, while the feathers on its head made it look like it was wearing a tricorn.
Something is strange about its spirit. ¡ I know, someone shares it senses, I still have to learn that application of magic.
¡°Arako! Help me!¡±
I look around and see how Momo has already finished off the first blackhog and is trying to fend off the second one. Kenta-kun is currently engaged with two of them, while he''s all covered with their liquid, which limit his movements, whereas Katarine-san, who visibly evaded most of the splashes, just killed another one.
Humans are really rash, Momo could have told me, that she would fight another one before she engaged it. ¡°Leave it to me. [Chin-upper]!¡± It''s a [Quarterstaff]-skill, which thrusts the staff under the chin of the opponent, to lift them into the air.
Wouldn''t it be great, if I slip under its belly and try to lift it even more?
I do it gleefully, but the blackhog slashes with its claws like crazy, scratching my face.
¡°Take this!¡± Momo stabs it in the throat. After a bit of flailing, the blackhog loses its strength and is finished off by her.
With this, the fight is over. Kenta-kun complains again, Katarine-san is checking, if he''s alright, Momo tries to get the hardened liquid from her clothes.
Judging from Kenta-kun''s mumbled curses, I better not tell him, that I knew about the blackhogs. Even if it''s his fault for vanishing before I recalled it, he will be angry.
Still, there is another thing. ¡°Kenta-kun?¡±
He stops with checking out his equipment while cursing the blackhog''s liquid and answered gruffly: ¡°What!?¡±
¡°I sensed an owl.¡± It''s not here anymore.
His eyebrows lower themselves, and he frowns his forehead, it''s an interesting look. ¡°Phew...¡± His face softens somewhat. ¡°Since it''s you, it has to be important. What''s with that owl?¡±
¡°Someone used [Share Senses], a [Spirit Magic]-spell on it.¡± He waits for me to continue. ¡°With this spell, you''re able to use the senses of the target instead of your own. You project a bit of your spirit into the target''s, and while the connection is there, you can try to synchronize with it.¡±
¡°So you can see through its eyes.¡±
¡°For example.¡±
¡°So that means, now alfar or other users of [Spirit Magic] are involved as well.¡±
¡°Unless one of the squirrels learned it.¡±
¡°They can also learn [Spirit Magic]?¡±
¡°Wasn''t it obvious? They were made conscious by [Spirit Magic], so some can develop that talent as well.¡± I''m sure that I already told him, but I also forget stuff, that''s not important for me. So Kenta-kun might do the same.
¡°But if the squirrels could do that, why didn''t they used it before?¡± Kenta-kun scratches his head. I think it''s almost like rubbing your ear, instead of a sharp stimulus, you use a soft one to make you feel at ease.
Momo brings in her own thoughts. ¡°Maybe it''s not the squirrels. You saw these hynoar-tracks, right? And some others... Arako, how common is [Spirit Magic] in this world?¡±
¡°I don''t know. I guess, it''s uncommon in general, but I believe that the hynoars had some individuals capable of using it. Then we have rangers, which were taught by us alfar, there are shamans, and some other occupations. What do you think, Katarine-san?¡±
¡°Um...¡± The blonde human tilts her head while her arms are akimbo. ¡°I''ve never heard of the term [Spirit Magic] before meeting you, but there are some unusual magic styles even within Feuerberg and much more outside of it. There are people, who speak with animals and plants, but they live outside the cities.¡±
Kenta-kun summarizes our thoughts. ¡°So basically, since the hynoars are living as hunter-gatherers, there is a high chance, that some of them could use [Spirit Magic], and for some reason, they sent an owl out tonight, which just happened to fly over us, while we were battling. ¡ We''ll break camp. I want to walk an hour or two before we sleep.¡±
I''m already sleepy... The battle before was exciting enough to make me forget that I''m tired, but now it''s over, and I feel the fatigue. ¡°Hayachoo!¡± I sneeze. My head feels fuzzy.
¡°Achoo!¡± Kenta-kun also sneezes.
Both of us and even Momo took another pill of cold medicine. We need to suppress it for a while, but I really want to sleep.
We pack our stuff and walk in the dark. I can see fine, but Katarine-san and Momo seem to be uncertain, where to go. Kenta-kun has [Darksight], but that doesn''t extend to the other humans. I don''t know how much better I see in the dark than them, but at least I won''t step into a burrow by accident, and I have my ears, which are able to give me a picture of my surroundings by feeling them.
Being human seems to be like living blindfolded.
¡°Ara-san, you''re falling behind.¡± But what kind of stamina do they have? In terms of SP and [Vitality], I''m somewhere along the lines of Momo, but I exhaust much faster. I should note the numbers down to crunch them later.
I feel light-headed. My feet are hardly touching the ground. Strange, I should be used to sleepless nights, but somehow I feel terribly tired.
Something warm embraces me. It reminds me of when I first met Kenta-kun. He caught me when I was falling asleep while standing.
I see. It happened again.
¡°Kyou-san, spell.¡±
¡°[Stamina]!¡±
I feel a bit of power returning, but I''m still about to fall asleep.
¡°Phew... that''s the limit, I guess. Rine, support her for a bit.¡± I feel how Kenta-kun leaves me, while Katarine-san lifts me under my shoulders. I open my eyes and see Kenta-kun, putting his backpack on reverse. ¡°Put her on my back.¡±
You gain 1 WP.
Your husband is being considerate and letting you ride on his back, while you''re too tired to even walk.
I feel it. His back. My arms embrace his neck, while he puts his arms under my knees. My whole body is touching his back, even though I can only feel his armor and the hood, he''s wearing. I put my head on his shoulder, and some strange sound comes from my throat.
It''s happiness. My body is happy. My mind is barely able to feel the wrongness to it. It''s too tired.
¡°Rine, Kyou-san, take my hands.¡±
Katarine-san takes his hand without any hesitation. She already wanted to ear-plug Kenta-kun. His and my ear are only an ulch away. So close.
Momo asks. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°It''s too dark for you, and I don''t want to bring light-sources into it. Even if it probably won''t help with owls, a light-source would give us away for miles. I want to increase the speed again, so unless you want to fall into a fox''s den or something like that, you''ll take my hand and let me lead you.¡±
Momo slowly takes his hand.
You gain 1 WP.
Even if it''s not as romantic as a moonlight-stroll, all four of you have a great night of walking together, while sharing a physical connection.
I feel every one of Kenta-kun''s steps, while I try to maintain the balance. It¡¯s good that I''m still in [Acrobat], which enhances it. I don''t want to trouble him further by being even more of a burden.
Even though even I can tell, that I''m about to fall asleep since all I can think about is how nice it feels to be on Kenta-kun''s back.
Volume 04 - Chapter 4-1 – Follow-up!
Chapter 4 ¨C Follow-up!
¡°Ara-san, it''s time.¡± I wake up Ara-san, who was sleeping next to me like a log. Our ''new'' camp was just a blanket and some furs on the ground, with our bedrolls on top. Or more like Rine''s and Ara-san''s, since Kyou-san and I had night watch. ¡°RINE, WAKE UP!¡± I pull the blanket a bit, and slowly Rine opens her eyes.
Every one of us looks like shit and has the [Deprivation: Sleep]-condition. A minor decrease in all [Attributes], in addition to feeling tired. I guess the less sleep we get, the greater the decrease.
In addition, three of us still have [Disease: Cold], Ara-san is taking a pill currently. We are, more or less, just two days into our journey, but we are already a bit stricken by disease and fatigue.
However we''re heroes so, as long as we want, we can keep this going for a while.
Not that this is what I planned. ¡°Are you two awake enough to converse? Kyou-san and I had a talk the last few hours.¡± After Rine finally decided to follow our decision and get at least some sleep, Kyou-san asked me what I was planning to do. ¡°We need to make sure.¡±
¡°Make sure of what?¡± Rine is donning on her armor, while asking that question.
¡°There are only three possibilities: Either the people who left those tracks are looking specifically for us, they''re looking for someone that resembles us, or they aren''t looking for us. We need to know, which it is.¡±
Ara-san brings a good argument into the discussion. ¡°What about a mixed form? Some might be searching for us, like the squirrels, while others are not interested in us.¡±
¡°We don''t know and that''s why we need to find out.¡±
¡°How?¡±
¡°We came up with two options. First one would be to look for a place to hide, trying to cover our tracks and wait for what comes looking for us. Or as an alternative, we could look for a place easy to defend, but that could be hard here. There is nothing!¡± In times like these, I wish I were back in the mountains, but seriously: I have no good experiences with them, considering the ss''rak disaster and the princess-hunt.
I learned to hate mountains, but right now, a bit of rocky terrain with limited access would be great.
¡°The other option?¡±
¡°I''ll split from the group, using my [Stealth]-skills, and look for those, who are looking for us.¡±
¡°By the way, I''m for the former.¡± Kyou-san yawns her words out, but her eyes are hard. For some reason, she''s all about confronting these unknown enemies, and won''t yield.
¡°And I''m for the latter.¡± We would still make progress, and it gives us a more aggressive approach.
Rine cocks her head for a while and says: ¡°Waiting for them.¡±
This answer surprises me. ¡°Why, Rine?¡±
¡°To get some rest and have more favorable conditions. The enemy seems to be around us, so we don''t know, which direction we should follow to avoid or confront them. But if we can at least pick the field, then we have the minimal amount of control.¡±
¡
¡°Who are you and what did you do with Rine?¡±
Rine''s eyes open wide and her head tilts. ¡°What do you mean, Kenta?¡± Her eyes shimmer in confusion.
¡°That was way too smart for Rine!¡±
¡°Ken, you know that Rine-chan was actually taught about strategy?¡± Kyou-san looks at me, as if I just declared, that an electrician doesn''t know anything about Ohm''s law.
¡°Come on, if she really knows about stuff like that, why do I even bother with making plans anymore!?¡±
¡°Because you never asked her?¡±
That''s... kinda right.
If we look objectively at Rine''s education, she must know a lot of useful stuff, like how to make an inventory list, which goods and provisions are needed for long journeys, what you need to keep in mind for battle, and much more.
I look at Rine again, who scratches her head with both hands and speaks with a soft voice: ¡°When I''m not me, who am I? Ah, that''s what Kenta wants to know!¡±
¡
And that''s the reason, why I didn''t ask her before.
¡°Ara-san? What about you?¡±
Ara-san, who was watching Rine with interest, turns to me then to Kyou-san and back to me again. ¡°If you two want to wait, I''m not against it, but I''d like you to scout anyway. We still need a viable place, and until then you can keep looking. If we find something fitting, it doesn''t need to stop there. You can still secure the perimeter, and the rest of us could set up traps.¡±
Well, only I have the [Set Trap]-skill, but that only speeds up the process.
Ara-san''s [Druid]-class and Kyou-san''s [Herbalist]-class both have the [Survival]-ability, even though neither of them has any hunting-related skills so far.
¡°Phew... then we do that.¡± Ara-san really knows how I tick. She''s able to make enough changes to a plan so that I can also find it acceptable.
Too bad the curse turned this friendship-like relationship into a mess.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I''m currently scouting ahead, using [Mask of Wildlife] and [Camouflage] to get at least a bit of coverage. Even though [Camouflage] doesn''t change its colors, it might help keep me from being noticed from above.
I wasn''t aware how many birds are in the sky before, just some miles above us. Each of them could see a mouse on the ground, or watch us. Scary.
A squirrel! It has panda-spots! It''s on this lone tree, watching in our general direction. Maybe it already spotted the girls, who are about a kilometer (0.6 miles) behind me. But it doesn''t look in my direction.
Would it be alerted, if I moved closer? Maybe. I could throw [Sneak] and [Hide Smell] into the mix, but maybe it can sense my spirit. This terrain isn''t well-suited for [Mask of Wildlife], which more or less blends it in with the spirits of the plants around me. Like all senses, a spirit sense is dependent on distance, so even if it didn''t detect me yet, it might notice if I shorten the distance.
I could shoot it. Maybe only wound it and let Rine use her [Whisperer]-skill to communicate with it. Wait, these squirrels hate Rine.
Maybe it''d be better to let it see the girls and follow it when it reports. Yes, that''s a good idea.
I could kill it instead and make it impossible for it to tell the story, but that will only buy us some time, and bring us no knowledge at all.
Laying low, I observe the squirrel, using [Camouflage] again, while it was not looking in my general direction. Then I drink an SP-Potion.
Every skill costs me some SP, except [Mask of Wildlife], which is technically a spell. [Camouflage] is an SP-burner and consecutive uses will drain me fast.
The panda-squirrel is still watching and waiting. There is no evidence that it knows that I''m here.
It climbs onto a higher branch, looking into the distance for a bit, and then turns to the other side.
Something is strange. I look at the squirrel, which doesn''t move at all, but somehow I still get the feeling that something moves within.
Wait, it uses [Spirit Magic]! But I can''t detect for what purpose. It just makes some strange sounds... [Whisper]? The spell Ara-san used?
However, it can only be used if the caster looks at the recipient.
Slowly my eyes wander into the direction the squirrel is looking at, and I use [Farsight].
There is another squirrel on a small hill.
They¡¯re using a relay system!?
Should I stay here, waiting for what the squirrel here will do or should I try to find out, where the message is sent?
I¡¯d better find out.
To not alarm the squirrel, I wait for a moment, until it can''t possibly see me and move with a fast walk. I don''t know how good squirrel-eyes actually are, but as long as I''m not too obvious, it should work. It didn''t see me before either, after all.
The squirrel at the hill is already moving, but I have a good chance to see it if I climb the rise myself.
Dammit! There is high grass behind the hill. No squirrel to be seen.
I use [Track], and it becomes obvious to me, where it went into the grass, but should I follow it? Unlike with alfar, the grass blades won''t avoid me, if I try to crawl through them.
Keep calm!
It has to come out. I can just wait until that happens.
After a minute, it does. While it was entering the grass to the east, it switched its direction and is now heading north.
I follow it.
While I do so, I take some paper and write a note. ''Following squirrel north.'' It''s in Japanese, since I''m not familiar enough with this world''s alphabet to write quick-notes in it, and I used a stick of coal as a pen. But Kyou-san should be able to read it even if it''s a bit rushed.
The squirrel moves at a heightened pace, but I can still keep up.
Did the squirrel already relay its message, returning to camp? Or is it still looking for a recipient? Hopefully the former.
Another patch of high grass. I just need to wait and... Something is strange... Another manipulation of spirit?
I use [Wild Eyes] and my rather undeveloped spirit sense becomes much sharper. Now I can pinpoint that squirrel!
Or not, because there are eight of them in the grass, and they''re closing in...
It''s an ambush!
Three of them are touching each other, their spirits intermingle, and it brushes mine. So this was the reason why I felt that something is wrong!Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Wait, it''s not only that...
¡°Show yourself.¡± There was another spirit.
From inside the grass, a lightly armored alfr rises. It''s a woman, she looks a bit younger than me, but in reality she''s older than Ara-san, I can see it by the color of her yellow-green eyes.
Her hair was short and dandelion yellow, but for the alfr this was no problem. She used [Mask of Wildlife] and was able to make me oversee her before I used [Wild Eyes]. Even with it, I almost didn''t sense her.
Alfar are unfair since they don''t need to be heroes to use [Spirit Magic].
¡°Show yourself as well.¡± So she might sense me by my spirit, but [Camouflage] still makes it hard for her to see the real me.
I annul the skill. ¡°Are you a bandit?¡±
Her eyes wander over my red armor, most likely she asks herself, why I would wear something colorful like that, despite being a hunter-type. ¡°A bandit? Alfar won''t become bandits.¡±
¡°Then let me rephrase that: Are you a self-employed, self-exiled acquisitor, forcefully redistributing wealth?¡±
¡°No, I''m a mercenary. And you''re a ranger?¡±
¡°How do you know?¡±
¡°The hood.¡±
¡°...yes, I''m a [Ranger].¡±
¡°This is bad.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°If you''re a ranger, then you''re too much for me alone.¡±
¡°I''m still a beginner. [Entangle]!¡± Without warning, I use a spell to let the grass grow and capture her.
It''s still grass, and she''s an alfr. Chances are high that she will easily escape, but it might give me some seconds.
Because the squirrels are still doing something strange with their spirits, I open my backpack. Fetching my bow, I open my quiver and draw four arrows, nocking all of them. ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡±
Four arrows are flying towards the squirrels in the high grass, but suddenly, the grass whips at my arrows, changing their course.
My [Entangle] just opens up, the alfr picks up a bow from under the grass and shoots at me as well, but I''m already running in a curve to avoid it.
I don''t want to enter the grass since the alfr will surely overpower me in terms of [Spirit Magic], so I use the bow instead: ¡°[Seeker]!¡± I don''t have to aim well, which makes it possible to make this shot on the run.
The woman jumps aside, but my arrow adopts another course and still hits her in the side.
I love that skill!
Now it''s time to- ¡°Achoo!¡± ¡ shit. The cold medicine stopped working.
Ah, headache. My body feels hot, my nose is running, and my limbs are in pain.
I had something to learn. Even as a hero, a cold only becomes worse, if you don''t rest, despite taking the medicine.
I stumble to the side to avoid another arrow, but my body feels strange and my senses are not working properly. I lost [Wild Eyes], I have to reactivate it and...
I hate it.
Whatever the squirrels were doing up to now, they''re ready.
Their spirits are combined and sent to the alfr woman. I''ve never felt something like that before, but maybe only the squirrels can use this specific spell.
Suddenly, the grass under my feet begins to grow. It''s [Entangle], even if she doesn''t need to say its name for some reason.
I''m bound from head to toe, unable to move much or see anything. It clearly shows her power-up by the squirrels.
But is she serious? I change class to [Pikeman] and rip it apart before it had a chance to adapt to my new muscle mass.
This might be a strengthened [Entangle], but it''s a weak spell, to begin with.
Oh well, time for me to show her my seriousness!
...
Or not. She''s not here anymore.
I change back to [Ranger]. My head still feels fuzzy, but I should be able to track... Wait, alfr.
No tracks when moving through plants. Able to use [Spirit Magic], like [Mask of Wildlife]. Empowered by the squirrels.
She most likely got away. Nonetheless, I throw in another cold medicine and try my best. After all, I hit her with an arrow, so she might have bled a bit...
No. Vanished, without a trace. The squirrels as well.
Should I try to find her? If I''m close enough, I should be able to detect her with [Wild Eyes].
Maybe she just hides right under my nose, trying to find a good opportunity to attack me.
I stride up and down everything within a hundred meter (about 110 yards), but nobody is here. At least, nobody I could detect. [Mask of Wildlife] is a powerful spell, since even if you look at someone, you just don''t see the caster, if they''re good enough at it. Some sort of intrusion of the mind of everybody looking at you.
A mercenary, huh?
Also, she works with the squirrels. Means, either the squirrels hired that merc, or both parties work for the same guys.
I suppose, we have to face three dangers: Demons, squirrels, and mercenaries.
Plus, they''re organized. Using a relay system and scouts to find out where we are going, retreating when I finally got one of them confronted.
The important question is why. I busted my chance to ask that, but most likely, that alfr wouldn¡¯t have given me an answer anyway.
I have to talk with Ara-san. About the alfr, that strange squirrel-magic, and why she could use [Entangle] without speaking a word while Ara-san and I need to say the name of the spell?
I need more intel.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°What is this?¡± The moment I find the girls, Kyou-san holds a bit of paper in my face. It''s an alfr paper, made by the fallen leaves of the trees of Aroahenn. Ara-san made it, while I wrote on it.
¡°It''s a note.¡±
¡°I was sure that is the case, but I can''t read it.¡± She has a point. Now that I see it again, I can tell that the quick note is barely readable, even for me, who wrote it in the first place.
¡°I was in a hurry.¡±
¡°You made Rine-chan worry and Arako too! You didn''t show up on time, there was no sign on our way, nothing! Then we found the note, but you wrote it so poorly in Japanese that I couldn''t decipher it! When we checked your status, it was obvious, that you were in a fight, and we couldn''t tell where you were!¡±
Ah, so annoying. I scratch my head while avoiding Kyou-san''s blaming eyes. ¡°Ara-san, we need to talk.¡±
¡°You''re talking with me, right now!¡± Kyou-san takes my head in both hands and yanks my face in her direction. ¡°And you will talk to me.¡±
I''m definitely not scared of Kyou-san, but if I consider her current facial expression and tone of voice, I think that I¡¯d better work with her here. ¡°Just stop bitching around, and I''ll consider it.¡± Or something like that.
Kyou-san wants to murder me. Her eyes and the fingers that dig deep into my skin tell me that.
¡°Kyou, Kenta!¡± Rine puts her hands on both of our shoulders and breaks us apart with ease. ¡°Kenta, Kyou was worried, so you should apologize to her, and to us as well.¡± She lets go of me and turns to Kyou-san. ¡°Kyou, don''t corner Kenta the moment he gets back, he was just in a fight!¡±
I want to say something regarding that, but when Rine is fed up with us, she can effortlessly make us obey with force, so I stay silent.
¡°Kenta! Your apology!¡± She really insists on that, huh?
¡°Why? I even wrote that note. It may be hard to read, but-¡± Something just passed my face. It was Rine''s hand, but I couldn''t even see that.
She slowly lowers it, and hooks her hand behind my back, pulling me a bit closer to her. I can see directly into her ember-like eyes, and I feel like they will burn me to ashes. ¡°We were worried sick!¡±
I may not be scared of Kyou-san, but I''m about to piss my pants because of Rine. ¡°...sorry.¡± So I shamelessly apologize, even though I refuse to feel sorry.
¡°It''s ''I feel deeply sorry, Rine!''¡± Did I just leak a bit? No, I think not. But her face is scary!
If she looked like that, while performing her usual massacre among the monsters, I would be plagued by nightmares. Now she looks with that expression into my face.
¡°I feel deeply sorry, Rine.¡±
¡°And now it''s Kyou''s turn.¡± She moves my face to Kyou-san''s direction, who has a complicated look on her face.
Is that compassion?
¡°I feel deeply sorry, Kyou-san.¡± She just nods silently.
¡°Finally Ara!¡± Now I''m looking at Ara-san, who made herself small. Her ears start twitching, when her name is called.
¡°I feel deeply sorry, Ara-san.¡± Her ears twitch again, I don''t think that she wants to be part of this.
Me as well, Ara-san.
¡°Good.¡± Rine changed her grip and suddenly throws herself at me. ¡°I''m so glad that you''re OK!¡± Her voice is something between laughter and crying.
You gain 2 WP.
After a fight, you can always reconcile. When it ends in a hug, it only shows how much you care about each other.
I really don''t like hugs. ¡°Rine, stop it.¡±
¡°OK.¡± She releases me and rubs her wet eyes dry with her sleeve. Even though I didn''t feel guilty before, this made me think that maybe I was minimally at fault.
No, that''s just Rine, who emotionally blackmails me.
¡°Phew... let''s keep going, we''ll talk on the way.¡±
I tell them about my encounter with the alfr woman and the squirrels. ¡°I have some questions, Ara-san. What did the squirrels do?¡±
Ara-san''s right ear lifts a bit. ¡°I think it''s [Synchronization], it''s a [Spirit Magic]-spell. We alfar can''t learn it unless we''re heroes. Yet, it''s something that some awakened animals learn, especially rodents.¡±
¡°What''s an awakened animal?¡±
¡°Some alfar learn the [Spirit Magic]-spell [Awakening], which changes something within the spirits of animals and plants, giving them a semi-alfr consciousness. Practically, the ancestors of the squirrels were awakened squirrels. It''s a complicated spell. Unless you''re a hero, it''s unlikely that you can master it as long as you''re not a treeformer with experience in that line of work for more than a millennium.¡±
¡°Treeformer is a job, right?¡± Ara-san nods. Probably the guys, who change trees in ways, that they can serve as buildings for alfr. ¡°What exactly does [Synchronization] do?¡±
¡°In this world, it connects the spirit of individuals, which enhances the power of all by drawing power from everyone for your spells. It only works for [Spirit Magic].¡±
¡°It worked differently in Alfarheim?¡± A spell, which changed its mechanics by changing worlds?
¡°Magic here is different from Alfarheim in general.¡±
¡°Ah, you already told me.¡± In Ara-san''s home world, there was something called an aura, which more or less surrounded each alfr, fed by the Aeolferelda-trees. Here magic is much more direct, and Aeolfereldas aren''t necessary, or more like going overboard. ¡°But to put it simply, it strengthens the [Spirit Magic] of a group.¡±
¡°Yes, and you are supposed to be able to share spells. For example, if you''re under [Synchronization] and use [Mask of Wildlife], then everyone could use it at the same time.¡±
¡°I see.¡± I look to Kyou-san and Rine, who attentively listened to us. ¡°Any more questions, you two?¡± For starters, Kyou-san wanted me to include her and Rine more and there is an off-chance that either one of these two could actually have a good question.
However both shake their heads. As useless as I''ve imagined.
¡°Next point on the list: Why was the alfr-mercenary able to use [Entangle] without using words?¡± I can understand that you don''t need to speak out the names for passive skills and no skill of [Perception], [Stealth], and [Survival] need it neither.
But [Entangle] is an active [Spirit Magic]-spell, so it''s different from them.
¡°Actually, you normally use [Spirit Magic] without any chants. It''s only depended on your spirit and spirit-sense.¡± I''m sure, that in the original Alfr language there is an individual word for ''spirit-sense'', like taste, smell, seeing or hearing.
Even though all I can hear is ''spirit-sense'', most likely the hero-system just translates it to me in a way, that would easily make sense.
However, normally there is no need to even call the name of the spell? ¡°Well, [Wild Eyes] and [Mask of Wildlife] don''t need any chanting as well, while I can''t use [Entangle] without it. And thinking of it, you also call out many names.¡±
¡°Because I learned them after becoming a hero. In a normal society, who would use something like [Entangle]? And [Whisper] is complicated, I was only 52 years old when I was transported and learned everyday operations and some advanced, but peaceful usages. But stroking one''s spirit and cause a vibration within it, which will translate into a vibration of the eardrums is a very delicate process.¡±
¡°...that''s what you do with [Whisper]?¡±
¡°Yes. But using the hero-system, I must only think of that spell, the target, and speak its name. My body does the rest by itself.¡±
¡°Reminds me of how I''m able to use my [Spear]-skills. OK, let''s say that''s some strange hero-thing. So if you''re using [Spirit Magic] without being a hero, there is no forewarning, huh?¡±
¡°You can always read the spirit.¡±
¡°Well, as good as no forewarning. What about other magic? Rine, you learned [Heal] before becoming a hero, is there a need to chant its name?¡±
A bit baffled that I suddenly turn to her, Rine seems agitated. ¡°Ah... Erm... yes, you have to send a prayer power into the Vastness, to channel the right divine energy, then afterward you must change that energy into the specific spell by reciting the right psalm in your head, while using the right amount of magic, and then end it and let the spell flow by saying it''s name.¡±
¡ ¡°What is ''the Vastness''?¡± This is the first time, I even heard of it.
¡°It''s the place, which separates the mortal world from the place where the gods live. There lies the divine energy, which is used for [Divine Magic]. When you use [Divine Magic], you more or less make yourself a medium for that energy.¡±
¡°Kyou-san.¡± I turn to her. ¡°Is she serious?¡±
¡°That''s what the priests told me. It normally takes years to even feel it, but after I learned the [Priest]-class, I feel like some kind of valve, whenever I use a spell.¡±
¡°...¡± I really skipped the tutorial and now I don''t know shit about how magic works.
Maybe each magic has a specific way to be put to use?
I plan to ask Ara-san later, she surely knows some things about that, but for now, let''s concentrate on the mercenaries. ¡°Ara-san, last question: Is the reason why alfar doesn''t leave tracks in the grass also [Spirit Magic]-related?¡±
¡°That''s one of the first things you learn from your parents as an alfr child. I use it subconsciously all the time, but technically, it''s still magic, even if you get to recover your magic faster, than if you had spend it on that application.¡±
¡°You do that without even thinking about it? How- no, nevermind.¡± At some point, people learn to walk with different kinds of shoes, like slippers, sneakers, boots, high heels, and more, which all need a bit of adaption, but at some point you can just do it without even thinking about it. Guess, it''s the same.
Which means, there might be a small slip-up here and there, but generally, there is little to no chance to find it.
How many missteps do I make while walking? Too few to count on.
Ah, this makes my head hurt! We know now that it''s not just bandits, but mercenaries, which is much worse, since fighting is what they do for a living.
At least some of them, who knows who the second group that left tracks was?
But most likely something like a scout-squad, considering it was just hynoars.
We have an alfr to consider, some humans and there is still the chance, that we''ll be attacked by monsters, not only the regular ones but also mobs that are trained to us.
What should we do?
Then someone put a stop to my despairing pondering. ¡°Kenta?¡± Rine steps up to me and put her hand on my shoulder. ¡°Relax.¡± It reminds me of the time I tried to save Kyou-san from a bunch of fourbirds. ¡°You''ll find an answer if you remember, what we''re good at.¡±
Inhale. ¡°Phew.¡± Exhale.
She''s right.
There is no way that I''ll die here. I don''t know what will happen to me if one of my ''wives'' die, so I just have to find a solution in which we will survive.
We don''t need to win.
Our strengths... And survival...
Something like a picture is coming, every possibility I consider, every hour I spend brooding about the girl''s status in secret, everything is before my eyes, I need to connect it.
We just have to survive. We can do it by fighting the mercs or running away. The girls want to fight them, but the enemy isn''t attacking us. It''s observing us, maybe trying to weaken us, by making us tiring ourselves out.
Wait, is that a forest at the edge of my [Far Sight]? Something just clicked. ¡°I have a proposal.¡±
¡°Seems like you have a good idea,¡± Kyou-san replies. ¡°Your smirk is sickening me.¡± She smiles as well, but unlike mine, it''s a relieved one.
Volume 04 - Chapter 4-2
Some hours later.
I''m walking at the border of the forest, the whole terrain begins to become more like woodland further to the west.
Of course, I used all my repertoire to hide my presence. With all these trees to mask my spirit, it''s almost impossible to detect me in any way.
Then I saw them. Hynoar. Three of them and they look strange to me. It''s like someone decided to create beastmen, but couldn''t decide what animals to use.
Instead of regular legs, they had some canine-like ones with claws. They even walk on their tiptoes, but considering how big and muscular these legs are, it doesn''t look unnatural at all.
Then someone put an ape-like torso on them. The hynoars aren''t wearing armor, only something like a loincloth, much like ss''rak, the lizard people.
They have arms and hands like humans or apes. The arms more like apes, long and strong. The hands are more like humans, but instead of fingernails, they have actual claws, small ones, but definitely dangerous.
The head was like a hyena¡¯s, or more like a hyena is the base while the actual form is more like that of a horse, and they got tails like horses too.
Yep, hard to call them anything other than hynoar.
Beside their loincloths they wear several belts, some over their shoulders, some over their hips. On these belts hang pouches and weapons.
They carry a large arsenal of knives and machetes, some of these weapons have strange grips. Also, each of them has a crossbow.
One of the hynoars walks on all fours, putting its nose right on the ground. But [Hide Smell] works, they don''t smell me, so their sense of smell might be stronger than a human''s, but still not as strong as a dog''s. Valuable info.
The one sniffing spoke, ¡°Yes, they entered here. Good for us.¡±
¡°Shall I tell Boss?¡±
¡°Yes, in the meantime we''ll stride the border.¡± They separate and, since it''s easier to hide in the forest, I followed the two who tried to find out if my party left the woods.
A few minutes later, I put my hood on, draw my bow, and ¡°[Seeker]!¡± shot one of them in the head. Then I drop my bow and jump on the remaining one with my knife, holding it to his throat. ¡°Too bad!¡±
Of course, he tried to resist at first, but after feeling cold steel on his neck, he was all submissive. ¡°Please don''t kill me.¡± His voice is still somewhat strong, he is really pleading for his life, but he''s still in control of himself.
Is that a good sign?
¡°Answer a few questions.¡± I watch every movement, but the hynoar takes it pretty calmly.
¡°Depends.¡± His brown eyes are looking at me, and I can feel a bit of a threat.
Most likely because I just killed his comrade, hynoar are supposed to care more about the pack than about themselves.
¡°Who are you and why are you following us!¡± I''m surprised at how calm I am. It''s not like my kill-count is that high, but I take it quite easily that I just ended a life which still had so many opportunities.
So I can truly kill now. I do feel a bit of guilt, but it''s nothing compared to when I killed the ss''rak patriarch.
The hynoar seems to understand that I would really kill him, ¡°We''re the Bloody Nose Mercenary Company,¡± but his voice still doesn''t waver. Most likely he doesn''t think that it would affect them much if I know it. ¡°We''re following you because of that blonde girl.¡±
Rine? They''re after Rine? ¡°What do you want with her?¡±
¡°Capture her alive.¡±
¡°Are you employed by Feuerberg?¡±
He snorts a bit. ¡°Feuerberg? The kingdom itself? Why would they hire people like us? I''ll tell you because we''re supposed to tell you this: A guy called Correo hired us and asked us to let you know.¡±
So Correo is interested in Rine. He wants to capture her alive, and he works with the demons.
It all makes sense.
If Feuerberg is searching for their crown-princess, then, of course, the demons wants to get her alive. To use her as a hostage or to force Feuerberg to make a disadvantageous gambit.
To use her as a tool.
Don''t fuck with me!
¡°Correo seems to be very confident about this, letting us know.¡± But there are still some open questions. ¡°Where are the monsters? It''s suspiciously easy to travel here.¡±
¡°We killed some while we were looking for you.¡±
¡°Since when?¡±
¡°About twenty days?¡±
¡°How large is your Company?¡±
¡°About four hundred.¡± That''s quite big. Maybe they could actually clean up enough mobs, causing the rest to retreat for a while.
¡°How did you know that we''re here?¡±
¡°We''re just one Company. Correo hired several mercenaries. I guess the others are placed elsewhere.¡±
¡°And how do you profit, if you don''t capture us?¡±
¡°Half the promised reward if we keep looking for two months.¡±
¡°How much?¡±
¡°For capturing? 4 million Newgold. For waiting and keeping vigilant, 2 million.¡±
¡ Damn. That''s quite an amount of money that is thrown into the mix. Correo is actually a rich man, or maybe he got this much from the demons.
Or he might trick them, but I guess that he was able to show them that he could pay this high of a reward.
¡°Where are your people?¡±
¡°I won''t say.¡± This would actually endanger his pack, so he won''t tell.
I''ll try something else.
¡°How many are on the way here?¡±
¡°I won''t say.¡± Again.
¡°Do you know-¡± Suddenly, someone tackles me from the hynoar.
It''s that alfr woman. She used [Mask of Wildlife] and ambushed me from behind.
I also feel some steel hitting my side, but my armor deflected it, so her dagger didn''t cut.
It still hurts, so there was some force in that attack.
The alfr looks me right into the eyes, and I begin to feel sleepy. She just manipulated my spirit, but even knowing that, it''s hard to resist.
Then the hynoar rises, he holds his neck, which got a shallow cut. Then he takes a dagger with a strange handle and put it into his mouth while using two normal-handled ones in his hands. Ah, I see...
He jumps at me and, with furious attacks, he put scratches all over my body. ¡°Wait! I give up!¡± It wouldn''t make any sense to fight back at this point.
Now I''m a prisoner. Well, it''s not like that''s something entirely new to me.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
My weapons and backpack were taken, and I was bound with a rope. They didn''t even wonder about the seemingly empty backpack, so they know that I''m a hero.
Dammit!
The hynoar carried the body of his killed companion, while the alfr woman has the end of my rope in her hand. They lead me about two kilometers (about 1? miles), behind a slope.
About fifty mercenaries are here. Most of them are hynoars, followed by humans, and the icing is the alfr woman and a small, hazelnut-skinned man, with short fingers, large feet, and kinky, bronze hair. The face is broad, and the eyes are big, same as the lips.
That''s a folkman, I saw some before in Feuerberg. You''d call that a halfling or something like that in games.
He grins at me with too many teeth, and his wide face and angular ears are twitching. He seems to be the leader of the squad.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
¡°Welcome. Kenta, right? I suppose that Jarghls'' death is your doing, right?¡±
¡°Ugh!¡± The folksman punches me in the stomach, even if he''s less than half as tall as I, his fist is hard and merciless as steel. Folksmen are known to be extraordinarily strong.
I fall to my knees, and he grabs me by the throat. ¡°Now, asshole. We''re only after that blonde girl, Rine.¡± He throws me to the ground and kicks me in the side. ¡°And from what I know, you''ll be a good hostage to exchange. That Rine girl won''t abandon you.¡±
So they know that much.
Yet it looks like Correo introduced her as Rine to the mercs. ¡°You don''t know, right?¡±
¡°Know what.¡±
¡°That girl is royalty.¡±
¡°From which country?¡±
¡°Feuerberg. Katarine von Stolzherz, their crown princess.¡±
¡°Do you have anything else to say?¡± Of course, he won''t trust my words.
Just like always.
The folksman turned to his subordinates. ¡°We take the whole squad, but only half will enter the forest. I want some of our scouts to look out for traps.¡±
The decision was quickly made, the preparations as well. Those are mercenaries for you, they''re professionals.
¡°Kenta, don''t even try to escape,¡± the folksman warns me. ¡°Our Company is already on its way here, and we''re coming from all sides. We know that you''re within this sector. Iri''attas told me that you''re a ranger and that you might be able to slip through, but just on your own. We''ll get your companions. So be nice and let us capture your Rine. Then you and your other associates may leave.¡±
I just nod, but take a look at my weapons that the alfr woman carries. Spear, bow, quiver, knife, backpack. Her ears are rising, a sign of her amusement, while she distributes them between the other mercenaries.
She''s taunting me.
Or she just thought of a dirty joke, but working with other races for a while made her learn that she should not say them out loud.
Of course, they have no trouble to find our tracks. Also, their scouts find the traps I set up as well. Everything is going very smoothly for them, they have no problems at all. It takes them time to avoid some of the obstacles, but I had hoped for more.
Bear traps, snares, glue traps and more, each one is found. I have been especially proud about that one trap, that would let heavy branches fall from a tree, but that''s also not triggered.
¡°Strange.¡± One of the hynoar scouts sniffs at the ground. ¡°It stinks, I can''t find a scent trail. From the tracks, I can tell, that they waited here a while, but...¡± He looks around that place, that looks like a random spot deep inside the forest. ¡°...I can''t see them, the tracks that the human girls would have left behind, but for some reason, there are some sods.¡±
I kick the ground hard. Right on one of these sods. In each of them was a smoke-bomb and I''ve just detonated one, which stirs up white fumes.
¡°[Entangle]!¡± I use it on a tree, the branches are grappling me, lifting me up. Same goes for the alfr woman, who still holds the rope, but she let it go, either because of surprise or suspicion.
Nonetheless: Step one is a success.
[Hide Smell] and [Mask of Wildlife], additionally [Wild Eyes]. Dammit, the alfr woman also used [Mask of Wildlife]. Except for her, I can roughly feel the positions of each mercenary by their spirits.
I dispel my [Entangle]-spell and land on a branch. Even without arms, I''m used to fighting in forests enough now that I won''t fall that easily.
Plus, on that branch is another thing I prepared: Fire-bombs. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± As I only need my spirit-capabilities, I don''t need my arms to make this spell happen. The branches grow and move to entangle a mercenary, but while they do so, they let the bombs placed on them fall.
*bam, bam, bam, bam*
Good thing that Ara-san won''t know about this since flames and explosions will take a toll on these trees, but I have no time to worry about that.
I had already jumped to another branch. I need to retreat, for now, to get the time to unbind myself.
After changing back and forth between [Pikeman] and [Student], the rope was loose enough to get out with a last class-change into [Ranger].
This really hurts! Since you try to grow into a restraining device, the rope cuts into your flesh, while you have trouble getting any air.
But now I''m free.
Still, I have to return to the supplies. I put two caches here, with one HP-potion, one SP-potion, one simple knife, and a cold medicine at each.
I couldn''t know if I have the time to pick them up, but just to be sure, I still placed them. Being captured was within the error margin, but now I have to get my stuff back.
I gulp down the cold medicine to make sure that it won''t return mid-fight this time. Only a knife for this battle, huh?
Wait, battle?
No.
More like a hunt.
I''m a solo-player and they''re now in my farming grounds.
[Mask of Wildlife]. [Hide Smell]. I need to conserve my resources here.
And I want that alfr woman.
I see some of them, they''re looking for me, one of them has some burns. I hear others that try to evacuate the ones, which were badly hurt by the fire bombs.
Better check the wounded ones. No, no alfr there.
But a folksman, who carried two of the hynoars all by himself. Just why are these little suckers so strong?
¡°[Entangle]!¡± I commend the folksman for throwing his companions out of the way before all three of them got grabbed by the branches of the surrounding trees.
However, that was his last deed. I rush forward and slit his throat. ¡°Yoink,¡± taking the dagger, which was on his belt.
The folkman''s main weapon, a mace, would be too unfamiliar to wield.
Attacking someone ends [Mask of Wildlife], so I recast it. The mercenaries, which were accompanying the wounded, just realized what happened, that''s how fast it went.
Plus, they can''t see me anymore. They look at me, but overlook me, since I messed with their perception by blending in with the spirits of the forest.
¡°RUN!¡± Someone of the retreaters screams in panic, a human. The hynoars are calmer but don''t hesitate. ¡°That guy is a ghost!¡±
Well, thank you. I guess. Someone who just appears, kills, and vanishes is a pretty scary guy.
I use my [Wild Eyes], trying to figure out where the alfr woman is, but she has the same advantage as me in this forest, using [Mask of Wildlife] to counter it.
Then it comes down to individual skills I guess, I just need to get closer.
Or I just get targeted by an [Entangle], and this time it''s not grass, but thick branches.
¡°[Entangle]!¡± I use it on the same branches, which causes them to move in strange ways and use my pure [Strength] to break through the thinner parts.
There she is, right above me in a tree, but she vanishes.
However I don''t need to follow her. She doesn''t have my stuff. I use the [Mask of Wildlife]-[Hide Smell]-combo and add [Camouflage] and [Sneak] after I move a bit.
This way she will have a hard time finding me.
I guess she detected me when I was killing the folksman, and just kept her senses on me. That''s the reason why [Mask of Wildlife] isn''t enough. She''s an alfr, after all.
This hynoar! It has my spear and is sniffing for me.
Too bad for you.
I grab his head from behind and stab it into the side of his neck. He might not die outright, but with [Assassinate] the damage was high, and he won''t be able to do anything anymore.
Also, that spot is easier to aim at than the throat, where there are no bones or cartilages in the way.
I drop the dagger and take my spear, then I roll forwards, since I''m sure that the alfr won''t let me do all of that without any form of retribution.
I was right, I just avoided an arrow from a blind spot.
Hey, this is one of mine! Did she just pick it up from somewhere?
Too confusing to keep track, but she has my quiver at least, so I''ll take it back.
She may use [Mask of Wildlife] again, but I''m confident that I will win this game.
I retreat to the point where I laid down my big trap, and dig out some smoke-bombs. I throw one right away since surely she''s right behind me.
I may not see anything either, but I use [Wild Eyes]. Trees, grass, bushes, no critters or birds, but an alfr, who just made the mistake of coming too close.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I stabbed something, right through it, and it hardly stops my skill. I charge out of the smoke cloud.
Yellow-green eyes somewhat wide in shock, the ears point to the sky, blood coming from her mouth. Her one little mistake of entering the cloud full of confidence in her superior senses, which brought her close enough for me to detect her.
That single mistake, and now she''s dead.
Another bit of guilt is put on my shoulders, but she tried to kill me as well, so I''ll live with it. It still doesn''t feel as heavy as the ss''rak patriarch.
She has my bow and quiver on her, she must have taken them from another mercenary. Well, it was an alfr quality short bow, and it¡¯s quite alfr to use your own weapon against you, so it fits.
I take my stuff back, and now I look for my knife.
¡°You''re the most unfortunate person right now,¡± I tell a mercenary. He just tried to sneak up on me through the smoke cloud, but he couldn''t mask his spirit, and [Wild Eyes] is active again. ¡°Tell me, do you have my knife?¡±
A strange noise, I jump to the side and look to see a knife being thrown at the point where I was standing.
That''s mine, bastard!
¡°And where is my backpack!?¡± The knife-throwing human comes from the smoke, wielding an axe, and he actually has my backpack on his back.
Not that I¡¯m complaining, but isn''t it too convenient that I¡¯m meeting all the people who have my stuff? There were already some mercenaries on the retreat, so why does this guy stick around with my backpack at all?
...could it be? I mean, I read about my [Luck]-stat every day, but so far I had never had a way to confirm if that stat was properly working. However, as [Ranger] has the best [Luck] out of all my classes, this really could be the case.
Nevermind.
Crossbow-bolts are flying at me, I jump behind the nearest tree so that I won''t end up as a pin-cushion. The human with the axe does the unthinkable: He throws his axe. ¡°Next volley!¡±
So basically I have a choice between being hit by an axe or bolts, that''s what they think. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± I let the tree I''m hiding behind lift me up once more.
Now his axe will be stuck in the tree, and I¡.can see how it curves and flies back into his hand instead.
...I know that non-heroes can learn [Skills] as well, since Ara-san mentioned it before, even if it''s much harder for them than for heroes. But I hate it.
Well, it¡¯s time to find out where those crossbow archers are. Then I''ll take them out. Here up in the trees...
Looks like it¡¯s becoming more complicated.
Hynoar, three of them, wielding knives in their mouths while nimbly moving across the branches on all fours. They¡¯re running like large cats right now. Hynoars are like the best of the animal kingdom united, I guess.
Why are those guys even still attacking me, when retreating would be the option that makes more sense? They also have the rest of my equipment, and the axe-wielder just recovered my knife as well.
Doesn''t matter. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± First, I make the footing of the hynoar unstable. They¡¯re trying to fight the branches back, quite successfully. I will have only a small time-frame here.
Another volley of crossbow fire, but I had already activated [Mask of Wildlife]. They can''t even sense me anymore, so it''s more like a bunch of blind shots.
I was called a ghost before, and now, with my [Ranger]-training, I feel invincible inside these woods.
None of my enhanced senses can catch any other mercenaries around here except those fighting me. I guess they''re the rearguard, buying time for the others to retreat. That may be the reason why this human has my stuff, to keep me here, instead of following the rest.
I climb down the tree silently. The hynoars are where I was just now, trying to find my smell, which I''m hiding.
My eyes are fixed on the human, who surely is a capable mercenary, someone who trained enough to be confident in his capabilities, someone who thinks he could fight me, an inexperienced hero, on equal terms. Maybe he''s able to, but right now we¡¯re not fighting, I am hunting and he¡¯s my prey.
¡°Rally around, give him no chance to take us out individually!¡± The human makes some gestures. I''m sure it''s some sign language they use, so his shouting is more about making the others look at him to see the real message.
Better to end it quickly. I have [Mask of Wildlife], but while it works at a distance, it becomes less reliable the closer I get to my prey. So I throw my spear, impaling the human, and throwing him backward. He still swings his axe in a panic, realizing that he''s about to die. I take my bow, shoot him across the short distance, pick up the corpse, and run like hell.
Bolts are shooting in my general direction, but it''s a thick forest and, for some reason, even the hynoars don''t follow me. Maybe they have had enough, or they know that following me within the woods would play right into my hands.
Unloading the human axe-wielder, I take a last look at him, his barely shaven face, and his big build. Another kill, my first human, but it doesn''t feel different from killing hynoars, folksmen, alfar or ss''rak.
Guess, I''m no racist. Or would it be speciesist?
I yank out my spear, remove my backpack and knife from the corpse, and use [Mask of Wildlife] just to be sure.
This is enough damage, I hope. It''s not like I want to kill people.
Now I need to escape before the mercenaries around here regroup or before their reinforcements arrive.
I take out paper and coal, and try to write clearly that I''m alright and will catch up with the girls, but they need to hurry.
Not everything went as planned, but at least it worked.
I guess that''s more than usual.
Volume 04 - Chapter 4-3
I, Momokawa Kyou, am anxious. Arako''s ragged breaths make me feel nervous, but it can''t be helped, she carried first Rine and then me quite a distance.
This way, those mercenaries won''t be able to track us that easily. Alfar don''t leave traces when they walk over plants even simple grass, and the grass here is thick, which makes it even harder to track.
We even plastered the ground with stink bombs to mask the smell as good as possible. It might buy us some time. In the meanwhile, Ken will lure the enemies into the wood, while we''re heading to the road by the quickest way possible.
Thanks to Arako''s good hearing, coupled with the superior farsight of us humans, we were able to avoid some groups of people. Many of these groups numbered more than thirty.
Luckily, those groups were also more about speed than attentiveness.
I really hope that Ken will be able to slip through. He was all confident, saying that he was specialized in being solo, and that he has all the skills he needs to pass those mercenaries.
Still no message found in the backpack.
Rine-chan is composed, but sometimes she looks back, worrying. Arako concentrates on putting one foot after another. She has already received three [Stamina]-spells, but she may need another.
Another check in the backpack. There!
I read through the message. ¡°He''s finished with his task and on the way.¡± Arako gives one of her small smiles, which is more or less the equivalent of Rine-chan''s radiant ones.
Even I feel relieved. So finally a plan worked out the way we intended it to.
Since Ken knows where Arako dropped Rine and me, he can pick up our tracks there. Now we only need to get as much distance between us and the mercenaries as possible.
Then Ken can catch up when we stop to rest. We''re already hours ahead.
¡°[Stamina]!¡± I recover some of Arako¡¯s SP. ¡°Where do we go?¡± I ask.
¡°The woods there. I can open up the path for you so that it won''t hinder us much.¡±
That''s something Arako just does. She must have learned that back in her world. It''s a nice skill, since it makes it possible to travel faster through woodlands.
About an hour later, we are sure that we slipped through the mercenaries. I sigh in relief, but we need to keep going. ¡°[Stamina], [Stamina], [Stamina]!¡± I recover everyone''s SP.
¡°Momo, Katarine-san.¡± Arako''s ears begin to twitch. ¡°There.¡± She points to the horizon, and I can hardly figure out what she just heard, but when I turn my head in that direction, I see something strange.
I think, if I concentrate, I can hear them roaring and laughing, how loud they must be.
¡°Demons.¡± Rine-chan draws her sword, despite the distance. Maybe it''s not a bad idea though, since demons are riding on other demons, four-legged monstrosities, which move fast.
All except one. That one runs with everything she has.
It''s a red oni.
Please no.
¡°Rine-chan, what should we do?¡± She still is the best one to make this decision.
¡°We shall fight!¡± Except when she''s determined.
¡°Remember, we need to survive.¡± It''s only about twenty demons, but they''re clearly onto us.
I don''t know why, but since the red oni is somehow connected to Correo, she might have a relic, which can find heroes.
Oh no, I''m starting to think like Ken, and I''m also probably right with my guess!
Rine-chan looks at the surroundings. ¡°The woods? Ara is good at fighting in these, right? Maybe the demons aren''t. For me, it makes no difference.¡±
¡°Good, we''ll run into the woods! I''ll replenish our SP afterward!¡± I just pointed to the trees nearest to us, but it won''t make much difference.
It doesn''t take long, until we''re deep into them. I replenish my MP with a potion, or more like cold Aeolferelda tea, after casting [Stamina] on each of us. Arako and I take our cold medicines, and then we wait for them, Arako as a [Druid], me as a [Priest].
As long as I can cast some [Exorcise] on that oni, we should be able to overtake her.
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± A gigantic burst of fire just levels the trees in its way.
¡°[Watershield]!¡± Arako casts a spell and pushes me to the ground.
While the fireblast was delayed by the water mass summoned by Arako, Rine-chan cut through it.
It exploded, but the blast was mostly absorbed by the [Watershield], and Rine-chan doesn''t seem to be bothered by it much.
The path created by the [Oni Fire] was used by the demons to charge in. Rine-chan is already at it, cutting the demons used for riding left and right, so they disperse in midnight-blue smoke.
The red oni smiles at us, cheerful and mad. ¡°Ah, there you are! You''re cutting them like cheese, don''t you think that''s a bit unfair? I brought them not for you, Katakata, but for them!¡±
¡°Why are you calling me Katakata?¡± Rine-chan, is that your only concern?
¡°Because you''re called Katarine, right? Katarine, the Irregular. We want you, please come with me. But deny it, so I can fight you, then I can crush you, and then take you with me so that we will be friends in the end!¡± The red oni swings her club.
¡°What is your name?¡± Rine-chan just cut more demons apart while she makes that conversation.
Arako shoots the ones that fall by having their mount killed. ¡°[Fountain Gun]! [Fountain Gun]! [Fountain Gun]!¡±
I try to move closer to the oni, little by little. My legs are shaking, my stomach hurts, my head is fuzzy, and I need to relieve myself, but I want to [Exorcise] her.
¡°My name?¡± The oni asks as if the battle hasn''t even begun yet. ¡°Don''t know, don''t care. I''m an evil red oni, you know? That''s all I need. Yes, all I need! Katakata, will you come with me?¡± She''s obviously waiting for a no, but for whatever reason, she still asks that question.
¡°Wait a moment. [Crescent Moon]!¡± Rine-chan''s skill cut several of the demons down. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± And another batch. Now she has killed at least twelve of them in total, while Arako finished off six. ¡°Could you ask your demons to stop attacking?¡± Rine-chan just jump-kicked one from the mount and stabbed the same one with her sword from above.
¡°Only if you decline my offer.¡±
¡°I can''t -[Crescent Moon]- decline your offer, when I''m this busy!¡± The absurdity of the situation made my head hurt, which already doesn''t feel all too well with the fuzziness.
¡°But-¡±
¡°Hey, red oni?¡± I ask her. ¡°Why did you call Rine-chan ''the Irregular''?¡± This might distract her, and also give me an opportunity to get even closer.
It also interests me.
¡°Because Katakata is a here-born hero! That has never happened before, Master said, so the Lady wants her since she is unique, and has both.¡±
¡°Both what?¡±
¡°I don''t know, but she''s special!¡±
¡°And who is the lady?¡±
¡°Ah, it''s- Eyieargkksbugrbl!¡± The moment the red oni tried to finish the sentence, she starts convulsing and making strange sounds, slobber comes from her mouth, and her eyes are rolled back. She seems to be in pain.
Splendid. I put my palm in her direction. ¡°[Exorcise]!¡±
The cone of weak light hits the oni and burns her in white flames, ¡°IIAAARRGH!¡± She rolls on the ground, completely engulfed in radiant fire. Her form begins to change, again and again. Sometimes she grows, sometimes she shrinks, but she''s always covered with a white fireball.
After some seconds, it ends, and she wobbly tries to stand up. She is definitely burned, but the wounds are slowly healing: ¡°I hate you, you-¡±
¡°[Exorcise]!¡± I have no mercy. I''m too afraid to let her do as she wants, and I already have another MP-potion in my hand, to make sure that I can still fire these spells.
¡°AYAOURGH! SIS, STOP THAT!¡±
¡°[Exorcise]!¡± This time I don''t even wait until the flames die. I also drink the potion.
Rine-chan and Arako are almost finished with the demons. I just to need to buy some more time.
¡°[Exorc-¡±
¡°AH!¡± The oni swings her club wildly in a panic, but the power behind each blow is great and it creates a wind current, which throws me off my feet. ¡°Sis, die!¡±
The oni, whose burn wounds are already healing, trots towards me while lifting her club.
¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± But she was cut from the side.
Rine-chan''s skill is something she learned after her last fight with that oni. Ken assumes that skills are often learned by necessity, and Rine-chan needed a skill, with a bit of range, to fight this oni.
The wound in the oni''s side is deep, but it regenerates much quicker than the burns that I made. The oni looks in Rine-chan''s direction, who had already finished the last demon off.
Arako points with her staff to a tree. ¡°[Root Lances]!¡± With this, the roots of these trees shoot out of the ground and pierce the oni from below.
The regenerating wounds want to close, but there is something in the way. So the regenerative abilities of this oni has this kind of limit as well.
¡°Oh... ah, ah, ah! Why!? I just want to kill sis, take Katakata, and bring her to Master! Why do you interfere as well, you... you... tent-ear! [Oni Fire]!¡± She breathes at the roots, which are incinerated.
Her own fire doesn''t do a thing to the oni. ¡°You bullies!¡± With this, she runs between the trees.
Is she fleeing?
¡°Kyou, we should pursue her! We might be able to finish her off!¡± Rine-chan is already following her, so I can either let her go alone, or come along.
¡°Arako, we need you in there.¡± I won''t let Rine-chan fight alone!
¡°Count me in.¡± Arako''s ears are set back close to her head. I guess that means that she''s furious.
Well, considering what that oni did in Aroahenn, I can understand it.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Arako and I step into the trees, but we''re confronted with one problem. Rine-chan has already gone ahead.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I made a blunder unfitting for a princess of Feuerberg. I lost track of the oni.
But I''m sure that she is still here somewhere, that''s what my instincts tell me.
Maybe I should have waited for Kyou and Ara. Going ahead was a bit rash.
Now we''re separated, but if I''m quick, I might still at least catch up to the oni and keep her busy; Long enough for Ara and Kyou to follow, though I have to find her first.
I look at the ground, but I can''t tell if these little gouges are tracks or not. This is supposed to be a hunter''s or a scout''s work, and since I never showed any interest in hunting animals, I didn''t learn how to track someone.
A bush rustles, and my head turns that way, but it''s only a red bunny. It has yellowish eyes, small white horns on its nose and the ears are kinked down. Looks like a genuine bunny to me.
Kenta told me once that animals at his home look different, but I can''t even imagine a bunny with straight ears.
However, since I met Kenta, some things have changed. I''m a hero now, and I can somehow speak with animals.
It''s more or less me talking to them, while they make gestures that tell me what they answered. It''s called [Whisperer].
I can simply ask the bunny about the oni!
Oh, it seems to be hurt. It has scratches all over its fur, maybe it has to do with the oni? ¡°Excuse me, dear bunny? I''m looking for a great, red demon. Did you see it?¡±
The bunny cocks its head and then scampers back into the bush. It wants me to follow it.
I work myself through the bush and just behind it there is something lying on the ground. It''s a spiky club, the same one the oni was wielding.
Did she drop her weapon, since it was hindering her?
Danger from behind.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Arako and I realize that we¡¯ve caught up, but we''re already too late. The warning I want to give Rine-chan isn''t able to leave my throat in time. The oni punches her with so much strength that my friend is thrown against a tree.
How did that oni hide in that bush despite its size?
An ugly sound is coming from Rine-chan''s direction, that might be the sound of breaking bones. ¡°uuurgrghhh...¡± She clenches her teeth and, while tears are dropping from her cheeks, the fire in her eyes is still lit. Her right hand is grasping her sword so hard that her knuckles turn white, but her left arm is bent at a strange angle.
Then the oni: ¡°AAAAAAAAAARGH!¡± Her left shoulder section opens up, blood spills in every direction and even though her eyes aren''t tearing up, she squirms with pain, while her left arm plus part of the chest is dropping down, only connected to the body by some flesh. The cut itself goes down to her stomach. ¡°Crazy! How crazy! How!?¡± She kicks the ground and grabs her left shoulder with her right hand and puts it back where it belongs.
What should we do!? Rine-chan seems to be in great pain, but somehow only got her arm broken. Did she sacrifice it to absorb the impact of her flight, so that she can still fight?
If that''s true, then this girl is crazy.
Yet it may save us. ¡°Arako, keep her busy.¡± Rine-chan seems to be unable to move; the pain''s too great. Her conditions are [Broken Bone: Arm] and [Stunned], but I can at least take her pain and give her painkillers.
Arako opens her mouth, but after her ears move in a confusing pattern, she closes it again and lifts her staff. ¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± With her spell, she staggers the oni.
I run up to Rine-chan and begin my treatment. I change to [Priest] and start with the obvious choice: ¡°[Heal]!¡± Then I get a poultice from my backpack and put it on her broken arm. I use the [Check-up]-skill I usually ignore, since everything so far could be healed either by magic or medicine.
It''s because we''re heroes, but I already know about broken bones. They don''t heal as easily.
When Ken cracked his ribs in the fight of Aroahenn, he needed several hours to heal completely, which shows how fast heroes regain their health, but it''s still too long to get them right into battle again.
Rine-chan''s arm is cleanly broken; it will heal after one week of rest, but she''ll be able to fight after some first aid measures.
Everything is relying on Arako now.
She is doing fine. ¡°Agh! [Oni Fire]!¡± The oni is raging at Arako, her raw strength broke through Arako''s spells, so Arako has changed to [Acrobat] and concentrates on evading the attacks, using high jumps, swift rolls, and other moves.
Now she jumps on a branch above her, then her little muscles as an [Acrobat] subside, she is a [Druid] again: ¡°[Icicle Knives]!¡± She throws blades made of ice towards the oni, who shatters them with her left fist.
It seems that, while the oni can''t use her left arm, her shoulder reattached again. Luckily, the regeneration of that oni has sure slowed down.
I need a minute, then I can bring Rine-chan back into the fight.
The oni shoots a fireblast at Arako, but she has already switched back to [Acrobat] again and jumped on another tree.
Her ears are trembling. Maybe Arako''s is angry at the oni for burning the trees, or maybe at herself since she has to use such a strategy, but it works.
Arako might be a bit rusted, but I can see how she is a hero with almost a hundred years of experience. Use magic to attack from a distance, evade the counterattack, change the position on another tree, it''s fluent!
¡°Stay still, lynxy! [Oni Fire]!¡± The oni continues her fireblasting, even if it has no effect.
Arako jumps from the branch she was standing on, right to the next tree but- ¡°...?¡±. Instead of landing on that branch, she loses height and smashes into it, falls to the ground and groans.
What just happened!? I check her status. Condition... [Worn Out]. The condition that happens, if you don''t rest enough, only relying on potions, magic, and other means.
Arako... did too much. She is the one with the weakest constitution in the first place, she is sick, which is only suppressed by the medicine, she walked great distances over a long time, she carried Rine-chan and me quite a distance. and now she is fighting with the oni. It''s just too much!
Now the hero-system strikes back after all that physical abuse.
¡°Uhhh...¡± Arako''s fingers have slipped from her staff. She tries to reclaim it, and while her face is having a slight expression of discomfort, her ears are going crazy. She must be in great pain, but her body just doesn''t seem to be able to move much.
¡°Haha! Finally!¡± The oni kicks her. ¡°Take this!¡± Another kick into Arako''s side.
¡°...uhhh...¡± A single tear drips from Arako''s cheek. I''ve never seen an alfr''s tear before...
¡°Ara...¡± Rine-chan beside me tries to stand up, but her legs give in. ¡°Ara!¡± Her voice is coarse. She crawls on her healthy arm closer to the fight, slow but steady.
But that isn''t necessary.
¡°LET HER GO!¡± These words escape my mouth, while I dash towards the oni.
Anger, frustration, the wish to save, every single moment of despair, fear, and irritation I felt since I came into this world are flaring up just behind my stomach.
How dare she!?
Arako might be unable to take care of herself, but she is earnestly doing everything that interests her. She keeps up with me, despite the fact that we''re two totally different species, and that she originally didn''t even want to become my friend.
Now she is, and nobody does something like that to my friends. ¡°[EXORCISE]!¡± The light engulfs the oni, the white flames appear.
¡°...UUUUARGHHHH!¡± With that not being enough, I draw my knife, switch to [Herbalist], and stab her. ¡°Stop, that doesn''t hurt! Ouch! Stop that, it doesn''t hurt, I say! Ouch!¡± Without even knowing what exactly I''m stabbing, I repeatedly drive my dagger-sized knife into that ball of white flames.
Rine-chan is a stupid girl, but she is always trying her best. She''s so stupid that she still doesn''t notice that I am manipulating her. Without even caring about herself, she always tries to do what is right. Yet this oni hurt her bad!
I want to hurt her back!
Then the oni sweeps her arms, throwing me back. The white flames die out, and the distorted face of the oni is a visage of anger.
She rushes to her club, which has lain abandoned on the ground until now. ¡°I will kill you, sis! I''ll kill you, then I''ll break some of Katakata''s bones, then I will kill the lynxy, and then I''m finally through with you! I like fights, you know, but whenever you''re involved you spoil the party, sis!¡±
She lifts the club with her left hand. So she''s left-handed; a useless thought. I know that even if I''m able to evade the real attack, the air it moves will get me, and then I will be on the ground, so the attack afterward is sure to hit.
I touch my scarf with my hand. There is a reason, why I wear a scarf. It gives me the feeling of really being a hero. Now I need it to get courage.
The last [Exorcise] was too much; I don''t have enough MP left to do another, the potions are far away inside my backpack. My only weapon is my knife, and I''m facing an enemy that is way above me.
With just a little bit of courage, I clench my knife. Sorry, Arako, Rine-chan. I won''t be able to buy you much time.
Something enlivens me, gives me a bit of strength. It''s not much, but I''m glad to have this boost.
I''m about to charge the oni, but the moment I move, I see red.
Literally.
Blood splashes all over my face and clothes, and I see something coming out of the oni''s throat. A curvy spearhead made out of bone.
Something appears right on the back of the oni, something red, something hooded and- ¡°A white mage is the party''s lifeline,¡± -a very familiar voice giving an eerie calm threat into the oni''s ear.
It''s Ken. Even though he should be still far away, he''s here,and he''s babbling about some stupid game stuff.
White mage? Lifeline? Is he talking about me?
The oni, unable to say anything, swings at Ken, but he already jumped down her back. Then a small explosion comes from the oni''s neck, it''s a fire bomb. Did he put it in the hole he pierced through her throat? ¡°Don''t. Fuck. With. My. Whitemage.¡±
Instead of a throat, a gaping hole is under the oni''s chin. She coughs up great amounts of blood, then her hands wander to the front and back of her neck, covering the holes while moving the flesh. ¡°Huuuuaaaah!¡± She inhales deeply. Her face is in pain. "Hyrak, kakarhn!" Her coughing brings up some gouts of blood.
You gain 5 WP.
Your husband saved your life! How dramatic! What timing!
Seriously, even if his timing was perfect, Ken just doesn''t have the air of something like a hero. Instead of someone who saves the day, it''s like he''s more like a villain.
A hero would have kicked the oni away, but instead, he went so far as piercing her throat from behind and putting a bomb inside.
But even I can''t deny how effective it was, and how glad I am that he''s here now.
If you are coming, then don''t make me wait so long, you idiot! I was about to die!
The oni''s club is in the crook of her arm, so she kicks at Ken, who jumps backward. ¡°Kyou-san, just patch up the others.¡± His voice is still creepy, his eyes focused on the oni. His muscles grow, he is changing to [Pikeman].
Not only relief is revivifying my body, but also the fact that Ken is within six meters, the distance for the [Attribute]-boost of the wedding-curse to work. It eases the pain of Ara, it gives Rine enough strength to stand up again, and it grants us a second wind.
Ken''s here, so everything will be okay.
¡°Just be sure that you won''t end up as a patient as well!¡± I hurry to Rine and finish up her treatment. Even if I feel sorry for Arako, her status says that she''s still stable but [Worn Out], so I have to give Rine-chan the priority, who actually can rejoin the battle.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± Ken is fighting back the oni, who still has her hands covering up the holes in her neck, he''s certainly overpowering her and I couldn''t tell if her wounds are still closing or not.
¡°Thanks, Kyou.¡± Rine-chan''s treatment is finished; another spell, another poultice and a [Set Bone] were enough at this point. ¡°Kenta, here I come! HYAAAAA!¡± Rine-chan charges at the oni with a battle-cry.
The oni looks with shock at Rine-chan, and jumps at least ten meters backward. Then she runs between the trees.
For some reason, Ken didn''t follow her, he just stands still and stares at the point, where the oni was.
Then he falls. I run up to him,and he''s still conscious. But how... Wait.
I check his status. He got the condition [Worn Out]. ¡°Rine-chan, stay here with us this time. Treat Arako!¡± The blonde is about to give chase again, but considering how it worked out last time, I don''t want her to, and we need her here for protection.
¡°OK.¡± She seems to be a bit dejected, but Arako is important, so she goes over to her and uses magic to heal her.
I will check up Arako myself later as well, but for first aid Rine should be enough.
Something else has precedence. ¡°Ken. How?¡± I just ask the question, he can surely understand what I mean. How did he get here and is it related to his [Worn Out]-condition.
¡°I... dashed... the whole... way...¡± His words came out between short exhausted breaths. ¡°...using... pots...¡± I check the [Inventory], and yes, our stock of SP-potions have decreased again by quite an amount.
But he seriously ran the whole way? ¡°Why?¡± Even if he saw our status, he wouldn''t be able to get here in time dashing the whole way at that point while gulping down SP-potions.
He had to start dashing after we read his note, more than an hour ago!
¡°...shut up.¡± I guess he just got a bad feeling, but Ken likes to think of all of his actions as entirely rational, despite not being so whenever things get complicated.
However this time, it was for the best that he ran all the way to us, pushing his body over his limits.
And then he most likely used a lot of skills to find us and to sneak up the oni in order to get her for good.
Something strange is happening with me. I smile at Ken. Not my usual business smile, but a genuine one.
What an idiot.
He really ran all the way here, after he had some kind of fight himself, then he saved us in the nick of time.
For some stupid reason, I can''t help myself but smile at him.
Not that he even looks at me. He''s lying on his stomach and looking at the ground, nonetheless, somehow I still feel like smiling.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The oni breaks through the brush and looks back at times. She doesn''t feel fear. Despite the intimidating demeanor of bro, an oni is unable to feel fear.
But she can still feel concern, pain, and the wish to live, and, of course, the pain she gets as she was reminded that the Master commanded her to live.
This was close.
She reverts to her true form. In the red giant form she will have trouble regenerating at this point.
This is the first time she ever came that close to dying. This wasn''t fun at all!
Now that she''s back in her true form, all the youki she uses to maintain her giant form can flow into her natural healing.
She concentrates on her neck. She has some nasty neck wounds, and, for some reason, Katakata was able to cut her while being pummeled from a blind spot. Her whole left side was just loosely attached to her torso.
That lynxy, who just jumped around like a monkey and threw magic at her, was an annoyance. The oni would like to kill her but doesn''t need to.
Katakata was fun. The oni wants to fight her again, but she has to bring her back to Master, so he can bring her to the Lady.
Sis was a pain in the ass. Her [Divine Magic] really, really hurts.
Even with the special condition of the oni, it hurts, and is always just two steps away to canceling her shapeshifting. That girl has to die!
Yet bro is even worse! The oni was shocked, when she suddenly started suffocating because a hole appeared in her neck, or more like, that something inside her neck suddenly started to clog her breathing.
She doesn''t even know how her breathing functions, but her instincts made her cover up these holes and make some finger movements, and suddenly she was able to breathe again.
She wants to torture bro.
Onis don''t feel fear, but maybe the oni felt something as close to it as possible, and she doesn''t like it.
She wants bro to feel so much fear, that he does... what do people even do, when they feel so much fear? ¡ She wants him to feel so much fear that she will find out!
Ah, her neck healed. Now that her hands are free, she fishes a small whistle out of her top.
She will blow it!
Even though Master told her to use it at a later point, she will totally use it now! She will make all of them pay, and pick up the beaten down Katakata!
Volume 04 - Chapter 5-1 – Finish-up!
Chapter 5 ¨C Finish-up!
After I splinted Rine-chan''s arm and made her an arm sling, I took a look at Arako, who was as unable to move around as Ken.
As I was not able to put her staff in the [Inventory] -the staff is still somewhat living- I bound it to her back. Ken''s spear, also alfr-made though he declined the living variant, wandered into the backpack.
Now Arako is leaning on me, while Rine-chan supports Ken as much as possible. Good that both of them are about the same height.
Ken also switched to [Ranger], which made him a bit lighter, but Rine can currently only use her right arm, which makes things strenuous.
Staying here would be suicide, but transporting Ken and Arako will be difficult.
I could probably carry the alfr girl on my back for a while, but I''m the one who will surely get the [Worn Out]-condition next, so I have to save as much of my stamina as possible.
Furthermore, Rine-chan is just not able to carry Ken with her broken arm, so there is no point to putting Arako on my back in the first place.
We''re only as fast as the slowest member; carrying one won''t change that.
So in the end, Rine-chan and I are slowly trying to get these two away. They can''t even stand by themselves anymore, and their walking speed is sluggish even with support, but we have little choice.
¡°Are you alright, Arako?¡± At times I ask her that.
She looks at me then and answers in between ragged breaths. ¡°No... but I... will manage...¡±
Seeing her in such a pitiful state is painful. Her eyes are unfocused, and she has a fever that the cold medicine doesn''t work on. It still can suppress the actual cold, but this fever has another source: Strain.
The same goes for Ken, but he''s doesn¡¯t tire of cursing almost every step. Mentally he seems to be okay, while Arako is about to pass out.
Maybe he¡¯s just cursing to try to stay awake?
We leave the forest. Without the help of these two, it''ll be too hard to move in there. According to Ken, the mercenaries might follow us after they regroup, since they might have some good trackers that will pick up our trace.
South is the direction we''re aiming at. We can only roughly estimate where that is, since the sky is cloudy again, blocking the sun. It might even rain again.
No, it will.
I''m sure of it, even though I can''t tell why.
I check the status of everyone. Rine is stable, her Max HP decreased, same goes for her Max SP. This is because of her broken arm.
Despite that handicap, she still might be the healthiest out of us four.
Arako''s and Ken''s statuses are grave. The [Worn Out]-condition is decreasing most [Attributes] substantially, but there is nothing I can do. Even Arako doesn''t know a single way to remove that condition except for a day of rest, and Arako knows a lot.
Leaving any one of them here was not an option. Well, except maybe Ken.
No, just kidding, but there is no harm imagining it. Ah, I''m about to giggle, even though it''s not the time for that, even though it is only fun thinking about it.
I may be harsh on him at times, he might be a big idiot, and sometimes I have the urge to kill him, but that''s because of his behavior and a bit of my own immaturity, plus other issues.
Considering what I have had to live through since I met him, it''s reasonable.
I met Ken in high school. We were in the same class. The only people I knew from middle school were Teru-chan, Harada-kun, and Kuga-kun, which I knew from parallel classes.
My other acquaintances were in other classes, and most of the other students in mine were from different middle schools.
Since I wanted to become class president again for my report card, I decided to befriend as many people as possible to get voted in.
I have already abandoned the idea to join a club again this year. I did dancing in elementary and middle school, but that was out of a childish obsession.
It was fun while it lasted, but I wanted to become an adult, so I aimed for the student council this time.
Befriending my classmates wasn''t exactly much of a challenge. Some were easy, like Masahiko-kun, who just gathers other people around him.
Even I was drawn to him, but it''s because he''s just such a pleasant person.
After I was friends with him, I had two-thirds of the class on my side. Enough to get voted as class president.
I didn''t want to stop there though. I wanted to have a perfect victory, and have as much support as possible for becoming school council president.
Most of the rest weren¡¯t hard to convey, even though being as good-looking and popular as I am always causes some contempt, especially with other girls.
However, those jealous bitches were at least superficially friendly to me, especially since being against me would destroy their chances with Masahiko-kun.
That left three people out of the whole class who were especially hard.
Hoshibashi Takashi-kun, someone who would later become a delinquent, was a challenge of endurance. Maybe he started with a bit of a crush on me, or he is just that bad with girls, but he was uncooperative at first. I had to show a bit of care over the course of two months, and after putting a little bit of effort over a long time, he would grudgingly help me whenever I asked.
Kita Katsuo-kun, I befriended later. He didn''t mingle with others and always had the air of someone who already failed at life. He did talk to me when I initiated it, but he also put distance between himself and everyone else. Saegusa-sensei asked me to try to include him in class, but I had no chance. In the end, it was Masahiko-kun who somehow had an event with Katsuo-kun, and the two of them became friends. Then, that friendship extended to me as one of Masahiko-kun''s friends. After becoming friends with Masahiko-kun, he joined the Kyuujutsu club in our high school, which he had avoided previously. Later on, I learned that there was an incident regarding Kyuujutsu in middle school. Katsuo-kun aimed to become a pro, but this incident made him change his mind.
The last one of my hurdles was Katsuragi Kenta. Well, he still is.
While Katsuo-kun merely put up a barrier, and Hoshibashi-kun was uncooperative, Ken smashed his own barrier into everyone''s faces. His face always had the same expression, as if he''s suffering from constipation, and his eyes looked at everyone with hostility. He wouldn''t even maintain eye contact while talking with someone.
My first exchange with Ken...
It was still spring. I think it was on the third day of the school year, when I spotted him on the way to school. ¡°Good morning, Katsuragi-kun.¡± My sweet smile, my friendly voice, everything was supposed to go well.
But it didn''t. ¡°...are you pressing me for money?¡±
¡°Eh?¡±
¡°You''re pressing me for money, right? I don''t have any. Scram.¡±
Unable to muster an answer, I was left behind by him. That was our very first conversation.
I even remembered his full name, despite only hearing it four times!
If I consider his self-introduction: ¡°Katsuragi Kenta, Kitakou.¡± He didn''t even stand up, he just said his name and his former middle-school in a bored voice, as if it was the biggest annoyance ever.
I decided to befriend the others first. I thought he might need more time.
The week after our first exchange, I talked to him during recess. ¡°Katsuragi-kun, can I take a look at your notes? I think I missed something.¡± I saw how he wrote them diligently, so I thought that might be a good way to start a conversation. This would also make him feel smart, another plus.
¡°No.¡±
That was within expectations. ¡°Then could you help me with the last equation? Taniguchi-sensei was a bit fast there.¡± Sensei really was, most of the girls weren''t able to understand it, so it was a perfect opportunity for Ken to show off.
To show off an arrogant smirk, that is: ¡°You didn''t even understand something on that level?¡± That was the first time he even made eye contact with me, looking down on me, like I was some retard.
That. Jerk!
I spent my time with others, mostly, and started to hang out around Masahiko-kun more, but it''s not like there was no time to talk with the rest of my classmates. While I still had trouble with Hoshibashi-kun, Katsuo-kun, and Ken, I got along with most others by that time. So I observed these three to learn about them.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Ken was often playing some handheld console during recess and lunch break, not even caring about who would see him. During lunch, he ate some bento with one hand, while his other played. A boy with the same game system tried to open a conversation, but from what I observed, it didn''t end well. He rushed out the classroom, almost in tears, while Ken didn''t even look at him during the entire conversation. So I never dared to ask him about his games.
Two weeks into high school, the class president was voted. I won by a landslide, being friends with Masahiko-kun and being friendly to my classmates by showing them my notes, helping them wherever possible, and taking charge, was more than enough to accomplish it.
Then, I had to collect some papers, so I asked Ken: ¡°Katsuragi-kun, do you have a minute?¡±
¡°Do you?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Why are you ''-kun''ing me!? When did I ever give you my permission? Whatever your name is.¡±
He didn''t even remember my name! So hard to keep that smile!
¡°Katsuragi... My name is Momokawa Kyou. You can also call me class president.¡±
¡°I didn''t vote for you, Sekozawa.¡± I was already sure that he was the one who put the vote into the box, which made Saeguchi-sensei cringe and void it after she drew it.
¡°Katsuragi, you''re mistaken. It''s Momokawa. Written as peach river.¡±
¡°Peach, sweet on the outside, poisonous on the inside. ¡ How about I call you ''Fake #2''?¡±
I was about to hurt him. I didn''t even know how, but at that point, I wanted to make him feel pain.
Summer came, everyone in class except Ken accepted me. ¡°Katsuragi, you didn''t apply to any event in the sports festival. Follow me and finally write your name on the list!¡± This wasn''t the first time I reminded him.
¡°Why don''t you just write my name on that damn list? You like to decide everything anyway, Fake #2, why should I even make the effort to try to play along?¡±
¡°Just shut up!¡± I was very frustrated at this point. I was in the sports festival committee, and the preparations were numerous and difficult and then I still have to keep after Ken, who didn''t even do his basic obligations. ¡°And don''t call me Fake #2!¡±
¡°OK, bitch.¡±
¡°What did you call me?!¡±
¡°Bitch, or how do you call someone who whores herself out to almost every boy in class to get votes for the student council? Well, maybe ''slut'' would be better.¡±
Oh, his face. I wanted to punch it so hard, that his teeth fly out. He is like that to everyone in class, but unlike my classmates, I can''t just avoid him at every opportunity. I''m class-president!
But whenever I talked with Ken, I deeply regretted being one. ¡°Just call me by my name.¡±
¡°Phew... Momokawa, just write my name down wherever.¡± By the way, during the whole conversation there was no eye contact, but the way he looked out of the window, it was clear as day that he thought of me as a pain in the neck.
There is not one single positive memory about Ken in my whole high school life. He was often called by the teachers and the principle, since his behavior caused many problems. Not major ones, but people don''t like being called names, students and teachers alike.
However, for some reason he never got suspended or anything; maybe his demeanor wasn''t bad enough. Rumors spread that Ken''s parents are rich and donating to the school. Even Katsuo-kun, who was in the same middle school as him, didn''t know the truth; it was hard to get any intel about Ken from him. Maybe Katsuo-kun was so fed up with him already, that he didn''t even want to talk about him.
At some point even I stopped trying to be nice to Ken, I was only annoyed to see him offending everyone whenever he opened his mouth. It was clear as day that this one would never fit in with the rest of the class, and soon nobody actually cared about him anymore. Most just tried to ignore him as much as possible.
Then we were transported into this fantasy world, and I was abandoned by my friends.
Feeling frustrated about myself, about the situation with my life-expenses, about the future perspectives, I was slowly tormented.
In this torture, I met Ken again.
He was kinda dejected. Since it was two months since I saw him last time, I talked to him. A known face, for a moment I even forgot how furious he made me in school.
He was cursed, and he offered to help me level up if I help him with that curse. It was an attractive offer, even though I was skeptical. It was Ken, after all.
The first part of the journey to Hei?quellen was fine, although a bit unnerving. Ken did actually put some effort into working together with me. If he had done that back in school, my whole school life would have been blissful.
Do you know how infuriating it was? I tried for months to get him to treat me a bit like that, but now, in a fantasy world, he suddenly did it as if it was an easy task!
He was also reliable! He was cursed, but he was someone who could fight these monsters, knew about camping outside, and how to become a better hero. While I degenerated to some helpless girl in an unknown land, he actually grew from a jerk to a jerk with useful skills!
But the moment we were caught in Hei?quellen by the ss''rak, he went on a rampage and made them really mad at us. Which made them throwing us into the chasm.
I was at a loss. Everything went wrong, and it seemed that we''d die. I had to do something, I didn¡¯t want to die, but everything seemed pointless.
While I was trapped in this cycle, Ken took charge. I let him, since I was unable to bring up much motivation. I concentrated on how to stay alive, while Ken''s eyes were always focused on something else.
Without Ken, I would die. I had to keep him around.
I hated how much I needed him, but this hate kept me from thinking about our certain doom. I was afraid of him going somewhere, so I wouldn''t let him go away, putting my hand on his while sleeping in that cave, keeping him nearby when I took a bath in that hot spring¡
He didn''t let me go. When we were chased by the birds with the saber-beaks, he didn''t let me go.
He didn''t let me fall.
Being so near to death made me feel alive, ironically. Pure panic. Then I got infected with his curse. Another thing that kept me from thinking about our doom, a marriage curse. He didn''t know about that, but I blamed him, because it was easy to hate him.
He deserved some of it, but not because of the curse. Rationally, it was nobody''s fault, but I wasn''t rational back then. I felt played with. I felt like the whole world was against me, laughing at me by marrying me off to the one person I despised the most.
Without him, though, I would die, I had to keep him alive. Even when he attacked the crimson bear. Even after he was almost killed by ss''rak when he realized that he just committed murder.
I had to keep him alive. So I murdered the one, who almost killed him.
I''m fine with it. I could say, I did it to save him. I could say it was necessary. Really, I was afraid of what would happen if Ken died. I was dependent on him, even though I hated it.
In the chasm, I saw many sides of Ken that I didn''t even know about. He was selfish, but reliable, and vulnerable. He needed me as much as I needed him, not only because of my spells, but because I was another person.
It could have been anyone, but it was me.
We really didn''t used to get along. Back then we fought almost every day, now he doesn''t fight back as much as before.
It''s a bit lonely.
He defeated the patriarch and I gave him my first kiss. This alone makes me cringe, whenever I think about it I usually push that memory aside, only to remember it whenever he''s away.
Ken is no hero. He didn''t look like one when he fought the patriarch, but, in the end, I kissed him. Now I can accept it, but that irritated me for so long.
After all that, I was seeing him in a better light. He was still a jerk, but at least he was a jerk I could put up with. I even planned to ask him to stay with me for a while, so that we can raise my level, while I would somehow find something he also wanted. At that point, I really was ready to work with him, after we got rid of the curse, as real partners.
A hope which got betrayed.
We came back to Esse, and the curse couldn''t be removed. Somehow Ken lost all that divine power he gathered. We would learn much later, that it was used up by infecting me with the curse, but at that moment, when I heard that he somehow lost it, I was only thinking about how he put me in grave danger several times for nothing!
All the positive turned into negative, completely meaningless. No! Everything was even worse.
Maybe it made me stronger as a hero, but I wasn¡¯t given a choice if I wanted to work with him or not. Instead, I was forced, the description of my ring told me that I have to stay close or the curse would activate on me.
On top of that, I was married to him!
You can''t charge someone a kiss or being married! That''s not exactly something that you earned, but what you are granted. Seriously, I had my own plans, and they got trampled!
I knew the marriage was just a strange curse, but if you are always reminded by these stupid pop-ups, then anyone would feel like there is not much difference anymore.
Especially when you cooperated to gather these WP. It was too late to take my permission back, and it made sense, but over time it turned something special into something trivial. My whole picture of romance got shattered by this curse, and Ken was at the center of it.
I hate that curse, and I hated Ken, so putting both of them into the same bag might not have been fair, but I didn''t care at that point.
This, and other very private issues, turned me into a bitching nagger, but I was in a situation where the ground suddenly fell out underneath my feet.
I was sick of having no choices and needed an outlet. Ken was the only one available.
All the more so when we met our classmates in W?chter, where I could see how it was supposed to be. I should have been part of them, but I was isolated instead. I was different from my friends, and the reason was Ken''s curse. I felt even more lonely, and all that mountain-climbing didn''t improve my mood.
When the fourbirds took me, I was afraid. So afraid. If they let me fall, I would hit the ground and die but if they carried me to their nest, then they would eat me. At that moment, I was alone in the truest sense, and I wished that Ken would die as well, since he was the object of all my hatred. That day was the worst since waking up!
Well, thinking back, I might have been afraid to be the only one who dies, but emotions aren''t that simple. You can feel one way, think another, and come to the conclusion that you want a third thing to happen.
In that agitated state, I was saved by Masahiko-kun. I had to return to Ken, who was still alive, or the curse would affect me as well. I didn''t want to tell my friends about the curse, because... I don''t even know.
Was it embarrassment? Was it because I didn''t want them to worry? Was it because Eri-chan would have made fun of me, making it impossible to return to them, and holding it against me forever?
I still have no clarity about that, but it caused misunderstandings that I couldn''t resolve. Who besides Masahiko-kun would trust the words of someone who might be brainwashed?
So I used their misunderstanding to lead them to Ken, which ended up in the monkey spider encounter.
I was really glad, when Ken decided to help Masahiko-kun and the others, even if he was being a jerk again. As annoying as he is in general, he is still dependable when it means fighting something.
But why did he picked up that bow? Why did he forced me to run away with him? With all these misunderstandings that I should have at least tried to clear, both of us dealt a killing blow to my friendship.
So I started to befriend Rine-chan, and later on Arako. For some reason, I really became friends with them, but what about Ken?
We are not friends. Ken doesn''t want friends, because he already rejected me in Japan, because he would never say something kind to me. For him, I''m just a nagging bitch, and maybe I act like one when dealing with him. I can be very mean to others at times.
Ken and I aren''t lovers. I gave him my first kiss, we hold hands almost every day, we sleep next to each other, but we are not lovers, and I don''t want to be. I''m sure he thinks the same of me. Actually, who would want to be the boyfriend of a nagging bitch? ¡ actually, that thought makes me angry at myself.
Maybe we''re partners. But on what basis? Partners to break the curse? Partners as this world''s heroes? Party-members?
What are we?
What is Ken to me? I still don''t know.
I hate him. I want him to at least like me. I want to keep him alive. I want him to be kind to me for a change. I want to know about him. I don''t want him to know about me.
How do I feel about Ken? ¡ When I asked myself that question the last time, it was a bit of dislike.
I guess, now it''s a bit of like, not like a friend, not like a lover, just a bit of like, if that makes any sense.
Really, if he rescued me from the oni in a manlier way and said some cool line back then, I would have at least felt some heart-pounding excitement and relief. His way was just too creepy.
Well, he was there, that''s what counts.
Maybe I could treat him a bit better at times. Not that much, so he won''t get the wrong message, but a bit. At least if he treats me kind as well.
Ah, that''s where it will end in failure.
¡°Momo?¡± Arako, who I am still supporting, groans my name. ¡°What... is so funny?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°You are... giggling.¡±
¡°I see.¡± I smile at Arako, showing her my genuine one. ¡°I''m thinking about good things since the situation is so dire.¡±
¡°Humans... are strange...¡±
Volume 04 - Chapter 5-2
Dusk is coming. The landscape is just some hills with clusters of trees and bushes here and there. Overall the same rough and wild, but boring terrain as before. The sky is darkening, not only because of the sinking sun, but also because dark clouds cover the sky.
My prediction is coming true, it''ll rain any moment.
Rine-chan breathes roughly, while trying to support Ken as much as possible, and he continues to mutter curses. Arako and I aren''t better off. At times, Arako seems to fall asleep for a second or two, while I continue to help her and worry about when my turn comes to suffer the [Worn Out]-condition as well.
Maybe it depends on the [Vitality]-attribute. As a [Herbalist], mine is not that bad. Arako¡¯s is worse, and Ken strained himself much more than I, but that doesn''t mean that I''ll be able to take it much longer.
The distance we could travel so far was maybe a fourth or fifth of what we''re usually capable of. Now I see something on the grayish horizon. ¡°Arako? Can you see it?¡± While Arako can''t use skills right now, her good eyes are something, that every alfr has.
She slowly lifts her head and blinks a few times. ¡°Too far... Is something there?¡± Maybe her eyesight isn''t actually that good. Or maybe she just sees different.
¡°Rine-chan, can you see it? Ken?¡±
Rine-chan cocks her head. ¡°Not sure... It moves.¡±
¡°...phew... I hate it.¡± I''m sure that Ken is expecting the worse, and I''m inclined to do the same.
¡°Monsters?¡± I ask nonetheless, though I don''t even expect an answer.
¡°I guess?¡± But Rine-chan delivered. ¡°They''re coming closer... and there are many.¡± She narrows her eyes. ¡°Yes! Monsters!¡± Her face already shows her readiness for battle.
She said there are many, but that is an understatement. I can only guess, but concerning the size of that mass...It far exceeds the number of monsters I have seen before, including those ostriches in the chasm, or the scaleetles from two days ago.
¡°Rine... don''t...¡± Ken tries to stop her by fidgeting with his lifeless limbs, which isn''t very effective.
¡°Rine-chan, we have people to protect.¡± I look for a place to take cov- ¡°No...¡±
¡°Kyou? What is i- Oh.¡±
¡°...What... ¡ I hate it.¡±
¡°...urrggh...¡±
A single look behind showed us the next problem: People, riding on big lizards and some kind of horses with claws, catching up to us. Most likely the mercenaries and there are also many of them. Not as many as the monsters, but still far too many for my liking.
A wolf at a front door and a tiger at the back.
¡°Rine-chan? Both are running toward us, right?¡± I''m sure of it, but I hope at the same time that I''m wrong.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And we''re too slow to run away, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°What should we do?¡±
¡°Fight our way through!¡±
I want to wince, but looking at Arako, who does just that, and Ken, who exhales in his strange noise, I can''t lose my composure here.
Though to be honest, I was thinking about leaving at least Ken behind for a split-second, since he''s so heavy that he''ll slow us down.
However, even if I''m mean to him on occasion, or find it funny when he gets hurt by his stupid actions, or wish him suffering at times, it''s not like I''ll abandon him.
¡°Rine-chan, give Ken to me. I will support both.¡± Even with a broken arm, Rine is most likely the only one who can cut us a path through those monsters. I''ll just have to follow her, while dragging both of them.
¡°OK.¡± Even in these times of despair, Rine-chan''s determination and dependability are giving me hope. She is overly optimistic, and she doesn''t even think of failure, so she is sure that she will open a path.
¡°Which one?¡±
¡°The monsters!¡±
She loads Ken on me and we exchange glances. It¡¯s a form of language that both of us developed over the time we¡¯ve been together. ''What about my opinion?''
''Overruled, you can''t even speak fluently. Also, you''re heavy!'' Ken certainly is. Boys sure weigh a lot, and they''re cumbersome. Arako just fits into my arm, while Ken is like some sort of boulder that I have to carry.
''We''re dead, you know?''
''Since when do you care? Haven¡¯t you always fought despite being in a situation of certain doom?''
''...point taken.''
¡°But for real, can''t you change classes?¡±
¡°...why?¡±
¡°You weigh too much!¡± His look tells me that he doesn''t understand. ¡°Change to [Student], I want to see if your fat weighs less than your muscles.¡±
His eyes try to burn me, but he''s not the one who has to carry two people at the same time, soon enough, his body shape changed to his original one.
¡ There is something I have to confirm, so our look-language continued. ''Have you actually gotten slimmer?''
''WHAT!?''
''I thought you would be fatter.''
''I''m not fat!''
''Yes, yes...'' Actually, he''s just a bit chubby, now that I lend him my shoulder, I can''t help but think that he might have been losing weight since coming to this world. Maybe I just didn''t actually care about it before, and just imagined him to be fatter.
¡°This way is better.¡± Even if his back muscles almost vanished, which made it harder to get a grip, his overall weight decreased. Well, there is a saying that muscles are heavier than fat, that''s why I proposed it.
I take a look back at the riders. They decreased their speed. Looks like they see the monsters now and are planning to let us clash with them. At the front, I could see strange beast-like people, almost something between a dog and a horse. Maybe these so-called hynoars? Plus a human and something hairy that I couldn''t even name.
The monsters at the front were also discernible. I thought before that they looked like some kind of zebras, but that was only at a distance. Up close, they are striped, but seem more like long-legged moles.
Wait, those aren''t stripes, they¡¯re bones! These things wear their skeleton on the outside!
Their speed is crazy. They''ll be on us in a moment!
Something cold touches my face. It''s a raindrop. Another one follows, and in seconds it''s already raining.
Is this a blessing or a curse?
The skeleton moles are right in front of us. Rine-chan lowers her body, ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡±, and cuts one in front of her, using her skill.
The fallen foe blocks the path of others, but many just avoided it. I brace myself, ready to be attacked while being unable to defend any of us, but instead of attacking me, those who part before Rine-chan''s first victim just run forward.
Are they ignoring us?
Are they not caring about us at all?
Is the only reason why they''re moving through us because we are in their way or? ... I quickly glance back. Those moles are just walking straight, but that path will lead into the mercenaries, who also brace for battle, yet the monsters just run in one direction, not even trying to do more than minor adjustments to their course.
More raindrops fall. My clothes are getting soaked. Ken and Arako are also becoming heavier.
Rine, at the front, is carving a way through with quick motions. She uses slashes and skills to slay the monsters in front of us. I check her status and make a grimace. She moves swift and agile, but every movement takes a bit of her HP.
Currently, I can''t heal her. If I do, I have to change classes to [Priest] and drop either Ken or Arako afterward to have a hand free. But I won''t be able to pick the person up again on my own, I''m not strong enough!
I look at Arako. She is lifeless, but her feet are still moving. She might be in delirium.
¡°...look...¡± Ken is mumbling something, and my eyes wander to him, and I can see it in his eyes. ''Just drop me already!''This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
It feels like I just swallowed a block of ice. Ken is really telling me to abandon him, and I can see that he''s serious about it. I can''t muster an answer.
¡°...see...¡± His mouth tries to speak the words, but I can already see the message on his face. ''There is no other way. Rine will give out soon, so you have to leave me now, while she can still fight.''
That''s logical; Rine-chan can still fight. I can still try to carry Arako, so there would be a small chance that the three of us can escape. The moment I drop Ken, the three of us might survive.
Further, when he dies, the curse also might end, since the ring on his finger is the source.
There are so many reasons to sacrifice Ken here. I might like him a bit, but I want Arako and Rine-chan to live, and I want to survive myself, so everything points towards leaving him behind.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
A red bunny watches from the bushes with a small whistle in its mouth. Somehow it turned out different from what the bunny thought.
It was hard to collect all these moletons, especially since the monsters around here were much fewer than anticipated for some reason. But after catching them, binding them, and hypnotizing them with a magic item, they will come when the whistle is blown.
The whistle is another magic item the bunny got from its owner. It sends a tone that only those whom you want to hear will hear it, even from miles away. These kinds of items are rare.
Maybe it''s an item that came from the Lady?
The bunny''s owner is working for the Lady, and the Lady gives the owner a lot of rare magic items. Magic ink that can open gates, the midnight dolls, the whistle, everything comes from the Lady, but the owner has a lot of magic items as well.
Slowly the bunny changes, and it becomes a she. The oni''s true form. She is wasted, unable to fight at the moment, and her survival was her masters wish.
His wish is her command.
So she can¡¯t do anything that will end up with her losing her life. She has a bit of leeway, but the moment death is sure to happen then she has to pull back. Fighting with bro, sis, Katakata, and lynxy at the moment would lead to her death. Even she knows that.
But man, is that frustrating! She wants to rampage in the midst of all that mayhem that''s unfolding right before her eyes!
Why is there mayhem in the first place!? She thought that the mercenaries are still somewhere else and now they show up when she already blew the whistle!
The moletons are running and just fighting everything they see. That''s the command they got, since it''s hard to train them to attack specific people. It was the best she could do. Master said the same! Yet now the moletons are here and attack everything non-moleton in sight. Further, since Katakata''s companions are few and the mercenaries are many, the moletons have only eyes for them!
Ah, she messed up.
That''s the reason why Master told her to use the whistle at a later point. As a last resort, the last line of defense, when Katakata and Co are already tired and spent, and while there are no forces left to throw at them.
Well, the first condition was still cleared. They''re spent, so everything is fine, right? It''s not like all the moletons are attacking the mercenaries, so Katakata''s friends will be crushed. The mercenaries are supposed to take her alive as well, so there is no need to worry.
Too bad that the oni has to sit this fight out, but her youki is still too weak to handle the wounds of combat.
She sits on the ground, embraces her knees with her arms and watches while singing a bit. ¡°Nanananana. Nananana. Nanananananananana.¡± It is an irregular melody with a quiet but high-pitched voice.
Squirrels appear from around her. Two climb on her shoulders, one on her red-haired head, and the others surround her. They try to sing with her, but to the oni it''s a fun game to change the melody in order to make it impossible for them.
Waiting is sooooooooooo boring!
Plus, the stupid rain is making it harder to watch the battle, and it¡¯s becoming heavier by the second.
¡°Maybe they''ll freeze to death?¡± She wouldn''t care about jinxy and sis, but bro has to die painfully, and Katakata has to survive. Katakata is the strongest of the bunch, so it will surely work out.
¡
Waiting is really boring.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Ken is trying to convince me with his eyes alone to leave him behind. Thinking about it rationally, there was no reason not to.
But since when do I need to act rationally?
Copying his demeanor in school, I just looked away.
¡°...hey...¡± His out-of-breath voice intensifies ¡°...stop...looking...away...bitch!¡± The moment someone else does it, it gets under your skin, right?
My grip on him only tightens as I continue dragging him with me. Then he just stops moving his feet, which makes it harder for me, but, without even saying a word, I just continue to push him forward. Finally, he lets go of his body tension, which makes him so much heavier, but I just go on stoically. I won''t even give him ground to argue. I just keep my eyes forward and try to get him and Arako to safety.
Rine-chan is still doing her best, she kicks the corpses of the monsters to the side to open a path for me and the two I''m supporting.
Suddenly I feel Ken get much heavier. He finally changed into [Pikeman] as he tries his best to part from me now. This time I turn my face to him. ¡°Seriously, what do I do with you.¡±
His mean eyes show his unwillingness to cooperate with me. ¡°...let...me...¡± He''s taller than me. But my arm is currently supporting him.
I lower him, then I put all my strength into a headbutt. Ow! This hurts!
Did I do it right? I hit Ken at the side of his head. It''s a bit red there, but he''s looking at me wide-eyed as if he never saw me before.
Yes, look at me! And get another headbutt!
This time it landed on his nose. I could hear him groan in pain, but he''s still conscious. I want to knock him out, but it seems that it''s not as easy as I thought, so I just hiss to him, ¡°Just work with me here!¡±
¡°...no.¡±
This massive moron! Even if his life depends on it, he just won''t cooperate with me!
There is only one choice left, ¡°Rine-chan!¡±
¡°What?¡± She just pierced the jaw of one of these skeleton moles from below and now pushes it to the side, relying on the strength of her right arm only.
¡°Knock Ken out when you have the time!¡±
¡°...no...Rine...don''t...¡± Of course, he objects, but his voice is too faint for Rine-chan to hear it at this distance.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because otherwise, he will sacrifice himself!¡±
Less than a second, that is the time needed for Rine-chan to open her eyes wide in shock, rush to my side, hit the side of Ken''s neck with the hilt of her sword, and return to her original position. It was so fast that even I need several seconds to realize what just happened.
The same goes for Ken, whose eyes turn white just now, moments after the deed. I felt the impact of the hit on my shoulder, but it''s actually not that bad. Considering the red mark on Ken''s neck, most of the power was probably concentrated there.
His body went totally limp and was heavier than ever. ¡°Is he out?¡± Rine-chan asks me, while she cuts the upper half of a monster''s head off. ¡°Or do I need to return? Kenta will not sacrifice himself on my watch!¡±
¡°He''s...¡± Fine? Alright? Definitely not. Looking at his face which still has the expression of shock and pain, it''s clear as day that he''s not fine or alright. ¡°...out of commission.¡± I end the sentence diplomatically.
¡°Good! Don''t fall behind and we''ll be fine! We''ll get through this!¡±
Ken''s unconscious body is dragging its feet, and I try to lift him up a bit higher, but, even though I''m stronger than ever before as a [Herbalist], I''m still not that strong.
[Strength] helps with lifting weights only this far.
Arako still is unfocused and barely aware of her surroundings, but she still puts one foot in front of another.
The rain is falling, the ground is muddy with water and blood, my clothes are soaked, the feet in my boots are squelching, my hair falls into my face, and Ken''s armor is scraping my breast. I¡®m shivering from cold, from fear, and from exhaustion. It becomes harder to see through all the raindrops, and I''m about to slip on the ground.
Ken is heavy as a brick, Arako is walking ahead of me, who has to drag Ken along, and I feel like I''m about to lose either one of them.
It feels horrible!
I grind my teeth and take another step, and another, one at a time.
Ignoring the cries of the monsters, the shapes in the rain, the fact that just an arrow just hit the ground next to me.
One step.
Rine decapitates a monster. She tries to kick it out of the way, but is confronted with two more, so I have to circumvent them.
One step.
Ken is about to fall, and my fingers claw into him. They feel numb and cold, while my arm is burning and twitching. It cramps.
One step.
Arako is about to fall. I pull her closer to me while trying to match my speed with hers, feeling strong pulls from my legs while doing so.
One step.
My head feels light. I think I can do this. It''s easy, my whole body feels so light.
One step.
But Arako feels heavy. She passed out, so I just have to drag both of them, right?
One step.
Ah, a monster mole.
One step.
Something is strange. My whole front feels cold and wet. My head clears up.
No!
I''m lying on the ground! Arako and Ken are lying next to me. I have to stand up!
Good.
Now I need to pick up Ken, he''s the heavier one.
No! The monster comes first. It was the one, which tackled me in the first place. My numb fingers are wandering to my hip, drawing the ss''rak knife. It''s a good knife, but it feels strange and unfamiliar in my hands right now. The blade is trembling.
No, I am.
It attacks, trying to slash me with its skeleton claws. It hits me on the arm, and my clothes are ripped, but I don''t even feel the pain. While it hurts me, I stab at it, and stab, and stab, right into its chest.
Putting up resistance, it howls and strikes out at me, but as long as it''s HP, then I have some to spare. I need to stay focused; I need to have the stamina to keep going, so you can take my health.
I stab again. Its resistance grows weaker, and now it''s dead.
¡°Kyou!¡± Rine is trying to fight three of them at the same time. Her face is distorted with pain as her broken arm chips off her strength and HP, but she doesn''t give up. The same goes for me.
A pile. Yes, we need a pile of bodies. Something to hide in.
Then, suddenly, the rain goes red. No, someone just splashed a lot of blood in the rain. Someone from behind me.
A hynoar. His figure is intimidating. Wearing a hood and a coat, I couldn''t see much, but a big monstrosity in a humanoid shape. His claw-feet dug into the ground, while he used a spear with a long blade to fight his way through to us. The hood covered most of his face, and it was clamped on his nose. Can he even smell like this?
With ease, he swings his spear at one of these skeleton moles, and it cuts bones, flesh, and innards.
His head turns directly to me. My hands are still trembling, but I tighten my grip on the knife. The hynoar looks at Arako and Ken on the ground. Then he walks toward them.
Rine-chan is still busy killing these monsters while trying to stay alive. I''m the only one, who can stop that hynoar! ¡°No, you won''t!¡±
¡°The boy.¡± With a voice like a growl, he points with his spear at Ken.
¡°He''s mine!¡± Even I feel intimidated by my voice, it''s filled with so much hostility that I feel goosebumps, and my words were totally the wrong ones, but my head just stopped working correctly. What I meant is, that he''s my companion and that I won''t let that hynoar take him.
The hynoar dashes at me. I thrust my knife, ready to stab him, and the blade goes into his body. Yes!
...No? There is no resistance? My blade and arm just pass through his body, which flickered and vanished.
What just happened?
I look around and see the hynoar at Ken''s side. The strange creature just lifts up Ken''s [Pikeman]-body as if it weighs nothing and puts him on his shoulder. ¡°Take the alfr.¡± His snarling is full of urgency.
Is he an ally, or does he want me to carry Arako to his mercenary friends? ¡ I don''t know, but this way we might survive.
I lift up Arako, and my body almost gives out, but I clench my teeth together and bear with it. Then the hynoar takes Arako and puts her on top of my backpack for a piggyback. ¡°Come.¡± He points at Rine-chan and walks next to her. ¡°Stop fighting.¡± His words have little credibility when he stabs a skeleton mole with his spear at the same time.
¡°Kyou?¡± Rine-chan tilts her head, asking me what to do.
¡°Trust him.¡± We have no choice. We might end up being prisoners, but if we keep this up then we''ll die.
¡°OK.¡± Rine-chan breath is ragged, and she keeps a keen eye on the monsters, but doesn''t attack them anymore. Surprisingly, the monsters don''t attack us either. As if they just forgot that we are here, they flowed past us. Even those whose paths we are blocking just circumvent us.
¡°Follow my steps.¡± The hynoar growls. He just walks in the direction we were aiming at, and wherever he goes, the hynoar just opens up a path past the skeleton moles by being there.
Are we saved?
Volume 04 - Chapter 5-3
The oni is still lying in wait in the forest, her youki is still recharging. Youki is the energy of a youkai, one of the types of those beings who are regarded as ''demons.'' Demons are very diverse, and even the oni doesn''t know why some of them are referred as youkais. They just are.
Youki is something that won''t be used up but, when it''s used it becomes all polluted and much harder to use, and then it needs mana to be cleansed. The best way to let the youki cleanse is to stay as still as possible, so that the flow of mana and youki is undisturbed.
But staying still is so hard!
She sways back and forth while trying to come up with a new song. ¡°And when I come, it... will be some... so I hit hard, until it falls apart!¡± The squirrels around her shake their heads; it''s horrible.
Usually, she would just tear down some trees for entertainment, but if she does that then it''ll be longer until she can finally charge in, grab Katakata, swing her bat at sis and lynxy, and step on bro until his bones break.
Ah, maybe she should just practice it. Since it''s just practice, it won''t be too bad on her youki-cleansing.
She stands up, and the squirrels watch her as she grabs a bush, tears it from the ground, then swings her bat at two trees, whose trunks dent, while she kicks at the roots of a third tree until they break.
This is fun! Again!
With this, the oni starts to waste her time and energy, while her youki has a hard time being cleansed.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Here.¡± The hynoar carried Ken into a large burrow, ten minutes away from the battlefield. He lays Ken down gently on the ground. ¡°Hide here.¡±
Rine-chan bows to him, ¡°Thank you for your help... What is your name? I''m Katarine von Stolzherz.¡± I have to admire her open-mindedness during this whole situation.
¡°Hrarks. Or Hrarks''naail.¡± He takes the part of the hood that is clamped on his nose, and removes it. His face... is still like that of a beastman, I can''t tell him apart from any other hynoar.
I¡¯d better go with this, ¡°I''m Momokawa Kyou... Hura... Hya...¡±. Ah, I can''t pronounce his name.
¡°Go with Haa.¡± He seems to be used to it.
¡°Thank you. Haa-san. Why are you helping us?¡± I''m sure he has to be part of the mercenaries, so I suppose that he brought us to safety for a reason. Maybe to pick us up later with his comrades? This would explain why he knows about this burrow.
However, his answer is not what I expected, ¡°He,¡± Haa-san points at Ken. ¡°Ranger-pack. I care for pack.¡± ...so Haa-san is a [Ranger] as well? Same as Ken or Oro''hekk? If I''m right, rangers are warriors and hunters of the alfar. Even non-alfar can be trained to be ones, which means Haa-san was once an apprentice of the alfar, maybe even the alfar of Aroahenn?
Now only two questions remain, ¡°How do you know about Ken, and why help us, rather than your friends?¡±
Haa-san seems to be a hynoar of few words. ¡°He wears hood. Squirrels told about hood. Coming from alfar village wearing a hood, I wasn''t sure. Until I arrived where he fought mercenary pack. Saw his tracks, could see how he moved and acted. No doubt a ranger.¡±
What exactly did Ken do when he was confronting the mercenaries before? How could it persuade Haa-san into helping us? ¡°Isn''t he an enemy? Hasn¡¯t he killed?¡±
¡°He did. Still, pack is important. Pack against pack, not good. Don''t want that. People died for the pack, that''s sad, but pack must survive. And...¡± Haa-san''s eyes wander into far realms, and he seems to think back, ¡°Everyone who learned from alfar... I feel sympathy.¡±
¡°...I can feel you.¡± When I consider what I had to go through to learn [Herbalist] from Pavi''yorn-shishou, I surely understand what he means.
Everything she taught me about herbs was right, but she only included what was fun to her. Like how ingesting nittleborg in large amounts works as an aphrodisiac, while she left out that you rub it on your skin to ease muscle pain.
Once she also made me compound a powder by her teaching, then I had to apply it on myself. Then it started itching like crazy!
When she told me to drink that tea to ''awaken'' my spiritual energy, which would lead me to use [Spirit Magic], it ended up with me being drunk! Good thing Ken was on an outing that day, since he would surely hold it against me forever.
Whenever I questioned if her next assignment was another prank, she would ask me if I wanted to abort my apprenticeship.
That''s the reason why I excessively studied all those books about herbs in the first place! I did my hardest not to let anybody find out about how humiliated, and made fun of I was on a daily basis.
Rine-chan, who also heard Haa-san''s words of sympathy, tilts her head. I wonder how her tutoring went if she can''t understand. Was she not harassed or did she not understand it as harassment? Both seem plausible in her case.
Haa-san continues, ¡°You stay. I''ll rejoin fight. If mercenary pack wants to resume, I''ll lead them west. You go on south. City there, Goldbrunn.¡± The hynoar exits the burrow, and puts some seeds in the ground. Without even telling how it is possible, the seeds begin to sprout. ¡°Soon cover.¡± Haa-san vanishes in the rain.
I fall on my behind and exhale. ¡°We... we are safe, right?¡± I tear up, I feel how relieved I am. ¡°Rine-chan, are we safe?¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Smiling like always, Rine-chan takes my hand in hers. ¡°We''re safe!¡± She talks like she always knew that we''d be fine. No, she really was sure all this time.
The sprouts begin to grow twigs and their first leaves. Within minutes, there will be some bushes here that might cover the entrance to the burrow.
Maybe Haa-san will betray us; I couldn''t tell from his face.
He used [Spirit Magic] to make the monsters ignore us and to make these seeds grow, so him being a ranger seems plausible. Plus, hynoar care for their pack, and he considers Ken, who is also a [Ranger], as one of his pack. Just because of that coincidence, we might be saved.
Isn''t it fine? Isn''t it sometimes because of that one coincidence that your whole life might change? Can we actually be really lucky this time, to get away like this?
¡°I''m so glad.¡± Tears are running down my cheeks. ¡°So glad.¡± Even if it''s too early to tell, I cling to the hope that this time at least, everything is alright. With this, I embrace Rine-chan by the hip and bury my face into her stomach.
¡°Hn?¡± Rine-chan is not sure what to do, but, after a while, I felt her hand rest on my head. A girl younger than me is comforting me, but I don''t care at this point.
This was the worst day ever, but this might be one of my happiest moments as well.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Given their respective numbers, a battle with moletons of that scale is demanding for the mercenaries, but not challenging,. At least, under normal circumstances.
The torrential rains brought another layer of difficulty to it, since, unlike the monsters, the mercenaries acted as a team by relying on each other. As a unit, muddy footing, wet clothing, and poor visibility are like sand in gears; it clogs their whole teamwork.
Further, there are only three spellcasters in this squad. That''s why, when the moletons appeared, the mercenaries went into a defensive position.
The squad leader yells in irritation as he stabs into one of the moletons with his halberd, trying to pin it down long enough for the two mercenaries at his side to finish it off. The squad leader is a human in his thirties. Once just a farmboy with aspirations, now he is a lieutenant of the Bloody Nose Mercenary Company. His talent in taking care of and taming animals made him the leader of a cavalry squad.
When the company leader asked him to catch up to the four kids, it was an honor. He even got Hrarks, one of the leader''s most trusted men and a ranger to boot, assigned to him. Rangers are admired in the Wildlands. Protectors of the wild, of the humans and other species, they are experts in hunting down monsters and criminals. There are only a few elven communities, and they are spread out to the farthest corners of the Wildlands, but some of them will train non-elven rangers, like Hrarks.
With Hrarks on their side, there seemed to be nothing that could go wrong. Even though that also meant that the company leader had decided that the target and her three allies were skilled enough to demand Hrarks¡¯ skills.
Now they''re engaged with moletons as a cavalry in a muddy terrain. Good thing that the claws of their horses and riding lizards can guarantee some hold on the ground, but it''s still bad footing. For the moletons as well, but they don''t seem to care.
Why are they attacking the mercenaries in the first place? The squad leader doesn''t know, but the fierceness and timing of the assault make it hard not to consider some crazy theories, even though the squad leader tries to put them out of his mind. Fighting and surviving are enough!
Suddenly grass begins to grow, and the squad-leader exhales in relief. Hrarks is here! This is the kind of magic that a ranger would use. The hynoar-ranger stabs a moleton with his long-bladed spear, and steps towards the squad leader. ¡°Suggest retreat.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°Where have you been?¡± It''s not like the mercenaries are bad off currently, the situation is just unfavorable.
¡°Tried to find the quarry. Escaped. Too hard to look for them now. Nothing to gain by fighting.¡± Hrarks is right. Since the number of moletons just doesn''t seem to dwindle, retreating would be the better option.
¡°How many can you take with you?¡± One of Hrarks special spells lets him take some people with him unnoticed.
It''s something Hrarks has done in the past in order to lead covert ops through the battlefield to slay enemy leaders.
¡°Five with mounts.¡±
¡°Then look for the most wounded.¡± The squad leader takes a bugle from his saddle-horn and blows it; it was wet and hard to use due to the rain. Yet the signal for the rear to switch with the front, the fighting retreat, soon sounded out.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Wet from sweat and rain, the oni hears the sound of the retreat signal, and turns her head toward it. She can hardly see anything, and she doesn''t know the meaning of this noise, but it piques her interest.
Slowly she steps out of the forest, just to feel a stinging pain in her chest which makes her hurry back in. Her Master''s order still says to her that going out there might be deadly.
Why is her youki still so polluted? It doesn''t make sense!
She waits, and waits, and waits. After five minutes, she returns to her training.
Finally, when the sky is pitch-black and the rain continues to come down, the last of her wounds heal, and she is back at full strength. With this she can at last leave the forest. As an oni, she has no problem seeing in the dark, but there is nothing left standing: No mercenaries, no living moletons, no Katakata and friends, only dead bodies lying on the ground, all of them moletons at first glance.
Time to look at the corpses. With brute strength, the oni picks up corpses and hurls them away. There are a few humans and a hynoar, but no Katakata, no bro, no sis, and no lynxy.
One of the squirrels, which stayed by the oni''s side, comes up to her. She picks it up and asks, ¡°Do you know where they are?¡± The oni isn''t very smart, so she is bad at thinking about possibilities and options, so when she is confronted with a riddle like that, the oni just relies on others.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Hello, Rine here!
Finally, Kyou is asleep. She was on the brink of total exhaustion, but still insisted on making the preparations for the bedding at least. Now she lies on the prepared bedding on Kenta''s right side, while Ara lies on his left.
My arm hurts really bad, but Kyou did her best to make it as painless as possible. Looks like it will heal soon, much faster than it should, as long as I don''t use it. So that''s being a hero, being able to recover quickly.
Somewhere I messed up today, and Gottfried always told me that I should at least try to think about how it happened and how to avoid making it again.
The oni struck me from behind; she was sneaky. I could only sense the danger at the moment she was already raising her fist, so next time I have to be faster. I was too slow to dodge, so I counterattacked instead, but if I had been faster I could have done both at the same time.
I''m a hero now, so I have to start acting like one. I can''t be beaten up every time I face a bit of danger. That''s not how heroes work.
I now have a broken arm. This will make training that much harder. Especially since Kyou said that I should rest.
Doesn''t mean that I can''t do anything. I open up the status; it''s still something I have to get used to. Moving my right hand more or less helps me focus on operating the system. Then I select [Tailor] to change class, and I feel how a wave goes through my body.
Whenever I become a [Tailor], some muscles change. I feel more power in my fingers and less in my legs, and the way I move my fingers while handling needles and such is much smoother.
I pick up my current work from the backpack. It will be a pajama for me, designed from Kyou''s, because hers are too small for me. If I wear a pajama, maybe I can sleep next to Kenta as well.
My left arm might be broken, and I shouldn''t try to use my hand, but that doesn''t mean I can''t sew a bit. I just need to use my teeth whenever the needle goes through the cloth. At some point, I may mend the clothes which got ripped open today, but they are still wet right now, so I had better wait until they dry.
Too bad that a fire would be a bad idea now. We''re hiding, and the smoke would fill the burrow, but it¡¯s becoming cold. It''s also dark, but it doesn''t hinder me much for some reason. Maybe it¡¯s because Gottfried tried to teach me to feel the surroundings instead of seeing it. I don''t know what that means, but I can somehow handle sewing in the dark as long as I concentrate on my fingers.
Maybe it''s because I''m a hero now.
Soon I will have my own pajama. Then I can sleep next to Kenta. Feeling his warmth, smelling his scent, hearing his sounds, and he''ll be the first thing I''ll see when I wake up. ¡°*giggle*¡± This must be heaven.
He became a bit kinder to me. Maybe he is overcoming his shyness. That''s so cute, being all shy, even though both of us love each other. It could be that he doesn¡¯t realize it. Kenta might be smart, but even smart people can be oblivious sometimes.
Thinking about how it would be, if Kenta actually doesn''t love me makes my heart hurt, so I just don''t.
Ah, I remember something!
I slowly crawl to Kenta, who is still sleeping. He is in his most muscular form, the form I like the least. However, that doesn''t mean that I don''t feel the tingling behind my navel when I look at him, or the fire in my lungs, or the pounding of my heart.
No reaction. Usually, Kenta will wake up if I try to get close to him when he''s asleep, but this time he does nothing. Maybe because he''s all muscular currently, so his hearing went into his biceps?
I remove the blanket and mount him. The tingling behind my navel become more intense. I feel like I¡¯m breathing fire, and I can hear my heart pumping my blood throughout my whole body.
Finally, my chance!
I snuggle my body against him, since Kyou and I removed his armor, and I also donned mine off with her help. It''s almost direct body contact. My chest lying on his, and our legs intertwining. My broken arm hurts when I press my body to his, but my head feels all light in the bliss of the moment.
My face is directly looking at his. It''s too dark to tell much, but I can still see his face clearly in my mind. Not handsome, but he''s so cool and he could look very attractive if he ever made another expression.
His black hair and eyes would suggest that he''s from the south, while his skin color refutes it. A man from a strange land, a hero.
He''s as tall as me, but doesn''t that make us just that much more of a perfect match?
The way he acts toward me, without any sort of respect. He gets angry at me. A lot. That''s how much he cares about me.
My hand wanders to his cheek. I think he just shivered. My nose is touching his.
Time to do it.
Slowly my face descends, my nose strokes his cheek. I''m about there. My cheek rubs his, then they meet, our ears.
Ear-plugging, the form of alfr connection which is practically a kiss for humans. Kenta doesn''t want to kiss yet, but he will have nothing against ear-plugging, I''m sure.
My ear is touching his; they¡¯re rubbing each other.
¡
¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡
That''s it. It doesn''t feel good or anything. Maybe it''s because we''re humans, but this moment is undoubtedly intimate.
Kenta didn''t ear-plug with Kyou or Ara before, so this is mine, this first ear-plugging of his. ¡°*giggle*¡± I feel my face burning, it feels so good.
Happiness.
All over my body.
It makes it squirm. It washes away the exhaustion and the pain.
Kenta and I did ear-plug.
I didn''t ask him, but this is now mine. Mine.
Ah, I took it without his consent, but he will forgive me since it''s him. Kenta is kind.
My face hurts because I am smiling that hard.
I should return to night-watch. That''s what my task is currently. The moment I go off his body, mine feels the regret and loneliness, but I have to endure it.
¡°wrrr...¡± Some strange sound escapes Kenta''s mouth. Ah, it''s not only Kenta, Ara and Kyou are doing the same. I see. They''re shivering. It''s cold after all.
But making a fire would be dangerous, so how can I get them to be warmer?
This might work. I take Kyou by the shoulder and roll her to the side, slowly putting her hand on Kenta''s chest. Then I do the same for Ara. Finally, I put the blankets over all three of them. This way, they''ll share their warmth.
I envy them. All three of them are now lying together, I want to be part of that as well. It looks warm and comfy.
Ara makes a very pleased sound, she seems to be having a good time. Kyou''s right hand on Kenta''s chest moves a bit, but then her fingers clench into his shirt.
Kenta is making sounds, which I can''t even describe. He just has to feel good.
¡°*giggle*¡± It makes me happy that he feels well, my dear husband. Even though we might be sinners who deserve to burn, it doesn''t make us any less husband and wife, and when my dear husband feels good, it makes me a good wife as well. Now he has it all warm and comfy.
As long as I don''t think about the whole sin-business, it''s just like a dream. I just need to figure out how Kyou and Ara exactly fit into my dream, and then all of us will be happy.
Also I¡¯d better not think of Feuerberg for the time being. Somehow I turned my back on it, but I will return someday. Before that though, I need to become a splendid hero. Like the other heroes, I need to train and develop before I can partake in the war as one.
Traveling with Kenta, Kyou, and Ara will surely turn me into one. All of them are real heroes, people from other worlds, who are destined for greatness. They will guide me to how to become as splendid as they will eventually become.
Then I will return and make Feuerberg safe again. After that, I will try to talk to Father, so that he will overlook the sin we committed.
Oh, but he will be furious that we wed without making the proper rituals. Would only Kenta need to go through the challenges, or Kyou and Ara as well?
Also, when should we start with making babies? We need them soon because it''s important to have heirs. Even though the moment we do so, it''ll be hard to return to the adventurous life.
How should we call them? Since Kenta would marry into my family, they would carry the ''von Stolzherz''-name. Then he will be Kenta von Stolzherz as well. Would Kyou and Ara also change their names?
This is becoming complicated. Maybe that''s the reason marrying more than one person is considered a sin.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Karina von Stolzherz? No, that''s only my name. How do I get Kenta''s name into it?¡± I slowly open my eyes because someone is rambling some nonsense, and waking me up. The smell of earth and mud is strong, and a bit of light shines through the bushes at the entrance. It''s still the burrow that Haa-san showed Rine-chan and me, but something is strange.
Not only Rine-chan''s voice, but there is also the sound of breathing. I look into Arako''s face. It¡¯s as expressionless as always, but her weak left ear sometimes twitches. She''s still asleep. She looks almost like a corpse.
She''s still asleep, but the deeper breathing is what alarms me. I look up and see Ken''s sleeping face. I have only a few opportunities to see it since he tends to be the first one awake, but it looks even more annoyed than usual.
What kind of dreams does he have when he even looks like that while asleep?
My head is on his chest, same as my right hand. It almost seems like I''m snuggling up to him, but, thinking about it, there is no way that I would do that.
I have a suspicion.
¡°Kerine? But what kind of name is that?¡± Most likely it was her.
It doesn''t change the fact, that I''m in this position. Yet my body doesn''t move. Normally, I should have some sort of reflex kicking in, but it''s not. Maybe because of the headache and the running nose. I feel terrible. My cold got worse, and I have muscle pain all over my body, but mostly in my right arm and in my legs.
That''s the reason why I''m still lying like this; I just don''t want to move.
There will be a point when I have to, but I still want to sleep a bit, to just close my eyes and continue. I have the feeling that I had a pleasant dream, even though I can''t remember it. I want to resume it.
But, taking another look at Kenta and Ara, I just get the feeling that I have to get up. Both of them wore themselves out yesterday, so now I have to take care of them.
First, I''ll try to make something easy to eat. Rine-chan should also eat something and get some sleep. She was up the whole night, despite all that happened yesterday.
I slowly lift my head. I guess the first thing I need to do is to swallow a cold medicine pill.
The moment I flake my body off Ken''s, I feel the cold air. Something like regret is building up inside, but someone has to take charge here, and that''s me.
So much to do, even though we won''t do anything other than resting for today.
I just hope that Haa-san stays true to his word and that he''s safe.
Thank you, Haa-san.
Looking at Rine-chan, whose eyes are red from sleep-deprivation, while she is thinking about things I don''t even want to know, I can''t help but smile.
Thank you, Rine-chan.
I swallow a cold medicine, and turn my eyes to Arako, who is the frailest of us all despite having the highest level. She did so much yesterday, taking her body over her limits.
Thank you, Arako.
Finally, I take a glance at Ken, who just had to overdo it and end up like this, just to be where he was needed in the nick of time.
Thank you, Ken.
Volume 04 - Epilogue
Extra 1 ¨C I hate being wed in the Pok¨¦mon World!
¡°Is it me, or does this look different than usual?¡± Rine asks with a bewildered look, her ember-like eyes showing how confused she is right now.
Well, she''s right. Up to now, it was just another day like always: Waking up, and realizing that being in a fantasy world is still not just a bad dream. Trying to wash my face, though it''ll never be as clean as back home. Looking around the camp for tracks to learn, and what kind of monsters and people might try to kill us today. Eating Kyou-san''s cooking, which might be good in general, but just underlines that I''m in a shitty fantasy world. Then I would go into a bush to take a dump. It becomes quite chilly in the mornings, and I would then have to deal with the feeling of freezing my balls off. Afterward we would start walking great distances while killing some mobs on the way, and trying to stay alive.
Then I would get into another fight with Kyou-san. This time I think it was because I laughed at her when she stumbled over a root. Following that, I would be thrown to the ground by Rine, and then put in an arm lock. She does stuff like that at times. Then I would check what Ara-san is writing down. This time I found out that she''s making a list of my swears for ¡°reference.¡±
Yup, the same day as always. I feel weird saying that''s the usual routine. Well, when I found an old forest road and we decided to travel through it, things changed.
First, every fucking tree looks the same now! This is irritating, it looks so wrong on so many levels. For some reason, thick, high patches of grass are growing from the ground, though the trees nearby should take all the water and nourishment, while blocking the sunlight. By the way, the grass also looks exactly the same.
Ara-san''s ears start moving suddenly: ¡°Strange... the trees are... different? It''s like they''re supposed to be here.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Usually, trees don''t mind where they grow and therefore have no sense of belonging to certain places.¡±
¡°Hm... let''s be cautious. Rine take the front. I''ll take the back. Kyou-san and Ara-san are in the center.¡± This formation fits if we don''t know where the enemies might be, since my sharp senses are the best defense against ambushes, while Rine can carve her way through anything that might be a danger.
¡°Yes! It really is like being in another world! I''m excited!¡± ¡I guess Rine is the only one, who has never crossed worlds before. Well, let''s ignore that comment for now.
After walking for some minutes, there is no danger in sight, though something else is hindering our path: ¡°Why is the road overgrown?¡± This high grass is bonkers.
Well, no other way than to tread through it. The moment Rine moves into the grass, she draws her sword and thrusts it into the patch. ¡°Kenta, there is a monster.¡± She lifts her sword and shows me her victim.
It''s some sort of worm about 30 cm (about 12 inches) long. It''s green overall, but has some strange yellow ring-shaped marks on its sides. Huge eyes and a red antenna make up most of its face... Wait a minute, I know that one!
¡°Katarine-san, there!¡± Ara-san lifts her hand: ¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± She shoots something from the air, a plump-bodied bird, about the size of the caterpillar, with primarily brown and cream colored feathers. ¡°These are some strange monsters.¡±
¡°Ken, I feel like I''ve seen them somewhere before...¡± Kyou-san, I know.
¡°Ah, Ara! There is another one!!!¡± Rine points at the grass, where a slightly larger creature is, its yellow body is chubby and is very recognizable.
Kyou-san tugs my arm: ¡°Ken, is that... wait, you look horrible.¡± Usually, this would be an insult, but I know how I must look, as an icy chill climbs up my spine.
¡°Katarine-san, look out, it shoots... lightning slow enough to evade? This kind of attack is certainly out of the ordinary.¡±
¡°A lightning shooting monster! I''ll take it down!¡± Rine, please don''t. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± Yellow turned into red.
¡°That certainly was a sight. Oh, another caterpillar. I''ll switch to [Acrobat], since they don''t look worthy of a spell.¡± Ara-san, stop pummeling it with your staff.
¡°Ken, keep it together.¡± Kyou-san slaps me lightly, and I realize that I had fallen to my knees. ¡°What is wrong with you?¡±
¡°They...¡±
¡°Another bird monster, I have it!¡± Rine jumps into the air, stabbing the one approaching.
¡°Please...¡±
¡°This caterpillar has a big horn on its head. Interesting.¡±
¡°No...¡±
¡°What''s this? Cocoon-monsters? They don''t even move, should I kill them nonetheless? Ah, Kenta would say ''Easy XP,'' so I had better do it.¡±
¡°List-¡±
Now another one comes into the chaotic mix, some brat, who walks up to Ara-san: ¡°Hey, you looked me in the eyes! Now we''re rivals! Let''s battle!¡±
¡°You''re speaking with me? Ah, being so young means that you can''t hold in your human desires, which are about to explode, so you plan to have your way with me... poor me.¡±
¡°Go, Cater-uargh!¡±
¡°...I expected more. Momo, could you take a look at that child? I may have split his scalp.¡±
¡°Why are you hitting him with your staff in the first place!?¡±
¡°He challenged me.¡±
¡°Kenta, the monsters are coming out of nowhere, and there seems to be no end to them. What should we do?¡±
What you should do!? ¡°For starters... STOP KILLING MY CHILDHOOD!¡±
Of all the pains I''ve lived through, this one might be the most personal.
To be continued?
Extra 2 ¨C Girls-up!
"Everyone, be prepared!" Shinohara Mari holds her shield in front of her, with both hands clutching it. Her two party members, Kumagai Yuria and Endo Naomi, are standing behind her, with their crossbows loaded and ready to fire.
They''re in the Mauerfelsen, a mountain-range west of Feuerburg. They had been called to the W?chter-fort some time ago in order to look for the runaway princess, and had followed her tracks into these mountains.
Then they lost the tracks, and worse they also lost their backpacks, which have all their equipment stored inside them. For some weird reason, the backpacks fell off a cliff, and when the girls finally found a way down to the spot where they had fallen to, they were already gone.
It was most likely kobolds, those bipedal dogs. While they are monsters, they possess some kind of intelligence, which gives them the ability to craft and use tools and weapons. Therefore, it''s only reasonable to assume that they know the value of backpacks.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Mari and her friends started to look in one cave after another, trying to fetch their precious magical backpacks, which can''t be replaced.
All of the girls are in their [Soldier]-class, their main fighting class. Having several [Soldiers] isn''t an issue. Instead, it''s practical as all of them have the [Phalanx]-ability, which empowers teamwork and can take effect multiple times. Each of them has the [Forward March]-skill, which increases the [Agility] and [Attack] of a formation if all three of them activate the skill, it''s a severe boost in offensive power.
This is why they do it now, three times [Forward March], all of them stacking the bonuses. Mari steps forward, forming the center and front of the formation. She doesn''t like this position much, but in the end, she ended up being the one with most [Sword]-skills and the highest [Vitality].
Maybe because she was once part of the softball-club? But a bat isn''t a sword...
Incoming sling stones! Mari raises her shield and steps to block them, but she still panics a bit, as the small rocks are more deflected than stopped. Some of them bounce off, others are shifted to the sides, and her shield bucks with every shot as she tries to brace herself against the impact. Even small missiles like those pack more of a punch than she could have imagined before she started using a shield. It had always looked easier in movies.
Four kobolds firing their slings block the path deeper into the cave. Usually, they are intimidating foes, but Mari is used to fighting kobolds by now, so she remains somewhat calm.
"[Splinterbolt]!" Nao uses a skill to take care of all of them simultaneously.
"Ah, not that!" [Splinterbolt] is a powerful crossbow-shot, which shatters the bolt into several splinters, each with the power of a complete bolt, which means that afterward the ammunition is useless. While they own many bundles of bolts, most of them are Inside their backpacks!
Nao, you idiot! Mari already shared all of the bolts she had, they have almost none left!
It''s effective though, the force of the bolt-splinters throw the kobolds from their feet. One of them died instantly, and the others are incapacitated.
"I''ll get the kill."
"Wait a moment, Mari, it was my skill, so I should get the kill."
"Nao, I need the [Experience] the most! I''m always standing in front of you two, thus I need more levels to feel secure."
"Hey, I need them most," Yuri interrupts, "My level is the lowest!"
It''s the same as usual. While their teamwork in itself is splendid, it cracks the moment it comes time to kill off defenseless monsters. Especially now, when they''re all so agitated because of the loss of their backpacks, and most especially the events that followed. They had to hunt and eat animals! Gutting them was disgusting, but they had to since all of the provisions they got from the Feuerberg-kingdom were inside their backpacks. There is a definite pattern here.
"Nao! You wasted another bolt! We need to be more careful about them."
"What''s the use, if you die by being too miserly! The only reason we can even argue about those kobolds is because I used this skill beforehand, and-!" Her heated words are disrupted as her forehead is struck by a sling bullet.
Mari quickly jumps between her and where the missile came from. Seeing as more kobolds came from deeper inside the cavern, their loud voices must have alerted them. She draws her sword: "[Crescent Moon]!" It''s her best skill, a strike so strong that it shoots an energy wave, at least that''s how she interprets it.
It slices through three kobolds, but there are more. Their small, dog-like eyes look at them with anger and determination. A couple of them approach the girl, leaving space between each other so they won''t be easily targeted by another [Crescent Moon].
Kobolds may be monsters, but they''re also smart.
"Nao, are you OK?" Yuri helps Nao up, who looks dazed and unsteady.
Mari is hesitating because she wants to protect those two, but she usually would face off against the enemy. She has no idea what to do if they come from multiple directions.
"[Bouncebolt]!" Yuri, on the other hand, uses another [Crossbow]-skill, her missile hits one of the incoming kobolds, then bounces off, and strikes down another.
Two are coming close! "Aaaaah!" With a battle cry, Mari lifts her shield and pushes it against one, while trying to hack at the second. The one who got her shield against its head, started grasping it, and trying to pull her. Kobolds are small, that''s why Mari can resist it, but that weak pull is enough to keep her from moving easily.
The second one is just outside her reach, since she misjudged the distance, and it''s about to close and stab her with its knife. "Take this!" It''s Nao, with her spear in hand, she had moved behind Nao to support her, and her weapon was wrapping around Mari''s arm to strike the kobold. It''s the effect of the [Two Rows]-skill, which makes Nao¡¯s attack miss those who are part of her formation.
"Let''s use [Iron Veil]!" It''s a [Phalanx]-skill, which increases [Defense] and [Vitality]. The two other girls step closer to Mari, as they all instinctively know how to move to benefit from this skill. The hero-system is guiding them.
What follows is a step-by-step retreat while trying to get rid of the kobolds, Mari stands with the shield at the front, Nao covering her with her spear, and Yuri shooting at the kobolds further away, as the slings prove to be the most dangerous weapons. Those stones hurt and can leave ugly marks. The only reason Mari could go on, despite being hit multiple times, is because heroes can move their bodies like normal, even if they get hurt.
"[Steelslicer]!" With this skill, Mari finishes off the last kobold in melee combat. "*Sigh* Finally..."
"Does anyone have a band-aid left?" Nao points at her forehead, which has an ugly blue-black mark.
Yuri looks at her belt pouch. "Not me, what about you, Mari?"
Mari in fact has one, but she keeps it a secret and shakes her head instead. Even something like a band-aid has a vastly improved effect as a hero, so she wants to save them until they really need it. Telling Nao this won''t do though, as she''s in pain right now, and is always wasteful with their items.
The three girls take a better look at the cave, only to see more kobolds. Some seem to be children, while others may be the sick and old ones, who still clutch their weapons in order to defend the cubs.
Mari exchange looks with Nao and Yuri. This is unexpected, and Mari doesn''t know what to do. While those weak adults are about to charge them, they''re still practically helpless.
"We should let them go." Nao fiddles with her fingers, Mari is sure that she has similar thoughts, even though they disagree on other things.
"But they''re monsters, and we need to defeat monsters to get stronger!" It''s Yuri, who is the one saying aloud, what all of us are secretly thinking. Weak as they may, each of them is still worth some [Experience], maybe even the cubs.
What to do?
To get home, they needed to get strong enough to defeat the demon king. They already had an encounter with real demons, and those were scary, so scary! Only the soldiers that escorted them saved them from being killed.
So they should get stronger, and those helpless kobolds are easily claimed [Experience Points].
"Let''s try talking with them," Mari suggested. In fact, she hoped that there is no way to communicate, that the kobolds will just attack her so that she can throw off this feeling of guilt when killing them.
That may be the reason why she put the shield first and still had her sword drawn, as she approached. This causes the kobolds to load their slings, point their knives, maces, and other random weapons at her.
Mari''s heart is lighter, it''s justified self-defense, so she mercilessly uses her skills. Yes, this is right, they''re monsters after all. Everything starts to make sense. She''s just doing what she''s supposed to do. It''s a world, where it''s killed or be killed.
In the end, Mari even feels good about it and has much fewer qualms killing the cubs as well. They''ll only end up hating humans, and continuing their brigand tendencies while killing humans with glee, just like their adult parents.
Yes, they''re doing all of humanity a favor by not sparing them. They can also give Yuri most of the kills, as she needs to keep up with them, this is a much less harsh fight than the one before, so they have the luxury of choosing kills.
In the end there are a lot of dead bodies. Blood covers the ground and their clothes. It may be a bit filthy, but Mari is sure that this is how it''s supposed to be.
Also, there is loot. Kobolds are monsters, who act like bandits. "Provisions!!!" The former owners are now revenged, so they can keep them right? It''s not the packages Feuerberg provides, so maybe merchants? Poor souls, rest in peace.
There are other useful things here, like herbal medicine, and a first aid kit. Nao immediately puts a band-aid on her forehead. "Sigh..." A sigh of relief escapes her lips, while she looks through the tools, clothes, and other loot of the kobolds.
Sadly, while the kobolds have bags and backpacks, there is no sign of their hero-backpacks. "Again, nothing..." Mari has somewhat lost track of time, but they have already been looking for their backpacks for several days.
"...we''ll never find them, right?" Yuri is looking down, again speaking the thoughts of everyone.
Even the always positive Nao can''t help but grinding her teeth for a second, followed by: "At least we''re getting stronger in the process. I mean, getting rid of a group of kobolds by ourselves. This may be challenging, but we''ll get our backpacks back!"
They never appreciated them enough before, but the ability to store that much in so little space is a true blessing. Now they''re gone, and the three girls have to realize how much they''ve relied on them.
"At least we can use the kobolds provisions. Let''s keep going, ok?" Mari tries her best to smile to her words: "It''s like a training camp, we¡¯re good as long as we can eat. Look, we''ll just take normal backpacks for now, so it''ll be alright."
All three of them put some usual stuff into the backpacks, which are kobold-sized, mostly provisions and medical care. They try their best to ignore the weight and keep looking for more caves.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
"How long have we been at it?" Yuri starts gnawing at a piece of dried meat while speaking in a lamenting tone.
"I don''t know, about a month?" Nao licks her greasy fingers, finishing up every bit of her meal.
"That long?" Mari does some recounting on her fingers, after putting her bread into her mouth to chew it for a bit. "I guess?"
Seeing girls act like this, it shows how manners aren''t important anymore, if you''re inside some monster-infested mountains of a fantasy world.
"Shouldn''t we try to get back?"
"Try is the right word... I mean, how lost exactly are we?"
"Badly... The only [Survival]-skill I got was [Mountain-climber], still nothing to navigate." Nao also has the [Hunter]-class, so she''s the one in charge of orientation and tracking. Too bad that her [Track]-skill is not really helpful with locating their backpacks, as there are few tracks to begin with on this rocky terrain.
The class-distribution among the three is the following:
Mari: [Student], [Soldier], [Healer]
Naomi: [Student], [Soldier], [Hunter]
Yuria: [Student], [Soldier], [Wizard]
None of them had the time to choose a fourth class. Mari is thinking about learning the [Priest]-class, since she made a mistake when she learned [Healer]. She totally thought it would include magical healing. That said, maybe adding [Wizard] to the mix would be more promising.
The problem lies in learning a class, as it takes between two and six weeks to learn a new one, though some also appear in the selection for no apparent reason. A diverse selection of classes is the key to being strong.
In the end, though, going all [Soldier] is the best way to fight, as there is such a great [Phalanx]-synergy there. Nonetheless, Mari would like to round it all up somehow.
Yuri wants to train monsters and make them fight for her. This would be great, but Mari doesn''t know for sure if such a class exists.. The chance is high though, Feuerberg has their own tame monsters, the fryons. Nao is still indecisive about her final class.
It¡¯s been about a month... during that time, they had already tried to find their way back to the W?chter-fort to resupply and ask some soldiers for help. However, it''s not as easy as climbing a big mountain, choosing a direction based on the sight, and keeping up with it. Even a single path can wind so many times that keeping track of the direction you''re heading to can be tricky.
Of course, Mari and the others had some mountain-climbing experience due to their school-life, but back then they just followed tourist''s hiking paths. It was nothing like the vast and confusing area of the Mauerfelsen.
They quickly finish their lunch and now comes the ever-occurring dialog.
Yuri (in a whiny tone): "What do we do now?"
Mari (calm): "We can either keep looking or concentrate on finding our backpacks."
Yuri (puppy-eyed): "Do we really need those backpacks?"
Mari (patient): "We could just forget about them, but then we''ll lose everything. You''ve also put your clothes from home in your backpack, maybe a personal thing or two."
Yuri (downcast): "Yes... But is it worth it?"
Mari (looking at Nao): "If both of you are for it, we can go back."
Nao (smiling wryly): "Maybe, we could keep looking for a day or two. I''m sure that I can find the right tracks during that time."
This exact dialog has been repeated over and over again, somehow it made them stay for a month already in these mountains. At times, Mari thinks being a hero makes her feel very stupid, but she just doesn''t want to go back yet.
Sometimes she gets a bit homesick, but bounces back after a minute or two. On the other hand, she gets strangely excited thinking about having a wish of hers granted, if she''s able to slay the demon king. She''s still considering her wish. Being a superstar in sports, even outmatching the men, spontaneously crossed her mind, or maybe she could be insanely rich, so that she doesn''t need to worry about anything anymore. World Peace might also be an option or she could wish for Inoue-kun to fall in love with her forever.
"Mari, you''re cackling again."
"Ah, sorry." Sometimes, one of them would start to fall into some mad cackling unconsciously. It could be the stress, paired with some strange fantasies. They call out to each other, when this happens, trying to suppress the habit again.
Currently repetition and monotony are their constant companions.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
"What is this?" Actually, Mari already knows it''s a monster. This one is about the size of an ox, but has a slender frame, similar to a dragonfly, and just furry overall with these insect-like wings.
The reason she''s asking is because of the behavior of that monster. First, it flew over the heads of the girls, however, instead of attacking, it just landed some meters in front of them, looking at the girls with its puppy-like eyes.
"How cute!" Yuri exclaims, and Mari has to agree. It may be weird, but the way it holds itself has something adorable about it. It reminds her of a dog.
Even Nao is looking at it warm-heartedly.
"I''ll try to befriend it!" Yuri starts approaching this creature. She offers her hand to the beast. "Sh... sh... Everything''s good. I''m not dangerous."
The creature cocks its head and slowly gets closer itself. It starts snuggling against Yuri''s hand, and the girl slowly starts to pet it with the other. "It''s friendly!"
Every caution thrown to the wind, Nao and Mari also get closer and start caressing the soft fur of this creature. This is so different from all those bearingtons, mountain-crawlers, and kobolds in these mountains.
"Maybe I can tame it?" Yuri is giddy thinking about this possibility. The creature nods to her words: "Really? You can understand me?" Another nod. "Do you mind, if I name you?" It shakes its head. "Erm... Pochi? Taro?"
"It''s not a dog," Nao chimes in.
"I know... but what are you? A monster... Mon-chan?"
"...seriously? Let''s call him Tsubasa."
"Just because it has wings? It''s also not a bird."
"Then Uingu."
"It''s pronounced ''wing.''"
Mari steps in between the two of them: "Let''s go with a real name. How about Ui?" ''Ui'' from the very Japanese way to say ''wing.'' The creature nods to the suggestion.
"Ui... Ui-chan!" Yuri falls around its neck. "You''ll see, Ui-chan, we''re going to make a great team." Ui-chan closes its eyes, feeling comfortable.
"Is it a girl?" Nao wasn''t sure about its gender.
"Sure she is." There is no evidence, so Yuri just decided it. Mari can''t help but think it''s too convenient, but she wants to let Yuri have this moment.
So there are friendly monsters as well. Being transported to this world may have distorted Mari''s way of thinking. In the end, she ended up believing all monsters are evil. Such a biased way of thinking, she should''ve known better. Good, evil, and everything is relative, it''s a common trope in books and TV.
There is a certain beauty to this world, even mountains like these give her the adventurous vibe. Yes, Mari might actually like this world a bit, nowadays she rarely even thinks of what she left in Japan.
She''s sure the same goes for Nao and Yuri. While the current situation looks terrible without their backpacks, the hardship is still giving them the strength and power necessary to overcome their future task of slaying the demon king.
Yes, Mari and her friends are the main characters of this story. This setback is just a challenge to forge them into what they need to be.
Magical moments like befriending a monster is all that Mari needs to recharge her batteries. Her motivation is top again!
"Now we only need to get our backpacks back!" Mari pumps her fists while straightening herself. She can''t give up now, she needs to be in her best form! Meeting Ui-chan is a turning point, everything will get better from now on.
For some reason, Ui-chan intensely nods with its head. "What is it Ui-chan?" Yuri asks her. "Do you want to tell us something?"
Ui-chan''s body is wriggling, trying to tell the girls something with gestures, but of course, a monster shaped like a dragonfly may not be the best mime around. Mari and the others have no idea what Ui-chan is trying to tell them.
"Sorry, Ui-chan." Yuri pets her new companion, trying to calm it down. "I don''t know what you mean. Can you show us?"
The monster thinks about it for a second, then it lowered itself to the ground. "Is it me," Nao mutters, "or does she want us to climb up her back?"
Yes, it looks like Ui-chan is offering the three of them to ride her. "Do the three of us even fit?"
"I think?"
So, in the end, all of them climbed up the back of Ui-chan. The front had Yuri, the rear Nao, and the middle Mari. Then the monster takes off.
Wind is blowing in the faces of the three girls, as Ui-chan starts gaining more and more height. This is the adventure that Mari was looking for, finally! She''s giggling, Yuri and Nao are as well.
"Great! How great!"
"Higher, Ui-chan!"
"Wooohooo!"
While all of the girls are cheering, Ui-chan ascends more and more. Riding her feels strange, but as the girls have only ridden the horses of the fantasy world before, they had only limited experience with mounts.
Ui-chan''s whole body moves as she flies, her back sidles through the wind, the wings shoot additional air to the riders, and there is a buzzing noise.
From above, Mari could see so much. These mountains are vast, she had an inkling, after being lost in them for a while, but now she could see the tremendous size of this landscape.
Then she sees something down there, it looks like a camp. "Look!" Her words don''t carry far, so she repeats it much louder while pointing to it.
"I see it," Nao shouts back: "Maybe we should check it out!"
"Ui-chan, land!" Yuri, who sits at the front, asks their mount to let them down. She does so, by suddenly spinning.
Since Ui-chan doesn''t have any harness or saddle, of course, all of the girls are falling from her back. For a second, all Mari could think was: Ui-chan, you asshole!
Mari''s head is light, she''s in shock. All she could do is to feel how gravity takes its toll. Suddenly an angst wells up in her the moment she realizes that she was dozens of meters in the air before being dropped down, and that only hard rock is awaiting her down there.
She sees Yuri, whose eyes are wide open and tearing up. Yuri is still in denial, she starts bawling: "Ui-chan, please, UI-CHAN!"
Suddenly, Mari feels a hand grabbing her shoulder: It''s Nao. In the end, Nao hasn''t given up. Mari feels bad about being angry with Nao''s habit of wasting ammunition. Nao is such a great girl... She even tries to reach Yuri-chan, but moving in a free fall is harder than movies make it look like. ¡°YURI! MAGIC!!! [WIND PILLOW]!!!¡±
Nao''s voice wakes Yuri up, who change her class to [Wizard]: ¡°[Wind Pillow]!¡± It''s right under them, and it feels like hitting a tensed pillow, but after this initial shock, the fall begins anew. ¡°[Wind Pillow]!¡±
Using the same spell four times in total, the girls'' fall slows down bit by bit. Each time they''re stopped, it numbs Mari''s senses more and more. It''s like being pummeled by a monster. The fourth time, Mari lost consciousness.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
What a sight. The self-proclaimed bandit-king Wiho looks at how three humans are falling from the sky, dropped by a charmwinger. Those monsters are dangerous, especially if someone doesn''t know about their pheromones, which makes them look cuter and hampers judgment.
It usually hunts people and other monsters. Wiho has lost some of his men to them already, so he doesn''t think fondly of those bastards. That''s the reason, why he grabs a crossbow and uses his [Sniper] to shoot it through its head, while it tries to reclaim what remains of its victims.
Case closed.
¡°You, you, and you. Yes, you, Hannes! I want to take a look, so come with me.¡± Of course, he''s the boss, so his underlings followed his orders. Especially, if it''s about looting and raping, but they also know, that their king is capable enough to take the steps necessary to keep most of them alive.
By the way, the bandit-king is ruling by being the strongest. He''s already in his late thirties, but this only means that he was able to hone his skills to some degree. So using [Skills] like [Sniper] isn''t a big deal, he learned five skills! This is a lot for a non-hero.
Scratching his rugged beard, he approaches the fallen people, all of them are knocked out. They''re humans, even young girls... ah, black hair, strange skin color! ¡°Hannes, are they...¡±
¡°...not the ones I saw... The shrimp isn''t there, and the ponytail of the other one was longer...¡± Hannes had a nasty encounter with a group of youths like them. He got away before being taken out by one of their male companions.
The way he described them, they might be heroes. Wiho knows that Feuerberg has summoned some, and he was sure the ones Hannes met are part of them. Now, these three girls with a similar appearance are here.
While the bandit-king is confident that he can keep some fledgling heroes under control, he can''t say the same about his men. That''s only natural since, as mentioned before, he rules by might. So, of course, all of his underlings have to be much weaker than him, he wouldn''t even dare to send them against Feuerberg''s soldiers.
This is bad, so bad.
He could kill them, here and now, but there is no benefit. It''s not like he has to fear retaliation from the kingdom, who would know that it was him that killed them? However, if there''s no profit, he should consider his options.
Leaving them here would also net nothing.
That means he has to somehow deal with them. The hero summoning was about three months ago, would it be enough to make them too strong to deal with already? Maybe killing them to get peace of mind would be the best option after all.
¡°We''ll take them with us. Hannes, go ahead and get some rope. We''ll ask the women to take care of them.¡± Of course, women also become bandits. While they''re usually not as physically capable as their male counterparts, they''re often more vicious and brutal. Plus, with the low male ratio, they could more or less pick their partners for lonely nights, though all of them are dirty bandits. Unless of course, they raid a farm or caravan and get some fresh, young, male captives.
For now, the bandit-king wants to have some young, hero-captives. Maybe he''ll ask the women to trick the girls, making them believe that they''re some sort of rebels against the tyranny of the king of Feuerberg. Yes, they''ll go with this.
In times like these, with a war going on between Feuerberg and the demons in the east, and some crazy mercenary companies in the west looking for someone and collecting bounties on bandits on the way, Wiho could use some help.
So maybe making these girls into some fine bandits might be the way to get out of this predicament.
Even the bandit-king needs some friends, right?
Volume 04 - Anniversary Extra - Grow-up!
Anniversary Extra ¨C Grow-up!
Katsuragi Kenta: Egg timer
Six years old
Sitting in the eight tatami living room, Kenta switches on the TV and the PS2. His soft, delicate face brightens in anticipation, as he can''t help but jump around the living room.
Not that anyone was home to complain about his horsing around.
But how can''t he be happy? He''s finished with his homework and can now play games.
Of course, he doesn''t forget the egg timer, calming down a bit, he set it on one hour. His one hour of gaming per day.
Nobody is here to control it, but Kenta stays faithful to the agreement: One hour of TV or gaming every day. Playing games is much more exciting than watching TV, as everything he does get responses from games.
Though one question lingers in the little boy''s mind: Why can''t he have the brand-new PS3? That''s weird! The PS2 is also a used one. Kenta wants to have the newest console!
But right now, it doesn''t matter, time to play some Atelier Iris. He stopped during synthesizing items, trying to figure out the best combos of ingredients. In this game, you''re able to substitute some ingredients in an alchemical formula, and sometimes the items become better, at times it become worse, and sometimes you create a whole new item.
He has to choose the mana Popo this time. Kenta doesn''t like Popo, that attention-seeking sprite, who constantly asks you during the synthesizing process, who your favorite mana is.
Of course, it''s Luplus, because he wields time. Is there a way to get Luplus in the party? Kenta is willing to bear Arlin again if he can also get his hands on Luplus!
Ah, he ran out of drops. He has to farm some more, back to Mull''s Castle.
- Oh, one of those white balloon thingies. Let''s turn it into a lot of elements.
- No, don''t! Better use Klein this turn to heal.
- Why can''t you stand closer to each other!? This wastes another turn because Lita can''t one-kill all of you!
A lot of these kinds of thoughts run through young Kenta''s mind, as he plays the game, only to be interrupted by the ringing of the egg timer.
Already?
Back to a saving point.
Saved.
Kenta feels a bit hollow, as he turns off the TV and PS2.
Now what?
He''s still alone. But it''s not that bad.
Ah, maybe he can draw a picture. About cool Luplus eating annoying Popo.
Ten years old
Lying on the bed of his small room, blanket over his head, Kenta''s dulled eyes are looking onto the screen. His fingers nimbly move around an SNES gamepad, as he moves his character away to avoid retaliation. Secret of Mana, a classic game.
So far, he''s not that impressed. It''s charming, but there is no room for customization. At least the story is good, while still very simple.
There are no mind-shattering scenes and revelations like in FFVII or Tales of Symphonia, but there are some very unusual choices here and there, like having the girl character chasing after her fiance, instead of being the constant love-interest of the boy.
Kenta isn''t fond of love, but most people would think of that as usual, seeing his age. It''s not the time for boys to be all interested in the other sex, it''s time they play hard, talk hard, and fight hard.
Not that he involves himself with others much. Those other kids are crazy and stupid.
Better to spend his time on gaming. Much more relaxing.
An egg timer is on the ground, indicating how much time he has left until he has to go.
He has to save soon. Otherwise, they''ll just turn the console off, and he has to re-do everything. Again.
What a pain.
Of course, he set the egg timer for himself, so that he won''t be surprised like last time.
¡°Phew...¡± Too bad that he can''t set up a TV everywhere. Otherwise, he would find a hiding spot to play more.
For a ten-year-old, his timetable is already bursting.
Fifteen years old
Sitting at the table in his spacious, untidy room, Kenta is studying. Besides the school book, he has two reference books, an additional exercise booklet, and three notebooks: One with his notes from school, one with those notes rearranged, extended, and cleaned up, and one which encases the vital parts, which will help him to revise them for later classes.
Studying is not about doing much, but doing it efficiently. Just trying to cram whatever the teacher says is just dumb, it''s not like the teacher puts knowledge into your brain.
You learn by yourself. The teacher can only try to stimulate those processes.
So whenever you cram, try to do it your way. But seeing how stupid the rest of Kenta''s high school class is, he doubts that any of those have figured out, how they can learn best themselves.
There are some simple ways to memorizing stuff more efficiently. Writing them down, for instance. Reorganization also let you spend more time about thinking about the learning material, instead of just trying to get words into your head.
In the end, it''s all about interacting with the content you want to memorize.
The egg-timer is ticking. This indicates how much Kenta will study until he fully immerses himself into his hobby: Gaming.
But during studying time, Kenta doesn''t waste time thinking about gaming. As long as he gets results, his parents have agreed to let his obsession with games slide.
So while this egg timer runs, he''s only thinking about the stuff, which he''s studying. ¡°Dammit, Taniguchi.¡± That teacher is the worst, as he''d be unable to give a proper class, even if his life depended on it.
Switching some portions, giving some examples, having a clear structure, doing that would give his math classes much more of an impression and sustainability. Kenta can see, why so many students have problems following him.
He should just quit as a teacher. Get a job as a garbage disposer or something like that, this way he would be an actual benefit to society. Kenta respects the guys who take out other people''s trash.
Kenta hates Taniguchi''s classes, as those are a waste of time. He wishes to study the right way during these boring as f*ck lessons so that he opens up more time for gaming.
Well, he could also play 3DS instead, but because of Kenta''s reputation, he''d be easily spotted doing that.
What a pain.
The egg timer rings and Kenta quickly tidies up his desk. All thoughts of school suddenly vanish, as he turns on the PC, excited to spend the rest of the evening in the world of Eorzea.
Momokawa Kyou: Sunday mornings
Six years old
¡°Kouki, don''t watch too much TV, Kaa-chan (mommy) will be angry.¡± Playing with her dolls, Kyou is looking to her little brother, who is three years younger than her. At his age, he''s, of course, watching all these baby programs, Kyou is much more of an adult than he is.
She also has an appointment, just like Tou-chan (daddy). Teru-chan will come over, asking her to play. This is an important meeting, which will keep Kyou busy today. Just like Tou-chan.
In contrast, seeing little Kouki watching TV shows he''s still a child. He still goes to nursery school as well, while Kyou is already in elementary school.
¡°Tou-chan, Tou-chan!¡± Kyou runs up to and embraces the legs of a young man, who just enters the room. ¡°Good morning!¡±
¡°Hey, stop climbing me.¡± Yes, the little girl tries to climb her father. ¡°Seriously.¡± Grabbing her by her waist, Momokawa Yoshiro lifts his daughter up and get her on face level. ¡°I''m just up.¡±
Kyou kisses Yoshiro on his cheek as an answer.
¡°Ah! Me too.¡± Kouki also approaches his father and gets lifted up.
¡°Geez.¡± Yoshiro holds both of them for a while, but the weight of two children is draining enough to put them slowly down after a minute. ¡°Tou-chan is still tired. Give me a break.¡±
Kyou doesn''t like her tired Tou-chan much because he''s always tired on Sundays. She knows that Tou-chan works much, but he also has a job as her Tou-chan.
So little Kyou''s cute face is pouting.
¡°...¡± Yoshiro begins pinching those lovely, pouting cheeks: ¡°When you grow up, you''ll be a little princess.¡±
¡°Stop,¡± laughs Kyou, as she''s unable to keep that joy and amusement hidden, when her Tou-chan smiles at her like that.
¡°I''m going to the kitchen to help Kaa-chan. We''ll have breakfast soon, so play until then.¡±
¡°¡°Yes,¡±¡± the Momokawa children reply cheerfully.
¡°Nee-chan, nee-chan. Let''s watch teereevii.¡±
¡°It''s TV, Kouki. And the show is stupid.¡±
¡°No, it''s not. It''s great.¡±
¡°It''s a baby show.¡±
¡°No, it isn''t!¡±
¡°Hey, stop pushing me!¡±
In a very typical way, both siblings start pushing each other, but being two years older, Kyou holds an advantage. Kouki begins to cry, Yoshiro storms the living room and scolds both of them.
Sometimes it can be very hard to agree on a TV-show, especially as siblings.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Ten years old
¡°Nee-chan, please let me watch it.¡±
¡°Shows like that makes you stupid.¡± Kyou knows because all of the boys in her class were all about those shows for the past few years and all of them are idiots.
¡°Pleeeeeeaaaaaase!¡± Kyou has the remote control, giving her the ultimate rights to decide the channel this Sunday morning.
¡°What''s wrong?¡± Yoshiro enters the living room, looking at the siblings.
¡°Nee-chan hogs the remote!¡±
¡°Kouki is lying! He just wants to watch trash!¡±
Kyou can see how Yoshiro is considering the case, but she also knows that he will end up choosing Kouki. She can sweet-talk her father into everything lately, and he just became aware of it.
¡°Today it''s Kouki''s turn.¡± As expected.
¡°Yay, Tou-chan, I love you!¡±
¡°Tou-chan, Kouki will be all violent and stupid.¡± Many shows for boys are full of guys beating up each other instead of being an adult and talking about their problems.
¡°Being a boy means to be wild at some point.¡± Tou-chan laughs at Kyou''s worries.
¡°Nee-chan, the show is great! Please watch it!¡±
¡°...fine, I do it, to prove to you, that it''s stupid!¡±
During the show.
- ¡°Wait, why is he- wah!¡±
- ¡°Turn around, please turn around!¡±
- ¡°Fight! Don''t give up!¡±
- ¡°Kouki, in one slash! One slash!¡±
Sometimes you can grow rather addictive on TV-shows you just thought of as stupid before you watched them.
Fifteen years old
¡°Kouki, it''s time.¡±
¡°Nee-chan, I don-¡±
¡°Where is your remote?¡± Even though both Momokawa-siblings have their own TV by now, Kyou always barge into her little brother''s room every Sunday morning.
Because he''s the only one who knows about her secret, who can talk about it with her. She can''t possibly tell her friends, that she''s interested into those kind of shows.
That''s an advantage of having a younger brother.
¡°Nee-chan, you''re in high school now! Aren''t you too old!? I want to stop watching them. I''m almost at middle school.¡±
¡°Kouki, you''ll watch them with me, like every Sunday during the last five years. Then we discuss the episode afterward.¡±
¡°No! If you don''t stop, I''ll tell your friends.¡±
¡°...sigh. I knew that day would come.¡± Kyou takes her phone from her pocket. ¡°Let''s see, there: Takano Honami, Hirai Mayuka, Masaki Sumiko...¡±
¡°How did you get the numbers from the girls of my class?¡±
¡°I''m a big sister.¡± Of course, she has a plan for when her little brother is rebelling: ¡°Which picture should I post them? How about the time, you fell into the channel?¡±
¡°Y-you took a picture of that?¡±
¡°Of course. Ah, here are you in the bathroom, when-¡±
Panicky, Kouki tried to grab Kyou''s phone, but she easily avoids his attempt.
¡°That was close, I almost pressed on the ''sent''-button, and girls are so quick to start and spread rumors...¡± She smiles at her brother in a way only a true devil could smile. ¡°I don''t ask much of you, Kouki. Just spend around two hours per week with your big sister. It''s not worth ruining your whole school life.¡±
¡°You... you monster!¡±
Sometimes, you realize how much you''re just struggling on the palm of your big sister when she wants to watch a certain TV-program.
Katarine von Stolzherz: Playing with sticks
Six years old
Katarine plays knights with her brother, Eberhardt. Both of them are using sticks as swords, as they try their best to hit each other''s sticks. This is a serious duel right now, showing which one of them is the better fighter and therefore knight.
The blonde girl is already studying to become a fine princess, but when playing with her younger brother, she''s just whatever they want her to be. Her long hair is braided, and a golden circlet is around her forehead to keep the last strands of hair out of her face.
¡°I''m bestowed with the name of Kati, Knight of Feuerberg. While we''re both knights of the kingdom, I''m unable to overlook your words insulted me and my honor. Be prepared to be brought to justice before my blade. Hiyaaa!¡± Katarine steps forward, trying to hit Eberhardt''s sword, but Eberhardt jumps back in an overdramatic way.
¡°In the name of Feuerberg, I, Sir Eber, will bring you and your insolence to the judgment of the sword. Hey!¡± His attack was a wide swing, which his sister effortlessly blocked.
¡°Take this, fiend!¡±
¡°Take that, swine!¡±
The servants, unable to interfere with the two eldest of Feuerberg''s heirs, are looking at the two children, who are playing with each other hard enough to actually hurt each other.
But by order of the king, they have to only watch out for fatal injuries, as Feuerberg''s royal family are of the blood of Hagen von Stolzherz, a supreme warrior and hero.
Of course, his descendants would feel the need to prove themselves in battle, even at this age. Handily, the main temple of Feuerberg is also close, so there is easy access to magical healing, for when an emergency arises.
After hacking and slashing at each other''s weapons for a while, another man entered the courtyard. He''s an old man, whose stance and eyes are rather youthful and full of energy. ¡°Watching you gives me physical pain.¡±
¡°Ah, it''s Gottfried, the monster of legends, the deviant devil, the abhorrent aberration!¡±
¡°Lady Kati, we need to stick together, to cut down that vile villain!¡±
¡°You want to take me down?¡± Gottfried opens his sword belt and throws it aside, just to grab one of Katarine''s and Eberhardt''s substitute sticks. ¡°I''m serious about every challenge. So you''ll better apologize and withdraw it, otherwise, I''ll make you cry.¡±
*Gulp*
Both children are royalty, there should be no one besides their family members, who have the right to make them cry.
But Gottfried is the friend of their granduncle and grandfather. He even sometimes talks to their father from above, even though their father is the king!
¡°Eber, it''s time to make him pay!¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°I''ll go from the front, try to take his side!¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
Gottfried just stays still, as he watches both children going into position. ¡°I''ll only use this stick. Even Heinrich will be mad if I start brawling with his brats.¡±
Both children charge at the same time.
Eberhardt lifts his stick over his head, only to feel how the weight got suddenly lighter. Suddenly, the upper part of his weapon falls. It''s cut down, though just effortlessly flicked into his direction.
Not knowing how to process it, Eberhardt''s knees gives out, his eyes are tearing and a nasty smell waves off him. But he''s only five years old and just saw the fine line between death and life.
Katarine, still in motion and enraged by Gottfried, who devastated her little brother, attacks Gottfried with all her might. She swings her stick over her head, just like her little brother did.
¡°Wielding a sword over your head is often a bad idea,¡± Gottfried explains, as his stick suddenly is at Katarine''s ankles, pulling them up and therefore throwing her whole body into the air. ¡°A real blade is heavy, it messes with your balance,¡± without breaking the movement, his stick draws a cycle only to be brought down on the princess'' torso: ¡°and the whole point of having a sword is to have a big piece of metal between you and your opponent to guard you.¡±
Katarine''s body hits the ground hard, her back first, followed by her head, and finally her limbs. Her stick has left her hands at some point.
The pain kicks in, and there is only one reaction a six-year-old can do in this situation: ¡°Whhhyaaaaaaauhaaauhauuu!¡± Crying.
¡°Come on, don''t be a ba-¡± With a swift movement of his stick, he cut through another stick, that is about to fall on his head. Katarine''s weapon, she lost during Gottfried''s swift combo. ¡°Is that coincidence or were you ai- stop crying!¡±
¡°... Sir Gottfried?¡± Another voice chimes in, a strong voice which is used to give orders. ¡°Why is Kati crying on the ground? And Eber looks devastated as well.¡±
Gottfried is a sworn knight of Lidwiga von Stolzherz, Katarine''s great grandmother, and he''s a friend of Meinolf, her granduncle, and Kormin, her grandfather who married into the family.
When he was young, he became an extraordinary servant and friend of the royal family.
But this can''t quench the bloodthirst of a worried father, whose children were just taught a valuable lesson.
Ten years old
¡°Adi, you need to try harder.¡± Katarine just sent Adelbert von Stolzherz to the ground with ease.
Adalbert is also Katarine''s brother. She''s the oldest out of seven siblings, followed by Eberhardt, Yvonne, Teresia, Adalbert, Karlmann, and Innozenz.
Adalbert and Karlmann are now the children playing with sticks, but Katarine is on a break and helps them ''practice,'' despite still being a disciple herself. Her long hair is kept from her face by a bandana.
After starting formal combat training, she was quickly snatched away by Gottfried for direct tutoring, particularly in swordsmanship.
Gottfried is a legend, though not being a hero, he''s fought since forever and attain some reputation. Sometimes people are traveling from afar to challenge the retired knight to a duel.
Usually, it doesn''t go well for them. Gottfried may hold back against weak opponents, but he has a brutal way of teaching challengers a lesson.
Same goes for his disciples.
Adelbert stands up, trying to convey Karlmann the next step of their strategy to overcome their big sister. Of course, they already had everything in motion.
¡°Kati, Adi, Karl,¡± Princess Yvonne walks on the courtyard to give all of them a message.
¡°What''s wrong, Wonne?¡± Katarine lowers her stick-sword to listen to her younger sister.
That''s precisely the moment her siblings were waiting for. Her brothers attack both at the same time, while Yvonne draws a small stick from under her dress to stab her older sister (playfully).
First, Yvonne receives a fist directly into her face, followed by a knee into the stomach.
Second, Adelbert''s stick is hit by Katarine''s causing it to bounce back right into his own face.
Third, Karlmann''s wielding arm is hit by Katarine''s sword, who just deflected Adelbert''s attack, causing him to lose his weapon and leaving a dark mark on his arm.
The audience of servants is shocked seeing this sudden display of movements, while the victims unifies for another activity: ¡°¡°¡°Aaahaaaaauuuuuuuhurghhgh!¡±¡±¡± Crying.
Someone jumps from the balustrade of a tower, a free fall of twelve meters (40 feet), landing on his feet like it''s no big matter. It''s Heinrich von Stolzherz V, the father of all four children here, who were watching them as part of his break.
Being a king doesn''t mean that he can''t be a worried father as well.
Fifteen years old
Katarine von Stolzherz will leave Esse to travel to W?chter tomorrow morning. She has grown into an elegant lady, though she now has a much shorter haircut. She wants to be readier than ever before for upcoming battles.
That''s also why she assembled her siblings this night. While Eberhardt, Yvonne, and Teresia are away for educational reasons, Adelbert, Karlmann, and Innozenz are still here.
¡°It''s the final night. So I like to play one last time with each of you. Here.¡± She shows her siblings the wooden training swords she took from the training grounds. ¡°The last fight between siblings.¡±
Her radiant smile shows her sincerity to connect to their siblings one last time before she heads off to another path.
¡°¡°¡°No, thank you.¡±¡±¡± While her siblings are smarter than that.
Ara''ainn: Always the same?
Six years old
Ara isn''t like the other children. Her behavior is concerning, the things she enjoys strange, the way she speaks not appropriate to her age.
Her child-like, almost black eyes, are looking at her mother, while her long ears show that she''s confused why suddenly the same barged into her room.
¡°Please, Ara-tan. This can''t go on!¡± Her mother, Kae''ovar, is especially worried about her child. She asked her friends about it and came to the following conclusion: This girl isn''t following the normal development.
¡°Mother, would you mind? I''m studying.¡± Though she doesn''t have books or paper.
Ara, like all alfar, is connected to a large system built on magic, giving her access to many information with her mind. Thoughts, images, sensory impressions, everything which is experienced by one alfr can be shared due to the network and brought to every alfr, who likes to experience it themselves.
There is a schooling program for children to run with additional input for especially eager learners.
¡°But that''s the problem!¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°Ara, when was the last time you set something on fire?¡±
¡°I''ve never put something on fire.¡±
¡°When was the last time, you put itching powder in someone''s neck.¡±
¡°Last week, why do you ask?¡±
¡°Last week!?¡±
¡°Sorry, the week before.¡±
¡°What about stealing one''s possession?¡±
¡°I really wanted that insect.¡±
¡°For what?¡±
¡°Experiments.¡±
¡°Ara, I don''t know what to do anymore. You''re... sometimes I have the feeling, that I need to remind you to slip in hairs into the drinks of our guests.¡±
¡°But cutting some hair is too exhausting.¡±
¡°Are you sure, that''s the reason? I sure hope so, because you''re worrying me. You''re just not acting your age!¡±
¡°You''re overexaggerating, mother.¡±
¡°Ara-tan, please! Go outside, burn something down, make other kids feel miserable, maybe raid a house or two, if you need to, you can even try playing with other kids, but please stop studying!¡±
¡°But I like studying.¡±
¡°No chance for today!¡± Using her own magic, Kae''ovar cut down Ara''s connection to the network.
¡°Hey!¡± The child is still too young and inept in magic to restore it by herself. ¡°I''ll make you pay for it at dinner!¡±
¡°Please, do so! I beg you. But for now, go outside and cause mischief!¡±
¡°...¡±
Some parents get overly worried, whenever their children are straying from the path that''s considered normal for their age.
Ten years old
¡°Mother, I''m finished with the education program.¡±
Kae''ovar hears this while eating dinner and let her cutlery fall in shock. ¡°Don''t tell me-¡±
¡°Yes, I''ve broken the rule of not studying during nights and completed it three years ahead of time.¡±
¡°Ara-tan... I don''t know what to say. I love, how you broke the rule I set up, but to do what?¡±
¡°Studying.¡±
¡°Do you want to become a researcher? Is that it?¡±
¡°I don''t know?¡±
¡°But why are you studying then?¡±
¡°Because it''s fun?¡±
¡°Are you trying to receive an ''ainn'' as title-name?¡±
¡°Ara''ainn does sound elegant.¡±
¡°Ah, that''s it, right? You just want a cool name, right?¡±
¡°Not particularly.¡±
¡°So let me repeat: You''ve broken my rules and gone ahead in education for no reasons, right?¡±
¡°That''s correct.¡±
¡°Plus, you talk like some big-shot, because you think you''re so smart.¡±
¡°Ahem.¡±
¡°I sure hope, that you use that smart head of yours for some fine pranks. I want to brag with my child.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Why, Ara-tan!? Why!?¡±
¡°Because you''re my mother.¡±
These words hit hard. Kae''ovar suddenly realized, that her daughter, her own daughter, has put up a scheme to make her suffer throughout the years. All that studying, all these undone pranks and mischiefs, everything was set up to pull Kae''ovar''s leg for good.
¡°Ara-tan,¡± Kae''ovar doesn''t cry easily like all alfr, but her ears are twitching, showing how emotional she got. ¡°Just for me, you--- you''re the best daughter ever!¡±
Affectionately, Kae''ovar begins massaging Ara''s ears. That child is already much of an adult.
Sometimes a parent is delighted to see, how much their children grow in character, and can''t help but admire how adult they can act.
Fifteen years old
Already grown up for a while, Ara''ainn is now a full-fledged member of alfr society. She has a job as an accountant, and following the alfr working morale, she makes no jokes about her work, but a lot of her fellow colleagues.
Of course, being a researcher may have been better for her, but as an accountant, she has an easier time lazing off, as research has a much higher value than management.
Researchers have to fear about rivals and political stuff, while accountants have an easy life, as the plants and the network do most of the work connected to it.
Trading itself is more of a negligibility, as people have everything they need to survive by doing almost nothing.
Being an accountant means having a barely paid job, but one worth lazing for.
On the side, she can study whatever she wants, while others try to research on a professional level, always beware of those who tries to outdo them.
A beautiful, calm life. That''s all what Ara wants.
Sometimes children grow into adults, who barely use all the work, worry and resources parents put into them.
Give it some years, they may be summoned to a fantasy world, which will make them use everything you tried to taught them to somehow find their way in this unique lifestyle.
Only to get further deranged by some mythological demialfr at some point.
Volume 04 - Afterword
Afterword
Hey, kentusprg here. Seriously, I went into the volume thinking it would be the weakest, and maybe it is, but man, there was much I could tell, it''s actually the longest so far, and it might become a trend to have longer volumes.
Having four characters really make each interaction that much more complex and longer. I think I made a decent job, so I''ll just be glad, that it''s over for now. Well, with this volume at least, the next one is already in the working.
What can I say about this? Well, I made this volume, since I think, that some aspects of traveling around are just made a bit light of, like the weather and how it''s actually really annoying if you have to travel far distances in the rain. Of course, it''s not all that interesting to spent a whole volume only on this, so I threw the mercenaries and the oni in.
This is also an aspect, I miss in some works: The fact that sometimes the heroes have so little information about what is going on behind the scenes, that they''re more or less wondering the whole time, what is actually going on.
I went this route until the fight with the oni, so that the readers will know how unnerving that is. The way out of the situation seems to be a bit cheap, but as you don''t always know the threats, you don''t always know your allies. So this is what I was aiming for, you can blame me for this or maybe think: Hey, actually sometimes you just get an opportunity, that wasn''t visible before.
There is a lot of Kyou in this one, but I tried to tie in all of the girls to some degree. Still, giving more insight into her just made a lot of sense, especially since she finally have some more time to accept how things turned out. Sometimes stuff just have to sink in and to give a bit of insight of her past with Kenta and how things were at earlier volumes made her more relatable, I hope.
I will dive into her ''very private matters'' another time.
The Epilogues are getting longer as well, it''s to blame that I want to give out information what specific people do at the time, while I want to build up for the next volume.
Next time we will be in Goldbrunn. Finally an urban setting, which will bring more insight how certain aspects of the society of the fantasy world works. Will be fun to write, I hope!
Like always, there will be a break. I''m keen to see, how much I will get done in that time. Please be patient, and we''ll meet again with the next volume!
How to support the story
If you like to support the story, there are several ways.
The easy ones (no to little effort put into it and you remain anonymous):This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
1.) Vote on TWF. It''s easy, just a few clicks, no account needed, and you''ve got a vote, which will last one week. The higher the story is on the list, the more likely it is that more people will take a look.
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3.) Become a Follower/Favorite. If you aren¡¯t following the story via the Follower-option, consider doing so. Just go to the fiction page and choose ¡°Add to your Bookshelf¡± on the right side. This not only boosts my confidence, but the number of Followers and Favorites is also visible for everyone on RRL.
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Some effort involved (and you''ll lose your anonymity):
1.) Write a comment. I really like to read your comments, I''m easily pleased by praise, I''ll think about actual critique which is usable, and I like to converse with my readers in general. Even if you spot a typo, everything is fine. As long as you don''t write stuff like "I hate your guts," "your story is full of shit," and "I don''t like your MC," this is not really helpful. I can deal with critique, but I need reasons, I need personal outlooks, I need examples why something feels wrong.
2.) Write a review. Another way to increase the rank are reviews, also made on the fiction page. They have more "weight" when determining the rank of the story. Of course, advanced reviews have more weight.
To put it into perspective a half star rating without review made me fall 10 ranks, a 2-star advanced review made me once fall about 80 ranks. So there is a lot of control here, how this story does on RRL.
Go the extra-mile
1.) Advertise the story. Be it on social media (there are also share-buttons at the end of each chapter), on other forums or fiction pages, blogs or by talking to friends, there are several ways to make this story known.
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3.) Apply as a proofreader. As a non-native, I need my PRs. And as I like to work on Volume 5 to some degree during the break to make releases more regular again, it''d be great if people would help me here.
4.) Donate on PayPal and/or Patreon. I''m still trying to figure out a satisfying resolution for my Patreon, but for mere $2 it''s currently possible to read the next chapter before everyone else (still without PR though, as we''re still short-handed in that department). I''m still working on an end-solution, when I have one, I''ll make another announcement.
The donations will only be used for the improvement of the story.
I hope to have you again in volume 5!
Volume 05 - Prologue
Prologue
Lifting a boulder twice the size of my head is a strenuous task, but I can somehow manage it, despite the fact that I''m in [Student]-class. I need both hands to hold it, and I can''t straighten my back, but it''s still alright.
Then I change to [Ranger], my muscles grow, and it becomes a bit easier. Now I can straighten my back, but lifting it above my shoulders is impossible. Finally I switch to [Pikeman], and I can finally lift it over my head.
Man is this heavy!
¡°Lower it again,¡± Ara-san calls out to me several meters away. Dressed in her green garment, her snow-white hair in a ponytail, she observes me with slightly narrowed dark green and blue eyes. ¡°To about chest-height, then change to [Student].¡± Her long ears are lowered, she''s concentrating that much on me.
I do as she asks, and while the weight of the boulder naturally stays the same, it becomes much harder to hold it in place, my fingers and elbows want to give in.
Then Ara-san comes two steps closer.
Suddenly, I feel a surge of new power. It becomes easier for me to carry the boulder and I can lift it further. Now it''s right in front of my face.
¡°¡°Strange.¡±¡± Both of us comment on it.
We expected that surge of energy, since Ara-san just stepped close enough to me, that she''s in the range of the [Increased Attributes]-power of the cursed ring. Since my [Attributes] are increased now, of course I would feel stronger,
But the numbers... In [Ranger]-class, my [Strength] is 132 without the bonus. In [Student]-class, my [Strength] is 53 with the bonus. Yet, it''s still easier to lift the boulder in [Student] with the bonus than as a [Ranger] without it, while [Pikeman] without the bonus has a whopping [Strength] of 187, which made it easier than as a [Student] with the bonus.
Short, going by these numbers it makes no sense!
¡°Kenta-kun, change into [Ranger] now and elevate it further.¡±
Following her instruction, I easily raise the boulder over my head. Feels like I can do it one-handed. Yes, it works! I feel strangely masculine right now, but that might only be the case since I never had something to brag about regarding sports.
Then I put [Pikeman] on top of it. ¡°That''s unreal!¡± Following an impulse, I just throw the boulder some meters away. ¡°How easy is this!?¡±
¡°Could you please not do things on your own? We''re doing science here.¡± Ara-san''s ears are laid back, even though her face is as neutral as always. It shows that she''s angry that I just went ahead.
¡°Sorry.¡± She''s right, we''re doing experiments here. We already did them in Aroahenn, but we had no chance to gather the data when we acquired these curse-bonuses. ¡°The bonus in [Student] is merely 6 points, but it''s still much easier to lift things than with the difference of 79 points under normal class-change.¡±
¡°Hn...¡± Ara-san flicks her ear. ¡°I already told you, that certain actions in an [Attribute] are limited unless you have certain [Skills]. Like the fact, that even if you have much more [Strength] as a [Pikeman], I can still jump much higher than you as an [Acrobat], because I have the [Like the Wind]-skill.¡±
¡°So you say, that the bonus is overcoming the limit?¡±
¡°Maybe. The more I see, the less I understand.¡± Without giving much care or worry, Ara-san picks up a paper and writes something down with a coal pen. ¡°If our theory is correct, then it should also apply to me. Now we switch.¡±
With the roles reversed , we tried the experiment once more. Ara-san couldn''t even lift the boulder as an [Accountant] or [Bookie], but she could raise it a finger wide as an [Acrobat] or [Druid]. The moment I got close, it became easier for her as well, but she still couldn''t lift it to her chest.
¡°Hff... hff...¡± Her heavy breathing is kinda sexy, especially how the sweat runs down her chin and neck. Wait! It''s not me who feels like that! It''s the curse! ¡°The effect differs... Maybe it''s a percentage factor, or other factors are playing in. We should ask Momo and Katarine-san later to repeat this.¡±
¡°Phew... you mean, I have to repeat it with them.¡± However, intelligence is important and if Ara-san is the one who collects it, it''ll at least be complete. ¡°Alright, let''s return to them. It''s almost lunchtime.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s early afternoon. After the last trouble, we ended up being exhausted to the point that neither Ara-san nor I could move, so even if it''s uncertain if we''re currently being chased or not, we decided to take breaks seriously.
Not that Ara-san and I could just do nothing. So we went out for some ''light experiments¡¯, promising our other companions to not do anything too strenuous. Well, the boulder thing is borderline right?
Warming up something that''s called haerrous, a sort of alfr porridge, is Momokawa Kyou-san, a Japanese beauty with long black hair and dark eyes. Watching her is Rine, aka Katarine von Stolzherz, a rather short-haired, blonde idiot, who happens to be a princess. Her ember-like eyes are sparkling while she observes Kyou-san doing a rather mundane task as if she has never witnessed someone warming up a meal before. Most likely she did not before meeting us, but nowadays she sees it around every other day. Still, Rine doesn''t seem to get tired of this.
All four of us, Ara-san, Rine, Kyou-san, and I are bound together by a curse. All of us wear copper rings on our left ring fingers, which try to impersonate wedding rings. It all started, when I picked up a ring in a cave and put it on my finger in order to identify it. Seriously though, who would have guessed that the ring was a cursed item in a remote place like that!?
Well after I got cursed, it spread. First to Kyou-san when we tried to get rid of the curse together, then to Rine, who Kyou and I originally planned to capture in exchange for a bounty to get another decurse attempt, and finally to Ara-san, who triggered it willingly, because she just assumed stuff.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
To get infected three conditions had to be cleared. First a partner, then some kind of pledge, and finally a source of great magic power. The ritual pilgrimage that should have gotten rid of the curse on me collected the power needed to spread the curse to Kyou-san. The cool blessing of an Etna -some strange mountain creature- was the source of Rine''s contamination. Lastly the mana-generator tree, Aeolferelda, made Ara-san a victim.
While the ''pledges'' with Rine and Kyou-san were accidental, stuff we blabbered under very stressful situations, Ara-san intentionally tricked me into making the pledge. She didn''t know about the marriage business and just expected some kind of convenient party-system! So it happens that I have three so-called ''wives'' now! All of us have different feelings about the whole marriage-curse-thing.
Rine more or less really believes that we''re married and I have a hard time persuading her otherwise. She''s clingy as hell and calls me ''dear'' and such, if I don''t intervene, plus she''s is annoying as hell overall! By the way, she''s a wandering machine of murder, so if she truly wants she could just overpower me easily and do whatever she wants with me. I don''t know if she has realized it yet, and I''m too afraid to find out. I don''t want to put the idea in her head!
Ara-san is more or less indifferent to the marriage itself, but the curse changed something in her and in me. We shouldn''t be physically attracted to each other in any way, since she''s an alfr and I''m a human, but both of our bodies are calling out to each other due to the curse. I like her though, we think much alike, and she''s the first friend I made in this shitty fantasy world, but the curse makes it unnecessarily complicated!
On the other hand, Kyou-san is the first actual enemy I made in this fantasy world. We started off as people who don''t get along, and then we worked together for our selfish reasons, but then the curse struck and sour turned into acid. Of course she despises the curse with everything she has. It turned what life she had left after coming to this world into a mess, but she doesn''t have to use me as a target for her bitching!
What about me? I hate it! If I''m not with everyone, I will get serious debuffs and it will lead to my death after a while. Also, these girls tire me out! It''d be so much better to work on my own!
Well, I could tolerate Ara-san, if she wouldn''t trigger my lust. She''s another species, dammit!
Also, from a battle standpoint, having Rine in the party is very practical, but she''s clingy as hell!
Kyou-san really makes an impact on a daily basis, since I eat much better when she cooks, but she bitches around like every other second!
...seriously... What am I even doing here? I was summoned along with Kyou-san and our other classmates to this world to kill the demon king and end the war between Feuerberg and the demons of Daemonicus, but currently I''m far away from this goal. I¡¯ve had to say goodbye to my grinding schedule, and now everything is about dealing with the curse.
If that''s how marriage works for real, I never want to get ever married.
¡°Phew.¡± I pick up a waterskin from the backpack and drink a bit. ¡°How long until lunch?¡±
¡°About three minutes.¡± Kyou-san doesn''t even look at me, but stirs the porridge. ¡°Could you help Rine drink as well?¡±
Rine currently has a broken arm. Even though she can drink from a waterskin without help, it''s not that easy. These ones are little more than flaps of sewn leather, so they are overly flexible. No internal structure or anything like that.
¡°Here.¡± I give the waterskin to Rine.
¡°Thanks.¡± She put the mouthpiece on her lips, then I start lifting the other side a bit.
You gain 1 WP.
You''re so close that you don''t even bother with indirect kisses anymore, it''s so precious.
One of the most annoying things about the curse would be these messages. We get some WP for any action that lovers would do. WP can be turned into bonuses, which makes me actually want to grind like crazy, even though I don''t want to perform these actions at all. Maybe if I were in a relationship with someone, but with these girls? No thanks!
I try to simply ignore the pop-up and lift the end of the waterskin a bit. ¡°Rine, concentrate!¡± I call her back from dreamland, she was giggling with the mouthpiece in her mouth. If she doesn''t watch out, she will just choke on water.
Why do we get WP when I get fed by one of the girls, yet this doesn''t count? The only way to get WP with drinks is to feed it mouth-to-mouth, which I will not do!
After Rine gulped a few times, I lower the waterskin again and closed it. Then I put it back into the backpack and take out a stool. Magic pocket-dimensional backpacks are convenient, even though there are some limits.
I sit down and look at Kyou-san stirring up the porridge, her hands move slowly but methodically. The greenish pulp is stirred with muddy noises. Somehow it is fascinating, or maybe I''m just that bored.
Kyou-san has wrapped a cloth around her head to keep her hair in check, and is wearing an apron. She looks like some hobby-cook. ¡°Phew.¡± Too bad that this girl is no good, since looking at her like this is actually quite pleasing. If she would play games and be nice all the time, she would be perfect. Well, there are no girls like that in reality.
¡°Are you thinking something rude, Ken?¡± She doesn''t even look at me, but can still somewhat guess what I''m thinking? What a pain... Well, let''s try something. Stupid, nagging, useless, XP-leeching bitch! ¡°Rine-chan? Could you pinch Ken for me, please?¡±
A sharp pain later, and I''m sure of it: Somehow Kyou-san can read my thoughts. I check her status. Most likely it''s [Spirit Magic]-related, but hers is useless. Just two spells: [Regrow] that activates and enhances the self-healing capabilities of a plant, and [Warp Plants], which will change the body of a plant to some degree.
So no ''Read Thoughts'' or something like that, huh?
...man, I''m really bored, if I¡¯m resorting to checking out things like that. Let''s use the time a bit more effectively by checking everyone''s stats. No new skills since yesterday, but there is still some stuff I¡¯d like to try out.
¡°Ready.¡± Kyou-san fills a wooden bowl with the haerrous. ¡°Here, Arako.¡± Then another. ¡°Here, Rine-chan. Be careful.¡± And a third. ¡°Here you go, Ken.¡±
I take the bowl. Something seems to be odd. Usually, Kyou-san would either throw an insult there, ask me to serve myself, or do some other stuff, which isn''t reasonable. Our relationship is as rocky as a canyon, sometimes better, sometimes worse, but normally she should be pissed off right now since everything went wrong again just a few days ago.
We were hunted by monsters and mercenaries alike and almost wiped out. I was out of commission and Kyou-san had to take care of me. Every time something goes wrong, Kyou-san is in a bad mood for like an eternity.
Despite that, she still treats me... normally? Perhaps she finally got some reason beaten into her head and realized that I''m not at fault for everything, or maybe that unlikely rescue by that hynoar-ranger made her forget everything bad that happened.
I don''t really care, as long as it makes her shut her mouth.
Tomorrow we will arrive at Goldbrunn. There we will resupply, look for some kind of faster means of transportation, and hopefully leave everyone behind with even a remote interest in us.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Yikes!¡± Following the squirrels'' direction, the oni stands in front of a town in the south. Chances are high that Katakata and her friends will show up here if she can trust her master''s relic and the guess of her companions.
But the oni didn''t expect a camp outside the town, especially one with a banner. It''s not showing any random symbol, but one of the super-no-go emblems Master told her never to cross, the claw clenching a blade: Crusaders.
What are they doing here? The oni doesn''t know and can''t even think of a reason, but that''s not good. She needs to get Katakata, unless she wants to anger Master, who undoubtedly will be furious, if he learns how she messed up before, and with no Katakata to compensate.
Good thing that she''s a bunny right now, an innocent red bunny. So she only needs to wait here, until Katakata shows up. Until then, she just has to figure out how to spend her time in the meanwhile.
¡°Go and watch the gates!¡± With childlike glee, she says that to her loyal squirrel followers, who exchange silent looks with each other and split into small teams.
Volume 05 - Chapter 1-1 – Welcome to Goldbrunn, the City of Rest
Chapter 1 ¨C Welcome to Goldbrunn, the City of Rest
Goldbrunn is in sight, we look at the city walls from afar, surrounding a somewhat big town. You can''t compare it to Feuerberg''s capital or any modern city in Japan, but it''s still on the larger size.
I pick up my spear and bow from the backpack. Kyou-san looks at me in question. ¡°I''d like to hide the fact that we''re heroes, ''cause it''d be the easiest way to track us down,¡± I explain. ¡°Better take some other stuff out, as well. Waterskins, rope, try to give the feeling, that our backpacks are stuffed.¡±
With some of the branches I pick up, I widen the opening of the backpack, right at the top, while being careful that they don''t enter the zone, which activates the magical storage property. Then the flap goes over it and voila, the backpack seems to be full. As long as they don''t check the content, we should be fine.
Too bad that everything non-living just vanishes in those backpacks, it would be much easier to make them look stuffed otherwise, and the [Shared Inventory] makes it impossible to use a strategy of filling each other''s backpacks with equipment since they usually only work for their respective heroes.
Still, we can''t fill these things with animals to make them packed. ¡°Wait a minute...¡± Ara-san''s staff can''t be stored in the [Inventory] because it''s still living. So plants also count... ¡°Let''s look for some bushes, then Kyou-san and Ara-san can use [Warp Plants] on them until they fit in the backpack.¡±
Then we won''t need to fear that the sticks that are widening the entrance will fall into the inventory...
After finding some viable bushes, Ara-san cleans and dries them with magic. Who likes dirt and insects in their backpacks, after all? Then, after some warping, we have actual stuffed backpacks. Problem solved.
Of course, we removed the equipment we¡¯d like to use for the deception first. Rine straps a rope at the side of her backpack, Kyou-san did the same with a lamp, after some minor stuff like that we look the part of a group of travelers.
There is some kind of camp at the side of the city. Looks like some sort of mercenary-band or something similar. It¡¯s not exactly what makes me feel safe given our latest disaster with mercenaries, but since several travelers are coming and going to the city, we might just slip through unnoticed. Not like we would even come close to the camp if we go directly to the gate.
¡°Kyou-san, you handle the conversation.¡± I''ll just rely on her [Persuasion]-stat and the fact, that she has good judgment in times like these. Rine would most likely give us away in a questioning and Ara-san is an alfr.
Why that is important?
¡°Oh! Watch your knees, unless you want to hurt him!¡± Because of that. Alfr might be one of the most racist people of all times. Or would it be ''speciesist?''
As we arrive at the eastern gate, one of the guards comes up to us; it''s one of the folk. His broad face, brownish skin, kinky hair and stubby fingers are telling us this. In addition to the fact, that his face is at the same height as my knees.
The folksman clenches his fist, but says nothing. I kinda feel bad for him.
¡°Sorry about our companion.¡± Kyou-san bows to him.
¡°Don''t worry about it. She''s an alfr.¡± Looks like he''s used to it. Annoyed, but used to it. ¡°Let''s get this over with.¡± He takes a look at each of us and scribbles some things down. ¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°We are adv-,¡±
¡°Mercenaries!¡± I interfere. ¡°We''re mercenaries.¡±
The folksman looks at me strangely, but Kyou-san just smiles and says: ¡°Yes, we''re mercenaries.¡± Good job rolling with it. ¡°And this is our leader, who will fill you in.¡± Dammit, Kyou-san!
¡°I see. So, mercenaries. Name?¡±
¡°Lion''s Squad.¡±
¡°Rank?¡±
¡°Zero.¡±
¡°I see. This is the whole squad?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°...are you sure? I mean, I don''t mean to be a sexist, but the male-female-ratio is off. One of them even has a broken arm, right?¡±
¡°Well, we''re Rank 0 after all.¡±
¡°Ah, right. Some girls looking for adventure, pulling you into it, huh? Well, not my business exactly. So ''Lion''s Squad.''¡±
¡°Exactly.¡± I lift up my left hand and show him my ring. The cursed ring looks like a lion''s face, so it''s very distinguishable.
Kyou-san follows my example, Rine and Ara-san did the same afterward. All of their rings resemble lionesses.
¡°Impressive... are you maybe- no, not my business. Well, keep the rings on your person at all times.¡± He writes another thing down.
All this procedure is because we''re armed individuals, so it''s solely for security. Though it''s not like they won''t let us in, they only need some more information about us.
¡°By the way, Guard-san,¡± I ask. ¡°Who are these guys?¡± For some reason, there is a camp at the outer side of the city walls. There is a banner hanging showing the emblem of a sword clenched by a claw.
¡°Ah, the Crusaders. Well, there will be some in the city, so be especially careful about minor misconducts.¡± The folksman doesn''t explain what Crusaders are, so maybe it''s common sense in this world I missed.
I look at the girls, Rine''s eyes are sparkling, so they have to be a force of goodness, justice, or another kind of crap. Kyou-san looks puzzled so they may be known, but more as a form of background story, nothing important for us heroes. Ara-san keeps her cool, and her ears are relaxed, so Crusaders are no danger to us.
¡°I see.¡± I just answer the question. ¡°Are we finished?¡±
¡°Almost. Your name.¡±
Should I give a false name? No, I already decided that I use my real one, chances are low, that it will circumvent if we keep a low profile and if someone is calling out to me, I might make me suspicious if I don''t answer my false name right away. ¡°Kenta. Katsuragi Kenta.¡± For some reason, nobody is ever wondering, why I use my surname first, so the hero''s auto-translate seems to roll with it.
¡°After you booked an inn, please report to the closest guard office. Do you want to get work offers, are you advertising yourself, or only passing through?¡±
¡°Most likely passing through.¡±
¡°For how long will you stay?¡±
¡°At best a week.¡±
¡°Alright. Then please take these marks.¡± He hands us down some copper pieces, which are imprinted with a well surrounded by wheat plants. ¡°If you leave the city, please have them ready to submit.¡±
¡°Thank you. Any inn you recommend?¡±
¡°For Rank 0? Bronco''s Bucket, follow the main street until you get to the market, then ask around. It''s a bit hidden, but should be your price range.¡± He looks at us suspiciously. Maybe he thinks we''re some nobles in disguise or such.
¡°Thanks.¡±
With this, we can pass the city gate.
A city in a fantasy world, what a fabulous place it is. The streets are made of dirt, the buildings look like they''re about to fall apart, it stinks like shit because the people just throw the content of their chamber pots out of the window, and it''s colorless as hell. Well, not exactly, the most prominent colors are gray, brown and putrid green, after all. Plus, there are plenty of shades of them.
The people living in here are almost as ragged as we are. Their hair is greasy, their skin is blemished, overall they are similar to actual people in Japan, just with different hair, eye and skin colors, and less hygiene.
Of course, there are also more people of other species, like folkspeople, hynoar, and some people I would plainly call ''dwarves'' since I don''t know their name, though they''re still a minority.
¡°Why is it, that there are so many humans around here?¡± I ask Ara-san.
¡°Because you humans don''t stop procreating. You''re like vermin, just making children all year round.¡± I shouldn''t have asked her. ¡°With Feuerberg in the east, this part of the Wildlands connects with other human countries, making trade possible, like with D¨¦juma in in the south or the Realms of the North.¡± Well, and there is a bit of actual knowledge here.
¡°I see.¡±
¡°Ken,¡± Kyou-san walks next to me. ¡°Why did you first ask me to handle the conversation and then did it yourself anyway!?¡± She looks pissed, I can see it in her smile. She only smiles at me, if she''s so annoyed, that a displeased face won''t cut it.
¡°Because you almost said the a-word.¡±
¡°Which a-word?¡±
¡°Adventurer.¡±
¡°What about it?¡±
She really doesn''t know. Well, I might have skipped the tutorial back then, but I got other knowledge from this world, by sticking around Meldorn and the hunters. ¡°Do you know what the term ''adventurer'' means in this world?¡±
¡°What about it?¡±
¡°Rine, how are adventurers seen?¡± I ask the only born citizen of this world in our party.
¡°Erm...¡± She seems to be a bit surprised. She was just staring at the shitty city with her flaming eyes of curiosity before I called her. ¡°Not good.¡±
¡°Explain.¡±
¡°Adventurers are... well, they are people who are looking for adventure!¡± Oh? Seems like she really doesn''t want to explain that, her face is becoming stubborn.
¡°Ara-san, take over.¡±
¡°Momo.¡± Ara-san clears her throat. ¡°What do adventurers do from your point of view?¡±
¡°Well...¡± Kyou-san plays with the ring on her finger. ¡°They fight monsters, do odd-jobs for people and explore dungeons and caves? That''s how Masahiko-kun explained it to us.¡± Of course he did, fake doesn''t know shit about anything.
¡°They do. However, if you want to get rid of monsters, you ask a mercenary. If you need someone to do odd jobs, you ask a laborer. If you want some cave or dungeon explored, you ask the explorer''s guild.¡±
¡°Your point?¡±
¡°Adventurers are practically regarded as amateurs, who try to do the tasks, which are commonly dealt with by actual professionals. If you ask a group of adventurers to get rid of a crop-eating monster, you do so, so that you have to pay less. If you ask the guards or mercenaries for the same service, you do so, because you want to have it done.¡±
¡°Practically,¡± I interrupt, ¡°adventurers are good-for-nothing dreamers. They are like: ''Let''s delve into that dungeon, there may be treasure inside,'' and they risk time and life doing something, that might be pointless. So if you don''t want to be laughed at, you just tell people that we''re mercenaries.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°Adventurers aren''t that bad!¡± Rine stomps her feet. ¡°They do good to people while asking for only little reward.¡±
¡°Why are we supposed to be mercenaries in the first place?¡± Even Kyou-san ignores her.
¡°Because we''re armed, while not being guards on duty. If something happens, we don''t want to explain where we got these weapons and armors from. It''s less suspicious that way.¡±
¡°You are actually making sense. I got it. But if you already decided upon the name ''Lion''s Squad,'' and I must admit, it''s a very well-thought out name if you consider our ''problem,'' why didn''t you tell me before!? Or even ask me if I''m OK with the name?¡±
¡°...Rine, don''t pout.¡±
¡°Don''t you dare avoid my question by changing the subject.¡±
Excuse me, but there are plenty of opportunities where you girls are busy and I''m on my own, so I tend to use that time rather productively. It¡¯s just that I forgot to bring it up when there was an opportunity.
Kyou-san furrows her eyebrows, more or less guessing what I was thinking. ¡°Then tell me what Rank 0 means.¡±
¡°Phew... basically, it means we''re an unofficial mercenary squad. Since there is no mercenary guild, you get recognized by nobles, guild merchants, or some sort of political heads. Without any recognition, you''re Rank 0. After you worked for a village head or something, you get a letter of recognition with the sign and rise to Rank 1, means you actually can do shit. The more powerful the people are that recognize you, the higher the rank is, that they can give you. Something like that was made up by someone and somehow got implemented as a semi-official-system, I guess.¡±
¡°So we''re basically still amateurs, right?¡±
¡°Exactly. But we''re aiming to become professionals, so we were asked if we want to get some offers. Like monster extermination or guarding some caravan.¡±
¡°So that''s the image you want to give us?¡±
¡°More or less. We''re armed but relatively harmless.¡±
¡°*Sigh*, please keep us informed in the future.¡±
Being mercenaries isn''t bad at all, but doing actual mercenary work is. After all, we want to travel to Zethtrin and therefore don''t want to be entangled with any sort of responsibility, that would make it harder to move freely.
In general, I want to keep a low profile. However, somehow I feel watched. ¡°Is it me, or are people looking at us?¡± They really are. Some people are turning their heads to get a proper look at us, while others are whispering to each other. Most likely, they''re bad mouthing us.
¡°Isn''t it obvious, Kenta-kun?¡± Ara-san speaks softly. ¡°You look like some pimp, with two pretty ladies and an alfr accompanying you. At least I guess, that Momo and Katarine-san are pretty ladies by human standards?¡±
¡°Arako,¡± Kyou-san rubs her nose-bridge. ¡°how am I supposed to answer that without bragging?¡±
¡°Father always said that I''m a pretty girl.¡± Rine doesn''t even doubt it for a second.
¡°...You may be half-right, Ara-san. I guess it''s about our appearance. First, we have me, an Asian, with a crimson armor, and the only man among girls. Then we have Kyou-san, also Asian. People may mistake us for Southerners, but only if they have never seen real ones before. Then we have a girl, with sparkling, burning eyes, who also happens to have her arm in a sling, and finally an alfr outside a forest. Not even mentioning your good looks, we''re quite the odd combo here.¡±
¡°Kenta is calling me pretty!¡± Somehow Rine just heard what she wanted. She''s blushing and fidgeting and tries to hug me, but I slam my palm against her forehead in reaction. Now we''re standing out even more.
¡°...please don''t say this, unless you plan to eat me.¡± Ara-san''s ear blushes, while her face is totally unmoving, but somehow it turns me on.
Kyou-san sighs. ¡°...well, you might have a point.¡± Then she comes a bit closer, looking rather displeased and a bit annoyed. ¡°Some advice: If you want to compliment my look, you have to be more direct.¡±
...what''s that supposed to mean?
You gain 1 WP.
Compliments are lube for any healthy relationship, be direct or indirect, as long as it''s natural, everything is fine.
First, I didn''t compliment any of them.
Second, this isn''t part of the WP-list, so why is it rewarding me for what I didn''t even do?
Third, just ignore it and be glad that I got a WP without putting any work into it. ¡°Just try not to give them any more reason to remember us.¡± Geez, this will make it easy for anyone who follows us to find out that we were here.
Well, not that it''d be too hard to just bribe the guard to get the intel.
¡°Look, a Southerner!¡± Rine loudly exclaims while pointing at some random guy, who just happens to look Italian.
¡°Kenta-kun, do you see that man over there?¡± Ara-san means a blonde one in a whole other direction. ¡°I think he¡¯s trying to rape me with his eyes, look how he ogles me from head to toe.¡± Hey, this is just someone, who looks at Ara-san in concern, most likely because he worries what an alfr is doing in his city, but Ara-san can''t read his face and just jumped to the next best conclusion.
Kyou-san and I exchange a look and sigh in unison. So this is how parents feel when they roam around town with their children. ''Which one?'' We use our eye-language.
''Rine-chan.''
¡°Phew.¡± ''Just because Ara-san is sexual harassing again?''
''Exactly.''
¡°Ara-san.¡± I pinch her ear and Ara-san convulses. Pinching an alfr ear is like giving a moderate slap to one''s fingertips. ¡°Just shut up.¡±
¡°Rine-chan, don''t point at people with your finger.¡± Kyou-san copies me and pulls Rine by her ear.
¡°¡°Ouch!¡±¡±
¡°Don''t mind these two.¡± Kyou-san turns apologizing towards the people around her. Now people stare at her. ¡°As you see, we come from far away and it''s a bit too stimulating for these two.¡±
¡°Erm... it''s okay, I guess?¡± The Southerner answered.
¡°...I was just curious. Sorry, it''s my fault.¡± The other one apologized. Dude, you just got accused of sexual harassment! Don''t play it down!
Well, Kyou-san got that much of a [Persuasion]-attribute, which makes the hero more believable to non-heroes anyway, so this apology has much more weight to them than to me, I guess.
¡°Kenta-kun, please. Let me go.¡± Ara-san pleads. ¡°I feel all tingly and strange.¡± She''s also panting.
I let her ear go as if it''s a piece of red-hot iron.
¡°Ah, thanks.¡± Ara-san rubs her ear. ¡°I think I need to mastu-¡±
Without even a moment of hesitation, I put my hand over Ara-san''s mouth. ¡°Can''t you just shut up now!?¡±
Ara-san looks into my eyes. Her double-iris is narrowing a bit.
¡
¡°I don''t have any idea, what you want to tell me.¡±
¡°mmm¡± Her ear tips are dropping. Maybe some sort of discontent. I slowly retract my hand. ¡°Why can you tell from Momo''s eyes but not mine?¡±
¡°Don''t know, don''t care.¡±
¡°We have to practice it.¡±
¡°How about you practice not saying anything you want just because you feel like it?¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, people are looking.¡±
¡
Dammit, Ara-san! She''s right, she knows it, and since she also knows that I don''t want to get too much attention, she reminds me of that. It all makes sense, but it¡¯s still annoying as hell!
So just slipping inside Goldbrunn without being noticed already failed. According to my usual luck, we will surely be remembered for a while...
¡°Phew. Just keep going.¡±
We arrive at the marketplace. The pavement here is almost totally buried by a mix of dirt and dung. Seriously, if your horse takes a crap, clean it up!
This location is most likely supposed to be an open plaza, but wagons with stands attached are more or less blocking off most of it, they build alleyways for people to squeeze through them. The sides are filled with stalls and stores, making all of it hard to overview.
Most of it is food and sundries. Just like in Feuerberg, weapon stores just don''t mesh well with marketplaces, since there are only limited people who will visit them, so they''re usually in the artisan''s quarter or just outside the market.
¡°Phew. Rine, take my hand.¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Without even hesitating, she grabs and entwines my fingers such that I can¡¯t help but think of a bear trap closing about my hands.
¡°Kyou-san and Ara-san make the other group.¡± Knowing what I intend, they also grab each others hands. ¡°Let''s try to get in one of the backstreets, try to follow us.¡±
We''re holding hands so we won''t get separated and since Rine is the one who most likely would wander off, I want to keep an eye on her myself.
I hate crowds.
A hit with an elbow. A step on my foot. After getting bashed here and there by people who aren''t even looking at me, I try to make my way through them.
In general, I''m a bit below average height for a Japanese male, so between all these westerner-like people I don''t stand out height-wise, so that''s probably why I''m mostly overlooked.
Oops, just hit a folksman with my knee. I better ignore it, I want to get out of here fast.
An alley! Breathing space!
It stinks like pee and shit! I turn around and see Kyou-san rubbing her cheek, looks like she got hit there. Ara-san is looking at her feet, and my eyes wander there. She stepped into a stinky pile while moving through the crowd.
Too bad for her that all alfar go barefooted.
Well, at least we''re all here, no one got lost.
The alley is full of people, but they are beggars. Some of them look at us and wave their wooden bowls at us, asking silently for money, without even expecting some.
¡°Kenta, who are these people?¡± Rine asks me with a wondering expression. Seeing so many people in rags, the skin so dirty that they look sick and with a smell, which threatens to make you pass out, is much more than what a princess has ever seen before.
¡°The homeless kind,¡± I answer while shrugging my shoulders.
Ara-san''s left ear rises. Well, alfr-society in Ara-san''s homeworld seems not to have these, as there are so many potential homes as trees, literally. She knows of homeless people of this world, but for her, it''s nothing she usually sees, it may even be her first time.
For Kyou-san and I, they''re almost a common sight since both of us used to live in urban areas. There are often homeless people trying to get your money.
I used to ignore them, like all the people around me. My head tells me that giving them money would not only limit my own budget but also won''t help them in the long run. On the other hand, in Japan, there are places they can turn to in order to get food.
I''m not sure if there are soup kitchens here, or whatever is done by the government.
Scratching my head, I turn away from them and look at the girls. Rine is already looking through her backpack, while Kyou-san looks like she doesn''t even want to be here, and Ara-san... I don''t know what she thinks.
¡°Rine.¡± I grab her wrist, trying to make her stop. ¡°Let me handle this.¡±
Turning back to the homeless people, seven in total, I ask: ¡°We''re looking for an inn, Bronco''s Bucket. If you can tell us directions, we''ll share food.¡± We have still some leftovers and snacks from Aroahenn, and we can part with them more easily than with our money, which we need to resupply.
¡°I know the way.¡± An old man stands up. He didn''t even look at us before, but his crackling voice pierces through the atmosphere. ¡°I''ll lead you if you leave the food here for my friends.¡± Gray hair and beard, there are even parts of it, which are pure white. A geezer.
¡°Alright.¡± I take some of the food from my backpack, while trying to prevent anyone from looking into its bush-filled content, and exchange looks with Kyou-san, who follows suit. Would be strange, if all the food comes from a single backpack. Ara-san picks it up next and finally Rine.
¡°It''s not much,¡± Kyou-san apologizes.
¡°More than we have now, no?¡± This geezer seems to be quite lively for a beggar. He does some light steps deeper into the alley, beckoning us with his scarred hand. ¡°Follow me.¡±
Something in me makes me hesitate. This could be a clever trap. My hand wanders to my knife, ready to draw it at any moment, but since Rine and Ara-san don''t even hesitate to follow the beggar, I tag along.
¡°That surprised me,¡± Kyou-san whispers to me from the side.
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Seeing you going all soft with those people.¡±
¡°...shut up.¡±
Kyou-san looks at me as if she has just read my diary while I was watching. A bit of an impish grin. Could be cute, if it wouldn''t be at my expense.
¡°What do you think about this geezer?¡± I ask her instead. Being a fake, Kyou-san knows exactly how to identify others.
¡°Is it me or are you being quite rude?¡±
¡°Phew. Just answer.¡±
¡°He''s not part of the other beggars.¡±
¡°Huh!?¡±
¡°He sticks out. Maybe he''s not from around here.¡±
¡°How do you know that!?¡±
¡°The way he doesn''t intermingle with them. Not that someone like you, who never paid attention to people could understand what I mean.¡±
¡°So why are we following him!?¡±
¡°Because I don''t think that he means harm.¡±
¡°...¡± I speed up my steps to come closer to the geezer. Looking at him, he has a long cloak, which more or less envelopes his whole body. Actually, it¡¯s more like a dirty rag. ¡°Hey. You''re not from around here?¡±
The man in question inspects me. ¡°Same as you, I guess.¡± He shrugs his shoulders while cackling. ¡°Just here for a few days and very hungry.¡±
¡°Let me tell you this. If this turns out to be a trap, I will personally hunt you down!¡±
¡°Easy, boy!¡± The old man grins, just like a nice uncle. I hate nice uncles. ¡°I''m no robber. Just a traveler.¡±
¡°Let''s hope you''re right.¡± I totally forgot the possibility that he could be part of a gang of street robbers, I''m more concerned about if he''s one of the guys Correo hired.
¡°Kenta?¡± Rine grabs my arm from behind. ¡°Don''t worry.¡± She presents me a smile, which should be soothing, but it''s not like my suspicions would just melt away.
¡°By the way, boy?¡± The old man asks me. ¡°You wear a hood, have a bow and a spear, so let me ask you this: Are you a ranger?¡±
¡°...¡± Well, rangers seem to be known here in the Wildlands. ¡°Yes.¡±
¡°At that age, impressive. When I was your age, I was still a good-for-nothing. What''s your title?¡±
¡°...¡± When I was acknowledged as a [Ranger], I got three things: The hood, the name Kenta''aihr, and a title. ¡°Why should I tell you?¡±
¡°So that when I roam around and hear about your deeds, I can think: Ah, I know this guy!¡±
¡°Now that he mentions it, I don''t know either.¡± Ara-san, who more or less was concentrating on the ground the whole time to avoid stepping into something else, chimes in. ¡°What title did Oro''hekk give you?¡±
¡°Kenta has a title?¡± Rine''s eyes are sparkling and about to burn me.
¡°...¡± Kyou-san says nothing but is definitely interested.
¡°Boy, you have two beautiful girls here, and you don''t even impress them with your title? Get some balls!¡±
¡°...it''s not like that.¡± I don''t want to impress anyone here. I don''t need any fancy names or fame. I just want to make it through this whole hero business and return home.
...my arm hurts. Rine has it in her grasp, and her excitement for my title makes her squeeze it. My hand is turning numb! Don''t look at me like that!
Ara-san, stop it as well!
Kyou-san, are you about to skin me with your eyes, which clearly show your curiosity, while trying not to make it too obvious?
Stop grinning, geezer!
¡
¡ ¡
¡°...the ''Red Ranger''.¡± I''m just too weak against these stares.
Suddenly, I feel a shiver running down my spine. It feels like someone just cursed me and declared my death.
I look at the old man, but he still grins, no hostility at all, more like excitement. ¡°Red Ranger? Your armor tells your story! Great, tell me what kind of beast you killed to get one of those!¡±
Rine is loosening her grip but clings to my arm instead. ¡°Red Ranger? I don''t know why, but it sounds cool!¡±
Ara-san sighs almost soundlessly. ¡°That''s it?¡±
Kyou-san says nothing.
My eyes are wandering to the alley and roofs, but there is nobody there. So where did the hostility come from?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Red Ranger? Are you f*cking kidding me!?
You''re nothing like a red ranger, you second-class dimwit jerk!
Clenching my teeth, I put a relaxed expression on my face, but it looks like the so-called red ranger somehow felt my... let''s call it ''displeasure.''
I adjust my scarf a bit, trying to find comfort in it. I think nobody found out about my slip-up.
¡°Momo?¡± Arako walks right next to me. ¡°It seems like Kenta-kun picked up something suspicious. I didn''t hear anything, and he gave no warning, but be prepared.¡±
¡°Of course, Arako.¡± I put a smile on, which didn''t go along with my current feelings in the slightest. It''s not like anyone of my companions could really tell, though. Ken would most likely just assume that it''s a fake smile and be right, but he can¡¯t tell the difference between a real and a fake one. ¡°But I think that he¡¯s just imagining things, again.¡±
For some reason, Ken can tell, when I''m furious with him.
Volume 05 - Chapter 1-2
¡°Here we are.¡± We stand before a run-down building with a bucket instead of a signboard, though the name ''Bronco''s Bucket'' is painted on it.
...at least the roof is not full of holes, even if there are parts that got mended here and there. So this is ''the price-range'' for Rank 0 mercenaries... well, I guess most people at the beginning of a mercenary career can''t get as many monster-parts as we do...
The geezer holds an open hand towards us, now that his job is done. ¡°Phew.¡± I put some coins into it.
¡°No food left?¡±
¡°Nope. Your buddies have it.¡±
¡°Too bad. Well, have a nice day.¡± The self-called traveler waves at us, as he returns to his dirt-hole.
¡°Strange fellow.¡± Maybe he''ll report us. He just seems to be too relaxed about all of it. This is suspicious as hell! Should we look for another inn? I mean, even though it''ll waste time and money, we can afford something better.
Kyou-san thinks otherwise, apparently: ¡°Ken, we''re going in.¡±
¡°...¡± I open the door. The inner part of the inn is clean at least, the counter and a stairway are to the right; a common room is just in front of the entrance. I turn to the counter and see a man in his forties there, writing something. So we''re not worth your time? ¡°A room for four,¡± I say loudly.
The man looks up. ¡°Welcome to the Bronco''s Bucket. A room for four?¡± He has the cheerfulness of a businessman, who doesn''t even bother that we''re a quite suspicious group as long as we''re paying. ¡°Erm... one room for four? Not two rooms?¡±
Kyou-san is about to say something, but I but I give her a telling glance to let me handle it. ¡°We''re mercenaries as you can see. One room is enough.¡±
¡°But...¡±
¡°...ah, I see.¡± I point at Kyou-san. ¡°My little sister,¡± then at Rine, ¡°my lover,¡± and finally at Ara-san: ¡°A friend.¡±
¡°...Oh. I see.¡± The inn worker seems to understand the gist. Well, sharing a room with three women would be a bit odd, and might get ugly in several ways, especially with all that sexual stuff. One man sharing a room with three girls would be suspicious.
However, since Ara-san is an alfr, she¡¯s discounted right away. If Kyou-san is a relative and Rine is the actual lover, it becomes much easier to understand. Not like anyone would suspect us to be having sex in an inn or something like that if we share the room under this premise.
¡°Onii-chan. You just broke Rine.¡± Kyou-san pulls my sleeve, while she speaks in a hollow voice, which clearly shows her discontent. She looks at me with upturned eyes, as if I had just ripped off the head of her favorite stuffed bear.
Still, that''s nothing compared to Rine, who is shivering while creating some sort of fluffy pink aura behind her. Or maybe it''s just my imagination since my senses aren''t able to catch how happy Rine is. ¡°L--Lov---Lover ~ ?! My dear called me his lover!¡±
Rine, stop it. It''s creepy as hell. Is that drool coming from the corner of her mouth?
Since Kyou-san and I are both Asian, making us siblings was the easy way to go. I doubt that they can even tell that we look too different to be related.
Ara-san was safe from the start, humans and alfar don''t mingle sexually unless there is a damn cursed ring, which makes the impossible possible because of wtf.
So what about Rine? Well, since she''s unmistakably native as a blonde, she can''t be a relative. Making her a friend of Kyou-san or Ara-san would still give the possibility of a secret affair or something like that. However, if I just go and say that she''s my girlfriend, there will be no strange rumors or something like that. That''s what I thought.
What I completely forgot here was that Rine is actually a living human being, who definitely is too direct and honest with her emotions, and me overlooking that will make me suffer.
In times like this, it''s best to turn to the manipulative Kyou-san. I send her a message with my eyes: ''Can you handle it?''
''What is there to handle, O-ni-i-chan?''
''How can you give me an Onii-chan-look!?'' Well, guess she''s pissed because I didn''t tell her that beforehand again.
¡°Ara-san? Could you-¡±
¡°Kenta-kun called me his friend. I kinda like that, but somehow...¡±
¡
¡ ¡
What is wrong with these girls!?
¡°Could you just give us the keys?¡± I''m too unnerved to deal with them.
¡°As long as someone stays to check in properly, it''s fine. A cheap one or something better?¡±
¡°Something better.¡± If we''re staying at an inn, we can afford a bit of luxury, especially in an inn like this.
¡°Here you go.¡± He puts some keys with a imprinted brass pendant on the counter.
Kyou-san picks them up and declares: ¡°We¡¯ll go ahead, Onii-chan.¡± Please, stop calling me that! The way you accentuate it gives me shivers!
The girls go up, Kyou-san more or less pulls Rine and Ara-san with her.
The man at the counter smiles at us wryly. ¡°Hard, I guess.¡±
¡°You bet.¡±
¡°Let''s talk business. You are mercenaries, right?¡±
¡°Yeah, Lion''s Squad. Rank 0.¡±
¡°Looking for requests?¡±
¡°No, just passing through.¡±
¡°Alright. Room for 4, that''s 680 Newgold per day. Or 6,000 for a week. Meals and baths included.¡± The innkeeper points at an abacus on the counter, suggesting me to use it, if I can''t do mental math.
Well, those are around every shop in this world, so I guess there are enough people who can''t, but if I, a Japanese, wouldn''t be able to do some simple additions, I''d be ashamed.
So let''s do some math, won''t even need [Student]''s [Calculator]-skill for it. 680 Newgold per day, while 6,000 for a week. A week in this world is ten days, so booking a room for a week would cut some costs.
Yet a week just seems too long for our needs. ¡°Here.¡± I pick some coins from my purse. One big gold-like one, three smaller ones and six silvery coins. ¡°Two days for starters.¡±
¡°Alright. We have three bathrooms. Let me see the board... They''re currently free, so you can use them now if you like.¡±
¡°Bath...¡± Taking a sniff from my sleeve, I realize that even after the rather short way from Aroahenn, I already smell bad. ¡°Yes, seems like a good idea. Two of them, for an hour.¡±
¡°Certainly. I can ask the kitchen for some snacks if you like. Otherwise, you have to wait for the evening.¡±
¡°...can we ask later?¡± I''m currently not hungry, but I don''t know about the girls.
¡°If the kitchen still has some, it''s fine. Finally, can you read?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Good thing that I''m learning to read this world''s script, it still takes some time but combined with the hero-translator, I should be okay.
¡°Great. Then please read the behavior rules of the inn and Goldbrunn in general for mercenaries.¡± Urgh, he just presents me three pages of small text, all of them written in the native letters.
¡°Phew...¡± In games, all of that would just be cut into a small dialogue and an options screen. So much simpler.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The room is neither cramped nor spacious. Four beds are standing at the walls, same goes for two desks and four small three-drawer dressers. Rine-chan is still in her dream world, Arako has already fallen into one of the beds, and Ken is still downstairs, making a deal with the innkeeper.
But seriously? Little sister?
¡ Who is even older, Ken or I? If he had birthday back in Japan, it was never apparent. If not, he had the same kind of sad birthday party as I, without anyone around.
Depressing...
Let''s think positive. Or rather, let''s just think normal, because Rine-chan is so overwhelmed by Ken''s pretext that she just radiates optimism, which gives me the warning to stand with both feet on the ground.
Somehow I have qualms about letting her know the truth about Ken''s ''lover''-arrangement. I think Ken is somehow afraid of Rine-chan, so he will probably not answer her feelings.
What a jerk.
Well, Rine-chan deserves much better anyway.
¡°A short briefing before Ken comes into the room.¡± Arako is inherently lazy when it''s not about studying heroes, while Rine-chan is badly organized, so somehow I ended up being the one who keeps us girls in line. Somehow really similar to back when I was class president. ¡°We need to look for a training ground here and try to get some time without Ken so that we can discuss things.¡± While Ken is in charge of the team, there is much we have to discuss without him.
¡°...uh... we still train even here?¡± Arako grumbles. She was the one who asked Rine-chan and me if she could join this morning, but she''s already sick of it.
¡°You don''t have to if you prefer overworking yourself again.¡±
¡°...no...¡±
¡°Good. Rine-chan, wake up.¡± I pinch her cheek lightly.
¡°Hub!?¡±
¡°We''ll go out in the evening and look for where we can train. Maybe we can also get an opportunity to have a meeting tomorrow.¡±
¡°Wife conference?¡±
¡°...yes, wife conference.¡± I don''t like that term. ¡°Now, I need to look at your arm again.¡±
¡°OK.¡± Rine-chan sits down on one of the beds and presents her broken arm.
I use my skills to discern if the recovery time is delayed. It seems that just traveling and some light exercises have no ill effect, as long as she doesn''t move the arm too much. Being a hero would be convenient if you weren¡¯t kidnapped in the process.
¡°Everything is fine. Maybe we can speed it up a bit if you can rest properly.¡±
¡°Great! I can''t wait to get it healed!¡±
¡°And no hugging until then.¡±
¡°Yeeees...¡± She certainly doesn''t like that ban, but she does it too forcefully to be good. ¡°Kyou, Dear called me his ''lover''!¡±
¡°*Sigh* I know, I was right there.¡±
¡°So what comes next?¡±
¡°...nothing.¡±
¡°Nothing?¡±
¡°Nothing. Excuse me for saying it, but he lied.¡±
¡°... ¡ lied?¡±
¡°He used a pretext for some reason. Well, actually he kinda thought it through by his standards. To cut it short: I''m not his little sister either, so it was a whole big lie.¡±
¡°...¡± Rine-chan''s eyes open widely as if she has just realized some world-shattering news. Maybe kids feel like this if they learn that Santa Claus isn''t real. ¡°*sniff*¡± Ah, now she cries.
That''s why I didn''t want to tell her.
The door opens, and Ken comes into the room. Can''t he learn to knock!? ¡°Everything is dealt with and-¡±
Rine-chan steps in front of him. ¡°Kenta!¡± Her eyes are full of tears. ¡°When you told the man that I was your lover, was that a lie?¡±
I can see several nuances changing his face, which would translate to the following thoughts: ''What is she talking about?'', ''Oh, she means that?'', ''Erm, should I tell her?'', and ''Ah, what a pain, just make it short.''
So his answer doesn''t surprise me: ¡°Yes, it was.¡±
Within a second, Rine-chan''s face is full of anger, and her right, healthy arm moves to slap him. Ken tilts his upper body back, he saw through that motion. Too bad that Rine-chan moves her right foot a bit forward and closes her open slapping hand into a fist, which changes course right into his solar plexus without even breaking her movement.
Ken might have expected her slap and was able to follow it with his sharp senses, but changing attacks mid-course was outside of what he could answer. In Rine-chan''s fist is enough strength to slam Ken to the floor.
If he wasn¡¯t wearing armor right now, then he would most likely cough like crazy or pass out, since the solar plexus is a vital spot, and if you hit it, the opponent gets air-shortage and great pain, but his red armor could redirect much of the force, so he is most likely just in pain.
That''s until Rine-chan takes his right hand in hers, lifting it up while forcing the rest of his body down by pushing her foot into his armpit. Then she twists his arm, which makes him wince. ¡°Kenta! Please don''t lie. If you lie, you hurt people.¡±
What irony, now Rine-chan is hurting Ken. He somewhat deserves it, since he played with her feelings. He should have known better, but this is only the second time Rine-chan is really angry at him, and since we''re usually more cautious than that, she has never resorted to physical violence before.
I certainly don''t plan to make her angry at me again.
¡°Ken,¡± I sit down on my heels to get a better look into his pain-contorted face: ¡°now explain to us, why you didn''t tell us this idea of yours again. I mean, we already had this discussion, and you could have clearly told us about it.¡±
¡°Shut uaaahhhh-¡± The moment he tried to talk back, he moved and put him into even greater pain.
*sigh* ¡°It could be so much easier.¡± Is it some sort of stupid pride, the lack of trust, or just because he''s dumb. Maybe I''ll never figure that out. ¡°Rine-chan, would you let him go, please?¡±
¡°No.¡± She pouts.
My eyes wander to Arako, who sits on the bed with a piece of paper and a coal-pen in her hand, writing something down. I go to her and peek into the paper. She seems to be following how much HP and SP Ken loses while comparing his and Rine-chan''s stats.
Too bad Ken, no support for you. We¡¯ll just have Rine-chan let out some steam then.
I could certainly argue with her, but I think it''s better for her to just let these feelings go. It''s not me on the receiving end, after all.
Well, I could give him a hint. I make sure to establish eye-contact with Ken. ''Just apologize.''
''Hell no!''
''You like pain? So you''re a masochist?''
''...no, and shut up!''
''OK. Then I''ll just watch your suffering in amusement.''
''...fine...'' ¡°Rine...¡± Oh, he spits these words out like it takes a lot out of him. ¡°...I''m sorry.¡±
¡°You better be!¡± Rine-chan is still performing her hold. ¡°I¡¯ll let you go if I can hug you.¡±
Sigh, this girl. ¡°Rine-chan, no hugging for now. Remember your arm.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± Rine-chan tilts her head while thinking about what she may demand from him. ¡°Then call me ''sweetheart¡¯.¡±
¡°No-urgh...¡± Ken''s face is distorted in pain, but I can see from his expression that he thinks it''s worth the pain.
¡°...Kyou?¡± Is she out of ideas already?
Rine-chan is somewhat throwing a tantrum. Since I''m her best friend and something like her second mother, I have to decide if I want to give her what she wants or if it would be better for her to deny it.
Looking at the situation, there is only one way. ¡°Rine-chan. You can''t just use force to get your way. It may work in the short run, but if you press Ken in doing things to you, he will end up hating you.¡±
Without a moment of hesitation, Rine-chan released Ken''s hand and kneeled down to him. ¡°Sorry. I... I didn''t mean to, I was just so angry and... Dear, please don''t hate me.¡± Now she''s crying for another reason. What an emotional girl.
Maybe all of this is getting to her much more than we assumed. She accompanies us while turning her back to her home, being forced into a marriage with someone she didn''t choose, and trying to convince herself that it''s what she wants.
Or maybe she''s just so full of passion, that she goes way overboard.
I look at Ken, who clearly has no idea how to handle her in this state. ''Just say that she doesn''t have to worry about it.''
¡°Don''t worry about it?¡± Don''t make it a question, you dumbass.
¡°Yes!¡± Rine-chan smiles at Ken, who seems to be a bit enchanted by it. Just drop dead.
¡°Arako, you get some data out of it?¡± I don''t even know half of the thought-processes of my alfr friend, but she seems to always be collecting data in her mind and writing it down, whenever she has the time.
Otherwise, she''s the laziest bum I''ve ever seen. It''s like whenever heroes aren¡¯t involved, she just withers away. I''m sure that Ken and Rine-chan don''t even notice how much she''s slacking off.
For example, whenever I cook, Rine-chan tries to help me. I think she likes to learn how to cook. Ken will either maintain his equipment, take a bit time off to read the book he got from Rine-chan, go out doing some experiments with Arako, or patrol the parameter.
What Arako does is mostly depending on Ken. If he''s away, she will either write and go over her notes, or fall to the ground and just do nothing. When I don''t remind her, she won''t clean her dishes after a meal. Whenever it''s time to air the pelts and blankets of our bedding, she rushes it.
She says she worked as an accountant back in her homeworld, but I''m sure she also did just the minimum amount of work then.
Looking at her now, when I got her under my thumb, she seems like a decent person, but whoever remembers how her home looked like, shouldn''t be tricked.
So in general, there are only two things that make Arako do stuff voluntarily and those things are knowledge about heroes and Ken. That''s why I asked her, to get a bit of a better grasp of how she thinks.
¡°Data, yes, although they make as much sense as most of the other parts. Currently crunching numbers, but my theory of flexible stats seems to be accurate, just trying to fill in the variables.¡±
¡°That means?¡±
¡°That [Attributes] may only show either the maximum or the average capacity in the status screen, making it much harder to get an understanding of them. For example...¡± She takes a look at her notes. ¡°What do you think did more HP-damage? The punch or the hold?¡±
¡°The punch?¡±
¡°In fact, no. While the punch did more damage to Kenta-kun in general, he lost the most HP when Katarine-san tightened her handhold.¡±
¡°How could that be?¡±
¡°I have two theories. Either the armor mitigated some damage, or the hit on the upper body doesn''t have as much effect on Kenta-kun''s health. It may be more painful, but the stress to his joints is more damaging overall.¡±
¡°I can see that, but what does it have to do with [Attributes]?¡±
¡°Maybe a hero''s [Vitality] is not the same over his whole body?¡±
¡°...¡± This could be. Not that I really understand what Arako is implying here.
¡°NO HUGGING!¡±
¡°Buuuuuut-urgh!¡±
At the other end of the room, Ken is currently pressing Rine-chan''s face away from him. It looks like they did some of their usual routine again.
¡°Ken, Rine-chan, I know you¡¯re having fun, but now we have to talk business, and Rine: No hugs, your arm!¡±
¡°Phew...¡±
¡°OK...¡±
Like children. ¡°Ken, anything we need to know? Like what kind of excuses we have to use so that everything fits within the little story you''re forcing on us?¡±
¡°...erm... just don''t talk about the details?¡±
¡°Then let''s just assume someone asks us from where we are, which is sure to happen at some point, since we''re Japanese. What would be your answer.¡±
¡°''Mind your own business!''¡±
I rub my temples. He didn''t even hesitate. ¡°So you didn''t think this through. You may avoid people, but that makes us stand out... you just stay quiet, and I¡¯ll figure out the details.¡± If I let Ken handle this, he will most likely blow it all out of proportion. ¡°Anything else?¡±
¡°The rules. In a nutshell, no large weapons in the taproom, no picking fights here, and in general, we should somewhat behave.¡±
¡°Logical.¡±
¡°Ah, and we can use the baths.¡±
This notion piques my interest. ¡°Tell me about this.¡± As a true Japanese, I can''t pass up the chance to get a proper bath. I''m aware that I don''t smell good currently, since during traveling there is not much opportunity to clean myself properly.
So let''s get rid of that stink and become halfway civilized again!
Volume 05 - Chapter 1-3
Bathroom 3, reserved for Rine-chan, Arako, and me.
We already prepared a change of clothes, and I''m a bit annoyed at Arako, who doesn''t even want to take a bath, so I had to drag her here.
Bathing in this culture is different from Japan. In Japan you first clean yourself thoroughly, then you go into the heated bath.
Here, some water is heated elsewhere and brought in buckets, while there are also buckets with cold water. So you have to mix them in the wooden tub, where only one person can fit in. Then you clean yourself inside the tub, instead of outside.
Well, I didn''t expect an onsen, but I''m still somewhat disappointed.
I help the handicapped Rine-chan out of her clothes, who then prepares her tub by filling it with the hot water buckets. If we want more, we just have to strike a small brass gong.
Arako just stands around with a blank look on her face. I''m already undressed, so why is she doing nothing? ¡°Arako.¡± I go to her and begin removing her clothes.
... usually, I wouldn''t feel strange about seeing another girl naked, but Arako... she''s definitely different. The moment I removed the upper part of her chest, I look at her lightly green tinted skin and her areolas, which are... different. I have no other word for it.
Her chest... wait. I think I know why she''s only looking so blankly: She was watching me undressing Rine-chan and saw for the first time what human breasts actually look like. This might be a bit of a shock for her.
I remove her underwear, as she still doesn''t move a muscle. ...different again. She doesn''t even have hair. Like, at all. Was she also looking between Rine-chan''s legs?
¡°Ara? Kyou? What''s wrong?¡± Sitting in her tub already, Rine-chan waves at us. Actually, that''s the first time I¡¯ve seen Rine-chan''s body completely naked as well, but except that she''s blonde overall and has more pink in some parts, it looks like mine.
¡°Arako. Just let it slide.¡± I try not to mind that the girl in front of me is some alien creature without clothes.
¡°They float.¡± She looks at Rine-chan, who is half-submerged in the water. ¡°I know that they''re supposed to be made out of fat, so it should be natural, but I still can''t help but wonder what they''re truly made of.¡±
¡°Maybe I''ll tell you later. We only have an hour, so let''s enjoy it.¡± Even though I don''t plan to bath the entire time, I have to account for time to get cleaned and dressed. Also a bit of banter, of course. ¡°Rine-chan, don''t put your splint into the water.¡± Not that I can get into the mood while looking after these two.
I pull Arako to a tub, make her prepare her own water, and then I turn to the last one to make me a hot bath. Then I clean myself. Just because things are handled differently here, I don''t plan to bath in my dirt. Soap, hair soap, and then finally I take a bucket of the well-temperatured bath and rinse it all down. This room has a drain, so I''ll use it.
Still feels weird to wash my hair with a ring on my finger, I feel it whenever it brushes my head. One of the things I have learned to accept, even though it infuriates me every time i notice it.
Finally, I slowly submerge into the bath. ¡°Aaaah... That hits the spot.¡±
¡°...¡± Arako is on the other side, Rine-chan is between us, but she stares at me. I felt her eyes when washing myself, but I just ignored it.
Now is bathing time, I will not bother with it.
¡°Kyou, Kyou!¡± Rine-chan still enjoys her time in the hot water, but that doesn''t mean that she won''t bother me. ¡°Can you help me with cleaning myself later?¡± Her eyes have their usual sparkle: ¡°You''re very good at it!¡±
¡°I''ll help you because your arm is still broken. And why do you even want my help in the first place? It''s not like there is a trick to it.¡±
¡°I want to be all glowing when I come out.¡± I believe she''s thinking about Ken right now.
¡°...prrrprprprpr...¡± Arako just blows some bubbles under water. She seems to be unmotivated right now as if she''s just idling her time here.
¡°*sigh*, I will wash you as well, Arako.¡± I don''t think she will do a proper job otherwise.
For now, though, I lie back and enjoy the bath. Not thinking or worrying about anything, just enjoying my time in the warm water, closing my eyes and trying to get some mental rest.
¡°Kyou, Kyou!¡± Except that there is one girl here, who does her best to annoy me. ¡°How do you get closer to a man from your world?¡±
Why are you asking me that again? ¡°*groan* Rine-chan, please. Not now.¡± I''m not against banter, I actually welcome it, but not that subject please!
¡°Ara, Ara!¡± Without even batting an eye, Rine-chan turns to Arako. ¡°What do you do to get closer to an alfr man?¡±
¡°...¡± Arako''s ears are twitching, thinking about the question. ¡°Just wait until mating season? Then you might have the bliss of the time during it, and when it''s over, you become friends, I guess? At least until the next mating season. Some stay for centuries as partners for that particular time.¡± Her eyes wander to Rine-chan, and while her expression remains neutral, her ears are pointing up. ¡°Katarine-san,¡± she begins with a no-nonsense voice: ¡°May I touch your breasts?¡±
¡ Most of the time, I really don''t get her thought-processes. How did she jump the topic here?
The only thing that is more unbelievable is - ¡°Sure.¡± - the answer. As nonchalant and besides the point as always.
Arako leans from her bathtub to Rine-chan''s, and her hands grasp the blonde girl''s front. ¡°...¡± Then she kneads it a bit. ¡°...what...¡± Her fingers bore into the flesh. ¡°Does it hurt, Katarine-san?¡±
¡°Not really, but it''s a bit unpleasant.¡±
¡°Please bear with it.¡± Then Arako weighs the left one first, after that the right one. Then she shakes it. ¡°Strange. Is it truly just fat? What else is in there?¡±
¡°I don''t know. Milk? Kyou, Kyou! What are breasts made of?¡±
¡°Please, don''t drag me into this conversation.¡± I did pay attention to classes, this includes health classes as well, but it''s not like I will tell them.
¡°Please!¡± Rine-chan fires a puppy-eyed look at me.
¡°Please?¡± Arako''s ears are lowering, as well as her head.
Why are they... ¡°Not now. I want to enjoy my bath, alright? Another time.¡±
¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Certainly.¡±
Seriously, these girls. What just happened to my relaxing bath time?
Luckily, after some more groping, Arako had enough of more or less trying to figure it out by herself. Maybe she''s just curious because she has no breasts as an alfr.
Finally, some time to relax again.
Something catches my eye. A scar. I got a scar on my arm. That''s from when a scaleetles bit me. The scar is rather small if I think about how large the wound was, but it''s still a scar.
Maybe I have even more. How ragged will I look, when it''s all over? Should I care? I''m not as optimistic as Ken, really believing that I will come back home. Even though calling him optimistic is a far stretch. Let''s say desperate and stubborn.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Yet something in me is resistant to settling down and trying to start a new life in this world. It''s most likely something that someone put into my brain when I was summoned here.
¡°Kyou, Kyou!¡± But when I try to feel down about that, there is another disturbance. Please give me some time for self-pity. ¡°What do Japanese do after a bath?¡±
¡°*sigh* Why are you asking?¡±
¡°Because I want to do it with Kenta.¡±
¡°I should have known...¡± I can see Arako''s right ear move, she''s clearly listening in again. ¡°Normally, you drink something and either relax or just continue your business. Or watching TV.¡±
¡°What kind of drink? How do you relax? And what''s TV again?¡± She knows almost nothing about our world, even after listening to us for a while, it''s too much of a stretch. Probably, I wouldn''t understand and remember everything she could tell me about this world either, though being here makes it much easier to learn.
I know that she likes to know more about us, but I''m taking a bath! ¡°Rine-chan... *sigh*, just do whatever you like. ¡ but thinking about it, I think I need to borrow Ken for a while after the bath.¡± Since he''s finally somewhat tidy then. ¡°Time''s almost up. So let''s clean you.¡±
I climb out of the tub and go to Rine-chan. I apply some of the hair-soap. ¡°You can do the front yourself. Remember your arm.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
My fingers rub her blonde hair. It''s genuinely blonde. Not that I''ve doubted it, but seeing that the hair grows blonde out of its roots is reminding me, that this is not something dyed. It''s not like I ever got a good look at foreigners heads before.
Though it''s kinda normal to the touch. Not much different from mine, maybe just a bit finer?
While Rine-chan takes care of her body, I scrub her hair, making it foam a bit. ¡°Kyou, it feels good.¡± She seems to like it, she closes her eyes in joy and smiles. Such a simple girl.
After finishing, I pick up a bucket, fill it with Rine''s tub-water and rinse her hair. ¡°Next up is Arako.¡±
¡°...¡± Maybe she tries to send me contempt with her eyes, or maybe she''s looking forward to it, I don''t know. At least she doesn''t move.
¡°You have such long hair.¡± Most likely because she just let it grow. Keeping that much hair clean and beautiful is a hard task. I let my fingers run through Arako''s hair. ¡°Hm...¡± This seems different from mine. ¡°Arako, did you ever have a problem with oily hair?¡±
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°Frizz?¡±
¡°...what?¡±
¡°Splits?¡±
¡°Could you please stop saying random Japanese names? The translation process hurts my head.¡±
I just confirmed three things.
First, alfr hair is soft to the touch. It almost feels artificial, it''s so smooth, that it makes you casually ask yourself if you could weave something out of it. Maybe it has these traits so it won''t get stuck on branches, leaves and similar.
Second, it doesn''t split, has no frizz, the strands slide smoothly over each other without getting caught or coiled. The alfar even lack words for these things in their language, showing how natural it is for them to not worry about stuff like that. Since Arako also translates everything she hears into her native language, there is some linguistic barrier sometimes we talk, and we hit it with that topic of all things.
Still, I can''t see any harm in washing her hair. Because third, I''m pissed that Arako doesn''t need to take care of her hair at all! So I put some hair soap on my hand and forcefully slather it in her hair, rubbing her scalp much more harshly than needed.
¡°Momo, it hurts.¡± My finger goes near her ears, and I brush them a bit roughly. ¡°Ouch.¡± Arako''s ears are delicate, so I watched my strength, but she definitely felt that.
¡°Oh, I''m sorry.¡± Just a bit of friendly skinship. I can''t even tell if Arako is considered pretty or not for an alfr, but her alfr physique is a bit disheartening for my womanly pride. Especially when the only other girl here has a body like a foreign model.
After that initial irritation, my hands move smoother and more carefully now. Arako doesn''t say anything, doesn''t even make any noise, she just sits there.
I have a hunch. ¡°Arako?¡± No reaction. This time a bit stronger: ¡°Arako!¡±
¡°..W-what?¡± Yes, she was daydreaming again. ¡°Is anything wrong?¡±
¡°Are you tired?¡±
¡°I was just thinking about breasts.¡±
¡ I''m sure she was. ¡°Anything else?¡±
¡°Human reproduction organs.¡±
My hand wanders to my nose-bridge, but I notice fast enough that there is hair soap on them. Rubbing could be fatal for the eyes here.
So I just sigh.
¡°Kyou, Kyou!¡± Here comes the other one. ¡°Am I all glossy? Do I look pretty?¡±
Sometimes I really feel like a mother. I have two daughters and something I''d rather not call my son.
Speaking of mothering Ken, I guess it''s time to take care of him again.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
You know, I used to dislike baths. Even with the proper precautions, it''s hard to bath with a handheld gaming console, so when you''re hooked on a game on PC or home console, you try to make your baths as short as possible.
But now? It''s perfect. Just me, a bathtub, and a relaxing time. ¡°Phew.¡± In this world are no games, just a bunch of things that want to kill you, party members who don''t stop getting on your nerves, and a lot of things you have to do to keep on surviving.
The walls of the bathroom aren''t very thick, so the moment I realized that I could clearly hear what the girls are saying in the bathroom next door, I switched class to [Pikeman]. Don''t want to spoil my precious me-time with eavesdropping.
Especially after Ara-san brought breasts up.
¡ Yes, I did eavesdrop a bit, after all. I believe that Ara-san was jumping to touching Rine''s boobs by relating sexual relationships with human body-parts, which isn''t much of a leap for her. Plus for Ara-san, breasts are only there for sex.
Well, maybe they are. Nothing that I''ve heard or read makes me think otherwise.
But seriously, Rine, why did you let Ara-san touch your boobs?
I need to get the picture out of my head!
Meanwhile, my second head is greeting me from below, emerging from the water. I really have to put ''that'' in motion. A thing that I definitely wanted to do for a long time.
The only question is: Will I be able to open a time-window for it? ¡°Phew.¡± Maybe I should start thinking about how I will bring the talk about personal time up.
After some more thinking, I notice that the bathing time is almost up. So I dress up and leave the bathroom.
The girls are already there, and not only that... ¡°Ken, let''s go to the room.¡± I see the utensils in her hands.
Another haircut? I guess, it brings some WP, but why do I have to get my hair cut again?
Kyou-san looks at me as if I have just questioned why fishes are living in the water. ¡°Ken, your hair grows.¡±
¡°Of course?¡±
¡°And because your hair grows, you have to cut it.¡±
¡°Why are you talking to me, like I didn''t get something simple?¡±
¡°Because you don''t. Ken, I''ll be honest here. You have no sense of fashion, don''t care about your appearance and, when left alone, you only do the minimum of personal care. The moment I let you decide about your looks, you''ll end up looking as much of a slob as Arako is.¡±
¡°Momo, did you just casually insult me?¡±
¡°And while you look in a mirror only sometimes, we have to deal with your appearance all the time.¡±
Ara-san, who was just ignored looks at Kyou-san with one ear pointing up, but says nothing. Rine is touching my cheeks for some reason. ¡°So flushed!¡± Her eyes are sparkling, and whenever I shove her hand aside, it just comes back again.
¡°You know what, Ken? Let''s decide it democratically: Who likes Ken with short hair?¡±
Without hesitating, all the girls raise their hands.
Rine: ¡°Long hair gets in the way when fighting.¡±
Ara-san: ¡°We want to gain more WP.¡±
Both have such practical reasons that I have nothing to argue with.
¡°Phew, let''s just get it over with.¡± I don''t like it much when Kyou-san touches me all over my head. On the other hand, she''s the only one I would let cut my hair, since neither Rine nor Ara-san gives me the feeling that they could handle that kind of responsibility.
We go upstairs into the room. I sit down on a stool from our package and just wait.
¡°Staaaaaare.¡± For some reason, Rine sits on a bed and stares at Kyou-san and me, while she provides her own soundword.
Meanwhile, Ara-san has turned one of the beds into a mess in record time, she lays on top of it while writing on a piece of paper, while being surrounded by others. Wait, she''s not writing, she is drawing something.
Breasts.
It hurts. My head hurts, and I catch myself at asking if these are Kyou-san''s or Rine''s. Doing so causes my-
*snip*
-to do nothing... Kyou-san is now slowly cutting my hair. That first cut was undoubtedly near my ear.
Does she know what I was just thinking about?
Nah, she wouldn''t care, I think. But for some reason, she has gotten a bit protective of Rine and Ara-san, so maybe she actually would?
While Kyou-san takes care of my hair, I should bring up my proposal. ¡°I thought it''d be great if we had a bit of time off. You know, to recharge our batteries.¡±
¡°Sounds good,¡± Kyou-san complies.
¡°OK.¡± Rine lifts her hand to show her consent... Wait, didn''t I say batteries? So proverbs are also translated into something that makes sense.
¡°...¡± Ara-san doesn''t even listen, her eyes are wandering between Kyou-san, Rine, and her drawing.
Well, let''s just go on: ¡°And for that, I thought that we might get some spending money. Just to buy a thing or two.¡±
¡°In general, I''m fine with it. But what are your intentions?¡± Kyou-san totally knows that I''m planning something.
¡°Erm...¡± I don''t know how to answer that. ¡°That''s my business, OK!?¡±
¡°Fine, fine. But before that, there are more important things to consider.¡± Kyou-san carefully cut my bangs.
¡°Like what.¡±
¡°Rine-chan and I need to visit a hair salon, for example, and I don''t plan to pay from my personal money. Also, some more ingredients to cook, I would actually like to eat human food for a change. Also, a new change of clothes.¡±
¡°I would also like to buy some more cloth,¡± Rine adds to the discussion.
¡°Since we need to consider how much we''ll spend and how much we need to save for later, and we still have monster materials to sell, while we need to look for an option to increase our traveling pace... We have still much to do.¡±
¡°I get it. Well, almost. Why do you want to go to the hair salon and make it a party expense? Why not let someone else cut your hair?¡±
¡°Three reasons. I like to have a professional do my hair, it''s a girl''s life, after all. You benefit as much as I do when I take care of my appearance. Finally, how much is it worth to you, for me to not ask questions about why exactly you want to have some time alone and money to spend?¡±
¡°...alright.¡±
¡°Good.¡± The innocent, refreshing smile Kyou-san flashes is the opposite of the face she should have. ¡°The moment I''m finished with this excuse you call hair, we can go through the stuff we need to get or look into tomorrow.¡±
Volume 05 - Chapter 1-4
We sit in the common room of the inn, I take a sip from my mug of beer. Rine has a bit of watered wine, the same as Kyou-san. For some reason, Ara-san went with beer as well.
I figure that the common belief that elves won''t drink beer is just not true. Well, technically, she''s not an elf.
The alfr gulps from her mug a bit, her ears are already flushed deep red. Strangely enough, she leans on me. ¡°Mmmmnnn...¡± I think she''s drunk, going by her ears. It''s hard to tell, her eyes look normal, and her face isn''t flushed or anything.
She looks hot.
Wait, that''s something else speaking, not me.
¡°Arako, don''t try too hard.¡± Kyou-san rubs her temples.
Ara-san then shifts her weight to sit upright. While her ears are still flushed, she seems totally fine. ¡°I never knew what alcohol does to a girl in constant sexual receptivity. I have the impression that Kenta-kun becomes more handsome with every sip.¡±
¡°You should really stop drinking.¡± The way Kyou-san emphasizes her words kinda hurts, but I agree nonetheless.
Despite our youth, we can already drink alcoholic beverages in this world. To be honest, it''s not like you can simply get some juice or barley tea here anyway. Without any industry, it takes a lot of work to produce those kinds of drinks. They could certainly make juice, but without distilling it, it¡¯d spoil quickly.
Also, for some reason, there is no tea in this inn, or elsewhere. Only in Aroahenn did we got something like that. Maybe the humans here haven¡¯t figured out how to make tea. Pitiful.
Usually, I only drink water, but as we''re at an inn right now, I ordered a beer to at least have a drink with some taste. All of the girls followed my lead.
Alcohol is most likely the only ''tasteful water'' in these realms. Depressing.
Well, I could''ve also ordered milk, but I''m sure there is no cooling device here, and who knows how they process their milk. I doubt that they homogenize and pasteurize their milk here.
Whatever.
¡°Kenta, does the beer taste bad?¡± Rine asks.
¡°I just want a cola.¡±
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°Nevermind.¡± I guess I''ll ask Kyou-san later if she can use her [Herbalist]-class to look for some herbs that can be made into tea.
Because, despite liking cola, I have no real idea how to make it. Or if it''s even possible with the means of this world, so I dismiss this idea right away.
¡°Phew.¡± I look around the room and see other guests of the establishment here. Some of them might be real mercenaries, but they stare at us.
Actually, I got used to it at some point, but after the disaster with the mercenaries of the Bloody-Nosed, I just can''t feel comfortable. Still, it''s doubtful that someone will pick a fight with us, as long as we''re inside the city walls. There are guards and such, so it¡¯s too much hassle to deal with just the four of us.
Still, I should look out for assassins.
...sometimes I hate how I overthink things.
¡°Kenta!¡± At least there is always someone I can count on to disrupt any form of anxiety by just doing her usual thing. Like snuggling up to me.
And no, she is clearly not drunk. ¡°Phew.¡± I let it slide. It would be strange if people see me shoving aside my ''girlfriend'' here.
¡°Tehehehe.¡±
On second thought: ¡°Not here in public.¡±
¡°*cough*¡± Kyou-san just choked on her watered wine. After drumming her chest a bit, she looks at me with a somewhat shocked expression.
''What?'' I ask her with a glance?
Instead of answering me with her eyes, she comes closer. ¡°I''m just surprised that you can show some consideration here. Normally, you would just shove her away.¡±
She really knows me by now, so is she implying, that I lack delicacy? ¡ She really knows me.
These untypical words of mine before came almost naturally. Strange.
Not that they had any effect on Rine. ¡°Tehehehe.¡±
¡°Phew.¡± I don''t want to make a scene right now. Rather I want to hear what the people around us are saying, so I use [Pitch] to discern single voices.
What''s going on here in Goldbrunn?
¡°I heard the princess of Feuerberg ran away and was disowned. Now there is a bounty on her, but only alive!¡± Disowned? Nah, most likely an exaggeration. Did it spread up to here as just a rumor? Is that fast or slow? Slow, since it''s already almost a month, but maybe fast, since I guess that Feuerberg wants to keep it a secret from outside the country.
What does the other table say?
¡°Damn Cruz! Just swaggering around an'' all that!¡± Maybe just some sort complaint. Cruz sounds like some kind of name.
¡°Kenta?¡±
¡°There is the story about that red beast, who gorges on the horses of merchants!¡± ¡°Wasn''t it a red rabbit?¡± ¡°Or maybe a hare.¡± ¡°People say, it''s red because of all the blood that is splattered over its body.¡± OK, that''s just weird.
¡°Kenta?¡±
¡°-and then that guy just went into the bar, asking for-¡±
¡°Kenta!!!¡±
¡°...urks...¡± Seriously, girl, can''t you see that I''m trying to listen!? Even if you hadn¡¯t yelled just now, you spoke directly into my pricked-up ear! ¡°What is it!?¡±
¡°Feel.¡± She takes my hand and puts it on her head. What''s that supposed to mean?
¡°Soft?¡± Without even knowing what she even means, I just comment on the feeling in my hand, while I try to eavesdrop a bit more.
¡°Kyou did it.¡±
¡°I see.¡± I have to blend her out. Let''s just use the routine I did, whenever I was called to the principal''s office back in school.
¡°...sometimes, I really ask what the mayor is doing here.¡± Dammit, I missed a chance to hear something useful.
While Rine is more or less talking to me, and while I just make up stuff on the spot without even processing what she says to me, I try to get some other pieces of information.
Most of it just isn''t relevant or even remotely interesting. Who cares about the cat population in Goldbrunn anyway?
¡°Great!!!¡± Somehow a very sudden outcry made not only me, but all the other guests turn their heads to the one who made it.
Of course, it''s Rine.
I look to Kyou-san and Ara-san, Kyou-san seems amused, and she tries to hold in her laughing so much that she has tears in her eyes. Ara-san''s ears are twitching like crazy, showing her bewilderment.
¡°I''ll go upstairs!¡± Like a whirlwind, Rine stands up and goes to our room.
Following the usual pattern, Rine may have asked me about something unreasonable, and since I didn''t pay attention, I just complied. Something like a date, most likely. Not what I like, but I might still talk her out of it, or at least endure it.
Just to be sure: ¡°What did I just promise?¡±
¡°She-uhuhu. Sorry. She-ahaha. Sorry, Ara-san please.¡± Kyou-san isn''t even able to explain it to me, and that actually makes me concerned.
¡°She asked you if she can sleep in the same bed as you and you agreed. Then she asked you if you''re sure, and you made a sound, which could be taken as confirmation. Finally, she asked you to promise it, and you answered ''I promise.''¡±
¡
¡ ¡
¡°By the way, Ken, tonight Arako and I will sleep on the other side of the room.¡±
¡ ¡
¡
¡°And I think I''ll sleep outside tonight.¡± There is no way that I''ll sleep next to Rine. It''s not because of sexual reasons, or because of something that can be considered as ''bad sleeping habits''. It¡¯s because she literally kills everything off that tries to harm her or makes sudden movements while she sleeps.
There was one time when she crawled up to me while I was asleep. I had a nightmare then, and the sudden movement of me waking up triggered her ''condition,'' which almost ended me twice. To think that the nut shot I got because of Kyou-san is still considered ''lucky'' makes me want to cry.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°What about the WP?¡±
¡°There are more important things than WP, Ara-san! Like my life!¡±
¡°But Rine-chan certainly won''t take it well if you don''t uphold your promise.¡±
¡°I''m dead if I do.¡±
¡°Come on, Rine-chan won''t willingly kill you. Yet.¡±
¡°I really don''t like that ''yet'' there.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, while it might sound preposterous, maybe you should consider taking the risk today.¡±
¡°...if it weren''t you, Ara-san, I wouldn''t even listen. Explain.¡±
¡°In general, Katarine-san reacts to anything harmful to her in her sleep. However, it''s not like that must be an unconditional reaction. So you sleeping next to her would provide us with two benefits: First, we might figure out what exactly triggers it. Second, maybe she''ll get used to you.¡±
¡°Are you still holding a grudge since Kyou-san and I let you sleep in the same tent as Rine once?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll leave that to your imagination. Nonetheless, considering our future travels, it''d be detrimental if Katarine-san gets in a bad mood.¡±
¡°So you do still hold a grudge.¡±
¡°Ken,¡± Kyou-san interrupts. ¡°Just wait until she''s asleep and slip away.¡±
¡might be a possibility. In general, though, things go wrong whenever I involve myself with these girls. Still, other than Rine and Ara-san, Kyou-san''s is good at plotting, so I can trust her advice to a degree. Unless she wants to see me suffer.
Should I take that risk?
¡°Kenta-kun, watch out. That human there is staring at you quite a lot.¡±
¡°What?¡± Listening to Ara-san, I turn around. There really is a man looking at our table.
I move my upper body a bit, watching his reaction. ¡°He''s not looking at me.¡± I point with my thumb at Kyou-san.
Actually, there are some guys looking at her in this room, but even more are looking at Ara-san. ¡°Go away, alfr!¡± Someone is muttering this.
Could it be, that alfr are quite unpopular here? Is it some sort of racism?
Well, considering the usual demeanor of alfar, it shouldn''t surprise me. They''re playful, bratty, and like to play pranks. Still, Ara-san is somewhat different to the likes of Jazzman or Oro''hekk. Maybe because she''s an alfr hero from another world instead of a native one.
I mean, I''m pretty different to the humans I met in this world as well.
Or it''s just that alfar are as diverse as humans in terms of personality.
¡°I totally don''t know where she''s from, but she''s hot.¡± Without [Pitch] I wouldn''t even have heard that with all the noise in this room, but that comes from one of Kyou-san''s admirers. ¡°Maybe I should befriend her brother.¡± Won''t happen, scumbag.
Actually, that reminds me of something. ¡°Kyou-san, what''s our backstory?¡±
Kyou-san looks at me as if I had asked her in what year the dinosaurs had their skateboards. Utter confusion, then she realizes what I mean and answers: ¡°We both were born in Feuerberg, our parents are from far away, but they never told us about our ''real home.'' To avoid any questions about that. Our parents died during a monster attack when we were young, and we were raised by mercenaries instead, that''s how we learned how to fight. The mercenary group was a small one called ''Starknife,'' it had to cease business because of monetary reasons. Now we are trying on our own.¡±
It''s simple, but that makes it good.
It may be a bit over-dramatic, but considering how some lives turn out, it''s still below the mark.
¡°OK. I''d like to get some information here.¡± I just have no real idea how except just by listening in on conversations with my [Perception]-ability. ¡°Like what''s going on around here, if there is trouble awaiting us on our way west, anything that can and want to kill us. And Correo, of course.¡± Most likely he hired some mercenaries in this city. I can only hope that they are all outside of it now.
¡°*sigh* I guess I could investigate a bit.¡±
¡°Good, Kyou-san. What about Ara-san?¡±
¡°I''ll do that, if Kenta-kun accompanies me.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because people are staring at me. It''s like they are undressing me in their mind.¡±
¡°I absolutely think you''ll be fine.¡± I believe people are more afraid of her, and that she''s just joking around in her somewhat serious tone.
I lean back, concentrating on my ears.
¡°Ken, you help as well.¡±
¡°I am. I''m listening.¡±
¡°It''s less suspicious if we all ask the people here.¡±
¡ ¡°Phew.¡± What a pain.
I stand up and just go to the next table. Three men are sitting there. They''re already a bit drunk, but they immediately notice me. ¡°What?¡±
¡°...¡± I want to punch that guy. His smell reeks of alcohol, he''s missing a tooth and looks like I''m just a brat, who knows nothing.
Instead of hitting him, I just sit down at the table. ¡°I''m new in the city. Is there something I need to know?¡±
Even though I''m kinda diplomatic here, the three guys look at me as if I''m insane. ¡°Are you kiddin'' me?¡±
I know those types of people. Everything I''ll say will just make it worse, so I just smile.
¡°You dirty-¡± Somehow it still made everything worse. Well, maybe instead of a smile, I flashed a smirk. Happens.
As the one with the missing teeth is about to jump me, one of his friends hold him back: ¡°Bruno, I saw him checking in. He had a hood!¡±
¡°A hood!? No friggin'' way that''s a ranger!¡±
...what''s so special about having a hood?
I put my armor in the backpack since it''d be suspicious to wear it while drinking and it''d be more of a pain to clean it if something spills. The same goes for the hood, but for some reason, it still seems to have some sort of meaning.
I mean, guys, just because someone wears a hood doesn''t make him special. In general, there could be a lot of guys wearing hoods.
The friend continues. ¡°Even if he''s not, there is no reason to start a fight here.¡±
¡°He''s right.¡± The third one backs up. ¡°This is an inn.¡±
¡°Then let''s take it outside,¡± I suggest. I really feel like letting off some steam, this guy rubs me off the wrong way.
¡°Fine with me, brat.¡±
A broken nose later.
I sit with the three men at the table, the guy who rubbed wrong bought me a beer. Especially, since I didn''t break his arm.
Well, he said he''s sorry and that he would gladly help me. He totally thinks I''m a [Ranger] now because I had such an easy time with him. Seriously, he''s just some sort of hobby-brawler at best. Nothing I couldn''t handle, in a one-on-one, with my ever-growing experience of killing monsters and people.
¡°So, what¡¯s the news around town?¡±
¡°Yes, sir! You noticed the Crusaders outside?¡±
¡°I did.¡±
¡°They cleaned up the monsters around Goldbrunn, and now a number of them are allowed into the city.¡±
¡°What are they doing here?¡±
¡°They called a crusade against the demons and are on their way to Feuerberg.¡± I guess that''s a good thing.
¡°Do they pick fights?¡±
¡°Not as far as I know. But they look for demon collaborators and the profane in town.¡±
¡°I''m neither. But how do they do that?¡±
I get a surprised look first, but right after that an answer as well. ¡°Using their unique magic.¡±
¡°Aha.¡± Looks like it goes into common knowledge, so I''ll ask Ara-san later, or maybe even Rine. ¡°Enough of the Crusaders. Anything else?¡±
¡°There may be a beast outside town. It eats the horses of merchants, kills whatever crosses its path. Sounds like a job for a ranger to me.¡±
¡°What kind of beast?¡±
¡°I only heard about it secondhand, but it seems to be red and small with big teeth. Some think it''s some kind of hare.¡±
¡°A red hare? How stupid is that.¡±
¡°The guy who told us about it last night was drunk, but he said it''s red because of the blood of its victims.¡±
¡°Are you serious?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Phew... let''s talk about the west, right now.¡± I''m seriously doubting, that I¡¯d get anything out of it.
¡°I CAN''T STAND IT ANYMORE!¡± From the other side of the room, a guy runs away, crying like a little girl.
Ara-san, who was just talking with him, calls out to him: ¡°I still have some questions: Is having more fur for you a plus or a minus?¡±
What the heck did she do to him?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The night is approaching, and Kyou-san, Ara-san and I are heading to our room.
¡°Seriously,¡± Kyou-san mutters. ¡°Just die, you rotten trash.¡± Some guys really liked to talk to her, so she got a good deal of intelligence out of it. While it lasted, she smiled like the kindest girl in the world. Now that no one is looking, her face is full of disgust and dislike.
¡°Kenta-kun, why are people avoiding me?¡±
¡°Ara-san, where did you get the hot sauce and why did you put it in that guy¡¯s drink?¡±
¡°I had it on me, in case I needed it. I put it in his drink because he looked like he could use some.¡±
¡°Why did you follow someone to the outhouse just to freeze the door latch?¡±
¡°He didn''t answer my questions.¡±
¡°Is there anything else, that I should know?¡±
¡°Do you remember the human with the fringe of hair and the mustache?¡±
¡°I don''t.¡±
¡°I see. Well, don''t bother looking for someone like that. He doesn''t have a mustache anymore.¡±
I really want to throw in a complaint here. but I can''t help but be glad that Ara-san doesn''t do stuff like that around us.
Too bad that things like this have consequences. Like when we arrive at the door to our room. Someone wrote on it with chalk : ¡°Beware... of the... alfr.¡± I need some time since I''m just barely used to reading the letters of this world. ¡°Phew.¡±
¡°At least there isn¡¯t a ''No alfr''-sign here.¡± Ara-san seems to be in a good mood, which concerns me.
¡°Is that even a thing?¡±
¡°Yes. In some cities, it''s hard to find a place as an alfr. People are racists.¡±
¡°Isn''t it more you reap what you sow?¡±
¡°Just shut up, both of you. I want to sleep.¡± Kyou-san might throw a fit here, but she''s right.
I open the door and see a sight, which is hard to express in words.
It''s Rine. Rine in clothing that doesn''t reveal much but clearly shows off her curves... and breasts. Such big breasts!
I have had a few drinks, and now I feel how it makes me want to embrace her. In an adult way. Oh heck, I already have Kyou-san and Ara-san, so- wait, wait, wait. I''m still in control.
Still, a small voice inside me tells me, that I might pull it off. I know that that''s the alcohol, but it gives me some serious self-confidence.
¡°Kenta!¡± Rine jumps at me, and instinctively I catch her. Even though she may be a slaughter-machine, her flesh is soft.
¡°Rine-chan, you made yourself pajamas?¡± Kyou-san''s mood improves.
¡°Yes! I worked extra hard to finish it for tonight.¡±
¡°I just remembered something.¡± I try to push Rine back and escape through the door. I really remembered something: That I have to get away since I promised Rine that I would let her sleep next to me tonight.
However, the fingers of her right hand already clenched my sleeve. The moment I put my hands on her really great breasts to shove her back, she twists my arm without batting an eye. ¡°Oops. Sorry, dear.¡± She releases me.
¡°Who''s your dear!?¡±
¡°Come on, Ken. Take it like a man.¡± Kyou-san seems to be enjoying it.
Ara-san adds ¡°But please don''t be too much of a man tonight. It would be tough for me.¡±
I might get away from here. I might convince Rine to call the deal off, but after seeing those two, I decided to just drag them with me to hell. It''ll be most satisfying. ¡°Rine, how about including Ara-san and Kyou-san?¡± I''m not drunk, but I got some liquid courage into my system.
¡°What!?¡±
¡°...¡±
Both of them aren''t thrilled about it.
But Rine is: ¡°Yay! All of us in one bed!¡±
¡°We should rather move two or three beds together. Might be too much otherwise.¡±
¡°Ken, don''t you dare-¡±
¡°Kyou! Let''s do it! All of us together.¡± The glare Kyou-san gives me is something between rage and a cry for help. She can''t refuse Rine''s enthusiasm, and she lacks an excuse.
Let''s rub the salt into the wound. ¡°Kyou-san, it''s not like Rine would kill you willingly. Yet.¡±
''Die!'' An order from her eyes.
Haaa... so sweet.
¡°Why would I ever kill Kyou?¡± Of course, Rine doesn''t get it.
¡°Don''t worry. Everything will be alright.¡±
¡°OK.¡± So simple. So precious.
¡°Ara-san.¡± I continue. ¡°We may get valuable information about Rine''s sleeping habits. And of course the WP.¡±
¡°Your methods are questionable, but I concur.¡± Ara-san is surprisingly easy to convince.
I won.
At least until I realize the big problem about that arrangement: I''m supposed to sleep in the same bed as three attractive girls.
Rine snuggles at me, and I feel her breasts on my arm. She''s mindful of her still broken arm, but she rests her head on my shoulder. I can smell her.
Next to her is Kyou-san, who faces me tonight. I guess to keep a better eye on Rine, but I have a good look at her face. She''s so pretty when she''s quiet.
On the other side is Ara-san, who, for some reason, also snuggles at me. The curse made it so that my body craves for her.
Well, I crave for all of them.
While one girl after the other falls asleep, I can''t. At times, Rine would snuggle with me, as if I''m some sort of stuffed animal.
Then Kyou-san grins cutely in her sleep. She''s most likely dreaming about how she tortures me, so innocently cute is her smile.
For some reason, Ara-san''s hand sometimes crawls around my chest, giving me hot chills.
The only thing that keeps me in check is the fear of Rine, who might kill me in her sleep if I suddenly make a move on anyone.
My struggle between lust and fear keeps me awake almost the whole night.
Volume 05 - Chapter 2-1 – Enjoy Goldbrunn, the City of Love
Chapter 2 ¨C Enjoy Goldbrunn, the City of Love
Morning, in an almost empty alleyway two blocks away from the Bronco''s Bucket.
¡°uhuuu...¡±
¡°Stand up, Kyou.¡±
I''m currently lying on my back, tears are coming from my eyes, but I still stand up. I lift the knife in my hand and thrust it at Rine-chan.
She casually grabs me by the wrist, steps in, and sweeps me off my feet. It''s half of a throw and my back hits the ground hard again. ¡°ahhh...¡± It hurts. It hurts so much.
¡°Again!¡±
Despite the pain I get up again.
A few days ago I asked Rine-chan to train me. I want to unlock the [Knife]-ability and get better in fighting overall.
While Rine-chan shows me how to use a knife, she''s currently concentrating on something else. She calls it ''getting used to pain.'' According to her it''s a vital part of fighting and, to be honest, I don''t do well there.
Before coming to this world, I had never considered violence a solution. I''m afraid of pain, but I want to become stronger.
Something like a fire is burning inside of me, the helplessness I felt back when facing the oni, I don''t want to feel again. I also want to protect Rine-chan and Arako, and maybe Ken as well. If he asks politely, I may consider it.
Although the first part to becoming stronger is to get beat up every morning. Of course, I want to keep it a secret from Ken, that''s why I asked Rine-chan to go easy on my face so that he won''t notice.
As long it''s not a real bruise, magic can easily heal it. So Rine-chan skillfully hits my face with enough force to only leave red marks. Still, it hurts like hell.
¡°Ara, don''t slack off.¡±
Rine-chan, I think she lost consciousness. Ara joined our training to unlock [Knife] in her [Acrobat]-class, but she might be even less used to pain than me. She also spends more SP than me, maybe because she''s an alfr, or maybe because I''m human? I mean, could it be that humans are actually quite sturdy if you compare them to most other races?
Whatever it is, Arako recently got a kick to her stomach, fell over and hasn¡¯t moved since then.
¡°[Heal]!¡± Rine-chan casts a spell on Arako, who starts twitching. That''s not good because then Rine-chan kicks her. ''When you''re on the ground, you''ll get kicked'' is what she told us.
Arako whimpers, but tries to stand up again. She knows that Rine-chan is so brutal to us because she takes it seriously.
I try to stab Rine-chan again, this time from behind. The princess sidesteps without even turning around and catches my arm with hers. Then she twists her body, and I feel a sharp pain in my arm as I''m pulled toward her.
Then Rine-chan turns around and headbutts my nose. ¡°Oww!¡± It''s not a strong blow, but my vision is blurry because of the tears. Then I feel three strikes: shoulder, breast, and stomach. Now I can hardly breathe.
¡°I think that''s enough.¡± Rine-chan looks at Arako and I, whom she easily beat up. ¡°Kyou, you have to work on your stance. You put too much weight on the front foot, try to put only around three-quarters of your weight there. Ara, your breathing is off. So try to breathe out when attacking or defending. Breathing out releases power, while breathing in makes your body soft.¡± It clearly sounds like she''s mimicking someone, most likely her own instructor, who she sometimes talks about. ¡°Now show me your knife drills.¡±
Rine-chan taught us some exercises so that we can make our bodies remember how to actually use a knife. Swing, swing, stab. Stab low, stab high, swing. Many variations of the same attacks at different target zones.
¡°A knife is a dangerous weapon. It''s easy to get, easy to conceal, and easy to use. But that doesn''t mean that you can''t use it better if you know how. Ara, make every attack as if you mean it. Kyou, your stance.¡±
Because Ken is typically somewhere else in the morning, looking for tracks, trying to get some alone-time, or for other reasons, we train in the morning. Today, Ken was still sleeping, and he didn''t wake up when we tried to wake him despite his [Dormurnal]-skill. Perfect conditions for some training in secret. Especially considering how amused he would be to see us fail.
After the drills, Rine-chan makes us do some physical exercises as well. Push-ups, sit-ups, running, it changes daily. Arako told her that this wouldn''t do anything for us because we''re heroes, but Rine-chan argued that we need to get used to moving our bodies in any state as well. That''s why this comes after beating us up and the drills, when we''re exhausted.
Finally, it''s over.
¡°ha...ha...¡± Arako and I are heavily panting. Rine-chan did the exercises with us, but she seems to be fine. She also used much less SP than I did.
¡°Arako? What do you think? Why does Rine-chan spend less SP than I do?¡±
¡°From what I believe, *pant* it¡¯s because she has the better technique.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡±
¡°She makes less unnecessary movements and doesn''t waste as much energy. *pant* Something that I could observe while *pant* studying the other heroes. I made them all do the same actions, and the SP they spent was different. *pant* It didn''t look like it collated with their [Vitality]-values, thus my conclusion.¡±
¡°So that means there are more than stats to it?¡±
¡°Of course. There is technique, there is the approach, there is knowledge. *pant* Maybe even species.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡±
¡°For some reason, my SP-expenditure is the highest of us all. *pant* So maybe you humans are more energy-efficient.¡± Arako takes some deep breaths to get her breathing under control. ¡°I have only a few actual numbers regarding non-alfr heroes and even less experimental data. But observing you three, I concluded that the consumption of SP and MP doesn''t only differ because of external circumstances and the different [Vitality]-values, but also because of our biological differences. Even under the best conditions, Kenta-kun uses up more MP when using [Spirit Magic] than me while, even with basic physical exercises, I spend more SP than you, Momo. We shouldn''t be that different in our general fitness.¡±
Arako, I''m sure that I''m way more fit than you. My lifestyle isn''t even half as unhealthy as yours. Without me, you would have trouble getting up, or eating meals regularly, and you''d neglect your general hygiene.
Instead of saying this to her, I put on a smile. ¡°I see. So for some reason, the whole hero-system is a rather complex one, which makes me wonder why it''s there in the first place.¡±
¡°Yes. The more I look into it, the less I understand it. At first glance, it looks like it''s there to make us normal people be able to fight, and that''s what it does. We become much stronger in only a short amount of time. However, why do we see these numbers? What do they even mean? Values without any context look arbitrary. Also, why are there so many rules to the system?¡±
I think I pushed the wrong button. Arako is ardently speaking about the hero-system, while I only want to...
...go home?
...rid myself of the curse?
...mend my friendship with Masahiko-kun, Eri-chan, and Teru-chan?
...become stronger?
...make my long-lost dream finally come true?
Somehow it''s not so simple anymore.
¡°...and how exactly are the gods involved? There is literally no heroic story where no gods are involved, and while people summoned us, there is always a single deity visiting us in our respective worlds,...¡±
...I lost her. So I look at the person, who couldn''t follow Arako from the beginning. Rine-chan is kneeing and doesn''t even listen to us. Her eyes are closed, her lips are moving silently. She''s praying. It''s custom in Feuerberg to pray in the morning to their four guardian deities. The funny thing is that there are no names mentioned. Instead they go by titles: The Fire, the Freedom Fighter, the Foundation, and the Fleeting.
What do the individual gods do? Where can you find them? What benefits do you have in worshiping them? I don''t know. It''s the church''s secret, only the innermost circle knows everything.
Talk about dubious.
Before meeting Muaotef, the god of the ss''rak, I just thought of the church as some kind of fraud. Then, that dragon-like deity shattered all my preconceptions. Gods are real. Either that or entities that refer themselves as gods and have powers that make it believable are.
¡°...Therefore, I believe that unlocking the secrets of the hero-system will give us an explanation to everything.¡±
Arako''s blue-green eyes look at me. ¡°I''m sure you''re right.¡± Her ears are lifting up a bit. She''s feeling happy, I think. For some reason, Ken is much better at reading her expressions than I am, but I think I¡¯ll get the hang of it soon.
For better or worse, I¡¯ll be with these two girls for a while.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°*yawn*¡± When I woke up, none of the girls were in the room anymore. Well, I noticed them going, but I was too exhausted to muster the will to wake up then. I tried to get some sleep afterward, but it didn''t go well.
So now I''m eating breakfast alone in the common room.
A bit of fatty bacon, a slice of bread, some cheese and mettwurst, and two kinds of soups. There is some variety here, but of course, there is no rice, miso or anything else reminding of a Japanese breakfast. It''s not that it tastes bad, but somehow I miss Japanese cuisine. Maybe that''s what you go through when you¡¯ve lived in a foreign country for months.
Well, it still beats alfr cuisine. Did you know, that alfar have eight meals that mostly consist of bark, and that two of them are poisonous to humans?
Even though I won''t ever say it to her face, having Kyou-san around is a real lifesaver, since she''s vital for mundane things, like food, especially food, or to be more precise, for food only. She can cook and discern what works for a human''s digestion, and her seasoning fits my tastes better than this grub.
Maybe I should pick up the [Cook]-class after we get rid of the curse. Nah, not worth it. As long as it''s just about survival, I can count on [Survival]''s [Foraging]-skill. Food quality is nice, but not worth wasting a class-slot.
¡°Good morning.¡± Someone approaches me. A young man, maybe around my age or a bit older? Brown hair, blue eyes, a bit of a beard. ¡°May I take a seat?¡±
For some reason, that guy took my ''Drop dead''-glance as an affirmation. So he put his tray right next to mine and starts eating a bit.
¡°You''re the brother of that black haired girl, right?¡±
¡°What did she do?¡± It''s only logical to assume that a girl like Kyou-san would cause some kind of disaster. Maybe she crushed some more balls.
¡°Huh? Nothing.¡±
¡°...then why are you asking?¡±
¡°Well... I was just wondering... if she is seeing someone.¡±
¡°...what are you talking about?¡±
¡°I mean, she has this strange, foreign charm to her, and when she laughs, I ask myself ''What is she doing?'', and I was too nervous to talk to her and-¡±
¡°Wait a minute. So you¡¯re asking me if she''s dating someone?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
I facepalm.
Now that I think about it, that''s what ''seeing someone'' is. Even though paraphrasing it like this seems pointless.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Is Kyou-san going out with someone? Maybe she was dating some sempai when we were still in Japan, using him as a status symbol or something like that. Nah, if she would have a boyfriend, I''m confident that I''d know after being with her for so long.
Plus, I even got her first kiss. It was salty, sudden, and not very pleasant, but I got it. I don''t think about it much, but somehow I feel strangely proud.
This guy here acknowledges that Kyou-san is a beauty, but I''m the one who got her first kiss.
If she wouldn''t be such a bitch most of the time, it''d be even better. Wait, isn''t it better because she''s a bitch?
¡°Dude? Are you alright?¡± The guy looks at me worryingly. I guess I made some noises there, something between laughing and sobbing.
¡°I''m fine. What was your question again?¡±
¡°Erm... is your sister dating someone?¡±
¡°No.¡± She''s just kinda married to me.
¡°Ah. Erm... hard to ask that now, but your sister is called... Kio?¡±
¡°Kyou.¡± Should I add the surname? Wait, wouldn''t we have the same surname, if we''re siblings in this setting? ¡°Katsuragi Kyou.¡± Sounds surprisingly legit.
¡°Kyou... My name is Marten. What''s yours?¡±
¡°Did I ask for your name? Phew... if you need to know, it''s Kenta.¡±
¡°Kenta, could you introduce me to your sister?¡±
¡°For what?¡±
¡°For... you know. I mean so that I can talk to her. And stuff.¡±
¡Is he fucking serious?
I mean, when I think about it, the whole set-up should have told me, that he wants to hit on Kyou-san. I just wasn''t thinking that there will be an actual person, who would try to get close to that poisonous snake.
I look at that Maruto-guy again. Before coming to this world, I would have called him unique, with his light brown hair, his ice blue eyes, and the fact, that he grows a beard despite being my age. Seriously though, in this world ''unremarkable'' would be the best word to describe him. So there is no way that Kyou-san would do anything with this guy other than breaking his heart after extorting him in various ways.
I kinda want to see that, but we have more important stuff to do. ¡°I don''t want to waste my time introducing you, just so you get rejected.¡± Maybe it''s the more humane thing to do. ¡°My sister has high standards and unless you''re surprisingly rich, which I doubt since you hang around this inn, you won''t meet them. But you can try on your own if you die for it.¡±
Well, so much for this conversation.
But surprisingly: ¡°You really got a hotty as a girlfriend!¡± An older guy with reddish brown hair fills the chair that Maru-guy vacated before. ¡°What a nice ass.¡±
I know that Rine''s ass is attractive, thank you. ¡°And you''re telling me that because?¡±
¡°That girl¡¯s got fire in her eyes. But what about her arm?¡±
¡°She broke it a month ago in the field. Should be fine soon.¡± I really don''t like that guy.
¡°I see, I see. By the way, your sister also looks quite gorgeous.¡±
...seriously? Are you trying to hit on Kyou-san through me as well, asshole?
¡°If you say any more, I''ll break your jaw.¡±
¡°...dude, I just mean...¡±
Without missing a beat, I grab his face and put some strength into my grip. ¡°Just one more fucking word...¡±
The moment I loosen my grip is the moment that guy runs away.
As I''m about to take another bite, a third one joins my meal. His skin color is less pinkish, maybe a bit more bronze? He also has black hair and light brown eyes. Reminds me a bit of Correo, which makes me want to hit that guy in the face.
¡°Sorry to interrupt your meal. I''m just curious about something.¡±
Oh, here we go again. Another one who doesn''t have the guts to speak to Kyou-san directly. ¡°Make it quick.¡±
¡°Where are you from?¡±
¡°Hah?¡±
¡°You look different. At first, I thought you might not even be human.¡±
Ah, because I''m the first Asian these people have met for sure. ¡°I''m from Feuerberg. But I don''t know exactly where my ancestors are from. Heard it''s some faraway island nation.¡±
¡°Maybe the Northern Islands?¡±
Isn''t that the place where Muaotef comes from? Are humans even living there? ¡°Don''t know, don''t care.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
¡°But you''re a Southerner, right?¡±
¡°Almost. D¨¦jumian.¡±
¡°Oh, that''s...¡± I try to remember the maps I''d seen in Aroahenn: ¡°...actually pretty close, right? Straight south for a week or so.¡± One neighbor of Daemonicus, the country of demons.
¡°Yes. Currently not the best place to be.¡±
¡°The demons?¡±
¡°Worse. You know that there were talks about marrying off the third prince to the crown princess of Feuerberg?¡±
...maybe I should ask Rine about that. I didn''t care before, but thinking about that I might get another country on my back isn''t very pleasant. ¡°Aha. So what?¡±
¡°The rumors of the princess'' disappearance seems to be true. A great blow to the countries'' relationships.¡±
¡°And how does it make your country suck?¡±
¡°You don''t know D¨¦jumians, right? We get pissed off easily and we let off steam at each other. Now that our dear Prince Alejandro won''t ever marry Princess Katarine, everyone back at home will jump at anyone who visited Feuerberg in the last two years to squeeze out any bit of information out of them. Even if it''s just a small-fry guard.¡±
¡°...how red-necked are you people?¡±
¡°Shut up!¡±
¡°Then don''t bring up nonsense.¡±
¡°...as I was trying to say, D¨¦jumians can act a bit over the top at times. So for now, I''m waiting for the dust to settle... and get a new employer.¡±
¡°I didn''t exactly ask for any of this, but thanks?¡± At least that''s the first one today, who actually talks to me. Maybe I should ask his name.
¡°By the way, where is your sister?¡± There it goes, my whole delight of having a normal conversation for a change.
¡°Fuck off!¡±
Seriously, three guys already? Look at Kyou-san, she''s Asian! I mean, of course, there might be some guys attracted to her, but shouldn''t it be common sense, that most people want to screw someone of their own nation?
I mean, all Japanese wanting to screw westerner girls is just the imagination of some virgin otaku. It''s not like many Japanese even consider that. Seriously! At least I never did before coming here!
I¡¯d better not think about me having that wet dream this morning, right after the three girls left, consisting of three girls, including one blonde girl and an alfr. The moment I could finally relax after confirming that the three of them are finally away, I just happened to jump right into it!
But to be honest, who wouldn''t have!?
It''s the only time I don''t need to consider any consequences or their actual personalities!
¡
¡ ¡
Just kill me already.
¡°Hey there!¡±
A group of three guys approaches my table.
¡°Let me warn you,¡± I begin in a cold voice: ¡°If any of you want to talk about my sister, my girlfriend, or my alfr companion, I''ll stab you. In the front, the side, and three times in the back!¡±
After that declaration, I can eat peacefully. But even I can''t tell how serious about my declaration I am.
¡°You look bad. Or rather worse.¡± With a voice like a chiming bell, someone just takes the chair across me, it''s Momokawa Kyou-san, my former class rep, my current companion, and my fake little sister.
For some reason, she had just cleaned herself. Not that it''s that obvious, but the tiny change of shade of her damp hair made me realize it immediately. Well, I most likely would''ve missed it, if it weren''t for my [Perception]-ability.
¡°Does that taste good?¡± Kyou-san points at my breakfast.
¡°...¡±
¡°You can stop glaring at me. Seriously, don''t vent your bad mood on me.¡±
¡°...where are the others?¡±
¡°Arako wanted to retrieve something from our room.¡± Well, walking around the inn with a backpack on your person is pretty suspicious, so we keep them in our room. ¡°I asked Rine-chan to go with her.¡±
¡°...phew.¡± Kyou-san made a good call because I also worry that some idiot might try to harm Ara-san to protect themselves.
¡°Good morning!¡± That''s neither Ara-san nor Rine, but some dirty blonde dude. ¡°May I have second with you, Kyou?¡±
¡°No need. I have no interest, sorry.¡± Just some words, half of a look at the person, a sorry manner, everything masterfully fused into a rejection that preempts the actual confession!
The guy barely realizes what just happened, but the expression on his face is glorious!
Kyou-san raises an eyebrow. ¡°Could you please not enjoy it? It''s inconsiderate.¡±
¡°W...Wait!¡± The dirty blonde dude grabs Kyou-san''s shoulder.
¡°Could you please let me go?¡±
¡°Just give me a chance.¡± He''s really full of himself.
¡°But if you won''t let me go, my brother will hurt you.¡±
What? Don''t drag me into this.
''Play your part.''
''Why?''
¡°My brother might not look like it, but he can be very violent. There is no chance that I''ll ever be with a man, as long as he''s not stronger than him.¡±
You damn bitch!
¡°I see.¡± Dirtblonde let go of Kyou-san and builds himself up in front of me, cracking his knuckles.
How can it be, that when I''m with this girl, my mood goes from initially bad to amused to seriously pissed?
I stand up. Of course, that guy is taller than me. More than a head. However, most adult men here are at least half a head taller than me, so I shouldn''t mind. It pisses me off nonetheless.
Dirtblonde looks down on me, in a literal and figurative way. Guess he has some muscles as well. My [Ranger]-class grants me some, but he doesn''t need to be shy about what he has. ¡°Let''s go outside,¡± he demands.
¡°No need.¡± I know that we shouldn''t fight in here, but the time I''ll need to take that one out is less than the time I''d need to go out. That''s too much of an annoyance for a guy like this. ¡°I just need to make sure, that I won''t break anything other than you.¡±
He tries to hit me, but I''m a [Ranger], so because of [Perception], or more precisely [Focus], I can see his shoulder move and get an idea of what he will do. So evading his straight punch is not a problem, but not only that, I catch his arm at his wrist using my left hand.
With my right, I hit his fist from the side as strong as I can. ¡°Uah!¡± He most likely feels a sharp pain, but that doesn''t stop me from hitting it again. And again. I think I just broke his pinky.
Then I kick in his knee area. It''s not about precision, just brute force.
I pull his arm in my direction and with it comes the whole guy, who can''t keep up with what I''m doing to him. I punch him in the face. During moments like this, I regret not taking a class that has the [Brawl]-ability, since it''s actually kinda fun to punch people in the face.
Hah, just got half of his nose and a bit of his eye.
Finally, the guy starts to build up some resistance. He swings his right arm, the one I''m still holding and broke it free, then he tries to get some distance, while clenching his fist. Ah, his face full of pain. Don''t clench your fist, if you got a broken finger. It leaves enough of a time-window to punch you in the stomach. Seriously.
"AAAAARGH!!!¡± That isn''t him. This comes from upstairs.
Well, not my business.
Ah dammit. Dirtblonde flails around like some kid throwing a tantrum, and I got hit by a glancing blow.
I could easily end the fight if I were to use more [Skills], but most of them would be flashy, and signal people that they are [Skills]. Being able to use them at my age would be a giveaway that I''m a hero. Well, I guess by now some might already conclude that I''m one. Is there a point in holding back?
"PLEEEASEEE STOOOP! I DIDN''T MEAN IT LIKE THAT! I''M SORRY, PLEASE!¡±
That is a bit distracting.
Have others noticed those screams? I didn''t exactly take my time looking at other people than dirtblonde.
Just what''s going on up there?
Dirtblonde is assuming a battle stance, his upper body a bit leaned forward, his arms raised. This is definitely taking too long. Full power and maybe breaking something, or just accept that the battle will be prolonged?
Nah, not my style. I rush forward, dirtblonde throws a punch right into my face, but I take it. It hurts, but I grab his arm again. This time not with my hand, but by clenching it with my whole left arm. I raise my elbow, dirtblonde''s left arm protects his face, but I just throw two hooks on his right biceps. ¡°Uh... uh...¡± This seems to hurt.
Good.
I rip his left arm away with brute force and headbutt that bastard. Again. And again.
It hurts, but I don''t care at that point. Not like it''s the first time I got hurt. I feel how dirtblonde loses the strength in his legs. So I drag him to the floor and kick him twice. ¡°More?¡±
¡°...uh...¡± He shakes his head.
¡°Get lost!¡± And he does. The stuff upstairs seems also to be finished, I can''t hear anything anymore.
You gain 1 WP.
You blocked the advances of a rather violent fellow. Showing your strength sometimes shows your wife, that she''s safe with you. Try to be more elegant next time though.
There will be no fucking next time if I have a choice. It''s not like I fought for her, but because of her!
Wait, Kyou-san? What''s that strange look that you¡¯re giving me? ¡°You can really fight.¡±
¡°Hah?¡±
¡°I mean, you take hits like it''s nothing.¡±
¡°You get used to it.¡±
She looks at me quietly for a second, then turns to the small audience we had, giving them a slight bow. ¡°Please don''t mind us.¡± Then back to me. ¡°...sit down, let me take a look.¡± She points at the chair next to her.
Well, she got me into this, so she can repent a bit by treating me.
I feel her fingers on my face. ¡°Hm... everything looks fine.¡± She speaks these words clearly, emphasizing them a bit. What she wants to say is ''The message I see shows nothing to be concerned about.''
¡°Phew...¡± When I look at her face like this, I could almost believe that she''s kind. I''m sure she is at times, just never to me. Because there is nothing in it for her.
¡°And thank you.¡±
¡
¡ ¡
I snap my finger near my ear to check my hearing. Did Kyou-san just thank me? Without a hint of sarcasm?
Hey, after facing all kind of monsters, teaching you in the hero-system, and all the other stuff, this might be the first time you¡¯ve actually thanked me.
I just beat someone up after you forced me to!
What''s wrong with you, girl!?
¡°Ken,¡± Kyou-san sighs quietly: ¡°I know it''s something you''ll never experience, but having guys hitting on you is annoying. Here, in this world, I actually have to fear that someone might try to drag me into a corner. So while the beating you gave was as ugly as you, it''ll make it much easier for me. I already rejected some guys who tried to hit on Rine-chan and me. With a bit of luck the guys might leave us alone from now on, seeing how they will end up if you catch them.¡±
¡°I''ll just generously overlook the insult thrown into that, and ask you how you can make it sound scarier to be asked out by guys than in facing ss''rak, monkey spiders, or the oni.¡±
¡°Not exactly scary... back in Japan I got used to it at some point.¡± Oh, she so threw an ''obviously, because I''m pretty'' into that. ¡°Just an inconvenience.¡±
¡°...how many?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°How many asked you out?¡±
¡°Why do you want to know?¡±
¡°I wanna know how many idiots thought that it''d be a good idea to go out with you.¡±
¡°Jerk.¡±
¡°How many.¡±
¡°I didn''t count.¡±
¡°Poor guys, they''re not even a number.¡±
¡°That''s how it is.¡±
Ouch! If they weren''t idiots in the first place, I would feel sorry for these guys. Kyou-san has already dismissed them.
Though, somehow it''s still strange: ¡°Wouldn''t there be one or two shit-faced popular guys among them, statistically?¡±
¡°Like Itou-sempai?¡±
¡°Who''s that?¡±
¡°The captain of the baseball club.¡±
¡°...can''t remember a face.¡±
¡°What about Minami-sempai? Student council''s treasurer, most likely next president.¡±
¡°Well, those kinds of guys.¡±
¡°You don''t remember him either... seriously, you should work on that. But you want to know why I rejected them as well, right?¡±
I nod.
¡°I have high standards.¡± She pauses there for a moment. ¡°And regardless of what you think of me, I-¡±
You gain 2 WP.
Your lovely wives have defended your honor, be sure that you shower them with love soon.
...what?
Wives, so Rine and Ara-san? What exactly did they do?
¡ Oh. ¡°Kyou-san, we should go upstairs.¡±
If my prediction is correct...
The moment we arrive at the stairs, three people come down. Each of them has hairstyles like a three-year-old girl tried to give her father a haircut. They had actual cuts into the skin of their heads!
One of them might have been handsome, but it''s hard to see under the blood and bruises, another one is limping, and the last one is barely able to walk, he has to lean on the mesh-face, I think I just saw them today...
The moment they see me: ¡°¡°¡°Good Morning, Katsuragi-dono!¡±¡±¡± They all saluted me in unison.
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
¡°Ken, get a grip on yourself!¡±
¡°...?¡± Kyou-san is shaking me. I think, I just experienced a brainfart. Really, it was just like someone farted into my head, blowing all the thoughts and emotions out of it in one warm and moist wind.
Now the three of them bow to me and hurry away.
I have the feeling that I should feel or think something about that, but I can''t. I really can''t. Currently, it''s impossible to think or feel anything. Muaotef himself could descend, and I would say ''Oh, hi.'' to him in an indifferent voice.
¡°Ken, upstairs?¡±
¡°Ah... ah, yes.¡±
I walk up the steps and see Ara-san with a broom and Rine holding a dustpan. Both of them are sweeping up hair.
Seeing how I''m still out of it, Kyou-san takes over. ¡°Care to explain?¡±
¡°¡°What?¡±¡± Both of them don''t understand.
¡°The WP-message and those three guys.¡±
Volume 05 - Chapter 2-2
A bit earlier.
Ara got what she was looking for, a portfolio containing a stack of blank paper and writing utensils. All of us have discussed what we need for our journey, but she wants to review it again and write it down.
I hate that kind of paperwork, but Ara makes it look so precise and intellectual that it looks very cool.
¡°Let''s head down.¡± I want to see Kenta. It was bliss this morning, waking up and seeing Kenta''s face right next to mine. I dreamed about him. He took me into his arms and whispered his love for me into my ear.
In reality, we''re still not there yet. I have to work harder.
He''s warm. When he sleeps, somehow his face is a bit softer. I could see it from up-close. He sure carries many burdens. He worries about many things so that each of us girls doesn''t have to.
What a dependable husband. However, he should rely on me more.
Soon, my arm will be healed, and then I will work twice as hard so that Kenta needs to worry less.
¡°Katarine-san, please wait a bit.¡± Ara walks slowly down the hall while looking at the ceiling.
¡°Does it still hurt?¡± I have to be rough to her when we were training, but that doesn''t mean that I''m not concerned. I''m very concerned, but that''s also why I have to be hard on her during practice.
¡°Yes.¡± Ara is always calm. ¡°It''s not just that though.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± I cock my head.
¡°I''m still getting used to urban areas again. It has been a while. The distribution and nature of spirits here are vastly different, so I suffer from a kind of sensory disturbance.¡±
¡°Sorry, I don''t understand.¡±
¡°Imagine that you would perceive the world through carmine colored glass. Everything you see has a different color, which will lead you to have difficulty in estimating distances, seeing movement, and determining the actual color, of course. There is also a blur, which makes it even more difficult to perceive the environment.¡±
¡°That would be bad.¡± Thinking how it''d be if I saw everything in the same tone would be scary at some point.
¡°Currently, there are, I think, four people right above us, moving, and since the wood of this building is dead, it contains no spirit. For me, it feels like someone is flying only a short distance above my head.¡±
Kenta, Kyou, and Ara can sense spirits. While Kyou has to concentrate very hard to get a faint feeling and Kenta can use a [Skill] to push this ability, Ara has a much deeper and more innate connection to them.
I can''t sense them at all, there wasn''t enough time for me to learn that. ¡°I can''t say I understand, but...¡± Bending my right arm, I hold it over Ara-san like an umbrella. ¡°Better?¡±
¡°...¡± I can''t see her face because she''s under my arm, but she draws closer to me and ducks her head a bit. ¡°You have my gratitude.¡± I only know that living beings have spirits. Good thing I''m that much taller than her, otherwise it wouldn''t work.
¡°Hey there. Mind if we talk for a sec?¡±
Three men are standing in front of us. One of them around my age, the other two a bit older.
¡°Is something wrong?¡±
¡°Yes. Well, not exactly wrong, but not right either.¡±
¡°Nn?¡± What is he talking about?
¡°Well, you see, my little brother here told me, that there is a real beauty here.¡±
¡°...¡± I don''t know what he''s talking about.
¡°I thought he meant the black haired one first, but he meant you. You''re friends with the black haired girl, right?¡±
¡°You mean Kyou?¡±
¡°Yes, that one with the interesting name.¡±
¡°Yes, we''re friends. And more.¡± We have the same husband. There is no word for it, I think. Because it''s a divine sin. ¡ ah, a sin. Dear gods, please don''t mind the little piece of happiness I have.
¡°Ah, yes. She''s his sister, right?¡±
¡°Hn?¡±
¡°You know, of that black haired boy.¡±
¡°Yes, she is.¡± Ara chimes in.
Oh, I forgot that we had a cover story. How exciting, just like when Fabian disguised himself as a guard of the Empire to sneak into their prison in Molakkhinakka to rescue Miriam''s childhood friend, even though he knew that he would be a hindrance to win Miriam''s heart.
¡°But y''know, I think there is something not right here.¡±
Did he see through our disguise?
¡°Why should a pretty girl like you be with someone like him?¡±
That hurts. ¡°I know I may not be adequate, but-¡±
¡°Woah, wait, girl! It''s not you, it''s him. I mean, look at him!¡±
¡°Kenta''s not here.¡±
¡°I meant it figuratively.¡±
¡°Ah, sorry.¡±
The little brother said something in a soft voice, I missed it, but the other one laughed.
¡°You''ve just proved that you''re perfect.¡± Big brother grins, while he says that.
¡°Be careful, Katarine-san, they either want to capture or rape us.¡±
¡°They do?¡±
¡°¡°¡°No, we don''t!¡±¡±¡±
¡°You said, that Katarine-san isn''t the brightest tool in the shed, which leads me to the conclusion, that you are trying to ambush us. There are only two possible reasons for such behavior: To ask for ransom, because you''re short on money, or to rape us because you''re humans.¡±
¡°...why does us being humans means that we want to do that?¡±
¡°Don''t worry, I understand that your sexual urges are quite extreme, but for times like that, there is still masturbation.¡±
¡°...A-ny-way!¡± The way he says it sounds weird. ¡°What I want to say is, that we have no intention of forcing you to do anything. I just came here to say, Katarine: That gimp is not good enough for you.¡±
¡°...what gimp?¡± I have an idea, but I tend to jump to conclusions, so I better make sure.
¡°That guy... Kenta, was it? You know, that rude, small, ugly thing with black hairs and eyes, and-¡±
*slap*
I didn''t put much strength into it, but with my bent arm, I performed a backhand slap.
Ara''s ears are twitching a bit. Maybe she''s startled by the spirits above us because I suddenly took my arm away. Sorry, Ara.
But! ¡°Say that you''re sorry!¡± He spoke bad about Kenta! That''s so mean!
The big brother touches the red mark my hand left behind. ¡°You got fire! I like that.¡±
Maybe he knows that I''m from Feuerberg''s royalty. People say our blood has fire mixed with it.
¡°Walter, everything alright?¡± The little brother asked.
¡°More than that.¡± For some reason, he is licking his lips. Did he bite them when I slapped him?Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
No, don''t spend a thought on that! If he did, then he deserves it! ¡°Say that you''re sorry!¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Kenta is great! He''s smart, caring, and brave! Even if things get worse and worse, I can always rely on him!¡±
¡°He''s a wuss. Looking at everyone like they''re trash, it''s because he''s afraid. I know that type.¡±
¡°You don''t know Kenta at all! He''s not afraid of anything!¡± He''s cautious, but that makes him strong. How his face looked when he said that he will stay behind to buy us some time from the mercenaries, he was so cool. ''I''m the only one who can do that, so just shut up and do what I say!'' ? ¡°Tehehe.¡±
For some reason, the three men before me blush. Maybe because they finally understand, why Kenta is so great! Ah, my face is so hot as well, my heart is beating like crazy.
¡°I think I may have just witnessed human pheromones at work.¡±
¡°A-anyway! You, Katarine! How about going somewhere else to get a delicious breakfast, and-¡±
¡°You didn''t apologize.¡±
¡°...let me be clear here. You are a hell of a girl, while your lover is just some dumb brat. Instead of wasting your time with him, let me prove to you that I''m five times the man he is.¡±
The little brother and the other man enter the conversation now.
¡°Walter really is.¡±
¡°That twerp is just a dork.¡±
¡°Kenta''s not dumb. He''s smart!¡±
¡°How smart can he be!? Trying to get a mercenary-band together at his age, that''s just plain stupid! Even if he has some skills in combat, where is your guarantor? How do you plan to get customers? Do you even have any spare equipment? And he''s the leader?¡±
¡°Who would hire four, young nobodies as guards?¡±
¡°Your leader is just incompetent.¡±
¡°Kenta is not!¡±
¡°I heard how he beat someone up yesterday. Well, he might be good in fights, but he can only solve things with violence, right? The same as just now. Instead of talking, he threatened us. What a loser.¡±
¡°Like some idiot.¡±
¡°He just picks fights because he''s afraid of using his wits!¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°What about your arm? Did you hurt it, because he was too slow to save you?¡±
¡°Or did he just not care?¡±
¡°Maybe he even asked her to do something that got her hurt.¡±
¡°It was me, who-¡±
¡°Also, his face looks like he was dropped as a baby too many times.¡±
¡°Maybe his mother beat him up because he was too much of a rascal.¡±
¡°Or because he has his father''s face.¡±
Wha- That''s... that''s so unfair!
¡°Walter, we made her cry.¡± The little brother utters.
Yes, I''m about to cry. Because I''m angry about how one-sidedly these people are insulting Kenta! They don''t even want to listen to me.
What bad people!
¡°Doesn''t she look rather cute when she''s pouting like that?¡± I''m not cute right now, I''m angry!
¡°What the situation calls for¡± Ara''s voice cuts through the atmosphere ¡°is some arbitration.¡±
¡°Nobody asked you, elf.¡±
¡°Be quiet, duman, and listen. First off, if you call me elf one more time, I''ll make you suffer using a century¡¯s worth of knowledge. Do we have an understanding, duman?¡±
¡°Don''t talk to me like that!¡± The big brother tries to push Ara away.
But I catch his hand. ¡°Don''t push my friend!¡±
¡°You know, Katarine. I wanted to play nicely here. However, if you''re like this, then let me show you what a real man is made of.¡± Now he tries to push me up to the wall with the arm I''m holding, but he''s too far forward. By shifting my body-weight and pulling his arm, I can easily trip him, which causes his face to hit the wall.
¡°Walter!¡± The little brother tries to help by attempting to grab me. I release the big brother and give little brother a quick jab right in the gut. While he flinches, I take Ara''s hand and take some distance from them with her.
¡°Ara, you''re hurt. Stay behind me.¡±
¡°Considering how you''re hurt more, I''m inclined to say no. However, if I take into account that your training is the reason why I''m injured in the first place, despite your handicap, I think I will do so.¡± Then she puts her hands over her earpoints. ¡°I''ll certainly do so.¡±
¡°Ouch!¡± The big brother pushes himself from the wall. ¡°Seriously, I have had enough. Katarine, you''ll come with us, and you''ll like it. If not, we might teach a cheeky girl why she should listen to men. Elf, you stay out of it.¡±
¡°Duman, my recommendation for you would be to jump out the window right now to exert damage control.¡±
Instead of listening to Ara''s piece of advice, the brothers charge at me.
Because I want to move my left arm as little as possible, I let myself fall on my right hand, then I perform a spinning side kick with both my feet aimed at the big brother''s face. It connects and throws him backward.
In the air I spin my body around, I still have the momentum of my previous attack which propels me forward, and my right elbow crashes into the little brother''s shoulder. Then my feet touch the ground, so I spin around to little brother again, giving him a straight in the stomach, followed by a knee thrust. Not being able to use both of my arms limits my movements indeed.
As big brother is trying to stand up, I run up to him and let myself fall on his face, knee first.
What about the third one? Ah, he drew a knife. That''s not good, knives are dangerous. I¡¯d better take care of it.
While giving little brother another kick on the way, I grab the wrist of the knife holder and then twist his arm, forcing it behind him. I follow up with some kicks against his legs. ¡°Let it go! Let the knife go!¡± My yell causes him to let the knife go. While it''s still in the air, I kick it and it shoots out directly towards where I aimed it. The handle hits big brothers face as he tried to stand up another time.
I push the former knife holder towards the wall as I jump at little brother. My right arm hooks behind his neck, and my knee bores itself into his stomach. The moment I release him is the moment he falls to the ground, trying to catch his breath.
The non-brother is cowering in a corner, he is no threat anymore, so I go to the big brother, whose face might be a bit damaged. He''s still on the floor, so I take and twist his arm. ¡°AAAAARGH!!!¡±
¡°Doing bad things hurts. Inside. Even if you pretend to not notice it. So don''t attack people. Don''t use knives in arguments. Especially, don''t insult Kenta! Kenta is not dumb, he''s not incompetent, he''s not a loser!¡± I exert a bit more force on my hold.
¡±PLEEEASEEE STOOOP! I DIDN''T MEAN IT LIKE THAT! I''M SORRY, PLEASE!¡±
¡°Then close your mouth and open your ears.¡± I point at the floor. ¡°And sit down. I''ll tell you how great Kenta is!¡±
All of them follow my directions. One of them is limping, one has a crushed face, and the last one got so many body-blows that he has trouble walking straight, but they all come to me and sit down.
Good thing that we have an understanding.
¡°Katarine-san, I''ll return to our room for a bit. I have an idea.¡±
¡°OK. And you three... The first time I met Kenta was on the Mauerfelsen, those are mountains to the west of Feuerberg...¡±
I tell them how great Kenta is. How he bravely charge into the den of kobolds, how he was more than ready to sacrifice himself on multiple occasions, like with the boak-crawler throwing fourbirds and the mercenaries. How he plans everything out, giving us so many advantages on numerous occasions. How kind he is, putting others like the village of Aroahenn before himself. How patient he is with me, who always stumbles on the way.
While I was explaining all of that, Ara returns with the hair-cutting utensils Kyou used yesterday and starts cutting the hair of the three, whose eyes are glued to my lips. That''s because they want to hear about Kenta, I''m sure.
So I say more and more. ¡°...and I want at least four children. I don''t need a big house, maybe raising them while traveling would be good, but I want them to study so that they can be as smart as their father. And when Dear and I are too old to continue fighting, I think I want to be a tailor. Maybe open a shop in a forest village. Dear could go fishing or hunting, while Kyou is watching the house and our grandchildren, and Ara... Ara, what do you want to do then?¡±
¡°You¡¯re asking my opinion? How about I teach your children and grandchildren, could be interesting to become a teacher for these special human children for a few decades. But foremost, I just want to continue my research.¡±
¡°Ah. OK. So, Ara will continue her research, while being a teacher. She will be still young, when Kyou, Dear and I die, but I want to make her life until then so content, that she won''t feel much sorrow for us.¡±
¡°...very appreciated? Nevertheless, I think the three are ready.¡±
I look at the three people. Everyone got a new haircut. The moment the scissors are away, they exhale in delight. Ara did her best to give the three of them a new hairstyle simultaneously. The result doesn''t look good.
¡°Ara, why did you cut their hair in the first place?¡±
¡°I got interested after seeing Momo cutting Kenta-kun''s hair. So I wanted some test subjects in the first place. In addition to showing how their lives are now much different after hearing about the greatness of Kenta-kun.¡±
¡°I see.¡± That makes sense. I look at the three. ¡°Now tell me, what do I like about Dear the most?¡±
The three of them look at each other in panic. Then the big brother open his mouth: ¡°Everything?¡±
¡
I like that answer. ¡°You pass!¡±
Look at how glad all of them are. They all laugh softly.
¡°Is Dear great?¡±
¡°¡°¡°He is! Katsuragi-dono is great!!!¡±¡±¡±
¡°...they surprisingly understood,¡± Ara says after a moment of hesitation, her left ear a bit lifted. ¡°That one mumbled: ''Anyone who can make her fall for him so hard, must be something close to a god.''¡± The little brother looks like he was just caught.
You gain 1 WP.
Your husband successfully blocked the advances of someone, who thought of stealing away your sister-wife with violence. Hopefully, he will be your shining white knight soon as well.
Ah, while I was busy lecturing, I missed how Dear not only saved Kyou but also was doing something cool to do so.
If I had only known!
...No reason to dwell on it. I''m glad that Kyou is OK, and that she could see how cool Dear is. Sometimes I wonder if she really loves him as well.
Maybe she''s just working on a long-term secret scheme to tear down his defenses and make him finally honest about his feelings. The moment his walls are torn down, he will accept Ara and me fully as well.
Yes, that sounds like Kyou, selfless and caring, so that all of us will be happy too.
It''s time to wrap this up now: ¡°Do you know where we find cleaning utensils? To clean up all the hair?¡±
The utensils are in a broom cabinet, of course. Ara and I start sweeping up the hair, as I dismiss the three of them.
You gain 2 WP.
Even if he''s not here, your husband is the best man in the world and you proved that. That is true dedication.
Shortly afterward, Kyou and Dear show up and we explain what happened.
¡°Unbelievable,¡± Kyou comments when we finish. ¡°Three guys on one girl? That''s cowardly!¡±
¡°So they really were trying to rape us?¡±
¡°No, Arako. They just ganged up on Rine-chan to hit on her. That''s low, using numbers to intimidate girls to do whatever they want!¡±
¡°I didn''t feel intimidated, Kyou.¡±
¡°Not right now, Rine-chan.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
¡°So, to summarize. You were on your way downstairs, you met these guys, they tried to hit on you, you declined and they started bad-mouthing Ken. Then Arako came into it, it escalated, Rine-chan beat them into submission, and in the end, you converted these three to some sort of devotees. Am I right?¡±
¡°I think so?¡±
¡°Seems to be precise.¡±
Finally, Dear started to move. He was just looking at us before, but now his lips are moving. ¡°WHAT THE FU-¡±
Volume 05 - Chapter 2-3
Basically, my reputation in the Bronco''s Bucket is outright terrible. I travel with an alfr, I beat up everyone who asks me about my sister, I beat up everyone who asks my sister out directly, and I''m dating some sort of goddess who beats up everyone trying to lay hands on her or bad-mouthing me.
In general, the Lion''s Brigade seems to be about hurting people, and not in a way that would make it a better mercenary band.
Well, maybe, just maybe, this will end all this hitting on the girls at least. Why do I suffer just because they''re popular? That''s why I enjoy games more. There are no random encounters in urban areas where you are hit on by people.
...not that I have to be worried about getting hit on. ...that''s depressing.
We''re making our last preparations for today''s trip and decided to separate into two groups. Yet there is one problem: ¡°I''ll take Kyou-san.¡± ¡°I want to Arako to join me.¡± ¡°I want Kenta!¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to go with Katarine-san.¡±
Each of us has different thoughts about how to form teams.
My opinion: ¡°Ara-san is a former accountant, and she has traveled before, so market analysis and such should be what she''s good at. Kyou-san and I are somewhat inexperienced, but we''ll most likely figure stuff out together, so Rine should go with Ara-san.¡± I¡¯m thinking about efficiency.
Kyou-san: ¡°I trust in Arako''s knowledge, but you shouldn''t trust in her conversational skills. I think combining her and my strengths are what will make it work. We can also outweigh Ken''s impudence with Rine-chan''s charm.¡± Kyou-san thinks about covering weaknesses.
Rine: ¡°I want to go on a date with Kenta!¡± Rine isn''t thinking about anything at all.
Ara-san: ¡°Actually, Katarine-san is the one I¡¯d like to rely on.¡±
¡ ¡°What?¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, you know that she''s a noble¡¯s heir right? Katarine-san, what''s the leading article of export Goldbrunn has?¡±
¡°Uhm... There is only one, salt. Around 12 Newgold per ounce.¡±
¡°What does it import from Feuerberg?¡±
¡°Grain and metal ingots. The price of the grain depends on the season. At fall we sell it for around 65 Newgold per bag. Ingots'' prices depend on the metal and our own stock since we get the ore from the dari. Iron goes for 55 Newgold per ingot on average, which is the most exported metal.¡±
¡
I seriously forgot that we''re talking about a princess here. I just thought of her as a royal pain in the ass. I mean, at times she shows some of her education, but...
¡°Rine-chan, that''s amazing!¡± Kyou-san, for some reason, hugs Rine.
¡°That''s why¡± Ara-san continues her explanation: ¡°I want to go with Katarine-san.¡±
¡°Change of plans, democracy just dies here. Kyou-san, which one? Rine or Ara-san?¡±
¡°I can''t trust whatever happens when you and Arako are involved. So I¡¯ll go with her.¡±
¡°Fine. I''ll take Rine.¡±
¡°Ya-urbh!¡± The moment Rine is about to embrace me, I use my palm barrier to avoid it. She still manages to say something: ¡°A date!¡±
¡
¡°Buying supplies and market analysis.¡±
¡°And a date!¡±
¡°We''ll check out the stables as well.¡±
¡°On our date.¡±
¡°Plus, we do nothing romantic at all.¡±
¡°Date!¡±
¡°...¡±
¡°Ken, just admit defeat.¡±
¡°...phew... Fine, let''s call it a date. You can call a horse a duck, but it''s still a horse.¡±
You gain 1 WP.
You¡¯ve agreed to go on a date! Make your preparations now, because this date will be graded.
...what!?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Why does the damn ring always jump at my words and actions, instead of my thoughts and intentions?
According to Kyou-san: ¡°Because that''s how society works.¡±
I¡¯m sitting in the common room, waiting for Rine. I have checked the WP-list and found nothing really helpful about dates there, just that I could get 80 WP for a ''perfect date.'' Not even an inkling, what makes a date perfect...
So I asked Kyou-san how I could max the WP/make the date a success, which earned me a scornful look plus some suggestions which are a pain in the ass. Paying attention to what Rine does, trying to answer her expectations, giving her compliments and gifts. Somehow, it all feels like outright manipulation.
Well, it''s not like I won''t trick anyone if there''s a benefit, but this is a dangerous line. While deceiving Rine is easy, this might be a bad idea given her motivation. Maybe that''s the intention of the ring, trying to convince me to step over that line, which I drew in the sand.
The WP are really attractive, they speak to me as a gamer, trying to whisper in my ear, that it¡¯s an easy farm, just remember your objectives and get what you want. On the other hand, this quest might be way over my skills, and it can end fatally. I know how attractive Rine is and I know that many boys would be envious of me to go on a date with her, I just can''t muster the... whatever it is.
In the end, I''ve decided to get over it and ignore the whole date thing. Just act naturally, it''s only a date when I admit it''s one. If I try to go with a middle ground, getting WP while trying to keep my distance from Rine, I''ll fail. Because I''m always too greedy with my farming habits, it''s nothing I should challenge if I can''t load or re-do it.
This isn''t a game, this is reality. Actions have consequences, and I''m too much of a coward to challenge them.
Now I''m waiting for Rine with these mixed feelings, while sitting in the common room, trying my best not to question this decision again.
Here she is, coming down the stairs. Why does she wear a dress? I think there is some quality to it, but nothing I''d imagine a princess to wear. Maybe I saw that dress in the Inventory-screen before¡ Her hair seems to flow, she still uses her usual hairband, but it kinda shines. Her lips are glowing a bit, her face looks even more beautiful in general. I guess she used some make-up.
You could say that she put some effort into her appearance, but given her limited resources, it''s not going overboard. Fits her quite well, I must say. A healthy beauty, who doesn''t need to rely on too many accessories.
The only things that somehow don''t fit that image are her arm in a sling and the sword on her waist, but without the latter I wouldn''t even leave the inn with her. I decided to go with armor and knife this time around, plus my backpack. I don''t want to carry my spear through the crowds again, so it''s stowed in the [Inventory]. Plus having an empty bag on a shopping trip won''t be that strange.
¡°Phew...¡± Time to go! Keep your calm, me. ¡°Did you lock the door?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Good. Let''s go.¡±
The moment we leave the inn, she''s already linking arms with me. I''m still not used to it, despite adding it to our regular activities to grind WP. This close body-contact gives me the chills, my heart is throbbing, but it''s not because of anything fuzzy and warm, I just feel uncomfortable.
Yes, it''s just like always. The excitement and nervousness from before are already gone, I''ve only overthought things again.
¡°~?¡± While the other party is making some sounds like she''s so unbearable happy that it leaks out.
¡°Phew.¡±
Just why? Why does that beautiful girl think that she likes me? I did nothing to earn that, I have no qualities that she would appreciate, and I don''t believe in love at first sight.
Maybe she just looks for an outlet for suppressed emotions, and perhaps I was just the guy who came into her life when she was looking for something new. Or maybe it''s...
¡°Phew.¡±
¡°Kenta, is something wrong? Did I do something?¡± Except pressing your unarmored breasts against my arm, that makes me feel lustful?
¡°Why do you ask?¡±
¡°You¡¯re sighing the whole time.¡±
¡°Phew.¡±
¡°Again!¡±
¡°I just want to get our business over with as fast as possible.¡±
¡°Great idea! The faster we do it, the sooner we can freely enjoy ourselves on our date.¡±
¡ no comment. Talking back doesn''t work with that girl. Just endure it.
¡°Let''s head for the western market.¡±
Other than collecting information for market analysis, which might help us raise some money outside selling mob parts, our two groups have different tasks. Kyou-san and Ara-san will start to sell some of the drops we collected thus far, using Ara-san''s dated knowledge and Kyou-san''s haggling skills. Rine and I will look at the stables and wagon workers to see, how we can improve our means of travel. Especially regarding speed.
There are three types of mounts in this region. First there are this world''s clawed horses, which people choose for their strength and endurance. Then, there are bipedal lizards called daiosars, which are good at sprinting in short bursts. Third, there are quadrupedal lizards called axeken, which can swim, climb and run, making them suitable mounts if one plans to travel through difficult terrains like swamps and mountains.
The real problem: ¡°You''re out of mounts!?¡±
¡°Yes, the Crusaders bought everything I had. They needed them as spare mounts.¡±
¡°Spare mounts!?¡±
¡°Yes, they''re an army after all. I''m sorry, but in a month or two I should get new ones from the ranch.¡±
¡°Is there any place where we could find some?¡±
¡°Well, I could tell you, but there are few stables in Goldbrunn in the first place.¡± While Goldbrunn is a city in an intersection of trading routes, it''s not a doorway of any kind. Trade also goes through Flammenkreis in the east at the foot of the mountains leading to Feuerberg, and Ohlbr¨¹cken to the west, which connects the river trade route leading to the north. These cities need a bunch of mounts for merchants and travelers, so it''s not as lucrative having too many stables in Goldbrunn.
Damn you, Crusaders! Mounts are considerably expensive, but they just bought them like it''s nothing!
Well, let''s check the other stables... as expected, they''re are also sold out. So we¡¯re left with either beasts of burden or the mounts the Crusaders left behind. Rine doesn''t recommend the latter because she deemed them unfit, the bottom of the barrel you don''t want to entrust your life with. It¡¯s most likely the reason the Crusaders didn''t buy them in the first place.
Not that I can ride a horse anyway, but now we don''t even have the option to.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Besides, getting a wagon won''t work well either, mostly because we have no reason to get one. With our backpacks we have enough space for simple traveling, and the chance of leaving the wagon behind because it gets destroyed in a fight, or we get hunted by some more mercenaries again is just too high. Adding in the non-existent fast coach animals and the exorbitant price of even a simple wagon, it''d be a financial nightmare.
Well, let''s switch to market analysis.
¡°Hm...¡± I just write down the prices of the groceries, because I have no idea what they''d be in yen. I did some research before but realized soon that the values and therefore prices of goods in this fantasy world are just different, even more so in the various countries. In Feuerberg, bread is cheap. Feuerberg has many grain fields.
Goldbrunn imports grains, this makes the bread more expensive. Not only bread. Everything here is more expensive in general. It might be because it''s a trade city?
Well, I''ll just trust Ara-san on that.
While I''m writing, Rine talks with the merchants. For some reason, she gets a lot of discounts because she¡¯s pretty and it looks like she¡¯s falling for that scam and starting to buy stuff. Hey, don''t waste our money! Instead, ask about trade, travel, and rumors!
Her purchases aren''t too bad though. Some more groceries that we may use soon, some fabrics,clothes and sewing threads, and some leather care, mostly the mundane things that won''t ever be mentioned in games. Even a shoe brush, because the alfar in Aroahenn didn''t have those; they walk barefooted after all.
I''ll just make a mental note to discern which of her purchases we''ll count as her personal expenses.
She also looks at the accessories laid down by some stands, but while she looks at me like a puppy who wants a bone, I just ignore them. I know she wants me to buy something, and I know that it''d give us some WP, but I also know that she''ll read something into it, and to be honest, even I would start reading into it.
Oh, there is a clock. Strange to see a clock with only ten numbers, but this world has 20 hour days, while each of those hours is longer than in our time calculation. I won''t buy it though, 500,000 Newgold is just too much.
After the marketplace we go up and down the streets, looking for more stores. While doing so, Rine holds my hand. Our usual WP-farming, though I think that she''s blushing a bit, which makes me feel strange. Over time, I grew resistant against Rine''s charms, but she may have found ways to increase them again.
¡°This is so different from other cities. Like, look how many guards are here.¡± She talks a lot with me, even though I don''t even answer much. ¡°And someone should take care of the streets, they are dirty. Kenta, doesn''t that house look strange?¡±
I give a glance to the direction she''s pointing at. It all looks the same. ¡°Phew.¡±
¡°What kind of house did you live in?¡±
¡°I used to live in different places.¡±
¡°What kinds of places?¡±
That''s a question I''m not comfortable with. However, not answering would just make her annoy me forever. ¡°You don''t even know what an apartment is.¡±
¡°Then explain.¡±
¡°Phew... Do you see these houses? Just imagine that all of them would be a single building, then make it at least twenty stories tall. Then you got an apartment tower. In said tower are more than a hundred households, each with its own bathroom, kitchen, living room and at least two additional rooms.¡±
¡°This sounds large. So many families living in the same building?¡±
¡°Each one lives in their own apartments, they often don''t even know each other.¡±
¡°Even though they live next to each other?¡±
¡°That''s how large it is.¡±
¡°You used to live in one of these apartments?¡±
¡°With my parents, after we moved to Sapporo.¡±
¡°The same city Kyou lived in? Wasn''t it a huge one?¡±
¡°Esse is small in comparison.¡±
¡°Wow, that''s cool! Where did you live before?¡±
¡°Another city.¡± My mouth tastes like shit.
¡°Why did you leave?¡±
¡°My father''s job.¡±
¡°What does he do?¡±
¡°He works in the construction business as some kind of bigwig.¡±
¡°What does he do?¡± Ah, I didn''t answer her question.
¡°No idea. Guess he decides who gets fired, how they can save money by using cheap materials, and how to squeeze out every little yen they can from their customers.¡±
¡°Sounds like a businessman to me.¡±
¡°...sometimes I ask myself if you really don''t understand sarcasm. But yes, my father is some kind of businessman.¡±
¡°Father does business as well.¡± Of course, he''s a king, you know? ¡°He also does everything to save money, because it''s national budget. So that''s something we have in common. Tehehe.¡±
¡°Why do you laugh?¡±
¡°Because I learned something about you. You never talk about your family. Or school. Or anything else. Even when I ask.¡±
¡°Maybe I''m just in the mood today.¡± Thinking about it, I told Rine and Kyou-san almost nothing. I sometimes talk with Ara-san about stuff like that, but even there I''m cautious to keep it curt.
¡°Then can I ask more?¡±
¡°...depends.¡±
¡°Do you have siblings?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°I have six. Three brothers and three sisters! I''m the oldest.¡±
I heard about that a while ago. ¡°Isn¡¯t that quite a few?¡±
¡°No, that''s normal, because if an heir is unfit then you need others who can take over.¡± You know that you''re the said heir here? ¡°I want to have at least four children, but I''m wondering how to name them. What would be your favorite Japanese names, Dear?¡±
¡°Shut up!¡± Why do you involve me with this? ¡°And I''m not your ''Dear''!¡±
¡°But Kenta, it''s an important question. Ah, wait. I can name them with Feuerberg names because Kyou-san''s children will have Japanese ones and Ara''s will have alfr names.¡±
¡°...did you just assume, that I''ll have kids with everyone without taking into consideration what I want?¡±
¡°Sorry, Kenta. You''re right, I should hear your opinion first. How many children do you want with me? I think if you want that many, we should start as soon as possible.¡±
I want to hit her. I want to hit her so much, but I know the moment I try, will be the moment when I get hurt instead, even if she doesn''t mean to.
On the other hand, the part of ''start as soon as possible'' makes me want to do things to her, that even I don''t know. It''s just that raging impulse within me, that tells me that I have to do something and that I can entrust everything to my primal instincts here.
Why I don''t do it? Because I fear for my life. Who knows what Rine might do to me if I try to push her down, but let''s say it''s successful. Then what? The little chance I still have to convince her to find another partner will be lost. I don''t want to be involved with Rine that way! At least my brain doesn''t.
Yet there is always a way to kill off these feelings. By asking questions which will probably make me feel miserable. ¡°Rine, do your siblings also undergo training?¡±
¡°Of course. Not that much fighting, that''s a hobby of mine.¡± Good, because having someone even half as strong as Rine as an enemy would suck.
¡°So you''re the strongest of the family?¡±
¡°No, that''d be granduncle or father.¡±
¡°...how strong is your father?¡±
She cocks her head. ¡°Two.¡±
¡°What ''two''?¡±
¡°We would fight two minutes before I would end up as a beaten up mess.¡±
¡°...and what if he holds back? You''re his daughter, after all.¡±
¡°That is him holding back. Father is strong, and when he''s angry, people are afraid of him.¡±
¡°You too?¡±
¡°He was never angry at me, just disappointed at times. Though, when a construction manager tried to scam him, father lifted him up by his neck, yelled at him and threw him through the whole room afterward.¡±
So her father has serious anger issues? ¡°Aren¡¯t'' you just exaggerating?¡±
¡°Klaus said, that father''s anger is like a flame that will devour anything, or anyone.¡±
¡ I so hope that''s just an exaggeration. I mean, I met that king and he seemed like a person, who might not like nonsense, but won''t kill you for it.
On the other hand, he also is the giant douche who summoned us to this world, just to ask us to either fight for him, research for him, or try to live on our own.
I really don''t like that guy.
Good thing we''re out of Feuerberg. As long as he doesn''t send anyone after us, but speaking logically, it''d be my classmates at best. Every able soldier he has will be used in the war, and asking outsiders like mercenaries to do this job would most likely hurt the nation more than just financially.
I don''t fear my classmates, not yet. Considering how slow my level progression currently is though, they most likely have caught up by now, maybe some of them even classed-up and are about as strong as me.
Still, I really doubt that they can ever beat Rine. As long as I stick close to her, I''m safe. This should hurt my pride as a man, but I already lost it somewhere between the chasm and Goldbrunn.
Speaking of loss, there is one of the signs I was looking for, three potions filled with different colored liquids. An alchemist. ¡°Rine, let''s stop there.¡±
¡°OK.¡± She doesn''t even ask why, but I guess it doesn''t matter to her. It''s just that I used most of my bombs trying to save the girls from the mercenaries by setting up traps and such. Speaking of that, I was kinda cool back then. By using most of my bombs, I made myself a huge home-field advantage, which will now be billed.
We enter the building. Ah, another pharmacy/alchemist-mix, saw them often in the smaller cities of Feuerberg. I guess as a pure alchemist, it''s hard to get by unless you''re part of the local industry, like back in Fackelmine, where some strange alchemical acid is used for mining.
Why not explosives? Are there even explosives in this world like in ours? I mean, even the firebombs are more flame bursts than shattering blasts that could break hard rock apart. Since it shouldn''t be that hard to make explosives... well, I guess it''s because of magic or something like that.
I''m not stupid enough to try to make explosives with the amateurish knowledge I have and the lack of proper equipment. Though this might be an aim for those of my classmates who refused to fight for our way home.
I hope they''ll fail miserably, I can''t help but smirk at the thought, how those assholes are ripped apart by failed experiments. Probably, I could''ve joined them in research, I''m brighter than all of them after all, but I couldn''t leave slaying the demon king to anyone else.
...leading to the curse, leading to the current situation, leading to Rine, who groans because of the strong smell inside of the store. Shelves lined with different potions, baskets with a multitude of herbs, everything in one room, it smells like a pharmacy crossed with a laboratory.
I look at the shelves, labels on them identify the potions with their proper names, Energy Brew and Healing Potion, for me they''re SP- and HP-pots.
The clerk here is a girl younger than me, most likely an apprentice. ¡°May I help you, sir?¡± She seems to be nervous, I guess it''s my armor, or being Asian. It could also be because I''m holding hands with Rine, which may give her strange ideas. Well, maybe she''s also intimidated by my stare, but the way she gawks at me is annoying!
¡°Sure, get the boss.¡± Replenishing potions is also practical, but I''m here for dangerous weapons, so it''s something that''s outside of what an apprentice can sell me. Those bombs are usually somewhere in a backroom for proper storage.
¡°Yes!¡± The girl jumps at my words and hurries into the back.
¡°Kenta,¡± Rine pulls my hand a bit: ¡°try smiling at people, they''ll be delighted.¡±
Is she scolding me? No, it''s Rine, she''s earnestly suggesting it, thinking it''d be the best for me and everyone else around me. Nonetheless, I don''t feel like smiling. ¡°Phew...¡±
For some reason, she snuggles at me while having some strange, determined face. To avoid it, I distance myself as much as possible from her without letting go of her hand.
Seriously? You¡¯re doing it again! ¡°Rine, stop.¡±
¡°No!¡± What''s going on with this girl!?
Now I have two options: Let her do it, or engage in a fight over my personal space. A battle I already know that I will lose, but it¡¯s still worth fighting, I guess?
¡°Erm...¡± The voice of a woman is cutting through my thoughts, Rine seizes the opportunity to press her body against mine, the two-fold wave of lust and displeasure emanates from my arm, where her breasts are touching me.
I hate that! That feeling, not her breasts.
The one who spoke coughs slightly, it''s a woman in her forties, I guess, right next to the girl from before. They don''t look alike, so my guess about master and apprentice seems to be right. ¡°You wanted to speak with me?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I''ll endure Rine''s advances for now. ¡°I''m looking for some bombs.¡±
¡°Henriett,¡± the woman speaks to her student: ¡°Get the samples.¡±
¡°Yes, ma''am!¡±
Eight bombs are brought from the back room, they''re a bit different from the ones I could buy in Feuerberg. I guess, it''s because some of the bombs need monster drops...
At least she has my usual array of fire bombs, smoke bombs, and stink bombs, so I can replenish them easily. Wait, these fire bombs... I smell one, it''s different. My [Perception] enhances every one of my senses as a side-effect, so I can acutely sense that the composition is a bit off. ¡°We''re from Feuerberg.¡±
Knowing what I mean, the woman looks at me silently. ¡°...¡± So my guess is right, it''s an inferior version of what I''m used to. ¡°Henriett, get the proper samples. They''re in the white cupboard, second drawer.¡±
Two girls, one beside me, one next to the alchemist, stare at us, without even knowing what just happened. The apprentice walks to the backroom again with the samples that she just brought, while Rine seems puzzled.
Well, back to the alchemist. ¡°Was this a frigging test?¡±
¡°Precaution. You look so young.¡±
Is she implying, that I''m some hooligan, who would be doing irresponsible things with these bombs... actually, I can''t blame her.
The next tray has some of the same bombs, but the ratio of their ingredients is different. They smell much like what the ones made in Feuerberg. There are some differences, though I don''t like to show off my cluelessness about this world''s science. That means, I just keep my mouth shut and look at the bombs properly.
¡°Phew... fire bomb, stink bomb, and smoke bomb... This is a needle bomb, right?¡± The kind that explodes and shoots little needles everywhere. Sounds useful at first, but there are tons of monsters with skin too tough to hurt with them, and they''re pricey. I guess it¡¯s because of the needles. ¡°Then we have a noise bomb...¡± Don''t use them. Especially, if you¡¯ve got the [Perception]-ability. ¡°What''s this one?¡±
¡°It''s a salt bomb. Similar to the needle bomb, it hurls projectiles, in this case, salt chunks. A viable alternative to the needle bomb.¡±
¡°Aha. Here''s a flash bomb...¡± Another bomb you won''t like if your senses are enhanced: ¡°What''s this?¡±
¡°A gas bomb, similar to the smoke bomb, it fills an area with gas, but it''s inflammable.¡±
¡°You''re allowed to sell that?¡± Rine''s eyes are opened wide: ¡°Isn''t it a military weapon?¡± While she points that out, I can''t help but imagine an army hurling these suckers right into the enemy lines, before throwing fire spells to ignite them...
Why does anyone even bothers with swords anymore... OK, looking at Rine and myself, I can''t help but think that there''s still a point. Seeing how much death Rine can deal when she wants to, and how much I''ve survived so far, explosives might not be enough.
¡°If you show me your letter of recognition, I can sell them as well.¡±
Ah, she thinks of us as a mercenary group. Well, we¡¯re playing the part right now, so I guess mission successful? As we don''t have a letter though, I''ll just go with the other bombs. ¡°No need. What are your prices?¡±
Technically, it''d be better to let Rine handle the haggling, or come again with Kyou-san, but as I''m the one who relies on the bombs the most, I also want to be the one who takes care of that. Foremost I want to resupply my stash, I don''t need the rest. Needle bombs and salt bombs won''t work against thick-skinned monsters, it may work on humans to a degree, but they cost too much for that.
Noise and flash bombs are also a danger to me. While I can see their use, I don''t want to waste that much money on a weapon which hinders me as well. The trinity I''m used to may be a bit pricier here than in Feuerberg, but they''re useful and still the cheapest around.
The only problem- ¡°Th-thirty of each?¡± Is the numbers that I require. ¡°Can you even transport them safely?¡± The problem with bombs is that they can detonate if you''re handling them roughly. Like, when you''re flung by a monster, roll on the ground several times, and such. It''s the impact that makes them explode.
Of course, that''s why I usually carry them in my backpack, until I know I''ll use them. My magical backpack, which stores them in a pocket dimension making it much harder to detonate them accidentally.
¡°It''s not only for me.¡± Just try to be casual here, like I''m on an errand or such. ¡°So, the average price for one of each would be... fifty-seven. Three times thirty times fifty-seven equals... six.... one... 5,130 Newgold.¡±
The woman handles the abacus at the counter, checking my result. ¡°Exactly.¡± Of course, it''s simple math.
Rine, it''s really simple math, so don''t look at me like I''ve done something great. It''s easy to calculate numbers like that, I''ve basically toned it down to 57 x 9, then I put a zero to the end.
Well, next one: ¡°If I buy that much, how much for these?¡± I put some pots on the counter.
After paying, I slowly and discreetly put the bombs inside my backpack, so that the alchemist or her apprentice won''t see it. Stored. Time to go!
Back on the main street, Rine presses my hand softly to get my attention: ¡°Kenta, what do you want to do now?¡±
¡°More market research, of course.¡± That''s the whole reason why we''re here, after all.
¡°OK, I also want to buy more.¡± Seriously, you still need stuff? At least she¡¯s not throwing money out of the window, but I have to keep her expenses in check.
Volume 05 - Chapter 2-4
The next urban encounter happens, as we''re walking through the streets around the marketplace to hit up some more stores, this time it''s because I see a bunch of suspicious looking fellows.
...who are these guys? Ah, that symbol. Three men and a woman are standing in the crowd, armed and armored, with the symbol of the claw clenching a sword on their tabards.
Crusaders. The assholes who bought up all the mounts.
¡°Excuse me.¡± One of the men walks straight to us. ¡°Are you willing to answer some questions?¡± He''s in his twenties, I guess. Maybe even his thirties, I still suck at guessing the ages of the people in this world.
¡°What!?¡±
¡°Erm...¡± Unsure how to respond to me, he breathes in deeply and continues: ¡°You''re mercenaries, right?¡±
Ah, my armor and Rine''s sword gave us away. ¡°Right.¡±
¡°Would you consider joining us in our quest to defend Feuerberg? We, the Crusaders, are looking for recruits, the pay is good, the battles are just, and the recognition is beyond anything you can dream of.¡±
...seriously? Since when does any military recruit their people from the streets? ¡°No.¡±
Rine chimes in. ¡°We''re going in the opposite direction.¡±
¡°I see... but you''re coming from Feuerberg, Miss?¡±
¡°Yes, we are.¡± I have to keep Rine from giving any more information here. Most likely she''ll slip up at some point.
¡°Any insight on the situation there?¡±
¡°Phew... lots going on, but I would say stable overall.¡±
¡°I see. Why aren''t you fighting in the war? Aren''t you mercenaries?¡±
¡°Bad experiences with demons.¡±
Oh, how that guy looks at me! Like I''m a scaredy-cat! Did you ever fight an oni, Crusader-san!? The thought of having an army of them is scary! Brute strength and regenerative abilities that must be pure terror on the battlefield!
He disregards my last words. ¡°Any more information you can provide us with about Feuerberg and the war there?¡±
¡°You know about the princess?¡±
¡°Only rumors.¡±
¡°Most likely true.¡±
¡°Was there really a hero summoning?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I see. Anything else?¡±
¡°Nope. What about the west?¡±
¡°Which way are you heading?¡±
¡°Still deciding. Maybe Zethtrin.¡±
¡°Ah, the games, right?¡±
¡°...yes.¡± I don''t have the slight idea what ''the games'' are, but this seems like a good excuse. I have to ask Rine or Ara-san later.
¡°Well, the west should be somewhat safe for a while, the other Crusaders are all coming to Feuerberg as well. As long as you''re not a demon collaborator, there is no need to fear.¡±
¡°I see.¡± This could be good news.
¡°Ah, but around here might be a danger. Some demonic rodent is on the loose. We''re currently looking for it, but it''s evasive so avoid any red rodents for a while.¡±
I have a bad feeling. ¡°Red rodents... what next, squirrels?¡±
¡°Surprisingly many. The spotted variant.¡±
...Some people love it when they''re right. I don''t.
As I''m about to muster a response, my sharp ears pick something up, two of the Crusaders mumbling: ¡°What''s with his face? Was he dropped as a child?¡±
¡°Maybe he just looks somewhat human and is of another race. One I don''t know.¡±
¡°But he looks too human for that. Maybe he''s just some deformed Southerner.¡±
I''m just Asian, bastards!
I give them the middle finger. ¡ why are they looking confused? Don''t they understand?
How retarded. ¡°Let''s go, Rine.¡±
¡°Uhm... OK! Goodbye.¡± She even waves at the Crusaders. ¡°Kenta, what did you just do?¡±
She must refer to my gesture just now. ¡°It''s called a one-finger-salute.¡±
¡°Ah, that''s a greeting in your world?¡±
Should I explain it to her? Knowing her, she might start showing it to others as a greeting, which would be hilarious. Plus, if that''s not common knowledge, there is little harm. Only if Kyou-san finds out, then she will chew my ear off.
¡°Yes, it''s a greeting. But please don''t let Kyou-san see it.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°It''s a bit unrefined, so she might think it doesn''t fit you.¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡±
Do you know what I like about that girl? That she believes everything I say. I also hate it at the same time, but I''m looking forward seeing her greet people like that in the future.
Maybe I''m a bit childish here.
We continue with our market research. For some reason, Rine buys even more food on the way.
¡°What''s the point?¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°What''s the point of buying so much bread now? It still goes bad in the [Inventory], plus it¡¯s way too expensive in this city!¡±¡±
¡°I want to share it.¡±
¡°With whom?¡±
¡°The homeless people.¡±
¡ ¡°The ones from yesterday?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Phew, listen Rine-¡± I''m about to make a speech about how this would lead to our limited monetary resources being dried up for the short-term improvement of people we don''t even know, but looking into her eyes I couldn''t even start it.
She won''t budge here, that''s what these ember-eyes are telling me.
Arguing with her is already a lost cause. ¡°Phew... try to make a bargain at least.¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Her smiles radiate through the rather dirty city, catching the interest of the people around us, men and women alike. Even a dwarf is looking at us, while it sends my heartbeat into a tango. I don''t like it when she does that. It hurts a bit and makes me wonder about stupid stuff.
Seriously, why can''t this girl just be ugly as hell!? Things would be so much easier if she were. No wonder that women are considered a man''s doom.
Rine doesn''t only buy bread, but also some cheese and a strange gloop. It seems to be made out of the intestines of several animals and monsters. It is dirt-cheap and has some nutrition, though even looking at it causes stomach aches.
¡°I hope it''s enough.¡± Rine looks at her purchases. ¡°Soup might be better, after all.¡±
¡°Tell me, how much would that cost? How do we transport it? Just let''s settle for this. It''s already plenty.¡±
¡°If you think so... Kenta, could you lead us back there?¡±
Of course, because I''m the guy who does all the tracking and scouting, I ¡®only have to¡¯ remember all the places we visited in the past!
Well, of course I remember, but seriously why are you asking me? Using these upturned eyes, which makes you look adorable. How can she look at me with upturned eyes with this effect while being at the same height as me!?
¡°Phew... this way.¡± It must be the dress. Her breasts sway with every movement, they''re just that big, and now, without her armor, they''re unrestrained as well.
Of course, the homeless are still there. It''s not like they have another place to go.
They seem to remember us from yesterday and come closer, looking at the bags. ¡°Here.¡± Rine opens one of them and shows a piece of bread. ¡°We¡¯ve come back with some food.¡±
I... need to go. ¡°Rine, I''ll wait there.¡± They look at us as if we''re some sort of saints, but it¡¯s making me sick.
So I go around the corner.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
¡°Well, well.¡± Oh no, the geezer from yesterday. The one who led us to the Bronco''s Bucket has followed me. ¡°Isn''t she great?¡±
¡°What do you want?¡±
He grins at me, he really gives off some strange vibes. ¡°Just talking. Have my portion.¡± He lifts a piece of bread and a slice of cheese. ¡°We need to share the innards, there is only one jar. So until it''s my turn, I¡¯d like to have a conversation with you.¡±
¡°Go away!¡±
¡°You''re quite rude to a sorry old man like me. I¡¯d only like to help you, Red Ranger.¡±
¡°Urgh... Don''t say that name out loud! Also, why would you help me.¡±
¡°To repay your kindness.¡±
¡°Ask Rine about it.¡±
¡°Neh, she''s fine. A strong girl, a beautiful girl. Wouldn''t she be in love already, I would give it a try.¡±
¡°...are you fucking serious. I mean, how old are you? A hundred years? She''s too young for you!¡±
¡°Hm... maybe she still has a chance.¡±
¡°Hah!?¡±
¡°Don''t worry, boy. Just talking to myself.¡±
¡°Then do it somewhere else!¡±
¡°Just take a deep breath, boy, and ask yourself, if this old man can''t help you at all.¡±
¡°...phew...¡± Actually, there is one piece of information I like to ask. Something that Rine shouldn''t know, or Ara-san, and especially not Kyou-san.
Still, there is a chance that his interest in me stems from being a lackey of Correro.
...there is a way to get something like a proof: ¡°Meet me here tomorrow at noon, then.¡±
I''ll give him an opportunity to show his true colors.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We''re back in the inn, and I''m welcomed by a wall of text.
The Date ends.
You gain 27 WP.
This quasi date counts only barely as a success, mostly because of your poor conduct. While her feelings for your are clear as day and she really tries her best to-
Urgh, it goes on and on. What an annoying pop-up.
I try to mentally push it aside just like every other WP-announcement. ¡It doesn''t go away. I try to open the status screen, but I can''t. My eyes wander to the end of the wall of text, I read the last sentence, but I still can''t dismiss it.
This is a real nightmare, a pop-up you can''t close, whatever you do.
So I slowly start reading it. 99% of it is bashing me.
I didn''t compliment Rine''s dress. So what. It''s not like it''s required.
I should have given her a gift when she had these yearning looks. Rine is old enough to buy her own stuff, you know? In fact, she even bought food for the homeless!
What about going out to eat, eating in the inn is cheaper, while the food may be not as good as in a restaurant, but regarding the cost-benefit ratio, it''s way better to eat at the inn. To be honest, Kyou-san''s cooking is the best, after all.
Of course, I won''t kiss Rine!
The amount of details is terrifying!
Only one thing is even worse: That I actually feel like I should have tried harder to max out the WP here! That''s just me being a gamer, I know, but seriously!
I think this world is making me insane.
¡°Kenta, I think we need to try harder next time.¡± Rine surely got her own message as well.
¡°Don''t say a word!¡± I''m sure this girl is part of what is making me go mad!
Now we need to share our intel about the market with Ara-san. She''s with Kyou-san in the common room already.
¡°Here.¡± I put the papers in front of Ara-san and sit down right beside her. ¡°There are no mounts left, the Crusaders bought them all.¡± Rine starts a whispering conversation with Kyou-san.
¡°I see.¡± Ara-san only glances over the paper, but she has a skill which makes her read it in a moment. ¡°They also had an effect on the market for monster parts. They had eradicated many monsters around here and sold their spoils in Goldbrunn, causing the buying price to fall. So we didn¡¯t sell some of the parts.¡±
Damn Crusaders. Rine and Kyou-san are still whispering to each other, and I could hear every single word. First, Kyou-san complimented her dress, and now they''re talking about our ''date'' in detail. Kyou-san pretends to be interested, while it''s mostly Rine who speaks.
¡°Ara-san,¡± I try to ignore them: ¡°Rine spent 525 Newgold today, while I spend 6,600.¡± I list our expenses. ¡°Most of them would be party expenses.¡±
¡°I agree. Now you want to know how much of an allowance is doable, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Let me do some calculations.¡± Ara-san''s [Druid]-class has the [Academy]-ability and a higher [Intelligence] than her [Accountant]-class, it''s the perfect example of how your real form can become entirely obsolete unless you count the [Recreation]-ability as a reason. ¡°Momo and Katarine-san, please be quiet for a moment.¡± Well, alfr ears are also pretty sharp.
Kyou-san and Rine stop their chattering. I take the opportunity to get a drink.
By the time I returned, Ara-san is finished. ¡°I think 2,000 Newgold is appropriate as a budget per person. I like to visit the bookshop myself, so I put it on the higher end.¡± Books in this world are expensive.
So two thousand¡ I think this should be more than enough for what I¡¯d like to get.
¡°Katarine-san, let me reconfirm your expenses today to be sure.¡± While Ara-san and Rine are talking about her usage of money, Kyou-san seems to be in thought. She''s definitely considering how to spend her allowance.
I hope I won''t spend too much because I''m also considering buying a book. I still have to finish reading Rine''s, but I''m stuck there. It''s in the midst of the scene when Fabian found an assassin who was about to kill Miriam, in this scene Fabian says some sort of monologue, which makes me cringe so hard, that I''m about to puke. Sadly, this speech looks like it''s pretty important.
So basically, I try every few days to read this, but then I lose motivation. When I force myself through it, I can''t even remember a third of the content.
Well, but first things first. Tomorrow will be an important day.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡this is the worst.
This time Rine is sleeping with us again. Which means I''m in bed with three girls, who are attractive to me, but it wouldn''t be a good idea to become close to them in that way.
Yesterday it was a form of torture. Now it has multiplied. Why? Because I''m in the [Ranger]-class.
Why is that a problem? Wasn''t I a [Ranger] yesterday as well? So what changed? Well... "Aahhn...¡± ¡°*Grunt*¡± ¡°Yes, right here!¡± ¡°*Moan*¡± Because I can hear too well! Dammit, [Perception]-ability!
The guys left-above us are doing it like rabbits! Which causes the people right above us to start as well!
While I''m in bed with three beauties! My body aches for some action as well, what kind of herd instinct is this!?
...I think I need to take matters into my own hands. Literally. But not here.
I slowly try to escape the bed, fearing what Rine might do to me in her sleep when I move too quickly. There is one problem though... her hand is grabbing me!
Violently ripping her from my shirt seems to be a bad idea, that might end up with at least my arm broken. So I gently try to loosen one finger at a time. Argh, her grip is too firm!
¡°Try to please her.¡± It''s Ara-san''s voice.
¡°You''re awake?¡±
¡°How could I sleep, while the people above us are behaving like humans?¡±
¡°And why didn''t you tell me?¡±
¡°Because I was trying to figure out the techniques they¡¯re using above.¡±
¡°...phew... topic change! What do you mean by pleasing Rine?¡±
¡°I think if you caress her hand, she will let you go.¡±
¡°How do you even come to this conclusion?¡±
¡°I observe and listen. Try.¡±
Well, not like this is something bad. My finger gently wander around on the skin of the back of Rine''s hand, and her grip really loosens. Her face might have the most drunken idiotic smile ever.
At least I''m free.
For some reason, Ara-san also stands up. ¡°Let''s go to the common room. I''ll bring the board.¡±
Not exactly what I had in mind, but not too bad either.
When we were still in Aroahenn, Ara-san and I started playing a strategic board game once in a while. It''s an alfr one, there are some similarities to shogi and chess. The name is irlkrin.
A board with light and dark tiles, 16 pieces per player and the way the pieces can move is determined by the piece and if it''s placed on a dark or light square.
We set up the board in the empty common room, the sounds of people making love is hard to hear from here.
I start and put my fisher forward.
She chooses a builder to switch positions with a hunter. ¡°I don''t like this city.¡±
My fisher is now on a dark square, so now he moves like a knight in chess. I place it in the center of the board. ¡°Why?¡±
Her builder swaps position with her fisher. ¡°It stinks. The buildings are dead, which is uncomfortable. Also, everyone is avoiding me for some reason.¡±
This time I use my hunter to march forward. ¡°Everyone looks at me like I''m shit here.¡±
¡°Hm...¡± She''s placing her scribe on a light square. ¡°Momo told me, that you''re not good with people.¡±
¡°People aren''t good with me.¡± I move my builder so that it can swap position anytime with my hunter or fisher.
¡°I see.¡± She also places her builder forward. ¡°Nevertheless, we get along.¡±
¡°Because you''re alright.¡± This time my archer springs forward. My offense is good!
Then Ara-san switches the positions of her builder and her scribe. Now it''s able to either capture my hunter or my fisher. ¡°I also feel closer to you than to any alfr I met in this world so far. We think alike often.¡±
¡°... ¡ you''re smart.¡± I''m referring to her last move, but while Ara-san is somewhat oblivious to many things, I still think she''s clever.
You gain 1 WP.
A heartfelt conversation during a bit of recreation, a compliment hidden, two minds that think alike.
¡°Did you think about what to do with the WP you and Katarine-san earned today?¡± Seeing this message, Ara-san also changes the topic.
¡°Ah, I forgot about those.¡± I decide to swap my builder with my hunter. ¡°I was thinking about saving them for a while, to be more flexible with the rewards.¡±
Ara-san captures my fisher. ¡°I see. Maybe we should still aim for the next [Attribute]-bonus. At least that''s predictable, while rewards like [Double Casting] could be anything. Are you trying to attain [Increased Shared XP II] again?¡±
¡°It''s what helps us the most for now. The earlier you get XP-bonuses, the better. Only makes sense, as long as we have the luxury.¡± I move my hunter.
¡°Even so, we may be in a tight spot. We don''t know when Correo will strike again. He wants to capture Katarine-san, after all.¡± She moves her farmer.
¡°As long as we don''t waste too much time here...¡± I move my farmer as well.
¡°Patience. Hurrying will just result in carelessness.¡± She moves her scribe. ¡°That''s why you''ll lose in three turns.¡±
I take a look at the board. There are three ways to win in irlkrin: You can take the square of the guardian, you can capture the ruler, or when you have double the pieces of what your opponent has left.
¡
I can see it. First, she''ll capture my guardian with her scribe. If I move it, she has free access to the square of the guardian. So I have to let her capture it, but the way my pieces are placed, I can''t capture her scribe afterward.
Then she''ll move her scribe again so that it can return to a dark space, then it''s mobile enough to evade any counterattack. Plus, from the dark space, she can take the guardian''s square. Or, if I move my bodyguard to shield it, she can capture my ruler.
¡°...I surrender.¡± This game is harsh, because every piece moves in two ways, so the options of every possible turn increase by a lot. ¡°Another round!¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
¡
Destroyed.
¡°...let''s return to bed, they should be finished by now...¡±
¡°Don''t sulk, this is just your eighth time.¡±
¡°Though you say that you''re not good at it.¡±
¡°That''s right. I played it only a bit with my mother as a child. Whenever I lost, I had to drink that nasty cod resin. Was supposed to be healthy, but I disliked it.¡±
¡°Reminds me of someone.¡±
¡°So had similar experiences?¡±
¡°...yeah...¡± Again, my mouth tastes like shit. The second time today.
¡°Maybe there''s some cod resin in this world as well...¡±
The atmosphere around us turns a bit sour as we''re both reminded of home.
We miss it. It''s not home sickness, it''s replaced by the determination to go back home again. Something that was most likely planted into us heroes so that we can stay motivated.
Ara-san and I return to bed. It''s quiet. Both of us and the one above us.
For five minutes at most. ¡°Next round!¡±
¡°Please don''t...¡± Ara-san puts her hands on her ears, but I guess that doesn''t help much.
But that gives me an idea. I use [Class Change] to [Pikeman]. I lose the [Perception]-ability, which means I don''t hear a thing anymore. ¡°Good night, Ara-san.¡±
¡°No, you-¡±
The moment Ara-san is about to grab me is the moment I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head and lose consciousness.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Is there no mistake, Wranas?¡± In another tavern, a man asks his companion. The four of them are sitting while enjoying a meal and listening to what one of their comrades said.
¡°Course I could be wrong.¡± The small man with the broad shoulders and his lead-like hair and beard says. ¡°Still, worth checking out.¡±
All four of them come from the kingdom of D¨¦jumia, just a week south of Goldbrunn. Some would say that it''s the northern part of the countries of the south, others would call their people pseudo-southerners. This is not the only thing that binds them together though. They''ve worked so long with each other that they''re now friends and comrades.
While their reason to be in Goldbrunn is different, Wranas might have found something better. ¡°So, you say her eyes were like fire?¡± The trait of the royal family of Feuerberg. A teenage girl.
For bounty hunters like them, it''s an unexpected find.
Volume 05 - Chapter 3-1 – Reporting from Goldbrunn, the City of Encounters
Chapter 3 ¨C Reporting from Goldbrunn, the City of Encounters
¡°Please! Please, please, please, please!¡±
¡°¡°No!¡±¡± Ara-san and I stand firm in front of a pleading Rine. Ara-san''s ears are going haywire, she''s really angry.
I''m also quite pissed, because yesterday Rine hit the behind of my head with her knee at full power, causing a concussion. She did so while kicking Ara-san right in the face. After that Rine hooked her foot behind the alfr''s head and pulled her towards her.
Of course, Rine was asleep when she kicked, but the only reason why she woke up before she could seriously hurt Ara-san was that her broken arm pained her due to her abrupt movements.
That''s the reason why she''s banned from sleeping with us again.
¡°Rine-chan,¡± Kyou-san is the voice of reason. ¡°If you get your sleeping habits under control, you can join us again. However, what if you''d seriously hurt Arako, maybe gouging one of her eyes out?¡±
¡°Tha- I mean...¡± The girl in question still has problems believing that she''s a murdering machine in her sleep. Well, she''s one as well when she''s awake, but that''s within her control at least. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± Now she repents at last.
¡°Sorry won''t cut it!¡± Ara-san seems to be infuriated. I can totally understand that. ¡°We''ll talk in the evening about your punishment.¡±
¡°Yes, Ara...¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°But Arako,¡± Kyou-san says. ¡°It''s time for our appointment.¡±
Appointment? ¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Nothing you should care for, Ken. A girl''s thing. Or would you like to tag along to the beautician?¡±
¡°...nope. Then I''ll just go and get some breakfast. Don''t expect me to be here when you return.¡±
¡°Take your backpack with you, I''ll make you a bento.¡±
¡°...thanks?¡± Because she''s certainly not doing it out of goodwill, I''m not sure how I should take it.
¡°For the WP, obviously.¡±
¡°Ah. That makes sense.¡±
¡°Then we''re on our way.¡± Kyou-san takes the girls with her and walks out of the room.
I wait a bit, weighing my budget for today in one hand. Enough to enjoy a day, and that''s what I''m trying to do.
But first I get some breakfast and go to meet that vagabond geezer.
¡
It''s an hour before noon and I''m already at the meeting point. Of course, I''m again in my [Ranger]-class, and because I''m more or less expecting an attack, I''m armed and armored. Using [Camouflage] and [Mask of Wildlife], I''m waiting in the shadows.
Most likely [Mask of Wildlife] won''t do a thing, because there is no real wildlife here. Still, it''s not like I use those MP otherwise and they''ll return with time.
I''m watching the geezer, who still sleeps next to the other homeless people. I look around at times, but there are no thugs or other suspicious people.
After a while, the geezer gets up, eats some bread crumbs and some jerky. Did he get these as payment for selling me out?
No. Those are the leftovers from yesterday, the butcher just gives them out this morning for some heavy lifting it seems. At least that¡¯s what the other beggars are saying after the geezer asked them. Suspicious.
Of course, most beggars are walking around town now, trying to get some alms. Those too tired or injured to walk that freely are standing at the border of the marketplace.
Now the geezer starts to walk. Towards me! I retreat a bit.
He''s now at the meeting place and is about to sit down.
I step out of the shadows. ¡°You''re early.¡±
¡°Not like I have a clock or something fancy like that, boy. So, how can I help you?¡±
¡°...You''re cutting right to the point?¡±
¡°Why shouldn''t I?¡±
To buy time. Is this a real genuine attempt to repay some favor or is he trying to trick me? ¡°I''m just cautious.¡±
¡°Rightfully so. I was just thinking of continuing my journey today, so we shouldn''t waste time. What do you want?¡±
¡°...where...¡± Argh, I didn''t know before, that this is quite an embarrassing question. No, it''s just because I make it embarrassing. ¡°Phew...¡± Inhale, exhale. I''m in control. ¡°In this city, where can I get a prostitute?¡±
¡°...I was expecting much, but not that. Boy, you''re traveling with two fine girls, so why do you want a prostitute?¡±
¡°It''s because I¡¯m traveling with those girls!¡± Ara-san, Kyou-san, and Rine are way too attractive!
Momokawa Kyou. A Japanese beauty with long dark hair, and dark eyes. Her soft skin, her womanly build, it combines charm with my homeland. Most Japanese are attracted to other Japanese, and that''s why Kyou-san, who''s so pretty that she can do anything she wants, despite being a bitch deep down.
Katarine von Stolzherz. The girl who actually introduced me to the concept of having the hots for foreign women! She may be a bit tall and has some muscles, but that''s attractive in its own way because it''s not overboard. She has these crazy beautiful eyes, which burn with passion, these humongous boobs, that she waves around like it''s nothing, and while her face is western, even I can tell how pretty she is!
Ara''ainn. Actually, she shouldn''t be attracted to me at all, but because of the curse, I feel all sorts of things. Now every part of her draws me to her, her ears that move steadily, her eyes that are so unlike mine, her long hair that feels so different, the way she moves, that she has no breasts... and she''s the one I get along with best!
Whoever I''d get close to, it''d be a mistake.
Even if I wanted to, getting close to Kyou-san would be impossible, because she hates my guts. Well, I hate hers as well, that''s why we kinda get along sometimes. Well, let''s say there is a moment where we''d share a night, then what would come next? Punishment, accusations, nagging, and she would most likely use every opportunity to make me suffer.
It might sound arrogant, but I''m sure I could quickly get laid with Rine. However, this would mean to accept her pleas, to make her my actual girlfriend, which would make her clinginess reach whole new levels. Being so close to her is stressing, and I would lose all my freedom to choose a partner I''d actually like.
Ara-san is another matter because the only reason we''re attracted to each other is the curse and our goal is to lift it. So afterward, nothing would remain. We''re both different species, so it''s strange in itself, that there is even a consideration to take her as my partner. While my body tells me, it''s alright, that everything will be fine, my mind can''t help but to feel it''s wrong on many, many levels.
The problem is, precisely, that my body yearns. It yearns so much for sex that I lose sleep, that I have some lucid dreams, even with regular discharging. So for that, I need to find opportunities which can be hard to find.
That made me think, and I got to a conclusion: Get rid of your virginity! It''s not like it''s that important, and after experiencing sex, my body should, theoretically speaking, calm down and be able to bear much more of this kind of burden.
Maybe it won''t work, but it''s worth a try. So there is no need to wait. Now, in this city, there is an opportunity! Because you can pay women to sleep with you and afterward you leave and have nothing to do with them anymore.
So tell me, geezer!
Said geezer scrubs his beard. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want... I¡¯d better ask one of the others.¡± He does exactly that, he talks with one of the beggars, while I listen to the conversation with [Pitch]. Ah, east marketplace north exit, following the street I''ll get to the desire district.
Without even waiting for the geezer to return, I go on my way.
2,000 Newgold should be enough to get one, right? No, it should get me a proper one. ¡°Phew.¡± Even though it''s mostly to get rid of my virginity, I''m kinda looking forward to it. I mean, every game, every book, really everything tries to convince me that sex is the greatest, but being a virgin so far, I can''t help but think about if it''s actually true.
I cross the crowded marketplace, avoiding people to the best of my abilities, seeing the Crusaders trying to recruit some people here as well, then I head to the north. There are big stores at the main street, even an armory store. Even though I don''t plan to buy new equipment, I can at least take a look.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Entering the store, I see some armors on stands, and a lot of weapons all over the place. A hero can identify items by wearing them, but while it works wonders on weapons in a store, putting on armor is a lot more problematic, especially if you don''t plan to buy anything.
A barrel with spears catches my attention. I take one...
[Army Spear]
Description:
This spear is mass-produced for soldiers all over the world.
Status:
+40 Attack
Value:
575 Newgold
...
This is crap. Well, it''s a barrel item after all.
There are also spears on a stand. Maybe I should take a look there.
[Moleton Spear]
Description:
The tip is made of a moleton''s claw, the pole from it''s leg.
Status:
+57 Attack
Value:
3,142 Newgold
...my spear is better. Curious about its stats?
[Dead Alfr Spear]
Description:
While being manufactured, the branch was still alive and it hardened to become the best weapon possible for its future wielder.
Status:
+90 Attack
Value:
9,614 Newgold
Yup, that''s my weapon. The woodsmith even asked me if I like to have my spear still alive, but then I wouldn''t be able to store it in my [Inventory], so its life wasn''t saved in the process. A bit of a shame, because there are some applications with [Spirit Magic], when you use a living weapon, but I''m more about practicability. Plus, being dead gives it a bit of a bonus to [Attack] as well.
I take a look at some swords to compare, but while this store is most likely proper, it''s still inferior to the alfr gear and way below the quality of the weapons you can buy in Esse, the capital of the Feuerberg-kingdom.
I guess there is a limit to what you can buy in stores. At least in games, the best weapons are often random quest rewards or hidden, and it makes sense that the best weapons in this world are not easily bought in stores.
Looking at Rine''s sword Friedensbote, she got it from her father, who happens to be the shitty king of Feuerberg, after she was capable enough with the sword to not hurt herself. It''s a fucking royal treasure! Still, it¡¯s most likely not even the best weapon they have!
Her armor, on the other hand, is high quality, but still something that was made by an armorer. It was built for her on her last birthday, Rine is still 15 years old and growing. Her father, on the other hand, has some special armor according to her.
So basically, the best bet to get endgame tier items is to get them from royalty and other mighty people, or maybe find them somewhere with much luck.
Maybe there are some legends about powerful equipment, but it''s not like everyone knows them. This would need proper research.
Why do I care so much? Because I need that kind of equipment at some point. It''s not like the demon king will decide to put down his weapons and jump into my spear the moment I confront him. At least not unless I''m so powerful that that would be the more merciful death for him.
Yes, I''m still trying to kill the demon king to get back home. If I get a wish on the way, I''ll take it as well.
Too bad that somehow my whole life is moving away from what I expected, time and time again.
¡°Phew...¡± Let''s just get to that desire district.
This should be it, but it looks almost the same as the other parts of town, the houses are on the larger side, looking like multiple families could live in one. So these are brothels? Are they only active at night?
Wait, there are women out there, most of them are good enough to work in this business. Some of them are talking to men. Ah, that pair is walking into one of the buildings.
I use [Pitch] to discern the sounds of the conversation from the background noise. Yep, totally right here.
Then let''s take a look at the girls here. It''d be best, if she wouldn''t be that much older than me, maybe up to ten years. Those could be more expensive, after all, since I think most men want to have sex with young women, but it''d be too awkward otherwise.
This red-haired one? Nah, not my type. Somehow I find her lacking. She is definitely sexy, but it''s not like that''s all that matters.
What about the brunette? Ah, too late. While I measured her, another one requested her.
...why are most of the women looking at me with disgust!? ¡°Phew...¡± Not like I''m the only one who has a say in the matter, I guess.
Sometimes it''s hard to be Japanese. That is most likely the case here as well.
¡°Hello.¡± One girl is coming straight up to me. She has dark brown hair and dark eyes, and her skin is also tanned, she definitely looks like a southerner. ¡°Is there something you want?¡±
¡°Kinda.¡± I scrutinize her, she certainly looks the part. Kinda cute, kinda sexy. Her movements are full of energy, and her long, wavy hair is fluttering with every motion. Her dress is short on the thigh and emphasizes an ample bosom. Also, her eyes are lively.
This is certainly a hit, in more ways than one.
¡°How about we go for a drink?¡± How directly indirect.
Well, no reason to refuse. Not like we could do it here, I guess. ¡°Sounds like a good idea. Show me the way.¡± Man, even Crusaders are here. Well, I guess that''s to be expected. I mean, it''s not like a life like theirs has many opportunities to blow off some steam.
¡°Sure.¡± With this little magical word, I start following the dark-haired woman.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Slowly, I take a book in my hands. Humans use paper made out of wood for their books, which is a waste. We alfar take fallen leaves, where a bit of spirit still flickers, combine those spirits and let the bodies they live in follow suit.
My body aches, Katarine-san''s training was really taxing again. It''s not like I enjoy fighting with my body, I only want to be able to. In addition to that, the experiences with the two human heroes in Aroahenn and the oni made me wonder, if it wouldn''t be better to put more effort into it in order to have an easier time when fighting them.
An onoth spirit, this is most likely a hynoar. I''m right, the hynoar just passed. There are too many alfr-strong spirits here, it makes me uncomfortable, especially because some of them change on a whim, usually humans and folkpeople. It''s like there is no rhyme or reason to it.
Despite that, certain species seem to have certain traits that make it easy to distinguish their spirits, while it''s hard to read them. Hynoar have an onoth spirit in general. Humans are always coming back to pa''ar. The folk tend to guin spirits.
From a spirit, you''re supposed to be able to read the general mood of a person, but because all of them are usually in only one range of the whole spectrum, it''s hard to discern the emotions of other species.
After the breakfast, Momo, Katarine-san, and I went to the bookstore, the only one in this city. I''m looking for an anthology of hero-tales. It''s not the first time I¡¯ve done this, but it is the first time in Goldbrunn, because this city had no bookstore the last time I came around. Back then, I roamed the market, bought two books, and departed to the west.
So my hopes aren''t high to find anything here. Nevertheless, hero-tales are essential to my work and take most of my time during research. Cross-referencing tales, trying to figure out possible [Abilities] and [Skills], their classes and class-ups, anything that can be gleaned.
In addition to the overall pattern, of course. In general, being a hero is nothing special, even though the heroes in the tales are, and those who are already verbal legends seem to be even more so. Is it because of their build? Their level?
There are too few numbers involved in tales and legends, most likely because these are not as entertaining. The writings are fascinating nonetheless, because of the similarities. Some of them are showing what to expect from the future, others teach me what to be careful of.
In the long run, my research will help all the alfr heroes who will be summoned here. Additionally, when I figure out the system, I can abuse it.
Most books in this store are history books. While they''re different from the ones I have, I don''t see the need to get another one. Afterward comes catalogs for plants, beasts, and monsters. They are slightly interesting, but not for my research.
Then there are novels. For some reason, there are many novels. I take one off the shelf, it''s called ''Burning Fangs,'' it''s a novel about... why would someone make a romantic story about a folkman and a vrykolakas woman?
The technique it''s written with... This is too smooth. It has to be written by someone who has the [Fast Writing]-skill. Otherwise, the edges would look much more irregular. Because non-combat [Skills] aren''t commonly learned by natives, I note down the name of the author: Lezzard Limuur.
This person''s novels make up some of the shelves here, and most of them are just copies. So somehow that Limuur was able to see through a marketing strategy. ¡°Shopkeeper! I know that you need to watch out for feet, but I have a question.¡±
The shopkeeper is a gruffly folksman, but the way his stubbly beard looks makes him kinda cute. Well, all of the folk are cute. They are so small that their movements are like those of toddlers.
However, when they brush your behind with their heads, you have the desire to sit down, like they''re comfortable chairs.
The folk are just adorable!
¡°...what is it, Customer?¡±
¡°Where was this book written?¡±
¡°Burning Fangs? We got them from merchants who got them in Zethtrin. Quite popular there, so I figure around the area. After reading it, I bought the entire shipment. I¡¯m sure it''ll become a hit.¡±
¡°I can also see the worth of it.¡± It''s sure a handy torture device. Only reading a few passages from it made my ears flutter. Even though I just skimmed it and planned to read it carefully afterward. ¡°How much?¡±
There is a chance that this Limuur is a hero, instead of someone who acquired the skill by ordinary means. So I''ll read what he wrote and see if there is any value to my research.
I''m sure it''ll be unpleasant.
¡°Momo?¡± Keeping track of my companions isn''t hard in an enclosed space. I can hear their breathing, I can feel their spirit, and I can see their shades, even if they''re faint due to the distance.
¡°Yes?¡± Momo is in another attire today. She isn''t wearing her usual cloth armor, instead she chose a dress that looks like priest garbs. Katarine-san is also in her dress from yesterday, while I didn''t see the point of changing into something else. Still, belying our current noncombatant appearance, each of us still has our weapons. Momo''s knife and Katarine-san''s swords on their waists, while my staff is in my hand.
Momo is holding a book named ''The Tales of Grekk''. I know that one, I have a copy of it at home. I suspect him to be a hero, but there is no evidence in that book. The author has, more or less, collected the hearsay surrounding that individual.
Not only Grekk. Gottfried, Halvaster, Lanceriell, Bragwa, all of them are people who certainly stood out during their respective time periods. While I''m just not sure about everyone, I do know that not all of them are heroes.
Gottfried of Feuerberg is no hero, for example, but he''s still a force to reckon with. Even taking into account plenty of exaggeration, his deeds are several cuts above what most heroes achieve, and he may even be still alive.
¡°Momo, could you please haggle a reasonable price for this?¡±
¡°...Burning Fangs... Looks like some smut. ¡ Interspecies? Why would.... *sigh* Knowing you, it''s not because you enjoy it. Alright. Give me a minute.¡± She takes the book and goes to the storekeeper.
I didn''t notice. In fact, it''s a book about the love between two of different species. So it has some similarity to my situation.
Maybe it will give me some valuable insight, after all.
Volume 05 - Chapter 3-2
¡°Oh, out in the open?¡± Following the woman, I find myself in a back alley. It''s actually not that far away, but the contorted alleys and the loud noise from a nearby pigsty make it a rather private place.
¡°We''re almost there. Just a little further.¡± The smile of the woman is charming. She''s really something else, I can already imagine myself thrusting into her.
¡°We better hurry, I just can''t wait.¡± I quicken my pace. I''m now half a step behind her.
¡°Don''t be too impatient.¡±
¡°But I want to start right now!¡±
¡°Just a bit longer, alright?¡±
¡°No, let''s do it! Here and now!¡± I step forward and put my hand on her shoulder. Then I gently push her at a wall. ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I lean forward.
My right hand slowly wanders to her stomach. Then with a fast thrust, I impale her. Literally. Using my knife.
I elbow her face once, then I pull back my knife and stab it sidewards into her neck. The girl is looking surprised at me, no wonder, I''m trying to murder her, but then she swings her arm.
Good thing that I keep my [Focus] on her, so I can see her movement the moment she initiates it and get some distance. Too bad that I have to leave the knife in her neck, but that''s not what¡¯s important right now.
Evading the attack which is so strong that it creates an air current is.
¡°Ouch, bro!¡± The woman removes the knife from her neck, the wound closing already. ¡°How did you know?¡± She slowly grows in size, two horns grow out of her temples, her skin reddens, and her eyes become fierce.
It''s the oni whom we''ve met twice so far. Third time''s the charm, I guess. No, it''s the fourth time already.
¡°Doesn''t matter.¡± She doesn''t need to know that it''s because of her voice. In Aroahenn something bugged me about it and, after meeting her here, it all adds up.
She''s not only Correo''s henchman but also acts as his daughter. I think she was called Ogra in that form? Is that her name? Doesn''t matter, because I''ll kill her this time.
The voice is not the same, but I have [Pitch], which gives me great insight into sounds. While her voice in her different forms has different prominent tones, there is always the same base voice behind it, almost impossible to perceive.
So if the girl, the oni, and the woman are all the same person, then it''s easy to conclude that she can shapechange. This would also fit into how she was able to trick Rine: The red bunny. Because she''s even commanding the squirrels, I wasn''t sure if she had controlled that particular bunny, or if she was the bunny before, especially with how obvious that color scheme was. Now I know. Her shapechanging makes her an even greater danger than I assumed her to be, and now it''s time to take her down.
I know that I''m no match for her in a fair fight. Well, she''s not dealing with Rine here: Fighting fair was never an option to begin with.
I don my hood. Not only for the minimal protection, but also for the mood.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Doesn''t it cost too much?¡±
¡°Maybe. But Rine-chan, this is a day for us to enjoy. Also, don''t you think, that we should let ourselves go a bit?¡±
¡°That is to be expected when traveling.¡±
Kyou and I are talking about whether to visit a real beautician or instead just go for a haircut.
To be honest, my fingernails have some minor cracks, my skin has roughed up, and I should be taking care of my eyelashes. I''m currently not fit to be called a lady, but I kinda enjoy it. It''s the proof that I''m more than just a princess who can''t survive a day on her own. Even though I also like being dressed and prettied up. In fact, I''m sure Kenta would love me even more if I could show him myself in my royal gowns. I didn''t take any with me when I left the W?chter-fort because they need a lot of care and I had limited space inside my backpack. So I just put in a sturdy dress in case I need one.
¡°I have never understood how people can waste time and money on their appearance.¡±
¡°It''s because you''re an alfr, Arako. We humans have to take some minimum care of our bodies at least. Otherwise, we¡¯d end up like Ken.¡±
¡°What about Kenta-kun?¡±
¡°Yes, what''s wrong with Kenta?¡± He may be a bit messy, but overall it''s not too bad. He uses his hands so much that there is always dirt under his fingernails, which aren''t taken care of at all. His hair may be unkempt, but on the other side, it''s too short to make much of a difference.
He¡¯s also developed some bags under his eyes. Maybe he''s sleep deprived lately? I''m a bit worried about that. His clothes aren''t that well-kept either. Whenever it''s laundry time, he makes rushes the work and doesn''t mind some stains. When I learned sewing in Aroahenn, I got a lot of practice by mending Kenta''s clothes because he handles them so roughly.
Regardless, overall Kenta''s great. These are just some minor demerits that are tied to his slightly dangerous and busy life. In a sense, they''re medals of honor! He scouts ahead of us girls, always watches the perimeter, and is never afraid to get his hands dirty in fights. He works with Ara''s experiments, he takes his time to talk with me about strategy, he explains things that I don''t get, and he also strengthens his bonds with Kyou. He''s so busy doing all of that, and while he complains at times, he never stops with all his hard work.
What a wonderful husband I have!
Kyou hides her embarrassment by denying it, but I know that she''s also glad to have Dear as a husband, even though she makes it really hard for me to see it sometimes.
Like right now, when she looks at us as if we''re coming to a rabid churl''s defense, declaring that he''s harmless and pleasant to look at. ¡°*sigh* Whatever, back to topic. We''ll just get the haircut.¡±
Kyou is very composed. She might not always be right, but she''s also not too stubborn. This time, she apparently complied for our sake. I must say though, she wasn''t that set on the beautician in the first place. I can see, how she has so many friends.
¡°Let''s go.¡±
I hope Kenta has as much fun as I do today.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Stop dodging!¡± With her bare fists, the oni tries to smash me into bits. Doesn''t matter, as she says, I dodge every strike she makes.
I think I need even less space to evade the attack entirely. About 30cm (almost 12 inches). That''s the range the air-current can get me, resulting in an indirect hit. Rine uses as little space as possible to avoid attacks, that''s why she got caught in them.
Analyzing a boss is standard procedure. I just treat the oni as a very annoying boss, which can cause havoc if you''re not careful. Good thing that she''s pretty dumb, otherwise she would mix up her attacks a bit more.
Using [Focus] also helps, giving me a clear image of her incoming attack. The oni hasn''t used her [Oni Fire]-attack so far. I can think of many reasons why. Mainly I think it has to do with the charging time of that skill.
Yes, she can use it without charging, but then it lacks the destructive power I saw in Aroahenn. I''m confident that avoiding it wouldn''t be a problem either.
Let''s try something new. Because of the oni''s regeneration, I want to make sure to get her with my first real attempt, overwhelming her so much, that she can neither respond nor escape. Her regeneration has a limit. But who knows what she will do if I challenge it by using half-hearted attempts. I don''t know if my SP will be enough to make it work.
[Distraction], the skill that will open a one-second window in the attention of the targets. While it''s a [Stealth]-skill, I have used it for defense more than once. Now I''ll use it for offense.
I have already prepared some items while following the oni, and put them into my belt pouch. Like this stink bomb, which I throw right into the oni''s face! ¡°Whuaaaarks! It stinks, it stinks! My eyes are burning, my nose hurts! Pui, pui, pui!¡± I retreat into an alley and prepare my bow, together with my special something I asked Kyou-san to make.
The oni is flailing around, and not able to see properly. Splendid. ¡°[Quadruple Shot!]¡± All four arrows pierce into the big body of the oni.
¡°Ouch!¡± Actually, I hoped for more than a mere ''ouch'', but oh well. I observe the wounds, they''re closing, but only around the arrow shafts. The arrows aren''t pushed out of her body. Interesting.
She plucks one arrow after another from her body, the wounds close without a hitch.
Yet, I''m waiting for the secondary effect. Did it proc?
¡°Where are you!¡± With bloodshot eyes, the oni looks around, trying to find me. Seriously? You didn''t even notice from which direction the arrows had come?
Then the oni puts a hand on one of her former wounds, tapping it a bit and snorts. So much for poison, huh? Yes, I coated these arrows with some poison Kyou-san made in a hurry with some plants we had. Another consumable to use, but while it should have a numbing effect, it doesn''t seem to affect the oni much.
Stronger poisons might work though. In the unlikely case that I don''t end the oni here and now.
So if the poison won''t work, how can I get her?Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
I drink an SP-potion first. Dodging all these attacks and my skills used up enough to justify that. I can rely on pots, it¡¯s the same strategy I had to use on the ss''rak patriarch, but I don''t want to burn through too many resources if I can help it. This mentality limits my options. Unless I get a vital, I won''t be able to deal much damage.
Ah, that''s possible. At least for now. I coat some more arrows with the poison. Even though it didn''t work before, the dosage might make the difference. ¡°[Seeker]!¡± I aim for her lung. The arrow slightly changes course to hit my target. This one hits!
¡°Uarks!¡± The effect is obvious, the oni gags and coughs. ¡°Kuh, kuh, kuh!¡±
While she''s still dealing with this: ¡°[Seeker]!¡± Another one sunk into her body, this time I''ve aimed for the place that her bladder could be, right under her belly.
¡°Ouch!¡± Dammit, it''s too shallow.
Aiming for her face is also an option, but the head is moving and a rather small target. While my [Seeker] might recourse the arrow to it, there are still her arms to consider, which move around to guard her head and torso. ¡°[Seeker]!¡± So I aim for her knee.
¡°Woaaaha!¡± With this, the oni falls on it. This looks like a perfect opportunity to charge in, but I''m a coward. Therefore, I aim for her shoulder. ¡°[Seeker]!¡±
She lifts her hand and the arrow pierces into her palm. ¡°Bro, you''re cruel!¡± She plucks the arrow and hurls it at me, who is standing right next to a house corner.
...FAST!
I throw myself behind the corner, make a roll, and use the momentum to stand up quickly. Without [Focus] I might be dead right now!
Carefully, I look around the corner. The arrows I sunk into the oni lie on the ground, the oni is nowhere to be seen. Dammit, it was just a few moments.
While using [Pitch] to hear through the pigsty sounds, I start to retreat further into the alleys. Looks like I entered the second phase of this boss fight.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°How about this one?¡± I show Rine-chan a leather helmet that has small holes at the side so that the ears are covered, while the wearer can still hear.
¡°Let me try it...¡± She puts it on. ¡°Somehow this doesn''t feel right. I feel some weird pressure coming from the top.¡±
After both of us had our haircut, Arako declined one, we found an armory shop. Rine-chan wants to look for a helmet. To be honest, I insisted on it after seeing the armory shop.
Rine-chan told me that she broke her last helmet before she met Ken and me by throwing it at an incoming mountain-crawler while she was resting. It split, so she left it behind. Since then, she hasn¡¯t gotten a replacement.
Rine-chan is a valuable friend, therefore I want her to have some proper protection.
Arako also thinks this is an important aspect, even though it seems like alfar don''t wear helmets in general. Seeing how her ears continuously move, it may be because of that.
Because it''s important, it''s money spent from the party funds. Let''s see if Ken will even notice it.
Still, choosing a helmet seems to be like picking clothes. There are a lot of things to consider. Like how good you can move your head, if it fits your head shape and maintenance of course. For some reason, whenever equipment is involved maintenance is a vital part. We''re traveling a lot, so having some fancy stuff that can''t be fixed by ourselves is merely a subpar option.
¡°How about this one, Katarine-san?¡± Arako shows an iron helmet with a leather cloth to cover the neck.
¡°Let''s see... It''s too heavy. I move my head a lot in combat, it would throw off my balance if I used one that¡¯s too heavy.¡±
¡°I thought that the purpose of a helmet is protection.¡±
¡°That''s right, Ara, but the first goal is survival. I have to be able to fight at my best while being protected as well as possible.¡±
¡°I agree with Rine-chan, Arako.¡±
Arako starts whispering. I won''t ask about it because she might be mumbling to herself.
¡°What did you say, Ara?¡± Of course, Rine-chan doesn''t show that kind of restraint.
¡°Ah, I forgot how bad your hearing is.¡± That''s kinda insulting. ¡°Come closer, both of you.¡± We do as she says and she repeats her whisper: ¡°Even though you may be heroes, attacks on vitals are still nothing to laugh it. You don''t need to care too much about your body, but keep all of your vitals covered.¡± This certainly sounds like Ken. Or someone who reached some conclusions after researching the hero-system.
Not that she listens to her own advice, but Arako doesn''t have the [Armor]-ability in any class, so she might have decided not to use it after all. Also, I think that the frail Arako would have problems even moving while wearing armor. I mean, I tried to wear leather armor once and had to learn how heavy and sweaty it becomes after wearing it for an hour or so. [Armor] seems to bypass it, seeing how Ken moves in his hide armor all day long without issue.
My cloth armor might be not the best protection, but mobility is necessary too. At least I got a special one in Aroahenn. The material is sturdy and I think Arako''s dress is also made from it, or maybe even something better.
Though the other girl has her own ideas. ¡°Ara, while I respect how much you know about heroes, fighting isn''t your forte. I''m only somewhat good at it, but I can tell that there is much more to it.¡± That''s Rine-chan. While she''s somewhat humble about her fighting skills, she''s able to beat Arako to a pulp with a broken arm. Literally. ¡°So I want to decide which helmet to use by my standards. It''s me who will use it, after all.¡±
What presence... Sometimes it slips my mind that Rine-chan is a princess. She acts like a kouhai most of the time, a spirited girl who looks up to me, but this might be the first time, she has this kind of royal aura around her.
It''s intimidating and reminds me of her father and, to some degree, of the god Muaotef. The kind of intimidation which stems from knowing who you are, knowing that you''re someone who has something to say.
However, while Muaotef doesn''t recognize others as much more than dirt, Rine and her father don''t disrespect the other party. In a way, that''s even scarier. The inner strength that doesn''t even need other people to shine.
I think Arako also noticed it, her ears are going haywire. Her left eye narrows a bit, while I''m not sure what exactly she''s thinking or feeling right now, I do know that she''s surprised and unsure what to do.
Then she speaks: ¡°Katarine-san, while I do respect your martial prowess and your opinion, I can''t accept this attitude when I gave you my suggestion. Especially after what you did last night.¡±
...this is not good.
¡°I''ll take my punishment for that. Choose whatever you think is fair. Even though I still have problems believing it, it''s what you and Kenta told me, so I trust you.¡± With this Rine-chan turns away and looks at some more helmets.
Arako also turns away, but she takes a look at the other customers, who try to avoid her. While an alfr''s face is hard to read, you have to be as oblivious to the mood as Ken to not notice how pissed she is.
Rine-chan is headstrong. Arako is self-opinionated.
They got along so good just now, but like so often happens, it only takes a moment, a little disagreement, to tear people apart.
...what a headache.
I think I might need to mediate between these two. Not now, but maybe at the next stop.
Considering both of their personalities, they might make up after a while, but both of them have a certain stubbornness.
...I guess in general this party is quite stubborn, including Ken and me.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Where is she? I use [Wild Eyes], which allows me to perceive spirits. I can sense some orange doves on the roof, the pigs in the pigsty, and the people working there, no oni though. The range of [Wild Eyes] isn''t much, so it may be because of that.
I don''t hear her either. Did she escape?
Unlikely.
Maybe she is hiding and trying to sneak up on me. Who knows what she can do.
Of course, I could just let her go, but I don''t want to. Because she may ambush me, because it will give her more time, because I''m sick of making more and more enemies and want to cut them down a bit.
I already circumvented the alleys, and picked up my knife, but she''s nowhere to be seen. Also, my [Track]-skill doesn''t work properly. Maybe she transformed, and her tracks are now hidden by all the others.
Stay calm. I need another approach. There is more than one option, more than only one perspective. Ah, that''s it.
Slowly I climb up a roof and begin walking on it in a low position. The tiles are a bit slippery, something slick is there. Seriously, take better care of your roof!
There is a person!
A blonde, middle-aged woman, who wears some dirty apron. Maybe a housewife, or the oni in disguise.
I lift my bow. Maybe I should try to take a shot right next to her...
No, if she''s not the oni, then she will most likely run away and report it, then even if I leave the scene, all mercenaries within the city with bows might be investigated. Maybe it wasn''t a good idea to properly enter Goldbrunn after all.
Nah, while it''s currently a hindrance, it''s still better than being questioned at the gates. I mean, how are a bunch of under-equipped teenagers even supposed to travel from one settlement to another?
Next time, I might stow the bow in the [Inventory], I also need to put my archery glove away then. Stop, think about this later, the oni comes first.
I follow the woman, trying to figure out whether she''s the oni or not. At least she doesn''t seem suspicious. Still, who knows wha-
She''s entering a house, but more importantly, on the small forecourt of that house stands a hutch. Inside it are bunnies. They are much more colorful than the ones at home and have some strange bent ears.
There is a red one as well.
I draw my bow and shoot it. ¡°[Seeker]!¡± My arrow pierces through its body and... it has some last seizures before dying...
I think I just killed a regular, pet bunny....
...better retrieve the arrow, before questions are asked.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
He killed it! Wow, how brutal, bro! And worrying! Because he has to know about the bunny form as well.
The oni is currently hiding right under the hutch in her bunny form, she tried to sneak into it, but then she heard the woman coming. For some reason, she didn''t catch bro getting closer, even with her bunny hearing. He has to be using some trick to be so quiet while walking.
Or maybe he''s just that good?
The oni has long been waiting for an opportunity to get bro, but her squirrel servants wouldn''t have been that helpful inside the city, so she let them guard the gates while she sneaked in as a bunny using a merchant''s cart. Then she had to spend some time actually finding one of them She used her woman form for that. Finally, she found bro, who was inside the whore neighborhood. She thought she was lucky, but now she realizes how much work bro actually is!
Fighting with Katakata is fun, but fighting bro is dangerous. The way he looks at her makes her feel uneasy, and he uses dirty tricks whenever he can. She admires it in a way, but she wants to kill him soooooo much, that she can''t really enjoy it.
Now her best tricks are seen through! Her shapeshifting is her ace, though she only has a few shapes to change into. Yet, for some reason, bro was able to see through her woman-disguise.
And now he shot a bunny!
Poor bunny! Shooting a cute bunny is a crime in itself, so murdering him will not only be satisfying and fun, but also kinda justified. Not that the oni even understands the concept of justice, but that''s beside the point!
Now bro jumps from the roof and comes closer. He hasn''t detected her so far. For some reason, he has some insight about her, so she has to overpower him fast before he can overwhelm her.
The oni is sure that he uses poison. While her regeneration also makes it hard to poison her, she still feels that slightly numbing feeling. She has never been poisoned to the degree that it was actually a handicap, but she doesn''t want to give bro any more chances.
He''s almost here. His eyes are fixed on the hutch. Most likely he is about to collect the arrow, so the oni just has to attack him, while he does. She will jump, transform, and smash him with the weight of a full grown oni!
Then she will crush him beneath her foot and everything will be over.
Bro puts his bow in his backpack. Then- ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± he pierces the bunny oni with his spear.
¡°Auwl!¡± He hit quite a few vitals at once! Being small has some demerits, but now the bunny is growing, losing its fur for a set of horns, sharp teeth, and a pretty scary face. Her horns stab into the hutch above her, and she rips it from them with her bare hands in order to throw it at bro.
He clenches his spear with one hand, while his other hand... oh no, not again! He''s putting a bomb in her body again!
*Burst* While her whole body is quite resilient against fire, the small explosion itself does some damage, and it¡¯s right in her innards!
Bro was also hit by the explosion, but it propelled him away from her, while his hold on his weapon was firm enough to rip it out of the oni''s body.
It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! She wants to kill, kill, kill! Kill him for doing it again! Her regeneration can still keep up, but the pain, the pain hurts!
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± So she uses her youki more offensively!
¡°Third phase, huh?¡±
What is he even talking about?
Volume 05 - Chapter 3-3
We''re sitting in a tavern to take a break and eat a bit. While the meals in an inn aren''t exactly bad, they aren''t good either. My order is bunny ragout with some sort of noodles, and salad as a side dish. Rine is eating pork cutlets with turnips, and Arako has fried mushrooms with salad.
The atmosphere between Arako and Rine-chan is a bit cold. They don''t even talk to each other. Sometimes they look at the other party, but then both of them exchange a glance and turn their heads somewhere else.
Today is my free day, so I want to have some peace. Even so, I don''t want to ignore both of them either, they are my friends after all. So I''ll try my best to make the two of them reconcile, since the reason why they''re fighting is stupid in the first place.
There is one topic they will agree on. It''s not a topic I enjoy talking about, but this time I had better endure. ¡°What do you think Ken''s currently doing?¡± From here, I''ll be able to continue.
Arako answers. ¡°He''s most likely farming outside the city.¡± Farming, a game term. Doing battles for XP, items, or something else, if I''m right. Looks like she picked it up from Ken.
¡°Why would you think that?¡±
¡°Because he is unsatisfied with the progress of this party.¡±
I check my XP. Still the same. ¡°If he is doing so, he hasn''t started yet.¡±
¡°I see.¡± I... shouldn''t have said that. She seems to be offended. On the other hand, I feel like I grasped a bit of the actual problem.
¡°I think Kenta is walking around the city, still doing some work.¡±
No, Rine-chan, he certainly isn''t. My best guess is that he will visit a place that he doesn''t want us to be involved with. Maybe he''s visiting some rangers? Do they have secret meeting places so that they can share their knowledge?
Or is he trying to find the black market in order to buy some lethal poisons? That would explain why he needs an allowance. Not that he can openly talk about it while Rine-chan''s around.
I mean, he asked me before if I can produce something like that and I made him some medicine that numbs the body. It''s actually from a poisonous plant, so it''s something like a poison. But if he wants to try using some lethal stuff, I have not learned how to extract that from plants. So I''d need a new [Skill] from the [Compounding]-ability.
Well, in the end, ¡°I think he''s doing something stupid again. I mean, chances are that he is getting involved in fights, pissing off the wrong people, and getting put in jail. That''s all that he can do, cause trouble for the rest of us!¡± With this, I''m the bad girl.
¡°¡°No he won¡¯t!¡±¡± Both Arako and Rine-chan, are replying the same way.
¡°Yes, he will.¡± Actually, I feel some sort of shiver run down my spine. What I was saying was supposed to be a lie to get both of them on the same page first but...
...call it womanly intuition, but I feel like I may actually be right.
No, he won''t, right?
¡°Kyou, Kenta is great! And I''ll tell you why!¡± So the lecture starts...
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°[Oni Fire]! Stay... still! *Huff, huff, huff* And die!¡±
Yep, this oni is most likely the most annoying kind of opponent for me. The regeneration makes it next to impossible to fight her directly without running out of SP, and I don''t have the time to drink a pot while she''s trying to kill me.
By the way, I evade her fire blasts easily. My charging theory is correct: when she takes a deep breath, a more powerful blast comes out. If necessary, she can breathe in multiple times for an even stronger attack. Is it due to her lung volume, or because she somehow changes the air into something else, therefore using up less space?
Well, she can charge the [Oni Fire] without a noticeable mobility decrease, which makes it hard to disrupt. There is also a tiny little problem. Not for me, but for our surroundings, especially the buildings. Some have holes, three are in ruins, and the people are in a panic.
Actually, this works for me. Now I''m just trying to buy time because there are some special people here, who will really like seeing a demon here. That''s why I taunt her, to keep her occupied. ¡°I don''t need to stay still. You just need to aim, n00b!¡±
Actually, she just needs to close the distance, because I have too much time to predict the attack, which makes evading it easy. To be honest, she tries her best. It¡¯s just that I''m faster than her and I use it to my advantage. I''m practically kiting her, I''ve remembered her habits, and now I can easily see the pattern of her attacks and dodge. Especially since she''s not even trying to be subtle.
I just hope my SP will be enough.
Urgs, my MP are draining quickly as well. It¡¯s mostly because I use [Wild Eyes] to get a feeling of where the people are around me so that I won''t provoke any shots that will kill people accidentally if I evade them.
I had to deactivate [Pitch] to save some SP, and with the noise around me and my eyes locked on the oni, I have little idea what''s going on around me. I can only sense spirits in a short range, and I''m not good at reading them yet. I may know where people around me roughly are, but that''s all.
¡°¡°HOLD!¡±¡± Ah, finally some reinforcements. Guards?
No, better. Crusaders. Two whom I haven''t seen before. The guards are evacuating the people. Quite efficient.
¡°Foul creature, give up and we will grant you a mercifully quick death!¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°Man, you guys! Stop interfering! *Hiss!*¡± The oni is grimacing.
¡°Are you a ranger?¡± This question is for me. Well, I do have my hood on, so people who care can jump to that conclusion.
¡°Yes, but this fight is pure coincidence.¡±
¡°You still hold your own, would you mind helping us out?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°Bro! You little, slimy bastard!¡±
Well, my smirk right now is the worst for sure. Even the Crusaders are taken aback, but the real enemy is the oni.
Both Crusaders draw their weapons. One uses a mace, the other a sword. I also ready my spear.
The oni roars. ¡°I''ll rip all of you apart, you puny-¡±
¡°¡°[Exorcise]!¡±¡± Both Crusaders put one hand forward and shoot a cone of dim light. The moment it connects the oni is enveloped with white fire. So that''s Kyou-san''s spell, I¡¯ve never seen it in action.
¡°IIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡± Wow, that''s a cry of agony. Well, I''m merciful enough to kill-
The white fireball jumps forward, and the figure is warping. Is she changing her form again?
The Crusader with the sword steps forward and swings at the fireball, the other was just a heartbeat behind him: ¡°[Exorcise]!¡± While the sword slashes at the oni, who is taken aback by the spell again.
¡°Ouch, no, ouch, it hurts, argh, argh!¡± I would take pity on her if she weren''t after my life. Ah, who am I kidding, I''ll be glad to get some XP out of her, no matter what the circumstance. So I''m gonna stab the fallen oni.
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± Or I''m trying to! A weak flicker lefts the fireball, but it''s enough to cause me to avoid it. The white flames disperse and...
¡°Seriously!?¡± I can''t help but laugh. ¡°[Exorcise] also cancels abilities, so is that your true form!? You pipsqueak!¡±
¡°SHUT UP!!!¡± Instead of a big oni, a small bunny, or a sexy woman, a girl is standing up, similar to her Ogra-form, but a little different. She looks pretty human, even counting in her red twintails. I mean, some people in this world just have those kinds of hair colors.
Her yellow eyes look like that of a beast and are framed by a thick black line, a bit like eyeshadow. She also has some inhuman traits: Her ears are slightly pointed, she has sharp teeth with two fangs, small horns grow out of her forehead, and she has a pronged nasal bone.
Seriously, she looks just like a good cosplayer.
Her clothes also changed, but this seems to be a side-effect of shapeshifting in general. Now she wears a short dress with a thin jacket over it, stockings, and boots. She doesn''t even have a belt or a pouch. Are there restrictions to her shapeshifting powers?
Well, no matter. Time for her to-
-jump with a crazy speed at one of the Crusaders, which the Crusader is fast enough to evade. These guys aren''t pushovers, but I think I''m still above them concerning mobility, or overall fighting strength. Not that I want to fight them in the first place.
¡°Ranger, don''t try to do too much. Reinforcements are on the way, just keep her from escaping.¡±
I like these guys! They''re organized, efficient, and capable. Why can''t be my party-members be like this?
So I just need to keep going for a while, and then the oni will fall. This seems doable, considering my remaining SP. I''ll probably leave the fighting to the two Crusaders mostly, but I want to see it through so that the oni will surely die.
I don''t want to take an SP-pot now and expose my hero-status. Yes, this Energy Brew, which I call SP-pot, can be drunk by non-heroes as well. In fact, the more wealthy people do just that, but they''re more like energy drinks. Just gulping one wouldn''t suddenly make all strain and fatigue go away.
I''ll just save my power instead and do some support here.
The sword-wielding Crusader begins to circle the chibi-oni, so they¡¯re trying to flank her. On the other side, the oni attempts to smash the mace-wielder.
I''m sure that he¡¯s got this covered. Nevertheless, I intercept by passing her while hitting with my spear-pole. This action throws her off, and she gets pummeled by the mace.
Good riddance.
¡°[Exorcise]!¡± Sword uses his spell again.
¡°OUUUUUUUUUU!!!¡± This is just like bullying. I kinda like it. This time though, the flames quickly disperse. ¡°Hah! It doesn''t work! It doesn''t work anymore, so stop it!¡± She exclaims with a demanding tone, her face red with anger.
You know that your cries of pain belie that?
¡°Be careful, Palmward, this one seems to have some resistance!¡± So the spell is usually even more lethal? I guess it has weakened because she''s currently in her true form, so there is no dispel effect anymore.
Is there more to it?
Wait, why do I care, if she''s dead soon anyway?
¡°Now...¡± The oni stomps on the ground, it''s just hard earth, but there is a hole where her foot is now. ¡°...I''ll show you my true power!¡± She deeply inhales, then she jumps into the air. It''s quite a distance, several meters.
...wait, she inhales a second time. ¡°TAKE COVER!!!¡± I''m already running away.
¡°[ONI FIRE]!!!¡±
I can feel the heatwave on my back, and an explosion behind it. This [Oni Fire] one was on another level than the ones before. Still not as strong as the one she used to burn a tunnel through Aeolferelda, but she was buffed back then by that uncaring tree!
So this might be her best!
The explosion sweeps me from my feet, I try to change my fall into a roll, but instead I slide through the dirt road on my arm and shoulder. ...and it hurts!
I take a look back, the oni just landed. ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA! Take- ...that?¡±
¡°¡°[Exorcise]!¡±¡±
The two Crusaders are injured, but the moment they hear my warning they cast spells. [Resistance] and [Endure].
¡°YUAAAARGH! Stop it, stop it I said!¡± The face of the oni distorts. She certainly seems much closer to her giant form face-wise. ¡°I''ll smash you to pieces!¡± The anger¡¯s got her, and she''s charging one of the Crusaders again. They just need to use [Exorcise] one more time, then we can gang up on her and-
...I think they ran out of MP or whatever non-heroes have. They look drained, but discipline keeps them from faltering. The charged one braces himself and tries to take the hit, but the oni is still crazy strong, even as a pipsqueak.
¡°Phew... hey pipsqueak!¡±
¡°I-AM-NOT-A-PIPSQUEAK!!!¡± She changes targets. Obviously. ¡°I AM AN ONI, PUNY!¡±
She moves faster than before, now that she''s small, but it doesn''t seem to have that much effect on her power. I have a hunch however. I lower my body while also charging at her. Instead of trying to stab her, I use my spear to trip her, she falls flat on her face and growls in displeasure.
My suspicion is right: Her weight has dropped. So while she still has arm strength, the power is most likely not anchored well, meaning that it might be surprisingly easy to deny her the use of all that raw power. I just need her to lose ground contact and avoid being grappled by her.
I can do that.
So the fight continues.
The oni tries her best to get me, but other than me, there are still the two Crusaders, one may be a bit injured, but is still capable of fighting. So it''s three versus one.
¡°[Oni Fire], [Oni Fire], [Oni Fire]!¡± The quick succession of her fiery breath makes it weak. The oni is more or less just trying to keep us away.
Nonetheless- ¡°Huff, huff, huff...¡± Even I''m short of breath. My muscles groan, they want to rest. I can keep on pushing them, but it doesn''t mean that I don''t feel the strain. However, I''m still a far cry away from being [Worn Out]. My previous experience has given me a feeling of what I can handle before everything breaks down, even though my SP are in the dangerous area where I might pass out at any time.
The Crusaders are also tired. It''s such a short fight, but the oni seems like a bottomless barrel of stamina.
¡°Good work, Palmward, Grenwill.¡± The reinforcements arrive. It''s just three guys, but one of them is undeniably the leader-type, a middle-aged man with brown, fleeting hair and a full beard. His green eyes sure look powerful and strong-willed. He turns to me. ¡°I''m Captain Archibald Alchenain, commander of the Crusaders in Goldbrunn. You have my thanks for fighting with my-¡± He pauses.
His eyes seem to undress me, trying to get a peek under my hood. Is it because I''m Asian again? Come on!
Then he lifts his hand in my direction. ¡°[Judgement]!¡±
...it hurts. How much it hurts? ¡°UUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡± That much.
Volume 05 - Chapter 3-4
My throat is dry. That''s to be expected because I talked about how good of a husband Kenta is. ¡°And have you seen Kenta watching the fire all by himself? He is always pondering then, and afterward, he comes up with an idea on how we can improve as a group, be it regarding organization, or battle strategy, or something else.¡± When he stares intensely into the flames, they''re reflected by his black eyes, it looks so divine, the fire in the dark sea. The way he moves his arms when he begins to put some more branches into it, every single movement is calm, controlled. Watching him so centered makes my heart beat so strong, that it feels like it''s about to burst out of my chest.
Kyou silently looks at me, it makes me a bit uncomfortable as if she is expecting something. Had none of my arguments been heard? Did she even listen to me? Or does she still want more?
I take a sip from my cup, it''s juiced water.
That is the moment when Kyou asks Ara: ¡°What about you?¡±
Ara, who is about to finish her lunch, replies: ¡°While I think that what Katarine-san said is certainly biased, I-¡±
¡°Biased!?¡± What I say is the truth. Arako always thinks she''s right. She may be smart and I''m not, but if a person always thinks that they know better, they become arrogant and insolent, they stop being smart!
¡°Yes, biased. I-¡±
¡°Wait, both of you.¡± Kyou interferes. ¡°I think we should head to a doctor next. Rine-chan needs to have her eyes checked, and Arako her ears.¡±
¡°What is wrong with my ears?¡± They are flapping. Her ears are flapping!
¡°Buh!¡± But what is supposed to be wrong with my eyes! They are fine!
¡°I have known Ken the longest, so both of you are wrong!¡±
My jaw drops.
Wha- What is she saying! Kyou, you''re the same as Ara!
¡°Momo, don''t you think that-¡±
¡°Arako, shut up.¡± Kyou''s looks at Ara as if she was just a mere child. One who tries to explain why the broken window was not her fault despite being seen throwing the stone.
With this, Ara falls silent. Her eyes are a bit wide, and her ears are twitching and a bit red.
¡°Now let me explain to you something about Ken: If given a choice, he would be far, far away from any of us. That''s the kind of person he is. He wants to be alone, and he won''t join up with anyone as long there is no dire need to.¡±
¡°You''re wrong! Yes, maybe Kenta dislikes the curse, but he likes us! He is just shy!¡±
¡°Rine-chan, did I allow you to speak?¡±
¡°You can''t-¡±
¡°Don''t interrupt me please.¡±
¡°But-¡±
¡°What did I say?¡±
I- I have never been treated like that! But somehow Kyou''s words, her stern but calm voice, make it hard to talk back to her. She talks to me like my parents, as if she has no reason to listen to me if I''ve done wrong!
And exactly that makes me feel like I''m wrong!
But I''m right! At least this time!
It would be easy to make Kyou listen to me, but she''s my friend, so even the tiniest bit of becoming physical is out of the question!
¡°Now that Rine-chan understands, we can continue.¡± Kyou looks at both of us, Ara and me. Her dark eyes are calm and calculating. ¡°Arako, do you think that Ken likes you?¡±
¡°Yes, as a friend.¡±
¡°I doubt that he even knows how friendship works. Maybe he only uses you to prove all his ideas right?¡±
¡°Our thoughts are similar in many respects.¡±
¡°And whenever he thinks of something, you agree, right?¡±
¡°That''s not right.¡±
¡°Because you try so hard to be his friend. What a great friendship you have.¡±
¡°I-¡± Ara falters.
¡°STOP!¡± That''s me. Kyou... Kyou is... ¡°Stop being mean, Kyou!¡± The people are looking at us, but I don''t care! ¡°Ara and Kenta are friends, they are such good friends, that I''m jealous! I want to talk with Kenta on the same level like Ara does! But he''s too smart! I can''t!¡± Tears are welling up. ¡°Ara is smart, Kyou is smart, you can talk with him like that. All I can do is look at him and admire how smart he is... *sob*¡±
¡°Katarine-san...¡± Ara''s ears are lowering. ¡°I... No, I mean... I can''t even express what I want to say. You''re sad, right? That''s why tears are coming, it''s because of human physiology, right?¡± She pauses a moment. ¡°I admire you.¡±
¡°...what?¡±
¡°When you do what you want, you get results. While I... do barely. I mean...¡± She flicks her ear. ¡°I think this is not the best place to talk in depth, but-¡± Her double-irises wanders around the room, where the people are still watching us. ¡°I want to say, that I respect you. Also, in regards to Kenta-kun, you''re ahead of me in some ways. You''re the only one, who can stand beside him right now. Neither Momo nor I am able to do that, we have to stay behind him. I also think that he admires you as much as I do.¡±
...I didn''t notice. Ara and Kyou are trying to become stronger. They are trying to be better in combat, that''s why they asked me to train them. So the reason for that is so they can stand by Kenta''s side, as I do.
It looks like I was the one, who was arrogant, who took my own abilities for granted, who was so overly confident in them that they started to make me feel better, even though Ara has her own merits and is right to be confident as well.
No, we are both at fault. In the armory shop, she was proud of what she knows of the hero-system and therefore trying to tell me what is right, without even thinking about what I can contribute.
I was offended because I know so much about fighting, that I thought of her as ignorant, without even trying to understand that she wanted to help me. Even though she worded it poorly, I didn¡¯t ask her what she meant, I just assumed that she was totally wrong.
¡°I''m sorry for the armory shop, Ara. I was acting stupid. You were just trying to help me.¡±
¡°I''m sorry as well, Katarine-san. I was thoughtless and didn''t realize that some minor remark could end up like that.¡±
¡°I''m also sorry for what happened last night. I... I''ll try to work on that.¡±
¡°It was scary, and I won''t let it slide without punishment, but I''m sorry to bring it up at the worst moment.¡±
¡°I''m also sorry.¡± Kyou smiles awkwardly at both of us. ¡°Sorry about being so mean, but I hate it when my friends fight, and you''re both too stubborn, so I used some drastic measures. I''m soooo sorry for setting both of you up. I know that it was just a minor fight, something that would be forgotten soon, but if you don''t talk about it, then it would linger. I didn''t want that.¡±
Kyou is smart. She''s my best friend. She cares so much for others. I remember something mother told me once. ''Any conflict, be it between farmers, or between countries, starts about something concrete. Although the more the conflict escalates, the less important the original reason becomes. What people really want is to be acknowledged, to be respected, to be taken seriously. If you deny them that, they will be offended and emotional.''
Mother is smart. Just like Kyou. It was never about Ara criticizing my standards of equipment, but that she did it in a way that made me feel, that she doesn''t acknowledge my opinion.
¡°Thank you, Kyou.¡± I put my thoughts into words.
¡°Thank you, Momo.¡± Ara follows me.
It might be only a little fight, something that may have been forgotten after a few days, but now I feel closer to Ara. To Kyou as well. I feel like I understand them a little bit better now.
¡°Come here!¡± I stand up, open my arms and invite them in for a hug.
¡°...come Arako, for the audience. Please be careful of Rine''s splinted arm.¡± The people around us are still listening and watching us, but I don''t care.
¡°...please be gentle.¡±
All three of us hug, while the crowd cheers.
I feel how Kyou is as warm as I am, how Ara feels a bit cooler. How both of them are smaller than me, but still tall enough. I squeeze them a bit, Ara''s head lies on my breast, but I don''t mind. Each of us are different, but we''re the same. Kyou smells a bit like Kenta. Ara has the scent of the forests of Aroahenn.
This is a great moment: me hugging my friends.
You gain 3 WP.
Reconciliation is part of every successful wedding. Sister-wives trying to understand each other, trying to work things out, is a crucial part to lead you and your husband to pure happiness.
Continue to do so!
I will! I will!!!
Hn? Something strange is happening. There is something, something at the edge of something. The edge of my... emotions? I can''t even describe it, but it feels strange yet somewhat familiar.
¡°I... I didn''t know that this can happen with humans...¡± Ara mumbles. ¡°...or is it because of something else?¡± I feel how her ear brushes my breasts while moving. Alfar really move their ears a lot.
I feel how tears are running down my cheeks again because I''m so happy.
This is the best!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
This is the worst!
It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!
Different from the time I got nut shot by Kyou-san, but comparable in pure pain! Something of mine was set ablaze, that was never supposed to burn! What is it even, is it my nervous system? My veins? My very soul?
I can only see white, my ears hurt because of my own screams, my throat feels like it''s about to rip, each of my muscles has seizures, and I can hardly even think!
Make it stop, make it stop!
I don''t want to die, but even I would hesitate to choose to live if it''s with this pain!
Through the white, something pops up.
You gain 3 WP.
Your three wives have a great moment, be sure to pamper them a bit later.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Oh yeah, so those three have a great moment, while I¡¯m feeling immeasurable pain, huh!?
I hear something: ¡°Be careful, he''s standing up!¡± Oh yes, I guess I am.
¡°How can that be!? I mean, Captain''s [Judgment] is working! No sinner should be able even to remain conscious!¡± Do you want to know? Pure defiance! If those three can have a ''great moment'' while I''m burning, then I refuse to let those shitty Crusaders have their way!
It doesn''t make any sense, but I''m through! These bastards hurt me, they hurt me so much, that I''m going to make them pay!
¡°Why...¡± There is only one question I ask in my hoarse, pained voice. ¡°Why are you doing this!?¡± Slowly, my sight returns, I can see the two Crusaders who were my allies, plus the Captain and his two goons.
None of them, not even the two who stood at my side just now, look at me with sympathy. Not even hate or disdain, they look at me like I''d look at a mob.
The Captain, that bastard Alchenain, answers my question, eerily calm, totally convinced that he is right. ¡°You''re a sinner. I felt it just now, and [Judgment] only works on those, who broke the divine laws. Death to all sinners.¡±
Oh no, the idiocy of the divine laws. There are five of them, each one dumber than the next.
You may only serve one god at a time.
You may not change your gender.
You may not bring the dead back to actual life.
You may have only one partner in marriage.
You may not officially change your name, unless due to marriage.
When you break one of these laws, then you''re a sinner. If there are too many sinners within the same species, it''ll come to genocide. That''s at least what the people believe.
That''s why every discovered sinner is killed.
Now I learned something: the stupid curse actually counts as marriage in the eyes of the gods!
Are you fucking serious!? I mean, it''s not like I wanted to be cursed, but they don''t care!?
Wait, why am I even questioning that, I mean, if the shitty gods cared at all, then they wouldn''t be involved in this mass-kidnapping called ''hero summoning!''
I should have known that the Crusaders would be on the other side! I mean, they ''hunt the profane,'' so why wouldn''t sinners be on the list!? But can you blame me for not taking that into account!? I thought, until now, that the whole ''marriage business'' is just the kind of sick humor this curse has! Or that it only proclaims it!
How does marriage even work in this world in the first place!? Is it more than just some vows!?
Argh, my hate of the whole situation got in the way of my information gathering! Wait, that''s not important, the Crusaders are readying their weapons and about to attack me as well.
As well?
¡°Pipsqueak!¡±
¡°Don''t call me that, puny!¡± The girl-oni is obviously as pissed as I am.
¡°You and I.¡± I look in her eyes.
After a moment, she looks at the Crusaders. ¡°Let''s make them suffer!¡±
Since both of us got the short stick on these very target-specific but painful as hell spells, we have a sort of understanding. We''re both too beaten to take them on alone, but with the two of us working together, we''ll be able to figure something out.
¡°First the mace. Grab his weapon!¡±
¡°Good idea, bro!¡±
¡°No, you don''t!¡± One of the new Crusaders, who also wields a sword, tries to intercept the oni. ¡°[Exorcise]!¡±
There is a flaw in that spell. I step into the cone, blocking the light of it. ¡°Too bad.¡±
A small girl''s body slams into a full-grown man. Said full-grown man is taken for a ride inside one of the wooden buildings. This should help! I slip through the hole. I have no idea how exactly that [Judgment]-spell works, but maybe I can take cover from it.
The slammed Crusader is unconscious. Well, he was already beaten up to some degree. The oni picks up his mace. ¡°It''s so small.¡±
¡°What happened to your club anyway!?¡± I push her deeper into the building.
¡°I had to leave it outside. I can''t change shape with it.¡±
¡°Then why does it work with clothes?¡±
¡°It simply does. I don''t care about the ''why¡¯!¡±
¡°Argh, just try to find some stairs!¡± My plan is to escape via the roof. The Crusaders shouldn''t be able to follow us there, considering their chainmail. Then we can jump from roof to roof.
¡°I don''t need stairs!¡± Proclaiming this, she jumps, punches the ceiling, and makes a hole.
¡°Id-¡± The hole widens, because there happened to be a cupboard above! The wood of the ceiling is creaking, and the cupboard slips through the hole.
I throw myself to the side, evading the damn thing. The retarded pipsqueak is not able to. ¡°Is this a movie or something stupid like that, pipsqueak!? I don''t think so!¡± Of course, you can''t just blindly make holes into ceilings to...
Wait, the creaking is becoming louder. Don''t tell me... I know some basics of architecture. There are load-bearing walls and beams sometimes. Did she just...
I grab pipsqueak, who stands up as if the cupboard was just some sort of pillow, and throw her out of the window. The glass breaks, but now I can also jump through it.
Instead of falling into shards, I use pipsqueak as a stepping stone, landing with my hands first on her body, and then do a quick a roll. The shards piercing my back are either stopped by my backpack or my armor.
For pipsqueak: ¡°Ouch! What was tha-¡±
I can''t hear the rest because something loud occurs inside the building. Looks like more of the ceiling broke in. It will be a great obstacle for the Crusaders. Also a good opportunity to run away!
...are you serious? Why are there three more exactly on this side of the building? These are different guys as well. Even some of the city guard are here... Don''t tell me that they''re supposed to cut off the escape routes?
I hate these organized bastards!
Wait, if they are different, then I might just sacrifice pipsqueak here and pass through them.
¡°Wait, the one in the red armor is a sinner!¡±
Ah, dammit. So not only the captain is able to tell.
Please no [Judgment], please no [Judgment], please no [Judgment]! ¡°[Judgment]!¡± Dammit!
I watch his hand, trying to see how the spell is shot, but something casts a shadow on me. Pipsqueak in her giant form, shielding me. ¡ the spell comes from above!?
It hit the back of the oni, and she doesn''t take any damage.
So you have an anger-ridden, murdering oni here, and she doesn''t count as a sinner, but I do!?
I hate you, fantasy world. Why can''t you just end, while sending me back home!? You seriously are so flawed, that you''d ruin a company that would bring you out as a game.
Still, the oni somehow saved me. Well, like I did to her before. So instead of thanking her, I just nod. ¡°Let''s break through!¡±
¡°[Exor-]¡± The oni swaps to her true form, hiding behind my back. ¡°[-cise]!¡± So the spell is blocked by me.
Well, they already had their weapons ready, and now they''re taking stances. Is trying to break through in my current condition actually a good idea?
I mean, they have the two spells, which will take out one of us for several seconds.
Pipsqueak... is already turning around and trying to run away. Trying to leave me behind, huh?
I run after her, leaving the guards and Crusaders. ¡°Don''t you want to fight!¡±
¡°I do, but I can''t!¡±
¡°Make sense, pipsqueak!¡±
¡°Don''t call me that!¡±
¡°I call you as I want!¡±
¡°Call me ''scary oni''!¡±
¡°No way!¡±
¡°I''m not a pipsqueak, puny!¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah, big pain-in-the-ass oni!¡±
¡°Huhu! You called me ''big¡¯!¡±
¡°And a pain in the ass.¡±
¡°Doesn''t matter!¡±
Well, if that makes her happy, then I don''t care.
What I do care about is this guard post in front of us. Including the Captain of the Crusaders, who somehow was able to foresee where we''re going to be and is coming from another alley. Most likely he has some stupid spell or skill, which allows that.
What a pain!
Shit!
My vision is blurring. My SP were low before, but now they''re almost gone. My mind begins to blank, and my thoughts are slipping.
¡°Any bright ideas?¡± I can hardly concentrate on what''s going on.
¡°No. Hihihi!¡± Why is she cackling? ¡°But a stupid one!¡±
I... don''t like where this is going!
¡°Clench your teeth!¡± With these words, she grabs me by the ankle and spins around her axis, using me like a weight.
Motion sick... why is being a hero so closely tied to vomiting? I mean, it''s not the first-
I''m flying. I am flying! Or better said, I''m hurled while a red bunny is holding onto my ankle. So pipsqueak threw me and transformed into a bunny during the throwing motion so that she can ride along as a stowaway.
Yes, that''s certainly a stupid idea. While we got over a block and therefore a pretty good head start, there is still the landing to worry about.
...dammit!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I''m sure we had a spirit connection even though Momo and Katarine-san aren''t alfar. It wasn''t particularly strong, but it was there. So is it possible with humans after all, is it because we''re all heroes, or is it the ring that makes it possible?
Momo has [Spirit Magic], so I wouldn''t wonder about it. Her [Spells] might be not adequate, but she has attained the necessary functions for it. Katarine-san is someone from this world. Humans of this world can learn to use [Spirit Magic], even though it''s something difficult to acquire for them. Not only humans, hynoar and the folk as well, like many other races. Maybe even the dari, but the only dari capable of using [Spirit Magic] I know of are confirmed heroes.
Alfar and dari have some difficulties with getting along. This dates back to the Age of Heroes when the humans and alfar were allies for a while.
I don''t particularly dislike the money-grubbing broken off squats, who waste their time digging in dirt each day to find even the tiniest crumb of metal.
Coming back to the original topic, I''ve never heard that a spirit connection is possible between alfar and humans.
So maybe it''s the tampering with our bodies and minds, which made me able to connect to them, as faintly as it was. Even though it sounds arrogant, it''s very likely that I''m the source of the connection.
Momo is hardly able to even feel her own spirit, while Katarine-san is oblivious to the senses that humans, in general, lack. Rather, this sense seems to be dormant, seeing how other humans are able to learn it.
A spirit connection is the overlapping and intermixing of spirits. In every living being is a spirit, a half-sentient energy which originates from the mind. Like the body, the mind is composed of many, many parts and one of them creates and manages a spirit, the spiritual center.
Emotions, thoughts, memory, everything the mind is made of, runs through the spiritual center, the spirit is always a part of it, but just as a gate. However, alfar can influence this gate, like humans can touch and control doors with their hands, we have some power over the spirit.
This interacting part of the mind is called a spirit branch, and it has a physical counterpart. Like emotions comes from the glands, perception comes from the sensual organs, and thoughts come from the brain, the spirit branch has an organ inside both ears, the ophi asabeti. Right under it is the ophi untern, the sensory organ for perceiving spiritual centers.
These organs worked much more precisely in Alfarheim. In this world I needed some time to get used to the strange feeling of background radiation and strong magical fields, which make it much harder to perceive spirits and almost impossible to influence them.
Maybe because there is no such magic in Alfarheim? An interference, or is it because everything magical is powered by MP in this world?
Be that as it may, I have most likely unwillingly intruded on the spiritual centers of Katarine-san and Momo. I might have used my spirit branch to move my own center into theirs. If I did, then I didn''t notice before it was too late.
In fact, this is the reason why I have still my doubts that I was responsible.
Creating a spirit connection this way is much harder than it sounds. You''d usually put your ears on each other, ear-plugging. Doing it otherwise is like some positions in the sexual intercourse of humans. It seems impossible for many, even after seeing it.
So could I do something like that without knowing it myself?
It was only faint, but I could witness the passing of thoughts, of their senses, of their emotions, everything so fast and so different, that I was unable to read anything. It lingers still. It was a very personal experience.
Both of them also felt it. Momo felt connected, Katarine-san accepted.
I felt nostalgic, myself. It''s said that fetuses share a spirit connection with their mothers. This sense of security, this absolute trust, all of it resurfaces from memories too early to remember. It was only faint, as faint as the connection, but that might be the reason, why there were connection junkies in Alfarheim. It might be dangerously addicting.
However, what caused it if it wasn''t me? While the hero-system might be a factor, I can''t remember even one thing in my research that would hint at this power and I¡¯ve read many legends, many journals, many stories, and also written down what bards, the most unreliable sources of storytelling, had to offer.
So my theory is, that this came from the Lioness'' Wedding Rings we wear. Each of them was made by the Lion''s Cursed Ring, which became the Lion''s Wedding Ring after spawning Momo''s ring.
There is already this connection between us, but until now I thought we''re all connected to Kenta-kun, and share no direct line.
I have to rethink this, so I take another look at the ring. I already know it like the back of my hand. Each line, each of its features, showing the head of a lioness, or what a lioness is supposed to be. There are no lions in Alfarheim, and I¡¯ve never met one in this world.
It''s a simple design, but some effort was put into it. The pupils in the eyes are visible, and the whiskers are distinguishable, it¡¯s certainly a small piece of art. I have compared my ring with Katarine-san''s and Momo''s and they are practically indistinguishable, each of them. The same colors, the same dullness and brightness, even the way the rings reflect light is identical.
Only one difference: The size, which perfectly fits our fingers. However, other than the different scaling, everything is the same.
I did try to put a scratch on the ring with a blade once, just to see if it''s possible and if it would influence the other rings. I was not able to.
They are powerful and they''re practically the same. Also, this was the first time that we got WP without any connection to Kenta-kun. So yes, it''s reasonable to think that these wife-rings are connected to each other, not only to the husband.
The connection may be much weaker. Because of the stat bonuses by being near the ''wedding partner,'' we need to be by Kenta-kun''s side, not each other.
A new layer has been opened up.
¡°Ara, watch out.¡± Katarine-san takes my hand and pulls me over to her. We are currently moving through a crowd, but I was busy pondering and didn''t notice the several armed people who try to find their way through.
They are guards, right?
One of them glances at us, and then stops. ¡°Maybe I found someone, go ahead!¡± He stays behind and turns to Katarine-san. ¡°Are you a mercenary by chance?¡±
¡°No- Yes, I mean yes!¡± A short look at Momo was enough to make Katarine-san rethink her answer. She most likely forgot our cover identity.
¡°Thought so, running around with a sword. And these two?¡±
¡°We are part of the same squad.¡± Momo takes over. ¡°So what is wrong?¡±
¡°We''re looking for people to hire. A demon and a sinner are running around the city, we have fortified the exits, but need every helping hand to capture them before they can harm anyone!¡±
¡°Wow, a sinner!¡± Katarine-san seems to be strangely excited. ¡°Is that sinner that much of a problem?¡±
¡°Yes, he''s armed and in league with the demon!¡±
¡°A sinner and a collaborator? That''s heavy!¡±
¡°Please, gear up and report to the next guard station. There you can hear the details, like the reward for taking care of them.¡±
¡°...¡± Momo looks at me, I think she has an idea. I''m not Kenta-kun, so I can''t read the question in her eyes. ¡°Are there any notable features, this sinner has?¡±
¡°I heard he has a red armor and a hood.¡±
Now I know what Momo was suspecting. She is even whispering an almost soundless ¡°I knew it...¡±
¡°Wow!¡± Katarine-san exclaims. ¡°A red armor? That''s bold, it''ll be easy to find him!¡± Katarine-san doesn¡¯t.
A sinner with red armor and a hood? It has to be Kenta-kun. For some reason, people believe now that he''s allied to the demons.
I want to know the circumstances because that sounds like fun.
¡°We''ll do that.¡± Momo nods to both of us. The guard hurries down the road, trying to find even more helpers. We turn around, back to the Bronco''s Bucket. ¡°Back to the inn!¡±
¡°Yes, we''ll show that sinner what it means to break the divine laws!¡±
¡°Katarine-san, we know that sinner.¡±
¡°We do?¡±
¡°How many sinners do you know personally?¡±
¡°Sinners who I know personally?¡± She tilts her head slowly while pondering my question. ¡°¡ ¡ Oh.¡±
¡°Certainly ''oh''.¡±
I hope that Kenta-kun is able to avoid his pursuer until we can help him. Especially after seeing his status, he will need any help anyone can provide him.
Volume 05 - Chapter 4-1 – Have fun in Goldbrunn, the City of Armed Maniacs
Chapter 4 ¨C Have fun in Goldbrunn, the City of Armed Maniacs
In the office of the Lord Mayor. ¡°Sir Alchenain!¡± Sir Archibald Alchenain was called, because of the ruckus in the city and the involvement of the Crusaders. The person-in-charge of the Crusaders in Goldbrunn stands still, but his face shows how displeased he is by this delay. ¡°It seems like your men have acted fast to deal with a probable danger to the city, and I''m thankful for it.¡± The Lord Mayor only looks calm at first glance, his fingers are trembling with anger and nervousness. ¡°But to command the city-guard, to impose death sentences and kill on sight orders, you''re overstepping your boundaries!¡±
The Crusaders are a free army. While this makes them flexible, they don''t hold any official authority. Many countries give them some slack with the rules, given how the Crusaders act for the good of people, but there are always cases when some ignorant ruler sees them as a danger to the order they¡¯ve established.
¡°Lord Mayor.¡± Still, a ruler is a ruler. ¡°These are special circumstances. The demon was attacking civilians, so the death penalty is within this city''s laws, and I don''t want my men to hold back and die because of it.¡±
¡°I can understand that, Sir Alchenain, but don''t forget that the Crusaders are at war with the demons, not Goldbrunn. What about this so-called sinner? Is there any proof?¡±
¡°To become a true Crusader, one has to learn the secrets of the [Crusade]. After attaining a certain proficiency in this kind of magic, there is a [Spell] that allows one to identify sinners. Additionally there is another one to punish them and only them.¡±
¡°That might work for you, and it might actually be true, but from what I''m told, you just attacked someone who was fighting the demon, maybe for the city and its citizens. We have to know. I''ve also heard that he has a hood, what if he''s a ranger!? A ranger against the city, what have you done!?¡±
¡°Ranger... I don''t understand how people can be so fearful of rangers.¡±
¡°We''re in the Wildlands. A ranger is a blessing if he''s your ally, while he''s a curse if he''s your enemy. They were taught by the alfar, the most wicked species that have ever walked these realms. One ranger is enough to make a whole army suffer. They will find you, but you won''t find them. They will hunt you, while you won''t even know before it''s too late. The moment you''ve noticed a ranger, you''re probably walking into a trap.¡±
¡°That is ridiculous.¡±
¡°Trust me, even if we get him, the rangers have a strange form of brotherhood. If you kill one, another might come and take revenge. Most horrifyingly.¡±
¡°One way or another, he is a sinner.¡±
¡°We can prove that in a trial. So change the orders of your men from kill to capture, and I will let you take part of the pursuit.¡±
¡°No. The faster the sinner will die, the better for the human race.¡±
¡°Then leave this city!¡±
¡°You need us. Your guard may be good at fighting monsters and criminals, but we''re talking about demons and your ever so dangerous rangers here.¡±
¡°Even though it''s small, Goldbrunn is still a nation! So we abide by the law! You will do the same!¡±
¡°...fine. Don''t expect my men to hold back though. If half of what you people believe of rangers is true, killing might be the only way to stop him.¡± Not that Sir Alchenain expects much of a fight here.
He is right because the infallible [Spells] told him so. It''s just that ordinary people can''t see it.
This sinner will die!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Ouch. Dear pain, please stop hurting. I drink another potion, this time to recover some HP.
¡°Hey, give me something, too!¡± The girl at my side, that damn twintailed oni, demands. ¡°Do you have some stuff, that will cleanse my youki?¡±
¡°...try this.¡± I give her an MP-pot. If my theory is correct, it might do the trick.
¡°Buah! This stinks!¡±
¡°It''s a herbal extract, of course it stinks.¡± This extract is made out of iroelsa, a plant that grows in Aroahenn and which sponges Mana from the air. ¡°Just gulp it down and stop whining!¡±
¡°I don''t whine! You whine!¡± She quickly gulps it down... ¡°Buaaaaaaaa... bitter! ¡ Oh! Great, I can now wreak havoc again, puny Crusaders, be prepared to die!¡±
¡°Quiet, stupid!¡± The pot seemed to help her with her youki-thing. ¡°And give me the bottle back! Those are expensive!¡± Not exactly, but I try to save any bottle I can get. You can give them to stores for deposit.
Currently, we''re on a balcony. That''s where we landed after that pipsqueak threw me through the air. I managed the landing, but that only means that instead of one or two broken limbs, I have a multitude of bruises all over my body.
The balcony was big compared to the one from the apartment I used to live in, but it''s still somewhat small. There are a table and two chairs, most likely a roof deck. A door leads into the building, but for now, I use this opportunity to rest and regain my strength.
Pipsqueak and I are hiding behind the balustrade and I''m using [Pitch] to get an idea of our surroundings. Everything became pretty loud, but having that skill certainly helps.
Looks like the guards and Crusaders are still looking for us. The guards are equipped with crossbows, which will make it hard for us to move freely, so escaping by going across the rooftops won''t be safe.
...they¡¯re starting to look inside the buildings. This patrol will get to us very soon. There are several ways we can handle it.
1.) Give up under the condition to be captured alive. The oni will likely not accept that, and I''m a sinner. There is only the death penalty for sinners. Not an option.
2.) Fighting our way through. I''m at top strength now, but the Crusaders are a pain. They have [Exorcise] and some of them have [Judgment]. Those shitty spells can be blocked one by one, but not en mass or quick succession. They''re too lethal to just tank them either.
3.) Disguise ourselves. This is my favorite option, but it is the wrong place and I have too little time. The moment the oni realizes that she can just use shapechange to become a bystander, is the moment that she''ll abandon me, so I won''t even mention this for now.
4.) Scare them away. Not really an option at this point, they saw us bleed.
5.) Contact the girls... wait, this option doesn''t exclude the others. I have little time, but I take a leaf-paper and a coal-pen out and write in this world''s letters: HELP!!!
I have no idea where I am, so I can''t give coordinates. But I want to at least get the message across.
Well, back to my options.
6.) Try to escape. These people are organized, so I''d need to find a weak point... wait, I can actually create a weak point!
¡°Oni, we''re going into the building.¡±
¡°To wreak havoc?¡±
¡°Just follow my lead.¡±
I kick in the balcony door and yell: ¡°Everyone, down on the ground!¡± Ah, a family of two parents, three children, and one grandfather, who are all sitting in the living room, most likely because of the general ruckus around here. The family complies with my order; all of them look scared. ¡°You''re now our hostages. The guards and Crusaders are pursuing us, but we''re willing to negotiate.¡±
¡°Yeah!¡± The oni stems her fists to her sides. ¡°We are willing to... to do what?¡±
¡°Negotiate.¡± I get closer to her and whisper: ¡°Just play along, idiot!¡±
¡°...YEAH!¡± Ah, my ears! ¡°NEGOTIATE! WE ARE!¡±
¡°I want you-¡± I point at the father: ¡°-to tell that to those in charge. We''re using this building as a base, so get them here!¡±
The husband exchanges a look with his family, solidifying his resolve, and complies. The moment he leaves the building, I put the family into the kitchen, block the door with a chair and instructed the oni to build a blockade at the front and back door.
This should buy us some time.
¡°Transform into a bunny.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°You won''t fit in my backpack otherwise.¡±
¡°Is that a smart plan?¡±
¡°It''s a stupid one.¡±
She bares her teeth while smiling like a madman: ¡°Great!¡± With this, she transforms.
I put her in the backpack. Since she''s a living creature, she doesn''t enter my [Inventory]. I shove her new mace into my belt. It should be doable this way, I won''t need to look for it if stuff gets dangerous, but I have my hand free.
Now I look around for a good window. This one should work, I can¡¯t detect anybody in this dark alley. I¡¯d better escape now, and do the rest on the way out.
Climbing out, I use [Sneak] and [Pitch].
Someone is coming! I press myself into the shadows. [Camouflage]. My whole equipment, including my backpack, changes it''s color pattern to fit the surroundings.
Some guards are passing me while running, but they don''t notice me.
It''s a similar tactic I used back with the Bloody-Nosed Mercenaries. Trying to get their attention to one place, while opening up the net, and trying to find a hole to slip through.
Considering how my [Spirit Magic] is no good in an urban area, it''ll be much harder this time.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Hello, I''m Katsuragi Kyou from the Lion Squad. We were asked to report.¡± We haven''t only geared up, but got all of our stuff, so that we can escape the city if needed. We also found Ken''s note, and it speaks of how dire the situation truly is if he''s asking us for help.
¡°Lion Squad... ah, there.¡± The man in charge of this guarding post is comparing the name with the ones on the list. ¡°Isn''t your leader supposed to be some Katsuragi Kenta?¡±
¡°I don''t know where my brother is. Maybe he''s already at the scene? He has a talent for trouble.¡±
¡°Must be hard for you. Do you have your marks and your rings.¡± We show our rings and the marks, the guard gave us at the gate. ¡°Good. I''ll fill you in. There was a fight at the border of the desire district between a black-haired human and a red demon.¡±
¡°A red demon?¡±
¡°Yes, the description says, it''s tall, vaguely humanoid, have horns, and can spit fire.¡±
I knew it. It had to be that oni!
So Ken happened to run into the oni, and instead of running away, he decided to confront her... Actually, that sounds like him, one of his rash decisions which stem from his strange logic. ¡°Please continue.¡±
¡°Some of the citizens hurried to the guard, and there were some Crusaders there as well. The Crusaders asked the guards to evacuate, while they¡¯d join the fight. It was a good call.¡±
¡°Something in your voice makes me think that it didn''t go well afterward.¡±
¡°The moment the commander of the Crusaders came, everything became difficult. My friend was evacuating people and saw, how the commander attacked that young man, who was fighting the demon in the first place. More like, tortured him.¡± The guard seems to be surprised. ¡°Erm, forget that I said that.¡±
That''s the power of [Persuasion]. He told me more than he wanted to because I''m so persuasive.
Torture though? I can only imagine what this means. Ken, be safe!
¡°Torture!?¡± Rine-chan is furious. ¡°They don''t have the right!¡±
¡°Yes, I know. Now they call him a ''sinner.''¡± The guard is quick to agree her [Persuasion]. ¡°I mean, I don''t know any details, but isn''t keeping order our job?¡±
What to do here? Feed that atmosphere? No, this guard doesn¡¯t have the influence I''m looking for. He has rank, but he''s also sitting in this office instead of being on the case himself. Time is more important here: ¡°But the man got away?¡±
¡°Yes, he allied himself with the demon, and they''re currently on the loose. The orders are to catch him alive, if possible. We want to give him a proper trial.¡±
Suddenly, another guard drops in. Isn''t that the folksman we saw at the gate two days ago? ¡°Hassrin Hatherwrock reporting for duty, sir!¡±
¡°Acknowledged, guard. Please be patient, Lion''s Squad, but I fill him in as well.¡±
¡°Lion''s Squad?¡± Of course, he remembers us. This is not good.
¡°Katarine-san, please make a bit more space, before you accidentally hit the little one with your knee.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
¡°...patience...¡± The folksman in question seems to be agitated and talking to himself.
...this is a chance!
The superior tells the folksman the same he said us. ¡°The man has black hair and he should be wearing a red armor.¡±
¡°...red armor? I had some mercenary with red armor a few days ago, I think... Wasn''t it your leader, Lion''s Squad?¡±
¡°No, my brother wears a normal hide armor.¡±
¡°Wait, he''s your brother?¡±
¡°Of course. Don''t we look alike?¡±
¡°Now that you say it... But I can''t help but think, that he was the one...¡±
¡°No, the people before us had the guy in red armor. I know, because I stared at him the whole time while waiting.¡±
¡°But I''m sure that-¡±
¡°Guard-san, I heard if something has a great impact, people tend to connect everything noticeable to it. Even though I don''t like to say it: It''s difficult to miss us.¡± I point at Rine-chan and Arako, the latter one is looking at the folksman in a strange, unsettling way.
¡°...You''re right! It was this guy before, how was he called... Sir, I may find out who we''re looking for! I just need to read the reports.¡±
¡°Do so, soldier. Lion''s Squad, thanks for this lead:¡±
¡°You''re welcome. Please remember it when you do the evaluation, we''re rank 0, after all.¡±
¡°Help us with this, and I promise you to sign your recommendation myself!¡±
¡°Thanks! Now we need to know everything!¡±
To miss the forest for the trees. While being so flashy is mostly a disadvantage, we could turn it to our advantage this time. I think that without my high [Persuasion], it wouldn''t have worked.
Now we might have just bought a ticket out of this.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Dammit! I just need some time!
But no, I have to use [Camouflage] again and not move an inch. I look for a blind spot because I already have an escape plan, but this doesn''t work while all these people are searching around here.
Most of them are guards, but I''m afraid of the few Crusaders.
I think there are around twenty in total, and some of them seem to be able to detect me with some sort of supernatural sense. Is this a [Skill]? Or a [Spell]? [Spells] are easier to learn for people of this world, so it¡¯s most likely that.
Still, the important question is: Do they sense me or the bunny oni?
¡°Bro, why are we not safe by now?¡±
¡°Shut up! Be quiet, or they will be able to find us.¡±
I try to open a belt of my armor, but my ears catch something. No, not again!
While closing the belt again, I climb up a wall. Seriously, I have had little to no rest here!
I have to be very careful, mainly because I need to hide the fact that I''m a hero. I need this to be a secret to make my plan work.
The moment I''m over the wall, I let myself fall down the other side. My arms hurt. My palms throb. Also, I think I may have sprained an ankle.
I''d be fine after some sleep, thanks to being a hero, but it makes me miserable. All these small pains just add up.
I put a hand in my backpack to get an SP-pot from my [Inventory]. In most games, you wouldn''t burn through them so fast, but this isn''t a game. My stomach is already full, but I need to gulp it down somehow.
For some reason, the [Inventory]-screen doesn''t appear. ¡°Oni, get out for a bit.¡± She''s blocking my [Inventory], this didn''t happen when I put a plant inside when I entered the city. Is it because she''s not a plant, or because of some other strange rule?
¡°What''s wrong, bro?¡± The red bunny jumps out of the backpack and I fetch a pot. ¡°Something to destroy?¡± She transforms back to her original form, the horned girl, and looks around the next corner. ¡°Shishishi! I see.¡±
¡°Whatever you''re trying to do, don''t!¡± I take a look myself, there is a group of Crusaders. I can''t discern their rank symbols, but I''ll just assume that each of them as about as strong as me, to be on the safe side. We''re right at their back, so we have some luck for a change. ¡°What exactly do you even want to do?¡±
¡°[Oni Fire]: Full power!¡±
Hm... actually, that should be enough to kill them. At least with a direct hit, but just being graced by the full power of that, should disable them. Sounds like a legit option.
However... ¡°Don''t.¡± I pull her back by her twintails. ¡°I want to avoid them. Your attacks are too loud.¡± By the way, I''m not too keen to see some burned corpses either. I''m not sure if I could handle the stench. Not that I''d tell her that.
¡°Ah, right. But can I blast something else? I feel like destroying something!¡±
¡°Just wait a minute and go back into the backpack.¡± I pull some more items out. Three pots of each kind, two smoke bombs, a stink bomb. I put them in my belt pouch, that''s why those are so practical. ¡°Come.¡±
¡°When this is over, I''m soooooo gonna kill you!¡±
¡°On the other hand, there is actually no reason to stick together. I can get away on my own.¡±
¡°Wait, wait! Just a joke, right? I''m just doing some oni jokes!¡±
¡°Figures.¡± Not that I''d leave her behind. Because when stuff gets dangerous, I''ll need her. As a distraction.
Still not the best time to doff the armor. Maybe I should enter another building? No, I don''t have time to waste. The first distraction only opened a small window, unless those guards and Crusaders are complete idiots.
Using [Sneak], I take one alley at a time, looking for a less guarded route. There... a barricade, a way out of this mess. Time for V: Plan Violence.
¡°Oni,¡± I softly talk to my back. ¡°Time to get a bit destructive. I''ll take care of the guards, you take care of the barricade.¡± In terms of pure destructive power, I can''t hold a candle to this oni.
¡°I can destroy?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Yay!¡± She whispers but seems energetic. ¡°I''ll see the flames, the terror, the dismay!¡± Again she leaves my backpack and changes her form, this time to her red giant oni form, she¡¯s also got her new mace in her hand, which looks kinda tiny there. ¡°Huaaaaaaaaah!¡± She deeply inhales.
¡°Keep your aim.¡± I throw a smoke bomb and [Sneak] into the newly formed smoke cloud, but from the side.
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± The fireblast sweeps through the smoke and I can hear the shattering of the wooden barricade.
¡°What''s goi-uuuurgh...¡± Don''t be a baby, that''s only your thigh. After piercing it, I knock him out, using the blunt side of my spear.
¡°Here I come! GACKGACKGACK!!!¡± With a weird, maniacal laugh, the oni throws herself into the smoke. ¡°Where are you!? Here?¡± Blindly, she throws her weapon in wide arcs. I can even feel the air pressure. You''re dissipating the smoke, idiot!
For me, the smoke screen is very helpful. [Wild Eyes]. While magical fog seems to block this [Skill] ¨C or rather [Spell]? ¨C it''s unhindered by alchemical smoke, so consumables are a great thing here. Good thing that I restocked them yesterday.
Seizing my advantage to its fullest, I use my full power to knock the guards out. They''re trained soldiers after all, so I need it to make it quick. Still, an ambush is a very effective way to overcome the difference in power, especially if you have the [Assassinate]-skill, which increases damage done from hiding.
¡°[Judgment]!¡±
...oh shit. ¡°UAUAAAAAAAAAA!!!!¡± I''m incinerated! I''m dying! ¡°AAAH! AAAH!¡± How can a pain like this exist!
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± Ah, looks like I fell. Otherwise, it wouldn''t make sense to feel this heat from toes to head.
¡°[Resistance]!¡±
¡°Ah! Unfair! Why are you still alive! You should be a pair of smoking boots right now!¡±
¡°Foul demon magic won''t take me down! I refuse! You and the sinner, you''ll both be brought to justice!¡±
I think that''s the commander. This certain feeling of how my (probably) soul was scorched is just like a handwriting. The boisterous voice also hints at that.
¡°Your justice is coming from your ass! It stinks!¡±
The real question is: WHY IS THAT DAMN COMMANDER HERE!? WHERE DID HE COME FROM!?
Slowly, I stand up and I see the white flames around me weakening. This spell just sucks, it hurts like hell, renders me almost helpless for a while, and it also does quite an amount of damage.
Ah, I see. Shitty commander is coming from behind the barricade, the one we blasted. With reinforcements! Five Crusaders, ten guards.
My [Luck]-stat isn¡¯t working right now... Should I turn around and run? ¡ ¡°Oni, retreat!¡±
¡°Ah! No, I don-¡± She suddenly moves strangely. ¡°No, I don''t want to, I want to smash them, I want to burn them, they suck, they have to die!¡± While saying that, she turns around and runs.
...odd.
Nonetheless, I also do my best.
*Tzum* Dammit! Crossbows! ¡°OUU!¡± This one got my leg, it hurts!
I turn around... and make a sidestep, to evade some more. The oni stoically takes the projectiles. ¡°I don''t like bolts. Or arrows.¡± She sighs, while she doesn''t even flinch much, even though one hit the top of her head. It couldn''t pierce deep.
Is her skull that strong!?
Of course, the Crusaders give pursuit. Same for the crossbow-shooting guards, who start reloading while running.
Good.
¡°Oni, this way!¡±
I still have an idea. I still have something like a plan.
Everything is still alright. Though the fact, that some signal horn is being blown by our pursuers worries me a bit.
Volume 05 - Chapter 4-2
¡°But he isn''t in this building anymore!¡±
¡°He said, that he has hostages there, so why shouldn''t he be?¡±
¡°It may be a trick, you dumbass!¡±
¡°Who is the dumbass, idiot!¡±
These people... are very poor concerning discipline. Would it be similarly tragic if a demon attack occurs in Esse? No, I can''t believe that our guard would be so confused. As their princess, I have to trust them.
Maybe it''s because of the Crusaders. The line of command seems to be shaky right now, and no one can see that there is a need to regroup the guard and fill them in so that they actually know what to do.
I think that is the problem, they have no definite orders and therefore have to improvise.
It''s a shame. Even though it helps us.
There are already messengers on the way, trying to fill everyone in, but the situation is too chaotic. This shows the level of the guards of Goldbrunn.
It might also be the reason, why they''re also hiring mercenaries right now.
¡°Are the perpetrators in the building or not?¡± Kyou doesn''t like this nonsense. ¡°Or could it be, that the man is outside, and the demon is still inside?¡±
¡°...¡±
Kyou is smart. She can think of the possibility, that Kenta and the oni might separate at some point.
¡°We''re still trying to figure that out!¡±
¡°Oh geez. Then let us handle it.¡±
¡°They have hostages and you look too inexperienced to-¡±
¡°We can at least look, right?¡±
¡°...right...¡±
Kyou-san waves me. ¡°Rine-chan, keep me company. Arako, watch our backs.¡±
Yes, Ara is better off at a distance.
Kyou and I walk up to the building, we look through some windows, nothing there. There are many blind spots and they could be on the second floor.
We take one round around the building.
¡°Ken''s not here.¡± Kyou sighs.
¡°How do you know?¡±
¡°Because we would feel it. If our bonuses due to the curse are in range, you can feel it if you pay attention to it. We have six meters. That''s enough to cover that building by going around.¡± Kyou is really smart. ¡°Let''s return and speak to Arako.¡±
Considering everything, we don''t know where Kenta currently is, like almost everyone else here. Typically, they should use signal horns to organize the search, but only a few are in use. Does that mean, that whenever Kenta is seen, he takes out the ones who did it, before they can call for reinforcements?
That''s Kenta, he''s also smart!
¡°...I hate to say it, but... we¡¯d better split up,¡± Kyou suggests.
¡°Are you sure? It''ll be dangerous.¡± If Kyou is sure then she has already thought it through. I think she can keep herself safe to a degree, especially with all these people here, the mercenaries, the guards and the crusaders. However, these people could turn into enemies at some point.
¡°I don''t plan to engage anyone here, rather i¡¯ll stay here and try to get intel. However, with the curse, the two of you may be able to find him, even if he is hiding.¡±
¡°OK!¡± This sounds like a good plan.
¡°I will do my best.¡± Arako is also eager to help, even if her voice is still calm.
¡°If you find him or even get the feeling that he''s close, write a note and put it in the [Inventory]. Check it every five minutes.¡±
¡°Kyou, you sound like Kenta right now.¡±
¡°Rine-chan,¡± Kyou''s face is beaming. ¡°Could you please stop insulting me?¡±
She doesn''t take my compliment well.
¡°Kyou, please take it off.¡± I show her my arm, the left one in the splint. It will be in the way.
¡°That might lengthen the time for full recovery.¡± She looks into my eyes, making sure that I know that while fiddling with the bandages.
¡°Yes.¡± I know, but this is no time for holding back.
I move my fingers. It hurts a bit, but it''s alright.
¡°Katarine-san, I''ll take this side.¡±
¡°OK. I¡¯m counting on you!¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Don''t get hurt, you two!¡±
¡°I will try my best, Kyou!¡±
With this, we split the party.
This part of the town is rather unbecoming... no, dirty is the better word here. There is the stench of burned buildings. So maybe Kenta was here? Even if he was, he''s most likely not anymore.
Ah, this is hard! I can''t think like Kenta, so I can''t even imagine what he would do in a situation like this.
Danger from behind. My sword slides out of its sheath the moment I got an inkling, my hands knowing better than my head what to do.
I perform a diagonal swing from below, and Friedensbote clashes with a saber, making sparks fly. Of course, they come from the enemy weapon.
¡°Dude!¡± This is a middle-aged human man, he looks D¨¦jumian. He has two more D¨¦jumian humans at his side, and there is also a D¨¦jumian dar, fully armored. He may only reach my hip, but his body is twice as broad as mine, his arms long and muscular.
Well, before I take care of him, I should disarm my current enemy. It''s not that hard to hook up the blade behind the crossguard of the enemy''s weapon and then lever it out of their hand. It''s not that hard, you just need some training.
¡°Woa-¡± I''m about to hit his face, but the next human tries to hit me with his saber, so I have to duck under that blade. It¡¯s better I take him out, so I use my momentum to make a crescent kick, my foot drives through his face and he loses consciousness.
Oh, the third human uses a whip! I''m a bit unbalanced right now, so I¡¯d better make a twist dive. Yes, that''s good, the whip missed me.
There is a tiny window when you can cut a whip when the forces at work make it less flexible. So I better cut it while I still can, because it''ll be dangerous otherwise.
Good thing, that it¡¯s a leather whip. A chain whip might have been too difficult.
Why is the first one who attacked me still not moving? I''ve disarmed him, he should do something, but he just looks at me wide-eyed.
Maybe he skipped training?
The moment my feet touch the ground, I burrow my foot into it, and kick some dirt into that one''s face.
Ah, the dar is about to do something. He wields a massive spiked maul. It¡¯s dangerous.
He¡¯s swinging it in a wide arc, I¡¯d better jump away. Urgh, hard! Somehow it was way too close. Did he look at the moment, when my footwork was the weakest?
Dari are famous for their martial prowess. There is no easy fight with one. They wait, and only attack after they''re sure that they can get you.
¡°Princess,¡± the dar says. ¡°Just come with us.¡±
So he knows that I''m a princess? Did I meet them, when I visited D¨¦juma, or were they hired by that kingdom?
Why though? D¨¦juma and Feuerberg are trying to negotiate an alliance! There is even talk about a political wedding to better their relationship! So why- Ah, I know, because of me.
I''m the one, who may or may not be wed. Mother told me, that it''s doubtful, and that D¨¦juma might insist, but it''s still negotiable.
...Ah, but if they take me hostage, now that my father has set a bounty on me, it might work out better for them.
¡°Dear dar, please don''t try.¡± I don''t want to become their prisoner, so I will put up some resistance. I don''t want to kill if it''s not necessary. ¡°It isn''t worth it.¡±
The dar looks at his companions, one out cold, the other looks wide eyed at his cut whip, and the last one was just getting the dirt out of his eyes. ¡°It''s worth one million Newgold. Plus another half, if unharmed.¡±
¡°Please rethink it. I don''t want to marry Alej.¡± That''s the third prince, Alejandro de D¨¦juma, I call him Alej. We¡¯ve known each other for some time. He''s kind, smart, educated, handsome, charming, and well-loved by his people. There is no single demerit to him.
On the other hand, there is Kenta. Ah, I¡¯m blushing!
Kenta is a thousand times better than Alej! Alej is a really great guy, but Kenta is just that much better. Except in looks, Kenta looks good, exotic, but objectively speaking, he isn''t the most handsome man I''ve ever seen.
To be honest, Kenta may be smart and educated, but it''s not on the ''rule a country'' level, Alej is just the third prince, but if his older siblings and his parents die, he could take over the country in a cinch. He''s much better than me, who would rely on other people to govern for the first few years.
Also, Alej may be a bit friendlier than Kenta, and more open about it. Alej treats his servants with respect, saying ''I admire them, I can''t even wash my clothes if my own life depends on it.'' He''s humble, much more humble than his siblings.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
Despite that, he has an aura of authority around him, people like how gentle and caring he is, and how well he understands what they want. Talking to him is easy.
On the other hand, Kenta...
¡°Princess?¡±
Well, Kenta is a bit rough, but he''s something else entirely. How should I say it... ¡ that''s hard to put in words... something about how he might be not as kind as Alej, but it feels more... earnest? No, not the best word...
¡°Should we attack her? I mean, we were waiting for her to be alone!¡±
¡°No. Look at her face, I think she is considering our proposal.¡±
Hm... That''s it! Kenta''s kindness is hard-earned. While it seems so natural to Alej, Kenta is someone who actually has to work to be kind. It''s this effort that makes him so wonderful!
¡°Now she''s blushing and giggling. What is she even thinking about?¡±
¡°Maybe she is imagining her life with the prince after all?¡±
¡°She''s wide open!¡±
¡°You''re blind, Pedro?¡± The dar snorts: ¡°She''s never open, and didn''t even used her left arm so far. Don''t try anything, I''m charging in.¡±
Yes, this is what distinguishes Kenta from Alej. Effort. Kenta is someone, who works hard, who thinks hard, who takes everything seriously. While he is not as kind, he still tries to be at times. He puts up with someone like me, who is inadequate in about every way.
Danger from the front, the dar attacks!
He''s considerably faster than before, but should I try to stab him between the plates of his armor?
No, the armor is strange. It moves differently from human plate armor.
Woah, my footing seems to be bad again. I want to jump back, but somehow I''m losing my balance. I definitely have to take training more seriously myself!
However, that doesn''t mean, that I can''t do anything. I just have to kick that dar before I land. It hits right at the breast, there is still armor there, so it won''t do much, but it gives me enough push to evade his spike maul.
¡°...¡± The dar looks at me, his fierce mien makes his irritation obvious. ¡°To this extent...¡±
I''m back on my feet. I don''t have time for those D¨¦jumians, so I¡¯d better hurry. It has almost no finesse, but sometimes just attacking fast and recklessly is the best solution, so I cover him with sword strikes. I can only use my right arm after all.
His defenses are superb. He knows that he doesn''t need to cover everything, that his armor will take many blows. At least, that''s what I thought, and he thought so as well, but Friedensbote, my sword, seems to be much better at cutting metal than I thought it would be. The dar groans as I cut through his shoulder guard and flesh.
I have no time to be surprised. I aim at his body for a thrust, and my blade penetrates the thick armor plate. This is enough to send the dar to his knees. He is breathing heavily, did I hit the lung?
¡°Stop!¡± The two D¨¦jumian humans steps in: ¡°We give up! Please, let Wranas go.¡±
¡°I don''t mind.¡± I clean my blade with a cloth I keep ready for that purpose and put it back in its sheath. ¡°Please tell Alej that I''m sorry, but I''m already married.¡± I bow my head slightly. ¡°I''m looking for my husband! Please, help me!¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Patience.¡± I try to calm down the oni, who is in her oni-girl form. Only a few more moments.
¡°Come oooooon!¡±
¡°We need to wait. There will be only a small group catching up from behind. They will try to surround us.¡± That''s what I''d do. It''s like a hunt. They¡¯re trying to make me even more tired and will ambush me when I''m running away, because I''d only be looking behind. These bastards are cautious. Maybe it¡¯s because we dropped our speed, so they have an easier time catching up.
Horns are blown, guys I didn''t take out, horns that I didn''t destroy. They''re calling the forces here. So little time.
...we''re strong enough. We have to be.
¡°...turn around!¡± I order the oni while doing the same. ¡°Full speed!¡± Following my own words, I run. My wounded leg hurts, but I grit my teeth and keep going. Our pursuers are still some distance away, but that might be the best time to break through. Before reinforcements arrive...
We''re almost safe. Just this one and maybe one more skirmish.
There they are! With their crossbows. ¡°Oni!¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah!¡± She transforms into the red giant oni and takes the hits. She''s fit enough to regenerate those wounds without even flinching from the pain.
Around fifteen, but only two Crusaders. Plus a guard captain, how do I calculate that one?
No matter, with the oni, it''ll be possible.
¡°[Exorcise]!¡± I step inside the cone, taking the attack that can''t harm me.
¡°[Judgement]!¡± In return, she blocks that spell from above with her arm, so that I''ll be unharmed.
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± She shoots a rather weak fire breath into the guards, but this is still plenty to shake them. Moral is down, we can do this! We''ve already broken apart three groups before, so I''m confident.
Crusader! Instead of blocking his attack, I jump right into his reach, disrupting his attempt. Can I use [Speedthrust]? Or [Armor Piercer]? No, no [Skills]. There is still room, and they can''t know...
The oni swings her mace and smashes the other Crusader unconscious with brutal strength. ¡°I''m cranky! He¡¯s lucky that he wears enough armor for two. What about you?¡± She looks at the guards, who had the lighter equipment. ¡°Shishishi! Time to spill some blood!¡±
...I don''t believe it, but I''m glad she''s here. Not that I would be in trouble in the first place if it weren''t for her, but while she''s mean-spirited and kinda whimsical, she gets stuff done.
The Crusader thinks that I left him a window. ¡°[Exorcise]!¡± No way, you''re fighting me! I elbow his arm, misdirecting the attack.
We are winning this!
...or not.
What was I thinking, seriously?
Crusaders are coming from behind! With even more guards. We''re hopelessly outnumbered and will be mobbed in a second.
Too slow...
No! We can still do this! ¡°Press forward, oni!¡±
¡°You got it, bro!¡± She smiles, it''s a strange one, but she does. ¡°Oh, bro! Under your hood! What a smile!¡±
...I smile? Yes, I do.
The moment I''m mobbed, exhausted, and about to die in a situation that''s so ridiculous that I can''t even find the right words to describe it, allied with someone I am still trying to kill, I smile.
Not my usual smirk.
Maybe I just need to be desperate to crack a genuine one.
Somehow, it enlivens me, realizing that I have a smile for this situation. It washes away my exhaustion: mental, emotional, and physical.
I have a second wind.
¡°Oni, we will kick their ass!¡± Don''t underestimate me. I''m just a gamer, but I won''t lose here!
¡°Yes, bro! Let''s stomp these squi- ¨C ah ¨C aaaaaah!¡± She flickers and suddenly takes her true form. ¡°Ah! Ahahahaha!¡± She laughs happily. ¡°Master calls me, I''m pulled through the channel! I''m out of here!¡±
...wait, does that mean, she''s about to be teleported? Looking this way, she flickers more and more. ¡°Stay here, dammit!¡± I need you to survive this!
¡°Sorry, but not sorry, bro! Good thing that Master calls me, other- NO!¡± Her amusement changes to panic. ¡°MASTER CALLS ME! NO! I WANT TO STAY HE-¡± With this, she is pulled through a pixel. That''s the best way to describe it.
Like she is some kind of puddle, she loses her form and is quickly pulled through some hole, which isn''t exactly a hole, more of a light particle. Don''t ask me, what''s that¡¯s supposed to mean.
Especially, because I''m kinda dazed right now...
What did I actually expect? In the end, I''m always on my own.
¡
¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡
Is there still a point? I can see no way out of here. At best, I may delay the inevitable.
...I can''t.
I can''t die like this! I still have a responsibility! I still have to return home!
Even though it''s far, far away. So far away, that it feels like a hollow echo, which tries to call me. Still, I have to keep going.
My smile from before has frozen onto my face. It''s stiff. Why do I smile, anyway?
''Kenta, I like your smile.'' Rine, that''s just me smirking. Your smile is nice. It''s so stupid, that it makes me feel like any sorrow is meaningless. It''s like the sun, sometimes it even hurts to look at it. You''re just too kind for your own good.
''Looks like you kept your promise, Ken.'' When was that? Ah, right after the whole ss''rak mess. Kyou-san also smiled back then. Why did it turn so bad between us afterward? Maybe because it was supposed to end our relationship there? But, that time was her most genuine smile, I think. It was just a soft one, but genuine.
''I like to make an experiment. Can you free yourself from my spell?'' Ara-san smile is always slight, and she smiles the best when she''s performing an experiment. That''s why I often see it, as weak as it may be. But alfar can''t smile much, they lack the facial muscles, so even seeing it is proof of how happy she was then.
Why do I even think about it? It''s like time has slowed down, thousands of thoughts within a second.
I think it''s my survival instinct. It tries to motivate me by giving me these thought processes.
Or maybe it''s the curse. Who knows? I don''t.
I don''t feel the desire to see those girls again. It¡¯s not like, I have to survive to see them again. If I can survive by not seeing them ever again, then I''d choose that over death. Well, it¡¯s not like the curse would allow it.
Is it because I''m trying to learn something? Nah, my mind is totally blank, I don''t think that I''m currently capable of realizing even a bit of anything. There is no moral to learn and right now would be the worst timing anyway.
No... I get it. I¡¯m seeking the warmth of their smiles... because my innards are cold, because something icy crawls up my spine.
Terror.
I... I''m afraid! I don''t want to die, I fear death!
My hands tremble. I can hardly even move my legs. They don''t shake, rather they''re almost paralyzed.
Not only now, it started after the first [Judgement]. Something, something happened to me. Or was it the pure pain?
No, it was the moment when I realized, how easy it''d be to kill me. Now there is no oni to take the hit anymore.
I''m just a gamer! I never wanted to be in a fantasy world! I was always a coward here. I was so close to death many times, but this might be the first time that death is not a matter of carelessness or bad luck anymore.
Was I ever so afraid before?
...a new wave of terror flushes my body, it washes away the previous one. Because there was one time when I felt a primal fear that still lingers within.
Muaotef. The god, who is also a dragon.
Time accelerates again, but my body feels light. I feel like I''m about to piss my pants, it''s like I''m back in his hoard, seeing the creature itself. I couldn''t move back then, but now I can. The fear has weakened, since I got somewhat used to it.
Still, it''s several times stronger than any fear I feel from the Crusaders.
Smoke bomb! [Wild Eyes].
My body is light. My senses enhanced. I move through the Crusaders and guards, like they were just some trees, using every space I could to push through.
I didn''t even know before, that I''m able to move my body that well.
I''m through! Now I need to run! Run fast!
The distance between us widens. Someone is smart and shoots me with a crossbow. My body screams, it feels the pain. And another bolt, right in my calf.
They¡¯re aiming at my legs, dammit!
I have to run. I need to keep on running! I want to live!
I want to return home!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Her name is Knight Shamedi Nyssan. She is married, and has two children, an eight year old daughter, and a five year old son. Currently, her husband is an instructor for the Crusaders and is taking care of the children in one of the fortresses so that she could join the crusade.
This sinner is tough. There are rumors that he''s a ranger. They are seen as almost-heroes here, as idols. Seeing how a man so young can still run with wounds that deep, makes it believable. No one to admire though, he''s a sinner.
One bolt hit his calf, now his speed dropped. It most likely cut some tendons, but he still tries his best and gains some distance then turns a corner.
¡°Men! Follow him!¡± She commands the other Crusaders, but the guards are happy to follow her as well. She will bring this sinner to justice.
However, the moment they go around the corner, there is something strange, or more like, someone. Is he one of the mercenaries?
He is an old human man, his hair is silver gray but still full. He has a beard, which covers most of his face, and he wears some sort of dirty cloak all around his body.
¡°Hey, guards. And other folk. I''m a bit late, but can I take some of your time?¡± He speaks like there is no need to hurry. He also lacks respect, scratching his armpit while speaking!
¡°Step aside!¡±
¡°That won''t happen. I''m here to repay a favor, you know? But girl, are you seeing someone? You look kinda nice. A bit rough, but still fine.¡±
Wha- what is this geezer talking about!? ¡°That is none of your business, and if you don''t step aside now, we¡¯ll make you!¡±
¡°I doubt that. But if you want to play rough...¡± He takes his cloak and rips it off his body. He wears hide trousers, and a belt with several pouches, but nothing above it. He also lacks shoes. Overall, he looks shabby.
Not counting his body, it''s muscular. He may have lost some buff with age, but he still looks like he packs a punch.
Why this strange confidence though?
¡°...no. Nonononono!¡± One of the guards is faltering. Same goes for the others. Why?
¡°What''s wrong, soldier?¡±
¡°Ba-bababa-bababababa!¡±
¡°What!¡±
¡°Barbarian!¡±
Shamedi has heard of them. The barbarians. They fall into the same category as rangers, considered quasi-heroes. While the rangers are admired though, the barbarians are feared. Like people believe, that having a hood makes a ranger, people of the Wildlands also think, that being topless is the mark of a barbarian.
What a stupid superstition.
¡°Yup, I''m a barbarian. Nice to meetcha!¡± The geezer grins like it''s nothing special.
¡°Stay calm! Being topless alone does not make a barbarian! Doesn''t he look like a beggar?¡± The geezer really is dirty and reeking.
¡°If topless is not enough...¡± The barbarian grabs some dirt, which is still moist from the rain a few days ago, especially in these dark alleys. ¡°I can do some war paintings.¡± He begins smearing the mud on his body and face. His movements are swift and show that he has practice.
Come on. Even if he was a barbarian, what can one barbarian do? The stories about them are greatly exaggerated. Here are eight Crusaders and twenty-seven guards of Goldbrunn. ¡°I''ll repeat it once more, step aside.¡±
¡°When you threatened me to step aside before, you said that you''d make me. So make me.¡± He continues with his paintings and now looks the part a bit more.
¡°Soldiers! He''s just trying to deceive you!¡± Shamedi has lost her patience. The sinner is getting away! She has also already scanned that old man, but he''s no sinner himself, so he''s a mere distraction to her noble task. ¡°He is alone, we are many. There is no proof, that he''s a barbarian!¡±
¡°A proof? I think I know something: How about I punch the air so hard, that it explodes?¡±
Volume 05 - Chapter 4-3
...what is that sound!? It sounds like something is exploding, something that shouldn''t explode at all! Still...
It''s somewhere behind me and it makes me worry!
Did they just launch some spell, that will find and kill me? Why now and not before... maybe because of the casting time?
Or did someone do a limit break and is now hasting in my direction, an unbeatable foe? Does breaking the limit make this strange noise?
However, while it makes me worry, I somehow don''t want to know. If I never know what this is, I¡¯d be okay with it, since that means that it won''t get me!
Where are my chasers? Did they stop because of what happened? Is it Correo maybe, who just launched another big attack, this time to get Rine? Killing me would just be a bonus, right?
So many possibilities! Please, let me never know what that strange noise was!
On the other hand, this means I have a strange luxury of time. I tear the crossbow bolts out of my flesh, and the pain of it goes down to my bones. Then I put poultices on them and wrap them up. The bleeding stops, the pain is gone. Heroes and healing items, strange thing.
Time to escape through the hole in the barricade.
...shit. There is still that commander, he didn''t move at all. Plus, he also has reinforcements. How many people does this town have?
Well, actually I saw most of them at one point or another. They are just moving around like me, though having these guys at one of the center points of defense, one with an easy lookout to several streets from the roofs, means that the ones chasing me right now are fresh reinforcements.
How long have I been at this? Maybe an hour? It feels like an eternity, since I¡¯ve lost track of time, but it''s still bright out there, so it can''t be that long.
Can I climb up to the rooftops again? Nope, as I mentioned, there are lookouts, equipped with crossbows. Right now, I don¡¯t feel up to the task of breaking through or sneaking through there.
Should I hide inside a building? Or will there be other inhabitants still in there, which try to wait out the whole situation?
Many possibilities, but somehow none seem really promising.
I need time. Time to clear my head, or better: Time to remove the armor.
Without the oni to shield me from [Judgement], I shouldn''t risk any fights with Crusaders, especially that commandant. The spell comes from above, which means rooftops are a terrible idea... No, I¡¯d better retreat.
I go into another narrow alley. I walk from one to another, they all look the same, but I hope to find something there.
Like I expected, I found ''something.'' ¡°Who are you?¡± They don''t look like guards and even less like Crusaders, more like bandits.
¡°We''re Orin''s Shield! Give up, then we won''t need to kill you.¡±
Mercenaries. Precious. So Goldbrunn has hired those as well. I should''ve known that they would do so because when shit''s coming down on me, it''s always plenty! Maybe the mercenaries are even taking over the whole chasing business so that Crusaders and the city guard can block my paths in the meantime.
I feel a surge of power welling up inside me. This boosts my confidence, even though these guys outnumber me ten to one. ¡°You know this hood?¡± I tap my hood, which isn''t the best way to conceal my identity, but still somewhat helps.
¡°A ranger with red armor makes no sense, fake.¡±
...What did you call me? I''m the only one, who can call fakes!
I so want to use [Skills], but I still need to hold back. Otherwise, I will have to kill them all to conceal my hero-status, and I''m not keen on that. I''ll use them if things go too tight, but I guess one of my worse traits is showing: I want to have that perfect victory.
Ten people, five of them have melee weapons, two have swords, one has a club, and two have spears. One is holding a throwing knife in one hand while having several more in the other. Then we have four people, who may or may not be capable of using spells. It''s not like every mage wears a self-explanatory hat.
No problem, I guess. If I get close enough to the five melees, then I shouldn''t have to worry about AoEs. It''s not like there is no friendly fire. Plus, I only have to fight two people at the same time, given the narrowness of this alley.
Thinking about it, even with this kinda third wind I''m somewhat skeptical about whether I will be able to do take them on my own. This looks more like a [Pikeman]-job, being narrow and giving many opportunities to get hit, [Ranger] is more about nimbleness in fights. However, changing classes would do more to reveal my hero-status than using [Skills].
They¡¯re coming! I''m not ready yet!
Dammit, the swordmen are trying to pass me, I hold my spear horizontally with both hands and push it against those two, trying to block the alley. Here comes a spear, right to my head, I have to throw my head and upper body back to evade that, but now the swords use that opportunity to pass me.
If I were Rine, I could simply use this movement to make some kickass move, but I''m not. The club comes and smashes me once in the chest, it hurts and I lose air, but I regain my balance and get back up...
OK, now I''m surrounded and most likely done if I hold back.
I hate it! I had that plan, but the moment I show that I''m a hero, it won''t work! But if I don''t use [Skills], [Class Change], and all of that, then I will die. So there is no discussion, it''s my only chance. But I hate it!
¡°[Power Dive]!¡± That''s... not my skill.
Something swoops in from above. Three men, who are thrown against the alley wall hard, give a load groan. It seems to hurt. It doesn''t stop there. The air makes noises, as a weapon is swung in swift succession, giving a head blow to the knife thrower, a thrust into the guts of one of the maybe-mages, and a strike under the chin of another.
It''s Ara-san, and even though her face has the same basic expression as always, her eyebrows are a bit lowered, and her ears are standing straight up. She''s royally pissed. ¡°How dare you!¡± Her voice makes even me want to pee my pants, and I''m on her side!
Well, I use this moment to stab one of the swordsmen with my spear. The other one snapped out of his surprise after seeing the one beside him mortally wounded, and tried to attack me.
Hey, cut me some slack! I didn''t aim for the vitals, you know?
He''s not a bad fighter, but Ara-san is already finished with the rest, so she just jumps over the two of us and knocks him out from behind. ¡°Kenta-kun, are you- wa?¡±
It¡¯s no wonder that she''s kinda bewildered. I just did something entirely untypical, something that she most likely didn''t even imagine as possible. I have embraced her. ¡°Thank you!¡± While whispering these words, full of gratitude. ¡°Thank you!¡±
You gain 7 WP.
Being saved by your wife is great in itself, but giving your gratitude in an embrace makes it so much more heartfelt.
I''m not even bothered by this message right now.
Maybe I would have been able to handle this fight with everything I had, but who knows? I''m just glad to have her here, even though I know that I wouldn''t have had any troubles if it weren''t for the curse.
Given how scared I am, even someone like me can be delighted to have a person to rely on.
...why?
Why are you awakening, little me?
Just because I¡¯m holding a girl, who has this nice smell around her, which reminds me of what I imagined the forest of a game world might smell like? Or because she may have a lower body temperature, but still feels plenty warm? Or the way she starts breathing heavily, which is so damn arousing!
I slowly push her away by the shoulders and her face is so damn sexy right now. Primal urges are coming up, which somehow resonate with my fears. Maybe it¡¯s the wish to leave descendants in times of danger? Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve never had this before!
¡°We should keep going.¡± To get away.
¡°I don''t think this is the appropriate place or time to vent yourself on me.¡±
¡
¡ ¡
¡°Ara-san, I''m not talking about that.¡±
¡°I see. I was just assuming, you being a human and everything.¡±
I don''t even know if this was one of her jokes or if she''s just covering up a dangerous assumption. Nonetheless, we need to keep going.
¡°How did you find me anyways?¡±
¡°Mostly due to the noises, even though it''s hard to catch all of them. Then I used the curse to pin it down. Remember, we have increased the range of our [Increased Attributes], and the increase is strong enough to be sensible. I almost had you, but then you were away again, while I wrote a note to the others. By the way,¡± Ara-san pulls a piece of paper out of her belt, there are already words on it, and shoves it into her backpack. ¡°Even though they should know by the ring message, it''d be better to inform them properly. Although given the number of people in these alleys, it''ll be hard to find a hiding spot and wait.¡±
Could it be, that my second and third wind was actually Ara-san being within the range of [Increased Attributes]? I thought it''d be stuff like adrenaline and such. Well, I should have known better.
However, it¡¯s a good reminder that I''m in a shitty fantasy world, equipped with a horrible game-like system. Even though this time, I may take a bet on it. Kyou-san got a [Spell] that was useful for her situation two times, [Torch] and [Exorcise]. So maybe it''s not only about what you''ve done with [Skills] plus some randomness, perhaps there is sometimes the chance that you get the [Skill] you need.
I check my status, and my [Skills].Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡
Found it. ¡°Ara-san, let''s go between these houses.¡±
¡°I don''t think that you''ll fit well through there. They narrow even further in, I think even I may have some problems.¡±
¡°I just need the widest part, while you keep watch.¡±
I got a bunch of new [Skills], but rather than my brand-new [Spear]-, [Spirit Magic]-, or [Perception]-skills, I''m more excited about the one, which will be of use here. It belongs to the [Armor]-ability and is called [Doff].
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
''I found him. Looking for a safe place, will report more details afterward. Ara''ainn.''
What a relief! Ken and Arako just collected some WP, but it didn''t tell me much about the situation, and more importantly if it''s already over. Especially, since there is something that already dealt massive damage to Ken twice, I observed his stats.
Even after considering that Ken and Arako are currently somewhat safe, we''re still not out of this situation. At least now we are in a position to get out.
I put the note back so that Rine-chan can read it.
I''m still with the guards from before. The whole search could finally be organized after the chief captain of the Goldbrunn guards arrived. This is bad, since he placed his guards in order to block off the district and left the actual search to the mercenaries, so much manpower just to find Ken.
The chief captain also made the site of the ''hostage house'' into an HQ, so that people can report any leads, to send reinforcements whenever a signal horn is blown, and to have a place to bring the wounded. I''m treating said wounded people, and another batch comes in.
¡°Here you go.¡± I don''t use [Divine Magic], but [First Aid], so normal treatment instead of magic. I''m also in my [Priest]-class, as it also has the [First Aid]-ability, and an only slightly less [Persuasion]-value, but includes the [Conversation]-ability, which might support me here, though it lacks any skills right now. ¡°Drink this, for the pain.¡±
¡°Thanks, Katsuragi-san.¡± Could you please not call me that? I know, I''m supposed to be Ken''s little sister, but whenever someone refers to me as Katsuragi-san, I feel all these unpleasant emotions.
¡°Don''t worry about it.¡± Still, no reason not to use a kind smile. ¡°How did you get that wound?¡±
¡°Erm... I was hit by that red demon.¡±
¡°I see. Be careful, many were almost killed by that one.¡± I began asking these questions in order to get a hint at where Ken might be. Now I am doing it to keep abreast of the news. ¡°I also heard, that it vanished somehow.¡±
¡°Good news.¡±
¡°Certainly.¡± I don''t like it. How can the oni appear and disappear however she wants? How did she even get into the city in the first place?
It''s time to move things along here as well. While Arako has found Ken, we still need to get out of this city and beat it just to be safe. I hope that Ken was smart enough to hide his face, so we will not be chased by Goldbrunn in addition to Feuerberg, the oni, and Correo''s other goons.
If Ken did hide his face, then we might get it all. This may just be greed, but if my plan works, then we might create an opportunity.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Ah, he''s alright!¡± I put the note Ara wrote back into the backpack. ¡°We still need to find him though.¡±
¡°We''re still preparing, my princess.¡±
¡°But I want to see him!¡± I hope Kenta is not hurt too badly, even though his status says otherwise.
¡°I''m sorry, but we need to make an opening. Otherwise, it will be no good.¡±
¡°...buh...¡± I know that I''m pouting.
The men of D¨¦juma are helping me right now, not only in looking for Kenta but also in order to trick the Crusaders and guards. I didn''t even consider doing that before.
¡°Princess.¡± Wranas, the dar, is coming closer. He moves very carefully because my healing spells were just enough to stop the bleeding. The effect of my spells on heroes is greater, I''m not that used to treating people either. ¡°Is this good?¡± He shows me a suit of leather armor, which is dyed with blood, wine, and some fruits.
It almost looks like a genuine red armor, at least at first glance. How did he make it so good with almost nothing? ¡°Looks good.¡±
¡°Thanks. Jos¨¦, wear it. Also, this would be the hood.¡± It''s also dyed.
¡°Why do you even have a hood, Wranas?¡±
¡°It''s bad luck to leave a building without having your head covered. I usually wear my helmet, but if I wasn''t in armor, I used this hood.¡±
¡°When don''t you wear your armor?¡±
¡°At weddings.¡±
¡°Dude!¡±
They are indeed good friends.
¡°Now that we got the false husband, the escape route is secured, and now we need the audience.¡±
¡°Thank you, Wranas. Jos¨¦, are you sure that you want to take this risk?¡±
¡°Don''t worry, princess. I''m just glad to serve!¡±
¡°No, not serve.¡± I take both of his hands. ¡°To help. We are friends now.¡±
¡°...YES!¡± He surely seems to be pumped.
¡°You remember that she''s already married?¡± Enrico, the whip-user, asks.
¡°Shut up! It''s admiration! And even though I''ve only seen that bastard once, if he''s able to make a girl like her fall that hard, then he has to be great!¡±
I don''t exactly know what they are talking about, but I think that Kenta just got praised.
Alej really has some great subjects. Even though they''re ''just'' bounty hunters, every country can be glad to count capable people like them as part of their citizens.
They want to help, and they have a plan. Kenta is with Ara now, so everything will be fine. If not, then I''ll make it so!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Wait!¡± A group of guards is approaching. There are even some who I¡¯ve already encountered... shit, there¡¯s also a Crusader!
¡°I need to get him somewhere safe.¡± Ara-san is trying to support me, but it''s very taxing on her alfr body with its lack of muscles.
¡°Was he wounded by the guy in the red armor?¡±
¡°I think so.¡±
The captain of the guards and the Crusader look at me carefully. ¡°I''m fine, it looks worse than it is.¡± They are looking at someone, who is wearing glasses and has a slight belly.
¡°Sorry, I just thought that your chin looked kinda like the chin of the red armor guy.¡± Of course, because it''s the same. My face is now a bit more roundish though, and I have a bit of a belly. The glasses do their job as well. Wearing my hood before also made it harder to get a good look at my face.
¡°Excuse me.¡± The Crusader lifts my shirt, to see if what''s below is genuine. ¡°...you''d better go to the HQ with these bruises and cuts. It''s down the road, ask for Katsuragi-san there. She is quite capable with herbs.¡±
So this one can''t sense sinners? Lucky! ¡°Of course. She''s my little sister.¡±
¡°Ah, I see the resemblance. You''ve got a great sister there.¡±
¡°Don''t let her fool you, she can be quite a bitch.¡±
¡°Like all young women, I guess.¡± The Crusader seems to be amused. ¡°Do you know, where the man in the red armor went?¡±
¡°North.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡± The group starts marching northwards.
¡°I can''t believe that this is enough to fool humans.¡±
¡°They saw someone athletic. I''m not.¡±
¡°Why did you say that Momo is your little sister?¡±
¡°To add something to make it believable.¡±
¡°Your spirit is exactly the same, even after your [Class-change].¡±
¡°Normal humans can''t feel them.¡±
¡°I know, but I can hardly imagine someone not feeling that. Now, where should we go? To the HQ?¡±
¡°Kyou-san''s there, isn''t she? I just hope, that there will be no sinner-detector there.¡±
¡°This has to be a [Skill], and it may tell us if you''re the only sinner, or if we are all considered as such because we''re tied by this curse.¡±
¡°Ara-san, don''t do any experiments on this!¡±
¡°What a pity. This might be our only chance to find out.¡±
She... she''s joking, right? I mean, one little mistake can kill us and she still wants to get that data? ...actually, I can totally see her doing that. ¡°Ara-san, if you do any experiments here, then I''ll never talk to you again.¡±
¡°Because you''ll probably die?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Then how about this: If someone cast this [Judgment]-spell, I''ll shield you. Then we''ll find out.¡±
¡°I don''t recommend that. It hurts. It hurts bad. One of the worst pains I went through, and I have some experience by now.¡±
¡°Worse than when Momo kneed you between your legs?¡±
¡°...I don''t know who told you this, but please don''t make me compare the two. The memories of any single one of them alone already make me cringe.¡±
As we walk down the street, we are stopped two more times. Both of these stops were short and curt, and my ''disguise'' is still holding quite well. I actually planned to slip through one of the barricades like this, but first I have to test this disguise.
Best case scenario, I should test it while being escorted by the guards.
Ah, the guys Ara-san and I knocked out are being carried here, the last victims.
¡°Momo, here he is.¡± There she is, Momokawa Kyou-san. She looks tired, vigorous, and pissed at the same time. For some reason, I''m kinda glad to see her. Strange.
¡°Are you alright?¡± ''Do we need to make the sister-routine?'' Eye-language.
¡°Barely...¡± ''Yup.''
¡°Take a seat, Onii-chan.¡± ''Asshole.''
¡°Where is Rine?¡± ''Bitch.''
¡°Still out there. ¡¡± She looks at my wounds, and sees where I ripped off the poultices, but she''s smart enough not to mention it. ¡°Arako, please wrap some poultices over these wounds. I need to take a look at that other guy, it looks like some idiot stabbed him with a spear.¡±
¡°Good work, little sister!¡± ''It''s not like I could help it. He tried to kill me, after all.''
She talks to the guards who brought them here. ¡°...no vitals were hit, but it can still be fatal. I need to disinfect and sew it.¡± ''It''s actually good, that he''s in this state.''
...what is she scheming?
Well, it''s Kyou-san after all, she''s always scheming something.
¡°Hm... what''s that?¡± She carefully inspects the wound. ¡°Glass-spider venom.¡± Erm, what? ¡°The venom of the actual spider isn''t that strong, but if you add the right herbs and cook it for a while, then it can cause brain-damage.¡±
The only reason why I don''t believe this lie despite her concerned looking face is the fact that Kyou-san often lies without even flinching. She has lied so much, that she became that good at it.
¡°Is there a cure, Katsuragi-san?¡± Of course, the guards are swallowing it.
¡°There are some antidotes. Let me check... here you go. These are for you, better take them now. It should last around two hours, so don''t save it.¡±
Wait, is she just convincing these guys to take some sort of poison? ¡°Thanks!¡± And they''re buying it!?
¡°I got these ones covered. Please try your best to make the one who did it to them pay.¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
Kyou-san takes some disinfectant and starts treating the stabbed one, after smearing some paste under his nose. ¡°So that he won''t wake up.¡± She explains to me.
...I think I should seriously start to rethink if Kyou-san is not somewhat capable after all.
Seeing her sewing a wound without even a bit of hesitation... wait, I think she¡¯s never had any real problems with blood. More like, she doesn''t like it, but she''s totally fine with it, even though her sewing seems to need some work. Well, I''m worse at it.
Kyou-san also puts some paste inside the nostrils of the other mercenaries. She washed her hands afterward, but even though she put her fingers inside those noses, she was not disgusted at all. Wait, back in the chasm she wasn''t disgusted by much either... I get it. Kyou-san is someone who is at her best when things get ugly.
¡°Is something wrong, Onii-chan?¡± ''Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it.''
Just ignore it. ¡°I want to find Rine as fast as possible.¡±
¡°I understand that, but I need to share the antidote first.¡± ¡ I can''t identify this look. What exactly is she trying to tell me?
It can''t be important, Kyou-san begins to hand out some ''antidote.'' I don''t know what this will cause, but she''s sabotaging everyone here.
...I hope I''ll be able to eat her food after this, because I can''t help but think about how easy it would be for her to poison me as well.
By the way, why is the HQ in sight of the building, where I took some people ''hostage'' for a diversion? Ah, I asked the husband to bring the one in charge, so I guess that person came to diffused the situation, and ordered them to build an HQ here.
Signal horns? Why are there signal horns blown? I''m here! Or is it a ''lost him''-call?
What exactly is going on?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Stop!¡± I run after Jos¨¦, who is clad in red colors. I try to play the part of the one who chases him, but after seeing me act, Wranas asked me to just say one word at a time. ¡°Stop!¡±
¡°My wounds...¡± The dar holds his chest. I hurt him too much, right?
Enrico dashes towards Jos¨¦. ¡°Just-¡± Yet Jos¨¨ quickly turns and throws a knife at him. It doesn''t hit, but that was close.
Jos¨¦ steps onto a rain-barrel, and from there he jumps onto a low roof. He''s quite agile. He climbs to a higher roof. Why is there a ladder there?
Ah, Pedro and Enrico secured an escape-route, right? That''s what they were talking about. The ladder is used to climb onto the city walls, from a nearby roof! ¡°Jo-¡±
¡°Quiet, princess!¡± Wranas is a bit rash. ¡°Don''t forget them...¡±
''Them'' are the guards and two Crusaders. Ah, they''re using crossbows! Is there something to throw?
¡°...¡± Wranas shakes his head at me. ¡°Sirs!¡± He steps up to the guard. ¡°Does anyone of you have a Healing Brew?¡±
¡°Wait, dwarf.¡±
¡°...what did you call me?¡±
¡°Sorry, sir, but... shoot!¡± Is it me, or are these crossbow bolts poorly fletched? Their aim wasn''t good, but it was good enough, yet for some reason, the bolts arc in some strange way, which makes me think of lousy fletching.
Not a single one even got near Jos¨¦.
¡°Seriously, the pain is killing me!¡± Wranas grabs the Crusader.
¡°Alright, alright. I''ll use magic.¡±
¡°You have my gratitude.¡±
¡°[Heal]!¡±
¡°Ah, that''s better...¡±
¡°I knew that Wranas can be very distracting...¡± Enrico murmurs. ¡°But that much?¡±
¡°He''s great!¡± I whisper back. ¡°I don''t know how, but he did it! Wranas is great!¡±
What about Jos¨¦? He''s on the wall, and guards are approaching!
No, he jumped! He will break his bones!
¡°Don''t worry about him,¡± Pedro explains in a soft voice. ¡°He once wanted to be a wizard, but was only able to learn the basics, since he had too little talent. So his father forced him to go to military school instead, as he was decent with the blade. He used the opportunity to learn some basic spells there, like [Slow Fall]. That''s why it had to be him.¡±
Jos¨¦... thank you. Thank you!
¡°Princess, is there no way that you''ll come with us?¡±
¡°No, I belong at Kenta''s side.¡±
¡°Figures.¡± Pedro sighs. ¡°Be careful. Many countries will put a bounty on you if they haven''t already, some may even send men in order to capture you. Just get away as fast as possible.¡±
¡°Thanks for the advice.¡±
¡°One more thing... Could you please look at me and say that you like me? In a non-romantic way of course, but just say the ''I like you''-part.¡±
¡°Of course I like you, Pedro.¡±
¡°...best day ever.¡±
That was a strange request.
Volume 05 - Chapter 4-4
¡°He jumped over the wall? Then descended slowly? So that person can also use magic... Sounds too much like a ranger to me.¡± The chief captain of the guards rubs his temples, since he heard bad news.
¡°I saw it with my own eyes, and these people can attest to it.¡±
¡°Yes. He totally jumped over the wall, but I can''t say anything about the falling part.¡± Some strange dwarf tells his part of the story. He was chasing the person with the red armor and hood, but they nimbly escaped.
However, there is a vital flaw in that story: I''m still here!
The chief captain is interviewing this dwarf, who also needs to get his wounds treated. His companions are also here, but someone of the Crusaders questions them... Shit, their commander is coming in... for some reason, he and his men have wounded guards and Crusaders with them.
Wasn''t this the group who almost got me earlier, before I met up with Ara-san? What happened to them? They look like ghosts, pale, their eyes sunken, and their bodies are shivering. They look almost dead.
The commander waves the chief captain of the guards to him. ¡°Katsuragi-san, could you please come with me? Those people might need your attention.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± ''Ken, make sure to stay away.''
I don''t say anything. At least with words: ''Don''t go, that commander-guy is crazy!''
''¡'' She looks at me as if I''d just accused my best friend of being a gamer. So basically, the pot calls the kettle black, huh?
I grab her hand. ''Don''t.''
¡°Don''t worry, Onii-chan. I''m needed there and you need rest. I¡¯ve got this.¡± W...what''s with that smile!? This... it makes my heart beat in rapid fire and gives me cavities. I''ve never seen it before, so what triggered it!?
I observe how she goes with the chief captain. I can''t help but worry. Not about her, mind you, but about how the commander of the Crusaders will start yelling ''Sinner!'' and cast those stupid [Judgement]-spells!
Yet she gets close to him without a hitch. Is the sinner-detector an active [Skill]? Plausible.
¡°Are you worried?¡± Ara-san is back from an errand for Kyou-san. ¡°I heard it from afar.¡±
¡°How can I not be?¡±
¡°...Kenta-kun, I-¡± What is wrong with Ara-san? ¡°Today, something happened. I need to confirm something. So, could we conduct an experiment later?¡±
¡°...fine with me. I also want to check my new [Skills].¡± I already used [Don-off], which unfastens and removes the worn armor in a matter of two seconds. Each belt just jumps off, and the armor slowly slips from your body. Everything is done within seconds.
Then there is [Penetrate Light] from the [Perception]-ability. I think it lets me see through bright light, which might be a reaction to being subjected to [Judgement] several times, which effectively blinded me in addition to all that pain and damage.
A new [Spear]-skill, [Rising Point]. An airborne [Skill] maybe?
Finally, a new [Spirit Magic]-spell. [Whisper], the same one Ara-san got, which makes me able to send a whisper to a person, as long as I can see them.
So being chased by armed maniacs makes you learn [Skills]-huh? Not a method I plan to use in the future, but interesting from another perspective. So training is less efficient than being in danger?
¡°KEEEENTAAAA!¡± I try to react to that, but I''m currently a [Student], so my reaction time is just too slow!
You gain 1 WP.
A heartfelt hug is something to be appreciated, even if it hurts due to severe wounds.
I''m forcefully hugged by Rine, who set it as her goal to choke me! ¡°Kenta, Kenta, Kenta! You''re alright, Kenta, you''re alright!¡± Stop fondling me! Your eyes are tearing, remember your arm dammit!
I also don''t know when you bought a helmet, but don''t just throw it to the ground!
Geez.
I pat her head. ¡°OK, OK, I''m fine, so stop reopening my wounds.¡±
¡°Ah! Sorry, sorry, I...¡± ...why is she crying!? ¡°I- Kenta, you- I- you- *sniff* sorry, I''m sorry, please!¡±
¡°Phew... you aren¡¯t making any sense.¡± At least she lets me go. ¡°Stop crying, I can''t stand that!¡±
¡°Yes!¡± With this, her eyes dry like magic, and the smile that replaces them is heartfelt and genuine. Same as always.
¡°But it''s also not the time for goofy smiles, we''re still in danger.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, Jos¨¦ is doing his best.¡±
...Who is Jos¨¦? Seriously, who is that guy? And what is your relationship with him!?
And who are these two humans? They look like D¨¦jumians... but one is crying. Not because of sadness, but out of anger. He glares daggers at me, while tears run down his aggravated face.
The other one sighs. ¡°The best ones go to the worst.¡± What is that suppose to mean!?
Who are these people? How are they involved with Rine? What about that guy, that jumped over the wall? What about the poisoning Kyou-san did? When and how will it take effect? Why is she going to that commander?
Why doesn''t anyone tell me what''s going on!?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°What are we still doing here! We have to chase after him!¡±
¡°Sir Alchenain, he''s outside the city. I may spare some men to catch him, but we need all the intelligence we can get. So, was his armor genuine red or maybe bloodstained?¡±
¡°I... It was bloodstained, but also red. A hide armor.¡±
¡°Good. Anything else?¡±
¡°A red hood. He was moving nimbly and has some skills, but I think he was rather young. Below twenty. Also, I think he''s small, otherwise, he has to be something like fourteen. That''d be too young considering his skills.¡±
¡°I agree. Given how he was able to make a fool of our men... Are you certain, that he was a human?¡±
¡°I''m not sure. He has some strange skin color... Not exactly southerner. So maybe he''s some kind of elf?¡±
¡°But elves don''t wear hoods usually. I heard once that they have problems if their ears are covered. They also tend to be really pale.¡±
¡°Hm... her! It''s around her skin tone!¡±
I was just tending the wounded Crusaders. They look bad, and my [Check-up]-skill tells me, that some of them have interior bleeding. More than one of them have their eardrums ruptured, and one of them has a bad nose-bleed. I can''t treat these severe wounds yet with my hero-skills! I was mostly just giving painkillers and a little extra to them.
¡°Baba-¡± One Crusader-woman looks like a ghost. ¡°Bababa!¡±
What happened to them?
Nevermind, I have to worry about myself. ¡°What about my skin color, sir?¡±
¡°Erm, sorry miss. Your skin color is similar to the one that the sinner had.¡±
¡°Yes? Do you know where my parents are from?¡±
¡°...what?¡±
¡°I was raised in Feuerberg, my parents never told me before their death, where I''m from. So do you know? My brother and I are dying to know!¡±
¡°Brother?¡±
¡°Yes, this one.¡± I point at Ken, who is currently with a group of people. Rine-chan is back, but it looks like she brought company. Who are these guys?
¡°Hm...¡± He should mistake him for another person, Ken''s looking different enough for now. Even his general body shape is different. ¡°I will take a look.¡±
Ah, shoot. ¡°Sir, please. Take a look at your people. This one certainly looks bad.¡±
¡°Bababa---- --baba!¡±
¡°I did what I could do. Lady Nyssan is in shock, and I have too much to do to deal with her in that state.¡±
¡°Scum!¡±
¡°...what did you say?¡±
¡°You''re scum!¡±
¡°Miss... how are you called?¡±
¡°My name is none of your business, trash commander!¡± I need to be strong here. I try to speak like Ken, but insulting a tall, muscular man in this direct manner is unnerving.
¡°Chief Captain, who is this girl and how dare she!?¡±
¡°She''s someone who put a lot of effort in fixing the people who fell victim to this incident, Sir Alchenain. So treat her with more respect, she did more here than any of us.¡±
¡°But she might be an accomplice... seeing how her skin tone is the same as the sinners.¡±
¡°Sir Alchenain, don''t. You may be tired. I''m also tired, I can understand. It was short but very taxing. Let''s concentrate on the important things.¡±
¡°Bababa. Bar-Bar-Bar-Bar!¡±
¡°Chief Captain, if this sinner gets away, we are one step further to the death of the human race! We can''t let him escape!¡±
¡°So why don''t you check her with your ''special magic?''¡±
¡°I already did, there is no response.¡± Ah, so Ken is the only sinner? Because the curse ''marries'' the other girls and me to him, but we''re not married to each other?The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Still, he checked me without my consent? ¡°How dare you!¡± I slap him. At least, I try to. He effortlessly catches my hand, right in front of his face.
¡°I have e- ¡¡± His face changes its expression to one of disgust for less than a moment, then he drops. No wonder, I still had some sleeping paste on my hand. He caught my hand too late and inhaled the gases.
¡°Sir Alchenain?¡±
I kneel before him and open one of his eyelids. ¡°Overwork.¡± A simple lie.
¡°...Crusaders,¡± the chief captain sighs, ¡°Please take your commander and go back to your camp. You probably want to start the chase as soon as possible. We have plenty of mercenaries here and, so as long as you can pay them, you''ll have many helpful hands.¡±
The subordinates look at their unconscious commander. He will regain consciousness in about ten minutes, that''s what [Check-up] tells me.
It will be enough for the moment, especially seeing how the chief captain is growing tired of the Crusaders. The few that are left leave the premises. while supporting or even carrying their comrades, including the poor woman. ¡°Barbar- Barbar- It exploded! Exploded! Air!¡± She''s hyperventilating.
One of the Crusader''s commanders starts to gather more mercenaries for their forces so that they can expand their search outside the city. Quite an amount takes up the offer, probably because the pockets of the Crusaders are deep.
The search also continues inside the city, just to be on the safe side. Given how everything unfolds for now, there will be consequences for us. Ken''s armor is just too eye-catching to ignore and too good to discard.
Good thing that I''m not Ken, I don¡¯t know how to resolve this. Many guards and mercenaries are starting to feel unwell, a side-effect of the diluted sleeping paste that I handed out as an ''antidote.'' They only feel a bit tired and some strain, just as if they''re exhausted.
Reports come in, saying that the Crusaders started to form searching parties to look for the sinner outside the city. So the Crusaders are out of the way for now, though some are still lingering around Goldbrunn, maybe looking for Ken and me.
After speaking with Rine-chan, I also got the gist of what has happened. She really got stroke of luck there, but that, plus the support of her new underlings, made people believe that it wasn''t someone in red armor, but a blood-stained one. Well, Ken''s way of fighting, which is sudden and brutal, also made it hard for those attacked to remember whether their attacker''s armor was red or not.
Still, this isn''t good enough. If this is how things are going, then we won''t have any place left. We will be hunted by those who want to put an end to a sinner. I have to turn this around, I''m the only one who can do it. I''m the only one of us who''s capable and smart enough to manipulate all the people here.
Also, I will not tolerate anyone tainting the name of the ''red ranger.''
Time to put some ideas into action. First, I go to a group of guards, they cast suspicious glances in Ken''s direction. No wonder, they were among the first ones I treated. ¡°Sorry.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
The guy I''m speaking to, the one I identified as the leader, is a bit off guard: ¡°I think you know.¡±
The man changes his facial expression in a fast manner: Wondering, thinking, remembering, blaming, concerned, confused, determined: ¡°About your brother?¡±
I lower my voice. ¡°It''s true, he''s the one.¡±
¡°So, he''s a sinner?¡± this exclamation is also soft but caught the attention of his fellow guards nonetheless.
¡°Wrong! It''s all a big misunderstanding!¡± My words are heard, this is the power of a high [Persuasion]-attribute. For the highest [Persuasion] I should change into [Herbalist], but I stay as a [Priest], putting my trust into the [Conversation]-ability, which is supposed to help in, well, conversations. ¡°This is because of the Crusaders!¡±
¡°...please explain.¡± [Persuasion] makes the words of a hero more believable for non-heroes, threats are more intimidating, pleas meet more empathy, lies are more easily believed.
¡° Onii-chan is a genuine ranger, so he looks different now, because of his ranger magic.¡± First, tell them something that is believable. ¡°So when he found the demon, he wanted to make sure to protect the people. Then the Crusaders came...¡±
¡°What happened? I mean, I saw how they fought alongside us first, then they found out that your brother is a sinner.¡±
¡°According to Onii-chan, the magic of the crusaders revealed that the demon wasn''t a demon at all.¡±
¡°Yes, she looked like some strange girl, with horns and everything.¡±
¡°Because of this, Onii-chan used his ranger magic to look at her mind,¡± this is a bit of a stretch, ¡°Actually, she''s a cursed girl. When Onii-chan tried to explain it to the Crusaders, they...¡± Closer to the verge of tears, a bit of sniffing.
¡°Those... those bastards!¡± One of the other guards chips in: ¡°I know that they think they''re better than us, but those glorified assholes!¡± He thinks that the Crusaders wanted to improve their reputation by killing a supposed demon, instead of looking for the truth of the matter, just like I wanted.
So [Persuasion] also works with implications.
¡°Nonetheless,¡± I continue before that statement could be questioned, ¡°My brother hurt you, and I want to apologize. With all the people chasing him and the cursed girl, he was a bit desperate. He had to use his all, and he''s not that good with people.¡±
Taking another look at Ken, who''s arguing with Rine-chan and her bounty hunter friends, the guards had to agree. This is also an indirect compliment, like saying ''You''re so strong, that a ranger had to use his all to get away from you.''
¡°Well... it''s not like we were badly hurt... thinking about it, is there a single casualty at all?¡±
¡°Of course not! Onii-chan doesn''t kill people if he can avoid it!¡± Showing some anger, I could see the last doubts vanishing.
From what I heard during this whole chase, I know that the people of Goldbrunn somewhat revere rangers, which means telling them that they were right in doing so makes it easier for them to believe my words.
Thinking about it, Ken really didn''t kill anyone here. Though there are these strangely wounded people, who are taken care of by a priest from this city, who finally arrived, neither Ken nor anyone I know would leave injuries like this...
I just got an idea for the next group of people. After saying goodbye to the guards, I look around, seeing some mercenaries who I already know from Bronco''s Bucket, the inn we''re staying in: ¡°Hello...¡± I take on a downcast look to give them the right mood: ¡°You heard, right?¡±
¡°Katsuragi-san?¡± The leader has hit on me before, and my stomach is rebelling. He smirks, knowing more about the matter, since he saw Ken in his red armor before: ¡°What can we do for you?¡± This round-about way tells me that he''s as much of a scum as I thought he would be.
¡°We need to look for the other one.¡± So I just prick him, where he doesn''t expect it.
¡°O-other one?¡±
¡°Yes, the blood-stained one. The one people confuse with Onii-chan.¡±
¡°What!?¡±
¡°Yes, I need your help. Onii-chan found a demon collaborator, who clad himself in blood. He''s the one who broke Rine-chan''s arm!¡± Adding a bit of spice, ¡°He''s dangerous and followed us into the city, and the Crusaders didn''t consider, that there are also people with genuine red armor. That''s why my brother is currently on the run.¡±
While those mercenaries have looked at Ken in his [Student]-form, nobody recognized him. Maybe because they''re just dismissing him for another Asian person, as Ken lacks the muscles he used to have.
Now I have to do something, which makes me feel disgusted with myself: ¡°I... I don''t know what to do. I need help!¡± I gently put my hand on the arm of the leader: ¡°Please! I''ll do anything!¡± I want to vomit. I''ve just overstepped a line I''ve drawn for myself, but if I don''t do it, then our party will have only enemies in the future. ¡°I need you!¡±
The way the leader looks makes him even more despicable. ¡°So, you''ll do anything?¡± I nod. ¡°Alright, the one who broke your friend''s arm... blood-stained armor? No problem, sunshine, we''ll handle it. Just be patient and wait.¡±
My fingers want to put themselves on the handle of my knife to stab that scumbag! Instead, I slowly retreated my arm and put on my best, sweetest smile: ¡°Thank you!¡±
Of course, those mercenaries will leak the info about another man in armor, which is already hinted at. They just think they know the truth, which will be spread around like a wildfire.
The story I told the guards, and this one doesn''t fit at all right now, but knowing how rumors go, the individual people will find ways to make everything sound plausible. I don''t know how they will turn out, but it''s still a hundred times better than the alternative.
So I go about planting one seed at a time, speaking with different groups, presenting them with some ideas. Still, there is one I still have to persuade: The chief captain.
This one might be tough, I don''t know how people can resist [Persuasion], but I imagine that a firm leader-type like him will be less receptive than the ordinary guardsman. Still, he has a favorable impression of me and also he''s fed up with the Crusaders, so I might have a chance.
¡°Chief Captain,¡± I can hear my own heartbeat, and my toes are cold. This is the crucial part, so of course I''m a bit nervous: ¡°I have to confess something...¡±
¡°Katsuragi-dono?¡± Of course, he''s surprised.
¡°Yes... I know the person, who is blamed as a sinner. I''m terribly sorry, but I couldn''t tell you earlier.¡±
Seeing signs of my nervousness, the chief captain calms down himself, looking at me like a father to his overly nervous daughter: ¡°Tell me. I''ll listen to the end.¡±
¡°Thank you... The person you''re looking for is my brother, but everything is a big misunderstanding, I swear!¡±
¡°Your brother?¡±
¡°Yes. My brother is a ranger, and he wears red armor, but he''s neither a sinner nor did he work with a demon.¡± Actually, I don''t even know all of the details of what really happened, but while talking with all the people around here, trying to convince them to believe several stories, I already got the gist of what I want to tell. ¡°It''s complicated.¡±
¡°Start from the beginning.¡±
¡°Onii-chan was out looking for dangers to the city, he''s always a bit restless. He said that he feels something evil lurking in this city, maybe even a dark ranger...¡±
I can see, how chills are running down the chief captain''s spine: ¡°Dark ranger?¡±
¡°Ah, sorry, please forget I said that!¡± Playing the innocent, ditzy girl is always helpful.
¡°I can''t. What are ''dark rangers?''¡±
¡°But Onii-chan told me-¡±
¡°Tell me. Now.¡±
¡°Some people can''t endure the harsh training by the alfar...¡± Let''s replace ''some'' with ''most normal'' here, as being trained by alfar is a special kind of torture. ¡°Those who learned the basics, but abandoned the training, might become dark rangers. A rogue ranger called Darkheart is training them.¡± It''s like a clich¨¦d hero-story, though I feel a bit of resonance coming from the chief captain. ¡°They''re like a brotherhood of evil.¡±
The chief captain nods, he may have heard about rangers, who don''t fit the heroic image. ¡°That''s atrocious...¡±
¡°Please keep it a secret! If people know...¡± He will probably end that thought with ''If people know, they may fall into despair, as someone with ranger-like capabilities is out there... like a boogieman.''
¡°I''ll keep it secret.¡± The chief captain is very kind, his face gives me enough information about what he will believe. It may be manipulative, but I will use it to the fullest.
¡°I think, the dark ranger is really there. He''s the sinner, I''m sure of it!¡±
¡°...I need a moment to process this... you!¡± He yells at one of the guards: ¡°Get me some officers. I need more reports!¡±
The chief captain asks for more intelligence, and what he is fed with is what I spread around the HQ. Everything a bit messy, but bit by bit the chief captain came to his own conclusions. The demon isn''t a demon, but a cursed girl. There is poison going around. There are two people in hoods going about, one in red armor, one in blood-stained armor. One of the officers exclaims, he saw both of them at the same time, facing off. The Crusaders tried to hog all the glory, no, the Crusaders actually put a demon in this city to show the people, how useful and mighty they are. Someone is going around, using unknown means to destroy people from within.
To overcome a panic, make the enemy even more confused than yourself. This said the chief captain sent his men away, asking them to continue the search for a while. Then he turns to me: ¡°Since the blood-stained armor guy jumped from the walls, there have been no further encounters or victims... well, there are no casualties at all so far. Your brother is a sick genius.¡± He chuckles a bit: ¡°But I hate him for even having a plan like this.¡±
¡°Like what?¡±
¡°He was the one, who set up this hostage situation, right? That was to mobilize as many of us as possible, and to make my subordinates start hiring mercenaries and such in order to tighten the net around that dark ranger, who got desperate and tried to flee. The reason he''s here is that he''s recuperating, as he got wounded by holding back all the time.¡±
¡°I don''t know, though it sounds like him.¡± Except not.
¡°So many things make sense now. He didn''t turn to us, as we were too occupied catching him, so he did just enough damage to make us look hard for him. He also uncovered the plot of the Crusaders, and they tried to kill him because he found out.¡±
¡°Found what out?¡± I didn''t put it there.
¡°They were using a cursed girl to make a big uproar so that they could gain more freedoms and support from Goldbrunn. I always knew that they''re sly bastards!¡± I certainly didn''t plant that one, but it''s what the chief captain believes. ¡°Your brother should be honored. I''ll thank him personally!¡±
¡°No, please don''t!¡± If you do, Ken will mess everything up! ¡°He doesn''t like being around people much. He doesn''t even like the reputation, he just wants to do his best.¡± Also, I won''t let the name of the ''red ranger'' be anything other than one of a thorough hero.
¡°A classic ranger. ¡ are you alright?¡±
Actually, I''m not. I feel a headache, and somehow it''s hard to look straight. Did I poison myself by mistake? I check my status, see how my SP are almost rock bottom. What happened?
Then I realize, I''ve used [Priest] for its [Conversation]-ability... I may have unlocked a new skill and used it unconsciously the whole time, spending SP in the process. I look at my skills, two new ones: [Rumor Mill] and [Glorification].
[Conversation] have to be an ability like [Perception] that doesn''t need its skills to be said aloud to work. Makes sense, as this ability is about influencing people by talking to them.
The real question is: What have I just done!?
I can''t even think straight. My knees are weak, and I''m stumbling around. The chief captain stabilizes me then by grabbing my shoulder. ¡°I''m sorry. You''ve worked hard for us, and I didn''t even notice how tired you are. Have a break. It''s been a long day for everyone.¡± The guards are tired and unfocused for other reasons, but I won''t disagree here.
¡°Hey.¡± A quiet voice I''m very familiar with by now, Ken, has come closer while looking at the chief captain and me. His facial expression is strange, something I''ve never seen from him before. ¡°I''m taking over.¡±
Without even asking, he grabs my hand and gently removes me from the chief captain. Still, the man takes it easy: ¡°Sure.¡± I can see, how the chief captain is about to say something, but swallow his words, just returning a smile.
Ken''s look is priceless, as he''s utterly confused by this reaction. He scratches his head, then he turns to me. ¡°Let''s go.¡±
I see the SP-pot in his other hand, he already knows that I''m at my limit. ¡°Yes.¡±
While we walk to the side, I can see several guards yawning and rubbing their temples. The chief captain started to reassign people, just to be on the safe side but declares that the hunt is over and the mercenaries are free to go.
This is another time I save your ass, Ken.
Volume 05 - Epilogue
Epilogue
¡°Here is your reward. It''s not much, but the Chief Captain gave a bonus for Katsuragi-san''s treatment of the wounded. Including that, it comes to 6,560 Newgold.¡±
I''m in [Student]-class and wearing my old hide armor as I take the reward. ¡°Thanks.¡±
¡°You''ve worked hard!¡±
¡°We''ve done practically nothing..¡±
¡°I know, I know. You''ve ¡®really¡¯ done nothing. I mean, erm, you know, right?¡± No I don''t, and stop winking at me! It gives me goosebumps! ¡°Also, take this letter.¡±
It''s a letter. A letter of recognition with the seal of Goldbrunn. We, the Lion''s Squad, just went up a Rank and are now officially mercenaries. ¡°Thank you?¡±
¡°I promised your sister. Also, Chief Captain Welmar recommended you! Actually, I- nevermind.¡± What''s up with him? ¡°Nonetheless, what''s your plan now?¡±
¡°We¡¯re leaving right now. We want to join the hunt.¡±
¡°Good luck.¡± A wink again.
¡°Phew, thanks.¡±
Of course what I said is a load of bullshit. We just want to get away while we can. Still, skipping the reward wouldn''t make sense. I might want to return here when there are no Crusaders, you know.
I really want to go, as people are starting to look at me strangely. I think it''s what Kyou-san did when she attained her new skills, [Rumor Mill] and [Glorification], though I have no idea exactly what she did, and she''s not telling me either.
Whatever it is, people started to notice me even more, so I want to get away as fast as possible. Soon we leave the gates of Goldbrunn, showing the marks we got when we entered it a few days ago to pass the checkpoint, only to see a single Crusader waiting for us. ¡°Wait.¡± He looks somewhat distressed. ¡°I have orders to hold you. I''m sorry, Miss Katsuragi, but the commander-¡± He can''t say anything more.
The reason? Ara-san just gouged his eyes with her fingers. ¡°I need to conduct an experiment soon, so please don''t waste my time.¡± Is she talking about the one that she wants to do with me? Is she that eager? She uses her staff and sweeps that Crusader to the ground, somehow she looks sovereign.
Kyou-san uses some of her sleep paste and rubs it in his face. ¡°I really thought this was hard to use before.¡±
What''s wrong with these two!? They look so... strangely tough.
Is Rine actually a bad influence on them? Or maybe a good one?
It creeps me out! Since meeting that oni in Goldbrunn, everything is creeping me out!
We travel fast while giving the Crusader''s tents a wide berth, and walk straight into the evening. The camp is set up quickly, and we steered away from the road, trying to get as much space between the Crusaders and us as possible.
For some reason, Kyou-san doesn''t scold me for what happened in Goldbrunn. She just says: ¡°The main point is that you''re alright.¡± This is strange, so I¡¯d better assume that whatever she did with her [Conversation]-skills was directed against me.
Maybe she spread the rumor that I''m impotent, and that¡¯s the reason why people started to act nicer, checking me out to reconfirm their own manliness, or something else entirely. The more I think about what it may be, the more I realize I don''t give a fuck. In the end, worrying won''t get me anywhere.
In the evening, I take the first watch, together with Ara-san. She sometimes looks at me, as if she is trying to say something, but she doesn''t know how to begin. It''s kinda cute, but that''s the curse speaking.
¡°Phew, just say it already.¡±
¡°...I''m trying to find the right words.¡±
¡°It''s about that ''experiment,'' right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°So, what is it?¡±
¡°...something delicate. However, you''re right. It''s not the time to hesitate, so please sit down and let me do the rest.¡±
¡°Fine, fine.¡± What exactly is that experiment she is talking about?
She goes behind me and takes me into a hug. ¡°Nothing...¡±
¡°Is that everything?¡± This is odd. Somehow I''m kinda torn between the unpleasantness of body contact and something else, which totally agrees with making even more contact.
¡°No... there is still one thing left.¡± Her cheek brushes mine, then she puts her ear on mine.
What is tha-
Wa! Ah, this... what''s this, this feels... what¡¯s happening? It''s like my ear suddenly got all sensitive, and it seems to be sucked into the sensation of touching Ara-san''s, which trembles. It feels... so good.
¡°Huah...huahh...good...ah...¡± Ara-san is also feeling it. How do I know?
What''s that? Something just passed my mind, something... what? Who? Me? Ara-san? Too much, too much information!
Emotions, thoughts, everything seems so much more, so expansive, but somehow muddy, it''s strange, but this sensation is the best!
¡°Kenta-kun...¡± Ara-san presses her ear with more force on mine, but I don''t mind, something primal is happening here. This... whatever it is, whatever it is supposed to be...
I also press my ear harder on hers. We''re surrounded, surrounded by something, we always were. Spirits. Did [Wild Eyes] activate? No, this feels much more common. It''s like comparing a focused glare with a nonchalant look.
Emotions are welling up inside and crashing down, writing a symphony. Confusion, curiosity, lust, and many other things I¡¯ve never felt before. Words are flying through my mind, I can''t understand them.
It''s a kaleidoscope!
You gain 15 WP.
Finally! The two of you have ear-plugged. This is something only lovers of the alfar are supposed to do. You have an experience that no human has ever been able to have before.
Connected like this, you''re sharing something precious.
Ear-plugging? Isn''t that more or less like kissing for alfar? What... what am I doing right now!?
...Ara-san... practically kissed me. But it was something different, something entirely different.
She slowly retreats from my ear, and the sensations wane, something seems to have been broken. Now everything feels so... normal. Also strange at the same time.
¡°...¡± She takes some distance, I follow her with my eyes, see how she flicks her red ears while mumbling. ¡°This was... different? Maybe?¡± She must be really disturbed because she doesn''t talk to her self usually. ¡°Kenta-kun, did- no, you did feel it. Even though I''ve never done it before, it was unmistakably a true spirit connection.¡±
I better ask her what she''s talking about. ¡°Eh... erm... ah...¡± After I have my voice back. My fingers tremble while touching my ear, the same ear that was connected. But the sensation is so numb and dull.
¡°I still think it''s different, my sight was unfocused, it was almost like seeing through the eyes of someone else... and these smells! Smells stronger than ever before, smells I''ve never noticed. In addition to these emotions... Kenta-kun, I think I got an impression of what it is to live as a human.¡±
What... what''s wrong with Ara-san? Her voice is so... lively? I''m about to speak, but I feel every muscle movement of my face like for the first time, I didn''t even know how many muscles are used to move my mouth. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Today, I got connected, with Momo and Katarine-san. It was faint, and something felt off, so I had to see if it''s the same and...¡± She blinks several times, and suddenly her excitement drops. ¡°That was strange.¡± She is back to her normal behavior, her voice and movements are much calmer. ¡°I think, that the effect of having a spirit connection with a human is causing some side effects.¡±
I also feel how this strangeness subsides. ¡°What happened to you girls?¡±
¡°I don''t know... maybe it was just the strength of a real spirit connection, but it felt different back then. I''ll order my thoughts, then maybe I can tell you.¡± She gets her writing set out of the backpack and starts noting everything down.
Order your thoughts, huh? Good idea.
I open up my status, this is typically enough for me to change gears, though I can''t help but glance over at Ara-san sometimes.
You practically kissed me out of curiosity! And now I can''t stop thinking about it...
¡°Ara-san?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Are we... I mean, the ear-plug and...¡±
¡°So you''re asking if there is more than just curiosity involved?¡±
¡°...phew... something along those lines. I just need to make things clear here.¡± Before I make any assumptions.
¡°I¡¯ll be honest here: I don''t know anymore. I''m confronted with many emotions I''ve never felt before, many thoughts I''ve never thought before, and everything seems to revolve around you, but I know that it started with the curse. It''s interesting and strangely satisfying, but I don''t know anymore.¡±
¡°So why did you ear-plug me?¡±
¡°I''m still ordering my thoughts, but I think it stems from the general horniness I''m subjected to when I''m around you. Plus other factors, I still don''t understand. However, if you want to know, if I''m interested in a romantic relationship with you: Currently not.¡±
...''currently?''
Wait, cut it out! She just means that it''s still within the realm of possibility like it''s possible that I¡¯ll be struck by lightning right now.
I''m just acting like a virgin here... dammit, I''m still a virgin! I had no chance to get laid, after all! So the whole reason why I went to the pleasure district in the first place, is still unfulfilled.
¡°Phew...¡± ...I better check my status.
...my [Spirit Magic]-Rank went up by 2! I''ve got another [Spell] in the process? Already? I mean, I just checked a few hours ago, since then I didn''t use [Spirit Magic] much!
It has to be because of...
Did I just steal some of Ara-san''s knowledge on how to use [Spirit Magic]? This [Spell]...
Interesting.
Little do I know about the mayhem that''s going to happen when we wake up Kyou-san and Rine for the shift-change.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
With the favor somewhat repaid, the old man is on his way west while wearing his cloak again. Even though barbarians like him tend to go topless for several reasons, he''s now old and the cold is getting to him.
How he knew that the ranger was the one who caused all this ruckus? A mix of instinct and knowing people. Guys like him are often subjected to trouble, mostly self-inflicted.
The boy''s eyes are nice. Small, mean, but they show that under a sheet of complaints and whining is a core out of steel. Someone who knows pain, someone who knows how to endure pain, he just needs to mature. That is the hardest part, but he will do fine.
The black haired girl is a feisty one. She has another kind of strength: The strength of being able to care for others. If you are on her good side, she will do everything to keep you safe, but she also looks a bit conflicted.
The blonde one is genuine. Maybe not the brightest tool in the shed, but gifted with so much talent, that it''s overflowing. If he were twenty years younger, he would have like to fight with her and then seduce her. ¡ Let''s make it thirty years.
The alfr girl is an alfr. He hasn''t had much contact with them because they often stay in their forests, the few ones seen outside there are treated like calamity. He fought some of their heroes before, good times. How long ago? Sixty years maybe.
An interesting bunch of kids. The new generation. He messed up his own, so it''s nice to see some promising young adults out there. Maybe he will see them again. For now, it''s west to Ohlbr¨¹cken. It''s the easiest way to cross the river, Ohl.
Zethtrin, that''s where he wants to go. What the oracle told him: The connection between a broken past, his old present, and what he left behind for the world.
Though, wherever he goes his enemies will tremble in terror. That is how the worth of a barbarian is measured, and he just reaffirmed it.
Today, the old man is in a very good mood.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°They did what!?¡± Sir Archibald Alchenain, commander of the Crusaders in Goldbrunn, and son of Knight Commander Tiferia Alchenain is furious.
There are few things that can make this man angry, but sinners are one of them. The Divine Laws are absolute, they are simple, so why would anyone want to break them and therefore risk the annihilation of their whole species?
No one knows how many sinners are needed for the gods to eradicate the species, and there are no numbers on how many of them are out there. So few are able to detect those sinners, to feel how something inside them is dark, and so very, very wrong. Twisted. Dangerous.
Sir Alchenain really wants to follow this sinner, put him to justice, for the world, also for his own ego, which got some damage. He underestimated that one, that sinner who was clad as a ranger.
His skin tone was unusual and now he lost two suspects with similar colors. Maybe the brother is the sinner even though his build wouldn''t suggest it. Sir Alchenain just needs to see him up close, then he will know.
The hunt for the sinner outside the city ended up as a disaster. Some of his most trusted men never returned, and the search party had found few clues. They may have been in a fight with monsters, but there are almost no tracks. It''s like the forest just swallowed them up. Same goes for several mercenary bands.
The Wildlanders think that a ranger in a forest is invincible. While Sir Alchenain doesn''t give much credit to those rumors, every report he gets is only supporting them, like how his scouts said that squirrels were observing them.
The hunt ended up being too time-consuming, so he hoped to find more clues by meeting the Katsuragis, who used violence to resist a questioning. He instructed his underling to be polite, so beating him up only makes them even more suspicious.
Still, he got their names. ¡°Put a bounty on Katsuragi Kenta and Katsuragi Kyou. 50,000 Newgold for each.¡± A small price to pay to ensure the safety of the world. ¡°Rather 60,000 for the girl.¡± She made him look like a fool. ¡°Also, at least 200,000 Newgold for the red-hooded one. Let the bounty hunters handle it, we are needed in Feuerberg.¡± They are still on a mission. ¡°So be ready to break camp in two days. Send someone to Ohlbr¨¹cken, so that our other forces know about these siblings. Here are their physical descriptions.¡± If they head west, then other Crusaders will be on watch.
There is no escape. There is only one safe way over the Ohl within weeks. They will be found in Ohlbr¨¹cken or caught by staying here.
Nonetheless, Sir Alchenain has to head to Feuerberg soon. The demons are also a danger, which will engulf the world with violence and destruction the moment they have a chance to strike. So the Crusaders will join the war, so that the demons won''t get that opportunity.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Esse, the capital of Feuerberg. Meldorn walks into the study of the king. The queen is also there, and she looks as beautiful as ever. Normally, she''d look softer, more kind, but this is a semi-official meeting, and there are some faces Meldorn knows and some he doesn''t.
¡°Welcome Meldorn.¡± The king says. Normally, such a meeting would be held in the throne room, and the king certainly acts like they''re there.
Still, seeing the composition of the people here, it¡¯s obvious that secrets are to be told. The king, the queen, and the new crown prince Eberhardt from the royal family. The chancellor, and someone from the military, maybe the marshal. Meldorn doesn''t keep track of politics.
Just the five of them on one side.
The other side, the one who Meldorn goes to, is the hunting party.
¡°Now that the hunting party is complete let me introduce you to each other.¡± The king points at the first one. ¡°This is the former marshal, now in retirement, Gottfried. He will lead the party.¡± An old man, who shaves his head and beard.
¡°I''ll rely on you to fetch that idiot.¡± Dangerous. Meldorn knows Gottfried, and he is one to be feared. There is a saying, in Feuerberg resides the three great powers. The first one is the nobility, led by the royal family, who provides the ruler. The second one is the clergy, who are the only ones who know the secrets of the gods of Feuerberg, which have protected the land since the time of Hagen, founder and first ruler of the kingdom. The third great power is Gottfried.
Martial might widely varies between people. Sometimes there will be one person, who is worth a thousand soldiers. Then there are those, who fight with ten of these monsters at the same time on equal footing, and such a person would still lay down their arms when facing Gottfried.
There is a rumor that young Gottfried had once decapitated the enemy army¡¯s leader from five miles away. Meldorn''s mentor said that story was wrong because the actual story was too brutal to be told. To cut it short, Gottfried, on his own, slaughtered his way through five miles full of enemy cavalry, infantry, tamed monsters, archers, magicians, alchemical artillery, and fortifications, to take the head of the enemy leader, who was said to be immortal.
He got it.
People might think that these stories are exaggerations, something like a whole compendium of jokes, praising a person to such heights, that it becomes a hilarious idol, but the moment you see that man you know that it''s different.
Even though he is old now, the amount of pressure he emanates is something else. He''s hiding it, but Meldorn is good at seeing through things. That''s one of the reasons why he was called here.
Gottfried wears a plate armor and a broadsword. Miraculously, his face seems to be harder and sharper than his equipment. The way he carries himself in his gear shows that even though he''s in retirement, he never forgot how it is to be a soldier.
The king continues. ¡°Next one is from the clergy, and also a retiree. He is the pontiff Reiner Kassus.¡± Another old man, whose robes didn¡¯t match his status. He looks almost like a kind grandpa from the neighborhood. He has a mustache and a fringe of hair, which is gray to white. Most likely a tad younger than Gottfried, and much softer.
¡°I''ll be in charge of your health, magical support, and what to do when we encounter Princess Katarine.¡± Meldorn can see, that this one is deep. Under his gentle face is sorrow. There is sympathy, and remorse for what he will do.
¡°This here is Meldorn.¡± Meldorn just lifted his hand, when the king mentioned him, so the same continues. ¡°Also called ''The Huntsman,'' he is the best in the kingdom regarding hunting anything. He is even able to find tracks that are three years old.¡± Meldorn only did so once. It was a hassle.
The title ''The Huntsman'' is only given to one person in the kingdom. While a few have the abilities of a ''Huntsman,'' there is only one person who bears the title. Meldorn has taught some people how they can claim his title, but so far, nobody has done so.
It''s not like Meldorn wanted to be someone special. He just likes to hunt. Sometimes the prey is challenging, and that is one of the reasons, why he agreed to this whole thing.
¡°Finally, the future archwizard August von Rotfeld.¡± A rather young man, at the start of his twenties. This is too young to even try to become an archwizard usually, but with this confidence...
¡°This was chosen to be my quest for the title. I''m looking forward to working with you.¡± So this is his quest of ascension? It might be even more challenging than Meldorn thought.
¡°As you all know,¡± the king says: ¡°I need... no, I want you to bring my daughter Katarine back. There are some dubious circumstances, so I''m betting on your experience and abilities. Please travel to the W?chter-fort, track her down and bring her back. Gottfried and Reiner are already familiar with the details, so I will keep it simple.¡±
The queen takes the hand of her husband and squeezes it. Not because she is worried about her daughter or the success of the mission, but to give the king support.
¡°She is most likely in the company of two of the summoned heroes, one of them is called Katsuragi Kenta, a young man. There is a possibility that he is using brainwashing powers, but given my daughter, he might have just tricked her. Be prepared for both and more possibilities. The other one is Momokawa Kyou, a girl. In case that this is brainwashing, you can also bring her back. If she''s in the way, don''t hesitate to get rid of her. Do to Katsuragi Kenta whatever is needed. He has the least priority.¡±
Harsh. So even if this Momokawa-girl is brainwashed, the moment she interferes they have the permission to kill her. Still, you have to keep your priorities straight.
¡°Finally, even if this is a long shot: If Katsuragi has married Katarine and is unwilling to divorce her, kill him. If she is already pregnant, make her lose the child.¡±
The young wizard, August Rotfeld, exclaims: ¡°Killing an unborn child!? That is ridiculous!¡± So he has no qualms about killing the father.
¡°This is an order.¡±
...the royal lineage of Feuerberg. The strong blood of Hagen von Stolzherz.
This order makes no sense, normally. If it would be a bastard, Meldorn could understand, but the child of a marriage acknowledged by the gods? It can''t be more legitimate.
The reason to kill the boy if he is married to her is straightforward: To divorce him by force. At least, if he doesn''t agree to a standard divorce, a ritual which can only be conducted by a high priest... So that is the reason for pontiff Reiner Kassus.
The child though? The legitimate child of marriage? Why is this so important, that the king has to say it directly, instead of asking Gottfried or the pontiff to do it during the journey?
August looks reluctant, but says: ¡°Yes, my king.¡±
Meldorn put his hand on August''s shoulder. ¡°There are reasons for secrets.¡± Not always the best ones, but often people are upset because someone they trusted has kept a secret. Meldorn has seen it often, he never understood.
¡°Any more questions?¡± The king is tense, but only Meldorn should be able to notice that. August''s and Meldorn''s reactions have put him on guard.
Meldorn doesn''t need to know everything. He just needs to know who his quarry is.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
She was torn, she was sucked in, she was helpless against the flow. The oni opens her eyes and appears before her master, Correo.
¡°Erm... Master?¡± He looks at her with no facial expression. That''s bad, so very, very bad! She throws herself to his feet: ¡°Master, I, your beloved servant have returned to your side!¡±
He kicks her. It doesn''t hurt much, but this shows his dissatisfaction. ¡°Slave, don''t you dare to grovel! Where have you been? Why is the Bloody Nose Mercenary Company heading north? Tell me!¡±
¡°Erm... Master, they didn''t do what they were sup-¡±
Oh shit, he has the urn with him. ¡°Tell me and don''t lie.¡±
Words flow out of her mouth: ¡°-I thought that the mercenaries lost Katakata''s party, so I attacked them myself, lost, retreated, summoned the monsters on stand-by with the flute you gave me, which encountered the targets the moment the mercenaries caught up, causing a lot of damage, while Katakata and her friends got away. I don''t know why the mercenaries are heading north, but I think it''s related.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Ah, he takes it quite well... or not, he lifts the urn: ¡°Pain!¡±
The oni cries out in pain, the amount of pain makes an [Exorcise]-spell look like a prick with a needle. She is bound to the urn by her very essence, so she has to do whatever the owner of the urn says. Whatever Master Correo wants, she will do, even if it''s impossible.
He called her with it, and it made her all gaseous and pulled her with irresistible force. Now that very power is used to make her feel pain.
¡°Enough.¡± The pain subsides. ¡°The problem, Slave, was that you ''thought.'' That''s your weakness. Should I put every order into you by the power of the urn? Should I ask it to switch off your brain, so that you are unable to make your own judgments anymore? Or to never have a single thought that could distract you?¡±
¡°No Master, anything but that!¡±
¡°So you even prefer imprisonment?¡±
¡°Please Master, not that, not that! I hate being imprisoned, it hurts, please Master!¡±
¡°Choose. Either I lecture you through imprisonment or I won''t make the effort and instead I make you mindless, Slave.¡±
¡°Ah... imprisonment! Imprisonment, I will endure it, Master! I will learn, I will learn, I promise, please!¡±
¡°Good. Now tell me everything you saw, everything you learned, everything you carelessly thought! I need to make preparations. M''lady is waiting for the girl.¡±
¡°Yes, Master.¡±
It was always like that. Bound to the urn when she was just a little oni-baby, because her mother rejected and sold her, because her daughter was just filth. So instead of an oni, she''s just a lowly servant.
The buyer was the great summoner Olvadin, who sealed her to the urn using his magic. She doesn''t even remember anything before that anymore, but she served him for the first few decades as his lowest servant. She was the first one to be summoned in order to test the enemy''s strength, and she was the first to fall just because she can heal rapidly.
She was given to the former queen of D¨¦juma as a present, but spent most of her time imprisoned there because she was unfit to serve the royal household. She was only called whenever her special talents were needed, and she hated those kinds of jobs!
When the current king of D¨¦juma ascended the throne, he gave her to Correo as a gift, and as thanks for his help in outdoing his rivals.
Correo is the best master she has ever had. He lets her do things, he listens to her, he gives her all of these wonderfully bloody tasks that make her feel alive!
Yet even though onis aren''t capable of feeling fear like the puny races do, she has something close to it for him. She knows that he has her life, her personality, her everything in his hands.
Even though she''s filth, even though she can''t feel fear, she still wants to live, so she will crush any enemy of her master, whoever it is!
Volume 05 - Extras - I hate being wed in the SAO-world! & Gottfried vs. The Best Of His Village
KK (Katsuragi Kenta): "I survived! I survived!"
RN (Katarine von Stolzherz a.k.a. Rine): "Look, I think I¡¯ve never seen Kenta that happy before!"
MK (Momokawa Kyou): "Are you even paying attention to what he''s saying?"
AA (Ara''ainn): "For me, there certainly has been an increase in life-threatening situations since joining you guys."
MK: "Because of the curse, there was no way for you to stay at home, so deal with it."
AA: "You misunderstand, I''m not complaining. It''s funny."
RN: "Yes, fighting for your life makes you really feel alive, right?"
AA: "I''m talking more about Kenta-kun''s reactions. Though I do need to find ways to keep the danger away from myself."
KK: "What fights did you have this volume, besides the one where you helped me out?"
AA: "I had to defend myself against the lustful eyes of the humans. They stripped me out of my clothes in their minds, and maybe even imagined binding me up. I heard some talking about getting some rope, restraining me, and leaving me inside a cellar, poor me."
MK: "That''s because they wanted to keep you and your antics in check."
KK: "Thinking about it, who did Kyou-san fight!? You had... zero combat encounters, even that guy who hit on you fought me instead."
MK: "You don''t have to fight everything, stupid. I did my fair share too, you know!?"
krpg (kentusrpg): "You sure did, I even rewrote the ending to make it better."
MK: "If this is your ''better'', then I don''t want to see the first version."
AA: "So author, any insights on what comes next?"
krpg: "Yes, the dreaded... Extra volume!"
RN: "No!"
KK: "Rine, do you even know what that means?"
RN: "No, but I felt left out, and he made it sound so ominous."
krpg: "The next volume will be 5.5. It''s a compilation of Extra stories concerning people other than you."
AA: "I hope that the vacation is paid."
MK: "We don''t get paid in the first place..."
AA: "We need to negotiate a new contract."
RN: "So that means we''re on a break?"
KK: "I sure hope so, I''m sick of being in danger all the time."
krpg: "You''ll be in the prologue, the intermissions, and the epilogue. So no break."
KK: "This sucks."
RN: "This is great!"
AA: "I don''t need to bring my A-material, right?"
MK: "Who are the stories about?"
krpg: "There will be three stories, a long one, and two shorter ones, each about different heroes. To be more precise, they will feature your classmates."
KK: "Who even wants to read about those guys?"
MK: "I''m sure that some of the readers will enjoy it."
KK: "The rest will have to wait for volume 6 though. What a bad deal! Seriously, you''re betraying everyone''s expectations, hamster."
krpg: "I wanted to tell those stories, and I needed to write something different for a change, so this is the compromise that I was willing to make. Volume 6 will come, I''m on it."
KK: "Empty promises. Just end the series already and send me back."
RN: "No!"
KK: "Rine-"
RN: "No! We''re not finished until Kenta finally kisses me!"
KK: "What kind of standard is that!?"
RN: "And he needs to kiss Kyou and Ara as well! Also, I want a final Epilogue which describes how all of us have children and live our lives!"
KK: "But if you want that kind of ending, then the story will never end!"
RN: "Even better!"
MK: "Rine-chan, I don''t want that either.¡±
AA: ¡°I want a vacation.¡±
krpg: ¡°And I want to continue with the extra stories. The first one is the non-canoncial Extra again. It¡¯s what the readers have voted for: a new take on sending you guys into another fictional world. It¡¯s followed by a new mini-series that I''ll write over the course of the next volumes, Gottfried versus.¡±
RN: ¡°Oh, my instructor against... who?¡±
krpg: ¡°Everyone. It''s about people challenging Gottfried and how it ends up for them.¡±
RN: ¡°Ah, why can''t I be there, I want to see them!¡±
KK: ¡°...you know, that you can just read them after each volume, right?¡±
RN: ¡°Ah, you''re right!¡±
krpg: ¡°Finally, Extra 3 will be about someone you already met in the story.¡±
MK: ¡°Who?¡±
krpg: ¡°Tetsukawa Nobuo.¡±
KK: ¡°Who?¡±
MK: ¡°Our classmate, we met him in the second volume, when we went to Fort W?chter.¡±
RN: ¡°Oh, I want to read it!¡±
AA: ¡°He''s a hero as well, right? As researching heroes is my specialty, I''d also like to know what he''s doing.
krpg: ¡°But first things first, the new mini-series starts!¡±
Extra 1 ¨C I hate being wed in the Sword Art Online-world!
¡°They''re all dead.¡±
¡°They''re just fake.¡±
¡°No spirits, they''re like hollow existences.¡±
¡°Like I said, they look so obviously fake like cardboard stand-ups.¡±
¡°Ken, Arako, can you stop arguing and help me figuring out where we are?¡± Kyou-san is right, we''re somewhere else.
¡°Looking at the hp-bars, which highly irritatingly block my field of vision, I guess we swapped to some MMORPG.¡± Usually, the hero-system is smart enough to put stats right at the corner of your sight, unless you concentrate on them without looking, which makes the windows grow bigger. Still, your peripheral sight is, at some point, enough to know how well you are. Big advantage: You don''t accidentally open menus, and most of your field of view is still for perceiving all kind of stuff. Now parts are blocked, which creates blind spots.
The world around us is also kinda... 60% real, that''s how it looks. Like a PlayStation 4, it seems realistic, but not real. Good try, but not good enough.
¡°Kenta!¡± Rine points to the horizon. ¡°I see people.¡±
I use [Farsight], or at least I try to, but for some reason, it doesn''t work at all. Though my eyes are still enough to see a small group of people, all of them wielding weapons, no obvious caster or something like that. ¡°We may get some intel talking with... Japanese! They''re Japanese!¡± Without [Farsight] it took a moment to realize that we''re not dealing with our average fantasy-worlders, which are more westerner-like than anything else.
¡°Really?¡± Kyou-san is also excited, though it only lasts for a second: ¡°But we''re inside another game-like world, right?¡±
I just shrug my shoulders as an answer. ¡°We should do some precautions.¡± For a moment I imagine tying up and gagging Rine and Ara-san, but that is no way to treat your companions... especially given that Rine might accidentally break some bones when I try it, and Ara-san really knows how to hold a grudge. The conclusion is that I should only do it if my return to Japan is at stake. So I suggest something else: ¡°Let Kyou-san handle the talking. We also don''t know if they''re willing to talk, so Rine, be ready to kick some ass. Ara-san... just don''t do anything, OK?¡±
¡°It may be hard to stop breathing.¡±
¡°...just avoid interacting with them as much as possible.¡± Alfar are notorious for a reason: They like to play pranks that do more harm than good to others. They also like to use sex jokes when talking with humans, which may be a hindrance here.
Kyou-san waves at the people and our two groups meet up, they''re also four people, a woman and three men. One of them start talking, but not to us: ¡°I didn''t know there were elves! Let me talk to the NPC.¡±
OK, two strikes. ¡°Who is an elf, duman?¡± First, ''elf'' is a name humans have given alfar, therefore they hate it.
Second strike: ¡°What makes you think we''re NPCs, you sucker.¡±
¡°Kenta, what is an NPC?¡±
¡°Nonplayer Character, Rine. Means, they''re thinking we''re fake.¡±
¡°I don''t understand.¡±
¡°Ken, just leave it at that. My name is Momokawa Kyou, and we''re looking for a way home.¡±
¡°Home? We all are.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Are you actual real people...how don''t you know? Wait, and why is an elf here, is that an NPC and you are players?¡±
¡°Duman, one more time and I make you suffer.¡±
¡°Please, Arako. Also... who are you again?¡±
After some introductions, we learn the terrible fate the others are suffering from... Basically, there is a new technology from Japan in the future, the Nerve Gear, which allows a so-called ''Full Dive'', a way to fully immerse oneself into games, so that you can play games with your whole virtual body while your real body rests on a bed. The first MMORPG-title of the Nerve Gear was Sword Art Online or SAO, which was developed by the inventor of the Nerve Gear and, on its release, the players noticed that there is no log-off function and the creator told them, that this is gonna be a death game.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
¡°We''re being held hostage in this game.¡± Well, we were being kidnapped into an actual fantasy world.
¡°If we die in the game, we''re dying in real life.¡± Oh, so when you die, you''re dead? That''s so terrible...
¡°Even our avatars were taken away, we need to use our real faces...¡± So trolling might have lasting consequences, and all the dreams of fantasy are destroyed, huh? Welcome to life, you have to use the face you''re born with.
¡°We''re just gamers, you know? I just wanted to play SAO!¡± We''re just high schoolers whose compulsory education kinda forced us to be in school that day.
¡°The only way to return is to beat the game, and it becomes really tough.¡± So you also get a promise to return home when you do stuff, and the odds are against you. Sounds familiar.
¡°There are even players that will kill other players, those sick bastards.¡± Oh, people trying to kill other people, huh? Just like bandits. Or mercenaries. Or Crusaders.
There are some similarities between where they are and what we''re doing, though there are some fundamental differences. ¡°So let me sum it up... SAO is a game that only uses Sword Arts, hence there is no magic in play, which would ignore all the potential players who rather like to use ranged weapons or magic, pushing you all into melee DPS-roles, there were fifty thousand copies upon release, how much did a copy cost? A million yen to break even? You have several years of content, each floor is unique, how much does that cost? If I eyeballed it, a million would be the only way to make it not a total loss, you said there were sponsors, why would anyone even sponsor it if it''s such an obvious loss? Also, after I opened the menu, why didn''t any of the beta-testers pointed out, that the menu interface sucks!? I mean, seriously, thousands of drop-downs and so much scrolling, and you have to use your hand, while you have a device strapped on your head, that can literally read your thoughts and therefore the whole menu could be thought-based, heck, you can even skip the menus for the most part. Why is there a need for physical representation, if it''d be easier to project the knowledge into your brain directly? Also, the sole idea of Nerve Gear and Full Dive sounds stupid, gaming is good as it is, having skills with your thumbs and using your ability to predict stuff by usually having a view on the literal bigger picture... What''s up with giving away the control of your body voluntarily? Were the Ministry of Justice sleeping when they were approving it, this sounds like its breaking several human rights while opening up a whole new world of crimes. The burglar only needs to look when people make a Full Dive regularly to restrain them and do whatever with their apartments and bodies. Also, this project is also too big for that Kabaya-guy to do it alone, why didn''t anyone of the other developers catch that this is supposed to be a death game? I mean, seriously, you''re all a bunch of idiots!¡±
¡°Ken, please.¡± Kyou-san voice tells me to calm down, but her eyes are telling me that she agrees with me on this.
¡°Kenta, I don''t understand half of what you''re saying, but I think you can phrase it nicer.¡±
¡°In this case, I agree with Kenta-kun. In Alfarheim we may have a spiritual network, but it never took away your ability to control your bodies, as this only spells problems.¡± Thanks for the support, Ara-san.
Of course, the leader of them doesn''t accept his own idiocy, which caused him to buy that very shady game in the first place: ¡°What''s wrong with you?¡± Instead, he argues like someone who hasn''t even the guts to stand up for himself...
¡°Erm... can we have a moment?¡± Kyou-san asks them before I begin screaming at them. We take some distance and speak in soft voices: ¡°What''s wrong with you?¡±
¡°I can''t stand these idiots, acting like what they''re experiencing is the worst ever! These are a bunch of pathetic losers, who didn''t even use a shred of common sense before they try an obvious dangerous device, and whatever happens to them, they deserve it!¡±
¡°Are you maybe jealous, that they''re trapped inside a game?¡±
¡°No, I play games, I don''t want to be a part of them. Though I''m jealous of how they aren''t feeling much pain! Most likely they don''t even know what it¡¯s like to be stabbed, how it feels to have your bones broken, or how it feels to bleed all over your body while feeling the icy grasp of death due to a loss of body temperature, while you sweat like crazy, because your body is so excited that your heart is beating excessively.¡±
¡°Kenta?¡± Rine chimes in: ¡°Are you feeling unfairly treated?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°But if this is the world they''re living in... I would hate it. Because it feels so... wrong.¡±
¡°...¡± Yes, this world is fake, so basically, everything they do is just struggling within confines. They can only use melee and throwing weapons, though that''s what they face as well... most likely. ¡°Wait a minute...¡± I try something crazy: To take off the ring... nope, can I remove it with the menu? Nope. So the ring stays, huh!?
...after an eternity of moving my hands to interact with the system, I find out that I''m considered married to three girls, though it looks like it wasn''t intended for players to be married to more than one, given the space in that bracket... So the curse even broke the game''s system, huh?
Well, worth a try. There is another thing I need to look up. I read my status, it seems like most of what I could do with the hero-system is somehow translated into this game''s system, even my attack skills became [Sword Arts], though they seem a bit glitched. The explanations have several strange symbols all over them.
Still means that we can play the game at an advanced level: ¡°OK, real question is, what will happen if we beat the game? I mean, we have all of their shitty stats, after all. Will we return home, or will we return to the actual fantasy world, or will we be brought to that alternative Japan, which we should call Moron-Japan.¡± All of the girls shrug their shoulders, I expected that much. ¡°Well, doesn¡¯t hurt to try, right?¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Also, the one with the highest reaction speed gets the unique skill [Dual Blades]!¡± We crashed through the floors, as while [Sword Arts] are very restrictive when you''re used to [Skills], we have teamwork, and we have recklessness. Also, we have the [Spells] of our fantasy world since SAO couldn''t integrate them, and, most of all, we have Rine with her overpowered sword, which cuts its way through the bosses with ease. After a series of really dull dungeons, we''re faced with the creator of SAO in a quasi-epic match, which is more of a monologue up to now.
¡°No! Rine, get away from him!¡± Rine was about to charge him, as Kyou-san calls her back: ¡°Kenta is about to nag again!¡±
¡°Who''s nagging!? Hey, you, Kabaya-san.¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Why the one with the highest reaction speed?¡±
¡°Because it marks the person as a naturally talented gamer, who-¡±
¡°No, it doesn''t. Maybe you''re some big-wig genius in computer science, but you suck as a game creator, and you have no idea what gaming is about!¡±
¡°What do you me-¡±
¡°Shut up and listen! You''re full of crap, so just keep your mouth shut and therefore your shit to yourself. What makes a good gamer in fighting games, in MMORPGs, in every sort of competition or challenge? Reaction speed? Do you really think it makes a difference whether you can act twentieth second faster against the unpredictable than someone else? Reaction speed is usually around a quarter of a second and can be trained to a tenth of a second, which is helpful but not vital for gaming. There are limits to the human minds and their physical capabilities to respond! It''s about experience, prediction, and reading your opponent, so you know what they''re up to before it starts, and so you have the counter already there! Don''t take competitive gaming lightly, you n00b! You want to compete with the best and use something that random to determine a player''s potential? Are you nuts? Also, have you never heard of game design? I mean, how do you expect players to get to the highest floor if they''re fighting both the mobs and the UI (user interface). The idiots who wound up in this game because they had no brain cells are one thing, but I can''t believe that you never consulted anyone on how to-¡±
While I do my lecture, the peanut gallery is talking among themselves. ¡°Is it me Momo, or is Kenta-kun acting a lot like you when you''re gnawing on him.¡±
¡°Do I really sound like that?¡±
¡°Sometimes you do.¡±
¡°I... and I was angry because Kenta called me a nagger...¡±
¡°Don''t worry, Kyou! He will forgive you.¡±
¡°Thanks, Rine-chan, but I don''t feel so good about it...¡±
¡°Ah, he has opened the list of complaints he made with Ara since we started conquering the floors.¡±
¡°You mean their book.¡±
¡°Did he just throw it into Kabaya-dono''s face?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°Did you tell him to do that, Arako?¡±
¡°Yes, because Kabaya-kun should feel the physical weight of his mistakes, that''s why we made the book in the first place.¡±
¡°Oh? Kenta and Kabaya-dono have calmed down.¡±
¡°Arako, your ears are much better than ours. What are they talking about?¡±
¡°Kenta-kun mentioned a game as a good example for how to design a game and Kabaya-kun is also a fan of it, now they''re talking about it.¡±
¡°Now they''re shaking hands, I have never seen Kenta shaking hands with someone.¡±
¡°*sigh*¡±
¡°Why are you sighing, Kyou?¡±
¡°Because it made me think ''How great, two of them.''¡±
¡°I''d hate it, I want Kenta to be unique... oh, now they''re fighting.¡±
¡°Arako, did they disagree on something?¡±
¡°No, Kenta-kun just reaffirmed that he had to beat Kabaya-kun and started attacking.¡±
¡°Kenta is fighting! How exciting! KENTA! DO YOUR BEST!¡±
¡°...did he just run away?¡±
¡°No Kyou, look! He''s getting his bow.¡±
¡°Wait a minute, weren''t bows excluded from SAO? Isn''t that cheating?¡±
¡°Kyou, if you¡¯re fighting for your life, everything is fair. Ah, looks like Kabaya-dono hasn''t accounted for fighting against missile weapons and doesn''t know what to do.¡±
¡°It¡¯s like Kenta-kun said before, being able to predict is much better than being able to react...¡±
Extra 2 ¨C Gottfried vs. The Best Of His Village
Gottfried leaves the main-building of the castle with his subordinates in order to capture his idiotic disciple. He''s looking forward to traveling, since he¡¯s had few opportunities outside of being a bodyguard. The courtyard is always half-full of people, the soldiers doing their drills, and the peoples visiting the main-temple of the Four of Feuerberg, and the thin walls of the castle are doing their job: Keeping track of who comes and goes. It''s not like castle-walls can hold back any severe threat, like Gottfried himself showed when he ran over the border-fortresses to Parlaar long ago. They¡¯re good against grounded monsters, and good against bandits, but bad against any threat that would be able to get to this castle in the first place.
While Gottfried fixes this picture of the peace that he has helped to build in his memories, a youngster approaches his group. ¡°Good day, sirs. Might one of you be Gottfried?¡± Looking at the sword at his waist, he''s either a wannabe-disciple, a fanboy, or a challenger.
¡°It''s Sir Gottfried, boy.¡± A title may be only that, a title, but it was bestowed to him by his good friend, the former Queen Lidwiga, so he holds to it in honor. ¡°Also, I''m the one you''re looking for.¡±
¡°Great, Sir Gottfried!¡± He didn''t apologize for his rudeness. ¡°I''m here to fight with the best.¡±
¡°I see. I accept.¡±
¡°Sir Gottfried,¡± Pontiff Kasse, one of his new subordinates, asks him. ¡°He''s just a child, wouldn''t it be-¡±
¡°I accept any challenge, no matter the opponent.¡± Though this has led to some embarrassing defeats, the moment he backs down from a challenge, is the day the most important part of him will die. He''s old, and his time is limited, but he refuses to let his age force him to abandon his way of life. ¡°I apologize, Pontiff, but I won''t back down.¡±
¡°Please be lenient.¡±
¡°I take every challenge seriously.¡± Otherwise, it would shame the challenger.
Huntsman Meldorn stays quiet, while boy-wizard Rotfeld furrows his brows, maybe skeptical about everything. He''s also young and may think that Gottfried''s way of doing things is stupid, but that''s because young people never understand the elderly.
Now Gottfried focuses wholly on his opponent, his demeanor is calm and serene. ¡°Take your stance.¡±
The youngster draws his sword, it''s quick, but somewhat clumsy, though this is a boy in his teenage years, of course, he doesn''t give the impression of being experienced. Then he holds the sword in both hands, a viable way to handle a sword when facing the unknown, as it encompasses power and speed. ¡°I''m ready,¡± he says with a powerful voice that¡¯s full of confidence.
Still, the posture of the boy makes Gottfried think of some of the other challengers he¡¯s faced before. ¡°You haven''t been trained properly, right?¡±
¡°I''ve taught myself most of it and took lessons from caravan guards. I''m good.¡±
¡°Let me guess, you''re the best of your village, grew cocky, and now put your all into swordsmanship, because being a farmer boy is boring. You want to impress me, the famous Sir Gottfried, so you don''t mind losing, right?¡±
¡°I''ve fought dozens of monsters!¡±
¡°Youngster, you can still withdraw your challenge. Get some lessons, learn how to correctly hold a sword, then rechallenge me.¡±
¡°You''re trying to confuse me.¡±
¡°No, I''m just about to vomit from seeing someone hold a weapon like that. Do me a favor and hold your sword firmly, not stiff.¡±
¡°I can fight, and I''ll defeat you.¡±
Gottfried shrugs his shoulders. ¡°It''s your life.¡± Challenging Gottfried means putting one''s life into his hands. He does the same with his own, giving it into the hands of his opponent, but so far most didn''t know what to do with it. ¡°Pontiff? Would you please give the signal?¡±
¡°I''m against this challenge, but let the gods decide this. Draw your weapons.¡± Gottfried fluently draws his weapon, a motion that also put him into his battle stance, the blade in one hand and held away from his body, though his arm is slightly bowed. The whole body of the knight looks relaxed at first, but it''s like a panther: Ready to pounce. ¡°Take your stance.¡± Both of the duelists have already, but this is part of the procedure. ¡°Fight!¡±
Within a moment, the swords clash, as Gottfried springs forward, hitting the sword of the boy, it sounds almost like the ringing of a bell. Then a jarring noise, as Gottfried''s blade serpents around the stiffly held blade, that didn''t even budge. Then the opponent¡¯s sword flew away... with two hands still attached to it. Using the enemy''s sword, that didn''t yield even a bit, as a pivot point, Gottfried cut off both of the youngster''s hands.
Boy-wizard August von Rotfeld gasps, he mostly witnessed for the first time how body parts were severed, Meldorn instead doesn''t even change his expression, but this is most likely because he expected it from the start.
Understandably, the boy stared at the stumps that are left while crying out in shock and disbelief.¡°AHHHHHH!¡±
¡°Youngster, your sword needs room to breathe, it needs some room to move. Hold your sword firmly, but it¡¯s better to let go of your sword, than your ha- Could you stop yelling!?¡±
¡°Ah, ah, AHHHH!¡±
¡°Sir Gottfried,¡± the pontiff explains: ¡°I don''t think he¡¯s listening.¡±
¡°Another thing to work on. Hey.¡± Gottfried turns to a priest who was observing the fight: ¡°Take that one to the temple and fix his hands.¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
While the boy is carried away, including his cut-off hands, Pontiff Kasse looks at Gottfried dissatisfied: ¡°That was too much.¡±
¡°It¡¯s what¡¯s is the best for the boy. It doesn''t look like he can pay for the treatment, therefore he will have to work it off. As he wants to fight anyway, your people will train him to be a templar. That means he gets formal training and your people get your work¡¯s worth. He can try again in a few years, and I may even have a proper challenge then. Also, all of this was a mere two minutes, we''re still on time.¡±
There is always a boy or a girl like that. This one has made the journey to the capital and is therefore lucky, as the temple is close by.
Lacking in experience and skill, he wasn''t able to grasp the gap between him and Gottfried, and lost before he could even make his first move. Still, this is just the starting line, and like Gottfried knows all too well, a crushing defeat is helpful for building a proper personality.
Also, as long as you''re alive, there can still be a next time.
Volume 05 - Extras - Far away from Goldbrunn, the City of Relative Safety
Extra 3 ¨C Far away from Goldbrunn, the City of Relative Safety
Tetsukawa Nobuo is that guy in class that somehow blends in. That unremarkable boy, who is part of the group, but a close friend to no one. He would never be the one chosen for anything, not for class president, not for any kind of committee, not even if anyone needs a volunteer. He''s something like the eighth choice, from the bottom or top.
Part of this is because of his appearance. He has short hair, but not that short, a typical boy length of hair. His face is adequate, but nothing stands out, so when he''s drawn in art class, the most generic picture of a boy is the inevitable result.
Grades, average. Physical capabilities, a bit above average but not outstanding. Popularity? Most people would say, they like him, though nobody would put him in the popular-category.
However, Nobuo doesn''t mind the cards life has given him. To be honest, it''s not bad, as he was always able to find a group, he was usually able to avoid any significant problems. He''s also balance-minded, so while others tend to decide that stuff is wrong or right, he''s the one who sees both of it and doesn''t let it bother him too much if someone disagrees or is mean to him.
Of course, he becomes angry or sad, he can even yell, but in the end, it''s just for a short while, before he calms down and gets on with his life.
Tetsukawa Nobuo is a hero of Feuerberg, summoned from Japan to defeat the demon king. He''s so glad that he isn''t any sort of chosen one, but just one of the entire class that was summoned. Though he''d still preferred to not be summoned.
When the class was transferred, each of them had the choice to either show some talent which is useful for the kingdom of Feuerberg, or to undergo the training to join in the fight against the demons. Given how Nobuo lacks any unique attribute, he joined the training and formed a party with four of his classmates.
Nobuo is the [Priest] of the party. His job is to make sure that everyone stays alive. He also has the [Soldier]-class. It was the first one he chose, but after some considerations, the party decided to let him take the part of the party-healer. As Nobuo had had a late start in that career, he could avoid the [Healer]-trap that two of his classmates fell into. Being average in things can be a big bonus, as others have already explored the paths you want to take.
Currently, Nobuo is at the border of the demon realm, also called Daemonicus. Feuerberg is framed by several mountains, creating natural boundaries between this nation and others, Nobuo is at the Feuerstein-mountains, at the southern border. After the search for the princess was called off, Nobuo and his party resumed their training.
Training means either to patrol the border or to team up with some soldiers and make small advances in the enemy country to get a better feel for the area. Feuerberg already established a fort inside Daemonicus, but it''s heavily reliant on supplies. That''s why most missions into the demon realm are to protect the wagons, an excellent job in itself, and usually calm, Much better than meeting the demons, who throw themselves with glee against any enemy they can find.
Demons are strange, they resemble other life-forms, like humans or animals, but they always have horns, fangs, spikes, or tails. A spiked turtle had once spoken to Nobuo, how it would gouge out his guts before it was hammered by Harada-kun, the [Warrior] and leader of the party.
Nobuo doesn''t like demons. They''re scary, not only in appearance but also in attitude. It''s like they enjoy fighting so much that they yearn for killing, and think of humans as nothing more than mere toys to fulfill these desires.
Maybe they can be reasonable, but Nobuo is starting to doubt this more and more. The more demons he encounters, the more he thinks that Feuerberg and the surrounding kingdoms should have wiped them out long ago, but that may be more difficult than it seems. The parts of the demon realm Nobuo saw were infertile, and the scouts report of toxic gases, non-potable water, sudden tremors and other things. It''s like a fight against nature, and humans can''t fight nature, they can only endure it and protect themselves from it.
Today, Nobuo and his party are patrolling the border. The enemies around here are much tougher than the ones around Esse, the capital, but they''re doing fine. They''re currently looking in the Feuerstein-mountains, as they get a premium for patrolling this area. While mountains are good borders against armies, they also are a superb cover.
¡°This stinks,¡± comes from the [Wizard] of the party, Kuga Shigeru-san. His bony face and his slender, tall body make him look rather sick. ¡°I mean, seriously. Patrolling, fighting monsters, every day is the same.¡±
¡°Well,¡± Nobuo answers with a wry smile, ¡°it''s better than being overly exciting, right? I mean, Inoue and his party survived a monster house, right? I prefer a bit of boredom over that.¡±
¡°Hey, Noda-chan!¡± Kuga-san totally ignored Nobuo. ¡°How about you and me, ditch this.¡±
¡°Eh? No,¡± the rejection of this party''s [Thief], Noda Yukino-chan, is part-way giggling, part-way adamant, the way how girls can reject a guy without the need to commit to anything fully. As Kuga-san is always asking the girls about this and that, none of them even take him seriously.
Nobuo smiles to himself, thinking that Kuga-san may do it on the off-chance, that it will someday succeed. Especially since the girls in their party have become more toned after selecting their [Classes]. Noda-chan was a bit plump before, but now she looks and moves smooth and dexterously.
Toriyama Chidori-chan got a bit more muscle. She''s their party''s [Hunter] now, and she''s rather sexy, especially with that leather armor. It''s not like it''s a tight fit or something, but something about it makes Nobuo look at her.
The same goes for the other guys. Well, they can be glad that the girls asked them to join, as the girls were most likely afraid to do it alone. Having guys around is, without a doubt, handy for girls. Not that Nobuo minds, as they do pull their weight.
¡°If you want some action, Kuga, we can ask for a scouting mission,¡± speaks Harada Reiji-kun, the [Warrior] and leader of the party, who is a jerk often enough. He was the substitute catcher of the school''s baseball team, even as a first-year, so that''s something to be proud of, but he''s a tad arrogant and bossy.
¡°Eh... no, thanks.¡±
¡°Then don''t complain. We''re doing this in baby steps, safe and sound, remember?¡±
¡°...yes.¡±
''Baby steps.'' That''s the motto of this party, the one reason why they''re all together. There are five parties in the combat-group. Inoue''s party, it started out with six and now is down to five, because class rep Momokawa couldn''t keep up. Still, they''re the elite party, their leveling speed is scary, but they also do the really crazy stuff.
The second party is Shinohara-san and her girls. An all-female party, while the hero-system seems to balance out the differences between men and women, and there are surprisingly many women within the army, Nobuo isn''t sure how well it is going. He couldn''t join as a boy anyway, but he hasn''t heard from them in a long time.
The third party consists of Hoshibashi-kun and Yoshimura-kun, another pair Nobuo hasn''t heard about much since the princess-incident. Maybe they''re still looking, same as the second party? Well, Hoshibashi-kun and Yoshimura-kun had that ''we''re doing it our way''-aura, and Nobuo has his doubts about how well it worked out.
The fourth party is a mess. Nobuo is glad that he didn''t become part of that, it''s all about two guys competing for one girl, like a cheap drama.
The fifth party is most likely the only tempered one. They do their training carefully and with almost no risk. It takes a while, but that''s a low price to pay for staying alive.
Well, technically, there would be a sixth party. Katsuragi-kun and class rep Momokawa, though it looks like they''re either trouble or in trouble. Nobuo has heard what happened between Inoue-kun''s party and Katsuragi-kun.
Well, Katsuragi-kun is... special... ¡°Baby steps are the best. Keep a low profile, then nobody expects you to do the impossible.¡±
¡°Tetsukawa,¡± Harada-kun answers annoyed, ¡°you make it sound like we''re cowards.¡±
¡°No, no, I don''t mean that. It''s just that being the center of attention brings its own share of problems.¡±
¡°Say, are you making fun of me?¡±
¡°No, no. I''m just happy. It''s all quiet today after all.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Harada-kun lets Nobuo off the hook.
¡°Man, Tetsukawa-san, you really are pathetic,¡± Kuga adds his two cents.
¡°Peace is the best.¡± No need to get into conflicts with his party-members, Nobuo thinks that being flexible is a virtue, even if it means to endure a bit of teasing.
Ah, the girls look at him, they giggle with each other, Nobuo is sure, they''re making fun of him. However, that''s alright. A bit of ridicule isn''t a reason to get angry or sad about. Sure, it hurts at times, but it goes away.
After some more patrolling, they decide to make a small camp for lunch. This is the time when they usually chat, this time it begins with Inoue-kun''s party, which is receiving training in Esse: ¡°Will we be the next ones?¡± Kuga wonders.
Nobuo gives his opinion. ¡°Possibly. I mean, we also have five members. Though maybe they''ll start with Hoshiyoshi first?¡± That¡¯s the nickname they gave the Hoshibashi and Yoshimura-party. ¡°I mean, they''re only two people, and they may have started with Inoue-kun because of what happened with Katsuragi-kun.¡±
¡°That jerk,¡± comes from Toriyama-chan. Like all girls in the class, she hates everything about Katsuragi-kun.
¡°How dare he to do that to Inoue-kun!¡± adds Noda-chan. Like all girls in the class, she''s enchanted by Inoue-kun''s good looks.
Nobuo doesn''t think so harshly about Katsuragi-kun, though the matter with Inoue complicates the issue: ¡°Maybe it''s all a misunderstanding?¡±
¡°How can you say that!?¡±
¡°Well, I sat next to him in class. I''ve observed him a bit, how can I say...¡± Actually, it''s quite easy. Katsuragi-kun just hates people. That''s what he''s about, that''s why he looks at everyone scornfully, especially when they talk to him. He doesn''t want to care about others. He''s just someone who doesn''t need friends, while everyone preaches about the power of friendship. This may be very annoying to him, something he can''t even understand. So who can blame him to act the way he does around others? Still, wording it like that would be much harsher than Nobuo wants to phrase it: ¡°...he''s a lone wolf.¡±
At the start of the term, Nobuo tried to talk to Katsuragi, given how they were seated next to each other. The first three conversations were... insightful.
''Hello, my name is Tetsukawa Nobuo, nice-'' - ''Fuck off.''
''How about we eat lunch together, Katsuragi-kun? Katsuragi-kun? Katsuragi-kun?''
''Hey, Katsuragi-kun. Can I ask you a question?'' - ''Can you do me a favor?'' - ''Yes, of course?'' - ''Shut up.''
Nobuo knows how to get along with people, and in Katsuragi-kun''s case, getting along means to leave him alone. That''s why Nobuo was very surprised to see Katsuragi-kun with class rep at Fort W?chter. Seeing how Katsuragi-kun acts usually, this means that most likely a fight escalated.
¡°A misunderstanding?¡± Noda-chan retorts. ¡°What about poor Inoue-kun? He was shot in the back!¡± Inoue-kun might have been hurt, but maybe the report was exaggerated by his friends? Nobuo may be the only one in class, who actually knows how Katsuragi-kun ticks.
¡°I''m just saying, that... well...¡± Nobuo doesn''t know how to explain himself, especially if he knows that the other party won''t listen. Why did he even bring this up, when he should have known better?
¡°Hey, give Tetsukawa a break,¡± Kuga-kun stands up for him. ¡°He''s just overly optimistic. Sometimes it sounds like he''s trying to troll you, but he''s just that gullible.¡± While Nobuo certainly appreciates this act of friendship, those words hurt.
¡°Girls, calm down,¡± Harada-kun also sides with Nobuo. ¡°We all know, that Katsuragi is trash, we can agree on that.¡± He also negotiates the worst compromise ever.
¡°Sounds right,¡± Toriyama-chan replies.
¡°Un,¡± Noda-chan agrees.
Why are people always so willing to trash-talk others? Sometimes Nobuo wonders if there is something inside humans that makes them do that.
Suddenly, the sound of an explosion rings out and a ball of fire is visible within the mountains. Feuerberg''s soldiers have engaged a group of enemies. As this is within the mountains, it''s most likely that the human scouts are fighting against a demon squad.
¡°Let''s go,¡± Kuga-kun commands. ¡°We see if it''s doable, then we¡¯ll decide whether to help or not.¡±
Baby steps. While Nobuo wants to help the soldiers, they need to see if they can handle it. Anything else would only end in disaster.
Also, this method boosts the courage of the entire party.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°This looks doable,¡± Harada-kun gives his opinion. They''re about twenty minutes inside the mountains, following more and more fire signals in the sky, then the girls snuck ahead and got a picture of the situation.
Currently, two demons are fighting with ten soldiers, most likely two scout squads, the one who engaged, the other as reinforcements. The soldiers are more retreating than fighting back, using their advantage in mobility over those giant, spiked, double-headed centipedes, which seemed like monsters, except they were spitting acid while trash-talking. ¡°HAHAHA! RUN! RUN! AND DIE! SPRRROOOOOOOO!!!¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The demons were already wounded, so an ambush should finish them off. ¡°Let''s do it. Everyone, equip your ranged weapons.¡± Nobuo changes into [Soldier] and prepares his crossbow, similar to his party''s members.
Following Toriyama''s instructions, they climb a plateau and get a look for themselves. The demons are leaving a trail of blood, while the scouts are evading some acid shots and preventing attacks by keeping their distance. Sometimes one of them will shoot a shortbow, but it''s clear as day, that they''re about to run out of arrows. The chitin plates of the demons look thick, so the scouts only try shots that won''t endanger themselves and are sure to hit a soft spot.
¡°Kuga, you''ll use your magic. What can you do at this distance?¡±
¡°[Slow], [Missile-magnet], and [Wind Weasel].¡±
¡°[Missile-magnet] on a wound, please.¡± [Missile-magnet] is an [Alteration]-spell, which will make a point glow in a yellow light, which attracts close missiles. It¡¯s a perfect spell for a ranged onslaught.
¡°Yeah. Which one?¡±
¡°The closer one.¡±
¡°I''ll begin.¡± [Missile-magnet] needs a bit of chanting before it¡¯s ready, though [Slow] is much... slower to cast.
¡°OK, party! Let''s take aim. We¡¯ll wait for the spell.¡±
Be careful, don''t take unnecessary risks. The credo of this party, but good advice in general. It''s not like they''ll help anyone if they just charge. The soldiers are professionals, so they''ll be able to persevere.
Yellow glow! ¡°[Sniper]!¡± Three bolts and an arrow fly in the direction of the demon, right into its already black-bleeding belly. All of them struck, most of them backed up with the power of a skill, the demon falls to the ground, still moving, but mostly just thrashing about.
Good riddance.
¡°Next one.¡± They repeat the procedure, another success. Now they finish off the demons with some more missiles and climb down to the soldiers. ¡°I''m Harada Reiji, the leader of this hero-party.¡±
¡°Sergeant Sch?ffe, commander of the platoon. Could you spare some arrows?¡±
¡°Toriyama-chan, would you?¡± Every hero has a backpack, which can store items in a pocket dimension, which permits them to carry around many more arrows than usually possible. Seeing how the party¡¯s main weapon is the crossbow, it''s stacked with an abundance of missiles.
¡°Sure.¡± As the [Hunter] of the party, Toriyama-chan is the only one who is better with bows than with crossbows, due to her [Bow]-ability. She recovers strapped packages of arrows from her backpack.
¡°Good. Please follow us, we had to leave someone behind due to a leg wound, but there are more demons around here.¡±
This is not good, it might be too risky. ¡°Any idea what the demons are doing here?¡±
¡°I think that they''re either scouts or an ambush-party.¡±
¡°So no invading army or the like?¡±
¡°Unlikely. Can we go now?¡±
¡°Erm...¡± Harada-kun looks at his party members, and Nobuo tries to convey his willingness to save one wounded soldier with his eyes alone. ¡°Of course.¡±
¡°Thanks. Scouts, scatter!¡± The scouts begin to spread, while Sch?ffe leads the way. ¡°They''ll detect any demons so that we have time to regroup and strategize. I would welcome it if you can keep the volume down, I''ll use a skill, which will enhance my hearing. That''s why noises will be very distracting.¡±
This piques Noda-chan''s interest: ¡°What kind of skill is it?¡± As a [Thief], she can learn [Perception]-skills, same goes for Toriyama-chan and her [Hunter]-class.
¡°It''s called [Ear Amp]. I''ll use it now.¡± Of course, there is no sign that Sch?ffe just used a skill.
[Skills] are one of the things that makes a hero different from a native inhabitant of this fantasy world. A hero can learn many skills early, as long as the level and the AP (ability points) and rank are sufficient. A native person may also learn skills, but it takes longer, and they don''t learn many. A regular soldier, for example, usually knows around three skills, as they''re an essential part of battle-strategy. The foot-soldiers typically learn skills that boost their power within a formation, creating near impenetrable walls due to stacks of stacks of stacks of defense boosts for a shield wall or devastating offense boosts for pincer movements.
So, in war, numbers do matter. A proper formation can endure a magical explosion without a scratch due to the skills of the [Phalanx]-ability. That''s why whatever Nobuo thought he knew about warfare has been toppled by the usages of skills.
As most soldiers only have about three skills in their entire career, there is a need for specialization. Therefore the scouts learn [Perception]- and [Stealth]-skills.
Sch?ffe nods a few times. Maybe he''s listening to what his scattered squad says. Nobuo can only imagine how it is for the sergeant right now. ¡°No sign of demons. Our peer is ahead, she has hidden, while we drew the attention from her.¡±
They pass the corpse of another demon, then Sch?ffe stops. ¡°We separated around here. She can''t be far...¡±
Toriyama-chan turns her head. ¡°There!¡± Suddenly, a woman in her thirties becomes visible. Or more like, the colors of her skin, hair, and clothes reverts to normal, while she crawls from behind a large rock.
¡°Corporal, are you alright?¡±
¡°It hurts!¡± The leather armor around her left leg is corroded, her skin formed bubbles, this is making Nobuo almost reel. It looks like a bleeding sponge. ¡°Thanks for coming back.¡±
¡°Of course. Heroes, are any of you proficient with [Divine Magic]?¡±
¡°Erm... me.¡± While Nobuo wants to throw up seeing it, he''s the [Priest] of the party. ¡°I''ll try my best.¡±
¡°Boy,¡± the corporal says, ¡°do you want to barf first?¡±
¡°No, don''t worry.¡±
¡°I know, that it isn''t pretty. Now imagine feeling it!¡±
¡°Sorry, I''m sorry.¡±
¡°Could you just get over here and do your damn thing!?¡±
¡°Yes! [Heal]!¡± As the target isn''t a hero, the spell isn''t as strong as Nobuo is used to, though even a hero with this kind of wound wouldn''t walk away with just this simple spell. However, it would have ceased bleeding immediately. ¡°[Heal]!¡± After two more spells, the bleeding has stopped at least. Then Nobuo takes his first aid kit and bandages it while holding his breakfast back.
¡°Thanks, boy.¡± Using that as a signal, Nobuo walked around the rock she was hidden behind and said goodbye to his last two meals. It was too much, though he can be glad that he was able to endure it for so long.
¡°Corporal, can you walk?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°I''ll help,¡± Harada-kun offers.
¡°Take her right side, and I''ll help with the left one. We need to get her out here. We should be close to the foothills, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Then let''s move, my squad will keep a lookout. I''ll use my hearing again.¡± This recovery mission works well. Careful, everything under control, and no- ¡°Demons!¡± Shit!
What about the lookout? Ask the scout who is screaming, while flying their way, as if he was picked up and tossed in their direction. Actually, someone aimed him at Harada-kun, Sch?ffe, and the corporal!
¡°[Wind Pillow]!¡± Kuga-kun quickly erects a soft wind barrier. The flying scout hits it, just like a pillow, though it looks like it still hurts, but the most important part here is that he''s slowed down and lands before the feet of the intended targets.
¡°Shucks.¡± Someone comes out, a scorpion-like being. She''s covered in a strange, blueish chitin skin, and a long tail with a sting is dangling above her, but her facial features and her voice reminds them of a woman. She''s bipedal but has six arms, a human pair, and two insect-like pairs.
Other demons like herself are showing, a total of four, one of them has a scout on its sting, the way he jerks around, suggests that he might have some sort of venom-shock.
¡°Ah, I love humans. They always come back for their people!¡± The scorpion-woman laughs while looking down on Nobuo and the others. ¡°Which one should I kill first?¡±
This is an ambush! One that the scouts weren''t able to foresee! Or are they all dead already!? Harada-kun immediately gives his command: ¡°Retreat!¡± However, he is hit by a rock. A demon just flung a stone at him. He and the wounded scout fall to the ground, the impact was too much to bear, though Harada-kun gets back to his feet right afterward, his face contorted in pain.
Kuga-kun lift his hands: ¡°[Wind Weasel]!¡± A blade of wind cuts through the air, but it shows next to no effect on the scorpion-demons. ¡°Shit! [Wind Weasel]!¡± Kuga shoots another spell while walking backward.
Nobuo tries to help the wounded scout back on her feet. Sergeant Sch?ffe also helps. ¡°Do you have her? Good.¡± Then he steps forward, drawing his bow: ¡°[Swallarrows]!¡± Two arrows leave his bow, both of them are moving fast and free, like swallows. Each of them hit a scorpion-demon, cracking their chitin plates like they''re nothing. ¡°Go,¡± Sch?ffe commands, ¡°I''ll buy some time.¡± While his skill is undoubtedly powerful, it also takes its toll, and his breathing is already heavy.
¡°Sorry!¡± Nobuo says this to the sergeant and the wounded corporal, who he now lifts up and carries like a bag. His muscles are screaming, so he changes his class to [Soldier], and while this is making things better, a human body is still quite a piece of luggage. Good thing, that he can push this hero-body of his to its limits, even if things are becoming difficult and painful.
Two other scouts join the fight, the rest might already be dead. They shoot their replenished arrows like there is no tomorrow, no, maybe there isn''t one for them. While the arrows prove useful against the goons, the blue scorpion woman is another story. Her natural armor seems to be cut from a different cloth.
She approaches Sch?ffe while gloating: ¡°Too bad, too bad.¡± Two arrows are sticking in her body, but no blood is coming out, this is all that [Swallarrows] can accomplish here. ¡°Well, for you. Have you any preferences on how I''ll maim your body? Please do me a favor and don''t die right away, yes?¡± The smile she has is one of a madwoman. ¡°I want to enjoy you.¡± If humans smiled like that, everyone would consider them ''broken.''
Toriyama-chan, Noda-chan, and Kuga-kun sling some missiles and spells, before breaking into a run. Harada-kun is faster than everyone else, while Nobuo is struggling with the corporal: ¡°Boy, let me go! I can still fight! And you can run faster without me!¡±
¡°No! They''re fighting for you, so I won''t let...¡± His voice breaks, as he wants to say ''so I won''t let their sacrifice be in vain.''
He can abuse this body a bit. However, leaving her behind would torture his mind.
Suddenly, he sees something flying through the air. No, it''s a giant leap! The scorpion-woman! She leaps another time, and a third one and lands before Harada-kun, who draws his greatsword and attacks her, only to be repelled by her chitin skin. ¡°FUCK!¡± Then he''s smacked in the face and flies some meters through the air.
The scorpion-woman has fresh blood on her tail-sting, which she gently licks. ¡°Where are you going, my dears? You''ve just come, please, have fun with me. I''ll do the same.¡± She tickles her sting erotically, though her intentions are clear as day. ¡°If you stay, I won''t need to hurry, like with the last one.¡±
Harada-kun stands up, despite this punch, he can still move, this shows how sturdy the body of a hero really is. However, he also realized, that he can''t win this, that all of his survival options have been stolen. He can''t talk, as she wants to kill him, she wants to kill him so much, that she''s practically leaking her anticipation and joy. He can''t fight, because he can''t hurt her. He can''t run, as she can do these crazy long leaps in no time.
So he freezes. Incapable of doing anything, his whole body hardens up, as if it wanted to exert damage control by toughening up as much as it can.
Toriyama-chan shoots her bow, but like the scout''s arrows, hers doesn''t do any visible damage either. Noda-chan joins with her crossbow to the same effect. Kuga''s magic already proved to be futile. Still he fires his [Wind Weasel], his best offense spell.
Their party was too weak, and their slow and careful approach didn''t work out at all. No, they just misjudged the situation, they should have been more cautious and denied the rescue quest. This thought is written all over the faces of the others, but Nobuo doesn''t want to believe, that accepting this request was a mistake. ¡°HARADA-KUN!¡± He screams while running up. The frozen [Warrior] slowly moves his head. ¡°Snap out of it! This is not the time to falter! You may be a jerk often enough, but at least you stand up for it. Here!¡± Nobuo pushes the corporal into the arms of Harada-kun: ¡°Now run! I''ll keep her busy. Everyone, just run!¡±
Nobuo draws his sword, pointing it in the direction of the scorpion-demon, while the rest of his party don''t even try to persuade him, no, they''re actually all running with everything they have. That... kinda hurts.
¡°So you''ll be the first one?¡± Nobuo feels his knees shaking, as the eyes and bloodlust of the demon are focused on him now. However, it''s just for a moment, before she looks back to the running heroes. ¡°However, why should I have one, if I can have four and a cripple at once?¡±
For the slightest of moments, Nobuo feels relief, as he thought he might survive this, however, it''s immediately replaced by shame and a sense of duty. ¡°Because you can¡¯t have all of us. If you skip me, I''ll run in the other direction, and you might miss me.¡±
¡°Good point, good point. So I''ll just break you quickly and have a sevensome, some hot action, I and all of them.¡± She licks her non-existing lips before she walks towards Nobuo.
Oh god, Nobuo feels how it becomes warm in his trousers. Still, he braces himself, while slowly walking backward, the last one is because his instincts try to tell him, that he''s about to do something stupid.
Then the demon leaps forward, hitting Nobuo with its tail, good thing that it isn''t the stinger, just brute, blunt force of the thick end. Still, it feels like being hit by a truck, Nobuo loses ground contact for a while, before pathetically rolling on the ground, hitting his elbows, knees, and head.
It hurts, he feels how blood is coming from his nose, and his head wants to explode just from feeling the kind of pain a person feels when hitting the head against a wall with full force. He wants to vomit, he wants to cry. Still, he stands up. He''s a hero, so this amount of pain isn''t enough to make him stop moving.
This just makes the demon happier: ¡°Oh, you''re standing! Why is that? Are you feeling it? A human, who feels it? Ah, no, maybe you''re plainly stubborn? Well, let''s try it.¡± She hits him another time, for the same effect. ¡°You''re still moving? Great! Now let me hear you cry.¡± Saying this, she slams her tail on the still prone Nobuo.
¡°argh...¡± His outcry is surprisingly quiet, even though the pain is so intense. ¡°uuh...¡± Nobuo swings his sword, and he hits the tail, which deflects the blade back into his own body. ¡°ueee...¡±
¡°Wow, you''re still trying to attack me. You feel it, you must feel it. Ah, a human who feels it! Make me happy!¡± With euphoria, she breaks his legs. The sound resonates through Nobuo''s whole body, it''s an ugly sound, which causes him to cough and drool bitter spit.
Then he feels the pain for a millisecond, before it¡¯s suddenly shut down, maybe because of his hero-body, maybe because of functions of a human body he doesn''t know. This makes waving his blade easier. ¡°ah! iiieh!¡± Pitiful noises come from his mouth, as he tries the best to do something, to do anything.
Why does his body feel so strange? Shouldn''t he be full of terror? No, for some reason, despite his pitifulness he still knows that he has to buy time, more and more time. So he attacks to keep her interested, though the next thing she does is break his right arm, the one with the sword. Now the pain is too much, it''s like tearing through veil, and suddenly everything comes back at once. The tremendous amount of pain paralyzes Nobuo, his hearing and sight shut off, while the scorpion-tail keeps hammering on him time and time again, breaking one bone each time. ¡°Feel, feel, feel! Yes, feel it!¡±
After he feels like everything that could be broken is kaput, the demon lifts him up. Gravity hurts! It pulls on his limbs, which cause immeasurable pain. There is nothing Nobuo can do, but ¡°*Spit*¡± A single spit, a mixture of saliva, blood, and gastric juices, right into her face.
Five seconds. This action bought five more seconds, as the demon stared at him blankly, maybe even not knowing how to react. ¡°You know what? I want to have a look at what you''re made off.¡±
''Ah, so that''s how I look on the inside.'' Is the last coherent thought Tetsukawa Nobuo ever had.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Fort Abwehr, a fort at the border to Daemonicus. Harada Reiji, Noda Yukino, Kuga Shigeru, Toriyama Chidori returned with Corporal Schierhorn. All of them made the mistake of looking back, seeing how Tetsukawa Nobuo bought them time, enough time for them to escape. They only saw up to the part of the broken limbs, but nobody had any illusions. Their party-member, their friend was dead.
Still, he had saved them. He sacrificed himself for them. Heavy emotions swirl in the hospital at the base, while the four remaining heroes are waiting for their check-up. They''re just one of the many groups that experienced a demon assault. Many small skirmishing groups have formed, attacking the soldiers here and there at the border. Though primarily aiming for the scouts, many demons couldn''t help but attack larger and better-equipped groups as well.
Amid all the suffering and wounded soldiers with several healers, priests, and clerics going from one to another, the four Japanese are talking about what they witnessed.
¡°I never realized,¡± Kuga starts, ¡°how noble Tetsukawa was. Damn! I... Despite how I treated him, he still...¡± He wants to finish his sentence, but his throat hurts, it hurts so much, that he can''t force his words out.
¡°Tetsukawa-kun...¡± Noda-chan has already cried all her tears, but she still sobs, while holding Toriyama-chan in her arms.
¡°Dammit!¡± Harada blames how powerless he was... no, how careless he was... ¡°I should- because of me!¡± He actually didn''t think much of Tetsukawa, but while Harada showed how pathetic he becomes if things get tough, Tetsukawa showed how brave and reliable he could be.
¡°Tetsu... Nobuo-kun!¡± Toriyama-chan might be the worst off from everyone. She''s still bawling, she was a kind girl in her heart, after all.
Harada realized, what he lacked. It was Tetsukawa who showed him, showed him what a half-ass he was about everything. His whole life, Harada has been a half-ass. Everything but baseball was just a collection of non-commitments and half-hearted tries, as if he just needed to be good in one thing to succeed in life, while everything else wouldn''t really matter.
On the other hand, Tetsukawa, he... he surely did everything to get the most out of life. He had such a fulfilling life that he didn''t need to brag about it. In fact, he could even throw that life away, living a life without any regrets.
Something inside Harada moved into place. A gear, that was stuck his whole life finally moved. Yes, Tetsukawa was someone else. He was better, like a saint. Yes, he was a saint! Always one who listened to all sides, always someone who would even protect the likes of Katsuragi. Harada was just a tight-ass jerk, who just thought he was right all the time, while he was wrong all along.
One piece after another is set, and a whole picture starts to form. Harada has a feeling he decided to call ''enlightenment.'' Others would call it ''madness¡¯, resulting from too much stress, minor traumatic experience, and a huge shock to finish.
However, those people were wrong because Harada now sees the truth. ¡°Guys,¡± he says, his eyes full of fervor, ¡°I''ve figured it out!¡±
Volume 05 - Afterword
Afterword
Hey there, kentusrpg here. And yes, we got through the fifth volume. There is much and almost nothing to say, some people may feel betrayed for the climax again, but it''s intentional. In this volume are no big fights, small skirmishes here and there, but the magnitude has lessened due to the circumstances. So the climax this time is more about the chase.
A lot is going on regarding character development here, Kenta has a genuine, not mean smile, for the first time. The girls feel the first conflicts towards each other, something which happens. It''s rather small and easily solved after speaking with each other. Like many conflicts in real life. But a significant part of it is the natures of Rine and Ara''ainn because they''re honest and don''t see the need to hide their thoughts. Even though they differ otherwise.
This time we also got a bit more about the curse. It''s actually a marriage! But what Kenta and Kyou don''t know is the difference between a marriage in their homeworld and a marriage in the fantasy world. Ara''ainn doesn''t either, as ''marriage'' was something she learned after being transported.
There is much more to it in the fantasy-world than what we refer to as marriage in our world.
I also had the opportunity to go more into details regarding the oni. She doesn''t have a real name, she was never named officially. Even the name of her false identity, Ogra, is just a fake name.
By the way, Ogra is coming from ogro, the Spanish word for ogre, which is the most direct translation from the Japanese oni.
I feel like I missed going into details regarding the barbarians, but there just seemed no point to give a real proper explanation without messing up with the flow. To cut it short: Barbarians are human warrior nomads, who travel through different countries and act like bandits often. They are terrifying strong, so strong that people started to refer to simple cultures as savages in general, while ¡°barbarians¡± got somewhat patented.
One of the reason is that barbarians have a lot of non-heroes who learn combat-[Skills]. While most soldiers will learn some eventually, the barbarians take it to another level. With such a high bar for seasoned warriors, it''s hard to fight them, especially since they''re so mobile. Good thing there are only a few tribes. Otherwise, they could most likely run over any country... well, sometimes they do. Not to conquer, but to raid. The people of the Wildlands are scared of them for a good reason.
If you''re asking: What is with Masahiko and his friends, and what about Hoshibashi and Yoshimura, the other heroes?
Well, both of them get covered in volume 5.5, in addition to the non-combatant heroes of Feuerberg. I decided to put it in an extra volume, because it''s interesting/important enough to keep up to date, and it just feels wrong to have too many side-characters doing something entirely else in a regular volume.
I also needed a bit of a break, writing something else, so this is like a compromise. Writing it put me in a good mood, and I''m back on track with the main story. So first the break, then the extra volume, then a little break again, then volume 6! The first time Kenta has to deal with revenge...
As we know that the curse is an actual marriage in this world, there is another poll. Who do you think has the best Wife Power of them all? Also included the oni and the Crusader based on the comments of some. For those more interested in men, I''ll include something at another time, as I think it''d be better to make that one, after I''ve re-introduced some of the other male characters. Don''t worry though, you can comment about who the best husband would be right now!
How to support the story
If you like to support the story, there are several ways.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
The easy ones (no to little effort put into it and you remain anonymous):
1.) Vote on TWF. It''s easy, just a few clicks, no account needed, and you''ve got a vote, which will last one week. The higher the story is on the list, the more likely it is that more people will take a look.
2.) Become a Follower/Favorite. If you aren¡¯t following the story via the Follower-option, consider doing so. Just go to the fiction page and choose ¡°Add to your Bookshelf¡± on the right side. This not only boosts my confidence, but the number of Followers and Favorites is also visible for everyone on RRL.
3.) Rate this story. If you have a RRL-Account, you can rate this story on the fiction page. The higher the rating is, the higher it is ranked, therefore making it easier for the search function to be found. There is also WLN, where you can rate this story, even without an account.
4.) Upvote and downvote reviews. You can do that on the fiction page as well, and yes, you need an RRL account. The more a review is upvoted, the higher it is on the list. The more it''s downvoted, the lower it is placed. So if you like to help, upvote the positive reviews, downvote the bad ones, and give visitors to the fiction page a more positive outlook to the story.
With the new version of RRL, up-/downvoting became a bit of a hassle (because the page reloads every time), but I''d appreciate it if you do it nonetheless.
Some effort involved (and you''ll lose your anonymity):
1.) Write a comment. I really like to read your comments, I''m easily pleased by praise, I''ll think about actual critique which is usable, and I like to converse with my readers in general. Even if you spot a typo, everything is fine. As long as you don''t write stuff like "I hate your guts," "your story is full of shit," and "I don''t like your MC," this is not really helpful. I can deal with critique, but I need reasons, I need personal outlooks, I need examples why something feels wrong.
2.) Write a review. Another way to increase the rank are reviews, also made on the fiction page. They have more "weight" when determining the rank of the story. Of course, advanced reviews have more weight. To put it into perspective a half star rating without review made me fall 10 ranks, a 2-star advanced review made me once fall about 80 ranks. So there is a lot of control here, how this story does on RRL.
3.) I also use Social Media... sometimes. Here is my FB-page, here is my Twitter. You can like the former and follow me on the latter. You can also ask questions, make comments, all the nice stuff.
Go the extra-mile
1.) Advertise the story. Be it on social media (there are also share-buttons at the end of each chapter), on other forums or fiction pages, blogs or by talking to friends, there are several ways to make this story known.
2.) Leave a review on WFG. If you have an account there, you can also make a review there. Of course, a positive one would help there.
3.) Apply as a proofreader. As a non-native, I need my PRs. And as I like to work on Volume 5.5 to some degree during the break to make releases more regular again, it''d be great if people would help me here.
4.) Donate on PayPal and/or Patreon. I''m still trying to figure out a satisfying resolution for my Patreon, but for mere $2 it''s currently possible to read the next chapter before everyone else, though it still need PR. For $5 you''ll be able to read even more ahead. I''m still working on an end-solution, when I have one, I''ll make another announcement.
Another way than to hit the PayPal-button for a direct donation is my kofi-page, just hit the button below. It''s a bit nicer there and you can leave a message as well.
The donations will only be used for the improvement of the story.
5.) Make fanart. I''m always more than happy to receive anything art-related, be it pictures, be it shorts, no matter. I''ll make sure to post them on my blog as well while giving you all the credit. It''s just pleasing to see how people care about my story to go that far ahead.
I hope to have you again in volume 5.5!
Volume 05.5 - Prologue
Prologue
First break of the day.
¡°Kenta, I want to learn a new [Class]! One that makes me smarter!¡± Rine asks me while looking directly into my black eyes with her ember-like ones.
A class that makes her smart? So she wants a class with a high [Intelligence]-attribute? ¡°Erm...¡± Frankly, I don''t believe that a high [Intelligence]-value will actually make you smarter.
It is similar to a computer: No matter how high the specs of a computer are, its actual performance is dependent on the user. If you have someone who is hardly able to turn on the power switch, then don''t expect much decent work.
¡°...¡± Rine pushes her underlip forward, showing her pouting face. ¡°If you won''t kiss me, I want to talk with you at least!¡±
Where is this coming from?
¡°Rine... I''m still not over the fact that you ear-plugged me while I was defenseless!¡± Being in the [Worn-out]-condition without any means to notice it... The only reason I even learned about it was because of what happened between Ara-san and me.
Ear-plugging... I thought of it as the way for alfar to kiss, except it wound up being way more intimate... at least it is when Ara-san and I do it. Nothing unusual happened when Rine and I were ear-plugging.
It''s the cursed ring¡¯s fault, it cast a curse, which ''married'' me to these three girls:
Rine, the beautiful blonde princess of Feuerberg, who also happens to be a dynamic, and overly cheerful yet ruthless machine of massacre. To make it worse, she has a crush on me, and I''m somewhat afraid of her.
Ara-san, the exotic and studious white-haired alfr girl with a penchant for mischief. Alfar and humans are not supposed to be attracted to each other biologically, but the curse did something to us so that now we''re both dealing with strange instincts every day.
Kyou-san, a Japanese beauty and former classmate of mine. Before our class was transported into this fantasy world as heroes to kill the demon king, we hardly got along, now, even after all the time we''ve been stuck together, we can still barely stand each other.
Three wives, three pains in the ass! I can''t get rid of them!
Rine replies to my comment about her ear-plugging me. ¡°We are married, we don''t need to ask permission for some ear-plugging.¡± Yes, we do. ¡°And it wasn''t recognized...¡± Yep, the WP-system didn''t give us an announcement, even after Rine more or less forced herself onto me. ¡°...so why don''t you kiss me instead?¡± What has one to do with the other!?A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
¡°Rine... I''m waiting for the perfect opportunity.¡±
¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Rine begins to smile and giggle. I''m sure she''s lost in one of her delusions.
She''s so simple. You know, Rine, the ¡®perfect opportunity¡¯ would be ''never.''
Don''t get me wrong, Rine is a fine girl. She''s kind-hearted, she''s hard-working, her looks are way above the average pretty, and most of her shortcomings can be dismissed as cute.
For me, though, she''s just clingy, since she forces her feelings on me, and terrifying, since she does stuff that makes her scary as hell. Also, I have the feeling that the moment I give in to her even a little, she''ll just take the rest while in a state of pure euphoria.
I don''t plan to take lightly the feelings of a girl who is capable of putting me through so much physical pain that I might commit suicide just to escape it.
Plus, I don''t like being forced into anything, in general.
¡°If you¡¯d like to have another class,¡± Ara-san chimes in, ¡°Then I can teach you. I intended to teach Momo about [Arcana] as well, and now would be a good time.¡±
[Arcana]? It''s the [Ability] that can influence [Magic] itself, so more or less support for other kinds of magic, like [Spirit Magic] or [Elemental Magic]?
Well, Kyou-san''s [Priest]-class certainly has [Arcana], but it''s still locked. Given how Kyou-san struggled to unlock the [Herbalist]-class-up, it''s no wonder that there was no time to unlock the [Arcana]-ability of an entirely unrelated [Class] while we were in Aroahenn as well.
¡°Really! Thanks, Ara!¡± Rine hugs Ara-san passionately, while the girl in question looks unsure on how to deal with it.
I don''t like being hugged, at least. There are just some lines I have concerning physical contact. Holding hands, no problem. Linking arms... well, I¡¯m starting to get used to it...
If there were just more ways to grind those WP we get due to the wedding curse without the need to touch each other that much.
Yet this thought reminds me of something else. ¡°By the way, there is something I''d like to ask you two.¡±
¡°Nn? Kenta has a question for me?¡± Rine cocks her head, Ara-san just nods.
¡°What exactly is a ''wedding''?¡±
¡°...Kenta-kun, I don''t think I understand your question.¡±
¡°What a wedding is? It''s a wedding, of course.¡±
¡°...phew... it''s just that with those Crusaders and such, I did some thinking... and while I know what a wedding is in my own world, the real question is: What is a wedding in this world?¡±
¡°...I''ll be frank here, Kenta-kun: In Alfarheim there was no concept of ¡®wedding¡¯, and even in this world, alfar rarely are wed, because there are too few capable of performing the ceremony.¡±
...so there is an actual ceremony involved?
¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Rine asks Ara. ¡°...actually, I¡¯ve never seen any kind of [Divine Magic]-user in Aroahenn.¡±
So [Divine Magic] is used to make the ceremony?
¡°Because there are none. Those people were at the root of the conflict between alfar and humans in the past, so there are mixed feelings whenever a hero of ours attains [Divine Magic].¡±
So there was a conflict between humans and alfar in the past?
I get the feeling that I seriously lack a lot of background information...
Nonetheless, I need to stay on topic. ¡°Erm, Rine, Ara-san. Marriage.¡±
¡°Oh, right. I think that Katarine-san is more knowledgeable about marriage. I know a few things, but I don''t want to give you half-knowledge and confuse you with it.¡±
¡°OK, Rine. Tell me everything about marriage!¡±
¡°Everything?¡±
¡°Everything!¡± I change to [Student] so that I can use [Fast Learner] to cram all of this stuff into my head. ¡°Kyou-san, switch to [Student] and learn with us!¡±
¡°... *hssssss*¡± While I can''t hear an answer, she makes a strange sound behind her cover of bushes.
It clearly shows how pissed she is that I called out to her while she was taking her bathroom break.
¡°Rine, I want to know everything about marriage. The definition, the procedure, the benefits, the reasons, anything you can think of.¡±
It would take a while before I¡¯d realize that I should have phrased that better.
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 1-1 – The Superfriends and the Dari
Chapter 1 ¨C The Superfriends and the Dari
Inoue Masahiko is a sixteen year old Japanese boy who used to be a high school student. His current occupation is that of a hero. He, his friends, and his entire class were summoned into this fantasy world by the kingdom of Feuerberg to defeat the demon king.
At first, Masahiko was very pumped, because he is still connected with his inner child. With the power of the heroes, everything just seems to be possible, so of course he couldn''t help but be excited about it.
Things went well, but then one of his friends, Momokawa Kyou, couldn''t keep up. Trusting in her capabilities, Masahiko and the others left her behind in the capital so that she could catch up... and thinking back, it was his fault that Kyou was unable to keep up in the first place.
Masahiko is feeling his many mistakes weighing on him.
He has to save her.
Because of him, she''s now somehow in the clutches of Katsuragi Kenta-kun, another of his former classmates, and now a rogue hero. There is no proof whether or not Katsuragi-kun has some sort of brainwashing power, but his hostility towards Masahiko is evident.
The arrowhead-shaped scar on Masahiko''s chest is the mark of his failures.
How he couldn''t interpret the hero-system in time.
How he left Kyou back in Esse.
How he was unable to clear whatever grievance lay between him and Katsuragi-kun.
How he was too confident about himself and his friends, confident that they could take on any challenge that came.
This scar on his chest is a reminder.
The blisters and pain he has earned since are proof of how hard he is trying to make it right again.
They also embody the arduous training he has endured, first at the hands of Feuerberg, and then by their allies, the dari of Kraggwas.
Dari are what Masahiko would have referred to as ''dwarves'' before coming to this world.
A dar is about as tall as Masahiko''s hip, but with a muscular and broad frame. Their arms are strangely long, and their hands are also twice the size of a human''s.
There is hair all over their bodies, but only on top of their head and on their faces is long enough to cover the skin thoroughly. They lack eyebrows, and have protruding foreheads.
Most of them have metallic hair, often bronze or copper, but sometimes silver or gold. Their eyes have large, round pupils, and only slim, brown irises.
Also, they are strong! Since Masahiko is currently training with one, he is learning that first-hand. Dari wear heavy armor, and swing large unwieldy weapons with ease.
Masahiko attacks his trainer and friend, the dar hero Braxas, who is teaching him the [Vanguard]-class-up.
The human¡¯s two swords are clashing with the dar¡¯s armor, but strangely they slide off. Meanwhile, the Braxas¡¯ warpick of approaches Masahiko''s torso unimpeded.
Masahiko''s attempts to block that weapon in the past were unsuccessful, so he tried to use his unbalanced stance to roll away, but for some reason, he can''t even begin to move. Something is holding him in place!
Instead, he''s hit by the pick and feels the tip penetrating his armor and flesh as the power behind the strike pushes him back.
¡°...I get it...¡± Masahiko holds his side. ¡°Magnetism! It''s magnetism!¡±
¡°...almost, lad. Back then we call¡¯it magic, but now it''s listed as [Metalmancy].¡± Braxas open his hand and his metal weapon is stuck to his palm. ¡°Y''see? Same for the armor.¡± The large chest piece of the dar armor falls off him. ¡°Don''t tell anyone else, yeah? It''s actually somewhat a secret this world''s dari keep.¡±
As a hero, Braxas is also from another world, a world which only has dari. He was summoned a long time before Masahiko, but he was also a soldier back home, so he had no trouble adapting to the hero lifestyle.
¡°Ev''ry dari uses [Metalmancy]. It''s part of us, we sense and control metal to a degree. Here.¡± Braxas strips off his shirt, and there are strange bone-like knobs on parts of his body: Shoulders, chest, and along his spine. ¡°These are bravvuk, that''s what''s normally used for it.¡±
¡°So you use this power during every fight?¡± That''s impressive, giving the dari an overwhelming advantage against many kinds of foes. Pushing away the enemy weapons for defense, or drawing in the opponent¡¯s armor to hinder movement and disturb their balance are just the beginning of what they can do.
¡°Ayup. Heard that''s why the dari of this world aren''t good with the elves.¡±
¡°How is that supposed to be related?¡±
¡°Elves don''t use metal. Even their weapons are made out of wood or bone while being strong as metal. While we have the upper hand against most other races with our magic, it isn''t much use against them.¡±
¡°Sad to see that war and fighting is everything in this conflict.¡±
¡°Can''t blame them. Lots of battles with''em, last big one just twenty years ago. Was there, wasn''t pretty. Many elven heroes wiped out several settlements. We won in the end, but the price was high.¡±
¡°The elves really seem like a difficult bunch.¡±
¡°Ayup. The human king wants to include them, right? In the fight against the demons?¡±
¡°I don''t know. I''m not told that much yet.¡± Masahiko is still at the beginning of his hero-career, so of course, he''s only told the bare minimum.
¡°Nah, don''t worry, lad. You''re plenty good already, but training only brings you so far.¡±
Masahiko can''t help but smile at his new friend. ¡°I need to do this.¡±
¡°The girl, ya?¡±
¡°Yes, my friend.¡±
¡°Well, lad, just train and train then. I''m good enough to pummel y''all the day long.¡±
¡°I''m still bleeding.¡±
¡°Ayup. Nothing better to train with than pain!¡±
Masahiko really hopes that he can find a way to counter the dar [Metalmancy].
In their previous sparring battles, he had thought at first that he was just too weak or made too many mistakes, but now that Masahiko knows that his weapons and his armor are used against him, he realizes how many subtle changes in his movements can change the outcome of a battle completely.
Of course, he could try to fight Braxas without any metal items, but there would be no benefit to it, as he might encounter similar problems in the future and not have the luxury of changing his gear.
He has to be prepared for anything. So fighting with this kind of handicap is a great way to prepare for the real deal.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
After being beaten to a pulp by Braxas, Masahiko''s dar friend changed classes to heal the wounds he inflicted. They still hurt, but Masahiko is able to move like usual.
As a hero, Braxas has a vast variety of spells and skills, but even his healing magic couldn''t make the deep wounds disappear entirely right away, so they stopped training for the day so that Masahiko''s body will have time to recover.
In fact, heroes recover fast, so most likely Masahiko will be ready to have another go tomorrow.
Still, his armor is in terrible shape now, so Masahiko is currently in a smith''s workshop, talking to another Japanese boy with a large build and shaved hair. ¡°Could you fix it, please?¡±
This is Masahiko¡¯s good friend Yamauchi Daichi. He''s a former member of the judo club and now a [Student], [Knight], [Grappler], and [Blacksmith]. At least, these are his classes.
He''s striving to class-up his [Blacksmith] to the [Forgemaster]-class of the dari, someone who can use special techniques to create special alloys and process legendary metals.
The people of Kraggwas have plenty of class-up options, as the dari are very connected with each other over the whole continent. So they shared their class-ups freely, and while it was impossible in the hero-system to acquire a second class-up in the same location, it would be easy to just travel to the next big dar-city and continue the training there.
However, they don''t share their class-ups with other species that easily. Without the alliance with Feuerberg, it''d be nearly impossible to get, but the human kingdom agreed to train the same amount of dari heroes in return.
Currently, only Masahiko and his friends among the Feuerberg-heroes are in Kraggwas for training, as his other classmates have their own responsibilities. Some of them are in the Vulkan-mountains, others are at the border to the demon realm, and occasionally a party might be called back to train in Esse like Masahiko''s was.
Daichi looks at Masahiko''s armor and sighs: ¡°Is tomorrow early enough? I''m wasted.¡±
¡°Sure. I''ll train with my substitute armor tomorrow then.¡±
¡°Thanks, I like to do a good job here, so I''ll take all day just to fix the holes properly.¡±
¡°Don''t worry. I know that you work hard. But you''re finished today?¡±
¡°Almost, I still need to sweep the hallway.¡±
¡°Let me help you.¡±
Daichi looks over his shoulder to an old dar, who nods to him while smiling, as if saying: ¡®Go ahead.¡¯
So both of them take some brooms and sweep the hallway in quick succession. Afterward, dirty and sweaty from their training, they take a quick dip in the underground river, to which the workshop had access.
Now somewhat presentable, both of them set off. Daichi takes a glance at the weapons on Masahiko''s back. ¡°Masa, how long are you planning to not use that sword?¡±
¡°Well, shishou told me that it makes me weak.¡± Masahiko and his friends had found a mighty sword in a cave of spider-monkeys. But then Masahiko underwent special training in Esse, and his well-seasoned instructor told him to not use it.
''That weapon is above your skills, stupid disciple #2. A greenhorn like you will just start to rely on it and die. While you can die anytime as far as I care, don''t do so in battle after I took my time training you.''
So other than the sword''s unique traits and abilities, it remains stored in Masahiko''s [Inventory] as a last resort. The special powers of the sword are good enough for now, he doesn''t need to rely on it as a weapon at the moment.
¡°Hm,¡± Daichi scratches his head while considering Masahiko''s answer. ¡°I can see that. Back in the judo club, the senpais always told me to drill the basics first.¡± Daichi is tall and has a strong body, so of course he would excel in anything that makes use of those traits. ¡°I guess it''s the same. Instead of clumsily forcing your way with no technique, you''ll have to learn properly to make full use of it, right?¡±
¡°Something like that.¡± Actually, Masahiko only got a rough image of what Daichi was saying, but he thinks that the basic idea is right.
Masahiko and Daichi are on the way to their quarters while walking through Kraggwas. The city itself was actually pretty dark, reminiscent of an animal den. There are a lot of tunnels with some sort of chamber, which are connected to more tunnels that lead to the quarters of the dari.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Some caverns have buildings inside, but overall dari are less majestic in their stonework than people might suspect--the whole city is more like a large mine than an underground city.
The reason, according to Braxas, is physics. There are hard limits depending on many factors like the stability of the stone, water veins, seismic activity and others.
Masahiko heard that the surface of Braxas'' homeworld is uninhabitable, so the dari had no place to live other than underground.
In the fantasy world, there is no problem like that, but Masahiko guesses that the ability to sense metal and the adaptation to dark places just made underground a better place for most dari, but they are still common enough outside the underground cities.
At least these tunnels are tall enough for the two Japanese to walk and wide enough to not bump into other dari as long as they stay in their lane.
Yes, dar roads have lanes--a handy feature considering the somewhat cramped conditions of an underground city. Even though the streets are already rather wide, there are big wagons, giant lizards that act as mounts and beasts of burden, and other things to consider, that need some more space. Therefore the roads are cleanly divided into lanes so that everything flows more fluidly. This works because the dari actually follow these lanes, even if they are in a hurry or they need to cross them. In these cases, there are particular areas marked for crossings and turning, so everything stays in order.
For Masahiko, it used to be a somewhat uncommon sight, but by now he''s slightly fond of it. It makes him remember Japan in a way, even though he rarely thinks about home these days.
¡°So, you''re getting a new pair of swords here?¡± Daichi continues their conversation about weapons from before.
¡°No, I''ll wait until you make me a new pair of swords.¡±
¡°Hey, that''s embarrassing, man. But you''re saying it because of our finances, right?¡±
¡°Partly. Even though we got a vast sum from the king, I want to spend it wisely. So I need to discuss this with everyone first, as I''m sure that I''ll overlook things. Plus, I think my weapons are fine right now.¡± A fine pair of swords, made of steel. Not masterworks, but already too good for someone like Masahiko, whose skill with blades stems from the hero-system instead of the accumulation of years of hard work.
Being a hero is actually something Masahiko really enjoys, being able to help people with his newfound powers and solving situations he couldn''t before. Yet deep down he feels some sort of shame, as he''s using an easy way of improving himself, instead of spending a lot of sweat, blood, and tears. Or not nearly enough for him to readily accept it.
That''s another reason why he gives his all during each training session. Because he wants to be better than that, he wants to have a bit of real strength. So that he can improve as a person as well.
¡°Actually, Daichi, I think you''re great. You''re class-upping a crafting class, which will help us a lot in the long run, when you could''ve improved your [Grappler] instead.¡±
¡°It''s fine. All of us discussed it, and if there is a remote chance to enchant weapons and armors, we need to seize it. Especially,¡± Daichi lowers his voice, ¡°as the dari are very secretive about them.¡±
¡°Not only them. There are magic weapons in Feuerberg, but nobody talks about it. I can see how class-ups weren''t mentioned before, as few knew, nobody asked, and it wasn''t the right time, but overall the people at the top of any nation keep their secrets close.¡±
¡°I don''t like it.¡±
¡°Knowledge is power. Maybe they''re right to hide some things, at least for now. Before a class-up, we needed to get stronger, so instead of dreaming about what¡¯s coming, they let us train as we were.¡±
¡°Yes, it was hard enough. But still...¡± Daichi''s face twisted, as he''s clearly thinking about something unpleasant. ¡°Doesn''t it bother you at all?¡±
¡°Of course it does. But asking for every little detail, when there is so little I can actually do, would be kinda arrogant. So I like to concentrate on what I can do now, and improve myself until I can do a lot more. Then my demands have more weight.¡±
¡°You''re right, Masa. We just need to do what we can do!¡± Daichi''s fist slams into his open hand, showing his newfound determination. The dari around them looked at him surprised and try to avoid this big teenager.
¡°Would you like to take a stroll before we return? I haven''t taken a good look at the market yet, and I want to bring or send a souvenir to those at the research facility.¡±
¡°Hey, I just showed my guts here, and you ask me for a shopping trip?¡±
¡°I¡¯d like to get some steam out of my system after being beaten by Braxas the whole time.¡±
¡°Is he that strong?¡±
¡°Actually, I don''t know, and that''s what makes me respect him that much. He may be on a level I can''t even understand yet.¡±
¡°I''m glad he''s also a hero. Because there are many people around here who are insanely strong without being heroes, and that drives me nuts.¡±
Masahiko has to silently agree with that statement. At the moment, the heroes of Feuerberg aren''t the country''s strongest warriors, by far. They only climb the ladder of power much faster and can reach extraordinary heights at the end, but Masahiko''s current skills in combat are that of a seasoned but not very talented soldier. He''s above the cut, but not anything special concerning pure prowess.
Heroes are more of an investment in the future. Which made Masahiko think about how dire Feuerberg expects this war to become.
¡°So, Daichi? What about the stroll?¡±
¡°...alright. You''re asking me because you want a change of mood, right?¡±
Daichi was right, Masahiko asked because he felt that both of them needed to get their thoughts off this wheel of things they couldn''t change at this point.
So instead of heading to the quarters, they followed the signs to Kraggwas'' great market. This is built in a large cavern, ledges on different levels which lead to smaller caves holding the stores, while a lot of stalls were built in a central open space.
At the ceiling crystals send bright blue light throughout the whole cavern, giving a bit of a spooky appearance, while crystals which shed yellow-orange light are arranged not unlike street lamps at ground-level.
Not only dari, but also humans and some folkmen are here to buy or sell wares. With a large tunnel over ten kilometers (6 miles) long leading directly to the outside world, this marketplace was the true connection between the dari and the other cultures.
They come across a weapon store, but as Daichi sees those weapons and armors every day and Masahiko is still waiting until Daichi is good enough to forge him a new pair of swords, they aren''t interested. Daichi starts a new topic. ¡°Did you know that the dari don''t process their own ore?¡±
¡°They don''t? Aren''t they...¡± Masahiko lowers his voice: ¡°...like dwarves from western stories? Shouldn''t they be good with metals?¡± Of course, no dar would like to be called ''dwarf,'' but there are many similarities. Therefore, Masahiko thought that they would''ve mastered metalwork.
¡°Mind you, the dari are quite good at extracting the metal from the ore, Feuerberg is just much better. The way they wield the fire seems to be special in every way, so the dari trade in about a fifth of their ore, in return Feuerberg makes ingots of the remaining ore and send it back to Kraggwas. From Kraggwas, these ingots go to the other dar cities. Same goes for some alloys. Plus, Feuerberg also buys dar weapons sometimes.¡±
¡°So business is flourishing, I guess.¡± This may also be the reason why both countries work that closely together, even allowing each other''s heroes to learn the class-ups of the other nation.
Sometimes, Masahiko thinks, this world is not too different from his own world after all.
A wagon pulled by a giant lizard comes by and Masahiko and Daichi step aside, as the wagon was a bit too wide for its lane. The driver, a dar girl, looks at both heroes, her eyes wide open and her mouth gaping.
¡°Hello,¡± Masahiko greets her. He''s used to being the center of attention to some degree since being summoned in this world. He''s a Japanese, so he doesn''t quite look like other humans, especially those native to these lands with their bright hair colors and eyes. But he seems too human to be mistaken as a dar or an elf.
The wagon driver nods slowly, right after passing them.
¡°Another one.¡± Daichi scratch his head. ¡°You''re a real heart-breaker, y''know?¡±
¡°Don''t joke around.¡± Masahiko lightly pushes Daichi while laughing. ¡°I''m not that popular.¡±
¡°Are you kidding? You''re always with some girl.¡±
¡°Well, it might be true, but... hard to explain...¡±
¡°Man, you and your girl problems. Well, not that I''m not used to them.¡±
¡°Speaking of girls, other than souvenirs, I''m looking for presents.¡±
¡°To confess?¡±
¡°I wish. No, for Eri and Teru. They''re depressed because of you-know-what. I saw Teru cry yesterday night by chance.¡±
¡°Awkward. But a present?¡±
¡°I know, the girls aren''t that cheap, but it''s not like I can solve every problem magically.¡±
¡°Pick up a magic-user-class that can.¡±
¡°Hehe, if there is one, I won''t hesitate. But for now, I''ll train hard and try my best to not forget about all of you.¡±
¡°Man, your specs are too high.¡±
¡°?¡±
¡°Nah, just self-pity. Was too focused, too absorbed, didn''t even think about the others. Don''t worry, we''ll get Kyou-san back.¡±
¡°We both have to do our best.¡±
Thus, both boys stroll around the market, trying to find souvenirs for their teachers and classmates in the research facility, and some gifts to cheer up their female companions.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Kurosawa Teruko looks at the ground. Her [Tracks]-skill of the [Scout]-class shows her what made these small furrows. ¡°Katsu, these are made by claws.¡±
Kita Katsuo is a somewhat silent boy, whose dark eyes look kinda creepy. Teruko sometimes has some trouble dealing with him, he just looks so... devoid of life. That¡¯s one of the reasons she calls him Katsu, just to make it easier to speak to him. ¡°...¡± He also tends to talk awkwardly, often opening his mouth a few moments before he actually speaks: ¡°...but they''re feet. Feet with claws. Demons.¡±
Teruko and her friends were close to the front-line of the war between Feuerberg and the demons, so sometimes they met demons who by chance crossed the border. Demons are strange, to say the least. They''re like a mix of different species, some very beastial, others more human, but claws, horns, fangs, and many other typical demon-stuff is always to be seen.
A sound. Teruko looks to the source to see a dar, clad in iron plates, coming over. It''s Urgrik, the one who is teaching Teruko about the [Deepstalker]-class-up. For some reason, his armor doesn''t make any noises while moving, and Teruko is sure that she heard him just now because he wanted her to notice him.
Urgrik''s iron-colored hair and beard make him look much older than he is, and since Teruko is on the smaller side, his bulky build seems even more intimidating than necessary. ¡°Did''ya find something?¡±
¡°Yes. Tracks, look.¡±
¡°Eh... the same.¡± Urgrik puts his hand on the wall. ¡°We''ll regroup. There is a new tunnel, it goes deep. Maybe even into the Deeptrails?¡±
¡°Erm... What are the ''Deeptrails''?¡±
¡°...humans. Need to remember that. Once, the dari kingdoms were connected through underground tunnels, the Deeptrails. Sadly, after the elves attacked, many trails collapsed, still trying to open them. Grass-eating bastards were after our supply lines.¡±
¡°So the new tunnels lead there?¡±
¡°Need to get closer. Exploring new tunnels is the main task of any deepstalker, so learn by watching.¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
Following Urgrik, Teruko strikes another conversation with Katsu. ¡°Is it alright to accompany us?¡± Katsu has a rather particular case: He already chose all of his classes, [Student], [Archer], [Leatherworker], and [Fletcher]. Then he classed-up [Archer] to [Sharpshooter] in Feuerberg, and the dari have no class-ups for his remaining classes. So basically, he can''t class-up right now.
¡°...it''s fine.¡± He sticks to the rest of their party, maybe because they''re all in this together.
¡°But why are you down here?¡±
¡°Fighting. Need to get stronger.¡± After the incident with the monkey-spiders, he wasn''t the same. He seems a bit possessed with getting stronger, though he concentrates on his [Sharpshooter] entirely, instead of broadening his possibilities in combat.
Teruko has an inkling. ¡°Don''t worry. We''ll get her back.¡± Katsu had to be in love with Kyou-chan, who is in the clutches of Katsuragi-san right now. Katsuragi-san is strong, he waltzed through Teruko back then, as if she was nothing.
To get Kyou-chan back, they needed to become stronger than Katsuragi-san, who has finally become a villain. To be honest, Teruko was always annoyed by him, the way he looked at her like she was nothing, the way he smirked whenever she made the tiniest mistake. Maybe she''s also a bit afraid of him, especially after witnessing those bullies-
¡°Teruko, keep it together!¡± Urgrik¡¯s yelling voice reminded her of reality.
¡°Ah!¡± She''s daydreaming! Though her [Danger Sense] didn''t give her any signals, she can''t rely on it entirely. It only detects immediate danger.
How stupid of her.
¡°...don''t worry. We''ll get her back.¡±
¡°...thanks...¡± Ah, what a blunder. Whenever she thinks of Kyou-chan, she always thinks of how Katsuragi-san is getting on her nerves.
Teruko does her best not to think of how worried she is about Kyou-chan at Katsuragi-san''s mercy, of what he will make her do, of how she misses her friend, and how guilty she feels for leaving her alone back then.
¡°This is the tunnel. Everyone, arm yourself. There are monsters inside.¡± Urgrik always says that he speaks with the stone, though Teruko still has to learn that. ¡°Teruko, Zaggik, Uregz, and I will be the vanguard. Orrik, Haggwas, and Katsuo will be the rearguard. Rest are in the center. Battleplan Iron for now.¡±
Battleplan Iron... That''s the one where the vanguard will slowly step back when engaging with the enemy so that the center can fan out and start flanking them.
Teruko has still to learn a lot about strategy, but as Urgrik already confirmed monsters, she changes into [Knight], the class-up of her [Soldier]. Then she uses a [Phalanx]-skill ¡°[Hold the Line]!¡± declaring Zaggik, Uregz, and Urgrik as her allies.
[Hold the Line] increases the [Defense] of the user and every ally that is within the same formation. She learned that skill when she classed-up, and while the bonus isn''t that noteworthy, it also affects non-heroes.
The formation approaches, Teruko is a bit nervous, though she''s used to fighting monsters by now. However, usually she does it at the side of Dai-kun and Masahiko-kun. Now she''s battling as one of many combatants, it''s different than usual, and she hopes that her performance won''t drag the whole group down.
Then she sees the monsters, three rocktopi. A rocktopus has a large boulder-like body which has tentacles with shards protruding out of them, while also having some weird large ears. They''re common around here, so Teruko isn''t questioning their presence.
Except that these ones have a different look. Their tentacles are all warped, while black blood vessels are clearly visible, and small horns protrude out of their boulder-like heads. ¡°Demon-infested...¡±
Some demons are able to change monsters, giving them demonic traits and a lust for destruction. While monsters generally are on the aggressive side, demon-infested ones are raging abominations, who even seek out settlements and fortresses just to kill and raze.
Teruko feels her knees shaking and her head blanking out, as she thinks about all the possibilities of why demon-infested rocktopi are here. Yet, she lifts her spear, knowing that she can''t be distracted by the whys.
Usually, she would charge alongside Masahiko-kun and Dai-kun right into the enemies, but now she had to wait. She hadn''t known before how grating it is to wait for your enemies, to let them charge in instead.
¡°Archers, attack!¡±
¡°[Cluster]!¡± Katsu starts shooting arrow after arrow at the same spot, increasing the damage for every hit. Before the first rocktopus can even come close, it drops dead.
The rest of the rearguard start shooting their dart-tubes, a dari ranged weapon, which always reminds Teruko of guns, but they don¡¯t use gunpowder and shoot metal darts instead of bullets.
Nonetheless, they rip through a second rocktopus with no problem, leaving it on the brink of death.
The last one doesn''t even think of retreating and hurls its spiky tentacles at the frontline fighters. Urgrik steps forward and catches the limb without a sweat, pulling the monster attached to it to him. ¡°Teruko, your turn!¡±
¡°[Perforate]!¡±
Battling with the dari is easy despite Teruko''s concerns. The same was true with Feuerberg''s soldiers at the border to the demon realm. While they may have not the growth of a hero, soldiers are just used to fighting, especially in groups.
Besides, dari are specialized at fighting in tunnels, which makes them exceptionally competent here.
¡°We left this one alive,¡± Urgrik points at the one shredded by the dart-tubes. ¡°Decide who delivers the kill.¡±
As heroes gain XP by killing monsters, the dari only try to incapacitate them, so that either Katsu or Teruko could get the kill.
¡°Katsu?¡± He shakes his head, showing that he let her have it. With his permission, she stabs the rocktopus to death.
¡°Good gal. Let''s go, keep your eyes open, demon incursion is probable.¡±
Teruko gulps as she descends the tunnel. This is not her most favorite terrain; it''s dark, it''s hard to see at times, it''s too narrow, but as a future [Deepstalker] she has to get used to it. They also have to gather trustworthy information before reporting back.
If she were in her usual mood, this would be nothing. However, since the incident with Kyou-chan, she''s beside herself, and this is affecting everything she does, her usual confidence is just a small something under layers of insecurities, self-blame, and concerns.
However, she needs to push through. This is what she always does. This time, it''s only a tad more difficult.
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 1-2
Masahiko and Daichi have bought something for the research facility, a local specialty of very dubious looking dumplings, but when they looked for a gift for the girls, they had no success. Therefore they decided to visit one of them during her training.
There was a problem though. ¡°She''s in there since morning!?¡± Daichi is shocked about Ophwizz'' statement, Masahiko steps between them to make sure he can act as a barrier.
¡°''Course she is.¡± The dar woman is also a hero, and she''s the girlfriend of Braxas. Her hair looks like brass, she''s as hairy as a male dar, but a bit more muscular and taller, while her nose is shiny red.
¡°But that''s... I don''t even know how many hours.¡±
¡°Only five.¡±
¡°Five hours!¡± Of course, Daichi is upset, Masahiko doesn''t exactly know how this is translated into Earth''s time, but he knows that an hour in this world is more than 1.5 hours in his own. So his childhood-friend, Akiyama Eri, is about eight hours in this hole, cut off from light, fresh air, and people.
Ophwizz shrugs her shoulder while making a face. ¡°Gah, humans and their pussywussy. I trained her, she''s ready. Thinks a lot with her head, but needs to learn how to feel. It''s a sense, she''s lacking. How you control what ya don''t sense, huh?¡±
¡°What''s that with all that ''feel it, it''s a sense you don''t know,'' it gets on my nerves.¡±
¡°Calm down, Daichi.¡± Masahiko tries his best to make his voice sound serene, though he thinks he''s not good at it. ¡°I think I know what she means.¡±
¡°Beh, so Braxas spilled, huh!? I''ll wipe the floor with''im.¡± So this is the nature of their relationship? ¡°Keep it quiet, kay? Those who know too much will persuade themselves to feel it while they don''t. Bad habit.¡±
This could become problematic for Masahiko''s training... though maybe it''s enough to come to a conclusion by himself? Perhaps he has started to use small amounts of [Metalmancy], and that''s why he had that idea? ¡°Yeah, I won''t tell anyone.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°What about Eri-san?¡± Daichi looks even more upset than before.
¡°Don''t worry, Daichi. She''s strong.¡±
Masahiko and Eri are childhood friends. They went to the same nursery school, and they were together up to high school, even in the fantasy world they''re still in a party. Therefore, Masahiko knows her well, and he also knows that she''s really strong.
¡°She''s still a girl.¡±
¡°Wanna get something?¡±
¡°Wait, Ophwizz! Daichi is just worried, and in our world, men look after women! Please put that morningstar away!¡±
¡°...sorry!¡± Out of the blue, Daichi apologized. ¡°I''m still not used to things around here, I was impolite!¡±
¡°...fine. Just scram, still training here!¡±
¡°Ossu!¡± With a bow, Daichi turns around and leaves the cave, Masahiko is following him. ¡°Sorry, Masa.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°I was about to trouble you.¡±
¡°Hey, don''t mind. I''m just glad that you have that much control over yourself.¡± That must be Daichi''s roots in the martial arts, an iron discipline.
¡°It''s because I have so little self-control I''m trying so hard! I mean, you know, I really feel how I want to jump at that challenge, but if I do, then everything will turn bad. I''m not that smart, that''s why I need to be especially careful.¡±
¡°''Not that smart?'' So you''re still smart?¡±
¡°Ahahaha!¡± Daichi laughs at Masahiko''s joke, he also grins. ¡°But seriously, the thing with Eri-san is still crawling under my skin.¡±
¡°Eri is strong, I can guarantee that. She''s stubborn, easy to anger, and isn''t afraid to say if something is bothering her. I was often enough on the wrong end, so I know: Behind her girlishness, it''s concrete.¡±
¡°If you say that to her face, she''ll hit you.¡±
¡°Hah, probably! *chuckle*¡± Slowly, Masahiko''s grinning face turns more serious. ¡°Don''t worry about her. She''s fine.¡±
¡°Right.¡±
¡°Just what do we do now? Wanna train?¡±
¡°You''ve enough for today, no?¡±
¡°I still have some skin that''s not black and blue.¡±
¡°If you insist... Against each other, or do you like to hunt monsters?¡±
¡°Monsters, if possible. We couldn''t raise our level much, shishou didn''t let me out at all, saying that I should be ashamed to even think about fighting with my sloppy form.¡±
¡°Before or after he dislocated both of your arms?¡±
¡°During...¡± Masahiko is very thankful that shishou took his time to teach him from the ground up again, but it was a process which is only fond in his memory. If given a choice, he never would repeat this experience...
¡°Man, that''s heavy.¡±
¡°Anyways, let''s go outside.¡± Outside refers to ''outside the city'' as it''d take much more time and effort to get outdoors from here.
After packing some supplies and equipping their gear, Daichi and Masahiko head to the thick closed metal eastern city gate. After explaining their intentions to the guards, they opened the gate for them.
Only the western tunnels are really safe, as these are the only ones which are used for trade. The other ones were just shut tight so that the monsters can''t attack the city. While the northern tunnel is regularly patrolled by the warriors and deepstalkers, as the mining spots are in that area, the southern and eastern tunnels are seldom traveled--unless you''re a hero.
For heroes, these tunnels are sweet training spots, which are used by all the dar heroes that need to raise their level. The farther you go into the tunnels, the stronger the monsters become, it''s like a dungeon crawler game.
¡°Let''s stick to the close ones. It''s just the both of us after all.¡±
¡°Ossu.¡±
Following Masahiko''s suggestion, Daichi begins by readying his battleaxe. He''s in the [Knight]-class now, as this is his toughest combat class. [Knight] is a human [Class-up] and specializes in using several different kinds of weapons and combat styles to overcome the enemy. For someone like Daichi, who is able to craft his own arms, this class is a good fit, especially as he started out as a [Warrior] before and therefore could bring the [Axe]-ability into the mix. Teru''s [Knight] which came from the [Soldier] is different from his and lacks that [Ability].
¡°Deeeeeya!¡± Swinging his axe, Daichi decapitates a tunnel-crawler, a centipede with scorpion-like legs and a two-pronged, poisonous tail. He stands amid three others. ¡°[Wheelheave]! His new skill allows him to spin around once and knock everyone who he hits upwards. This allows him to cut the legs off the tunnel-crawlers while their bodies are aloft.
¡°[Needlerush]!¡± Masahiko''s skill cuts the air with his two blades, small airblades dismember the remains in the air. The skill is rather inaccurate therefore Daichi''s assists make it possible to move the enemy to a place that prevents friendly fire. After confirming that all monsters are dead, Masahiko taps Daichi''s shoulder:¡°Great work!¡±
¡°We did it!¡± Even though Daichi and Masahiko fought alongside for a while, they always try to improve their teamwork and work on new combo attacks whenever possible.
This sort of hunting is good, as tunnel-crawlers aren''t especially dangerous at their level. It also serves as a vent for their stress and discontent.
¡°Another group?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
The difference for Masahiko and Daichi without Teru is clear; she usually uses her [Track]-skill to find the monsters, so both of them are just wandering the tunnels blindly while looking for new fights. It''s not very efficient, especially as they limit themselves by staying close to the entrance, but being together alone makes this a rather enjoyable experience.
The XP doesn''t hurt either.
Still, after fighting some battles, they''re feeling exhausted, and they also got some blows here and there, so they decided to stop after an hour before any severe injuries occured.
Returning back to Kraggwas, both of them are let through the gate, Masahiko notices a dari girl. He recognizes her, she''s the one from the wagon before, the one who was agape looking at him. What is she doing here?
She is talking to another dar; considering the number of wrinkles he''s probably old. Maybe a trading partner? Perhaps the girl is older than Masahiko thought, but as dar women are usually taller than men...
Suddenly, the old man pushes the girl, who lands on her behind. Without thinking Masahiko finds himself between the both of them, reaching out to the girl: ¡°Everything alright?¡± He''s upset about how the male dar treated this child, but he''s neither scorning nor accusing. Foremost, he wants to help the girl.
¡°Yes...¡± The girl looks at Masahiko''s hand carefully, before taking it. He pulls her back on her feet, which takes almost no effort given her body size.
The man grunts, turns away, and leaves. Masahiko gives him only a glance, Daichi stares at him: ¡°Not even apologizing. That bastard.¡±
¡°Don''t mind him.¡± Masahiko turns his attention back to the girl: ¡°Are you hurt?¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°No. Thank you?¡±
¡°You really don''t need to phrase it as a question. I hope I haven''t disturbed you.¡± Masahiko might have been here for a while, but he still doesn''t know what the dari consider ''normal.'' ''When in Rome, do as the Romans do'' might have been better here, but he couldn''t overlook it. Therefore he acted like he felt would would have.
¡°Nevermind.¡± The girl turns around and leaves.
¡°Kinda rude,¡± Daichi murmurs.
¡°Well, maybe they were negotiating a deal, and we busted it.¡± From what Masahiko learned about the dari, they''re very ardent about business. Also, they''re a lot rougher than humans in how they interact with each other, so maybe Masahiko is at fault.
¡°Still... Argh!¡± Daichi tries to get rid of his irritation by scratching his head: ¡°Doesn''t matter! Let''s just go.¡±
The two youths return to the house their party was lent.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Teruko must pee. She feels ashamed of herself. Still, the pressure from her bladder made it hard to concentrate, her legs are trembling, her lower body is subjected to waves of heat and cold, it''s like everything else is fading out. Fighting that urge takes about everything she has.
It started the moment she used her [Stealth]-skills to [Sneak] into this cavern, some hours away from the point they fought the rocktopi. She''s using [Camouflage] and [Trackless] as well, her body has changed colors to match the rocky walls of the tunnels.
''Please, don''t let them find me!'' is echoing inside her head. When Teruko sneaked into the cavern, she did her best to pull herself together, because it''s infested with monsters that look even more terrifying than usual: Demon-infested monsters.
Tunnel-crawlers with several horns growing out of their chitin plates, mushroom-like monsters with fangs and horns instead of spots on their hoods. A giant bear with barbed claws as long as its forearms... well, this might be natural for this monster, but maybe some of these fangs and bones poking out of its pelt are because of the infestation.
In the midst of everything is a demon. Its body is about twice the size of Masahiko, it has large bat-like wings on its back, thick hide overall, and the head of a saber-toothed panther. Its muscular arms have small claws. However, the great cleaver at its waist makes Teruko imagine many bad things.
¡°I know you''re here! Come out and fight me! Just you and me and all my beasts!¡± The demon strides around the room, turning its head with every movement.
At first, it didn''t notice her, then suddenly, her [Danger Sense]-skill activated and she wanted to pull back, but the demon had already noticed her presence, though it still doesn''t know her exact location. Why did she just volunteer to scout ahead?
¡°Hey, Dekahep!¡± No, not another one! A snake-like demon slithers from another tunnel into this cavern. Its slender body has eight arms and around its upper shoulders is a belt which holds as many blades. ¡°The dwarves know we''re here. Did you sent some of your monsters out?¡±
¡°...No?¡±
¡°Stop lying, pumpkin-head! We had something, you know. That, what you have, when you think about what to do beforehand and then make it happen!¡±
¡°Erm... a dream?¡±
¡°No, that other word!¡±
¡°Are you talking about an intention?¡±
¡°No, not that word!¡±
Teruko hadn¡¯t conversed much with demons before, but maybe they''re all plain stupid? She really wanted to yell ''You mean ''plan,'' you idiots!'' It would give her away, but listening to those trying to figure out the word is physically painful. Her desire to relieve her bladder also multiplies tenfold, as she had to hold something else back now.
This would be an excellent opportunity to sneak away, but if those morons are able to get past the ''finding the word''-part, she might find something out.
¡°Ah, right! We have a ''concept''! Well, if the boss finds out that you''re endangering the concept, then how do we want to kill the dwarves, raze their city, tear down their buildings, smash their bones, throw their corpses! Don''t be a party pooper, Dekahep!¡±
¡°Ah, sorry! I was just bored, so I thought that I''d kill some dwarves and took my new pets with me, I got distracted by the fun.¡±
¡°You already killed dwarves!¡± The snake-demon throws himself onto the panther-demon and start pummeling it with eights hands. So there may be miners who are already dead somewhere? Teruko feels sadness welling within her. The snake-demon, on the other hand, isn''t infuriated because of how this deed of Dekahep risked their plan, but instead: ¡°WHY DIDN''T YOU TELL ME AND LET ME JOIN!? YOU TRAITOR! I THOUGHT WE WERE BUDDIES!¡± Now the eight-armed snake draws its weapons.
This has been enough, right? She might take a look further into the cavern, but she really learned much from this short exchange. So now she can retreat, yes, retreat is definitely the better option here. She has to go to the bathroom as well, scouting with a full bladder can only bring harm.
Giving herself several excuses, Teruko begins to slip away, while the two demons use lethal force against each other. After she''s out of sight, she starts to run, after running for five minutes, Teruko takes a short break to relieve herself... a long break, as nothing would come out right now, even though it feels like she''s always on the verge.
After moments of embarrassment and self-incrimination, she finally heads back to her companions. She''s the first of the scouts to arrive. ¡°Kurosawa Teruko, back to report.¡± The military-style of the dari makes her that formal.
She sums up what she saw and heard that in that particular tunnel are some demons, who are gathering and infesting monsters with a plan to attack the dari with a full army. Also, there was a slip-up, and some of the monsters escaped, while the one herding them has ambushed a group of miners, possibly annihilating all of them.
Urgrik grins grimly: ¡°Well done. ''tecting a threat before it becomes a danger is a deepstalker''s duty. How many in total?¡±
¡°I... I couldn''t advance much. I don''t know.¡± Teruki feels how her ears are reddening.
¡°Don''t worry, lass. Between coming back with little to report and dying trying to get a lot more to report, former is better.¡± He turns to a female dar: ¡°Nawozz, you take command. Wait for our other returnees. Takad, Ithnok, and I will go where Teruko was and try to get more intel. If we''re not back in an hour, return to Kraggwas without us.¡±
In a sense, Teruko''s shame is only growing, as Urgrik is now attempting what she wasn''t brave enough to do. Katsu, who was waiting with the main-force, silently nods to her. Is this his way to say ¡°''Don''t mind, you did your best?'' or ''Learn from that.''?
Actually, she isn''t that sissy! She''s a bold girl, but right now, she lacks... that.
After Urgrik and his two deepstalkers departed, Teruko sits down next to Katsu. She wants to talk about this with him, but she''s not sure how to start that conversation. Therefore she tries to make it as obvious as possible to tell him to do it by looking hopefully at him, trying to move her lips a bit, looking concerned, all the signs that are easy to read.
Why isn''t he starting? He just looks at his bow, feeling its weight, sometimes he looks at her direction, which gives Teruko the anticipation that they''re finally going to talk, only to switch to another task, like checking his arrows or looking at seemingly nothing, which is most likely his status screen.
Can''t he just take a hint? It''s always so difficult to initiate a conversation with him.
Unable to deal with this any longer, Teruko decided to take a look at her status instead, but she''s sick of all these numbers and terms, so she quickly changes to drawing in the dirt with her spear. Not how it''s supposed to be used, but still better than the alternatives.
With Masahiko this wouldn''t happen, he always notices when she wants to say something. Kyou-chan is also good at reading the mood, she was the first friend Teruko made at middle school. Back then, she was the only one to stand up for Teruko when she was made fun of by the boys because of her height before she toughened up.
Kyou-chan is overbearing at times, but she''s also kind. Teruko wants to believe that this kindness is the core of her personality, instead of the self-centered girl she sometimes can be. At least she always cared about Teruko.
Teruko feels guilty. The reason Kyou-chan is with Katsuragi-san is that Teruko and her friends left her in Esse. Teruko often thinks about this, as she feels like that wouldn''t have happened if Teruko had spoken up for her like Kyou-chan did for Teruko.
It''s like a betrayal. Still, Eri-chan had some sound arguments, and sometimes Teruko isn''t sure how honest Kyou-chan really is, so a part of her wanted to get rid of Kyou-chan, as she had Teruko under her thumb. Teruko wanted to be free, but now she''s under the pressure of guilt, which is ten times more grating than Kyou-chan at her worst.
Also, she wanted to agree with Masahiko back then, who was genuinely worried. Teruko wants to hide in a hole right now, but she already knows that she has really special feelings about Masahiko-kun, feelings she will never tell him. He will never notice what she wishes him to do, as he''s already Eri-chan''s, though neither of them will admit it. Even if Teruko''s guess here is wrong, it''s still a snowball''s chance in hell that Masahiko-kun will ever go into that kind of relationship.
Now the girl looks at the ground and realizes that she was drawing Masahiko with her spear while she was thinking, but she''s not even good at drawing, so his face is hideous, she feels so sorry for him and herself. She also started to draw a partner for him, though it''s too rough to be even recognized as a person.
This is stupid, she shouldn''t flee into her delusions. Teruko feels even tinier than usual, given how huge her complexes, insecurities, and fears are. She''s not even capable of having a conversation with Katsu right now, which wasn''t hard before. Well, at least she would talk, and he would listen.
Stupid, she''s acting so dumb right now.
The only hero worse than her is Katsuragi-san, who is, in fact, a villain. She''s only in the way here, she might act tough in front of her friends, but in the end, she''s just a timid girl like she was in middle-school.
No, don''t think like that, girl! Starting a conversation is easy, she just needs to harden up mentally. After a moment of pulling herself together, Teruko speaks her mind: ¡°Do you think, I should¡¯ve pushed further?¡±
¡°...¡± Again this silence before he speaks: ¡°I wasn''t there, so I don''t know. Still... I think it''s good you''re back.¡±
¡°I can''t help but think, that I''ve misread the situation.¡±
¡°Then gain more experience.¡± Without even realizing it, Katsu made Teruko feel better. Instead of comforting her, he just told her what she already knew, but wasn''t aware of.
Yes, she''s still inexperienced, so she can''t help but feel doubt whether she has made the right call. While the hero-system may give her the capabilities, she still lacks the experience. Based on that, she might have done the better call in the cave.
Now, with that out of the way, she feels relieved. She really needs to get these uninvited inferiority complexes under control. When Kyou-chan was recognizing her worth she felt confident, but now she has to keep that confidence standing on her own. She''s a hero, and though she had developed guts before with Kyou-chan¡¯s support, soon she will become powerful as well, despite her size!
¡°Anything bothering you?¡± So she can openly ask Katsu, if he has something he wants to talk about, maybe he''s also stuck like she was a second ago.
¡°...¡± His eyes are narrowing, maybe it''s something he''s not comfortable with? ¡°...¡± He looks at her, holding his head a bit tilted, almost unnoticeable. ¡°We''re wasting time.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Teruko doesn''t think that they''re wasting time here, they''re just waiting for the rest of the troupe to get back. ¡°You want to hunt monsters?¡±
¡°No, not that. Katsuragi.¡±
Ah. ¡°Haven''t we talked about it thoroughly?¡± Of course, Teruko wants to rescue Kyou-chan, but they have no idea where she is, and the only way to prepare for the moment they learn her location is to get as strong as possible.
They tried an oracle to use some sort of divination, but it''s not as simple as it sounds, as only the best oracles can find a person without an object linked to them. Naturally, Teruko used to have gifts Kyou-chan gave her, but they were all lost due to the summoning, same goes for the rest. The presents she received from her in this world have an insufficient connection.
So they could only get a reading regarding their own futures and learned, that their path will cross Kyou-chan''s soon.
To get to an oracle with the power to find people with only their description is difficult, as such oracles are either living in seclusion or demand vast sums for their services. Which means, they need either the strength to reach these secluded places, or convince Feuerberg to pay for one of the expensive oracles. However, this is again tied to their usefulness as heroes, to their power. There is also another benefit of becoming stronger in this dilemma: If they''re strong enough, they also can hunt more powerful monsters with rare drops and pay the oracle themselves.
Everything is pointing them to train now. Even if Kyou-chan appears suddenly, they''ll be better prepared if something bad is following her.
Well, for someone who''s in love, this may be tedious and unnerving. Teruko can relate to that, as she has read dozens of romantic novels. Still, at this point of such a story, Katsu has to become worthy of Kyou-chan¡¯s affection.
Doesn''t matter, as real life never turns out like the books lead to believe.
¡°I know, I know.¡± Katsu¡¯s long pause makes it hard for Teruko to find the thread of the conversation, she was too lost in her own thoughts. ¡°Still... Like, no progress at all.¡±
¡°Erm, yes?¡± Teruko is really not sure how to answer that. ¡°Some things just need time...¡± If she were Dai-kun, she could make a jab here... ah, get your act together, girl! ¡°Look at me. I also take my time growing taller!¡± ...this joke sounded funnier in her head. Teruko knows that she''s small, so she wanted to act tough by making fun of it, but now she''s feeling self-pity for the one thing she can''t change about herself.
¡°...hrr.¡± Some strange noise escapes Katsu''s body, is this some kind of laugh? ¡°Thanks.¡±
A small step. Teruko takes only tiny steps toward being the hero she wants to be, but acting like one may be enough for her personality to follow one day. Hopefully, it helps her to get out of her slump at least.
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 1-3
Inside their quarters, Masahiko and Daichi are engaged in battle.
¡°Make your move.¡± Masahiko smiles confidently as he passes the dice to Daichi. Both of them are playing a board game of the dari, cards and tokens are all over the table, showing their resources and troops.
¡°Get this!¡± Daichi rolls the dice, one shows this world''s symbol for one, the other one a mouse with a spiky tail, and the final one had a blank. ¡°Dammit!¡± He takes resources based on the number, one gold, one iron, and one nickel, then he cast a ration card away before he furrows his brow.
Masahiko knows what the problem is, Daichi has to pay too much upkeep. His people can''t eat enough, so he had to import more food. Problem is that right now his upkeep is due and he lost a ration, means that he has either discard one citizen card or otherwise pay double to quickly buy another ration.
This game is one, where you need to be careful how much you want to expand. Daichi self-destructed as he hasn''t held anything back, making it impossible to keep everything going when disaster strikes.
Suddenly, the door opens, and a ragged Katsuo enters the room. ¡°Hey.¡± He throws his backpack on his bed and opens the straps of his armor.
¡°Hey, Katsuo!¡± Masahiko turns his head to his friend: ¡°Everything good?¡±
¡°No. Trouble down there. Demons.¡±
Masahiko fights the urge to stand up, Daichi is standing up halfway, but as Katsuo is taking off his gear, there is no immediate danger. ¡°Specifics?¡±
¡°Demons are gathering in the tunnels, infesting monsters. About a thousand in total, almost forty demons.¡± This is a large fighting force. ¡°Urgrik reports to the king.¡±
¡°How could so many enemies gather right there?¡±
¡°Most likely they gathered somewhere else and slowly moved here. There are also new tunnels, might be their work.¡±
¡°Anything we can do?¡±
¡°Don''t know. Was told to clean up.¡± He''s already half naked and grabs some fresh clothes from his backpack: ¡°Will be back in a minute.¡± Then he walks out of the room, most likely to the bath cells.
¡°Teruko-san should be back too, right?¡± Daichi looks eager to learn more.
¡°I think she''s also taking a bath.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± Daichi wouldn''t do anything like peeking... at least not under these circumstances. On a school trip, he might be up for it.
¡°What about Eri-san?¡±
¡°I''m sure Eri will let us know when she''s back. Most likely after taking a bath.¡±
¡°...nothing we can do?¡±
¡°Wait for Teru and Katsuo, then we''ll talk about what we want to do. I''m all for helping the dari, but this is a matter we need to discuss.¡±
¡°Of course I''ll help. They''re helping us, after all!¡±
¡°Still, we''re talking about a small army. Most of them might be mindless beasts, but it''s still no easy fight. Also, there may be more coming or hiding.¡± At least it''s not a thousand demons, as these are much harder to fight.
¡°I''m not running away.¡±
¡°I don''t mean that. Just that this is too big to make rash decisions.¡±
Hearing his friend saying it, Daichi calms down a bit. He slowly starts to box the game, while Masahiko goes to the girls'' quarters, knocks to find out if someone in there, and leaves a note as there is no answer.
Around half an hour later, four of five party-members are inside the boy''s quarters; Eri is still missing. After hearing everything from Teru and Katsuo, Masahiko and Daichi take a moment to process everything.
¡°To sum it up,¡± Daichi says: ¡°There is a bunch of demons, and they want to attack Kraggwas.¡± He''s always good at finding the core of a matter.
Masahiko goes the next step: ¡°Basically, we''re left out of the conversation again, just like in Esse. Still, I¡¯d like to offer my help. I think this is part of the reason why we were summoned here, these demons are most likely attacking because Kraggwas and Feuerberg are allies.¡± As the demons are at war with the Feuerberg-kingdom, the dari of Kraggwas are supporting them. ¡°If the demons can cause enough damage to Kraggwas, they might not be able to keep helping Feuerberg. Even as allies, their own kingdom has to come first.¡±
¡°I¡¯d also like to help,¡± Daichi backs up. ¡°We may be still rather weak, but the dari are training us, we should repay them.¡±
¡°...¡± Katsuo looks like he''s about to decline, then he surprises Masahiko: ¡°I''ll help.¡±
¡°You don''t need to if you don''t want to.¡± Masahiko doesn''t want to force anyone, though discussing it is important to hear as many arguments as possible.
¡°I won''t let you fight without me. We''re friends, right?¡±
¡°Right!¡± It''s not like Katsuo wants to fight the demons, maybe he''s still hung up on how they''re ''wasting time,'' the same creeping doubts Masahiko is having. ¡°I''m lucky to have you watch my back.¡±
Now all eyes are on Teru, who is furrowing her brow. Then she sighs: ¡°No need to ask me. I''m in.¡±
Too bad that Eri isn''t here, as this would make it somewhat official, but Masahiko''s party is ready! They still need a cool name, but that discussion is dragging on more and more, as there are so many different ideas and preferences. ¡°Then let''s go!¡±
Following their words, the party gears up and heads to the palace. Well, less a palace, and more an underground temple, from which the king of the dari and his court of chiefs rule. It''s at the great city square with big dari statues marking its entrances. As most of the building is built into the rock like the rest of Kraggwas, its true splendor is only visible on the inside, while the outside may be a bit above average, but nothing remarkable.
There are no guards at the entrance, as this is a mostly open building, everyone can enter if they please. The tunnels have several statues there, depicting the former kings and chiefs of Kraggwas and its clans. Following the lane, Masahiko and his friends are on their way to the conference room. They were already there when they met the king of the dari for the first time.
¡°Her again?¡± Masahiko sees a dari girl, the same he saw twice before. She''s just walking in front of them, still, he can''t help but watch her. Is she looking for something? The way her head is moving suggests that. ¡°Daichi,¡± he whispers: ¡°You see that girl?¡±
His friend takes a long look at her, especially her face whenever it''s visible. ¡°...you''re right... you could tell from behind?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± Following his inkling, he speeds up his steps: ¡°Hello. Nice to see you again?¡±
The girl turns her head to him and looks genuinely surprised: ¡°What are you doing here?¡±
Actually, this is one of the questions that burns on Masahiko''s tongue, but she also has every reason to question this: ¡°I want to meet the king,¡± he answers honestly. ¡°We didn¡¯t introduce ourselves last time. My name is Inoue Masahiko, I''m a hero.¡±
¡°...Nikaws. I''m a trader.¡±
¡°Nice to meet you. I hope, didn''t broke a deal or something earlier.¡±
¡°You didn''t, it was just an argument. Not like I needed you to solve this.¡±
¡°Yeah, sorry about that. You''re already quite busy, I think you arrived in Kraggwas today? I saw you on a wagon.¡±
¡°Being fast is a trader''s virtue. I was surprised to see someone like you, but a hero, I see.¡± She looks behind her: ¡°Are all of you heroes?¡±
¡°Yes. We''re still missing someone though.¡±
¡°Ah. Have you been long here? Anything you can share with me?¡± Her grin shows anticipation and greed, the usual traits of anyone in the mercantile business.
¡°For a while, but I have no idea what might help you. I''m a hero, after all, not a merchant.¡±
¡°I''ve heard that the most successful merchants are in fact heroes.¡±
¡°Actually, my childhood friend already picked up the [Trader]-class. Ah, she''s the one missing,¡± Masahiko adds, as Nikaws looks at his friends.
¡°Pity. I would invite you to sell me monster-parts, but I still need to get the approval for my stand.¡± So this is why she''s here.
¡°Where are you from?¡±
¡°I''m from outside, a human village in Feuerberg. Didn''t want to become a blacksmith like my Pa, so I started trading.¡±
¡°What exactly?¡±
¡°All kinds of stuff. Whatever I can turn into profit.¡±
During this sentence, the conference room''s door is in sight. It''s open, and there are no guards, so nobody of rank is in there. ¡°Strange.¡± Masahiko looks inside, only to see someone cleaning the large stone table. ¡°Excuse me, where is the king?¡±
¡°Not your business.¡±
In times like these, it''s easier to rely on Teru. Masahiko waves her over: ¡°If you would, please?¡±
¡°Always relying on me.¡±
¡°Sorry.¡±
¡°Nevermind.¡± She changes to [Knight] to give her [Persuasion] a boost. ¡°We''re heroes and really need to speak to the king.¡± Her voice sounds like usual, but for the cleaning guy, it has a lot of weight.
¡°They''re in the temple-chambers.¡± The [Persuasion]-attribute only makes the hero more persuasive for non-heroes, it''s not mind-control. So if this was supposed to be a secret, the cleaning guy would be horrible at keeping one in the first place.
¡°To the temple then.¡±
¡°Erm... good luck!¡± Nikaws excuses herself. She''s here for an entirely other matter, so Masahiko believes she followed them just to continue having the conversation with him..
¡°Bye-bye. I hope we''ll be able to look at your stand soon. Just leave a note with the address here after you¡¯ve got your permission.¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°Let''s go!¡± Masahiko starts walking. Similar to Feuerberg, the main temple of this kingdom is also part of the government building. Maybe this is something common in this world.
Like the rest of the edifice, it''s mostly open for anyone. Masahiko and his friends enter and walk through the passages until they find the best-guarded room. Masahiko greets the guards: ¡°Greetings. I''m Inoue Masahiko, and we would like to talk to the king.¡±
¡°Ah, ''know ya. Sorries, but no''one can enter right now.¡±
¡°I see.¡± It''s the same like in Esse, they''re not welcome to the important talks. Masahiko said to Daichi before that they have to accept that position for now. Still, he exchanges only a glance with his friends, and everyone nodded.
Suddenly, Masahiko jumps forward, makes a quick turn to evade a dar hand and kicks open the door, while Teru, Daichi, and Katsuo are holding the guards for that split-second he needed to push through, as he uses his [Swishstride]-skill, increasing his movement speed for a moment.
Behind the door a small ramp goes upwards, at the end are more guards, which catch him, but he can see a big, round table and several people gathered there. In addition to a thing.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Its body seems to be some sort of mineral, almost rock, almost crystal, its big, eight-fingered hands are made of pure gold, its feet are looking like copper, its eyes are silver. The basic form resembles a dar vaguely, but there is no mouth or hair.
A rumbling is heard, as the creature turns its head to Masahiko, hidden beneath that tremble is a voice. ?This is a breach of contract! Why is the human hero here??
Next to that creature is King Urgrohr, whose gold-like hair and beard are swaying as he shakes his head in disapproval: ¡°My apologies, Father. I have forgotten how impulsive humans can be and didn''t deem it necessary to give them specific instructions.¡±
Is this rock-creature the father of the king!? No, maybe some sort of title?
There are several faces here Masahiko recognizes, like Braxas, his hero-teacher, his girlfriend Ophwizz, some of the chiefs he met before. ¡°Hey, Father,¡± Braxas intervenes: ¡°No harm done. Don''t worry, we''re here.¡±
?We don''t worry, we do mind the proper execution of contracts.? The way it talks... something rings a bell in Masahiko... this is similar to the voice, not in the way it sounds, but in the way this voice just... is?
So this is Kragg, the deity of Kraggwas? The dari refer to him as ''father''? ¡°I''m sorry to interfere with the meeting, your majesty, and... Kami-sama?¡± Is there a correct form of address for a deity? He just uses what he knows from Japan. ¡°We may have been a bit too rash.¡±
?Son, a rash hand destroys, a patient one creates.? This sounds like a fortune cookie''s quote. ?However, to claim a patient hand, a peace of mind is needed. We''re approving to partake in this meeting with your comrades. Youth is what leads you, a strong power indeed, and the king is wise to listen to the voices of the youth, as they may lack the wisdom, but have the conviction.? So Kragg-kamisama is letting them stay?
¡°Father has spoken,¡± the king continues: ¡°who is of the same opinion?¡± Suddenly, hands are rising, so this is a democratic process, and the deity only has a vote? Many of the hands hold up a small gold bar, seeing Braxas approving this is making Masahiko happy. ¡°Who''s against?¡± Lead bars are lifted, just a few. ¡°Your opinion was heard, now show unity.¡± Everyone lifts up a gold bar, is that the way it works? This seems strange at the moment. ¡°Human heroes, take a seat.¡± King Urgrohr points next to Braxas, as dari are moving aside to make some space. ¡°You sit with the heroes.¡±
The guards let Masahiko and his friends go, they sit down on the bench.
Braxas smiles at him briefly, before turning his attention to a chief, who speaks of the current situation regarding the ore mining. Masahiko decides to first listen what they''re exactly talking about before he starts talking about the demons, as he feels guilty about charging in.
Yet, he thought it''d be entirely different here. He imagined screaming, he expected a strict and harsh tone. Instead, it sounds like some sort of business meeting, going through how good Kraggwas fares, where there are bottlenecks, everything but the demons.
¡°Then we''ll have a break. See you again in half an hour.¡± The chiefs stand up and leave the room, while the deity just sinks into the ground like it''s just another door for it.
¡°Wanna grab a bite, too?¡± Braxas pokes Masahiko roughly, waking him up from the daze.
While he wants to ask his friend some question, his first worry is about another matter: ¡°Ophwizz, what about Eri?¡±
¡°Left her to the geomancers, sure she''s still in''there.¡± The amount of time she has spent inside this hole has become ridiculous! Still, he has to believe in the dari and Eri¡¯s inner strength.
¡°Then I guess we can talk while eating. Guys?¡± He asks his friends. ¡°Do you want to tag along?¡±
Everyone nods and the party of six, four humans and two dari, go to the dining hall. There are also several of the chiefs, even the king eats there with some of them.
Today''s menu is rats with fungi, rats are like beef for dari. Maybe, because they''re among the few animals that even come close to their underground kingdoms. Braxas sits next to Ophwizz, it becomes apparent how male dari are just smaller than female ones. ¡°K, mates. Looking as confused as a daiosar in''a butchery.¡±
¡°This is an emergency meeting, right?¡±
¡°Neh, just ''nother meeting. Ya''re there ''cause of the demons, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
Daichi speaks up: ¡°Why are they so... so... relaxed?¡±
¡°Nah, less relaxation, more assessing our sitch before making decision. Father always lettus start from how we''re now.¡±
This brings up one of the topics Masahiko wants to talk about. ¡°That was Kragg, right? The one who summoned you?¡±
¡°Eyup. Ah, thanks, Gold.¡± Ophwizz pours Braxas a drink, while he keeps explaining.
¡°This is the first deity I''ve ever seen with my own eyes. The one who summoned us didn''t show itself.¡±
¡°Y''know, every god differs. Some rule people directly, others behind the curtain. Father isn''t the ruler-type, more like a mentor of all, while yours- err, I mean Feuerberg''s are more like parents who sent their kids outta the world.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡±
¡°Only heard about that, but clergy seeks advice in times of need, but otherwise almost no contact. Country makes own decisions... maybe power-struggle? Don''t know ''xactly, still, some sort of separation. Think I read about a deal the founder made.¡±
¡°Eyup,¡± Ophwizz takes over: ¡°Hagen von Stolzherz made deal, hacked his way through his oppressors, liberated the humans, founded the kingdom, kicked Kraggwas'' ass.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Teru bats her eyelashes in surprise: ¡°Kraggwas and Feuerberg fought with each other?¡±
¡°Eyup, centuries before, way before we got here.¡± Ophwizz takes it easy, as she''s not that involved, being from another world. ¡°Kraggwas thought that humans would be dangerous, then they knew it. War lasted two years? In the end, made a peace treaty, Feuerberg was still young, lacked the resources to invade Kraggwas anyways, Kraggwas made Feuerberg business partner, win-win. Alliance came later, I think about...¡±
¡°Nah, doesn''t matter,¡± Braxas snuffs at this little insight into history. ¡°Still, that rat''s great.¡±
By the way, Masahiko and his friends brought lunch with them, as the dar cuisine has a lot of overcooked meals. The rat Braxas is eating is almost falling apart, same goes for the fungi. The only cutlery a classic dar dish needs is a spoon.
Good thing that they have their backpacks.
¡°So basically,¡± Masahiko sums up the former topic: ¡°Kragg is like a most trusted adviser?¡±
¡°Eyup, Father just gives his divine insight and suggestions, doesn''t interfere directly in what we mortals do. Decisions are made by votes, every''one has a differ''nt weight, the king''s vote weighs about a fifth of the council, the heroes'' votes are a quarter altogether, the chiefs have the rest split among them.¡±
This seems almost democratic, though there is still a class system.
In Feuerberg, nobles are running the country, it''s very centered on the king and his inner circle. However, from what Masahiko has seen, the people are mostly happy, the country prospers, and the king cares about his people.
Kraggwas is different. Not that it''s bad, but the whole feeling is different. Maybe it''s because it''s a country of non-humans. Still, Masahiko has the impression that there is a sense of unity there, even though the dari are more direct, more physical than humans in the way they treat each other.
¡°So there is the royalty, the clans, and the heroes? These are the different parties?¡±
¡°''bout right.¡±
Masahiko''s friends are mostly listening in, sometimes whispering to each other or Ophwizz, but then Daichi asks a simple but very vital question: ¡°How will you two vote?¡±
¡°Me? About the demons?¡± Braxas sways his head: ¡°So far, the city is stable, can go fighting some. Let the heroes do the job, we get XP, city gets rid of demons and monsters, no need to endanger normal soldiers. Though it''d be their job as well and any army should fight battles. ''bout you, Gold?¡±
¡°Just kill''em all, finished.¡± Ophwizz really isn''t holding back: ¡°They''re in the way anyways.¡±
¡°In the way of what?¡±
¡°Err... for the reclaim and reconstruction of the Deep Trails?¡±
¡°What are the Deep Trails?¡±
As Braxas was about to begin, Teruko taps Masahiko''s shoulder and shakes her head. ¡°Later.¡± Ah, so she knows it, but it''s not vital right now. Without Teru, Masahiko might have spent more time on topics that aren''t necessary to fully understand the current situation.
¡°What do you expect that the council will decide upon in the end?¡±
¡°No clue. They''re hardheaded, we''re still counting our resources. You wanna fight too, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Everyone nods.
¡°Would be glad to have ya. I''m still stronger, but reli''ble friends are what I need most.¡±
Masahiko feels a bit of embarrassment, partly due to the words of his friends, partly due to how quickly he was stopped when he stormed the council before. His eagerness just melted away, while his determination still is strong. Strange.
Maybe it has something to do how he was treated, how he was readily accepted and could partake. He forced his way in, thinking he would meet resistance, only to tread water.
Thinking about this for the rest of the break, he and his friends return to the chamber to join the next discussion. This time, Kragg is nowhere to be seen, yet nobody in the room seems surprised by this.
King Urgrohr starts with the very reason why Masahiko is here in the first place, the deepstalker Urgrik enters the room to explain what he and his platoon found out. More than a thousand enemies, if his ''feeling the stone'' is right.
Urgrik leaves and the king takes over: ¡°This may be only the tip of the iceberg, yet we just established that we''re more than capable of taking care of the current numbers without much influence on our economy. These tunnels aren''t important to maintain our current status.¡±
¡°Means,¡± Braxas whispers to the humans, ¡°we can just cave''m in with''all the monsters and demons inside.¡± So this is how dari fight underground. Thinking about how necessary which tunnels are before just destroying them with their enemies.
¡°Yet,¡± the king continues, ¡°we haven''t explored them fully, there may be more ore deposits in them.¡± Is the king serious!?
The moment Masahiko thought that the dari have a perfect solution to this problem, one Masahiko didn''t even consider before, the chiefs are starting about talking about how fighting the enemies in the tunnels might be an opportunity to make them wealthier.
Some even proposed to reinforce Kraggwas as much as possible to let the demons attack them, just to keep the damage to the tunnels as low as possible. Even worse, this suggestion earns quite some nods! Risking the lives of people just for the chance to get more ore!
Masahiko is shocked at how the king, the chiefs, and even some of the heroes are arguing about how much risk and reward there is for each suggestion that is made. Some of the arguments are reasonable, like how they know too little about the forces and plan of the demons, as there may be more groups hiding and such, but the greed seeping through the argument makes Masahiko sick in the stomach.
Daichi looks like he''s about to eat the table, as he wants to say something about it, but doesn''t know how, as every attempt is mercilessly shot down by another dar, while the whole council gives him disapproving looks like he spoke out of turn.
Teru is clearly grinding her teeth, Katsuo is on edge, so Masahiko starts whispering to Braxas: ¡°When can we talk?¡±
¡°Maybe tomorrow.¡±
¡°To-tomorrow?¡±
¡°Eyup, Father not being here shows that this might take a while. First, a bit of probing, asking for opinions, clashing attitudes, tomorrow best ideas will be chosen and further formulated, I think, like which clan does whatsoever.¡±
The more the dar hero explains, the wider the humans open their eyes. In the end, the only concrete thing that was decided at this meeting is to send more deepstalkers to investigate the matter further.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Completely exhausted by this total waste of time, Masahiko lays on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Daichi is already sleeping, Katsuo is maintaining his gear, a sign of his frustration. A soft knocking is heard, at the door. ¡°Come in.¡±
It''s Eri! ¡°Hey boys.¡± She looks like she just bathed, her wet hair is still hanging down, instead of her usual ponytail: ¡°I''ve heard from Teru. You suck, Masa.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Masahiko stands up greets his childhood friend at the door. ¡°Let''s take a walk. Daichi is sleeping.¡±
¡°Sure.¡± However, the moment they leave the room, Eri already starts talking: ¡°You''re doing it again. Why can''t you just let the dari take care of their own stuff?¡±
¡°Before we talk about that, how are you? You were in the hole for almost a day!¡±
¡°I won''t lie. It was dark, it was hard to breathe, I felt like dying a hundred times. Still, I''m stronger than that.¡±
¡°You always were the stronger one,¡± Masahiko smiles wryly. ¡°I''m just trying to get by.¡±
¡°I think you''re just not satisfied by taking things slowly or letting them rest.¡± Her small giggle and her well-meaning eyes make Masahiko feel more at ease. He can always rely on her when he hits a wall.
¡°I''m just doing what everyone would do.¡±
¡°...sometimes I think, if everyone were like you, the world would be at peace.¡±
¡°Ah, come on! You just want to see me embarrassed!¡±
¡°Seriously, Masa. You try too hard.¡±
¡°I''m not... if I tried harder, things wouldn''t be like they are.¡±
¡°I should be glad that you didn''t charge right into the demons on your own.¡±
¡°I''ve thought about that. Still, I''m at my best with all of you... *sigh*.¡±
¡°It''s Kyou-chan again, right?¡±
¡°You really know me.¡±
¡°It''s always her!¡± Why is she so angry? ¡°That''s what I mean by trying too hard!¡±
¡°I don''t know what you mean.¡±
¡°Forget it. Seriously, you''re just dumb at times. You make my head hurt.¡±
Maybe she''s right, perhaps he''s too bitter about what happened with her, but sometimes Masahiko can''t help but think that everything that went wrong lately ultimately comes from them leaving Kyou in Esse. ¡°Sorry to make you worry.¡±
¡°...you''re sneaky. Smiling like that.¡±
¡°I know exactly how I can get through your hard shell.¡± They have known each other since forever, of course, they learned how to plead to each other. ¡°Though, the real reason why I''m not suggesting to charge in is a feeling.¡±
¡°That feeling?¡±
¡°Yes. I feel like sticking around here for a while.¡± Sometimes Masahiko has this strange sensation, he used to think of it as a sort of precognition, now he thinks it''s just a good instinct. The first time he had it, he spontaneously decided to take his superball with him to the playground. Later, he used it to throw it against a boy a head taller as him, who was about to hit Eri, so he could grab her and run away.
In Elementary School he just wanted to check the gym storage, only to find a boy, who was locked in there. Another time, he just had the urge to return to the classroom only to find a handheld console which has been kicked under one of those movable shelves during cleaning, and he handed it over to his classmate, who was crying because his parents would be angry at him for losing it.
In junior high he had the feeling that he needed to stay home, so he feigned illness, only to see his grandmother collapsing. If he weren''t there, she might have been there alone for hours.
In high school, he just knew where to find Katsuo when he was sulking again. He happened to have that card deck with him, which opened up the conversation, which made him befriend that boy who didn''t want to fit in class before.
This instinct is most likely just a result of all the subtle hints he unconsciously collects. It¡¯s nothing too fancy, but he learned to trust this feeling. It''s rare, maybe once a year at best, but the moment it strikes, Masahiko listens to it.
This is the first time since being summoned into this world that he has this feeling. He just feels like he needs to stay in Kraggwas for now. Maybe he still has to hear something, perhaps something is amiss, he doesn''t know, but he''s sure that it''s the best option right now.
Eri seems to be a bit relieved: ¡°At least you won''t charge into your death... for now.¡±
¡°We''re heroes, it''s a dangerous job.¡± He respects Eri''s decision to stick around with him instead of finding other ways to be of use for the Feuerberg-kingdom. He''s not entirely content with it, but that''s just a man''s pride. Women have the right to fight too.
¡°Well, being a hero means to be stuck in holes, it seems. How was your day?¡±
Eri changes the topic, robbing Masahiko of all his unpleasant thoughts about the current situation for the moment. She really knows how to cheer him up.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°...¡± Why did she use [Camouflage]? The moment the two of them entered her sight, Teruko pressed herself against a wall, using a skill to make her body take on the colors of the background. In a way, this is the perfect fit: Reduced to being a background character.
Masahiko and Eri-chan are so close to each other. They''re childhood-friends after all. Seeing them like that, laughing together, having fun, makes Teruko aware that her most inner desires concerning him won''t ever be realized. It also makes her understand that she doesn''t have her childhood-friend by her side anymore; Kyou-chan isn''t here.
No, no negative thoughts! She just needs to wait, then Masahiko and Eri-chan will be away soon. Yes, just wait until he''s gone...
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 1-4
Next morning.
¡°Heya! Ha! Orryaa!¡± Swinging both swords, Masahiko is pressuring Braxas with a flurry of blows, trying to not give his teacher the time to use his [Metalmancy], however, his sword attacks stop just a few centimeters before they hit the dar''s armor. Braxas isn''t even subtle about it anymore!
Masahiko throws a kick in, but his boot is also lined with iron, therefore, it''s also easily deflected. It''s not like Braxas is having something like a shield out there, it''s just how natural the manipulation of metal is for him, reinforced by his status as a hero.
While his foot is hanging mid-air, Masahiko does something he wouldn''t usually do: He spits into Braxas'' face. The dar looks at him with the same determined expression, not even minding the fluid running down his hairy face.
Suddenly, Masahiko''s airborne foot is slammed down to the ground, he lifts his swords to guard himself, but both are pushing against his arms, trying to be spread apart, Masahiko clenches them, trying to put not too much of tension into his arms, like his shishou- wait a minute!
He let go of his swords, which fly away, and throws a punch right into Braxas'' face, who is genuinely surprised by this act, as he doesn''t deflect the metal gauntlets Masahiko wears. Though the damage of the attack leaves a lot to be desired. Especially as Masahiko''s feet are both pinned down, and he couldn''t put much weight into this punch.
¡°Well, y''got this hit,¡± Braxas grins. ¡°Though you''d be dead.¡±
¡°Yeah. This [Metalmancy] is mean.¡±
¡°Nah, most dar can''t go this far. Thought to show you though.¡±
¡°But you heroes can, right?¡±
¡°S''long we got the [Ability]. Nat''ral talent doesn''t cut''it. Break?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Masahiko picks up his swords. He''s here for his daily training, as the council will meet up in the afternoon. ¡°A question. Why were you summoned?¡±
¡°Ah, that... Because of a prophecy.¡±
¡°A prophecy?¡± This sounds so much like the plots of the games and stories Masahiko likes.
¡°Eyup. Dari here have many enemies, Kraggwas is somewhat safe for now. Still, Arrivinia might strike again.¡±
¡°Arrivinia... that other kingdom?¡± The kingdom to the east of Feuerberg.
¡°Eyup, that one. Dari used to live in mountains, good with metals and stuff. Metal is wealth, even humans know. Like Kraggwas'' riches, so they tried to take''em, long ago though. Ya could say, most dar heroes are summoned because of other folk threatening our kingdoms. Especially humans, they''re very ambitious and resilient. Also orcs, they like their weapons. Never got along well with elves, but no one can.¡±
¡°About that, what''s the problem with elves?¡± Of course, Masahiko has his own image of elves, as the stories of his world depict them as divine, as graceful, as wise. Sometimes there is some sort of animosity between elves and dwarves, but now that he''s in a fantasy world that has both, of course he would like to know how this comes about. ¡°Is it about that attack twenty years ago?¡±
¡°Even before that. Y''never know what they think. Also, making fun of everyone.¡± Ah, the known elven arrogance, so the people around them feels like they''re fooled with. ¡°How to say... they like evil pranks.¡± Most likely a bit of playfulness that goes against the rigidness of the dari. ¡°Also, they always call''us money-grubbing dwarves.¡± This isn''t much of a stretch, as Masahiko remembers the council yesterday''s meeting. ¡°Ah, don''t like to talk ''bout elves.¡±
Masahiko decides to let the topic rest. ¡°But what about the prophecy?¡±
¡°Ah. Yup, was summoned because of that. Dari will do something great in future, but a hero with [Divination] saw this important step in the future fail because someone will try to foil it. Then Kragg was ready to summon heroes to stop that, now I''m just trying to become strong enough to protect whatever this great event is.¡±
¡°How long have you been in this world?¡±
¡°Rrr... forty-odd years?¡±
¡°Years in your world or in this one?¡±
¡°Ah that, started using time measures of this world roughly a year after bein'' summoned.¡±
Masahiko knows that a year in this world is roughly two years in Japan. So Braxas was here for quite a while, and he still hasn¡¯t fulfilled his hero''s quest. ¡°Can you tell me details?¡±
¡°Neh, can''t risk anything. You''re fighting demons, many have nasty spells and skills. Mind-readers, shapeshifters, dreamwalkers, dominators, too high of a risk.¡±
¡°Don''t remind me.¡± He already got good coverage of what demons can do in Feuerberg, so Masahiko thinks Braxas concerns are on the point. ¡°However, if I can help you, just tell me.¡±
¡°Eyup. Next round?¡±
¡°Next round!¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Later in the afternoon, Masahiko and his friends return to the temple. This time, Eri''s also around, as she finished her training early today. Or more like at the regular time. Daichi has used his time to mend Masahiko''s armor, while Teruko and Katsuo trained on their own, as the deepstalkers have left Kraggwas to do more scouting. Both of them prefer to stick around with their friends rather than accompanying Urgrik and his dar into the depths.
In the temple-chamber, they see some of the chiefs already, but someone else greets them first. ?Well met, human heroes.? It''s Kragg, the god! Being the second god Masahiko ever encountered, and the first one he has ever seen, something sure is different about it. Beside the fact that it''s a rock-creature.
¡°I''m honored, Kami-sama.¡± Masahiko bows to it, showing his proper upbringing. He doesn''t know why the dar god has greeted them in the first place, but it''d be improper to be less than thoroughly polite. His friends follow this suit, though Eri is staring at the god she has never met before.
?You will join Us in Our chambers today.? Not a request, not an order. It''s a matter of fact like there is no doubt about this.
Will Kragg ditch the meeting again? Does that mean, that Masahiko and the rest won''t participate either? Still, it looks like there is no way to decline politely. Also, Masahiko is interested in how this will turn out.
¡°OK.¡± He agrees to it, though he gives his companions a troubled look. They also seem doubtful, but in the end, there is little they can do with such an invitation at the moment. Kragg melts into the ground, and two priests lead the way to another chamber.
The room before is also guarded by ironsouls, which would have been another class-up option. Warriors of faith, who steel their bodies and minds to become the perfect guardians.
Behind this, a simple cave is there, though different ore veins are visible at the walls. There are two ironsouls here as well, but Masahiko''s eyes are caught by Kragg, who lifts his hand and smooths the ground, while a priest is putting some sitting cushions on that surface. ?The stone is also more comfortable,? the deity explains, and strangely enough, the stone feels a lot like a tatami mat. ?Agyn, the drink.? The priest pours some beverage into metallic cups and put them next to the cushions.
Masahiko and his friends sit down. As Masahiko adjusts his swords, a question arises: ¡°Don''t we need to take off our weapons?¡±
?We can smite you with a mere thought, so this would be just a waste of time.? Strange, Masahiko thought yesterday, that Kragg was a bit alarmed about their presence, but maybe this was his imagination after all? ?Our interest is more of a concern. Tell Us about you.?
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Your life before being summoned. About your summoning, about your quest, about what happened to you. We feel your need to tell, your need to converse. We are the Father, We listen.¡±
Something soothing is coursing its way through Masahiko''s innards, bones, and guts. A pleasant feeling, something which remembers him of his family. Yes, he has his many concerns, the things he did in the past that became today''s problems.
Gods are different from mortals--this thought manifests inside him. Maybe the way gods see mortals is different as well; maybe Kragg felt Masahiko''s struggle and feels the need to relieve it, even for a bit.
Still, it''s not easy to start telling your life''s story. Some sort of resistance is put up inside of Masahiko, he looks at his friends, each of their faces shows their hesitation, their struggle.
A minute passes, and Masahiko feels like every second he doesn''t talk puts weight on him, similar to guilt, still different in many ways. Deep inside he''s asking himself, why he should even tell Kragg anything, but it''s smoldered by the desire to get everything out.
Why can''t he? Because of the dari here? Because he doesn''t want to open himself entirely up in front of his friends? Because Kragg is still a stranger, in the end?
Another five minutes pass, Kragg still looks at them expectantly, doesn''t say a thing. The pressure on Masahiko is taxing, though nobody puts pressure on him other than himself. His friends seem to be under similar pressure, as Katsuo starts to breathe heavily, there are sweat drops all over Teruko''s face, Daichi narrows his eyes to a slit. Only Eri looks almost fine, though her face is a bit reddened. Masahiko has no idea how he looks at the moment.
Ten minutes. Masahiko''s head is blank, he formulated each sentence he wanted to say over and over again, but not even a sound escapes his dry lips. He drinks a bit, trying to make his throat less parched, the drink is definitely alcoholic, but even that doesn''t loosen his tongue.
Maybe another ten minutes pass, when Kragg finally breaks this silence: ?We understand. Don''t force yourself, come to me, when it''s easier to talk. We''ll always have an open ear for each of you.? His words are like a spell, that suddenly relieve Masahiko and his friends from all the pressure they were feeling up to this moment.
¡°...Th... *gulp* Thank you, Kami-sama.¡± Masahiko really has a dry throat, it really hurts to talk.
They''re excused and leave the chambers, it may be possible to join the council meeting after their break, but for now, Masahiko likes to clear his head. Even his status shows him, how exhausting this was, his SP are only half full.
¡°Did this...¡± Eri starts speaking after taking a careful look around, seeing that there is no dar around to hear her. ¡°Did this thing use something to make us talk? This was unnatural, I couldn''t even speak a single word.¡±
¡°Not here.¡± Masahiko decides quickly: ¡°We''ll go monster-hunting later, OK?¡± His shirt is glued to his body, as he sweat like crazy for the last few minutes of this awkwardness. ¡°We''d better go back to our quarters and clean ourselves and take a rest.¡±
Unanimous nodding. ¡°I feel like collapsing,¡± Daichi heaves.
Teruko also wobbles. ¡°I feel like I''ve just run a marathon.¡±
¡°... headache,¡± Katsuo joins in.
¡°Let''s go,¡± Eri urges.
¡°Ah,¡± Masahiko remembers: ¡°There is still something I need to ask here. Go on ahead, I''ll be right behind you.¡±
¡°...I''ll come with you.¡± Katsuo declares. Is he worried about Masahiko? Well, maybe Masahiko isn''t worried enough.
However, this is just a small detour. After Katsuo and Masahiko separate from the rest, they head to the government part of the building, to the Bureau of Trade. There Masahiko asks merely a question to a female dar, who sits at her desk: ¡°Hey there, I''m looking for a trader.¡±
¡°Trader? Which one?¡±
¡°Nikaws. She was here yesterday, asking about setting up a stand.¡±
¡°Yesterday? I was here the whole time, there were no requests for trading space.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± This is strange.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°I know, it''s strange to mobilize so soon, still no use. Take care, lad.¡± Braxas says his goodbyes to Masahiko and heads out with a small army to overrun the demon forces. The council decided surprisingly quickly to just unleash many more soldiers than necessary to overwhelm the demon forces before they even know what hit them.
The defensive walls protecting Kraggwas are strong, the remaining soldiers are mostly concentrated there, so the demons would need at least the same amount of soldiers as the dari who are about to set out to even hope to make a dent in them. Alternative routes aren''t there as well; the dari are capable of sensing stone, so they know that there are no new tunnels even close to the city except the one the demons are in.
The army is already about to leave. Masahiko and his friends were offered a place, but Masahiko declined, though Daichi only stays behind because he trusts Masahiko''s judgment. Said judgment, however, is based on that particular feeling that he needs to be in Kraggwas.
¡°Take care, Braxas! Sorry I won''t come with you, even though I said I would.¡±
¡°Nah, don''t worry. Rather happy y''stay behind, y''know. Strange things happen. Take care of Kraggwas while I''m not around, bud.¡±
¡°I promise.¡± Masahiko respectfully bows to him. After his dar friend moved out, he turns to his human friends: ¡°Sorry guys, we couldn''t talk about the Kragg-thing.¡± Of course they abandoned their monster-hunting--Masahiko''s feeling is clear. ¡°Maybe we should visit a pub.¡± Masahiko learned from movies that public spaces are among the best places to speak privately. Despite the source, there is a certain logic to it.
After each of them has ordered drinks and digestible food, Eri brings up the topic: ¡°What happened back there?¡± Nobody needed a reminder, that ''back there'' means when they were in Kragg''s chambers. ¡°It felt... unpleasant. Like someone invading me.¡±
¡°Now that you say it...¡± Daichi replies, ¡°I felt the same. Like everything inside me wanted to break free, but before that, there was a moment when I felt like something sank into me.¡±
Masahiko and the other two nod. While Masahiko would put it into other words, what they said still fits what he has experienced. ¡°It was a bit like when talking to my father...¡±
¡°Ah, me too!¡±
¡°...kch!¡±
¡°You''re right, Masa.¡± Eri looks surprised: ¡°Like my father was questioning me because of some misconduct. Gentle, but forceful.¡±
¡°Good wording,¡± Teruko agrees. ¡°This really felt like when Otou-san asked me about school when I came back late and roughed up.¡±
¡°He''s called ''Father'' by everyone... Is that related?¡±
¡°Maybe he-¡±
¡°Shh! The waiter,¡± Masahiko interrupts Eri. Their drinks are brought, water with a carafe full of liquor. Masahiko pours a bit of it into his cup of water, while their rocktopus-balls are brought. Almost taste like dirty, warmed-up takoyaki, just worse. Still edible, just not that pleasant, but among the only foods in Kraggwas that doesn''t give Masahiko a stomachache. He likes to taste the local food in places he visits, but Kraggwas has just too many culinary dangers.
¡°Urgs...¡± Eri is grimacing after eating one: ¡°I think we still have bread and cheese left, right?¡±
¡°I don''t.¡±
¡°Me neither.¡±
¡°Mine got moldy.¡±
¡°...sorry.¡±
¡°...take a deep breath and eat it...¡± Eri encourages herself, ¡°uh... we really need a [Cook],¡± just to step on a landmine.
[Cook], their former [Cook] was Momokawa Kyou, their friend. Still, her words are true, Kyou isn''t here, and while they could manage in Feuerberg, here in Kraggwas, it shows what benefits it has to have a [Cook] in the party. ¡°...it''s time, yes.¡± Masahiko agrees. His sadness about Kyou''s situation can''t cloud his judgment as the party leader here. ¡°Teruko, have you unlocked the class? I haven''t.¡± Daichi, Katsuo, and Eri have already filled all of their class-slots.
Eri is [Student], [Wizard], [Trader], and [Exorcist]. She takes care of the healer''s role, another role Kyou had filled before. This combination gives her a wide array of spells for combat and makes it much easier to get the best deals, every Newgold that''s saved is a Newgold they can invest in other things.
Katsuo is [Student], [Sharpshooter], [Leatherworker], and [Fletcher]. He''s even closer specialized than Eri, as his only combat class is [Sharpshooter], the class-up he chose for his [Archer]. To become a sharpshooter, someone must be able to be accurate even when shooting distances longer than a kilometer. Masahiko didn''t know how far a bow can shoot before, but right now, when Katsuo can see his target, he can usually hit it, though great distances give it more time to evade the arrow.
Daichi chose [Student], [Knight], [Grappler], and [Blacksmith] as his classes, so he''s the archetypal front-liner, having him at his side makes Masahiko glad. As a [Grappler], Daichi can pin the monsters down, while he can take them out as a [Knight]. While both classes are for combat, each has its own style.
¡°I can''t select [Cook],¡± Teruko answers Masahiko''s question.
¡°Hm... Then I''ll take it.¡±
¡°No!¡± Teruko vehemently objects. ¡°Let me take care of the cooking.¡±
¡°But you-¡±
¡°With [Knight] and [Deepstalker] I have already two combat-focused classes, so-¡±
¡°But I also have-¡±
¡°Masahiko-kun, let me do this.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
...is it because it used to be Kyou''s task? Masahiko knows how close Kyou and Teruko are, so maybe she wants to inherit her friend''s role.
¡°...OK.¡± He just needs to admit defeat here.
¡°Thanks!¡± Teruko really looks happy, showing Masahiko, that this is the right decision. ¡°I''ll learn it as fast as possible.¡±
¡°Concentrate on [Deepstalker] first, though.¡±
¡°I will!¡± She really looks eager.
¡°Now to the other topic...¡± Masahiko redirects the conversation: ¡°I don''t know if he has done something or not. Maybe not deliberately, just as an unconscious effect. He is the Father, so maybe every time he talks to someone, he has the same effect.¡± Kragg is supposed to be a god. If he''s indeed a god, he''s an entity unknown to Masahiko. What the boy from Japan knows of different religions only gives him more doubt whether he can even hope to grasp the concept of a god now that he saw one in the flesh... or rock, in this case.
¡°Ugh, it''d be easier if this was intentional...¡± Daichi is right, if this pressure they felt is just a side-effect, it''s much harder to deal with than an intentional assault of their minds.
¡°Let''s assume that it was intentional,¡± Eri starts spinning her theory: ¡°Why would he need to know that much about us?¡±
¡°Maybe he''s interested?¡±
¡°Maybe... but what if the gods here aren''t omniscient and it wants to know more about our quest? Or even... maybe Kr- he doesn''t even know who summoned us?¡± One of the biggest mysteries is which of the four guardian deities of Feuerberg--which aren''t known by name, just by title: The Fire, the Freedom Fighter, the Foundation, and the Fleeting--summoned the heroes.
¡°In the church,¡± Eri explains softly: ¡°They said that only the most inner circle knows their names. Though the upper echelon denies that.¡±
¡°Why though?¡±
¡°Some say, it''s for their protection. Others because they don''t care. Maybe, it''s because they sound more important that way? I mean, Susanoo-kamisama sounds less impressive than Lord of the Sea and Storms.¡± She has a point.
¡°Maybe he just wants to learn how much of a threat we are. If heroes are summoned by kingdoms with the help of gods, we''re clearly intruders on their turf.¡±
In the end, it''s only slightly better than conspiracy theories. Masahiko and his friends are just plucking ideas out of thin air.
Basically, they know nothing and therefore can''t form a proper opinion. ¡°Let''s just be careful around him.¡± Masahiko closes the conversation. ¡°Also, I¡¯d like to look at the marketplace.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because I want to ask about Nikaws.¡±
Daichi furrows his brows: ¡°That trader-girl?¡±
¡°What trader-girl?¡± Eri asks.
¡°Just someone I met a few times yesterday. She told me that she wants to open a stand, but she hasn''t been at the Bureau of Trade, apparently.¡±
¡°So what?¡±
¡°So I want to look for her. I don''t know why she didn''t turn up at the bureau, but I want to meet her again.¡±
¡°To meet her again...¡±
¡°What''s up, Eri?¡±
¡°Nothing. Nothing.¡±
¡°Hey, you can talk to me.¡±
¡°I''m just thinking, that you''re wasting your time, but if it''s that important to you...¡±
¡°Ah. How should I explain it... it''s not like it''s super important to me, it''s more like I want to look into it. It bothers me.¡±
Eri sure doesn''t seem happy with this explanation. Still, this is what Masahiko feels, and he likes to get to the bottom of this.
¡°I''ll help,¡± it''s Teruko who volunteers.
¡°Me too!¡± Eri quickly agrees.
Daichi and Katsuo exchange looks and whisper some words to each other. ¡°Katsuo and I will go to the forge. Time to sharpen some weapons and make arrows.¡±
¡°Ah, take these please.¡± Masahiko give his swords to Daichi, while getting his spare pair from his backpack. These are excellent weapons, though a bit lighter than what he uses at the moment. These spares are from when he was still a [Student]. When he got the [Fighter]-class, he got a stronger pair, as his arms were able to handle more weight.
With the two girls in tow, Masahiko heads to the central marketplace. ¡°OK, we''ll split into two groups. Eri and Teruko, you will form a group, I will look on my own.¡±
¡°Wha-¡± Eri is aghast: ¡°Why me and Teru-chan?¡±
¡°Because you haven''t seen Nikaws before, so looking on your own would be problematic. Also... I know that you''re both strong, but I can''t help but feel uncomfortable having you girls look around without anyone else. It''s just my stupid man''s pride.¡± He smiles, embarrassed, as he knows that the woman of today doesn''t need a man to protect her all the time. Still, his parents raised him to be kind to girls; it''s hard to ignore.
¡°*Sigh*¡± ¡°Fine...¡± The girls agree quietly.
¡°OK. We meet here again in about half an hour.¡± Rendezvous times are hard to meet in the fantasy world, as they couldn''t keep any time-keeping devices. It took a while for Masahiko to stop looking at his arm to discern the time, as he used to wear a watch.
Nowadays, he looks at the sky, but this isn''t possible in Kraggwas either, so he just has to bet on everyone¡¯s sense of time. He sure hopes to get a skill which tells him how late it is.
Masahiko strides through the marketplace looking at the different stands. He still hasn''t found a present for the girls either, so he wants to kill two birds with one stone. Nonetheless, it would help if he had an idea of what he should give the girls.
In Japan, he would go for some sweets, girls seem to like them and they''re not that expensive. In Kraggwas however, he''s careful about every kind of food. It''d be bad if the dar candy caused nausea and stomachache.
While he thinks that an accessory would be viable, he has no idea what the girls would like. Eri in grade school would be happy about every kind of kitschy trinket, but she has grown to a young woman, so a heart-shaped pendant or something like that might be too childish.
Maybe some clothes... still, the ones that he can think of are super-expensive. While thinking about it, he sees some clothes hanging from a stand. He looks at the price tags, they''re not that much... still, all of them are dari-sized.
An apron for Teruko might be useful, as she wants to choose the [Cook]-class. Still, while Teruko was on the smaller side for Japanese, the dar women are even shorter and broader. There is no classical apron here either, just cooking coats that would be way too baggy.
Still, something for a [Cook]. While his eyes look for Nikaws, he also glances through the signs and wares. There! A hardware shop.
A knife set, Kyou also got one when she started learning [Cook]. Actually, Daichi might make her one as well, he''s a blacksmith after all, but buying them now seems to be the better choice, given how time-consuming Daichi''s training and the maintenance of their weapons and armor are.
Anything for Eri here? Maybe a new all-purpose knife? No, hers is still good. She also has a fingernail-set... There are several needles here, even some sort of clay. Masahiko takes it, as it definitely looks metallic. It''s soft to the touch. ¡°What is this?¡± He asks the clerk.
The same looks at him in disbelief. ¡°Grashnak, obv''sly.¡±
¡°Huh? Is this a dar-thing?¡±
¡°Eyup, it''s grashnak.¡±
Masahiko puts some force into his fingers and is able to shape the grashnak a small bit. ¡°Is this a metal?¡±
¡°''course. Y''can use it to fix stuff. Like ripped pipes, brok''n cutl''ry, quick fix for metal. Just for dari though.¡±
Most likely its true traits can only be used by using [Metalmancy], shaping it with your hands is hard and if it''s supposed to be used for said applications, it should also become magnetic after giving it shape, something which might be entirely impossible without the dar magic.
Still, the clerk doesn''t say something like that and Masahiko remembers how Braxas explained to him how the dari of this world keep their [Metalmancy] secret. While he doesn''t like the reason Braxas suspects, he also doesn''t want to spill the beans out of respect. At least as long the dari are on their side.
Though it''s hard to believe that their allies in Feuerberg don''t know, or anyone who''s interested in their war potential. A secret known to an entire race just doesn''t seem very safe.
In the end, he bought a clump of grashnak for Eri. She may find it helpful in grasping the basics of [Metalmancy], that''s also the reason why he bought some for himself. Also, both of them loved playing with modeling clay when they were children.
Who would have thought that the first fantasy metal he finds wouldn''t be adamantine, mithril, or orichalcum, but the dwarves'' version of duct tape?
After paying for the stuff, his eyes catch something: It''s Nikaws! The young dar girl walks through the crowd with a wide grin on her face. Masahiko is about to call out for her, but she''s not alone, the guy she was fighting with before is walking right next to her.
Is this a new business partner after all? Masahiko decides to follow them. In times like these, he can''t help but envy Teruko''s set of [Abilities], as she has [Stealth] and [Perception], the perfect combination to stalk people.
Well, no choice but to make up for it by being careful. Oh, there is another dar who greets them. Masahiko is sure that he saw that one before, but he cant put his finger on it, as his memory for faces is pretty good, but he''s too unfamiliar with dari.
The new dar is female, so this limits the possibilities, as Masahiko mostly interacted with male dar. Still, he knows her, though something seems to be off... ah, he saw her during the council, she''s a chief! She just isn''t dressed as formally, but her well-made clothes are still noticeable.
Seeing chiefs on the streets isn''t that unusual in Kraggwas as the chiefs do most of their businesses themselves. Also, they like to check up their clankin now and then. So is Nikaws part of her clan? No, the way the chief holds herself is too polite for that.
Which clan did that chief belong to and what was her name... Ah, the Kugar-Clan, Chief Lurdowf. Masahiko may be unable to pronounce her name correctly, especially the end, but he still remembers it.
What are they talking about? Sadly, Masahiko can''t read lips, though learning it stands on his personal list of skills he wants to attain. Same goes for playing the piano, learning German, and similar things.
He could try to get closer, but the tunnels here are straight, and they will surely notice him quickly if he steps out of the corner he''s hiding behind.
Suddenly, someone touches Masahiko''s back from behind, his right hand is about to draw his sword, as he turns around, but it''s Eri. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± He speaks softly.
¡°We''ve been following you,¡± Eri whispers back.
¡°We?¡± Masahiko''s eyes wander back to Nikaws and her company, but this time he looks around. There! On that cave wall is Teruko, using [Camouflage]. She''s really hard to see, especially without any forewarning.
So Teruko will listen in on their conversation? Masahiko is glad that he has friends who can cover his shortcomings.
Ah, the dari are moving again, this time Chief Lurdowf comes with them. ¡°Let''s move.¡± Masahiko and Eri follow them as careful as possible, but it''s not like the dari are in a rush or sneaky.
Teruko waits for her friends and reports: ¡°They''ve been talking about the ''next step.'' Something about another chief... Aruwas? Arfuwas?¡±
¡°Ah, you mean Chief Afwas.¡± Masahiko sure hopes that he got it right. ¡°Did you catch what this phase includes?¡±
¡°A meeting. The woman has arranged a meeting between the girl and that Arwas.¡±
¡°Afwas. Hm... a meeting... Why would Nikaws need a chief to meet another chief?¡±
¡°Who is this Afwas-guy anyway?¡± Eri asks.
¡°Chief of the Borhro-Clan. I don''t remember all the details, but that clan specializes in clothes.¡± Masahiko recalls what Braxas told him about dar clans. The foremost goal of any clan is to be self-sustaining, so every clan covers the most basic needs for themselves. After that, it''s about profit, so most of them specialize in specific luxury articles to sell to other clans and non-dari. The reason why different clans live together in the same caverns is to maximize their profits and safety, that''s why kings are elected by the chiefs to govern that alliance of clans.
¡°Clothes? Doesn''t sound like it''d be hard to arrange a meeting in the first place.¡±
¡°Yeah. Especially as each chief is trying to gain bargains themselves.¡± While most clans specialize in luxuries, some specialize in cheap wares, taking advantage of the dari''s greed to make them not buy their clan''s internal wares.
¡°Stop!¡± Teruko interrupts the conversation. ¡°Look.¡± Nikaws and her posse enter the caves of the Borhro-Clan, passing the gates and guards. While the humans could enter after stating their business, they can''t say that they''re stalking someone.
¡°We can lie about why we want to enter,¡± Eri suggests.
¡°We could, but whatever we say, they will give us a ''guide'', clans keep their secrets close. They may suspect us of industrial espionage or something like that if we lose the guide.¡±
¡°I could sneak past the guards,¡± Teruko offers.
¡°I don''t think so.¡± Dari have their [Metalmancy], so as long as Teruko has metal objects with her, she might be detected and answering the questions that arise might be hard. He looks at her from head to toe, the buckles of her belts and boots, parts of her armor and gloves, the knife at her waist...
¡°Erm... Why are you looking at me like that?¡±
¡°Ah, sorry.¡± Masahiko thinks it''d be better to tell the girls, but with Eri here, who''s still trying to figure out the existence of [Metalmancy]... it''s uncertain if the prompting will hamper her growth. ¡°Eri, can I talk to Teruko in private for a moment?¡±
Eri''s eyes are widening, she looks like she''s surprised. ¡°Ye-yeah. For sure.¡±
¡°Something wrong?¡±
She calms down immediately. ¡°No. Everything is fine. I''ll be around the corner then.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡± Maybe she had a misunderstanding for a second.
For some reason, Teruko is shifting her weight from one foot to another, her face shows a mix of anticipation, doubt, and disappointment at the same time: ¡°What''s wrong?¡±
¡°Ah, something Eri shouldn''t learn for now,¡± Masahiko speaks softly so that there is no chance of Eri hearing a word. ¡°If she knows too early, it may cause problems for her class-up training. Dar can detect and influence metal. So to sneak past them you would need to take off every item that has metal on it, including your backpack. While I won''t stop you, I wouldn''t suggest doing it.¡± Without her backpack and metal items, Teruko would need to sneak barefooted, unarmed, and alone. Her [Stealth]-ability might help, but it''s not omnipotent. ¡°I''m just worried about you.¡±
Teruko looks at him absent-minded, then after a few moments what he said seems to sink in: ¡°Understood. Should we hang around here?¡±
¡°...¡± A good question. In a matter of fact, there is no good reason to stalk Nikaws. She''s just an acquaintance, someone he met yesterday for the first time, he just wanted to check on her and make true to his word to visit her stand, but her businesses seem to go well. Still, something in him doesn''t want to give it a rest.
¡°Wait a minute,¡± Masahiko asks. He fetches Eri, who is looking behind the corner, maybe to see whether she can return. ¡°Sorry to make you wait.¡±
¡°Anything important?¡±
¡°Erm, something you can''t hear yet.¡±
Suddenly, Eri is in a good mood. ¡°I see.¡± Thinking of it, her birthday is around the corner, so maybe she thinks he was asking Teruko about a gift. He has to make sure to get her something nice there, too.
Eri rejoins the conversation, Masahiko explains: ¡°Sneaking in will be too hard, especially counting in any magical wards. Maybe some runes, hard to tell at this point.¡± Dari have runescribes, runes can give items and places magical properties, so while Masahiko doesn''t know much about actual magic runes, in games they often have trap aspects, adding another layer to the difficulty of sneaking in.
¡°So should we leave someone as a guard?¡± Teruko asks again. ¡°I can do it.¡± She sure doesn''t want to, Masahiko can see it from her face. He can only imagine how boring it is to just stay in [Camouflage] for hours on end, who in their right mind would even do that?
¡°Eri,¡± Masahiko begins, ¡°what do you think? You''re smarter than me.¡±
¡°Hm... I would like to call Daichi-kun and Katsu-kun. Something is odd.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Why would the chiefs meet with a mere trader, especially after they sent an army out there. Wouldn''t be there more important things to do right now? Like taking care of the city''s defense?¡±
¡°Sure, for that task, Nikaws doesn''t seem necessary. However, guarding the city is the king''s duty, right? So maybe the clans are just doing business as always? ¡let''s ask the king.¡±
¡°The king?¡±
¡°Sure, we weren''t there at the meeting because of Kragg, so we can ask him about that. He may at least give us clearance to look at the minutes.¡±
Teruko jumps in. ¡°Should I stay behind to keep watch?¡±
¡°No ne- wait... please do so. I''m sorry.¡± It''s strange. Strange how things that don''t seem to be related can occupy that much of Masahiko''s mind.
¡°You don''t need to be.¡±
¡°Eri, would you also stay close? When something is going on, Teruko should have someone watching her back. Also, if something is odd, one of you can fetch me.¡±
¡°Alright.¡±
Time to look into the whole defending Kraggwas while attacking the demons business.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Daichi sharpens his axe, the repeating movement of his hands gives him some peace of mind. He''s still disappointed by Masa''s decision to stay behind, but Masa usually makes the right choices. Of course, he makes mistakes like everyone else, but they tend to be somewhat negligible.
On the other hand, Daichi''s mistakes are often big. Whenever he can''t let his body take charge, things don''t go his way. He''s bad at studying, he allows his temperament get the better of him, he looks for more trouble than he can handle.
Masa is a good guy, the best. Still, he needs someone to watch his back. Maybe because he''s too good at times. He''s optimistic, likes to see the best in everyone, that''s why he befriended Daichi in the first place.
Even him... looking at Katsuo-kun sharpening his arrowheads reminds Daichi of how Katsuo-kun was before. Someone who comes from a middle school which is far away, not trying to make any friends, frustrating Kyou-san when she tried to unite the class.
Katsuo-kun always ate lunch on his own, disappearing from the classroom. Now he sits with Daichi to maintain their gear. ¡°Everything alright?¡± Daichi isn''t as close to Katsuo-kun as the rest of the party, but he doesn''t have problems striking up a conversation like he used to have. Still, Teruko-san is much better at conversing with that fellow. At least she used to be.
¡°No.¡±
¡°What''s wrong?¡±
¡°Girls.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± Daichi didn''t want to get in the way of the girls concerning Masa, so he pulled himself out of this. ¡°So you also want to get closer to Masa?¡±
Katsuo-kun snorts: ¡°Yeah, right. My love letter is still in the works, and my heart aches every time I see him with the girls. Why isn''t he looking at me?¡±
¡°Maybe because you''re not pretty enough.¡±
¡°Well, not everyone can have a face like you, Daichi.¡±
¡°Yeah, even my eyes have a biceps, you see!¡± Daichi moves his brows.
¡°Maybe he just likes fat boys.¡±
¡°Oh, then we don''t have a chance, right?¡±
Both of them laugh at their joking exchange. ¡°Well, it''s about Teru-san. Since the thing with Katsuragi, she''s different.¡±
Ouch, a complicated topic. ¡°Different how?¡±
¡°Like, she used to speak upfront and be all familiar. Now she doesn''t.¡±
¡°Is she in love with you? Jerk.¡±
¡°...could it be? Nah, she''s all heart-eyed for Masa.¡±
¡°Well, which girl isn''t?¡±
¡°...well, Kyou-san.¡±
¡°Ah right. You like Kyou-san?¡±
¡°...off-topic.¡±
¡°Sorry. So you want to have Teruko-san treat you the same as before?¡±
¡°Yes. She was tough, I liked that.¡±
¡°Me too. ¡just treat her like always? I mean, maybe all we did was just unnecessary tip-toeing. No, let''s go another step, just treat her like a guy.¡±
¡°Like a guy?¡±
¡°Now that you said this, she might poke us with her spear for that. We have set goals: Beat Katsuragi up, rescue Kyou-san, beat Katsuragi up again, and break the mind-control, which might include beating up Katsuragi.¡±
¡°...you know what makes me happy. Wanna go out with me?¡±
¡°Sorry, my heart is set on Masa. He may never notice my feelings, but I''m still faithful.¡±
Another laugh. Yeah, being a boy is awesome!
Daichi thinks that he has underestimated his closeness to Katsuo-kun, it''s just that somehow they seldom hang out with just the two of them.
¡°Well, about Teruko-san, don''t worry too much. She''ll come around, it''s just that she''s a bit lonely. I mean, she and Kyou-san go way back. Trying to be cheery all the time while feeling otherwise is tiring.¡± Daichi knows from experience. Whenever he lost in a judo-competition, he felt so vexed, but he still tried to be cheerful around others. Usually, he would then visit Masa, both would enjoy themselves by playing video games, going to karaoke, or just choose a subway-line and travel to the last stop to look around.
What might Teruko-san do in times like that? Reading books? Looking at girl magazines? Chatting with her friends? Well, most likely something she can''t do in this world. How can she vent that frustration?
Ah, he''s really not good in these matters. The only thing he can think of is sports, but she always trains her body in this world.
¡°I should let it rest?¡±
¡°Erm... don''t know. Just think what you would find pleasant if you''re on edge.¡±
¡°...¡± A skeptic look. ¡°Aha.¡±
¡°Well, I never said that I have good advice.¡±
¡°...at least you have some. Also, talking makes me feel better. Thanks.¡±
¡°Don''t mind it. Also, give me your dagger, I need to sharpen it as well.¡±
¡°I don''t use it that much.¡±
¡°Just hand it over already.¡± Daichi takes a look at the weapon Katsuo-kun handed him. ¡°Did you use it to carve wood?¡±
¡°How can you tell?¡±
¡°I''m a [Blacksmith], mind you. I can use [Appraise] for this, and there are tiny splinters at the point.¡±
¡°Just numbering arrows.¡±
¡°Why!?¡±
¡°Training. When I shoot, I don''t remember which arrows hit and which not, always the next one on my mind. Don''t mind the arrow that already left the bow.¡±
¡°Ah, I can see it.¡± If Daichi minded every move he used in a judo-competition, he would be too distracted to fight to his fullest. He can ponder it afterward, but often he needs to see the videos made in the competition to remember everything. ¡°Neat trick.¡± Daichi is already finished with the dagger. ¡°Here, sharp and edgy.¡±
¡°Worst pun ever.¡±
¡°Why didn''t you chose a melee-class anyway? I mean, you only have [Sharpshooter] for combat, isn''t it a bad idea?¡±
¡°...the same way you only have melee classes?¡±
¡°At least I have two and can decide which will be more useful. You''re always stuck with a bow.¡±
¡°Maybe. Still, it''s me.¡±
¡°Why so sad?¡±
¡°Don''t like to talk about it.¡±
¡°Sorry.¡±
¡°Nah.¡±
¡°What exactly makes a [Sharpshooter] anyway? I mean, a [Knight] in this world is an elite warrior dedicated to a kingdom, capable of using a wide array of weapons and strategies to overcome any kind of trouble. Pretty much what knights and samurai in our world were. But a [Sharpshooter] here doesn''t have a rifle or something like that.¡±
¡°Sharpshooters are known for two things: Excellent senses and accuracy. I was told that humans are among the few people who can even see over long distances. That''s why sharpshooters appeared, using this advantage, powerful ranged weapons that can not only shoot but also hit targets at these great distances. Wait a minute.¡± Katsuo-kun pulls his bow out of his backpack, a bow Daichi never saw before. ¡°Try drawing it.¡±
Daichi casually pulls the string, but it didn''t budge. He puts some strength into it, no difference. ¡°What the...¡± Time to use everything. He tries, and it''s a success. Still, the string cuts into his hand, and he has the feeling, that he will let it go any minute. ¡°What''s the bow made of?¡±
¡°You already know, it''s rubdrum bone. Let me show you.¡± With a smooth movement, Katsuo-kun draws the bowstring to his ear.
¡°How is that even possible!?¡±
¡°Training, the right muscles, and [Drawing]. [Bow]-skill that let me draw bows easier. The more tensile force, the more SP I spend. The more tensile force, the stronger the shot.¡±
¡°This is your new bow?¡±
¡°Yes and no. This is my bow for shots for above one kilometer. I still use my old one for shots closer than that. Well, the one I got as a replacement for the other one. *grumble*¡±
Shots above one kilometer!? This... this seems crazy at first, but thinking back, when Daichi was at the border, he has got some support from the archers of Feuerberg even from greater distances. In cases like these, Daichi realizes how crazy the people of this world are, and how they expect him to be even more of a monster.
Still, a kilometer away... is that even a distance a sharpshooter from Japan could kill? Daichi doesn''t know, as he was never interested much in actual military equipment back home. Now it belongs to his curriculum, how time changes things.
¡°Why two bows though?¡±
¡°This one is much harder to draw, its power in close distances is insane, but if I can''t stay still, it''s too hard to draw and aim at the same time. At least for now.¡± To give his words a presentation, he draws his bow once more and turns at the same time, Daichi can see, how Katsuo-kun''s arms can''t cleanly follow his body. ¡°To realign the aim is time-consuming if there would be an arrow on it, trying to do so might cause an accidental shot.¡±
As someone who has tried to draw this bow, Daichi can imagine how hard it might be to keep holding the string if you try to move it too much. ¡°Man, I''ve never thought about it. But if you can pull it off, you get that crazy-strong shot?¡±
¡°Theoretically. Never tried.¡±
¡°...oh god, I can''t believe it! This might kill something like that giant monkey-spider-thingy in one shot!¡±
¡°...but what if I hit one of you?¡±
¡°Ah...¡± This is right, a battle is a mess. Usually, Katsuo-kun is able to seize any opportunity to get a clean shot, like when Daichi pushes the monster away from him. However, considering the time lag between seeing an opportunity, putting up a proper stance, and drawing that bow, it may really cause Katsuo-kun to hit something else but a monster. ¡°Thanks.¡±
¡°For what?¡±
¡°For thinking about stuff like that!¡±
¡°Ah. You''re welcome.¡±
¡°Just promise me, that you find a way to use that power without risk, like a [Skill] or something. I mean, that sounds too awesome!¡±
¡°...I promise.¡± Katsuo-kun grins at Daichi.
Daichi holds his fist out and after a moment of hesitation, Katsuo-kun fist-bumps his.
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 1-5
For some reason, the king won''t receive visitors or guests right now. Masahiko asked where the minutes of the council are held, but they seemed to be not finished yet, which is highly suspicious, even the guard he asked is surprised by this.
As the guards are all over the ruling building, they tend to know what happens inside and they banter all day. That''s how, after some questioning, Masahiko found out about the minutes. The guard was was very helpful, though Masahiko suspects his [Persuasion]-attribute was at work.
However, how should he proceed from here on... This question leads him to the temple, as one of their people was the secretary. ¡°Excuse me,¡± he asks the first one he meets: ¡°I have a question.¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°My name is Masahiko Inoue, I like to see the rough copy of the council meeting. Where can I find it?¡±
¡°Ah, the human who was invited to the council and Father. The copy''s still withheld as it contains secret information.¡±
¡°I just need to see what I missed, while I was meeting Father.¡± He decided to refer to Kragg that way to not offend anyone.
¡°I''m sorry, but I cannot help you.¡± The way he talks is like: Please don''t bother me.
¡°Don''t worry.¡± Masahiko decides to ask another one, and then another one, but it''s always the same.
Could it be that it was decided to not show it to Masahiko or his friends, despite their involvement in the case? Why the sudden change?
Masahiko keeps thinking about it for a while, and while it still seems unreasonable, he can''t help but think of this being connected with Nikaws. Something is amiss in Kraggwas, and it may be because Masahiko is young, or may be because he''s a human, but he was sent to the sideline. Still, from there he could sense that something is wrong.
Then a thought emerges from his less precious memories... mind-control. What if someone is holding the strings here?
He needs to see Kragg. The moment this thought has formed, Masahiko feels the stone floor suddenly goes liquid under his feet. After a moment of panic, he steels his resolve. He doesn''t fight back, he lets the floor swallow him..
Dark. It''s dark and cold. Masahiko can''t breathe. ?You wish to see Us?? Kragg''s voice is the only thing that fills him, it''s like a beacon of warmth and light, the opposite of what his body experiences, though he can''t still see anything. ?Let Us in your thoughts.?
No. Masahiko''s thoughts are his own! He won''t share them. Headache, as if someone shattered his head, may this be because of that resistance?
?You won''t. We see.? There is neither blame nor disappointment in this voice, it''s like a sober observation. ?So We will let you talk.?
For Masahiko it feels like the ground vomits him out, he gasps for air the second he feels surrounded by it, though his body still needs to adapt to its new environment. He slowly opens his eyes, but he sees nothing. He must be in an unlit cave, maybe even within the temple. ¡°Was there not a less extreme way?¡±
?We sought efficiency, though We don''t mind taking Our time for you.?
¡°Thanks?¡±
?We shouldn''t have taken this approach, We usually just look into the memories of Our followers to get the most accurate knowledge of what concerns them.? There is no apology here, but maybe something like remorse?
¡°Where are we?¡±
¡°A cave We just created between the levels of the temple. Do you want Us to create some light? We sense your feelings of insecurity.¡±
¡°It would help.¡± The sound of something growing predicts a weak light fills a small cavern, crystal formations on the wall emit the purple-pink glow. This somehow feels like a prison cell. Also, Kragg is nowhere to be seen. ¡°Where are you?¡±
A swift motion in a corner and the rock-body of Kragg stands before Masahiko, the golden hands and silver eyes glimmer in the light. ?We still feel you''re uncomfortable.?
¡°Well, this should be enough. Don''t go all the way to make me feel better, I just want to talk.¡±
?So speak, Hero.?
Masahiko''s tongue feels much lighter compared to last time. While the last time felt so heavy, this time Kragg seems to be less... imposing. He talks about Nikaws, about what they have found out, about the chiefs, and the thing with the protocol, even though he planned to ask only a few questions. ¡°Is something really going wrong here? Are demons here?¡±
?Yes.? The banality of the answer shocks Masahiko: ?A demon hero is here.? Just a statement, no emotions involved, though something important was said. ?The hero influenced the council, while We were absent.?
So many questions are hammering into Masahiko''s brain: ¡°Wait a minute, I don''t even know how to react!¡± He breathes in and out, several times so that the fog in his head could clear up a bit.
Masahiko didn''t know that demons also have heroes. So there is another world, which has demons in it, which could be summoned as heroes to this world? Is the reason why he was summoned into this world, to counter those heroes!? His own existence in this world is suddenly questioned.
Is Nikaws the demon hero? How? Can she transform into other people? Is she just a puppet of the real demon hero, who is still hiding? How did the hero influence the council? Mind-control? [Persuasion]? By having someone else do her work?
Is the army outside Kraggwas just a distraction to let the demon hero smoothly operate inside Kraggwas? Why didn''t anyone notice anything? Especially seeing how fast things are developing... or is it too fast for the dari to even keep up?
Still, there is that one question that needs answering: ¡°Why didn''t you do something, you''re a god!¡±
?Because We are a god.?
¡°How does that makes sense!?¡±
?Hero, We are Kragg, the Father. We give the dari advice, while the dari respect Us. It is not Our task to rule Kraggwas, this falls to the mortals We are guiding. They made the decision by themselves, We will let things unfold.?
¡°By themselves? So they aren''t controlled?¡±
?They are just influenced. The demon hero fanned their desire for wealth and battle,?
¡°For what reason? Are they trying to weaken the dari so much that they can''t help Feuerberg anymore?¡±
?Will that influence what you will do??
Masahiko is about to yell ''Of course,'' but in the end, he realizes that it really won''t change anything, because he already made up his mind: ¡°No. Please tell me how I can stop the demon hero.¡±
?You won''t listen to Our advice.?
¡°I see.¡± So what Masahiko has in mind and what Kragg would do is different. ¡°Then please send me back.¡±
?Hero, you''re young and stubborn. These traits are your strength and your weakness. Farewell.? Masahiko again feels swallowed by the ground, only to emerge from a corridor in the temple. At least nobody is there, so Kragg had a little mercy for him.
He hurried to the forge as fast as the tunnels let him, he couldn''t run because of the number of dari, and if he switched to the other lane, then someone will surely hold him for breaking one of the most basic rules inside the city. After painful minutes of wasting his time, he finally arrives: ¡°Daichi, Katsuo! We¡¯ve got to go!¡±
¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡± Without even batting an eye or asking questions, they pack up their things. This shows how urgent Masahiko sounds.
¡°Here are your swords, Masa.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡± The weight of the weapons and the gleam of their freshly sharpened edges strengthen Masahiko''s resolve even more. ¡°We''re heading to the Borhro-Enclave. I''ll explain everything there.¡±
The moment they arrive there, Teruko and Eri join them. Nikaws should still be in there. Masahiko explains in short what he learned from Kragg While the behavior of the god puzzles his friends as much as it did him, they listen to the end: ¡°So my plan would be to get in there, grab Nikaws, and ask her a few questions.¡±
¡°Erm, Masa,¡± Eri speaks up, ¡°that''s a stupid plan.¡±
¡°I know, but whatever happens in there, I want to stop it as soon as possible. So while the plan is stupid, we can do whatever it takes to make it work.¡±
¡°Alright... then I insist on bribing the guards.¡±
¡°I don''t know if this will work.¡± While bribing itself is a crime, it''s still better than attacking and hurting the people who are just doing their job.
¡°We could look for another way, but bribing is easier. [Persuasion] only makes them more likely to believe me. So if I explain them our conspiracy theory, and yes, it''s still a theory, it''ll be much harder to convince them compared to just saying that we want to enter quickly because we''ll be too late for a business meeting otherwise and will lose an opportunity.¡±
¡°This... makes sense.¡± He has to admit that a story like that is less challenging to believe. ¡°OK, but even if we''re in, we need to get our priorities right. We need to look for Nikaws, we need to stop whatever happens here, and if we can, we''ll corner the demon hero and defeat it. Our foremost priority is saving lives, understood?¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°Yes!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Akiyama Eri has some tricks up her sleeves. She''s still in her [Trader]-class and looks at the two guards at the gate. There will be more in some guard room, but both out here are tinted red for her, as she activated her [Trade]-skill [Pad]. The [Trade]-ability contains many skills that have anything to do with money; [Pad] for example shows her who she can bribe and how easy it is.
Then she has the [Bribe]-skill which enforces the bribee to hold true to his word, even if things go wrong.
She never shared the skills with anyone, as they''re a bit problematic in nature. Masa is a bit naive, so she has to shoulder anything that needs a bit more of an open mind to make things work smoothly. He doesn''t need to know this, which is why she never told anyone because Masa tends to learn every ''secret'' that is shared within the group.
Her party is clearly visible from the entrance, as Eri heads there. ¡°Hello, my name is Akiyama Eri, and I''m part of the human heroes that are training in Kraggwas.¡± First something true. ¡°We''re sorry, but we''re in a hurry.¡± Then something true which can be misleading. ¡°We have a meeting with Tenropp, and we''re really, really late.¡± Then something they want to believe. Eri knows that name because she asked about Ophwizz'' tailor when complimenting her clothes. ¡°I know that there are rules concerning security and all, but we really need that business opportunity.¡± Then something the other party wants to hear, like business. ¡°I know you two do a great job, so can we come to an agreement?¡± [Conversation]-ability, [Sweettalk]-skill. Another one no one needs to know.
¡°Erm,¡± the guards exchange looks, ¡°sure, there''s something we can do.¡±
¡°Really? Thank you! This will spare me a small fortune.¡± Again the money talk, she takes out a prepared purse. ¡°Here, buy a drink on me after work.¡± One guard takes it and looks inside it, passing it to the other one, both of them nods. [Bribe]. Now they have to let them through.
With just the right set of [Skills], everything can be solved.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The problem with dar homes is that you can''t just look for the most prominent building, as everything is tunnels and caves. Fortunately, the dar made a habit of putting up signs for that particular reason. So everyone heads to the ''Chief''s Room.''
Teruko feels strange. She doesn''t know why, but something is always tingling right above her skin. If it were under her skin, she might know what''s up, but it''s like something is tickling her a centimeter above her skin. She shouldn''t feel it, but she still can imagine the tickle.
She walks a few meters before the group acting as the scout who will detect anyone coming in their direction. Not here, not here either. There she hears someone, but the steps are fading away, there must be a crossing. She looks around the corners, seeing the back of a dar woman, an open door at the other side, so most likely she will return soon, or others will follow her.
¡°Quickly,¡± Teruko hisses at her friends. None of them are as quiet as her, but she''s also the only one who even has [Stealth] in her repertoire. So the rest just have to be as stealthy as possible. Surprisingly, the big, armored Dai-kun makes the least sound, maybe because he''s used of shifting his weight as he''s a former judo-club member.
Eri is the loudest, as the hard soles of her boots make a click sound. Though Katsu and Masahiko make enough noise with their armor as it is--and their weapons hitting against their armor plates.
Teruko has her spear ready in her hands, she thought about switching to her shortbow, but that choice of weapon inside tunnels is questionable. She just has to change to [Knight] the moment she enters battle.
While the rest of her party might not see it that way, trying to get her friends through the corridors is the real challenge here. They don''t need to hide exactly, but the moment they''re caught, there may be questions they would like to avoid, unless they want to bribe even more people.
Her own steps vibrate through her body, her senses have to be so keen right now, that she feels with her whole body. Though she doesn''t have any [Skills] related to her hearing, the [Perception]-ability in itself enhances all of her senses to a degree.
It''s the same with [Spear] when she''s a [Knight]. As a [Scout], she can use the spear like someone who used it for the past few months, as a [Knight], moving and using it just feels easier, more natural, like it''s an extension of her body.
While moving through the corridors, something is bothering her: Why are so few people here? Is it because the workshops are somewhere else and the people who are managing the clan are mostly holed up in their offices? Or maybe because they''re in a meeting?
There it is, the door to the chief''s room. Teruko presses her ear on the metal door: ¡°A woman is talking... I can''t make out what she''s saying, maybe they''re in the far corner, or the acoustics aren''t working in our favor.¡±
Masahiko says his thoughts aloud for everyone to follow: ¡°This makes things difficult. If we knew what she was saying, we could decide whether charging in is the right option. There might be guards inside, so opening the door might make them attack us without asking any questions.¡±
¡°Maybe,¡± Eri joins in, ¡°we can find another way? I mean, things are working like normal here.¡±
¡°Just open the door, we''ll handle it,¡± Dai-kun adds his opinion.
¡°...¡± Katsu hesitates.
¡°Well,¡± Teruko speaks up: ¡°We''re here right now and waiting is a waste of time, right?¡± She was the one who was on edge all the way here, she wants some conclusion. For some reason, Dai-kun scuffles her hair. ¡°What''s that for!?¡±
¡°Glad to have you back.¡±
Ah, he means in contrast to when she has a mopey moment. ¡°This is not the time, Masahiko-kun, we''ll we apologize later, but right now, there is no reason to wait.¡±
¡°OK,¡± Masahiko decides. ¡°We''re already being rash, so let''s follow through all the way. Katsuo, try to take out as many of the guards as possible, they can be even more difficult to deal with than the demons. Daichi, you''ll open a way for Teruko and me. Eri, start your [Slow]-chant right away, we need to get that spell out as fast as possible. Arm yourself. Daichi, you''ll open the door. On the count of three... One. Two. Three!¡±
¡°Hy---...¡± The moment Dai-kun was about to open the door, with a battle cry still on his tongue, they hit an obvious yet unexpected complication: The door is locked.
¡°OK,¡± Masahiko tries to gloss over that awkwardness, ¡°has anyone of you picked up lockpicking? Because forcing that metal door open might take a while and lose us the element of surprise.¡±
While there was a [Thief]-teacher in Feuerberg, a convicted criminal who was given the opportunity to lessen her sentence by teaching the heroes, none of their party has trained under her. What a blunder.
¡°If someone could heat up the lock, I could break it with my smith''s tools in a single strike,¡± Daichi suggests.
However, Eri puts this idea to rest: ¡°I don''t have a fire-spell powerful enough.¡±
¡°Ah, Eri!¡± Masahiko looks like he has a good idea: ¡°You do have that spell that shapes stone, right?¡±
¡°[Stonemeld]! Of course!¡±
With her spell, Eri makes the stone kneadable, forming it away from the lock on their side.
¡°OK, again. One! Two! Three!¡±
¡°Hyaaaaaah!¡± Dai-kun kicks the door open runs into the room. Teruko changes to [Knight] and follows. She instantly sees the four guards, the first one is hit by Katsu''s [Arrowblow]-skill, which takes the piercing away from the arrows without cutting into their force.
Dai-kun changes to [Grappler] to throw the second one across the room, then back to [Knight] to swing his axe in a wide arc to disrupt another one.
Teruko''s gaze is set behind those guards on a meeting of dari at a long table. Nikaws is there with five of the chiefs, in addition to a figure which is surprisingly human, discounting the cat''s tail, fangs, and needle-like hair. Other than that, she looks like a human woman: ¡°Oh,¡± she says, ¡°I thought you would just lay low... I didn''t expect this, I''m really, really happy!¡±
What does that mean? Teruko ponders her words for a moment, but then all of the chiefs stand up: ¡°Humans, this is a dari-matter. Stay out of it.¡±
¡°Guys!¡± Dai-kun is struggling against one of the two remaining guards, while the second arrow Katsuo-kun just shot does nothing against the braced shield of the last one. Yet, instead of asking for help: ¡°Push through!¡±
Teruko charges: ¡°[Speethrust]!¡± She aims at the demon, but something is strange, the tip of her spear is trembling. Maybe a chief is using the [Metalmancy] Masahiko-kun mentioned, trying to throw her off. Still, she just needs to push onward, no need to-This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°I like you.¡± The demon says gleefully to her. ¡°I''ll take you.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
A red glow surrounds the demon, stretching out to Teruko, like a tentacle--a light only Teruko could see.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Masahiko kicks Chief Lurdowf, but she''s tough and takes the hit like it''s nothing. He rushed forward with Teruko, but as she was aiming for the demon, he wanted to take care of the other ones. Yet, there is something strange going on, Teruko''s movements are becoming more and more cumbersome.
¡°Hahahahaha!¡± The demon laughs out. ¡°Poor heroes, charging in without a plan.¡± For a moment, her whole body seems to pixelize. ¡°Oh, a strong surface. However, this feeling... there! Oh my, oh dear!¡±
Masahiko raises his swords, sadly not to hurt the demon, but to fend off Chief Lurdowf and Chief Afwas at the same time. There are also Chief Phorrwo, Chief Ghawizz, and Chief Kennthu, each of them an opponent. ¡°Why are you helping her!? Don''t you see what she''s trying!?¡±
None of them answer, as though they were hypnotized. The demon doesn''t even care about him, her attention is all on Teruko: ¡°How could you? I mean, leaving your friend. Why didn''t you help her?¡± Is she speaking about Kyou? How does she know?
On the other hand, Teruko looks like she''s about to break into tears.
¡°Teruko! Snap out of it!¡± Masahiko has no time for the chiefs, yet his swords and armor are nudged from side to side; it''s way weaker than what Braxas is capable of, but makes it hard for him to put any power into his stances and attacks.
What''s happening to Teruko? ¡°[Slow]!¡± Masahiko sees how the movements of the chiefs suddenly start to slow down. Seizing this opportunity, he kicks Chief Ghawizz into her face, while he uses the blunt sides of his swords to hit the chiefs Kennthu and Afwas over their heads, the dar hardiness is a disadvantage here, as they''re still not out of cold. At least the [Slow] makes it impossible for them to get him with their [Metalmancy], as long as he keeps moving.
Following the advice of his shishou, Masahiko will make most of this situation by hitting them so often and so hard, that they can''t move anymore: ¡°[Exquip]!¡° He sees a menu, showing him his weapon sets, he changes to the two clubs: ¡°[Double Flurry]!¡± Both of his weapons begin to blur, as he unleashes a myriad of attacks with this skill, most of them rather weak, but this makes it better in this scenario: He just needs to cancel the skill the moment he sees his opponent faint.
[Exquip] is a [Maneuver]-skill, allowing him to quickly exchange and equip weapon sets, a skill vital for the [Fighter]-class, which is more about using fighting-styles instead of specific weapon-types. After hard training, Masahiko unlocked all of his abilities of this class, which makes him a combat Swiss army knife. Lurdowf isn''t capable of keeping up with this onslaught, yet Masahiko had to use the whole skill and an elbow in the face to seal the deal.
¡°Next one!¡± The [Maneuver]-ability is about movements, taking advantage and adapting strategies. So he uses [Stepping], which is the first [Maneuver]-skill he learned, he dances around the chiefs, making him a hard target for their [Metalmancy]. ¡°[Dual Thrust]!¡± [Dual Wield]-skills works no matter what kind of weapons they are, as long as they''re two of them. With both clubs before him, he rushes to the demon, trying to break whatever she is doing to Teruko.
Surprisingly, it hits. ¡°Ouch!¡± If Masahiko had known this, he would have used [Exquip] first, he seriously thought that the demon would defend herself and that he would instantly return to the chiefs, as long as they''re still under the effect of [Slow]. ¡°How rude. I mean, I like it, but I''m still playing with her.¡± The demon rubs her stomach, the place Masahiko''s clubs struck while licking her lips.
Teruko''s movements are now at a halt, her lips are trembling, her body shivers. ¡°What did you do to her!¡± Not only words but also clubs are used. ¡°[Wolf Fang]!¡±
This time, it doesn''t work that well. The demon suddenly is turning upside down, no, it''s Masahiko who suddenly loses the ground. ¡°[Roundabout]!¡± However, Masahiko''s attack is only half-disrupted, the first club still strikes. ¡°Ouch! Eh, what?¡±
[Roundabout] is a [Grapple]-skill, Daichi also has it. It''s just flipping someone with one hand, it''s a simple skill, which has the potential to throw someone to the ground at a strange angle. However, Masahiko swings his leg to add more power to the turn, enough to let him land on his feet. ¡°Not so fast!¡±
¡°[Wallsmacker]!¡± Another [Grapple]-skill, however, the demon''s hand pierces through Masahiko''s body. Or rather, his [Afterimage]. ¡°What!?¡±
[Afterimage] is a [Maneuver]-skill, doing it in succession is a surefire way to burn through all his SP, but once in a while, it''s an excellent way to gain an advantage. In this case, Masahiko is back to the chiefs, as they''re still slowed, he has to seize this opportunity, as too many dari in this battle will be the end. From what he saw, the demon isn''t that well-versed in fighting, normal-speed dari are much worse.
A quick look at Daichi shows him how this can be too true. While he has two of four guards down, he''s easily thrown against a wall by a single dar, like he weighs nothing. Dari are physically strong and can manipulate metal. Though the guards aren''t heroes, they most likely know a [Skill] or two, most likely related to battle.
¡°[Gust]!¡± Eri''s spell pushes against the other dari, throwing him a few meters back. ¡°Katsu-kun!¡±
¡°[Arrowblow]!¡± Katsuo is sweating like crazy, he has used the skill too much. An empty bottle is already at his feet, showing that he replenished some SP again, but he''s most likely the one knocking the hardy guards down.
Holding back is much harder than fighting with all they¡¯ve got! Time for Masahiko to follow their example, still four chiefs to go. ¡°[Wolf Fang]!¡± A combo-attack at the feet and the torso of the opponent: ¡°[Double Flurry]! Sorry, Chief Phorrwo.¡± Doing this to a woman hurts Masahiko as well, but better that than the alternative. Another [Stepping]-sequence, he needs to be in the flow.
Just three more to go and the demon, maybe Nikaws as well. Masahiko sure hopes, that his friends will be able to take out the last two guards as well, but in the end, the guards may be the most dangerous of them all right now.
What about Teruko? She''s grinding her teeth, while she stabs at the demon with her spear: ¡°Out of my head!!!¡±
¡°Ah, Sweetheart. It''s my head now, you can''t just steal it from me!¡±
Mind-control... is this what will happen when they face Katsuragi directly? Or is all of this a misunderstanding after all. No matter, Masahiko feels how his mind hardens: ¡°No time.¡± Chief Kennthu is also down, he''s less of a fighter than the former two.
Two more to go.
Also, time''s up. The movement of both dari chiefs begin to speed up, and Chief Ghawizz lifts her arms: ¡°[Metallock]!¡± Suddenly, Masahiko can''t move his armor, it''s like it''s locked onto the air. Not only his armor, every metal! ¡°You''re mistaken, hero.¡± Chief Ghawizz rubs her nose, Masahiko hopes it''s still intact, though things are looking bad.
Still, something about the chief is off. Like she''s not talking in any way he believes a mind-controlled person would speak: ¡°Where am I wrong?¡±
¡°You''re acting like we''re enemies, but Feuerberg and we do have an alliance, after all. Still, there''re things to consider, that''s why we listen to the demon''s side of the story.¡±
Maybe she''s right. However, Masahiko knows from Kragg, that something is up... or is it? He said the demon ''influences'' the chiefs and the king, not outright ''control'' them. ¡°But then why are you attacking the demon army in the tunnels?¡±
¡°Ain''t it obvious? You can attack an enemy''n still make business with ''em.¡±
Masahiko feels like hurling. This way of doing one thing why preaching another, this is just wrong! However, Chief Afwas doesn''t lose time to punch Masahiko in the stomach: ¡°Ugh!¡± A dar is powerful, despite their size! Counting in folkmen, why are small folk so strong!?
He turns his head to Teruko, who''s already at the ground, the spear some meters away. The demon has different [Grapple]-skills, Masahiko luckily only had a short clash with her.
The demon lies on top of Teruko and stares into her eyes: ¡°Yes, yes! Ah, that pain, how delightful. Ouch! Still struggling, huh!?¡± Teruko resists with hands and feet, her fingernails just left some marks on the demon''s skin. ¡°Back to your pain... there!¡±
Teruko silently screams, the anguish is visible on her face. ¡°Stop! Out!¡± Her body can''t muster the strength anymore, it''s a total lockdown!
Another look, back to Daichi, Katsuo, and Eri. Still two guards, but Katsuo is drinking another potion... why doesn''t their strategy work... of course, the arrowheads! They''re made out of metal, maybe the guards can soften them, considering the thick armor they''re wearing, this might be enough!
A fool. Masahiko feels like a fool again. He should have told everyone, but what was the alternative? To fight without their proper equipment? To fight with the intention to kill? Was there another way that wouldn''t betray his reason and conscious? Even if they all knew, would that have made a difference?
Nonetheless, it''s no reason to give up! ¡°HAAAAAAAAAA!¡± Masahiko tries to move his body, but his metal armor holds his body tightly. He can''t move his hands and clubs, which are locked down by his gauntlets.
¡°Hero, it''s futile.¡±
¡°Mark my words! Effort is never futile, it builds up!¡± Maybe not how you expect, but something is always left. Masahiko believes in this, always trying his best! It has built up to something! ¡°I can sense it! Now I will break it!¡±
¡°What do you mean!?¡±
¡°This!¡± Masahiko opens his class-select menu, he concentrates on [Fighter] for a moment, just to see possible class-ups. One of them is selectable now. ¡°I''m a [Vanguard]! I don''t falter!¡± He picks up his new class-up, accepting that this choice isn''t reversible. Life never is!
Masahiko''s first class-up felt like flames burning away his old self, his old class. This time, it feels like he''s diving into the earth, very similar to the time when Kragg pulled him through the floor. Though this feeling only lasts a split-second, as he feels more and more layers earth put on him, the sensation changes, as if the layers are being hammered, like he''s being forged into something else, something better, like iron that''s forged into steel.
Masahiko''s muscles expand, his armor takes this into account and also expands to fit him. Power is surging through his body. Also, the world feels different, while he had an inkling before, he knows why: Because of the metal. He can feel it!
A quick look at his stats, every [Attribute] had a bump, especially his [Vitality] and [Strength]. Though his skill-list is the most important thing now and Masahiko already knows that it has what he needs. [Metalmancy]-skill, [Block Metalmancy]. He uses it and the [Metallock] suddenly has no power over him, as his own [Metalmancy] is shielding himself from others''. ¡°Sorry. [Wolf Fang]!¡± The power of his [Skill] has risen as well, Chief Ghawizz is down while she''s still puzzled about what exactly happened.
Only Chief Afwas is left, the dar looks shocked. ¡°I won''t go down that easily!¡±
¡°Step down.¡± This is no order, this is a request. Still, the chief falls to his knees. ¡°Thank you.¡± Masahiko has no time for the chiefs anymore, now that he can block their interference, he better take on the demon. ¡°[Exquip]!¡± He changes to his swords and faces the demon, who''s now embracing Teruko for some reason.
Suddenly, the demon vanishes. No glow, no other kind of forewarning, she just disappeared. Teruko''s limbs start to tremble, as she has a seizure.
Masahiko has a bad feeling about it and a guess what''s happening. He doesn''t like it.
Teruko starts standing up, moving all awkwardly: ¡°Wha-¡± She looks pale and about to hurl: ¡°And I thought dari are strange... oh god, what... ah, this... ah, there, a good one. No, it turned bad, what''s that...¡± Slobber runs down Teruko''s chin, while her voice sounds strange.
¡°Get out.¡± This is no order, this is a threat. A cold threat Masahiko is giving, as he sees how a parasite is inside his friend.
However, he''s not even heard. ¡°Ah, this! This hurts! Why does it hurt! Or is it actually the best? What are you humans!? Urgh, I want to leave, this makes me sick. Why does it make me sick, wearing a dar or human? This doesn''t make sense!¡±
¡°Sorry, Teruko!¡± Masahiko runs towards Teruko and kicks her into the stomach. This hurts him, this hurts him so much, but doing nothing while this thing is inside her would hurt much more. He will apologize later, but for now, he needs to find a way to get the demon out!
¡°Uh... ah...¡± The demon seems to be unable to bear the pain: ¡°Why doesn''t it feel relieving!? I hate this! I hate this world! I hate these people!¡±
Will hurting her work? Masahiko thinks so, even though he has to be careful to break nothing. Actually, Teruko''s body should be sturdy, she''s a [Knight] right now, but when he kicked her, it was like there was no tension in her body to resist his blow.
¡°Aaaaaargh!¡± Suddenly, Daichi comes flying, missing Masahiko only by a hair''s width. Masahiko turns around, just to see another dar who comes through the door. It¡¯s the old dar Nikaws was speaking with those two times.
The dar scratches his beard while sighing. ¡°Seriously, Iekasa? Didn''t you learn anything when possessing the other girl? You''re showing the trash a pathetic side.¡± Without even looking, the dar catches an arrow that was aimed at the back of his head, just to use it as a toothpick, though it''s way too big: ¡°Ah, dar.¡± Throwing the arrow away, the dar starts circling its shoulders. ¡°Iekasa, just leave her already.¡±
Masahiko doesn''t like it. The way that person speaks makes it clear that this is another demon which only looks like a dar, maybe possessing it like the female demon does. ¡°So you''re the real demon hero?¡±
¡°Oh god, it''s speaking to me. Well, considering the circumstances, it can''t be helped. So you know about a demon hero? Aha. Interesting. Not me though.¡± His voice sounds so disinterested and wooden that Masahiko feels not taken seriously.
Luckily, Eri is currently chanting, most likely another [Slow], as this spell is a good way against any kind of opponent and easy to control. Masahiko looks at Daichi, who''s back to his feet, they exchange looks, and Masahiko¡¯s guess that this dar just hurled his friend is right.
The two dar guards who remain are also using this opportunity to carrying the unconscious chiefs out of the fray with Chief Afwas helping them. Maybe they will call for help, which might be good or not.
Another arrow, the demon in dar-disguise catches it as well. This time, the demon hurls it, but not back at Katsuo, but at Eri, who breaks her chant, as she was just pierced through the shoulder. ¡°Aaah!¡±
¡°ERI!¡± Masahiko runs to her.
Daichi, on the other hand, charges the enemy: ¡°[Sunder]!¡± The dar body doesn''t even move to evade, it only lifts its hand to catch the skill-empowered weapon, then with a snort, Daichi is flung against a wall again, though he nimbly climbs up his feet: ¡°You won''t take me down that easily!¡±
¡°Aha.¡± The same wooden voice, as if he''s only answering because it''s expected of him.
Masahiko is at Eri''s side: ¡°Breath, Eri!¡± He reminds her, the pain for her must be unbearable, as she''s unable to focus on anything but the wound. ¡°Change to [Exorcist], heal yourself!¡± She might not even think about this obvious idea right now.
Who is this guy!? Kragg mentioned a demon hero, but the one who he meant is the one still inside Teruko, while the real threat is someone who claims not to be a hero. If this is true, has Kragg not noticed this one or did he just not tell Masahiko?
¡°Katsuo, take care of Eri until she''s better.¡± Teruko or Daichi? Both of them need his support, but he''s only one person. As he has no idea how to help Teruko, Masahiko decides to take on the demon instead, at least he just needs to beat it. ¡°[Dual Thrust]!¡±
¡°[Treesplitter]!¡± Daichi supports by using his own skill, two sides, three weapons!
The demon catches the axe with the left hand, the first sword with his right, and the second sword with his third hand. Yes, his third hand, as suddenly a big, purple arm breaks through the skin of the dar. ¡°...I liked that skin.¡± Then the dar ruptures, Masahiko and Daichi quickly get some distance.
A three-meter, four-armed, and six-legged thing emerges from within, pieces of dari-skin still hanging onto its relatively slender body. While the arms are human-like, the legs are three pairs of limbs, a giant insect pair, a lion pair, and an eagle pair. Instead of a head, it has its face in the middle of its torso with two large, fanged mouths above and under its big, yellow-glowing eyes. Masahiko has never seen something like that before. ¡°Who are you!¡±
Both mouths answer: ¡°¡°I''m Demon Lord #8.¡±¡± Number eight!? What kind of naming is that!? ¡°¡°Well, I used to be ''Demon Lord of the Crags'', but when the demon king arrived and beat us, we were numbered by the pecking order.¡±¡±
Oh god! Masahiko doesn''t even know what to think! First, there are at least eight demons stronger than this one, counting in the demon king, but this exposition on how the demon king changed things in the demon realm is giving Masahiko headaches.
From what he learned about the country of demons, the demon lords lead large groups of demons by strength. Before the demon king appeared, each of them had their own territory, and they used to fight among themselves. Now the demon lords are vassals of the demon king, who started to form the place they lived into a proper nation.
All Masahiko knows was taught to him by the tutors of Feuerberg, who admitted that they knew very little about the demons, as going into their lands was always considered quasi-suicide. Masahiko was at the borders of the demon realms, and it was an infertile mess of a land.
However, another matter is still relevant: ¡°Don''t you have another name? I mean, I can call you Eight, but that... feels wrong.¡±
¡°¡°Annerammarannae.¡±¡±
¡°Then I''ll call you Ramma.¡±
¡°¡°Hah...¡±¡± Ramma looks puzzled, as if he''s thinking of something. ¡°¡°Doesn''t matter anyway.¡±¡± Ramma''s pairs of arms are on his chest and his back respectively. Suddenly both arms at his chest are clapping, unleashing a gust of wind right at Masahiko.
Strong! It''s like a windstorm, Masahiko''s feet are leaving the ground, and he flies against the ceiling, only to be at gravity''s mercy a moment later. However: ¡°[Gyrodash]!¡± His skill makes him spin around with his two swords, like a spinning top of blades. As the skill also moves him, he can control the direction he''s falling at.
Daichi changes to [Grappler]: ¡°[Bear Hug]!¡± Both his arms lock around Ramma¡¯s lower torso. The demon lord''s hind-arms clap together, creating a burst of fire,, engulfing both of them, but Daichi, unfazed by this, keeps his grip. He has the [Toughness]-ability after all, which has skills to decrease damage.
However, as immobile Rammas is, he can still catch Masahiko''s weapons with his forehands. ¡°Time to-¡± An arrow flies at his back, this time all of his hands are busy, two creating flames, the other keeping Masahiko at bay.
¡°...not good,¡± Katsuo comments, as the arrowhead is buried deep into Ramma''s flesh, but elicits no reaction at all. ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± Four more arrows have the same effect.
Eri''s fine again, but she seems unsure how to act, as her strong offense spells will most likely catch her friends. So she decides to try [Slow] another time.
The worst of all is... ¡°Uh... my lord, I want to be part of the fun, too.¡± Teruko is limping to her weapon.
¡°No time to hold back, I guess...¡± While [Vanguard] is his most recent class-up and he got some new skills there, neither the class nor those skills could be tested. Now without any dari here to interfere, it''s time to use his strongest class.
Back in Esse, every one of them had their own tutors when they trained for the class-ups. Masahiko, Teruko, and Daichi were trained by retired knights. However, Masahiko''s shishou was a strange one who was only willing to teach Masahiko after seeing him personally. After a short exchange of words, Masahiko had a training experience like those on TV and in games. Like he said to Daichi before, the memory is fond, but he wouldn''t want to live through it again.
Yet, Masahiko did not want to class-up his [Fighter] to [Knight], as he had a little project of his own. He attained the [Adventurer]-class before, though adventurers aren''t as popular as he had suspected. However, he desired to create the ultimate [Adventurer], so he wanted to combine it with certain elements.
Maybe it was this choice. Maybe it was because of who his shishou was. Nonetheless, Masahiko didn''t become a [Knight]. He attained another [Class]. He opens his menu, chooses that one class, that nobody had heard of before, though his shishou was in a sense the embodiment of this: [Champion].
Power surges through his body, not the stoutness of earth, but the fire of justice. Rammas may have a tight grip on his weapons, but there are still plenty of options: ¡°[Drillkick]!¡±
As a [Champion], Masahiko can use [Brawl], his shishou always mixes unarmed combat into his crazy sword skills. This nasty skill is a kick which drills the heel upon impact, creating a very painful and piercing experience of pure force at work. It''s aimed at Ramma''s body.
Ramma''s hands are all opening, he''s surprised by this shock, now the flames disappear, and Masahiko''s weapons are free. So no need to stop: ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡± [Adventurer] already had the [Sword]-ability, so it''s no surprise that [Champion] keeps it. The powerful strike follows the moment the first blade is free. ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡± The advantage of having two weapons is, when you use a skill that only needs one weapon, you can do them in swift succession.
¡°Katsuo!¡± Daichi shouts out: ¡°Use the thing!¡± What is he talking about? ¡°Masa, we''ll keep that thing busy, you have to take care of Teruko-san!¡±
¡°Alright!¡± Daichi has a plan, Masahiko will trust it. So he steps before his friend in need: ¡°Teruko!¡± He still has no idea how he can break that possession, but he believes in the power of friendship! ¡°Fight her!¡±
¡°I feel...¡± In a reflex, Iekasa puts Teruko''s hand before her mouth. It seems to have an effect! So Masahiko has to keep going!
He tries to blend out the sound of battle, as he takes Teruko''s hand. He just has to try everything he can think of!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°You can do it!¡± ''I know, I know, geez!'' Currently, Teruko is struggling against the demon named Iekasa, but this is not the kind of struggle between bodies, but between their selves. Their memories, their determination, and most importantly, their feelings.
It feels a lot like punching someone with things that aren''t supposed to be used as a weapon. Teruko uses the good feelings and memories of winning races in elementary school only to be blocked by Iekasa¡¯s feeling of power and dominance in possessing Nikaws, while the demon counters with her feeling of glee hurting Teruko emotionally earlier when it reminded her of failing to save Kyou-chan.
This way, Teruko has learned a lot about Iekasa and her recent doings. She''s a demon which is capable of sensing and controlling emotions and slowly taking over other people by using their own feelings against them. However, since Iekasa was summoned into this world to counter the heroes of Feuerberg--Teruko and her classmates--it didn¡¯t work as it used to, something is wrong about it in ways even Iekasa can¡¯t understand.
After two failed attempts to use emotions and impressions from prior to the summoning, Iekasa used only post-summoning memories to get the better of Teruko. While Iekasa does control her body to some degree, Teruko¡¯s struggle makes the demon lose more and more of it.
However, while Iekasa''s attacks are running out, she always hits against Teruko''s awareness of the Kyou-chan-situation, about her frustration about it, how helpless she feels, everything that reduced her to the sorry state she''s in. It''s like stepping on someone''s broken arm, it hurts so much, and she''s about to faint because of this intense torture. It becomes harder and harder to call any useful emotion for this kind of battle.
Now Masahiko-kun is here, she''s happy, but can''t help but feel a bit annoyed, as she causes him trouble. Instead, he should help Dai-kun, who is trying his best to holding the demon lord still while being reduced to a pulp.
''Ouch!'' She should just be thankful, complaining and self-pity makes her even weaker! She hates how she can''t do anything right now.
¡°Teruko, you''re strong! Unbelievably strong!¡± Masahiko talks to her, his touch feels like fire, the sensation is not only painful for Iekasa, but for Teruko as well. ¡°You just have to forgive yourself!¡±
''Forgive myself...'' How pathetic. He had to speak it out for her to understand. No one is blaming her for what happened with Katsuragi and Kyou-chan. Her friends are all on her side, even Kyou-chan won''t blame her... at least not that much. The one who puts all the blame on her is herself.
¡°Do it better next time!¡±
''Next time...'' There will be no next time if she lets that demon control her; she will end up like Nikaws, whose personality is pushed into a corner, too hurt to come back to the surface, even after Iekasa left her. ''No.''
Another blow to her memories, another try to hurt her guilt. However, it''s the guilt which is just a memory now. Teruko has unloaded that weight on her mind, now she''s back! When she''s finished here, she will make that frustration she felt up to now into strength.
For now, though, she has to get rid of that demon. For what she learned, any kind of positive emotion will do. There is a treasure inside her mind that only her best friend Kyou-chan knows of. She summons the picture of Nissy. He''s so damn hot!
¡°Ugh!¡± Iekasa can''t handle it, right? Too bad, she has plenty of fantasies here. How about the daydreams she had about Ikuta Touma? ¡°Agh! Stop, what-!¡±
''Hehe, don''t like it? Then you will hate the next one.'' Did anyone notice how close Masahiko-kun and Dai-kun are? Masahiko-kun is the seme here.
¡°...buee...¡± Teruko''s body falls on its knees, as Iekasa can''t handle this picture.
''This is nothing!'' How Katsuo-kun seems a bit off in this boy-mix, but what if he''s trying to netorare Masahiko-kun here, turning him more and more into an uke? Masahiko-kun can be both, after all!
¡°...stop it!¡±
In the end, all three of them will-
¡°NOOOOOO!¡±
Teruko eels like a weight is lifted from her mind, both figuratively and literally, as Iekasa is kicked out of her body. The demon hero reappears right next to her, lying on the ground. Teruko and Iekasa come back to their feet at the same time, however- ¡°Take this!¡± Teruko punches with all her might. ¡°Masa-kun!¡± She decides it''s the best time to finally use his nickname: ¡°Go!¡± She knows how sinister her face must look, as she cracks her knuckles: ¡°She''s mine!¡±
The look on Iekasa''s face is priceless.
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 1-6
The other fight isn''t going that well. Eri looks at Ramma with disbelief, as he''s under her [Slow]-spell and still moving too fast for Katsu-kun to aim properly. He has another bow out, but every time he pulls the string halfway, he lets it fall back again. ¡°What''s wrong!?¡±
¡°...too much movement, need to realign my aim every time, the distance is too close.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°...just do something that keeps him in place for a while.¡±
¡°I can''t, it''s stone here!¡± [Earth Grasp] and [Earth Bind] have a problem: It doesn''t work with stone, it has to be earth. It may harden after they grasp the targets, but before that, it needs to be moldable. Same problem with [Dirt Sling]. While [Stonemeld] can shape stone, it stops the moment she uses another skill.
Her offensive wind-spells are too dangerous in closed rooms and incapable of holding the target. ¡°[Wind Pillow]!¡± The only thing she can do is put up something between Dai-kun and the demon lord when the latter attacks. ¡°[Gust]!¡± The second spell will only distract him, as Ramma claps its hands to redirect her wind stream.
Daichi-kun! Just go away! No, stick close! If Eri uses a potent spell, Ramma might decide to take her out for good, she considers herself lucky that she has only a hurt shoulder.
She can''t do anything here!
¡°Eri!¡± Masa calls her: ¡°Daichi needs healing!¡±
...ah, that''s right. Usually, she sticks to [Wizard] during battles, but she can also use [Exorcist], her classed-up [Priest] in battle. ¡°[Heal]!¡± She restores some of Daichi-kun''s health. Wait a minute, doesn''t she have that [Exorcise]-spell as well? The base premise to become an [Exorcist]?
Problem is the range. No, she should leave it to the boys to keep that guy busy. This enemy is way above her, she should stick to what she''s good at.
Well, there is another spell she can use, one she asked to learn while being trained as an [Exorcist]: ¡°[Protect]! [Protect]!¡± She saw that spell when Kyou-chan cast it, it seemed to be useful. Now Masa and Daichi-kun are surrounded by a small, protective barrier.
Katsu-kun''s hands start to tremble, maybe he''s already exhausted. He drinks another potion. Nonetheless, his face is still pale.
Neither Masa nor Daichi-kun can land a decent hit, Ramma isn''t even trying that hard. He''s mostly moving around and clapping his hands to create fire and wind. At least he doesn''t use lightning as well, yet it''s still enough to foil the strategies the two boys come up with.
Eri changes to [Wizard] again, her MP are already at their final third, but she still has some potions for emergencies. She has to do something for Masa. There is her [Lightning Bolt]-spell, which might be enough, but it takes some time to cast, cost most of her remaining MP, and there are some issues with this spell, especially with Masa and Daichi-kun so close to her target.
She looks at her last resort, the [Class-up] she almost has. She spent a day in a hole, in a dark, scary hole--alone! It was scary, she lost her sense of time, she started to have hallucinations! Ophwizz called it being ''one with the stone'', but the only thing that had a connection to it was her skin with its dirt!
Masa had his moment of revelation, right in this battle, why does she have no idea what to do now!? Sometimes she envies Masa for his simple-mindedness. It''s not that he''s stupid, he''s just direct and doesn''t overcomplicate things.
Now he''s hurled through the cave, as Ramma grabbed and threw him. Yet he stands up, most likely thinking something like ''I just need to keep going.'' Well, again to [Exorcist]: ¡°[Heal]!¡± Masa''s scratches close and Eri comes closer to her childhood friend: ¡°Fess it up!¡±
¡°Huh!?¡± He''s visibly puzzled.
¡°What won''t you tell me? What kind of secret are you keeping? Most likely for me, but I need to know. Now!¡±
¡°Erm...¡± Masahiko points to Daichi-kun, who is under Ramma''s lion middle-legs, while his eagle fore-legs are clawing at him.
¡°Then be quick!¡± She insists. Daichi-kun has [Toughness], for the moment his skin is as hard as iron.
Shrugging his shoulders, Masa charges at the demon lord again: ¡°[Quicksword]! [Steel Slicer]!¡± Again with two-[Sword]-skills combo. ¡°It''s just-¡± Masa starts to explain in a loud voice: ¡°-that dari-¡± He aims at Ramma''s legs, causing him to leave Daichi-kun alone: ¡°-can sense and control metal.¡±
...how is this supposed to help!?
Katsuo-kun draws his bow once more, then Daichi-kun throws Ramma from his body as if the three-meter demon lord was just a pillow, a [Wrestling]-skill most likely. Seeing how his aim was again prevented, this time by his own teammate, Katsuo-kun exhales irritated. After a deep breath, he returns to his usual calm demeanor.
¡°Sorry, Katsuo-kun,¡± Daichi-kun apologizes: ¡°Couldn''t hold it longer.¡± Massive amounts of sweat drip from Daichi-kun''s body. ¡°Masa, need to recharge.¡±
¡°Got it!¡±
¡°[Heal]!¡± As Daichi-kun drinks an SP-potion, Eri gives him some of his health back as well.
Still, why exactly is it essential that dari can feel and control metal... Wait, is this the reason why Daichi and Katsuo had so much trouble with the guards before? She thought they were just that tough, but what if there is more to it.
To feel one with the earth... does this fit in? But what has earth to do with metal? She feels like there is a bell, that wants to be rung, something about chemistry. Something about salts and ions, she thinks. Yes, metals are part of salts. Minerals include metals as well.
However, this line of thinking doesn''t fit with magic at all, as magic is, well, magic. Scrap that thought. Let''s assume that Ophwizz wanted to teach Eri how to feel metal and stone by putting her into that hole, and that part of her hallucinations was actually something that awakened inside her. Yes, that sounds good.
She tries to remember the feeling; the connection she had with the earth at that time, while she thought she was just going crazy. Yes, a dark hole. She resisted it before, thinking it was something terrible, but actually, it might be something good after all...
Nothing. Why is nothing coming to her right now? ¡°Mou! [Wind Pillow]!¡± Is she damned to be just support here!?
¡°Eri-san,¡± Katsuo speaks up, ¡°Cast [Gust]-spell!¡±
¡°Why? He will just clap his hands and redirect it again.¡±
¡°This is what I''m aiming for.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Masahiko is attacking Ramma with simple sword-attacks as he is running low on SP. Yet it¡¯s a calculated risk. Daichi is trying his best to keep Ramma immobile, so Masahiko wants to support it. The real problem is whenever Ramma claps his hands, stuff happens. His forehands create wind, his backhands create fire. Maybe something else will happen if he claps his left and his right hands.
There are still questions lingering in Masahiko''s mind: ¡°What exactly-¡± one strike from above, one from the left: ¡°-was your plan anyways!¡± Ramma catches both of them with ease, Masahiko kicks him in the face, which is comfortably situated in the middle of his torso. ¡°It doesn''t make any sense right now!¡± Pushing his foot between Ramma''s eyes, he breaks his swords free again.
Having an army at the border, infiltrating the dari to make them attack said army with significant forces, is there a trap? Or is that just a distraction while they do something else? Masahiko doesn''t know, he doesn''t know whether this is clever or a stupid plan.
¡°¡°Why should I tell you?¡±¡± A valid point, actually. Whatever the plan is, there is no reason to tell the enemy, it''s just what Masahiko hope him to do, like in his favorite stories..
¡°...aren''t you confident about it?¡± That''s usually the motivation behind having a villain monologuing.
¡°Trash, I''m here to play, not to talk.¡± Calling this fight a game, this shows that he really doesn''t need to assure his confidence.
Is it time for that? No, not now. He can still fight Ramma without it, but up to now, Masahiko has only dealt minor injuries and a bit of shock to the demon lord. To use it properly, they first need a way to win. Otherwise, he will grow too dependent.
Daichi is finally at Ramma''s back, clenching him again. Ramma claps his hind-arms to create fire, but Daichi''s [Toughness]-skill has cooled down.
¡°Now!¡± Katsuo calls out.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
¡°[Gust]!¡± Eri hurls a strong wind stream, but Ramma''s claps his fore-hands and redirects it with his own wind.
However: ¡°[Powershot]!¡± At the moment Ramma isn''t¡¯ moving and all four of his arms are busy, a single arrow flies at him "piercing through his body with ease, the arrow continues its flight and bores into the cavern walls.
Amazing! This is an amazing shot! This power is enough to kill a human instantly!
Yet Ramma still stands, so Masahiko follows up: ¡°[Double Flurry]!¡± He aims every attack at the hole in Ramma''s body.
Ramma opens his hands, now his left hands clap. A shockwave pushes Daichi and Masahiko away, Masahiko feels how his inner organs are aching, the same seems to be true for Daichi.
Pain is no reason to stay down! Masahiko and Daichi stand up, ready for the next assault. They now have a way to win this. It has been Katsuo all along!
¡°Looking all manly here?¡± Teruko joins them, dragging a badly wounded Iekasa by her cat-tail. ¡°Well, let me join, too. This one has had enough.¡± She throws the unconscious demon into the corner.
Five against one, a way to win, everything is in place. ¡°[Exquip]!¡± Masahiko switches his weapon set, his magic sword lies now in his right hand.
¡°¡°Oh,¡±¡± Ramma sounds... excited? For some reason, both of his mouths start speaking separately, they speak fast without any break: ¡°I-want-to-see,-what-he-got.¡± ¡°There-is-no-reason-to-stay-here-anymore.¡± ¡°We-still-have-some-time,-before-someone-else-arrives.¡± ¡°We-can''t-kill-all-of-them-in-time.¡° ¡°What-about-the-fun?¡± ¡°What-about-everything-else?¡±
Masahiko raises his magic sword: ¡°{Heed my call!}¡± His voice vibrates through the cavern, while he points at Ramma with his weapon: ¡°{This is our enemy! Don''t falter, fight to the best of your abilities. We will take him down together!}¡± A soft light surrounds the blade, and like candles, first Masahiko is set alight, following by Daichi, Eri, Katsuo, and Teruko. ¡°{United we stand!}¡±
Daichi charges forward: ¡°[Turbo Tackle]!¡± Ramma tries to catch him by the shoulders but is pushed back, as Daichi musters more strength than the demon lord expected.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± The last bit of resistance against the tackle is broken by a spear, that at least got the blade all the way into Ramma''s body. However, it''s stuck, so Teruko just pushes alongside Daichi, trying to press Ramma to the wall.
The still free hind-hands are about to clap: ¡°[Gust]!¡± The spell extinguishes the flames the moment before they come, it''s like Eri knew that Ramma wanted to use that move in advance.
¡°[Powershot]!¡± This one hits and pierces the left hind-elbow the demon lord, the arm goes limp.
The magic sword is calling to all of them, it''s the epitome of Masahiko''s beliefs: True power is friendship. They all act as one, the moment Daichi felt how Ramma''s body was about to move, his experience in judo gave him an idea of what he''s about to do. This thought transferred to Eri, who exactly knew how to counter it, while Katsuo was able to seize the moment, as he knew where Ramma''s arms would be.
Ramma is at the wall, time for Masahiko to make his move: ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡± He jumps at the demon lord, whose front hands are now held by Daichi, while the same and Teruko pins him down, so the only hand Ramma still has left is his hind-right. However, he doesn''t raise it in time, Masahiko''s blade strikes right in the middle of the headless body from above, the magic sword cuts up into his upper mouth.
¡°Ouch!¡± ¡°Said-so!¡± Ramma''s free hand punches the still airborne Masahiko in the face, it feels like a hammer. These are the attacks Daichi had to endure all this time! While Masahiko moves with the punch to soften it, it''s still enough to push him back. Ramma uses this opportunity to wrestle a tiny bit of his right palm free, clapping it with his right hind-hand.
Both hind-hands create fire. Both front-hands create wind. Both left hands create a shockwave. What does both right hands create? Earth and stone! A wave of debris begins to fill the cavern, swallowing Ramma, Daichi, and Teruko. ¡°DAICHI! TERUKO!¡± Masahiko runs to them, but the wall of earth is pressing towards him, always collapsing here and there, threatening to swallow Masahiko as well.
With his sword''s power he can feel where both are, they''re trying their best to dig themselves free, but then he feels the terror of Eri, as she has seen Ramma where he''s not supposed to be. So Masahiko takes a look.
Yes, the demon lord stands right next to the unconscious Iekasa, lifting her up: ¡°Well, got to go.¡± Only the lower mouth speaks: ¡°I still win.¡± Then he swallows Iekasa in one gulp, even though it should have been impossible considering their respective sizes. Ramma might be big, but he''s only about three meters tall; Iekasa is half his size.
What concerns Masahiko more though is that look. Then he realizes, that there is one more person in the room, someone who stayed still the whole time, just like the furniture: Nikaws. Masahiko steps between Ramma and her: ¡°You won''t take or kill her.¡± Given what happened with Teruko, this girl is also just a victim.
¡°Whatever,¡± the demon king shrugs all four shoulders. ¡°Just for your information...¡± Then he claps on his side with his right hands, and a rocket-like stone bullet shoots out of his intact mouth.
¡°[Dirt Sling]!¡± Another missile, one from Eri, who was doing her best to rescue Teruko and Daichi from their earth prison. However, with the magic from Masahiko¡¯s sword, she instantly knew about the bullet and tries to slow it down.
¡°Thank you! [Deflect]!¡± Using his sword to lead the bullet''s course, he turns around once and steers it back to its owner.
The bullet hits, but Ramma doesn''t seem too impressed, he also catches a [Powershot] from Katsuo with a hand, as this time he has them free. ¡°Bummer.¡± He holds his left-hind wrist with his right hind-hand and uses his left hand to make a clap, the shockwave. However, he directs it downwards, using it as a drill. He goes through his tunnel, and the hole is filled with new earth behind him.
Masahiko stays on alert, same as Katsuo, while Eri continues her rescue efforts. Her earth affinity is handy here. About a minute later, the two are free and Masahiko concludes that Ramma indeed retreated.
In the end, Masahiko learned nothing, not about the plan, not about their goal, nothing at all, so he''s not even sure if he foiled anything after all. This whole fight seems pointless retrospectively. Ramma also earned nothing but a beating by sticking around here.
Yet Masahiko decided to wait until the Borhro-clan''s guards show up. They''ll explain themselves, and maybe the dari will see how things turned bad in a way. How Iekasa used their greed to make them dance by her tune.
He''s feeling confident that the dari will listen.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Hey lordie!¡± The demon lord #8 is greeted by Wistlewhew, one of his commanders. ¡°You look hurt! Did you fight? Man, I wish I could have fought.¡±
¡°Wait a moment,¡± Demon Lord #8 asks. He concentrates on the essence that''s Iekasa and spits her out. ¡°Yes, I fought. Everything according to plan?¡±
¡°Almost. We got a group in unnoticed, we fought, we still got our asses kicked. Broke in a few of the slackers. What about that one?¡± Wistlewhew points at the still unconscious Iekasa.
¡°Was detected by the trash.¡±
¡°You should stop calling all non-demons trash, lordie. They are toys, after all.¡±
¡°You can also play with trash and have fun with it. It''s not like they were made to make us have fun.¡±
¡°Yes, yes. What about your arm?¡±
¡°Might take a while. Still not back at full strength, though I was able to fine-tune it a bit.¡±
¡°Ah, my poor lordie. Should I rip it off and eat it?¡±
¡°No. Also, quit the lordie, call me Ramma.¡±
¡°Oh! Lord Ramma, what a nice sound.¡±
¡°Annerammarannae is gone, after all. We''ll continue to observe the battle against the dari trash.¡±
¡°Ah, I knew you would say that.¡± Wistlewhew''s disappointment resonates in his voice.
Demons are different from other species. They love to destroy, they love to kill, these are their most basic instincts. Demons who rule over others have to become stronger than others, but a strong demon who wants to survive in their society also need cunning.
While Lord Ramma is weakened by his confrontation with the demon king, he has preserved his cunning. He has obtained two of five possible objectives of this operation, while two of them were unlikely to begin with. Not a bad cut, it just cost him a suit of skin and recovery time.
Just one thing is left... what to do about Iekasa. Her nature as a demon is more subtle, the ones that like to manipulate others, an indirect destroyer and murderer. He expected more from her, but the demon heroes need more time to accustom themselves to this world than he expected.
He wants to kill her, he wants to break her, he wants to devour her. Even the demon king won''t notice, as she was just behind enemy lines just now, Lord Ramma could say that she was killed by the trash.
Yet he has to remember why he saved her in the first place and he doesn''t want to take any risks that might deny him the ultimate pleasure that''s called genocide. ¡°Hey, Wistlewhew. I need to kill someone, are you free?¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Without their equipment and backpacks, Masahiko and his friends are waiting in the guest quarters of the king inside the government building. ¡°Yes, a two!¡± While the situation would usually call them to be all tensed up, they decided to ask for a board game instead. ¡°Safe!¡± Masahiko is in one of the situations, where there are only a few safe spaces between harmful ones.
¡°Lucky as ever. My turn... a seven? One, two, three-¡± Eri makes a discontent sound: ¡°Event-space. ''Your delivery service is striking, you can either spend one upkeep to raise their wages or spend 10 capital and gain two discontent to change the service.'' I''d really like to pay them more, but I need to think about the future. Here.¡± She puts her capital tokens inside the bank box while taking two discontent token from their packet.
Many games of the dari are about trying to build up a business, this one is for their juveniles, so it''s rules are advanced. Currently, Masahiko and Eri are leading. Masahiko''s mercenary business he called ''Adventurer''s Guild'' is always fluctuating, but he was able to keep it in the black somehow, while Eri''s clothes business, which she calls ''Fashion Line'' is netting stable profits, even as discontent raises.
Daichi''s blacksmiths are always almost crashing, while Katsuo''s coaster makes net profits, but only small ones. Teruko''s brewery is in the red currently, Masahiko sure hopes that her investments will pay off in the long run.
It actually feels a bit like ''Game of Life'', just more economics-oriented.
Someone is knocking on the door: ¡°Yes?¡± Masahiko answers for the rest, priests are here. ¡°The king asks for you.¡±
¡°Right. Can you keep the board like it is? We''ll continue later.¡± Masahiko has no doubt that everything will work out. They may have trespassed Borhro-territory, but they also revealed the demons'' plot, though they don''t know what their exact objectives were.
However, this day, Masahiko feels like the hero he''s supposed to be, and he''s sure that nothing will spoil his good mood right now.
This time, they''re invited to the throne room. Masahiko feels like someone is watching him, this feeling, it has to be Kragg. Maybe this is a sign of respect, maybe it''s caution. It doesn''t matter though, as twenty guards are accompanying the five heroes, this feels like a procession.
The moment the big doors to the throne room are opened, they''re welcomed by applause. Masahiko feels how pride fills his chest and makes him walk more energized. King Urgrohr stands aside several of the chiefs. ¡°Y''ve done well, Heroes.¡± He pokes everyone in the arm, which is a bit like a handshake for dari, ¡°y''ve my thanks and the thanks of all Kraggwas.¡±
It was a hard journey. It was a muddy swamp of emotions to deal with, a vast realm of grayness and insecurities. But in the end, everything is clear again, everything is right. The praise of King Urgrohr and the others make this journey worth it.
Like iron, they have been stressed and hammered. Now they''re steel.
Masahiko feels it, and he knows that his friends also feel it. They have taken the next step, now they need to see the rest of their class-ups through and return to Feuerberg. Then Masahiko will ask the king to let them look for Kyou.
However, today is a day of celebration. He hopes that Kyou is well, they will rest hard, recharge their batteries, then they will bring her back!
A new starting line has been established.
Volume 05.5 - Intermission 1
Intermission 1
¡°Finally, you drink a sip of the water, change cups, then take another sip from your spouse''s cup, and then you empty the rest into the pot with the seed and the earth. If even a drop of water wets your clothing, it''s a sign of a bad first year. Now that you... Kenta? Are you sleeping?¡±
¡°...I wish.¡± I''m merely facepalming so much that it looks like I''ve fallen asleep with my head in my hands. The reason is that I asked Rine to tell me ''everything'' about marriage. I''m two hours in, and she has used that time to explain really every little detail, like how to propose, how to organize the ceremony, every little superstition, plus every step for the actual ceremony.
Now I even know the dress-code, like that necklaces, ties, ribbons or other neckwear are not allowed, that wearing boots as footwear is not tolerated, and that the wedding garments will be worn for three days after the ceremony.
Often Rine doesn''t know the reasons, but she sure knows all the stuff that''s necessary, optional, and favored. While most of it is boring as hell, I don''t want her to stop, as any little detail may give me a better idea what to expect.
There are also some variations depending on culture and status, but most basics are the same according to Rine. The customs she knows best is the royal ceremony of Feuerberg, and she spares no effort to give me an idea, that I had better learn everything.
Or that this is the ceremony she wants for herself, giving me glances at times while making her full lips giving a pleading expression.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Ara-san stopped paying attention after the first ten minutes and is currently cross-referencing the results of our experiments with her data on the alfr-heroes again.
Kyou-san is still listening, quite interested, sometimes even asking questions in-between. Like this one: ¡°Isn''t there an exchange of gifts between spouses there?¡±
¡°No, why?¡±
¡°Then how can you tell, if someone is married?¡±
¡°In Feuerberg, there is no such custom, as marriage should not be bound by a physical object. In D¨¦juma, married people are the only ones, that wear something blue, but they also don''t exchange objects during the ceremony. Deep in the south, they have something like wedding-earrings.¡± For some reason, Rine''s showing a grimace.
¡°Keep going.¡± Kyou-san ignores Rine''s face, maybe she already knows the reason for why the far south is a sour spot for her, or she tries to not change the topic altogether.
¡°Where was I?¡±
¡°Water on the clothes. Why do you exchange cups before and don''t drink from the same cup in the first place?¡± This would be the Japanese custom.
¡°To show that you don''t just share, but also bring your own resources into the marriage, that your spouse can now also access.¡±
¡°Afterward you plant the seed into the earth?¡±
¡°Exactly, to pronounce your marriage to the world. The same reason, why you wear your wedding clothes for three days.¡±
By the way, deciding which plant to use is a vital part according to Rine, as each tree, bush, or flower stands for something different, like how pinatree stands for a passionate marriage.
There is something that''s nagging me: ¡°Rine, while I appreciate the amount of details you''re giving us,¡± - in some way - ¡°how much longer will it take?¡±
¡°Hn?¡± Rine cocks her blond-haired head, as she tries to make an estimation: ¡°A few hours. Why do you ask?¡±
¡°...because we''re still on a break, even though we should be on our way since long ago. We''ll continue it on the way.¡±
¡°Ah! How could I forget, it''s my and Kyou''s turn holding hands with you now!¡±
Both of them at the same time... How can I endure this onslaught of useless knowledge without a hand free to facepalm!?
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 2-1 – The Fallen Heroes and the Necropolis
Chapter 2 ¨C The Fallen Heroes and the Necropolis
Lent Wood, formerly known as Yoshimura Rentaro, used to be a hero of Feuerberg, but things have gone another way than initially expected. He was reborn in Aroahenn, an elven village, and what happened before that is now just knowledge in his head.
Not memories, knowledge. Like all that happened before was read in a book, he knows when he was angry, when he was sad, but he doesn''t remember the feelings themselves.
Some people might think that he lost everything, but he''s kinda happy with it. The power which courses its ways through his veins, the feeling of ascending into a higher being, these new feelings tell him that he left behind something weak and became something strong. He is now a hero, not only because he was summoned, but because it''s now part of his innermost identity.
However, the moment he was reformed was the moment when he had nothing to do. He lost any purpose and therefore couldn''t muster much of his new strength. This, plus the damage his former self received are the reasons why he lost the fight against Katsuragi Kenta back then.
He has it now, though. A purpose.
Like most heroes, Lent is serving a deity, but not the unknown one who brought him to this world. No, he''ll serve Kami-sama from now on.
The Lady of Midnight, the Mother of Stars, the Ever Accepting.
To call out her name would be a sacrilege. No mortal has the right, has the confidence to. So Lent calls her Kami-sama.
To serve Kami-sama, Lent wants to become stronger.
Also, there are things in his past, which are very interesting and intriguing. He was once in love. With the person who was also his class president, Momokawa Kyou. Lent can''t recall these feelings, but he knows that he used to fantasize a lot about that beauty. Her face is clearly in his memory, he idolizes her, just like Kami-sama.
He wants to meet her. Make her his own. Because he''s sure that he will fall in love with her again.
She didn''t like him before, but that was Yoshimura Rentaro. Now he''s Lent Wood, a whole other person. Not the one who confessed to her during elementary school. Not the one who tried his best in middle school to become the top of the class, always failing because of his inadequacy.
He used to work hard with no reward.
Yoshimura Rentaro was a loser, the proof that hard work doesn''t always pay off. Lent Wood is something else. Instead of a student, he was already a wizard, was always a wizard, and being a wizard is the core of his being. He is much more intelligent than Yoshimura Rentaro. Much more capable.
Magic is part of his flesh. It''s so easy to sense it, to feel it, to make use of it. After training for just a bit, Lent is able to use simple spells even while in the [Soldier] or [Merchant]-class. Lent is strong, and with Kami-sama as an anchor, as a reason to put these powers to use, he''ll crush anyone who stands in his way.
Yoshimura Rentaro had to kill the demon lord for a single, perfect wish, but Lent Wood has a new quest, a quest Kami-sama gave to him: To convince twenty other heroes to change loyalty to Kami-sama.
He also has a partner, with a similar mission: To kill a hundred other heroes. Said partner, Star, was also someone else once. He used to be Hoshibashi Takashi, a classmate of Yoshimura Rentaro.
Like Lent, he was reborn and now is a savage, in class and in nature. Fury is his power, but he lacks control. So to quench it, Star usually uses the [Warrior]-class.
Star''s former life was also that of a loser. Some sort of delinquent goon, a tag-along. Now both of them are servants of Kami-sama and will earn their wishes due to interacting with other heroes. Either convince them to change their side or to kill them.
It''s perfect. Both of them only need to hunt heroes and let them choose to join them or go to hell.
They have already decided upon their first targets: Both of them want to tackle Katsuragi Kenta''s party. Lent could imagine a future that lets them join Kami-sama''s cause, even Katsuragi himself under certain circumstances.
Lent can''t forget how he was almost killed by him and that elven girl, but he doesn''t hate him much for it.
The problem here lies with Momokawa Kyou, as Katsuragi has her now. If he let her go, though, Lent has no reason to pursue the whole matter further.
On the other hand, Star always has a tantrum when Katsuragi or that elven girl is mentioned. His savage nature makes it harder for him to think things through.
Nonetheless, Lent is looking forward to meeting them again. He can meet Momokawa Kyou again, make her his ally, and hopefully more. There will be a chance to deal with Katsuragi Kenta, whether to make him a companion or a victim.
About that blonde girl...
As was mentioned before, Lent doesn''t really remember his past but retains all his knowledge, and his knowledge about that girl makes him hesitate.
She almost broke his body. Star wants to repay her for the humiliation his former self suffered through her, but this could just be his temper.
That girl is the strongest of Katsuragi''s party. She is also the reason why Lent wants to level up and class up before he starts looking for them.
For this reason, both of them are currently outside Kami-sama¡¯s palace, looking through the necropolis which surrounds it.
¡°Hm...¡± Lent looks at a tablet inside one of the buildings, pictures are carved onto it. ¡°This is Kami-sama, right?¡±
¡°Obviously, that figure has moons as eyes. Why do you even care?¡±
¡°Look at the servants. What are they? Owl people?¡±
¡°Answer my question.¡±
¡°*sigh* Star, I want to understand.¡±
¡°Understand what?¡±
¡°Everything. For example, why are there zombies here?¡±
In fact, the necropolis is full of the undead, but most of them are human zombies. There are some strange skeletons mixed in, which could be former owl people, but where did the rest come from?
¡°Ask Kami-sama, if you''re interested.¡±
In fact, it was Kami-sama who suggested they explore the necropolis. ?You want to be stronger? We know a way. The city. Look through it. Look for the truth and claim it.?
¡°I think that understanding what this necropolis is about is what we are supposed to do.¡±
¡°I don''t think so. Smashing all these undead until we find their boss, that''s what we should do!¡±
¡°Just think of this as a break. Just let me do whatever I think is necessary.¡±
¡°Fine.¡±
Star sits down on a stone table and takes something to eat out of his backpack.
He''s a rude fellow, but still a valuable partner and more self-confident than his former self, so he wants to be involved in the decision-making more.
Lent turns to the tablet again. At the edge, there seem to be two different kind of scripts, one of them is entirely unknown to Lent, the other is written in this world''s letters. ¡°The Lady of Midnight brought us here to be her servants... We are the... the what?¡±
Time has taken its toll. The tablet is too hard to decipher here and there, and some keywords are missing. In addition to many other words, some of which fortunately can still be filled by a basic understanding of grammar, like conjunctions or prepositions.
Taken together, this tablets tells that these owl people were brought to this place to serve Kami-sama. Kami-sama in person also has something like owl wings growing out of her head... is that related?
Another tablet... war? Against pig people, orcs most likely, and some strange fanged people. Vampires? The owl people faced the orcs on the left, the vampires on the right side.Then there are other bird people, eagles perhaps?
No, crows. And there is a long-nosed man behind them. Are these tengu? Like from Japanese folklore?
Strange.
Another tablet, but the style differs. Did someone else do it? Kami-sama surrounded by all her enemies. But she laughs at them. There is a single word written on that tablet: ¡°Punishment.¡±
Lent doesn''t know what that means, but seeing how Kami-sama is still there, she has won. Against an army, all by herself.
How strong must she be?
Lent sits down next to Star. The taller man gives him a slice of bread with cheese. ¡°Got anything?¡±
¡°More questions.¡± Lent takes the bread and bites into it.
¡°I''ll scout ahead.¡± With these words, Star loses a lot of his buff as he changes from [Warrior] to [Masterthief], a class-up of [Thief]. He learned it from Correo, just like Lent was able to class-up from [Trader] to [Merchant].
Why [Merchant] is considered a class-up is unclear, but it''s all that he could learn from Correo, who claims to know only these two, which should already be more than most.
Lent is sure that Correo is holding something back. Everyone wants their trump card, so Lent is looking for one himself. Something that''s rare, something that is not well-known, something that will bring him out of most dangerous situations.
Knowledge is power. The lack of knowledge is weakness. With such a trump card, Lent will be able to create a weakness within the strongest opponents to exploit.
Star is slipping through the entrance, using [Camouflage] and [Sneak] to be hard to detect. Lent can do nothing but eat right now to give his brain nutrients. He also needs to take this opportunity to let his head rest. Otherwise it might fail him later.
Closing his eyes, he tries to meditate, but approximately a thousand thoughts course through his mind. Thoughts about the past he can''t really grasp. The former Lent£Yoshimura Rentaro£did a lot of foolish things, often without any logical reason. Most of them are somehow tied to Momokawa Kyou. Like how he waited three hours in front of the gates of the middle school for her, just to ask her to go home with him. Back then she was still in the dance club, so when she finally came, she was surrounded by all of the club members she was friendly with, of course.
She noticed him, smiled at him, and just walked away. He let her do that; Yoshimura Rentaro was a really strange one. He was weak-willed, telling himself that the smile alone was worth it.
Well, now he''s gone, and someone different took his place. Whatever that new person puts his mind to, he will succeed. He was no longer ¡®adequate,¡¯ he was superior.
¡°Lent,¡± Star''s voice comes out of nowhere, but then he aborts his skills, showing himself. ¡°There is a large group of zombies down the street. They are wearing armor and have some simple weapons, and the farther the street goes, the more they are. I think there might be something there.¡±
¡°Then let''s slaughter our way through this.¡± Lent stands up and readies his staff. ¡°It''s my turn.¡± While Lent doesn''t particularly like to kill, he has to do so to raise his level. Since he cast off his former self, his level ups became more powerful.
As he and Star are partners, they had to find a way to maintain some sort of balance, so they are taking turns in combat, trying to level up almost at the same time. This makes the partnership healthy for both.
Lent follows Star and sees a whole lot of undead right in front of him. The only question was whether to burn or to bury them.
Burn it is. Lifting his staff, using it as a focus, he also pushes more and more magic into the spell. ¡°[Incinerate].¡± A flaming wave blasts from his staff towards what are about twenty zombies and every single one of them burns from within, killing them in quick succession.
[Incinerate] is an instant death spell, it either works or not, the limiting factors are the magic put into the spell and the [Vitality] of the targets. Or in case of a non-heroes, whatever the system used instead of [Vitality].If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
It¡¯s a spell he wouldn''t dare to use against fellow heroes, as the only thing they''ll do afterward would be dying. He has to convince them to join, not kill them. That''s Star''s job.
Still, the smell of rotten, burned flesh makes Lent feel better. It shows him that he''s indeed strong, that he''s able to handle another encounter with Katsuragi.
¡°My turn.¡± Star points at another group of armored zombies, who joins the battle from the side. He slovenly walks up to them, lifts his greatsword and cleaves cleanly through one, including armor and everything, without even putting that much power into it. ¡°You know what? [Rock Smash]!¡± The blade cuts into the stone ground, hurling rocks at the zombies and while these projectiles used to only hurt, they''re now strong enough to dismember the zombies.
Partly because of their rotting, partly because of the sheer power.
¡°[Wind Weasel].¡± Lent cast another spell, cutting a new group of zombies and some skeletons into pieces. Then he changes class to [Soldier], puts his staff into his backpack, draws his sword, and fights them honestly. He needs to improve his skills with that weapon as well.
¡°Seriously?¡± Star laughs seeing that, but also let go of his greatsword to draw his sword and club. ¡°Then I''ll explore my [Masterthief] a bit.¡± Both of them are not taking these opponents seriously. There is no need because they already know how weak the zombies are, how powerful Lent and Star are themselves.
¡°I think we got all of them.¡± Lent looks around, seeing the dead bodies of the former walking corpses. ¡°They seem to be stronger than regular soldiers, but more fragile as well.¡± Great targets for all those spells and skills which are filling a large area.
¡°The elves were harder.¡± Back then, when they cut their way through the elves... Before they actually became strong. ¡°Let''s move on.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± Lent and Star are proceeding deeper into the necropolis. After two more encounters with living corpses, they finally arrived at something that looked out of place.
Rising from the ground, there is a black obelisk. The surface of the strange crystal has something peculiar carved into it, and sometimes a barely noticeable violet light would surge through those carvings.
Using his [Detect Mana]-spell, Lent looks at this monument. ¡°Strange... there is mana, but only at the bottom. Looks like... some sort of... no, to be more precise, I think it''s similar to some sort of spell.¡±
¡°A spell?¡±
¡°At a basic level. When you cast a spell, you take mana that you have transformed into magic before, and use it in certain ways, like [Elemental Magic] which can influence the four cardinal elements: Fire, water, air, and earth. This obelisk takes mana from the ground and changes it to something else, not like the magic that you and I produce.¡±
¡°...there is magic in the ground?¡±
¡°Mana. The very source of mana is the planet itself. So naturally, it comes from the ground.¡±
¡°Aha. By the way, what does it have to do with our [Magic]-value?¡±
¡°To put it into simple words, mana is absorbed by lifeforms, and that''s how much you can save. Unless you have some spells like [Magic Buffer] that let you store extra.¡±
¡°Can you perceive it in another person?¡±
¡°...no. There is a transformation process there. Are you implying this is some sort of magic container?¡±
¡°No.¡± Star lifts his greatsword. ¡°I get the vibe that that''s some sort of creature.¡± Without waiting for Lent''s opinion, he swings his weapon, right towards the obelisk. ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡±
A loud noise, sparks fly from the weapon, pieces of crystal and metal fly through the air. Both the obelisk and the greatsword are damaged, but for Lent it''s evident that if Star decides to keep this up, his sword will snap first.
¡°Kch.¡± He also notices. ¡°I can break it.¡± He''s referring to his [Savage]-class, his true self, which certainly has the capabilities to tear it down with bare hands.
¡°Not yet. We know too little. Let''s keep looking arou-¡±
¡°Lent!¡± With just one word, Lent knows what his partner wants to tell him: An enemy is here!
Drawing his weapons, he starts looking around, but the presence is so obvious, that there is no need to look much.
A dark shadow hangs in the air. A humanoid creature clad entirely in black plate armor from head to toe is in the center, a shield in the left hand, while the right hand is at the hip, seemingly choosing between a sword and a flail.
Seeing how lightly armored Lent and Star are, it draws the sword.
¡°Strange.¡± It says. The voice is borderline male, it belongs to a man, but is very soft and high-pitched. ¡°Are you in cahoots with the goddess?¡±
The way he talks is nonchalant, the way he acts is oppressing. The goddess he''s speaking about has to be Kami-sama who is still in her palace.
¡°Fuck off.¡± Using strong words, Star lifts his greatsword and makes it clear that he won''t hesitate to fight.
¡°If I could, I''d consider it. Let''s not be hasty though, after all these fights with the orcs, I''d rather have an intelligent conversation for a change.¡± Belying his words, his shadowy aura starts to focus, shrinking further and further, while concentrating on his blade.
Lent has a bad feeling about this.
On the other hand, Star is unfazed. ¡°Then let''s talk.¡±
So they talk, using their blades. They clash, and another sparking occurs, but this time only from Star''s edge, which starts corroding from the point the weapons meet. Corrodes and break away, bit by bit, but instead of faltering, Star throws a punch, just to be blocked by the shield.
The force of the punch throws the black armored guy several meters back at least. ¡°Strong... You are human, right? Or are you clad in illusions to lull me into a false sense of security?¡±
Checking his blade, Star smiles challenging. ¡°Find out for yourself.¡±
¡°I guess I will.¡±
The shadowy aura expands again, while the warrior charges in, shield first. The moment Star is touching that aura, Lent is able to see how Star''s clothes are deteriorating slowly.
¡°Star, get out.¡±
¡°Right.¡± Star lets go of his sword, grabs the border of the enemy''s shield and throws it, and the one wearing it, through a wall of a large building.
¡°What''s your status?¡±
¡°Wait... oh, the aura cuts HP and SP at the same time.¡±
So it is indeed some sort of death aura. The whole person gives the black knight vibe, but there is something even more sinister to it, so maybe he''s some sort of undead death knight, considering the other undead around here.
Out of the crater steps the armored figure, not even caring about his dusty appearance. ¡°You have brute strength, I give you that. Also, while I''m practically uninjured, being thrown like some discus is quite humiliating, so at least my pride took some damage.¡±
He puts his sword into his left armpit and lifts the visor of the helmet, showing his face. It was rotten to the core, instead of eyes are holes filled with sickly green light, the lips are bloated and purple, yellow-black fangs are emerging through their corners; whatever it used to be wasn''t human to begin with, but now it''s like an avatar of death.
Star and Lent are exchanging gazes, Lent feels a bit excited. Fighting undead spawns is what a hero is supposed to do, and he is a hero on a fundamental level.
Seeing their reaction, the rotten thing looks confused. ¡°Usually, you should be crying in anguish and fear.¡± He lowers the visor again. ¡°What unusual people. I''d thought I met some heroes, but even then my visage should have at least some effect.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Lent taunts him. ¡°Isn''t being unafraid of anything what makes a hero?¡±
¡°Are you mocking me? What are you? Mortals should be affected by dread, but gods don''t have heartbeat or blood causing through their veins, and I can sense them in you.¡±
¡°Hah. Fewer words, more talk.¡±
¡°Should I help you, Star?¡±
¡°Sorry, but this one is mine. Have fun with the next big one.¡±
¡°I''m clearly being underestimated, right?¡± the undead comments, while Star draws his shortsword and club while changing into [Masterthief], decreasing his muscle mass in the process. Seeing that, the undead cocks his head. ¡°Heroes after all?¡±
¡°True heroes!¡± Using excessive speed, Star¡¯s contours blur. Going around the knight and his shield, he kicks him in the back, causing him to fall over.
Then another class-change, back to [Warrior], to deal the maximum damage. ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡± It''s a [Sword]-skill, so he uses it with his shortsword. It may not be as effective as the greatsword, but will still deal a significant amount of damage.
¡°[Corrode].¡± But instead, the shortsword rusts during the execution of the skill and *snap* breaks the moment it touches the armor.
The armored undead jumps up to his feet, as if he was some sort of martial artist and like his armor weighs nothing. Then he smashes the shield in Star''s direction, who is pushed back, and then cut by the sword on the side.
¡°You! Take this!¡± The blow of the club is easily heard, as it also snaps, this time due to the sheer power Star put in his attack. His enemy is flying through a wall again, just a few meters next to the hole he left before.
Lent is fascinated by this battle. Star is using the more powerful attacks, but that death aura is putting him and his equipment under a lot of stress.
The worst: The last attack still wasn''t enough to end the black armored man. ¡°If you had taken better care of your equipment, it would still be in play.¡± Yes, Star lost two of his weapons now, while his greatsword already received some damage. ¡°Still, I really don''t like your confidence.¡±
Yes, the undead is right. Star still is wholly convinced that he will win, the confidence of someone who wouldn''t lose to some sort of moving corpse.
¡°Your friend also did nothing so far, but observe. Quite vile, I have to say, assessing me while we fight.¡±
Star snarls: ¡°Why do you keep talking?¡±
¡°Like I stated before, I am enjoying some good conversation with you.¡±
Lent knows precisely what that means, as he''s also someone who was conversing with his enemy once. What this guy feels is supreme superiority over them He thinks can''t lose, so he plays with his prey. Pure arrogance.
Confidence.
No, he might be buying time. For what?
Lent looks around, trying to find something like a disturbance in the mana, but there is nothing.
Star lifts his fist and starts pummeling at the armored undead, but Lent understands: Without the use of skills, the undead is apparently the better fighter. He deflects the punches effortlessly with his shield, stabs at Star whenever possible, and even though Star can evade those attacks, he is clearly drained by the aura of this walking corpse during their exchange of blows.
Drained?
¡°Star, back off!¡±
¡°I can still do it.¡±
¡°He''s stealing your power!¡±
¡°...what!?¡± With a great leap, Star takes some distance.
¡°You got wise of me.¡± With the visor down, it''s hard to tell, but Lent is sure that this guy is smiling. ¡°Please excuse this rudeness of mine, but young life force is really refreshing after so long.¡±
¡°[Wind Weasel]!¡± Lent uses a fast and mediocre attack spell to gauge that man''s actual power.
The shield flares up while he aligns it against the spell and it dispersed even before it hits.
It wasn''t a strong attack, but Lent, being a strong [Wizard], has plenty of power behind each spell. So seeing his spell being treated like a minor matter, with no further comment or anything else, makes him feel irritated.
Lent and Star are strong, but so is this guy. So far, no side showed many of their cards, so there still is no telling who will win.
Yet Star already lost some of his equipment. It wasn''t that great, but now it''s gone. His greatsword might be the next, and then he would need to rely on [Savage] to use combat skills.
[Savage] is a challenging class, so Star should only use it if he''s actually cornered or sure that he will end things there.
¡°Star, let me handle it.¡± Lent decides to try to negotiate. He changes to [Merchant], and start using his [Conversation]-skill [Hear me out]. ¡°We don''t need to fight, we''re looking for the secrets of the necropolis and would like to make a deal with-¡±
¡°Declined.¡±
What? How can this be? [Hear me out] should compel someone to listen to Lent, so why isn''t it working? Nobody is currently endangering the death knight, so why can he... because he''s undead?
¡°Why are you declining me?¡±
¡°Because you''ll make great soldiers, if we take care of the whole ''being alive'' thing.¡±
Something grows from the ground, it''s the death knight''s shadow, who forms itself to a doppelganger. He lacks the aura, but still moves like its master.
It charges.
Star already retrieved his greatsword: ¡°[Rock Smash]!¡± A wave of rocks is thrown against the shadow, which shields itself. ¡°Run or fight?¡±
Lent looks for the death knight, but he vanished at the moment the shadow drew their attention. ¡°Fight!¡± Running away might make them more vulnerable. So Lent changes back to [Wizard], readying his staff.
¡°I like it.¡± Star runs up to the shadow and uses a large swing, trying to cleave it into two with one blow. ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡±
The shadow tries to block that attack, but shield and arm are simply cut through. The portion of the shadow falls off, merges with the ground and moves...
¡°[Crystal Torpedo]!¡± Touching the ground with his staff, Lent creates a crystal that will move underground the way he wants to. He ordered it to follow the shadow and shoot up when it reattaches to its owner.
Then he starts chanting, a big spell. A hundred little spells to make a big one possible, changing the earth around him, making it harder and easier to shape at the same time. He puts an extra amount of mana into it, making it as strong as possible.
A crack, the [Crystal Torpedo] hits something behind that building. So... ¡°[Stalagmite Prison]!¡± This spell has three effects. Stalagmites will grow in the area and pierce everything in it. At the same time, it will enclose the whole area in a stone globe. When everything is set up, the inner walls of the globe will grow another set of stalagmites and pierce the target once more.
It''s an overkill spell, but considering that opponent, it might not be enough.
Star is finished with the shadow and joins Lent on the way to the [Stalagmite Prison]. They see the globe, which is starting to turn into dust. Yet that means that the death knight is really inside.
¡°Sorry Star, but I will use the next one.¡± Lent puts his hand on the rock sphere and chants another spell. ¡°[Smelting Heat]!¡± The dissolving globe heats up in a fiery red, it should conduct through the inner spikes and burn the stabbed death knight from within.
That''s at least the intention.
Instead, part of the [Stalagmite Prison] is blown away by a shield, another part breaks away just a second afterward, and the death knight steps outside. His armor is severely dented, and a bit of smoke and the stench of burned flesh surrounded him, but overall he seems to be fine.
Star punches the smoking figure right into the face, smashing it again into the stalagmites, which weren''t firm enough to penetrate the armor. Lent asks himself what material it''s made of, as it already suffered quite a lot of damage.
¡°If I could feel pain, I would certainly complain about it right now.¡± The death knight still has this confidence, that makes it hard for Lent to guess how well Star and he are doing here. ¡°I''d really like to have you as my subordinates. You called yourself ''true heroes'', right? I can see that part. I''m certain that I would lose if I fought against the two of you on my own.¡±
Star quickly changed into [Masterthief] and surely notices something. ¡°We''re surrounded, Lent. Some sort of sneaky undead.¡± He is right, from the roofs and windows, from the alleys and doorsteps, some strange lanky corpses are appearing. They''re certainly different from the zombies, they move nimbly and dexterously, instead of hands they have claws, and there is no rot to see.
¡°Ghouls. They sneak to the graveyards and eat the flesh of corpses. They are some of my lesser subordinates, and no match for any of you.¡±
Lent has a bad feeling about it. ¡°Unless you''re there, right?¡±
¡°I''m Laharel the death knight, general of the Undead Army.¡± The dark aura around Laharel begins to send pulses, and the ghouls who are engulfed in these pulses began to convulse for a moment, only to have black flames leaking out of their eyes and mouths.
Then they attack. One instantly jumps at Star, who cut it into two halves despite still being [Masterthief], but the upper body of the ghoul claws his way up the blade to scratch Star''s face, leaving dark, burning marks.
Though the real problem is Laharel himself, as he charges Lent, who quickly changes into [Soldier] and tried to deflect the sword slash, but Laharel''s blade broke a chunk out of Lent''s sword, this time by physical power alone.
¡°Lent, retreat! There is something around all of them, that bastard is getting more powerful by having these ghouls around! Plus, there are more undead coming!¡± Star''s sharp [Masterthief]-senses already got the gist of how the situation suddenly turned to their bad side.
Now Lent understands the confidence of that death knight. He was merely trying to buy time, because he already called for reinforcement, and somehow commander and soldiers have this strange synergy-effect, that makes them all stronger.
¡°I won''t let you retreat! You''ll join the Undead Army!¡± Laharel was already a strong fighter, so now with the empowerment of his strange pulse-skill, he is more than capable of overcoming Lent in melee combat.
However, Lent is a hero, and he doesn''t panic. Instead, he reaches for his backpack and pulls a new weapon out to replace his almost broken sword. A spear. He is still somewhat inexperienced with this weapon, but after a particular fight with a spear-user, Lent asked Correo for a good one.
The [Soldier]-class has the [Sword] and the [Spear]-abilities, therefore Lent has trained to unlock the latter.
Laharel''s body tells Lent that the death knight is practically sneering at him because a spear is less effective against sword and shield than many people might believe, but Lent is a true hero, so he can quickly learn new skills. ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡±
A strong weapon, a strong skill, a strong hero. All of this comes together, as Lent thrust his spear at Laharel, who has no choice but to deflect the spear with his shield, losing his balance in the process, while taking some damage from the impact of the attack. ¡°Star!¡±
¡°Right!¡±
Both of them turned around. ¡°[Thresher]!¡± ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡±
Star''s [Thresher]-skill is not a [Sword]-skill, but a [Great Weapon]-skill. That''s the reason why his former self, Hoshibashi, chose that unwieldy weapon because he could use two [Abilities] with this one weapon.
The user of [Thresher] propels himself forward while whirling the weapon to cut and bash everything out of the way, it''s like a [Speedthrust] with a wide attack arc.
Star violently forced his way through the empowered ghouls, Lent following him, the moment they broke through, both of them escape this battle.
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 2-2
Star and Lent took cover at the same building where they had a break before.
¡°DAMMIT!¡± Star curses while kicking a wall.
¡°Be quiet. Plus, why are you so angry anyway? You were the one who made the call to run away.¡±
¡°Because I''m not stupid. But I don''t need to like it. I know, when things turn bad in combat, I''m a savage after all. There is this tingling, when things go bad, which makes me want to turn tail.¡±
¡°I see. So that''s one of your inherent talents. Quite useful, I have to say.¡±
¡°Maybe. But what do we do? Payback? Or do we retreat back to Kami-sama?¡±
¡°Hm... I''m not sure, to be honest. We''ve lost some of our weapons, and look at your armor, it''s almost breaking as well.¡±
¡°I''ll go without weapon and armor if I must. I¡¯ll switch to [Savage] and tear everyone apart with bare hands.¡±
¡°Maybe you can. But seeing Laharel, I think there might be even more nasty stuff inside this undead city.¡±
¡°We basically have some sort of undead commander out there, who makes his goons stronger and gains more power through them. What else do they need?¡±
¡°The one who made these obelisks. While it may be Laharel''s doing, I couldn''t sense any connection between him and them. So there must also be some sort of spellcaster with a decent amount of skill.¡±
¡°So you want to escape entirely?¡±
¡°No, I want answers. A real fight is what I want to avoid.¡±
¡°I may be able to sneak around using [Masterthief], but what about you?¡±
¡°I didn''t say that I don''t want to kill them. First, we need to find a group of armed undead, using your [Stealth]. We''ll overwhelm them before they have a chance to do something, take their weapons, then we continue with assaulting smaller groups.¡±
¡°What about this Lala-guy?¡±
¡°If we see him again, we''ll try to avoid him or run away if he notices us. If we see someone else, who looks different from the rest, we''ll also avoid them while observing. We might try to take them on if they look weaker, but right now we need the XP the undead offer, and the best equipment we can find to take on Laharel and whoever made these obelisks.¡±
¡°Aha. Fine with me.¡± Star has no doubt in his capabilities. That''s why he''s more than ready to go.
So the strategy stands. Finding and taking out the undead squads is easy, their equipment, however, is subpar. None of them has a heavy, two-handed weapon, maybe because they would imbalance the corpses with their weight. So Star uses an old, rusty longsword for starters, not a weapon he wants to use against Laharel as that guy''s aura will quickly break it.
However, the XP are welcome, and by using this hunting strategy, they hone their senses, explore the place and find more obelisks. Just what are they here for? If they trust Star''s instincts, they have to be creature-like, maybe an egg or a cocoon?
¡°Shhh!¡± Star points at a wall. ¡°Behind that building is that Lala-guy. I can hear him. He¡¯s calling out for us.¡±
¡°So he knows we''re here... maybe he can sense whenever we kill an undead? Or can see through the senses of his army... Well, let''s turn and try somewhere else.¡±
¡°Right.¡±
Retreat and attack at another place. This skirmishing tactic worked for a while, but now there aren''t any loose groups anymore. Instead, the undead built up many great blockades each with at least thirty lesser undead, eight ghouls, and some unique undead. Like the vile-looking, heavy armored guys, the spectral horrors, or that giant thing that looks like it is made out of skeletons.
¡°No easy prey left,¡± Lent sums up their situation.
¡°I think the third one is the weakest. Attack there?¡±
¡°I can deal with the skeletons and zombies with [Incinerate], time also passed, so most of my MP has returned. The real problem, I think, is that attacking one of them would play into Laharel''s hands.¡±
¡°Traps.¡±
¡°For example.¡±
¡°Can we try a way over the roofs?¡±
¡°We could, but if we fall down, then we might be too busy to climb back and are trapped. Shoving someone from a roof isn''t that hard, I can do it easily with [Gust].¡±
¡°Come on, we can do it! No matter the trap, we''ll break it.¡±
¡°We might, but I have a better idea. Let''s try breaking one of the obelisks. Either they come to us, or we break their stuff, win-win.¡±
¡°I like that!¡±
They return to the last obelisk they saw. While Star can break one in a matter of seconds as a [Savage], Lent first tries a [Wind Blade], which doesn''t seem to harm it. His earth-spells can''t reshape it either. ¡°We''ll use debris. Might take longer, but they''re too hard for our weapons, and we need you calm for whatever comes.¡±
¡°Aye.¡± While stone isn''t as hard as metal, Lent is a wizard. He uses his earth magic to compress the stone and make it denser that way, then he shapes it into pickaxes. Each of them is heavy, but as true heroes, they can lift them easily. If one breaks, Lent just reattaches the broken parts.
While the stone-tools aren''t ideal, they''re still enough to chip the obelisk bit by bit. ¡°Look!¡± Lent has just broken a larger bit: ¡°There is another layer. This obelisk may be just like an onion, it''s the third layer, after all.¡±
¡°Then let''s see what''s inside.¡± Layer after layer the true heroes pierce, inside is a different kind of crystal, just like a core.
¡°That''s strange,¡± Lent comments as he looks at it with [Detect Mana], ¡°it''s not the part that changes mana... so the layers are collecting and changing mana to feed that thing?¡± This would be his educated guess here. ¡°For what reason?¡±
¡°Silent!¡± Star''s instinct has kicked in: ¡°... ¡ what is this?¡±
¡°What''s wrong?¡±
¡°It feels like we''re being watched, but I can''t sense anything... Is there magic to spy on someone?¡±
¡°Probably. Nothing we can do about it. Well, I''ll take the core.¡± Lent hits the last layer some more times to free the core entirely and puts the thing, that is almost as big as his backpack inside his [Inventory]. ¡°If they want it back, they need to ask.¡± Only the owner of the backpack can use its [Inventory], the perfect place to make things disappear.
¡°What happens if you die? Will everything inside will be lost?¡±
¡°No, it''ll spill. Was inside our manuals, remember?¡±
¡°Never read that thing.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± When their former selves, Yoshimura and Hoshibashi, were summoned, they got manuals that explained parts of their powers. This bit of information was also included there, but it''s incomplete, as it fails to mention [Class-ups] at all. Lent has a theory: That different heroes will have different manuals and the only way to know everything about the hero-system will be by working together with other heroes.
¡°So they can just kill you?¡±
¡°As if they''re capable of doing it, right?¡±
¡°Right!¡±
¡°Let''s tackle the next obelisk. It''s that way, I think.¡±
These obelisks have their reasons to be there, so it''s only logical to start tearing them down.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
At the next obelisk, they repeat the process, at the third one, they have enough practice to hasten their work. However, there is one minor problem: ¡°Lent, we''re surrounded!¡±
¡°How could that happen?¡±
¡°Sorry, I wasn''t paying attention.¡± They''re only halfway through that obelisk, even though they were more efficient breaking it, Lent also was too concentrated on the task at hand.
¡°Don''t worry... most of them will be small fry anyway. Where to make a stand?¡±
¡°No buildings, they''re traps and can be torn down, so this alley. There will be something, but it''s wide enough for my weapon and narrow enough to limit the numbers of enemies at once.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± Star and Lent are a good team, as both of them are experts in what they do.
The moment they enter the alley is the moment the undead start streaming in: Twenty zombies and five skeletons for starters. While [Incinerate] would solve this problem instantly, Lent does want to hold back his MP.
Star, on the other hand, swings his sword with ease: ¡°[Rock Smash]!¡± He strikes the ground to shoot rock pieces against these small fries, a good choice, as fighting them without skills would cost more SP.
Lent is in the [Soldier]-class and on alert. His spear moves ceaselessly, while he tries to find the next enemies. Another group--Laharel is aiming to wear them down first. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± However, trying to save too much energy by holding back could be worse.
The spear stabs a zombie, but suddenly, black flames are leaking from its mouth and eyes, Laharel is close! The lesser undead are moving differently like they''re remote-controlled. They start to coordinate, the zombie on Lent''s spear grabs it, while three more are jumping him.
Star is at Lent''s side and just smashes those zombies aside before they even have a chance to touch the wizard. ¡°Lent, I''ll give you a lift.¡± He points with his sword at a roof.
¡°Affirmative.¡± Star holds his sword horizontally, supporting the tip with a hand, while Lent jumps on the broad blade, ready to make the next one the moment Star starts to move. Given the savage''s power, it''s easy for Lent to jump several meters into the air, getting on the roof.
Time to take a look, before he''s noticed here. ¡°About one hundred more skeletons and zombies, twenty ghouls, then we have two skeleton abominations.¡± That''s what he calls those giant undead that are made out of several skeletons. ¡°Careful! Spectral horrors are coming, phasing through walls, and-¡± Lent jumps from the roof back to his partner, as he had the feeling that magic is about to strike.
Several stone missiles hit the place Lent was standing on before, so some magic support as well, maybe skeleton mages or something like that.
Star is in-midst of destroying the corpses around him: ¡°Any retreat-route?¡± So his instincts are telling him to pull back again, Lent''s intellect can''t agree more.
¡°The roofs are targeted by magic users, I didn''t see them though. So I would suggest that you use brute strength.¡±
¡°Got it. Here! [Rock Smash]!¡± The beauty of this skill is that Star is capable of breaking stone walls with it while shooting rock missiles at what''s behind them. Creating an escape path, Star leads the way, but there are spectral horrors. They look like ghosts of monsters or something like that. There is nothing human about them, and none of them look identical.
Time for magic to shine: ¡°[Ember Arrows]!¡± Fire arrows appear around Lent and he shoots them at the spectral horrors. While they pass through, it does some to have some effect, as the ghost-like beings are squirming. ¡°Concentrate on the escape, I''ll cover you!¡±
¡°Yeah!¡±
After two more walls, the next obstacle appears, it''s a group of two heavily armored figures. ¡°[Incinerate]!¡± Lent puts a whole bunch of MP in this one, but nothing happens. Looks like they''re tougher than he thought. ¡°We''ll break through, they''re here to buy time.¡±
¡°[Rock Smash]!¡± Using the stone fragments as a distraction, Star charges in. Both enemies block them with their swords, then they start to emit an aura similar to Laharel''s, the kind that steals away life force while deteriorating the equipment. With this, Star''s replacement weapon breaks, just like before. So they''re death knights as well?
Lent runs to their flank: ¡°[Gust]!¡± Throwing a weak spell with the single purpose of knocking the death knights away, he creates an opening: ¡°Fast!¡±
¡°Dammit!¡± Star throws his sword stub at the death knights, who are coming back to their feet, causing one to fall to the ground again. At least he starts running.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Lent and Star take a break, Lent need to regain his MP, while Star needs to cool his head. ¡°I could have destroyed them.¡± Even after Lent explains the strategy of the enemy, Star doesn''t see the cleverness in their retreat. In the end, he''s a [Savage] at heart, he knows about fighting, not about tactics.
¡°You might have,¡± Lent agrees with him. ¡°However, fighting death knights is taxing. The two of them were much weaker than Laharel, but taking them out would have cost too much time, and we had the other undead on our heels. Too many factors were against us, but we had a huge success.¡±
¡°Huge success?¡±
¡°We''re using our low numbers but high individual strength to our advantage. Mobility, strong alpha-strikes, whittling down the forces of our enemy. Also, the observation-spell seems to have worn off.¡± That''s the reason why they can effort a break right now.
¡°What do we do afterward? Another obelisk?¡±
¡°I don''t think so. They will expect us to do the same again. ¡¡±
¡°What are you thinking about?¡±
¡°If it''s safe to take an obelisk-core out of my [Inventory]. Maybe the enemy can sense them and cast the observation-spell again.¡±
¡°Aha. Why would you need one anyway?¡±
¡°To investigate them. Learning what the enemy wants with them, what their purpose is.¡±
¡°Why don''t we just leave the caves then?¡±
¡°...you''re right!¡± If they''re outdoors, they should have the advantage if the base of operations of the undead army is the necropolis. Maybe Yoshimura Rentaro''s unreliable knowledge about fictive undead is also right, and undead avoid sunlight whenever possible. ¡°You know the way?¡±
¡°Leave it to me.¡±
There are no undead on the way, most likely they just fortified their defenses to protect the obelisks. After a while, Lent recognizes the route Correro used to get to the lady, the first buildings Lent ever saw of the necropolis.
Star is leading them through the maze of tunnels until they see sunlight again. It''s so bright that Lent needs to cover his eyes. ¡°Let''s move on top of that mountain.¡± There they will see if the undead will come out.
Close to the mountain, Star gestures Lent to halt: ¡°There are people there...¡±
¡°Bandits? Or undead... doesn''t matter. I''ll greet them.¡± This should take their momentum if they''re trying to ambush them. ¡°HAIL! WE KNOW YOU''RE HERE.¡±
After some seconds, a single thing came out. It has a face that reminds one of a warthog, the erect ears, sharp tusks, and pig-nose, together with brown and black bristles gives him quite an orcish feeling. The muscles are thick, the creature is at least two meters tall, and it looks more like a monster than someone of the people.
Its voice is grunting, while a heavy cleaver is in its hand: ¡°You''re the one with the Traveler, right?¡±
¡°The Traveler?¡±
¡°The one with the hat.¡± Ah, he means Correro.
¡°Yes.¡± There is no need to hide it.
¡°You look like you''ve fought the undead army.¡± The snarl of the orc shows his amusement.
¡°We have made a dent here and there.¡±
This seems to surprise the orc, but Lent remembers that Laharel spoke about orcs before, so maybe they have a war going on or something similar, and it might not look too good for them. ¡°You two? With what army?¡±
¡°Me, my partner, my brain, and his muscles.¡± Star is staring at the orc, showing off his muscles, making him doubtless about who is stronger here.
¡°Gr... chrchrchr!¡± This sounds like a laugh, but it''s not only coming from the orc in front of them, but also from the others in hiding: ¡°Chrchr, ingenious! Good humor!¡±
¡°So you also fight with the Undead Army?¡±
¡°Now and then, yeah. So the Traveler introduced you to the Lady Below.¡± This is most likely Kami-sama. ¡°What are you guys?¡±
¡°True heroes.¡±
¡°Heroes!?¡±
¡°True heroes.¡±
¡°What''s the difference?¡±
Star replies instead: ¡°Wanna find out?¡±
¡°Wanna fight out?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
In only a few words, the orc and Star have an understanding. ¡°I''m Gar of the Dirt.¡±
¡°Star Killer.¡±
¡°We''ll fight up there. Guys, come out.¡± Half a dozen other orcs are coming out, all of them are muscular and brutal, but one of them tops them all, an orc who is four meters tall, with muscles like trees.
Star asks an unusual question: ¡°Can''t I fight him instead?¡±
¡°Wanna fight a bigsmall? What are you!? Poor Sim, you can''t do that.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Ah, true heroes are as clueless as usual heroes. Sim of the Mush is a bigsmall. Big body, small brain. He can''t tell the difference between fighting for fun and fighting for real. Also, he''s incapable of learning complex things, so neither martial arts nor skills.¡±
¡°So he just hits stuff really hard?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Aha. Then I''ll fight you after all.¡±
¡°Then so be it. Do you need a weapon?¡±
¡°Yeah, that guy''s sword.¡± Star points at one of the orcs who has a weapon that''s more of a sharpened metal club than anything else.
¡°It''s a bladeclub,¡± Gar verifies Lent''s silent guess. ¡°Hey, Jas, would you mind.¡±
¡°Yes, yes. Here.¡± The orc tosses his weapon to Star, who catches it, but it seems to be even heavier than it looks, as Star almost let it fall to the ground for a second.
¡°Nice one! Looks like I can use [Sword]-skills with it as well.¡±
¡°Fight goes to first blood.¡± Gar is taking a battle-stance, one hand on the ground, the other on his cleaver, both cloven hooves ready to propel him forwards. ¡°Ready... go!¡±
Using the advantage of given the signal himself, Gar dashes right into range, Star tries to attack himself, but he seems to be troubled. Lent knows why, Gar is almost on the ground with his whole body, hard to see. The orc''s cleaver aims at Star''s ankle: ¡°[Rock Smash]!¡± So Star uses a skill with a wide attack angle instead.
¡°Pu!¡± Gar is using his free hand to push himself back again, as his face was hit cleanly by the rock pieces. Then he throws his weapon: ¡°[Boomeraxe]!¡± A skill! The cleaver is aimed directly at Star''s chest, the easiest target, Star uses the bladeclub to parry it, but Gar is already running forward, the sound of metal against metal echoes, the cleaver comes back to its owner, who catches it and uses his next skill: ¡°[Headsplitter]!¡± This time, Gar jumps aiming at Star''s shoulder. Yet there''s a fatal flaw to his plan: ¡°Chrrrruuuuu!¡±
Star blocks the attack with one hand, the other clenches around Gar''s throat: ¡°Too bad.¡± Then he slams the orc to the ground. ¡°No blood? Well, again!¡± The next time still no yields more results than a grunt of anguish. ¡°And again.¡± After the fifth time, the orc finally has a visible cut on its cheek, it''s actually impressive that it took so long for a single cut. ¡°I win.¡± Then Star lets him go.
¡°Ouch! And my tough skin is one of my strong points... ah, you really are mighty! Let''s party!¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Hah?¡± Both Star and Lent are confused by the conclusion Gar just made.
¡°Jas, you go ahead and tell the others about the party and secure the booze! Bry, you and Sim take care of the lookout. The rest of us will party!¡±
¡°¡°¡°Party!¡±¡±¡±
¡°Louder!¡±
¡°¡°¡°PARTY!!!¡±¡±¡±
¡°LOUDER!¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTY!!!¡±¡±¡±¡± For some reason, Star seems to be also fired up.
Lent can''t help but question the whole situation they''re in. How did they get from a fight with the Undead Army to partying orcs? Something doesn''t fit here, but on the other hand, these orcs may give him answers of how they may take care of the other problem.
So he decides to join their party.
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 2-3
A party, Lent doesn¡¯t know what he should think about that. Usually, people would be angry about being beaten or at least frustrated, yet this Gar is jovial and in good humor instead.
The orcs lead them through a small mountain road, they pass a fragile-looking lookout manned with a really small orc, just big enough to get to Lent''s calves. ¡°Is that a smallbig?¡± Lent asks as they look like another subtype of orc.
¡°Yo! You got it right, small bodies, big brain, also good eyes. HEY LEO!¡±
¡°HEY GAR!¡±
¡°WE GOT A PARTY!¡±
¡°ASSHOLES!¡±
¡°THESE HUMANS ARE PARTY GUESTS! WHEN ARE YOU FREE?¡±
¡°SEVEN HOURS!¡±
¡°AH, MAKE SURE TO DROP IN!¡±
¡°YEAH!¡±
The way these orcs talk to each other makes Lent wonder, how uncivilized they are. At least they''re rough all around.
After this exchange, they get in a broader mountain road, pass two more lookouts, before ending up in a fortified village. The guards there compiles of even more subraces of the orcs: There are really fat ones, almost spherical, there are lean ones with long and strong legs, there is one, which looks like a compressed orc with a less porcine face, almost human with some alterations, but Lent could smell him from several meters away.
One with long and garbed tusks which reminds Lent of blades comes closer: ¡°Who are these humans, Gar?¡±
¡°We do a party.¡±
Suddenly, all of the guard orcs begin to yell: ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°PARTY!? PARTY! PARTY, PARTY, PARTY!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±
It certainly looks like the orcs like partying, it''s like the ultimate explanation, no question asks. Looking in the village, they may had a party just yesterday, several casket, bottles, cutlery, and leftovers are everywhere!
¡°Welcome to Wellcrag,¡± Gar says as he shows the village. Several orcs are already coming out of their houses, holding several instruments, similar to bagpipes, bugles, xylophones, and guitars. There are others, some of them are similar to what Lent''s former self may have seen, but never learned the name of. ¡°If you''re invited to an oaak-party, you need to show a party-trick, so you better think about what to do, especially if you want to impress The Boss.¡±
¡°The Boss?¡±
¡°Yeah, The Boss is The Boss. Our great honcho, the leader, some idiots would call him chieftain, but he''s more about being the chief, instead of a tain.¡±
¡°I have no idea what the latter means.¡±
¡°He''s just The Boss. Make sure to remember the ''The'', it''s part of his name.¡±
¡°Wait, his name is The Boss?¡±
¡°Yeah, so that everyone knows who he is.¡±
¡°Why would anyone call his baby The Boss?¡±
¡°Ah, heroes. It''s a divine sin to change names, so when a goodboss is born, it''s immediately named to reflect it.¡±
¡°Goodbosses?¡±
¡°Ah, human heroes. Oaaks can deal with differences, oaak is oaak after all. Bigsmall. smallbigs, sharptusks, leanfasts, fatsturds, quagstunks, doesn''t matter. They all are part of us. Just sometimes there comes a goodboss, and they''re named so for a reason. Really rare, except The Boss, I only know The Leader from Furrowbright.¡±
This quite limits the names of these so-called goodbosses, but in the end, it doesn''t matter to Lent. What he learned from orcs so far is much more interesting, there are different subraces with different traits, which takes on different roles, almost like an ant or bee colony with more variety.
¡°Lent,¡± Star asks him while scratching the behind of his head, ¡°what should be our party-trick?¡±
¡°Ah.¡± Lent totally forgot about it. This is like a fraternity pledging for these creatures. However, Lent being a wizard isn''t very concerned about it: ¡°I''ll do some magic tricks.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It took less than half an hour before the whole village of Wellcrag is celebrating. Gar is the ''master of the party'' and after about half of the orcs are drunk, he finally begins with his opening speech: ¡°Dear brethren, we''re here once again to celebrate life. This time, it brought us two guests, like you see, they don''t look like much, but that bulky one bested me in combat, so he''s cool. The other one didn''t do much so far, but he''s with that one, reason enough to include him. Here they are! The ''true heroes'', Star Killer and the other guy!¡±
The other guy!? Thinking about it, Lent hasn''t introduced himself. Still, they could have asked his name. ¡°Hey, other guy!¡± Star greets him laughingly: ¡°Be sure to behave yourself, it''ll reflect on me, OK?¡±
¡°Don''t worry, I''ll bring them on my side when I start with my magic.¡± Lent''s voice sounds hollow, but he''s confident to turn things around. ¡°Hey, Gar.¡±
¡°Yeah?¡±
¡°When will I do my party tricks?¡±
¡°When The Boss is ready.¡± Gar points at a big orc who is eating like a pig at the buffet tables. This one looks nasty, big muscles with broad shoulders, thick bristles, and a strange presence around him. It seems like the refined version of a standard orc.
Ah, he waves at them, though he''s still munching with his head close to the table. Did it hear them? Still, that behavior... orcs may just follow the most disgusting among their peers.
Star looks like he has a blast, he''s already mingling with some of the orcs, drinking and eating like one of them. Lent decides to follow his example, and eat something as well, the meat skewers look edible after all. Though Lent makes sure to only drink little of their alcohol.
One question is bothering him though, where are the females? While there are several subraces, their body builds look the same, and all the voices he hears sounds male as well. Are they hidden somewhere? Are females just another subrace of orcs, something like birthgivers? Or are they plainly not distinguishable for Lent, who has no idea what to look at to make that difference, it''s not like every species will be like humans. He wouldn''t most likely be able to tell boars and sows apart either.
This might be non-relevant now, but if everything goes according to Lent''s plan, it''s something he has to concern with.
As the orcs become louder and louder, cheering each other in contests of strength, endurance, and steadfastness, mainly drinking games, Lent tries to find The Boss again. There he is, orcs are pouring him with booze, while he has his eyes closed and his jaws far apart: ¡°¡°¡°DRINK, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!¡±¡±¡± It only needs a funnel to make this image perfect. Lent scratches his small, but still-growing beard because this picture is borderline disgusting.
There is Star, he''s having a fist-fight with Gar, while a crowd is cheering. Seeing how Star moves, he may be already dead-drunk. He laughs during the whole fight, same as Gar, this may be another contest.
This is an ordeal. At least the orcs let him be, so this is something, right? Or do they think, he''s not fun to be with? No, there are orcs like Lent, who just watch from the sidelines, and nobody asks them to join either, maybe they just respect how there are several ways to enjoy a party.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Actually, it''s good that nobody bothered with Lent, as he needs to focus on his upcoming performance. He looks through his status to think about which spells will be viable for the whole procedure.
Finally, with a loud burp, The Boss drowns out the whole party, giving the signal that he''s ready for the party tricks. The volume of the burp may be enough to qualify as a sound-based attack.
Gar steps on a small stage: ¡°We begin with the party tricks! First come our guests of honor, Star and the other one!¡±
Star staggers onto the stage, while Lent asks him: ¡°Can you stand?¡±
¡°Yeah, I''ll be fine.¡± He''s a savage, after all, so he''s actually quite sturdy. Lent will count on it.
¡°I''ll take over the party tricks, just be ready.¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Hello!¡± Lent greets his audience. ¡°I''m Lent Wood, and I''ll show you some of my magic.¡± As a wizard, Lent is very proficient with magic, so he begins to create some flames and weave them into an orc. ¡°To get you all fired up!¡± Then he throws the fire-orc and let it explode in green and blue flames, creating a small light show. Quickly, he adds wind to it, feeding the fire more and more, then he shapes it into an even bigger orc, made out of green and blue flames. The orcs look at the flames with wide eyes, some are yelling at it until it dissipates.
The next trick is lifting up small items like empty cups with wind magic, trying to juggle them. However, Lent let half of them fall, but this actually made the orcs laugh, so this is still good. Afterward, he created items out of earth and stone, handing them out to the audience.
Lent becomes quite loved by the orcs. ¡°For my next trick, I''m gonna make The Boss disappear. [Tornadolance]!¡± This is a strong wind-spell, which pierces through people with ease. It''s fast and deadly and directly aimed at The Boss, who was as enchanted by the magic tricks thus far as the rest of the orcs.
However, a fat orc jumps into the attack, the [Tornadolance] pierces into its torso but loses its power by penetrating too many layers of fat and meat. A fatsturd, an orc which can take much damage, the [Tornadolance] wouldn''t be able to go through its body on its own, but Lent is a wizard, he can use [Empower]-skill to put more magic in a spell to empower it. So the [Tornadolance] may have lost some of its initial power, it''s still plenty to kill The Boss.
At least in theory, in reality, The Boss lifts his palm and blocks the spell, a strange grinding noise could be heard, The Boss is able to use a skill to make his skin as tough as iron.
¡°More capable than I thought,¡± Lent murmurs. The Boss may have foreseen his attempt from the get-go and therefore asked a fatsturd to guard him. The bodyguard is also still alive, as [Tornadolance] is about penetrating, not about force. Well, time to go to plan B. ¡°The Boss, I''ll challenge you!¡± Changing into [Merchant] and using [Hear me out], the hero avert any direct retaliation for attacking The Boss. ¡°If I win, you''ll become my subordinate. If you win, I''ll be yours.¡±
¡°The Boss has heard your challenge.¡± Wait, is that warthog speaking from himself in the third person? ¡°The Boss sees no reason to accept.¡±
Time to make him: ¡°{You will.}¡± It''s an [Order], it''s a [Skill] of the [Conversation]-ability and can force people to do as Lent commands. The skill is somewhat limited, as there is a three-word maximum and each person can only be victim to it once per day, but it''s a useful tool nonetheless.
¡°The Boss accepts after all!¡± Mind-control may not work on undead, but orcs aren''t as fortunate. ¡°Bring the cage!¡± Lent realizes that he should have told what kind of challenge beforehand, but in the end, having The Boss choose the challenge will be even better, as it will earn him more respect from the orcs when he bests it.
Yes, Lent''s ultimate goal is to conquer these orcs to have an army to send against Laharel and his Undead Army. The only reason why Laharel isn''t lying dead at their toes are his subordinates, so the moment Lent has his own, the death knight has nothing that will protect him anymore.
Following that logic, Lent has to impress the orcs. Of course, Star and he can just subjugate them with sheer power, but this isn''t how Lent wants to rule, as he couldn''t leave them alone then. Of course, he will use force, but not in an oppressive way, respect instead of fear.
Several parts of a cage are brought, made out of monster bones, it looks bulky, as the orcs carrying them are panting and showing strenuous faces while doing so. They''re quickly assembled, and the final result is big enough for an elephant, but still quite limited in space.
¡°Sure you can do it?¡± Star is still red from his drinking, but he does seem ready for combat. ¡°I can do it, no problem. You''re the thinking type, just call me your champion, then everything will be fine.¡±
¡°Aren''t you looking down on me?¡± Lent is a wizard in his heart, but he''s also a hero. He has deleted his pathetic self, which was a [Student], he has classed-up once (though it wasn''t a class fit for combat), he''s wearing a pair of power rings, which boosts all stats of a hero by quite a margin, and he has his [Soldier]-class for melee combat. So there is no need to be concerned. ¡°I just have to make sure to not accidentally kill him.¡±
¡°Dear brethren,¡± Gar is speaking to the audience which is already surrounding the cage: ¡°The Boss and Lent Wood are duking it out. The cruel cage of calamity, the bone bars of brutality, the insidious inside of insanity is the place where they will decide, who will serve who! The ultimate way of teabagging someone!¡± A loud cheer is heard from the mostly drunken orcs. ¡°The rules are simple: The first one who leaves the cage has lost! If you give up, you have lost! If you''re dead, you have lost!¡± After a small pause, Gar adds: ¡°Though this would somehow make the whole fight pointless, as it''s all about winning a subordinate.¡± A laugh comes from the orcs, and Lent thinks that, while Star is a savage at heart, the orcs are savages in nature.
The space between the bars of the cage is wide enough to squeeze through at some points, though The Boss being a big orc who wields a massive stone club as a weapon has to use a larger gap. The moment both have both of their feet inside the ground of the cage the battle begins.
The Boss is doing nothing but looking at him, but for some reason, there is a pressure in that one look, Lent feels how some of his muscles are contracting under these eyes. As a true hero, Lent notices how this pressure is artificial, something like a [Skill] maybe, but he''s also resistant to it.
Lent on the other hand already knows how he will win this. However, doing it right now would be anti-climatic, his goal is to impress the orcs, not just a mere win. So he draws his sword, changes to [Soldier] and begins: ¡°[Quicksword!]¡± The Boss lifts and blocks the attack with an arm, no sign of damage is to be seen. ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡± Using the recoil to get to the starting position of this strong overhead strike, Lent puts as much power as possible in this one, and he cut through the rough hide of The Boss, drawing some of the reddish-brown blood of the orc. Still, the wound isn''t deep. However, before The Boss could do anything else, Lent lifts his palm: ¡°[Gust]!¡± He''s a wizard at heart, so simple spells as a [Soldier] is no problem.
The wind blasts The Boss against the bars of the cage, yet The Boss opens his mouth: ¡°HUAHHH!¡± This is a sound-based attack! Lent head feels like splitting, while his balance is disturbed. The Boss calmly goes back to his feeds, cocking his head for a second, before throwing his stone club.
Lent realizes three things this moment. The first one is that The Boss is utterly unfazed by anything Lent did so far, maybe that''s what different between goodbosses and other orcs, the total control of their feelings. Neither the surprise attack during the show nor the fact that Lent broke his intimidation-skill has affected him.
The second realization is that, despite his behavior at the start of the party, The Boss is capable. He was most likely the one who ordered the fatsturd to block any attempt of an attack, the judgmental skills of The Boss are excellent, and he can also fight, this short exchange was a pure display of efficiency.
This shows in the third thing Lent realizes. As his sense of balance and concentration is disrupted, throwing a stone club at this speed will break some bones at least. He''s not Star, who can shrug things off with the [Toughness]-ability.
Nonetheless, Lent isn''t worried at all, fast as thought, he changes to [Wizard] and stops the club the moment it touches his outstretched hand. ¡°[Stonebullet]!¡± Because it''s just a piece of stone which surrenders to his superior magic.
The Boss really keeps his unnatural calm, shattering the club with his bare fist, however, Lent changes to [Soldier] again, using this opportunity to attack once more, right into the arm where he already wounded the orc.
Still lacking any sign of befuddlement, The Boss swings his meaty fist in Lent''s direction, the hero takes this hit intentionally, though it feels like being hit by a charging Star. Nonetheless, this will show how tough Lent is, even other heroes have resilient bodies, so of course, being a true hero, his body is even sturdier.
It''d be easy to switch to [Wizard] and use [Smelting Heat] to just kill this pig, but instead Lent fight him with his blade, earning the noise the other orcs make, the single cheer of Star, metal and hard hide hits against each other.
However, Lent''s sword is almost done for, as Laharel damaged his usual one, he only has an inferior replacement taken by one of the undead soldiers. Time to show off!
¡°[Smelting Heat]!¡± The moment Lent changes back to [Wizard] is when he uses this spell on his own blade, which begins to heat up. This will destroy it, but Lent still swings his red-hot sword, which proves to be more effective than before.
¡°Urrgh! The Boss is not pleased!¡± Lent''s future subordinate says while he''s about to grab his future master''s throat, most likely trying to crush the windpipe. Yet the blade begins to shed red-hot iron drops, one hits The Boss'' body, causing a moment of pain.
A moment to exploit: ¡°[Earth Pillar]! [Gust]!¡± Earth begins to rise to a big pillar, lifting the cage on one side, while The Boss is just flung through this new opening. This was the plan all along.
The Boss left the cage, so Lent has won. He lifts his fist to claim his victory and soon enough, loud cheering is heard from the orcs and Gar yelling: ¡°Lent Wood has won! The Boss will now become his subordinate, which means... what exactly for us?¡± The cheers of the orcs become ¡°Ughs!?¡±
Lent changes to [Merchant] for the high [Persuasion]-attribute, which makes it easier to influence non-heroes. ¡°This means I''m your new boss!¡±
¡°Erm... sounds logical, so... CHEER TO GUV LENT!¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°GUV LENT, GUV LENT, GUV LENT!¡±¡±¡±¡±
It may be only a village of pigmen, but on this day, Lent finally feels something he has forgotten together with his former self, Yoshimura Rentaro: Accomplishment. This feels great. How sweet it''ll taste when he destroys the Undead Army. Even better, if he gets his hands on Momokawa Kyou...
One giant stride at a time.
Volume 05.5 - Intermission 2
Intermission 2
¡°The second last dance is usually with the good friend of your spouse, though sometimes they skip this step as there may be some bad blood. Or jealousy. When Aunt Laurentia married, her best friend kissed her new husband on the lips after the dance, this was awkward.¡±
I don''t know if I should be annoyed that we''re still at the ceremony almost an hour later or thankful that we''re finally at the end of it.
¡°What did your aunt do?¡± Please Kyou-san, don''t make it any longer!
¡°She politely asked her friend to go with her to the balcony. When they came back, her friend had a black eye, though two weeks afterward they had dinner like nothing happened.¡± ...scary.
You gain 2 WP.
Having a flower in each hand is only the luxury of a popular man, though you have to be careful to also cherish them.
With this, we just passed the hour mark. I silently let go of Kyou-san''s and Rine''s hands while rubbing my ear, a desire I had for quite a while. I also take the opportunity to take a sip from my waterskin.
Following my example, Rine also drinks from hers: ¡°Ah, that hits the spot! My throat is really parched.¡± No wonder, you''ve talked with few breaks for an hour.
¡°We should be close to the hamlet.¡± We saw it on a hilltop before and decided to visit it. We''re on the way to Ohlbr¨¹cken, and while I have a rough idea where to go, I can make sure that the route is correct. We''re not on the road, after all, as we had run into some trouble in Goldbrunn. ¡°Just around that forest. Or through it... Ara-san?¡± I ask the person here, who has the least possibility to get lost in any kind of tree-related terrain. ¡°Ara-san!¡±
¡°-what?¡± I''m about seventy percent sure, that she was lost in thoughts. It''s clear as day that she zoned out during the marriage-talk, but the real question is: Did she just fell asleep while walking? ¡°Is something wrong?¡±
¡°Would you mind to come back to reality and lead us through this forest to the hamlet?¡±
¡°What hamlet?¡±
¡°You know, the one we saw on the hilltop before. When I said, we should visit it and you nodded?¡±
¡°I wasn''t paying attention.¡±
¡°What did you pay attention to?¡±
¡°...the universe?¡±
¡°Were you asleep?¡±
¡°Almost.¡±
...don''t say anything. This is like picking up a fight I can''t win. ¡°Would you mind leading us through the forest?¡±
¡°Why don''t you?¡±
''Because I''m mentally tired from paying attention to Rine''s words all that time.'' While I do feel that way, I don''t say it. ¡°Because you''re better at this.¡± While my training with the alfar did indeed make me quite good in navigating through woods, Ara-san is an alfr, so it''s like her home turf.
¡°Fine.¡±
The way her ears move makes me suspicious, so I make sure: ¡°Would you also avoid brambles, burdock, nettles or similar plants?¡±
¡°What are nettles?¡±
¡°The ones I mean sting if you touch them.¡±
¡°...when you see some, please tell me. This sounds like a useful plant.¡±
¡°Please, just look for an easy way. I mean, a way which humans can easily traverse.¡± If I''m not clear here, she might ''misunderstand'' it as ''an easy way to make us suffer.'' Since Goldbrunn, Ara-san has started to play pranks on people. Traveling might have woken up her latent alfr-instincts. So we have to be careful that we are not on the receiving end.
¡°What about-¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°And-¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Fe-¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°We-¡±
¡°No!¡± Whatever Ara-san wants to say, the fact that she starts with questions may mean that she''s actively trying to find a loophole right now so she can rub it under my nose later.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
¡°Then it won''t be entertaining.¡±
¡°That''s not the point. I want to get fast and save to the hamlet.¡±
¡°I see. If you know exactly what you want, then it might be better if you navigate us through the forest.¡±
Is she sulking? I''m not sure here, but she may be offended. I look at her face, but as usual, it doesn''t give me enough expression to work with. Her left ear points up, the right ear points back, as alfr, her ears are always moving, so while they''re a good mean to read her mood, they''re not that reliable.
The thought about her ears revives another memory in me which I still can''t sort out. Ear-plugging. I try my best to treat her the same, but I know that I would pull her ear usually by now, but I just don''t feel like it. This incident had an effect on me, after all.
Good thing that it doesn''t stop Kyou-san, she pulls Ara-san''s ear roughly. The alfr cries out: ¡°Ouch! Why always my ears!? They''re sensitive, you brutes!¡±
¡°Arako, would you please navigate us through the forest? I would like to be in the hamlet before I see the need to rip your ear off.¡± A blatant threat!
¡°Momo? Isn''t smiling supposed to be used, when you''re friendly to another person?¡± Whenever Kyou-san is pissed at Arako or me, she puts on her fake happy smile. Ara-san can''t read human faces well that''s why she can''t see the murder in Kyou-san''s eyes.
¡°Because we''re friends. I wouldn''t want to tear your ear off, so please be a friend of mine and save me the trouble.¡±
¡°I''m positive that this is not how friendships work.¡±
¡°Will you do me the favor?¡±
¡°My ear! Would you mind?¡±
¡°Of course.¡± She finally let Ara-san''s ear go.
The alfr girl rubs it for a moment, then she turns to the forest, looks back at Kyou-san, and makes the sensible choice here: Escaping into it.
It takes almost a second for the rest of us to react, and it''s Kyou-san who cries out: ¡°After her!¡±
...why? It''s your fault...
Oh god, Rine starts running. Ara-san notices it and jumps on a tree, using her enhanced jump-capabilities as an [Acrobat], but Rine swiftly swings herself up a tree and follow her, jumping from one sturdy branch to another.
¡°Ara-san has lost, huh?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
Kyou-san and I already know how this will end. Being an alfr in the forest is a huge advantage, but as long as Ara-san won''t use actual lethal force, there is little chance that she can escape the multi-talented and overpowered princess.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Do you see, it wasn''t that hard, right?¡±
¡°You''re correct, Momo.¡± We''re in the hamlet, the people are looking at us wide-eyed, as they''re surely not used having visitors like us. The kind that''s locking their alfr friend''s arm firmly, forcing her to do their bidding, because that''s exactly what Kyou-san and Rine are doing right now. ¡°Would you please let me go now?¡± The interesting part is, how Ara-san seems to not mind it a bit, maybe because it''s within the strange humor that alfr share.
I, on the other hand, am just glad, that I''m not a part of this. ¡°Well, let''s just start gathering intel.¡± Following my words, the girls let Ara-san go, who circles her shoulders quickly, as checking if everything is alright.
¡°Let''s ask them if there''s a pub.¡± Rine is direct, so she doesn''t waste any time and asks the next best person. Of course, a hamlet like this one doesn''t have any. Though there is a meeting place, where people drink and share stories. It''s just a big hut, which would usually be used to dry logs. So this is a lumberjack community, huh?
...why are children following me? ¡°Look, he has a hood! A ranger, a ranger!¡± ¡°Ah, there''s an elf! Be careful, we should tell mommy.¡± ¡°Look at their skin. They''re sick.¡± ¡°This one looks like a princess.¡± ¡°Are they the Crusaders?¡± Listening to their conversations, they seem to be caught in a conflict between curiosity and fear. Well, I guess Ara-san is the main reason for the latter.
However, another question is popping up: ¡°Ara-san, why are you looking inside your [Inventory]?¡± The alfr in question has her hand in her backpack which has a small pocket dimension to store stuff, a gift to every hero.
¡°To play with the children.¡±
¡°Ah, I want to play, too!¡± Rine, I''m sure, that what you imagine about playing with children and what Ara-san thinks of this concept, are very different. Especially, since Ara-san could undoubtedly hear their remarks as well, so I have to consider that she may be pissed about being called an ''elf.''
¡°This is not the time.¡± I don''t like brats, they''re super annoying. However, I don''t want them to let suffer through anything Ara-san can think of. ¡°We''re on-¡± My words stuck in my throat, as I see something I haven''t seen at all in the fantasy world so far.
It''s a woman, most likely the mother of the baby she''s holding. She has it wrapped in a cloth, that is wrapped around her body, just like a baby-holder. This isn''t unusual in itself, I''ve seen this already in Feuerberg, but the baby has only one arm, the other didn''t seem to grow out. Well, birth-defects are a thing in a fantasy world as well, I guess. It''s just that I haven''t seen something like this before, the worst was someone with a wooden leg, most likely due to an accident.
The mother with the baby passes some housewives, that look at her with a look I know too well: Scorn. Hey, it''s not the kid''s fault for being handicapped or the mother''s fault to birth it. The blamed mother seems all meek and has dark rings under her eyes, she looks like she has endured this behavior for quite a while.
I''m no apostle of justice or something like that. Usually, I hate the self-satisfaction people show whenever they claim to be just and right. I also am no friend of handicapped people, for me, they usually just don''t exist, call it intentional ignorance, but there are a whole bunch of things I don''t need in my life.
Yet now that I see this, I can''t help but feel upset about how the people look at this woman and her child.
¡°Ah...¡± Rine smile turned wryly as her eyes turn to the mother.
¡°What''s wrong?¡± Kyou-san who also observed this, asks the blonde about her reaction.
¡°Ah, nothing special.¡±
¡°Is it about the child?¡±
¡°Yeah, I feel sorry for it. It has to suffer because of its mother.¡±
What!? My stomach is about to turn. I mean, why is Rine saying something like that!? ¡°It''s not its mother fault. There are cases like that, it''s nobody fault!¡± Kyou-san nods to my words.
¡°Huh?¡± Rine looks at us wide-eyed and utterly confused. ¡°But she is?¡±
¡°What do you mean, she is!?¡±
¡°Erm... I mean, she could have married the man. As long as there was no adultery involved.¡±
¡°...hah!?¡±
¡°I mean, Kenta, you know. You do, right?¡±
¡°Know what?¡±
¡°A child from a married couple is always born healthy.¡±
WHAT!
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 3-1 – The Teachers and the Bar
Chapter 3 ¨C The Teachers and the Bar
Saegusa Mamiko-sensei, 29 years old, her passion is teaching, her current occupation is being a hero and researcher. ¡°This time, it has to work...¡±
With two of her students, Furuda Akira-kun and Matsuzawa Hideko-san, acting as her assistants. ¡°Don''t worry, Sensei,¡± Akira-kun reassures: ¡°Just be sure to put up some distance... [Ignite]!¡±
A little spark is seen in the mixture, ready to ignite it. In the end, it doesn''t.
Gunpowder experiment #23 is another failure.
¡°Don''t worry,¡± Saegusa smiles: ¡°We''ll get it next time.¡± But deep down, she feels really insecure. 23 tries, no success.
Sulfur, charcoal, saltpeter. The sulfur and charcoal are the fuels, saltpeter the oxidizer. While Saegusa knows what gunpowder is made of, she couldn''t grasp the ratio. The best she could do so far was some sparks, but nothing that could begin an age of guns.
Same goes for her tries for nitroglycerin or TNT.
Is it because of her lack of knowledge, or because of something of this fantasy world that makes it impossible to use those explosives? Is it magic? Does magic destroy everything that she knows about chemistry?
Nonetheless, she needs to be strong for her students. ¡°Let''s give those fire-bombs another try.¡±
There are explosives in this world, but while their ingredients are known, their chemical composition is still unclear. Fire-bombs, for example, explode with flames, which would suggest it''s like some explosive napalm. As Saegusa has more learned about the teaching aspects of chemistry instead of warfare, she doesn''t even know if something like that exists in her homeworld.
Inside the fire-bombs are only two types of powders. So something like a gas-explosion is improbable, there isn''t enough pressure there. Has one of the powders the necessary oxygen for this chemical reaction?
For a while, she thought that alkali metals may be the key ingredients to those fire-bombs, but no reaction when dropped in water, and all determination procedures she tried proved her wrong. For now, she''s almost given up on declaring any of those substances as an oxidizer as well.
Still, the mixture explodes if there is a strong shock or an ignition, so it''s similar to nitroglycerin, but it can stand the heat of a campfire inside a container, as long as it prevents the flame of reaching it. Isn''t there enough oxygen inside the container for the explosion? Even for a small one?
Deciphering the working of the fire-bombs may give her hints how to make explosives on larger scales with less risks. In addition to controlled explosions to make guns. This would benefit the Feuerberg-kingdom and ensure the safety of her students, as firearms are working well with everyone, so actual soldiers can equip them and shoot those demons, while bombs could be dropped on them to end this war.
Being a chemistry teacher should have some worth in a fantasy world.
Hideko-san prepares a fire-bomb, these are made by the alchemists. The girl with glasses was once part of the chemistry club that Saegusa was the adviser of.
Furuda-kun, on the other hand, has participated in the shogi-club, but his grades are exceptional, the best in class. So his bright mind is used to help Saegusa in her work, especially as he has already studied far ahead classes at his cram school, so he''s able to proofread Saegusa''s formulas as well.
Saegusa thinks that her two assistants are dating, but being summoned into this world certainly has an effect on people, and she also believes, that''s their private matter. Saegusa is not a teacher anymore, and even the school would have blessed them, as long as it doesn''t reflect negatively on their grades.
¡°Be careful, you two. As I already told you, working with explosives is tricky, as many tests you try with them to discern their make-up can make them explode.¡± It''s about their chemical make-up, not what they''re made of. Saegusa already knows, attrium and grounded pepperlung, she just had to ask the alchemist who created them.
The real question is, what is the chemical formula and how does the chemical reaction work. If she knows it, she can use this and her knowledge from Japan to create better explosives. There are only 118 elements, most of them won''t even matter to determine what kind of salts are used in these fire-bombs.
A knock on the door makes Saegusa jumps, as she''s about to lay hands on the firebomb. She steps back before calling: ¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Saegusa Mamiko-dono!¡± It''s a voice she hasn''t heard before, ¡°A message for you.¡±
¡°*Sigh* I''ll come.¡± She points at her assistants: ¡°Keep an eye on the explosive.¡± As unlikely it is that it''ll suddenly ignite, it''s better to have it observed. Then she opens the door.
¡°Here for you.¡± The messenger looks young, he may be even younger than her students, Saegusa has still trouble to guess ages with all these westerner people around here.
She takes the sealed letter from his outstretched hand. ¡°You may leave.¡±
¡°No, his Highness ordered me to wait until you read it.¡± Now that he mentions it, there is the crest of Feuerberg on the seal, a mountain surrounded by flames. So it has to do with her duties as the head of the heroes of the research facility.
¡°Something important?¡±
¡°I don''t know, ma''am. I''m just a messenger.¡±
¡°*Sigh*¡± Better than having your postman read your letters. To let that boy leave as soon as possible, she opens the message, only to blink a few times at what she instantly saw. It looks like some sort of list.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Taniguchi Minoru, 25 years old. A young teacher, who studied at Hokkaido University, someone who excels in mathematics and teaching.
Taniguchi Minoru, 25 years old. A hero summoned from another world, with a head filled with knowledge, while he lacks skills necessary for this profession.
Both are true.
Nobody asked him to be transported into a fantasy world, he was just the assistant homeroom teacher, but in the end, he was summoned like the rest of the class.
Currently, he''s in the village Funkenpflug. It''s about two days away from the capital and houses a research facility, which Taniguchi and the others use to bring knowledge about modern Japanese into this fantasy world.
His feet carry him to the only pub in Funkenpflug, as he needs a drink badly. He just had a meeting with some scholars, who have laughed at his knowledge once more. ¡not exactly laughed, but teaching mathematics at such a high level, without anything to practically back it up immediately, is tricky.
Too bad that those scholars will decide how much funds he will get, including his livelihood. Taniguchi tried to speak to architects and builders, but they are doing fine with the formulas they used for centuries.
He really should have learned for what reasons he studied all that stuff in university, other than teaching math. What he taught his students is too simple, what he learned in university lacks the use for the real life in this fantasy world.
That''s how great mathematicians must have felt in their time. He''s sure that they also drowned their sorrows with alcohol.
Surprisingly, he sees someone he knows sitting at the counter, Saegusa Mamiko-sensei. Or more like, she''s babbling while her head rests on the tabletop: ¡°Oooohhhh! Guchi-sensei!¡±
¡°How did you come to that nickname?¡± He sits next to her, planning to get as drunk as she is. To even find her here, means that she had an unfortunate setback, so if she can be so happy by drinking, Taniguchi wants to follow her suit.
¡°Ishn''t it cute?¡±
¡°Well, Guchi-sensei it is then. For this evening.¡±
¡°Huh? Allreedy even''ng?¡±
¡°When did you start?¡±
¡°Noooo ideaaa.¡±
Saegusa-sensei is usually a more stiff person, but that image has crumbled apart step by step during her stay in Feuerberg. Taniguchi can''t help but think if it''d be a good chance to make an advance, as she''s quite a sexy woman underneath her usual strict manner.
Better to get some liquid courage first. ¡°What she had.¡±
The barkeep also knows the two of them as they''re regulars here, he just shrugs his shoulders and gives him some white liquid. ¡°Nachbrenner. You''ll never forget this evening.¡±
Taniguchi takes a sip, only to feel how his lips start to bites, what kind of drink is this? Like a vodka? Not like he has drunk vodka ever before.
Well, better drink it in one gulp... ah... ah... ¡°...uah, ah! Ah! Uhhh!¡± He doesn''t cough, it just burns from within, it''s like his throat is on fire, setting everything up to his toes in flames. The liquid itself is spicy but doesn''t prickle anywhere.
¡°Good stuff.¡±
¡°So you heard?¡± Saegusa-sensei inquires.
¡°Heard about what?¡±
¡°...ah, I still have it with me... here.¡±
She hands him a letter, which already has some dark spots. It''s written in this world''s alphabet, but he learned to decipher them... ¡°This list...¡±
¡°Read!¡± Saegusa-sensei snaps at him, her intense glare gives him shivers.
¡°Casualties... 20th Lightdrop... MIA: Hoshibashi Takashi, Yoshimura Rentaro, Shinohara Mari, Endo Naomi, Kumagai Yuria... KIA: Tetsukawa Nobuo...¡± Five are missing, one is dead.
Tetsukawa Nobuo, Taniguchi barely knew him, he was that kind of boy, who fits in easily with others, who don''t do well or bad at school, just that kind of guy who you see and spend no thought about, what that person is really like. Now he''s dead so Taniguchi won''t know.
Ice is running down Taniguchi''s spine, he can''t breathe properly, the only thing that keeps his mind going is the drink he just had. A sense of guilt hits the former teacher, one of his students died. Another thought crosses his mind: Taniguchi wasn''t there so he couldn''t help it.
Yes, it''s not his fault.
¡°What... the list continues? ¡ Rogue... Katsuragi Kenta, Momokawa Kyou... what?¡±
¡°...ah, here...¡± Saegusa-sensei hands him another few sheets, in a better condition than the one before. One about the known circumstances about Tetsukawa''s death, the second about what is known about the two parties that went MIA.
The last one about... ¡°He did what!?¡± Kidnapping, and possible mind-control. For some reason, high-treason isn''t listed there, but that he wounded Inoue Masahiko badly, and lured their party into traps!
Taniguchi always hated Katsuragi''s guts, but now he is enraged. That little bastard, what has he done? Everything around them fell apart when they were summoned, but instead of sticking with them, he just vanished, was treated MIA for a long time, then he resurfaced, claimed to be cursed, then heading to the Hei?quellen-shrine, which was attacked... coincidence? Or was this whole story to lure Momokawa Kyou into a trap?
Katsuragi brought news to the king, concerning a possible uprising of lizardpeople. Then he happened to know about the princess-situation... Regarding to the report, he couldn''t have known, but he could have seized this chance.
Taniguchi has another suspicion. Seeing how Inoue was almost killed... revenge? Is Katsuragi Kenta after the other heroes? Why? Because of things that happened in Japan?
If he has mind-controlling powers, it makes sense. First, he gets the one single person, who was alone, Momokawa-san, who has the knowledge about the other Japanese and might be the one person he wants to make suffer most.
He then seized control over the princess, having a hostage against the kingdom... is he planning his next steps? Maybe he''s even here?
No... Funkenpflug is well-guarded, as there are the research facilities here. So he won''t have a chance for now...
Still, it''s hard for Taniguchi to not feel endangered. He remembers the times when he was talking with Katsuragi because of incidents concerning his behavior, the contempt he felt from this boy, the sheer arrogance. Someone like that might become crazy with all the power he might attain by being a hero.
Oh god, there was a monster in their midst. Taniguchi feels like something like a chunk of ice tries to build up inside his stomach, but the flames of the Nachbrenner melt it away effortlessly. Taniguchi had a good guess, why Saegusa-sensei started to drink. Not only because of guilt and sorrow, but out of fear as well.
¡°Buy the waaaay,¡± Saegusa-sensei''s voice becomes hollow despite the slurring: ¡°Every''ne will read them tomorrowwww.¡±
Taniguchi doesn''t understand what she implies: ¡°By ''everyone'' you mean the students?¡±
¡°Yep, all of them.¡±
Trying to keep a curse in, he asks the next question: ¡°Why... did you give your consent?¡± Saegusa-sensei is the head of this facility, that''s why everything should go through her.
¡°Cause the king ordered it... no consent here, see? Right here, right above the seal.¡± Another letter comes, the final one, or rather the first. It''s written by the king''s chancellor, explaining what the lists are and what they''re supposed to do with them. Not exactly an order, but a rather direct request.
¡°You won''t, right?¡±
¡°I won''t?¡±
¡°You won''t!¡± Taniguchi is furious. What does this kingdom thinks, telling teenage students about which of their classmates are missing, who was killed, and who is a traitor? He could understand it from the ones who decided to join the combat-group, but the research-group shouldn''t be disheartened by knowing these kinds of things.
They''re still children!
There is another passage there as well, explaining that the kings intend to make the research-group undergo combat training and monster-hunting! These are the children, who chose not to fight, so why is that king enforcing this right now!? Is it because neither Saegusa-sensei nor Taniguchi produced any results!?
¡°I''ll talk with the king! Right now, I get the next coach!¡± He''ll use the budget he was given to pay for a coach ride, if the kingdom thinks they could just decide what Taniguchi and the others do, he''s wrong and can cover the costs for Taniguchi-sensei to tell him!
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 3-2
The afternoon of the next day, Taniguchi paid quite a sum for traveling through the night. So close to the capital, that kind of service is granted, given how few monsters are in this area.
Like a breeze, Taniguchi walks through the castle, no guard hindered him, as he''s already known here, so why should anyone stop him?
Except for the guard in front of the door of the king''s study. ¡°We''re sorry, but currently the king is unavailable.¡±
¡°Step aside! It''s important!¡± Taniguchi tries to pass through them, but the guards block the door. ¡°It''s a matter of life and death.¡±
The guards look at each other, but since Taniguchi is a hero, he''s sure that they will let him pass. They were summoned here to be something special, and special people gain special rights, it''s as simple as that.
¡°Hero-dono, please. You won''t like the king if you''re going inside now.¡± One of them is pleading: ¡°We''re not here to keep the king save, but everyone who wants to walk in during his break.¡±
So the reason why Taniguchi can''t speak to him is because the king is on a break!? ¡°Let me in.¡± There is a bit of spite in his words.
Both guards look at each other, then they step aside: ¡°It''ll be on your head.¡±
Taniguchi vehemently opens the door, only to see a sight, which he wasn''t expecting. The king embracing a dark-blonde woman, while both of them are french kissing each other. For some reason, the king has a quill in his hand and is directly looking at the teacher. If Taniguchi wouldn''t know better, he''d think that the king almost threw it at him.
That''s impossible, though.
Slowly, the king loosens his embrace and let the woman take a deep breath. It''s his wife, Lorena von Stolzherz. This beautiful woman has still the charm of a young woman, though she''s older than Taniguchi and has birthed seven children. Her long dark-blonde hair, her blazing eyes, her well-made dress, everything about her is majesty and gentleness.
The king, on the other hand, Heinrich von Stolzherz, might share the same eyes, but nothing of the gentleness, his hair is short, same as his beard, with a bright blond color, but his face is hard and controlled. ¡°Taniguchi-dono, what''s the reason for your visit?¡± He puts the quill on the desk. Why did he have it in the first place? Maybe he got caught by a dramatic embrace while working?
Taniguchi thought about how inappropriate the king is for having such misconduct during the day. ¡°We need to talk.¡±
¡°I guess, it''s important, otherwise there would be no reason to disturb my quality time with my wife. My Love, would you like to participate in this audience?¡±
The queen looks at Taniguchi, she''s really gorgeous, the teacher can''t help but stare at her, whenever she''s around. ¡°No, my Dear.¡± Her smile is so kind as she looks at her husband. ¡°I will take a look at Innies studies instead.¡± She presses her lips against the king''s for a second and then whispers something, which Taniguchi can barely hear. ¡°Please be lenient.¡±
¡°I''ll try.¡± The way the two of them speak with each other gives Taniguchi the feeling that he''s in the wrong here.
The queen walks up to Taniguchi: ¡°I''ll ask the servants for some drinks and snacks. Is there anything you like to have, Taniguchi-dono?¡±
¡°Water please.¡± He would ask for wine usually, but saying it to a woman like her seems to be inappropriate, so he opts for the more proper drink. There is nothing wrong with water, after all.
¡°I understand. Dear, anything you like?¡±
¡°Some bread with cheese.¡±
¡°With the lerra-paste on top?¡±
¡°Of cou- no, not today.¡± He quickly changes his mind, and for some reason, this earns a smile from his wife. Taniguchi doesn''t understand why, though.
¡°Well, maybe I''ll also eat a bit of lerra today.¡±
¡°...then the paste, please. I love you.¡±
¡°Me too.¡±
The way they exchange their looks and smiles makes Taniguchi feels completely out of place and ignored. He''s here for a reason, so why do these... these... lovebirds act like that!?
He also feels bad, because the queen is that beautiful. It''s not like he''s jealous, but it feels bad. This is normal as a man, seeing a lovely woman flirting with another man just feels bad.
Finally, the queen leaves the room, and the king points to a simple chair in front of his desk, while he sits down on his own chair. ¡°Well, Taniguchi-dono, why do you want to speak with me?¡±
Taniguchi doesn''t sit down, he wants to stand while making his points. ¡°I''ll be direct, your highness. I''ve learned about the letters, you have sent to Saegusa-sensei.¡±
¡°Actually, it was Ralf, but as he''s my chancellor, his letters are my letters, that''s correct. Go on.¡±
This calmness... the king is unfazed, just sitting at his desk, his hands are folded, he looks directly up to the standing Taniguchi... this is infuriating.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Taniguchi already made his points during the coach ride, or at least during the time, he wasn''t sleeping. ¡°Some things need clarification.¡±
¡°I see. What kind of matters are these?¡±
¡°First, I want to ask why the research-group has to undertake combat training?¡±
¡°This is according to our information about heroes. While I have to agree, that our knowledge is rather limited, we asked our dari-allies, and they explained to us some of the needs. To be able to enhance your research capabilities, something called [Level] has to be raised first, and the easiest way is to fight monsters. Now that the combat-group is self-reliant, we can start providing you this kind of support as well.¡±
So this kind of reason... ¡°They''re just children. They''re already working at their hardest, please let them accumulate to this kind of life, first.¡±
¡°I see.¡± The way how the king just listens to Taniguchi shows the teacher that the king is really considering his point of view. This is a sign of a wise ruler, the world he''s living in might be dangerous, but he''s still nothing like a savage. Their culture may be primitive, but the people themselves aren''t.
¡°Also, I''m very sorry about the lack of results.¡± This is another point of the letter, a gentle threat to cutting off their budget if there is no progress within half a year: ¡°We''ll work it out. I''m close, so close, it''s just hard to be stranded in this world, without any of the tools we used to have.¡± Without the internet, PCs, industrial machines, and similar technology, it''s nearly impossible to bring the standard or Taniguchi''s world into this world, they lack the means, they lack the necessary knowledge. The culture Taniguchi is familiar with is ''standing on the shoulders of giants.''
¡°I''m sure, that you''ll work this out.¡± Good thing, that the king is so understanding.
¡°Yes. I like to say something that displeases me...¡± Cautiously, Taniguchi tries to sneak a peek how the king will react.
He just cocks his head a little: ¡°Speak freely.¡±
¡°It''s about the lists...¡±
¡°Tetsukawa-dono''s demise is tragic, though I recommend him for saving the rest of his party and the scout. Such a brave man, he''ll get an appropriate funeral, even lacking a body to cremate.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± Taniguchi didn''t read about the circumstances of Tetsukawa-kun''s dead, he has to concentrate on his living students for now, so he doesn''t know what the king is talking about. ¡°But I want to know, why the other students, the ones at Funkenpflug, need to know about these lists.¡±
¡°They have a right to know. They''re comrades in a sense.¡±
¡°Please, they''re still children. They''re still too young for this, they''re still adapting to this world, hearing about Tetsukawa-kun is too much. It''ll scar them, it''ll make them suffer through so much pain. Same goes for the missing...¡±
¡°So you want to keep it in the dark?¡±
¡°For now. I''ll personally tell them later.¡±
¡°I see.¡± The king is really listening, this is easier than Taniguchi initially thought.
The next point will be the hardest, though: ¡°Finally, about the thing with your daughter...¡±
The ember-like eyes of the king turn fierce for a moment, but within a moment they''re smooth again. ¡°Continue.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
¡°Let me tell you, I''m incredibly sorry for the kidnapping,¡± Taniguchi bows while speaking these words: ¡°Katsuragi was always someone, who doesn''t mix well with others, showing contempt to them. Actually, ther-¡±
The king interrupts: ¡°So you want to take responsibility?¡±
¡°I want to say, that we won''t try to protect him, he has crossed a line, that is inexcusable. Deem with him however you want.¡± Taniguchi has to make sure that nobody would think of Katsuragi as being part of the other heroes.
Taniguchi is sure that this is the main reason, why this letter came is because of that case. It''s only natural, the king is still a father, so naturally, he will let his emotions lead him, making him much harsher than he wants to be.
Maybe he''s listening to Taniguchi this patiently and understandingly because he already knows that his sadness has driven him.
¡°Is everything about the letter now clear? Were you able to explain everything you wanted?¡±
¡°Yes, your highness.¡±
¡°Then let me ask you a question. Are you for real?¡±
Not sure, what the king means, Taniguchi just furrows his brows: ¡°What are you-¡±
¡°Let me rephrase it, Taniguchi-dono. You''re a sore to my eyes, and looking at you makes me feel like hurling. Every word you say makes me want to cave that head of yours in.¡±
These words are like a fist into Taniguchi''s face, he blinks several times, unable to process if what he just heard is real, especially, as the king is still calmly sitting on his chair, his voice serene and controlled.
¡°I remember the first time I''ve talked with you clearly, back when the priests summoned you. I''ve never seen such a despicable display before. As a king, I''m used to people trying to get on my better side, but while you say that you want to ''protect'' your students, you put most of them in front of you, acting as a shield and sword, doing the work you feel too good for.¡±
This... how dare he! Taniguchi opens his mouth, yelling into the king''s face: ¡°You can''t talk to me like that!¡±
The eyes of the king set ablaze, at least that''s the impression Taniguchi got: ¡°Of course I can, and I can do more.¡± Faster than thought, Taniguchi''s feet lose contact to the ground as he''s lifted up by the king by the neck. ¡°I can also, break a bone or two.¡±
He slightly slaps Taniguchi''s torso, a sharp, unreal pain smashes through his body, the teacher feels like his ribcage was just shattered. Or at least some ribs broken! Unable to say something, only a loud groan runs through his throat.
Strangely enough, after that initial pain, Taniguchi can spit words again, maybe because he''s a hero? ¡°You can''t do it, I have my rights.¡±
The king looks at him, much like a teacher to a foolish student: ¡°Rights? Don''t make me laugh. I can''t do something like that to a farmer, I can''t do something like that to a noble. I''m the king, but that doesn''t matter, because all of Feuerberg''s citizens are protected by the crown and our laws. Who is protecting you? Your Japan? How will it retaliate? Can it send the so-called missiles to us? Can it send in an army to protect your rights? The first thing you missed, dirtbag, is the opportunity to claim basic civil rights for you and your students. The only reason why I won''t smash you through this wall there is because the repairs would be paid with taxpayer''s money, and I owe my citizens to use the taxes they pay for their and the kingdom''s benefit.¡±
A strange feeling runs through Taniguchi''s head. Realization. Yes, all of his civil rights are protected by the State of Japan. In this fantasy world, it can''t do anything to protect or enforce it, same goes for human rights.
He''s entirely at the mercy of whoever wants to do him harm. The kingdom of Feuerberg might have let them live here, but they never gave them citizenship or such.
This reality is cruel!
¡°...but you need us.¡± To fight the demons, to fight the demon king!
¡°To be honest, I was against the summoning at first, as I''m positive that we have the resources to win the war without any heroes, which we even need to cultivate.¡±
So the heroes aren''t needed? They''re just a bonus? No, he must be lying! Taniguchi tries to lift his hand, trying to escape the hold of the king, but his arm is like steel.
¡°Now you''re summoned, it''s too late to reconsider. That''s why we''re doing it right, and we do our best to keep as many of you alive as possible. It has been almost three months, and we only have one casualty, this is outstanding.¡±
The king expected more of the students to die within this time-frame? He was prepared to sacrifice children for... for the kingdom and its citizens? Yes, because these children aren''t part of his country...
¡°...you monster!¡± He looks down on everything what humans are!
¡°I can imagine that a pathetic man like you can''t understand. I''ll suffer for it, I''m already suffering, my daughter is gone because we made this summoning. This is a price, I had to pay, there might be more, I''ll endure it. Still, while the father in me yearns for her, the king in me is delighted to see that one of your students has actually the guts and abilities to kidnap my daughter! You talk about him like he''s trash, but for me, he''s a promising man, who may be capable of attaining heights only heroes can reach. When I saw Katsuragi Kenta, I felt his contempt, I was sure that he blames me for summoning him, so if that''s how he repays me, so be it! As long as he fights against the demons in the end.¡±
This man is crazy!
¡°There is Inoue-dono as well! Another promising man. Children? You think of them as children, when they''re already fighting monsters on their own, taste shattering defeats, go through pain and suffering, while still marching forward!? Don''t look down on them!¡± The king releases his grip over Taniguchi, who falls flat to the ground.
This bastard! Hatred wells up within the teacher, hatred he hasn''t ever felt before. ¡°...pay...I''ll make you pay.¡±
¡°Do it! Start fighting, become stronger, challenge me. I don''t care! If you''re strong enough to defeat me, I''ll grant you citizenship and everything you want, I''d even lick your boots, if that''s what you desire. Just make sure, to not let the kingdom suffer, and to defeat the demon king! The reason, why I permitted the summoning, after all, is because the clergy assured me, that there are six among of you, who have the capabilities to claim the highest power a hero can achieve. Six! If you''re one of them, Taniguchi, then you hating me and a bit of humiliation is a small price to pay to get you motivated!¡±
This person is a madman! Taniguchi can''t even start to understand how someone''s brain must be wired to think this way! The kingdom of Feuerberg is ruled by a lunatic!
¡°If you''re too afraid to fight, also fine. Earn your rights by providing to the kingdom. Make yourself a person, that the kingdom needs and admires. I''ll still hate your guts, but I''ll reward you.¡± Taniguchi is being lifted with a foot, which sends him back sitting into the chair. ¡°Though I''ll be clear here, Taniguchi-dono: I expect the lists to be known among your students, I won''t expect anything less from the research-group than what I expect from the combat-group, and as long as you play along, you can live here and be protected to an appropriated degree. Do you need more clarification on that?¡± Shamefully, Taniguchi feels his head shaking, before he realized his own doing. ¡°Good. Also, if you want a real beating, you can make an appointment. However, now I like to eat, so get out here!¡±
Taniguchi''s legs move while his head zoned out, he''s fleeing like a rabbit from a fox. Still, he thinks he heard someone saying: ¡°Called it.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
After this despicable display, the king of Feuerberg, Heinrich von Stolzherz, sits down on a chair at the corner of his study. There is a low table, he likes to use for his snacks, now that Lorena has asked the staff to prepare him something, he has an obligation to eat.
He already knew that heroes will spell trouble and considering his family''s heritage, summoning them is borderline. Their ancestor and founder of the kingdom, Hagen von Stolzherz, was also a hero. His story is one of pain, one of loss, one of slavery. Whenever the king thinks of this, he feels ashamed. However, it''s his duty to put his citizens first.
Each ruler of Feuerberg had their share of trouble, for Heinrich, it''s the arrival of the so-called demon king, a being who conquers the demon realm, named Daemonicus. While it''s more of a region than a proper country, the demon king forges it to one.
Demons are dangerous, as long as they kept fighting each other, everything was fine. Sometimes there were skirmishes at the border regions of Feuerberg, but it wasn''t too different from monster attacks or bandits. Nowadays, things have grown in magnitude and threat.
Heinrich¡¯s food arrives, bread with cheese and a thick layer on lerra-paste on top. It''s a simple snack, but he loved it since childhood. Heinrich sure hopes that Kati is eating well. However, the king trusts Gottfried that he will get her back. After all, this is the man who repelled the barbarian Grekk, he''s also the man who has cut ravines into mountains, the man who slew three adamantine golems at once, who has faced an army on his own, the man who has reached the highest peaks a non-hero can climb, a height that only a fraction of heroes will ever see.
Which of these heroes they summoned will surpass him? Six of them have the talent. One possible candidate is already dead, five are missing, two have gone rogue. Eight of thirty-two are outside Feuerberg''s reach.
To be honest, Heinrich doesn''t expect any of the non-combatants to be one of the six, including the teachers. They lack the guts to take their destinies into their own hands. Though he respects Yamaguchi-dono for showing them new ways to grow and process food. If the researchers are capable of bettering Feuerberg, they will do fine, though Heinrich has never heard of anything groundbreaking coming from heroes. Yes, the printing idea in Arrivinia is nice, but as long as there is [Fast Writer], it''s only suitable for printing large amounts of paper.
For now, Heinrich decides to put some hope into Inoue-dono and his friends. Maybe he should give the other combat-heroes more important roles from now on. There is still a possible lizardmen threat in the mountains... licking his fingers, Heinrich decides to return to work. He''s currently making notes in preparation for the upcoming war council, he will also note to send at least two parties of the combat-heroes there. An important task, but at this phase not as delicate as the demons, mistakes here and there aren''t as bad.
Heinrich von Stolzherz isn''t that smart, but he''s decisive and has good instincts, which is often more useful than pure knowledge and craftiness. Those are essential traits for ruling a country as well, but this is something his uncle and his chancellor excel in. Listening to counsel, balancing pros and cons, and making decisions are his tasks.
This unwanted audience with Taniguchi-dono has reasserted Heinrich, that these young people are more adult than their teacher. Each of them is capable of defending themselves against most threats and given a chance, they will soon be as strong as Feuerberg''s ordinary veterans.
More and more issues and details are entering Heinrich von Stolzherz'' mind, until he has all forgotten about Taniguchi-dono, and is back to work-mode.
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''Stay calm, stay calm!'' Taniguchi''s thoughts are hammering against the inside of his head, but his breathing is ragged, his mind clouded, just these uncomfortable emotions are running through his body, the cold inside his guts, the heat on is skin.
He''s wandering through the streets of Esse and gives everyone that looks at him a glare, it doesn''t matter whether they''re children or adult, concerned or disapproving. He walks into someone, but he doesn''t even apologize. It''s not like Taniguchi wants to be like this, it''s just that he can''t do otherwise right now.
''Are you real?'' Since the king asked this question, the whole conversation was just a one-sided onslaught of verbal and physical abuse. Yes, Taniguchi''s in the right, the moment someone resorts to physical violence, they''re automatically at fault.
Yes, that''s right. Taniguchi did nothing wrong. It''s the king, the king is the one who''s responsible for everything! If he hadn''t summoned them, then everything would be still okay, Taniguchi would still be teaching without any real worries, he would still have his stable life and income. Tetsukawa-kun would also still be alive.
He will prove the king wrong, he will show him who''s pathetic! Right now! Taniguchi just needs a sword, then he will level up and beat the king, easy. Where are the weapon stores? He can''t see any, why isn''t a weapon store around the corner, this makes no sense!
Wait, why does he even look for a weapon? Unlike the king, he''s no brute, Taniguchi is a civilized person with a sense of morality. Yes, he almost fell into the trap of the king, who tries to coerce him to become stronger.
Taniguchi is a man of the mind, he won''t step down to this level. Thinking straight is hard just now, he needs a way to clear his mind. Like that bar. Yes, let''s hit it.
Volume 05.5 - Chapter 3-3
Yamaguchi Kazuko''s morning is usually busy and unorganized, as she has to stand in the kitchen the whole day while refining Japanese cooking with foreign ingredients. Today though, she''s on a break and is planning to buy a new dress and continue with the plushy she has started a few days ago. This time it''s a giraffe, soon she will have an entire zoo.
Unexpectedly, she meets someone she hasn''t expected at all in the foyer. ¡°Chidori-chan? Welcome!¡± It''s Toriyama Chidori-chan, one of the girls who joined the combat group! ¡°Where is the rest of your party?¡±
The girl in question looks a bit strange, a bit too calm and reserved, though she''s such a sweet girl. ¡°I''ve gone ahead, they should be here in an hour or two. Kazuko-chan, you look good.¡±
This is one of the quotes Kazuko is used to hearing, as she is a bit more massive than the average girl. However, she has grown tired of this false politeness, so she just heaves a sigh and just goes on: ¡°Why are you here though? Do you want to speak with the teachers? I think, Taniguchi-sensei is in Esse right now, but I can show you Saegusa-sensei''s room.¡±
¡°That would be kind.¡± Toriyama-chan didn''t use to speak so... refined before. ¡°In fact, I would like to know if you already heard about Nobuo-sama.¡±
¡°Who?¡±
¡°I see. Of course, you haven''t. It''s not your fault.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°You will know soon enough. In fact, we will tell it all of you, but first things come first.¡±
¡°Chidori-chan, are you alright?¡±
¡°Can I ever be alright again? While I do feel better than ever before, there is the pain. A pain which will accompany for the rest of my life.¡±
Her eyes are strange, it''s like they''re burning with religious fervor. Is she now part of some sect? ¡°Maybe you should rest for a while?¡±
¡°I can''t, but if you want to understand, please gather all of our classmates. Saegusa-sensei can also join, you need to see the truth. You need to understand, what it means to be what we are.¡± Scary, this Chidori-chan is scary! Kazuko wishes for this to be a bad dream, but now she''s involved!
How can she escape? ¡°I think, you should speak to Saegusa-sensei first.¡± She just needs to dump Chidori-chan there and then she''s rid of her.
¡°You''re right, I should talk to her first.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Saegusa Mamiko is lying on her bed with a wet cloth over her eyes. This is pathetic, she had been wasted yesterday, and she''s sure that she forgot about half since she started with that first drink.
This headache. She knows some hangover-drinks, but she''s too lifeless to even mix one. She decided to stay in bed the whole day and indulge in some healthy self-pity.
Where did she go wrong? Everything made perfect sense once, but how did she end up in the state she''s currently in? She retracts her life''s choices, everything was logical. Of course, if she hadn''t become a teacher, she most likely wouldn''t be in this world, but it''s like an earthquake: There is nothing anyone could do.
Just sleep. She wants to sleep. She closes her eyes, her mind becomes blank, she just exists and breathes. After a while, drowsiness settles in, and she really falls asleep.
Until a brutal knock on the door rouses her from slumber, it feels like the fist hit against her head instead. She tries her best to ignore it, but after some seconds, a quick and even louder barrage of knocks makes her give up: ¡°Come in!¡± Also, please stop knocking!
She hasn''t thought this through, as Yamaguchi Kazuko is at the door. ¡°Sensei, Toriyama Chidori-chan is here.¡± While Saegusa is bathing in embarrassment, hoping that the darkened room will make it hard to see in what state she''s in, Yamaguchi Kazuko leaves quickly, while a girl in leather armor steps in.
Toriyama Chidori, she''s one of the unremarkable students, that are below average in chemistry. However, this girl isn''t how Saegusa remembers her, she''s tall! No, she just stands that straight. ¡°Sensei, I''ve returned for a while.¡± Is this the influence of being on the battlefield? She speaks much firmer than before...
Wait... slowly, Saegusa-sensei''s mind starts to connect the points. This girl is part of Tetsukawa-kun''s party! She''s here, alive and kicking because Tetsukawa-kun- Shame, pure and unrestrained shame flows inside Saegusa-sensei''s spine and face, followed by terror and guilt. Is Toriyama-san here to blame her?
¡°You look pathetic,¡± these words are stabbing Saegusa-sensei''s heart, as the same draws the curtains, flooding the room with daylight while causing the hungover teacher physical pain. ¡°Do you know already?¡± The way Toriyama-san speaks is calm, so infinitive calm. ¡°So you do. Why do the others not know?¡±
¡°I-¡±
¡°Traitor!¡± This hurts, this hurts so much! ¡°Where were you, when he died! My beloved Nobuo-sama!¡± Her eyes, they hurt! They''re inhuman! How can anyone look at another person like that!?
Saegusa-sensei notices how her breathing is rugged, how she can''t get enough oxygen in her brain. ¡°I... I-¡±
¡°Excuses, that''s what you''re good at, right? How about repenting? You''re no teacher, you''re just a snake. A poisonous, cold-blooded reptile.¡±
How... how dares she!? Outrageous! This tone, these words, Saegusa-sensei is about to stand up, but wobbles in her knees, as her limbs are dull and aching. Her mouth also has problems forming any coherent sentences. ¡°You-¡±
¡°Sensei,¡± the sudden gentleness of Toriyama-san''s voice is frightening. ¡°You first need to be aware of yourself. When you know who you really are, you can see the truth about everything else. I was there, I know it hurts. But it''s the pain, that will turn you into someone else, someone better. Nobuo-sama taught me this.¡±
Saegusa-sensei''s mouth flaps open and close, incapable of saying anything. She''s crazy! This girl is crazy! The girl the teacher knew is no more, she was replaced by this madwoman. Seeing her classmate die broke this girl!
¡°You will realize the truth. Before that, I''m here to ask you to assemble everyone in this faculty at noon. Then we''ll explain everything, about Nobuo-sama''s noble sacrifice, about how this taught us everything. You don''t need to do anything, just tell my classmates to gather at noon. I''m sure there is a hall or something similar. We''ll do the rest.¡± Toriyama-san smiles, it''s so calm and pleasant, that Saegusa-sensei feels herself freezing up, she''s like a mouse under the paw of a tiger, incapable of doing anything.
Toriyama-san leaves, but Saegusa-sensei can''t move. Her whole body is paralyzed, her thoughts are running in circles. It''s her fault, it''s her fault, that Toriyama-san became like this, because it''s her fault, that Tetsukawa-san died.
Slowly, her hand wanders to the pocket of her jacket. There is the wine-stained letter of the king. She rereads it, reading how his party saw the portion, where a demon broke Tetsukawa-kun''s limbs, making him entirely helpless, incapable of doing anything else but suffering.
There is only one thing she can do. After combing her hair and put on a new set of clothes, she takes the list with the casualties and goes into the lounge and nails the list on the bulletin board. The same goes for the known facts about the KIA, MIAs, and the rogues. Exactly what the king told her in her letter.
Then she goes into her study, she tries to distract her by going through the formulas she has noted there. She can''t think straight, she needs like an eternity to comprehend even the most basic chemical reactions. Of course the oxygen of the combustion comes from the air. Still, she needs about twenty seconds to remember this fundamental knowledge.
Finally, the thing she feared the most happened. Akira-kun and Hideko-san coming into her study, the faces distorted by a mix of different emotions. They know. ¡°Sensei...¡± Worse, they need to talk with her about this.
¡°It''s like you read.¡± She has posted everything, she hid nothing. Therefore she has no answers for her students.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
One single Japanese girl looks at the letters on the bulletin board. She''s an unremarkable girl, except for her very remarkable chin, she''s a bit round and to top it off, she''s also reliant on glasses. If someone would picture an unpopular girl, she may come up within the first five nominations.
This girl''s eyes are glued to the names. So the first one to die was Tetsukawa Nobuo, not the one she had thought. Though to be honest, she has almost forgotten about Tetsukawa by this point. Another name was much more interesting... Katsuragi Kenta. He has suddenly vanished, so she has asked herself where he will appear again.
The boy who had the guts to speak up to Masahiko-kun. Every time she thinks of that boy, her innards are running haywire. He has left Feuerberg for good, she had no chance to give him what he deserves, though she was preparing all this time for his return, she even has secretly trained at night to increase her level.
Sorano Akame, that''s the girl''s name. Her talent lies in taming, she has trained several dogs at home, same goes for pigeons. It''s a hobby of her dad, taking care and teaching of animals to do tricks. While many aspects of training beasts are similar between Japan and this world, she''s very adept in this and might become a real asset to the war potential without going into war, so while she''s not exactly in the research-group, she''s part of the non-combatants.
She has currently only one class except [Student], it''s [Tamer], she obtained it after several visits to a fryon-ranch, where the fire-spitting lion-like monsters are trained to be used on the battlefield. If things would work like Feuerberg imagine it, she might just move to the ranch.
However, she has other plans. Because of Katsuragi Kenta. He was at Fort W?chter. She already regretted not joining the combat-group, though she had her reasons at that time. This desire of her is still unfulfilled, she needs to find him!
Sorano has to do some preparations. ¡°Yuuji-kun?¡± Another student steps forward, looking at Sorano with adoration, the eyes are hollow but ardent, he was the one where she has tested her ''other talents'' on.
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Katsuragi Kenta was at Fort W?chter.¡±
Yuuji-kun eyes are filled with hollow rage, he bares his teeth while snarling, like a rabid dog. ¡°Katsuragi!!!¡±
¡°This is already a cold track, yet I don''t plan to stick here for much longer. However, we need some more war potential. How about...¡± Sorano Akame, in Japan she was unremarkable except for her chin-size. Now she can become the ruler of the world, but before she does that, she needs to repay Katsuragi Kenta. His mean eyes, his wild, longish hair, his belly sticking out, everything about him makes her almost screech.
Nobody messes with Inoue Masahiko that way without any consequences.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Three days have passed since the meeting between Taniguchi and the king. After getting drunk, the teacher started walking back, thinking in his drunken vigor, that he can easily do it. A night''s sleep and a bad hangover made him realize, that he did something amazingly stupid. However, his finances and pride didn''t allow him to return to Esse to get a coach.
He ran into a group of monsters on the way back, violet snakes, of course he fled in terror. Running away was much easier than he expected. Violet snakes, easy monsters to hunt and kill, something the soldiers would usually ignore when they go out for a monster cleansing. If this is the amount of danger a farmer usually deals with, then this country might be somewhat safe. Not that Taniguchi will ever praise this country in any way again.
Finally, back at the research facilities. Of course, Taniguchi has already decided what he will tell Saegusa-sensei, how he will explain the outrageous injustice that has been around all the time.
He enters his room first, luckily he meets no one in the hallway, so he takes care of his dusty self and tries his best to make himself presentable again. Then he goes to the lounge, only to see the lists on the bulletin board. Was Saegusa-sensei forced to do this or has she lost her nerves? Why is there nobody in the lounge at all?
Having a bad feeling, he goes to Saegusa''s study and afterward to her laboratory. No one is here. Is there a meeting? There is that assembly hall... He heads there, and in fact, there are people here. Students of his, Harada Reiji stands at the lectern: ¡°...however, while the pain will stay, it will forge you. Your soul will become iron, then it becomes steel.¡±
Harada, why is someone from the combat group here? Wait... this drawing! Someone made a perfect picture of a Japanese boy, a noble-looking one, he looks a lot like Inoue-kun, but the face somehow is similar to... that guy, the unremarkable one, Tetsukawa Nobuo! Wait, that''s the one who died!
Shit, was Harada part of Tetsukawa''s party? There are other students from the combat-group among the few listeners, three more people. For some reason Matsuzawa Hideko is there as well, looking zealously and devoted, then there is Matsukata Shinya, who has a mixture of skepticism and interest on his face, and finally Kanemoto Hiroshi, who looks like he has to visit the toilet.
Where could Saegusa-sensei be? Then he remembers the bar, maybe she''s back to drinking. Taniguchi-sensei leaves this scene, hoping that nobody noticed him and heads to the village''s bar. There she is, this time she''s still busy getting dead-drunk. ¡°Ah... hello.¡± Like to proof a point, she downs her drink in one and points on the stool next to her.
Following her invitation, Taniguchi asks: ¡°What happened here!?¡±
¡°Uh, too much. Tetsukawa-kun''s party came back, they''re now like sect people, talking about the glory of Tetsukawa-kun, how he saved them, how he was a saint, it''s like they''re talking about Christ. Then half of the remaining students vanished. Suddenly, overnight. A single letter to Hideko-san from Furuda-kun, saying that he breaks up with her. Now the rest except Yamaguchi-san listen to those... those preachers!¡±
¡°Now, now.¡± This isn''t the result of the conversation between Taniguchi and the king, this is entirely unrelated. Why are they''re subjected to this kind of mess? ¡°I''m sure the students will calm themselves after they had some time.¡± While his mouth speaks polite lies, Taniguchi loses more and more hope that things will turn around. However, they only need to endure it until one of the students that picked up the fight against the demon king will slay the same. Then they''ll return to Japan, and everything will be back to normal.
Though one thing is nagging Taniguchi''s mind, something that is only remotely related to the whole matter, but nonetheless bugs him to a degree, that he can''t help but ponder about it: Why would anyone create a cult about Tetsukawa Nobuo of all people?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°However, there is a way to salvation!¡± Harada Reiji is at the peak of his speech. ¡°Remember, when we were summoned! The ones, who will defeat the demon king will get a wish granted! A wish by the gods, which can be anything, a real, a true wish! Not the excuses of wishes you might imagine, we¡¯re talking about a wish without any rules! Become a god, having the power to do as we want? Possible! Yet this isn''t the path we should take, as it''s the path of hubris. No, we don''t want to rule, we don''t want to punish! We want to salvage! We''ll return to our world, as long as anyone of us is able to defeat the demon king. But the one who does it will get a wish, and this is what I''ll wish for: To revive each of our classmates and teachers that died in this world! We will return altogether. Returning people from the dead may be a sin in this world, but it''s not in our world, no, this is the power every doctor is striving for! As we will leave this world, the taboo will also be gone, it isn''t a taboo in the first place, as the gods will grant our friends their life back! Nobuo-sama wouldn''t want to be revived by himself, he always thought about others first!¡±
The rest of Harada''s party agrees loudly: ¡°¡°¡°Nobuo-sama!!!¡±¡±¡± After a talk with the chancellor, it''s so clear what they need to do. He remembered Harada about this wish, trying to keep him motivated without realizing the simple truth about what this wish entitles: Everything.
¡°We don''t need to fear death, as long as someone with the same wish is carrying the torch, death is just a roadblock! We don''t need to hold back with the ones that might hinder our purpose, as we''ll be away soon enough. Even if they''re our other classmates, we can just kill them, as they come back again anyway, only to finally see the truth!¡±
Harada truly believes everything he preaches, same goes for those, who have witnessed Nobuo-sama''s noble sacrifice. They all realized, what should have been obvious from the beginning, but their hubris and egoism have blinded them.
Being summoned into this world isn''t punishment, it isn''t a curse, it isn''t something to be afraid of. It''s a divine quest, it''s the process of cleansing, it''s the path to enlightenment. This worldview is something he wants to share with everyone, that''s why he''s here. He''ll also seek out the other combat parties. After that, he will talk to the citizens of Feuerberg and other countries: Salvation isn''t so small to only include a limited number of people.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
A few days have passed since then. Saegusa Mamiko sits in her study, all on her own, as her assistance is currently preparing for an outing. An outing with Harada-kun and his party, to increase her level. Saegusa is also about to partake in one, but she decided to stick with the soldiers the king sent to them for this mission.
Currently, only Hideko-san has actually joined Harada-kun, but the others have at least an open ear and will join them for that monster hunt. Except for Yamauchi-san, she will join the teachers. Two hunts per week, in this world a week is ten days, so one hunt every five days. That''s the current official schedule to keep everything as it is, as long as Saegusa sticks to this, she will keep her funding and her livelihood, in the hope that a higher level will allow her to make a breakthrough.
However, she''ll do her first monster hunt much later, now she wants to tidy up this place to keep her anxiety in check, as she has the ongoing desire to scream like a coward, run away, and piss her pants while doing so. She knows mentally that running away won''t help, she has already displayed, that she''s practically worthless in this world, so she can either agree to have these hunts or make a living as a laborer or try to find a husband to marry. She still had that little piece of pride not shred!
She always tells herself, that she''ll be fine with the monsters, that she''s a hero after all, but the late Tetsukawa-kun was a combat-trained hero, who was much stronger than her, and he died. Of course, she has protection with the soldiers, and the monsters will be relatively harmless, but she can''t help herself, she feels afraid.
So she tidies up, as her bad drinking habit that has been developed over the course of a few days will make it only more likely for her to be killed. Ah, she remembers those notes. She had written them when she was unhinged by meeting Toriyama-san after all that time when she mentally disconnected with everything, the moment she posted the lists.
Seriously, even now she''s more composed than back then. These inkspots are all over the paper because she scribbled around while she couldn''t figure out some of the most fundamental things in chemistry, she-
Wait. Wait, wait! Wait-wait-wait-wait! This... At this moment, Saegusa''s feelings of fear are replaced by shame and self-blame, as she can''t help but feel like she has been a complete moron all the time.
Volume 05.5 - Epilogue
Epilogue
¡°Phew.¡± We''re an hour away from the hamlet, and I can''t but sigh about every other second. My whole view on marriage, a vital and everyday part of the culture I''ve grown up, was crushed. This is really, really heavy.
A child from marriage is blessed. Even if it started out handicapped, it would become healthy during pregnancy, it''s common knowledge in this world. In fact, one of ten human children outside of marriage are born handicapped, such a high rate. It may be because of the lack of hygiene or the fact, that mana or other strange energies are flowing around, but for the moment, I treat it as a fact until I''m convinced otherwise. One of ten children from human parents. The quota for alfar is much lower, one of two-hundred.
So of course, marriage is treated as divine, it takes a ceremony performed by a priest or other user of [Divine Magic], but it gives a 100% rate of healthy children, even if the mother is suffering from malnutrition. It''s also almost impossible to lose the child, as long as the mother is alive.
This is a real miracle. If any deity in Japan offered that, there would be no doubt that gods are real. In this world, the gods indeed provided something great for their followers.
The bad side is, a child born from adultery will undoubtedly have a birth defect, it''s like a stigma, though people tend to blame the parents rather than the child. The same with the woman of the hamlet, who had a husband, had an affair with an also married man, and the result is this child.
Heavy. The feeling I experience is emotional heaviness. Same goes for Kyou, who looks as shocked as I. We''ll need time to digest it.
Another thought is tormenting me: Is this why marriage to more than one person is a divine sin? Because it makes the whole process more complicated? Or maybe, because the marriage is supposed to be so sacred?
In medieval Japan, it was common for nobles to have multiple wives, because of the whole heir business. Not only a baby, a healthy one, one that survives its childhood. With a marriage like the one of the fantasy world, it wouldn''t be needed.
Maybe marriage even counters infertility? I mean, at this point, anything is possible. Up to now, I just considered marriage as something like a promise, something which is easily given and broken, but if marriage in this world is like that...
¡°Phew.¡± Ah, what a headache! It''s bothering me so much!
¡°Do you still think about it?¡± Ara-san asks me out of curiosity. Oh god, another complicated matter incarnated, the ear-plugging is still fresh in my mind. ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡±
¡°Sh-¡± I''m about to tell her to shut up, but considering that Ara-san and I are kinda friends, I shouldn''t. ¡°No.¡± So I change answers.
¡°Then let me ask you: Why does it matter?¡±
¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡
She''s right! It doesn''t matter at all, I don''t plan to get married in this world, and while the curse is considered to be a marriage, I''m trying to break it. Child-bearing? What has this to do with me? It''s not like I want to even stay in this world, and while I do feel the physical desire to have some hot action with the girls surrounding me, my brain is still in charge of my body, not my nether god.
I have the habit of overthinking stuff, that must be why I even was that disturbed. Now that Ara-san brings this point up, I can feel how all my anxiety is just plain stupid. ¡°Thanks.¡± I really mean it. Even the ear-plugging-incident seems less... awkward. Not, that I will get over this that easily, but I feel like I will soon. ¡°Just thanks.¡± It''s good to have a friend like you.
¡°You''re welcome.¡±
¡°Now let''s plan what we will do when we''re at Ohlbr¨¹cken. If our intel is right, the Crusaders will be there as well, so I''ll rely on you.¡±
¡°Ahem.¡± Ara-san lifts her chin and sets back her ears close to the head, the alfr expression of pride. I''ll let her have that, she really helped me out in a way, nobody else could. Most likely, because she doesn''t think about marriage much, as alfar don''t do it usually. Well, as only one of two-hundred children are subjected to birth defects, and the alfr longevity and mating habits, it''s no wonder. Emotional attachment to people isn''t their strong suit either.
¡°By the way, what do you alfr do about the handicapped children?¡±
¡°They''re usually stillborn, so we treat them like all the dead. Make them to fertilizer to feed our houses.¡±
...alfr houses may be living trees, but... well, we usually burn our corpses in Japan, and put the ashes into urns to keep often enough, so who am I to judge? ¡°What about the rest?¡±
¡°Actually, I don''t know, I''ve never asked. In Aroahenn weren''t any handicapped people, just the stillborn, so maybe they''ll also be made into fertilizer?¡± ...OK, this I can judge, right? If this is true, it''s sick and wrong!
¡°Phew, then let''s change topics and look at what''s before us.¡± In the end, everything in the fantasy world that''s not directly affecting us is nothing but a distraction. Time to change gears and do our best again to escape this crazy, unfair, and hateworthy fantasy world!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
King Heinrich von Stolzherz puts his sword back into its sheath. While his schedule is busy, he tries not to neglect his daily training though he knows that he won''t ever come back to his peak condition. In times like these, he misses Sir Gottfried who would sometimes spar with him even if it was always humiliating. Nonetheless, it kept Heinrich aware of his faults.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Well, his other instructor, Werner, is also good at both, instructing and humbling, it''s just that these days it''s harder to match the time-schedules. ¡°Fatha!¡± A small girl runs into the king who catches the small whirlwind and spins with it in the air several times. ¡°Ahahaha!¡± Her blond hair and her fiery eyes are much like his.
¡°My dear Innozenz! Have you''ve been well.¡±
¡°The tutors stink!¡±
¡°They sure do. Let''s see...¡± He looks at the dress his youngest child is wearing, it''s a blue one made out of cotton. While the color gives a sense of royalty, its cut and cotton remind much more of what the common people wear. ¡°What color is your dress?¡±
¡°Green!¡± She answers in a smile that reminds Heinrich so much of his oldest daughter.
¡°I think it''s rather blue, but who am I to judge?¡±
¡°You are the king!¡±
¡°Yes, you''re right. And you''re a princess.¡±
¡°Hehe.¡±
While carrying his youngest child on his arm, he looks who is currently taking care of her. ¡°How are you, Yvonne?¡± His second-oldest daughter and the third oldest child begins rolling her eyes. ¡°Could you ask Mother to let the governess take care of Inno instead of me?¡±
¡°You''re old enough to take care of your sibling.¡± Yvonne is almost thirteen years old.
¡°You pay Ulrike for that!¡±
¡°It''s not about her, it''s about you.¡± Then Heinrich smiles at his youngest: ¡°And you, of course, Innozenz.¡±
Yvonne stomps once: ¡°Father, I want you to take me seriously! Kati has never taken care of Inno or Karl! The only reason why you ask me to is that I''m not the crown-princess!¡±
¡°Exactly. You have the luxury of time before you''ll take in governmental duties. So play with your siblings!¡±
¡°Oh, you''re impossible!¡± She turns around and leaves through the door.
¡°Where are you going?¡±
¡°To Uncle! He understands me at least!¡±
Heinrich''s little brother, Ludolf, certainly knows a lot. He''s cunning and knows how to seize every opportunity. These traits make him one of the most annoying siblings while one of Heinrich''s most trusted subjects. ¡°He''s at the border right now.¡± As a masterful strategist and military commander, he''s trying to figure out how to master the logistics into the demon realm, a land so barren and murderous, that conquering seems nigh impossible.
¡°Oh great!¡± Without another word, she''s running off.
Heinrich sighs a bit but then looks at the child in his arms. ¡°Innozenz, make sure to stay like you are.¡±
¡°I won''t! I want to become Fatha''s wife!¡±
¡°I see.¡± Yvonne and Teresia, his third daughter, said the same when they were younger. Only his oldest daughter had different thoughts: ¡°When I''m older, I''ll become a knight, overthrow you, and free the country from your tyranny!¡± ¡ This quotation is from after he had to drag her out of Gottfried''s tutoring as she skipped her other lessons.
Pain pierces through Heinrich''s heart as he remembers Katarine and her antics. Heinrich hopes that she''s alright.
¡°Fatha, are you OK?¡±
¡°It''s ''alright'', Innozenz. Also ''father''.¡± Correcting his daughters'' errors in speaking calms Heinrich somewhat. ¡°Innozenz, how about going into the kitchen and grab a snack?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
With his child on his arm, Heinrich walks through the corridors, only to have his chancellor waiting right outside the kitchen. Ralf smiles at him while saying: ¡°You''re always going into the kitchen after training. We have a messenger from Flammenkreis.¡±
Flammenkreis is right beyond the Mauerfelsen, the mountain-site which is also the western border. Technically, Flammenkreis is a city of the Wildlands though this city-state is a vassal state of Feuerberg. Therefore most people consider it as part of the kingdom. ¡°Is it from Sir Gottfried?¡± Of course, whenever Heinrich hears about the west, he also thinks about his daughter who went missing after her encounter with Inoue-dono''s party in the Mauerfelsen. As Sir Gottfried is trusted with her retrieval, it makes sense to think that the message is from him.
¡°No, it''s from Lady Tiferia Alchenain from the Crusaders.¡±
¡°Ah, that hag.¡±
¡°Hag, hag, hag!¡± Innozenz mimics her father who said something he shouldn''t have.
He never met the woman personally, but they exchanged several letters concerning the war with the demons. The Crusaders want to join it, something Heinrich is not against, yet this is a rather delicate topic for several reasons. Moreso as this woman writes with a sharp tongue. ¡°What is it this time?¡±
¡°She reported that she has almost gathered all the troops and asks for permission to have her son and some troops enter the country for negotiations.¡±
¡°Her son?¡±
¡°Yes, she writes that she needs to clean some ''kind of mess'' to guarantee smooth logistics.¡±
Sending her son is either a sign of respect or because he''s the one who messed up and therefore has to redeem himself. He sure hopes it''s the former as having another fool after Taniguchi-dono might turn everything into diplomatic chaos, something nobody wants who is at war.
Heinrich asks: ¡°Do you see any reason to deny their request at this point, Ralf?¡±
¡°No, the earlier we begin negotiations, the better.¡±
¡°Fatha, what''re negotiations?¡± Innozenz is a witness of actual government business.
¡°Well, we will get help for the war, pumpkin. But they won''t come as my servants, so we need to think about some rules and now they want to visit us so we can make them.¡±
¡°Ah.¡±
It would be so easy if the Crusaders would only desire funding and donations. Yet it''s foreseeable that they won''t be satisfied with just that. On the other hand, the quality and quantity they''ll bring into the war will relieve the citizens under his wing from some of the suffering to come.
So Heinrich is willing to talk, yet he will also bring his sword on this negotiating table.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The Lady is inside her palace. Her eyes are like moons on a black sky, she never blinks, only the shape of the moon-irises change depending on her mood. She has almost no nose, owl-feathers come out of her head, and her hair is midnight blue and mirrors the night sky including the twinkling stars and a shade of nebula.
She just learned about the exploits of her heroes, how they fought the undead army once again, this time side by side with the ooaks. The new allies turned the tide, enough to make the undead general retreat, still, the battle claimed its share of victims.
Still, the infestation of undead that plaques her necropolis has now an antidote which becomes stronger the more it fights. The Lady doesn''t care about the undead themselves. They''re of no value or meaning, allowed to dwell inside her realm because they were so negligible. Now they are worthy enough as a stepping stone for the Lady''s heroes.
The crucial parts of her plans aren''t here inside this place, they''re out in the world. Her agents, her ambitions, her everything. She''s a goddess, after all, the undead know better than to challenge her and face demise, those poor fools who needed a place to stay after they have failed their attempt to overthrow their country, hoping to scratch enough dead together to start anew. Now all their hopes will be crushed under the feet of her newest worshipers.
The Lady''s irises turn dark like a new moon as a small smile creeps up her face, as her thoughts wander to a much larger picture than mere mortals can even imagine. A big part of the difference lies in perspective, like the difference between an ant and an owl, one crawling at the bottom, part of a mass that works for the survival of the entire anthill, the other majestically flying above the land-bound, having a bigger picture.
There are different deities, all with different goals and agendas. The world is changing, a new age may start soon, and the Lady won''t have the other gods have their way.
Soon, every mortal will praise her name in admiration.
Volume 05.5 - Extras - Gottfried vs. The Monster Hunter & I hate being wed in the MIB-world
Proofreader: Antsago
MK (Momokawa Kyou): "We really didn''t get much time."
KK (Katsuragi Kenta): "Don''t tell me you''re complaining about it."
MK: ¡°But it feels so...¡±
KK: ¡°You just like hogging the spotlight, no?¡±
MK: ¡°Is there something wrong about it?¡±
RN (Katarine von Stolzherz aka Rine): "I also feel a bit hollow..."
AA (Ara''ainn): "We still need to negotiate a better deal."
krpg (kentusrpg): ¡°Are you still talking about it?¡±
AA: ¡°We had a vacation and you called us for work, there is something wrong here.¡±
MK: ¡°It''s not even real work, just filling some space between stories.¡±
krpg: ¡°OK, OK. When I do another Extra volume, I''ll include at least one story about you guys. Satisfied?¡±
RN: ¡°Yes!¡±
KK: ¡°No! Just leave us alone for a volume!¡±
AA: ¡°Exactly.¡±
MK: ¡°I think you two already lost that battle. When you write such a story, please make it something mundane, something easy.¡±
RN: ¡°Maybe something that will make Dear and me- He...hehehe.¡±
KK: ¡°Stop imagining things!¡±
krpg: ¡°But I have to say, that currently there is no Extra volume planned. Let me see my notes to see where... Hey, stop it, these are mine!¡±
KK: ¡°If I take your notes, I''ll know what will come and prepare! Rine, help me!¡±
RN: ¡°Hehehehe.¡±
MK: ¡°Don''t worry, Ken, I have your back!¡±
AA: ¡°Let''s take a look!¡±
krpg: ¡°Ahhhn! *nibble, nibble, nibble*¡±
MK: ¡°Ah, he ate them!¡±
krpg: ¡°Don''t underestimate a hamster! I won''t even get stomachache. Well, then I can''t say where I could fit another Extra volume, sorry. But the next regular volume will be great! I had plenty of time and mental recovery to write a great one.¡±
KK: ¡°It will suck, right?¡±
krpg: ¡°Only if there''s an A-sound in your first or last name.¡±
KK: ¡°...That''s all of us!¡±
krpg: ¡°It''ll be a volume that brings us to the next important step! On the other hand, volume 7 will use a lot of what I have built in this one as well. Then there is... well, let''s say: Rewarding time is coming! So many plot-hooks are going to be used!¡±
MK: ¡°Author-san, how about you don''t use those plot-hooks? Because if I recall correctly, most of them might be very... bad.¡±
krpg: ¡°Rine, are you with me?¡±
RN: ¡°Hehehehe.¡±
krpg: ¡°... Ara''ainn, are you with me?¡±
AA: ¡°No.¡±
krpg: ¡°... ¡ ¡ I''ll do it nonetheless! Now let''s speak about the Extra chapters.¡±
KK: ¡°What!? You included Extras in a volume full of Extras?¡±
AA: ¡°Does that make them part of the main-story?¡±
krpg: ¡°... the first one is about Gottfried again! This time he will face someone who has plenty of actual combat experience.¡±
MK: ¡°You have totally ignored Arako.¡±
krpg: ¡°Next one is the Extra in another fictional world, this time the MIB. This was tough, as you guys break the usual formula for that franchise! Then a story about the last hero-group of Feuerberg!¡±
KK: ¡°This is so unimportant.¡±
krpg: ¡°The last Extra was already published and has just moved there. It''s the special with Jeff Hays reading two parts of the story in the Soundbooth Theater!¡±
MK: ¡°At least we have that one non-canonical story for us.¡±
krpg: ¡°Have Extra fun with the Extra chapters of the Extra volume... OK, that sounds stupid!¡±
Extra 1 ¨C Gottfried vs. The Monster Hunter
Gottfried is a retired knight. During his career he has faced perils that would make even the extraordinary give up on life. He has bested those perils or at least stayed alive. Staying alive is a very important skill, but he has challenged said skill again and again, as this was the way of his swordsmanship: Never decline a challenge and always aim for new heights. Now, at the end of his career, people look up to him and his name is known throughout the lands.
Often enough, someone would stand at his doorstep trying to best him and make their name a legend as well. However, Gottfried is currently traveling to find Princess Katarine, his stupid disciple, so his many challengers journeying to Esse will find nothing but apologizing looks from the people telling them that he¡¯s not around at the moment.
Gottfried followed Meldorn, the Huntsman, southwards of the Mauerfelsen, the mountain-range that marks the western border of Feuerberg. Meldorn can find any trace and after finding an old camp of the princess, he proved this skill by finding the most recent track despite it being washed away and indistinguishable for everyone who was not Meldorn.
This led them to their current location, an inn for travelers. Gottfried waits in the taproom while his two other companions¡ªthe wannabe-archmage August von Rotfeld and retired Pontiff Reiner Kasse¡ªare asking the innkeeper and waiters if they remember the princess and her group and if they know where they were going to. They could blindly follow the tracks further instead, but breaks are important and every bit of information helps.
Gottfried looks at the people here and appraise their combat potential. There are several caravan guards around, each of them good enough to make a fine soldier after some polishing; though instead of serving, they use their talents for their own gains as mercenaries. Most of the customers here are sellswords, a whole band has found accommodation in this inn, and it''s most likely currently unemployed.
One member of said band looks back at him for a second before standing up. It''s a man in his early thirties, strong and agile like an expert swordsman, his hair is brown and short, while he has a three-day-old beard. He''s clad in a wild-looking armor and grins while approaching the retired knight. ¡°I knew it. You''re the legendary Gottfried!¡±
¡°I''m just Sir Gottfried,¡± the old man answers, sizing the man more carefully. He certainly knows how to handle the sword at his waist, though he lacks the manners to use the correct form of address. ¡°To whom do I have the honor?¡±
¡°I''m Jan Strauch. They call me The Monster Hunter.¡±
¡°Get a proper job as a guard and you''ll go monster-hunting once a week or so. It''s neither special nor especially difficult.¡±
¡°Well, my guys and I, we''re always asked for slaying the nastiest ones.¡± He grins and flexes his muscles a bit, he has those in abundance. ¡°I cleave through the thickest bones, catch up to the quickest legs, and outlast the strongest attacks.¡±
¡°Why are you telling me this?¡±
¡°I''m the strongest around here.¡±
¡°Ah, how adorable.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°It''s so adorable how you try to tick me off, but trust me, you already had me when you dared to come closer to me. I mean, I don''t mind the stench of blood and innards, I can stomach some dirt and sweat, but unless you''re biting your little monster-buddies to death, you have no excuse for your bad breath! Disgusting.¡±
¡°Well, you''re just a relic from the past. I''m gonna crush you and become a legend. The stories tell how much of a monster you''re supposed to be, but I''m the Monster Hunter, I''ll bring you down and gain the fame that I deserve.¡±
¡°Have you ever fought a human before?¡±
¡°Plenty.¡±
¡°...I don''t really expect anything. Nonetheless, I accept every challenge. I will face you outside.¡± The conditions outside weren''t the best, the ground was muddy and the sky is dazzling bright. However, for Gottfried there are no reasons to avoid a battle. He fought under worse conditions, once he had to face the Paarlarr during a thunderstorm with winds strong enough to make him float through the air. He never learned if those flying lessons were caused by the storm or by something that his enemies did.
Strauch¡¯s companions follow him outside same as some other guests. The mercenary laughs with his buddies, confident in his skills. ¡°Gottfried, I''ll take you down,¡± he proclaims after telling his joke.
¡°Stand straight before talking to your elders, and it''s still ''Sir Gottfried''. Also, gloating can be an effective weapon, yet I thought you wanted to impress me with your sword-skills, not your words.¡± Strauch''s mouth is agape, but Gottfried asks one of the mercenary companions. ¡°Give the signal.¡±
¡°Erm... draw your weapon.¡± The retired knight fluently draws his weapon, using this motion to take his stance, the blade between him and his opponent. His body is not tense, but ready to jump forward at any time. Strauch draws his broadsword, indeed a fine weapon that looks well-used. ¡°Take your stance.¡± Instead of going into a stance, the mercenary flexes his muscles, there is no indication what his opening move will be. ¡°Fight!¡±
Strauch swings his broadsword: ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± A basic ranged sword-attack, with enough force to cut down at least three people. It''s better than Gottfried expected... however, his expectations weren''t high in the first place.
In a blink, he leaps forwards while evading the [Crescent Moon] by only a hair''s breadth. Strauch is prepared though and swings his blade with power, speed, and precision, belying his earlier behavior. *CLANK* Yet his attack is deflected by Gottfried''s left fist.
Strauch''s grip is superb and he uses the motion to bring the blade between him and Gottfried but sadly... ¡°AAAAAAAAH!!!¡± He lost half of both of his feet. Instead of aiming for the chest or something obvious and easy like that, Gottfried has cut lower.
While Strauch loses his balance, Gottfried kicks him in the side, breaking several bones. At least the man still has his sword and tries to stand up, but the fight is already over. Gottfried swings his sword once to let the blood fly off before sheathing his weapon. ¡°Monsters usually have a certain height they like to attack, you might have been able to fight longer if I had aimed for your chest or head. That''s what a monster of my size would usually do, but I''m a human. Instead of trying to overpower you, I can simply outwit you. The humans that you fought were only bandits, so not the best training for facing someone who has fought against soldiers throughout his life, facing some of the most deviant and creative strategies and fighting styles. There is a reason why there are nations instead of monster-infested realms: We were smarter than them and had to compete with each other. We have exterminated so many monsters, that even the strongest of them stay away to be safe from us. We were so successful, that now we have the time to face each other in war. You may have been strong, but only against monsters. If you aim for me, be strong against everyone and everything. To become the best, I''ve even had to cut down fire, the sky and the earth.¡±
Yet there is an aftermath... Pontiff Reiner Kasse gnaws on Gottfried''s ears for an hour for dismembering a man''s feet, something the pontiff had to fix with magic after a mercenary stitched the parts together.
Extra 2 ¨C I hate being wed in the Men in Black-world!
Police Station
¡°We''re from Homeland Security, section 6.¡± Agent K shows his ID card to the police officer. K is a man past his prime, but he wears his black suit and sunglasses with dignity. ¡°We''ll take over.¡± His partner, Agent J hands over the written orders as well.
The police officer sighs in relief. ¡°Well, glad that I got her out of my hair. I still don''t know how she was able to freeze my butt on the chair.¡± Suddenly, a small explosion is to be heard from the office. ¡°No, not again!¡±
Agent J and Agent K are looking at each other and hurry to the office, where a small teenager with white hair and pointy ears is standing on top of a desk. ¡°This was certainly unexpected,¡± she says with an unmoving mien though her voice tells about the wonder she''s experiencing. Next to her are the remains of what used to be a PC.
Facial expression that doesn''t fit the voice, a typical beginner''s mistake. Also, this disguise was most likely molded after watching a TV show or two without the knowledge what is fiction and what is not. Therefore it''s likely that this an illegal immigrant. While Agent J talks to the cops to keep them away, Agent K steps closer. Taking off his sunglasses, he looks into the alien, double-iris eyes. ¡°Good day and welcome to New York. I''m Agent K, this is my partner Agent J, we''re coming for you.¡±
¡°Greetings, my name is Ara''ainn and I''m the hero-sage. So where am I heading? A secret research facility where you dissects me like an insect and when you''re done, you''ll relieve yourself in the last few intact parts of me?¡±
¡°Lady, we''re just inviting you to a ride.¡±
¡°I would rather stay, this is a funny place. Right, Larry?¡± The man she is talking to is about to burst into tears while the cops behind Agent J are grinding their teeth. ¡°I grew to like these so-called doughnuts.¡±
¡°Where we are heading, there will be more.¡±
¡°Alright, just give me back my backpack and staff.¡±
¡°Good. Slick, take care of the neuralyzing process.¡± With these words, Agent K leads Ara''ainn out of the office. He puts his Ray-Ban sunglasses on again shortly before a bright flash occurs within the office.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Hideout of the Chickens
¡°What do you mean, it doesn''t exist!?¡± Things are bad. When Rine-chan and I got separated from Ken and Arako, I had enough trouble to stop Rine from swinging her sword as she can''t discern between danger and common sense in this world.
Currently, we''re in the sewer. Some strange creatures suddenly appeared and offered us a place to hide from the so-called MIB. They look very similar to rubber chicken though they can crawl into a skin-like human disguise.
I simply asked them to call my parents over in Japan, yet the number doesn''t exist. In addition to the appearance of those strange creatures, it becomes clear: This isn''t my home world either. ...still, I want some ice cream! I need to use this opportunity to enjoy every facet of modern society!
¡°Kyou!¡± Rine-chan has a note in her hand. ¡°Look.¡± It''s written by Arako, she has let herself be captured? ¡°Where is she held? We need to rescue her!¡±
¡°Most likely in a police station.¡±
¡°Nah. Neg, neg,¡± says one of these rubber chickens. Despite its different language, I know what it says: She is now with the Men in Black. I imagine some government agents that doesn''t belong a to an actual office and just do stuff because it makes things more conspiratorial.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
¡°Who are these guys?¡± They are so important, that these chickens gave us shelter.
¡°Nyek, nack, nack.¡±
¡°They deal with aliens? Wait... oh god, Arako is an alien by all means!¡±
Rine-chan stays calm: ¡°Where is their base?¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
MIB HQ. Interrogation room
¡°So the Men in Black is a secret organization which supervise extraterrestrial lifeforms who live on Earth and hide their existence from ordinary humans. The most important question however isn''t answered yet: Where are my doughnuts?¡±
The man sitting in front of me, Agent H, is staying cool. ¡°So you come from an entirely other world named Alfarheim and came unknowingly to this world from a third one?¡±
¡°Doughnuts.¡± An alfr needs to have priorities. To be honest, they don''t taste particularly good, yet they might be the most wonderful thing that was ever invented.
¡°Miss Ara''ainn, answer my questions and I''ll see that you get your doughnuts.¡±
¡°How about you give me your doughnuts and I''ll go?¡±
¡°This is not an option. Coming from another world makes you an extraterrestrial. One that has already caused millions of property damage.¡±
¡°It was self-defense.¡±
¡°You have caused a flood in an electronics store.¡±
¡°These flashing lights are dangerous for my species.¡±
¡°You caused mental and physical damage to at least eight people.¡±
¡°They called me elf. I merely used the only means to correct their misinformation that will remain for eternity in their memory.¡±
¡°You have broken three cell doors.¡±
¡°They had no handle on my side.¡±
¡°They''re not supposed to have one. They''re there to keep people in.¡±
¡°Then that technology needs improvement.¡±
¡°Since your capture you have caused more damage than when you were first sighted.¡±
¡°Ahem.¡±
¡°...are you proud of it?¡±
¡°Affirmative.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Agent H stands up and leaves the interrogation room. I ask myself if Kenta-kun and the rest are at a similarly fun place. I have deducted that these people don''t know what to do with me. Usually, they would send me back to my home planet, but as they don''t know Alfarheim and even I don''t know whether it''s another planet in the same universe or a planet in another dimension, they''re as stuck as I am.
This whole incident of traveling to yet another world has turned to the worse. The moment we appeared in the midst of a crowd that doesn''t appreciate being armed to the teeth, it went out of control. With the panic our sudden arrival caused and Katarine-san accidentally destroying some vehicles she couldn''t recognize as such, we were separated as the law enforcement came, the so-called cops. The escalation was brought to a whole new level after the cops started shooting and Katarine-san deflected their ammunition back to them, which made everything more and more confusing. Then we lost sight of each other while retreating.
I decided to do the sensible action and just surrender to the police. From what I heard, they are civilized enough to not shoot someone who is standing still. Also, their bullets are easy to evade. Only a human can have problems seeing how they travel and while they are indeed fast, I''ve seen faster.
I have put a note into the backpack beforehand, so Kenta-kun should know that I''m captured. Yet I couldn''t update my current location which may cause some more trouble for the rest.
I look around to see if I can escape from this place. Most likely, but I want to observe where this situation will lead. With nothing else to do. I close my eyes and fall asleep immediately.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
MIB HQ Outside the interrogation room
¡°Hey K.¡± Agent H is tired after the interrogation, as this particular individual is hard to crack. Also, there has been no scientific evidence on how she can do half of the things she does. Like creating water out of nowhere. Or how she took control of the plant mutant from the Barnard system the MIB held captured. ¡°Any success finding her accomplices?¡±
¡°The twins couldn''t identify them via camera footage. They also are not registered extraterrestrials. Our investigations are leading nowhere. Agent O is looking through the New York database, maybe they are registered New Yorkers though it''s unlikely as the way they appeared and were dressed wouldn''t suggest that they know how to blend in long enough to escape our radar. Slick is still on the streets, and I want to hear from you directly what Miss Ara''ainn says.¡±
¡°According to her statement, she may be an extradimensional. Have you ever heard from Alfarheim?¡±
¡°A mythological realm, connected to our world via the World Tree Yggdrasil. A realm where two kinds of creatures called alfr¡ªwhich refers to what we know as elves¡ªlive.¡±
¡°Don''t call her that. Especially if you give her a drink, she might splash it on you and freeze it in midair. Also, beware of her spit.¡±
¡°She doesn''t cooperate?¡±
¡°I believe she does this for amusement.¡±
¡°Sublime. Yggdrasil is believed to be a model on how extraterrestrial lifeforms used to travel from and back to Earth before proper documentation of history though no species other than humans can be identified with modern knowledge. Yggdrasil could be a device instead, capable of transporting people into other dimensions. It appears in the Norse mythology. I will ask the twins to check whether some unique devices have recently being brought here. I will go through my contacts in the underground.¡±
¡°Jeebs again?¡±
¡°You need a smuggler to find a smuggler. Also, send a team to scan the square. There might be a dimensional breach.¡±
¡°What about her three allies?¡±
¡°If Slick hasn''t found them until now, they know how to hide. When they resurface, he will find them.¡±
¡°What if Miss Ara''ainn is lying?¡±
¡°I have met a lot of scum and she is none. She may be a danger to everyone else, but her intention is not as ill as her actions.¡±
¡°I feel honored.¡± The voice of another person makes Agent H falter a second, while Agent K keeps his cool. It''s Miss Ara''ainn, who has left the interrogation room while the guard who was supposed to protect it is sleeping soundly.
¡°You should be still inside,¡± Agent K comments.
¡°I could hear you talking through the door. How often does it break? It was easy.¡±
¡°It breaks more often than it should.¡±
¡°Agent K, take me with you.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°If I go with you, I may find Kenta-kun and the rest. I may also find a way home which is even more important, as it would probably also solve the case with Katarine-san.¡±
Agent K looks at Miss Ara''ainn for a second. ¡°You may come with me. You need a disguise.¡±
¡°Give me one of your suits.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
New Yorker Back Alley
Why am I doing this!? ¡°Come on and get me!¡± A big monster is tearing through an alley, it looks like a giant cockroach. However, I stand in front of it: ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± and push it back. Then I jump on top of it: ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± My spear pierces through the natural armor of that thing, killing it with a precise strike. ¡°Phew...¡±
At first, I thought this might be our world. Yet a monster emerged and there are some things off here. Like how people don''t have cell phones. Unless I jumped twenty years back in time which would bring its own share of problems... Well, I just assume that I may be in another game or maybe a movie for a change.
If this is not the world I''m from, it has a huge advantage: I''m not really in the USA. Hey, don''t look at me like that, most Americans I played with are either arrogant jerks or oblivious morons who will try to talk to me about anime the moment they find out I''m Japanese. It''s only a small part of our culture, you assholes!
If this isn''t our world, it would also explain why cops are so trigger-happy here. I mean, some tried to shoot Rine before! I really doubt that they had a firing order... OK, Rine accidentally thinking that people are trapped in metallic monsters instead of recognizing the cars as vehicles might be the cause, but seriously!
I check my status. Hey, I just killed a monster, it most likely gives me XP. ...nope. Well, nothing I can change about it.
¡°Thank you,¡± an old man with a baseball cap says to me. Well, I guess I have just saved his life. The whole cockroach-problem was because I noticed some strange sounds and saw that thing attacking this geezer in his apartment. Then I lured it into the alley to finish it off.
I simply nod while trying to hide my face behind my hood. I want to climb up the fire escape, I need to get to a high point. Even with [Farsight] I don''t have much hope to find even one of the girls, but I may direct them to something I can see by using our backpack messages.
Yet I hear something... shoes. There, a black man wearing a black suit and sunglasses. He takes notice of the monster. ¡°Let me guess, you were the one who killed it.¡±
¡°What if I was?¡±
¡°Then you''re even more dangerous than I thought. This is a roach and you took it down with just a spear?¡±
¡°Imagine what I can do to you.¡±
¡°Hey, kid. I don''t want trouble, but you''ll have to come with me.¡±
¡°Ah, so you''re a Man in Black.¡±
¡°So you know about us?¡±
¡°...hey, I was just referring to one of those famous government agents in a black suit which tries to cover up stuff, but why are you talking like it''s a proper name!?¡±
¡°...damn. Well, just come with me.¡±
¡°Don''t wanna.¡±
¡°Then I''ll make you.¡± He draws a gun, but it looks weird. He shoots it once and some blueish white comes out of it, but I have [Focus] active which means that I see every minute detail and can practically see how the Man in Black will move. So the moment his finger pressed on the trigger, I was already stepping aside... hey, why can I see the movement of a light-based attack? Shouldn''t it move with the speed of light?
...I''m really in another fictional universe where there is a need to show the audience or players how the shoot is going for easier understanding. Otherwise, it can''t be explained, unless it''s actually a blue liquid that only glows strongly.
The way-too-slow shot hits a wall, it doesn''t do any damage there but becomes a blue gas. OK, this really is a blue liquid that evaporates on contact. ¡°Kch, you''re good,¡± the black man comments my dodge.
¡°Nah, you just suck.¡± Oh, I can see a vein popping. ¡°Do you want to know what''s great about a spear?¡± I step forward, the black man shoots again, but as I can see the exact moment he presses his trigger, I have no trouble evading his shots while coming closer... actually, I feel a bit like Rine.
Then I throw my spear into his leg. ¡°Aaah!¡± While he cries out loud, I jump in and hit him... hey, it wasn''t so hard that you needed to fly away and hit a wall, right!? ¡ Well, at least he''s out cold.
What do I do now? Well, let''s see if he has something on his person like a communicator. If he''s from a secret organization, he may have technology that is so secret, that it becomes common sense in ten years or so.
¡°Erm...¡± Ah, the geezer. Totally forgot about him,
¡°Get away from here. For your own good.¡±
¡°What about my apartment?¡±
¡°Hah!?¡±
¡°My walls are broken because of you. So where do I need to call for repairs?¡±
...I just saved your life. Are you asking me to give you the number of an insurance company or something like that? ...well, it may be the attitude of our world: If it''s not your fault, you don''t need to pay. Guess what: The world doesn''t care.
Also, shouldn''t you be warier that I took out a suspicious looking government agent?
¡°Phew.¡± I''ll just ignore him. So what does the Man in Black have? An ID... most likely fake. His gun, another much smaller one, a strange metal pen-like stick, there, a round thing that might look like a mobile phone with some imagination.
I open it, it doesn''t even have a keylock. What was his last call... K? Well, let''s call him.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Jeebs'' Store
This suit is suave. The only demerit is, that the sunglasses won''t stay on, as my ears move too much. Still, with this suit, I feel about ten percent more powerful, though it actually restricts my movements more. Still, I''m looking forward to impressing people with it.
¡°You should wear the shoes,¡± Agent K repeats his suggestion.
¡°I won''t approve of the enslavement of feet.¡±
We enter the store while bickering jokingly. Inside is a mess, the man behind the counter looks unsanitary and he stares at Agent K: ¡°K! I haven''t done anyth-¡±
*Splatter*
With green goo splashing, the head of this fellow explodes. The reason is Agent K, who shot him with a gun that bears little to no resemblance to the ones that the cops use. ¡°OK Jeebs, no tricks.¡±
¡°I don''t believe that he can answer.¡±
¡°Wait K,¡± surprisingly the beheaded body moves while forming another head. This is interesting! ¡°I haven''t done anything, you can''t just come in and shoot me, I have my rights, you-¡±
*Splatter*
¡°The only right you can get is my ''You were right to tell me, Jeebs'' after you fess up.¡±
The head reforms another time and Jeebs snarls something too quiet for a human to hear, which is easily picked up by me. ''How could he know?''
Time for me to shine. ¡°So you know about it.¡±
¡°...who are you!?¡±
¡°I''m Agent A.¡±
¡°Bad name, Miss Ara''ainn.¡±
¡°I''m Agent Double-A.¡±
Jeebs sneers at me. ¡°You really don''t take the going undercover seriously. I mean, your ears?¡±
¡°[Water Fountain]!¡± The spell makes the head explode a third time. ¡°Oh, his body is as weak as Katarine-san is calculating fractions. Just a bit of pressure and it caves in. Agent K, can he regenerate indefinitely? What happens if I beat him up with my staff? Can he recover after being melted by acid?¡± My researcher-spirit is wide awake, the excitement in my voice apparent.
¡°Could you please stop with blasting away my head. It really hurts.¡±
¡°I see, so it hurts. Does it hurt more than being stabbed? Have you ever being stabbed? Do your other body parts also regenerate? What would happen if I shoot away your head and set the rest on fire? Do you have a nucleus that the rest regenerates from?¡±
¡°Hey, don''t get wrong ideas.¡±
¡°As precious as this all sounds, Miss Ara''ainn,¡± Agent K interrupts our conversation, ¡°what are you hiding, Jeebs?¡±
¡°Hiding? Nothing.¡±
¡°Then I''ll go to the kiosk around the corner and get a coffee. My temporal partner will wait with you here until I''m back.¡±
¡°K... what is your game? You never leave before you threaten me until I fess up.¡±
¡°Today things are different. I need that coffee. Miss Ara''ainn, you''ll be alone with Jeebs.¡±
¡°This is a splendid idea, Agent K. There are so many things I can do in a place like this.¡±
¡°...what''s she talking? K?¡±
¡°I''ll sure need some time. I''m in a rather amble mood and will walk very slowly.¡±
¡°K, stop joking around. I know you''re playing me.¡±
¡°I may even stop and buy a newspaper and read an article or two. I hope you don''t mind, Miss Ara''ainn.¡±
¡°Could you give me your head-exploding weaponry?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
Jeebs looks at me and Agent K in quick succession, then he stares at me and I look back at him, though my ears give away all the excitement I''m feeling right now.
¡°OK, OK, I fess up everything!¡± That''s disappointing.
Agent K starts right with his questions. ¡°Where is the dimensional transporter?¡±
¡°How do you even know about it!?¡±
In fact, there has been a disassembled transporter, though it''s from a place called Mesopotamia, not Scandinavia and is certainly not the cause of our own appearance in this world. Yet this might be the best bet to find our way home.
When Agent K and I leave the shop, something rings in Agent K''s pocket. He retracts a circular machine. ¡°Slick?¡±
¡°No.¡± Ah, this is Kenta-kun''s voice coming out of the device, it may be faint, but is easy to hear with my senses. ¡°I guess I got the right guy. I''m holding your partner hostage.¡±
¡°What are your demands?¡±
¡°I have no-¡±
Time to step in! ¡°KENTA-KUN, THEY ARE RAPING ME! AAAAAH!!!¡± Agent K is no fun, he doesn''t even flinch. That''s boring!
¡°Ara-san!? Phew...¡± Kenta-kun sounds troubled. ¡°OK, now I have at least one. Ara-san, are you alright?¡±
¡°They... they put me into some strange clothes and transported me to scum. They might look for a seller, poor me.¡±
¡°...why do I feel like that could really happen if you would act differently... hey, K, right? Mind to fill me in who you guys are and what you do? Also, I like to have her back.¡±
¡°Oh, Kenta-kun, you really care. I thought I was nothing but your little meat doll, subjected to your pervert desires.¡±
¡°On second thought, you can keep her.¡±
¡°Ah, Kenta-kun is finally throwing me away now that I''m sullied.¡±
¡°Ara-san, just shut up and let me talk with-¡±
K presses a button, cutting the connection. ¡°He needs to cool down. Also, your conversation-¡± Another ringing, K pushes the button again to activate his device. ¡°Agent K speaking.¡±
¡°K, we have an intruder! One of those who caused trouble today, the blonde girl. She is already in the main-hall, nothing can stop her! We need every agent, ple- no, she''s here!¡±
¡°ARA!? WHERE ARE YOU!? I''M COMING FOR YOU! Excuse me, do you know where-¡± *PSHH* *WMMM* ¡°Why are all people using magic against me. This is strange.¡±
¡°Katarine-san? Katarine-san?¡±
Agent K explains calmly. ¡°The communication office works with headphones, with so much noise she is sure to have failed to hear your voice. Get in the car.¡±
I do as he says and he starts driving back. He presses a big button inside the car and the car begins to accelerate quickly. I change to [Acrobat] to keep myself from becoming motion sick, yet now a side-effect of eating doughnuts comes, as they begin to shake inside my stomach.
I create some exhaust gases. However, they have a wondrous effect, given that humans have a strong sense of smell, they can smell the multitude of nastiness which can cause them to lose consciousness for small bits of times... Oh.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
New Yorker Back Alley
¡°Hey, wake up.¡± I pour some water from a waterskin onto the face of the black man. ¡°Hey Slick.¡±
¡°How did you call me?¡± He stands up while being a bit confused. Then he quickly goes into a defensive stance. ¡°Whatever you want, I won''t budge.¡±
¡°Just budge already. Your buddies sent an emergency call to you. Your HQ is under attack and I''m among the only few who are capable of stopping it.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°Listen to me, Slick. Your group is under attack from a monster you probably can''t comprehend, I have traveled with her for three months and I still can''t understand her at all. It wouldn''t surprise me if she can single-handedly scrap a whole tank battalion by herself. She most likely can even deflect tank shells. She isn''t like you and me, she''s a whole other life-form. She''s looking for her friend, one that you guys have most likely captured, and until she has her, she will carve her way through anything that tries to stop her. So unless you want to find your buddies¡ªwho are foolishly standing in her way¡ªbleeding or dead on the ground, you better take me to your HQ. I''ll convince her to stop and you give us back our party-member. Deal?¡±
I know, I''m very intense about it, but Rine wreaking havoc in modern society, even if it''s not ours, is crawling under my skin. Heck, in my world, people would cry terrorist attack!
Slick looks at me for a moment, then he sighs: ¡°OK. I''ll get us a car.¡± Maybe seeing me in action made him consider that everything I fear might be worse. ¡°Also, give me back my stuff.¡± After he has it, he started fiddling with the communicator, maybe to make sure that I didn''t lie. I would do the same.
However, nobody answers, so he runs on the next street and stops a car. He uses his strange metal rod, a flashlight comes and the driver just hands his car over... most likely mental control.
I sit at the passenger seat and he begins driving in a way it can only happen in games or movies: In an actual city, you''d crash at this speed sooner or later, but miraculously, there is always enough room to barely squeeze through and all drivers see Slick driving like a madman in time to not make any fatal mistakes that would lead to a crash big enough to block the streets.
Then we suddenly are in an unpopulated area, it looks like some mountain base. Slick stops in front of it and I get off the car. Wait, there is another car, a black, expensive looking one. Wait, is that Ara-san in the passenger seat?
Another agent is on the driver''s seat, he steps out and walks a few steps, before exhaling and inhaling deeply. Then he says to Ara-san: ¡°I can hold my breath for thirty minutes.¡±
¡°Spoilsport. Hello Kenta-kun, you are here as well.¡±
¡°Ara-san, I thought you were in there! Also, why do you have a suit?¡±
¡°Ken! Arako!¡± Another person steps out of hiding, it''s Kyou-san. ¡°Rine-chan went in and I believe that it doe-¡±
*GRRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAN*
¡°This is not good,¡± the old agent says. ¡°She may have accidentally freed Cheheitlu, the immortal beast of butchery.¡±
¡°K,¡± Slick says: ¡°I hope it''s just the name.¡±
¡°No. He''s a conqueror of planets and was captured and imprisoned during my younger years. If he gets free, he will cause untold destruction throughout the whole state before we can recapture him.¡±
¡°We need to do-¡±
*GROOOO-ARGHS!*
I look at Ara-san: ¡°Rine?¡±
¡°Katarine-san.¡±
¡°Definitely,¡± Kyou-san shares her thought.
Slick looks at us: ¡°What?¡±
¡°I guess that poor''s man Cthulhu looks like a monster, right? Then he was slain by Rine.¡±
¡°Wasn''t he supposed to be immortal? Seriously, who are you guys!?¡±
¡°Slick,¡± the old agent says: ¡°There are things beyond any human''s imagination. Now we need to concentrate on what to do.¡±
¡°But this is not how it''s supposed to work! I mean, usually we find something odd, then while investigating, things go worse step-by-step while we find out what''s the deal. Then we gun up, storm the place, and shoot the guy into oblivion.¡±
Ara-san says in her sweetest tone: ¡°Isn''t it great to do things differently now and then?¡±
¡°...at least I''m not covered in some gross ooze.¡±
¡°I can help with that.¡±
Needless to say, that in the end, we could convince Rine to stop and made a cease-fire.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
MIB HQ
¡°This is it,¡± K explains to us. All of us, Rine, Kyou-san, Ara-san, and I stand in front of a portal. ¡°There is only one thing to do.¡± He puts his sunglasses on, then uses the metal rod. A flashlight comes. ¡°You had some trouble in this dimension, as it wasn''t the one you''re from. It was the worst possible outcome and now you''re glad to give it another try. You never plan to revisit this dimension.¡±
¡°I don''t know,¡± Ara-san says. ¡°It was funny.¡±
I add my own two cents. ¡°I agree. I mean, it may be twenty years or so behind, but it''s still much better than anything we had in the fantasy world.¡±
¡°K, the neuralyzer isn''t working.¡±
¡°What''s a neuralyzer?¡± I look at Rine and Kyou-san, who stares into the nothingness. ...¡±What have you done to them?¡±
¡°In layman''s term, it''s a device that manipulates memory. It appears that the brain of Miss Ara''ainn is differently enough for her to be not affected. For Mister Katsuragi, I don''t know the specifics.¡±
...maybe because I have the [Penetrate Light]-skill? I saw the flashlight, but I also saw through it and could see everything clearly. Well, it doesn''t matter. ¡°I''ll just pretend, OK?¡±
¡°Fine.¡±
With this shortstop, we enter the portal.
Volume 05.5 - Extras - The Beauty and her Knights
Extra 3 ¨C The Beauty and her Knights
In the midst of the Vulkan-mountains, a party of heroes is busy salvaging monsters. Or more like, two-thirds of the hero-party are busy working. Yamamoto Jiro separates the body of a so-called rockinger from its shell. ¡°Hey, Nadeshiko-chan! I got it!¡±
¡°I was faster,¡± stupid Oshita Hotaru exclaims, showing another shell.
¡°No, me!¡±
¡°Look at yours, there is still blood.¡±
¡°Hah!? Where is the blood?¡±
¡°There, there is a big spot.¡± Oshita pokes with his finger a part of the shell, leaving behind a bloody mark.
Instead of talking, Jiro tries to cave Oshita''s head in with his shell.
¡°Boys,¡± a beautiful girl says: ¡°Stop fighting.¡± The hint of tears makes Jiro feel bad though Oshita totally deserves to die at this point.
¡°Of course, Nadeshiko-san!¡± That jerk shamelessly jumps at the opportunity to please sweet Nadeshiko-chan while giving Jiro a wink that tells him, that Oshita doesn''t even think about getting along with him. Asshole times ten!
¡°Nadeshiko-chan, only for you.¡± Still, if it''s for Nadeshiko-chan, he would even swim across the ocean. So not telling that idiotic soccer-loser what a joke he is, is a small price to pay.
Jiro can do stuff, he''s part of the judo-club. He may not be a Yamauchi Daichi, but he had already won a tournament in middle school. Oshita is just someone who plays soccer and sits on the bench most games. Well, he may look decent, but Jiro is sure that his own look exudes manliness. He has enough muscles to show, but not enough to be considered a monster-bodybuilder.
In contrast, Oshita looks like a skinny, ladylike gimp. Like someone that nature couldn''t decide whether to make him a boy or a girl and therefore gave him long eyelashes, full lips, and a scrawny body. Well, he has some muscles as a sportsperson, but they are pathetic. He will never be able to protect Nadeshiko-chan! Unlike Jiro.
Nakamura Nadeshiko-chan is the perfect girl. She is like a beautiful flower greeted by the sun each day. Long wavy hair that flows to her shoulders, lovely eyes that sparkle with her love for life, beautiful lips that makes you want to kiss her. She certainly doesn''t belong to this world, this poor helpless girl, so Jiro has made it his priority to protect her.
On the other hand, Oshita wants her for his ego. He wants to sully her, wants her for his dirty desires. He''s just a pervert who doesn''t have any decency. If given a chance, Jiro would kick Oshita out of the party without any hesitation, but Nadeshiko is kindhearted enough to provide him with the benefit of the doubt.
The only thing Oshita is good for is to attract monsters. Jiro wants to protect Nadeshiko-chan, so he can''t go that much into the offense, but if monsters are around Oshita, then it''s all good. Especially if they beat him to a pulp, but as Oshita has the [Warrior]-class, it''s highly unlikely. He''s nigh indestructible, just like a leech or a tick. He also has the [Archer]-class in case he gives into his cowardice. Jiro fights monsters directly and valiantly, so he''s obviously the better man!
Jiro has the [Grappler] and [Thief]-classes, in addition to the [Student]-class. He wants to obtain [Wizard] soon, so he can nuke that bastard whenever he''s in the midst of monsters, while explaining that this is how things are supposed to work.
Nadeshiko-chan doesn''t fight. She only has the [Wizard]-class though she rarely does anything. She''s a lady, after all, fighting monsters isn''t what she''s supposed to do. This is a man''s job. Still, she has the highest level of them all, as Jiro does his best to present her half-dead monsters, as higher levels increases her chances of survival. If only Oshita wouldn''t copy Jiro! It was his idea... well, as long as it helps Nadeshiko-chan stay alive...
¡°So, every rockinger-shell collected,¡± Jiro says while rubbing his arm over his sweaty forehead. ¡°We''ll keep going.¡±
¡°Keep going? Hey, Bakashita (Baka [Idiot] + Oshita), Nadeshiko-chan needs a break!¡±
¡°What was that? I believe that I heard a fart. Ah, it was just you talking, Kusomoto (Kuso [Shit] + Yamamoto).¡±
¡°At least my face doesn''t resemble an ass.¡±
¡°I don''t know... every word you say sounds pretty shitty to me.¡±
¡°When I''m done with you, your farts will come out of your mouth and you''ll speak with your ass.¡±
¡°So that you have a fellow sufferer?¡±
Oshita is about to hit Jiro, yet Jiro wants that. It would give him the chance and excuse to beat Oshita to a pulp.
However: ¡°Boys, stop.¡± Nadeshiko-chan, sweet as she is, gives Oshita another try at life.
¡°¡°Yes...¡±¡±
Then the last one of their party comes back. It''s neither a hero nor a student, it''s just Holger Erdmesser, the cartographer. It''s a small fat man with long, dark blonde hair and beard, and surprisingly much stamina. Yet he''s not a warrior, so he stays with Nadeshiko-chan while fighting and does his job whenever it''s time to harvest monsters. ¡°Also finished.¡± Not that his job takes a lot of time or care.
The Vulkan-mountains aren''t fully mapped and even Erdmesser-san won''t make a proper map as he lacks the manpower and tools to do so. He''s more here to update the last sketch. Because nobody traverses outside the pilgrim paths, the current draft is quite old. The mountains have many passes that are hard enough to climb, so Erdmesser-san travels with the bare necessities while hoping to find some clues about the lizard people that are supposed to be somewhere in these mountains.
Jiro wants to return to the base camp in the Hei?quellen-shrine, but he is hellbent on Oshita being the first one to complain. Currently, all they do is fight monsters and find new passes that have opened up due to some volcanic activities throughout the last few decades. It''s boring! Yes, it may increase their level and fighting skills, but it''s just so frustrating. Especially seeing that they''re still just checking the places that were known but never visited thanks to their boorishness.
Who who would think that being a hero is such a monotone business?
Well, there is a bright side and that''s Nadeshiko-chan! Without that dirt Oshita, it would almost be like a date. Jiro is sure that Nadeshiko-chan has her eyes on him but can''t be honest while the douchebag is still around. She''s also too kind for her own good, so she lets the douchebag stick around.
Maybe Jiro should confess. Yet he''s still embarrassed about it and believes that acts speak louder than words. So he just needs to prove his love again and again until even the thick-headed Oshita understands that he doesn''t have a chance!
So to sum everything up, life''s trash. They''re in the middle of nowhere, looking for threats that aren''t here and have nothing to do with the demon king, while Jiro is stuck with Oshita. Jiro can''t help but sigh a little, he needs to look at Nadeshiko-chan to recharge his batteries. ...ah, he needed that.
¡°Erdmesser-san, where''s the next place?¡±
¡°Hey, Kusomoto, who died and made you the leader?¡±
¡°Does you being brain-dead count?¡±
¡°A dead brain is still better than whatever is inside your head.¡±
¡°Hah!?¡±
¡°Huh!¡±
¡°The only reason why your corpse isn''t on the ground right now is that it''d pollute the earth.¡±
¡°You being alive is a waste. Apologize to every breathing being for wasting their oxygen!¡±
¡°That''s it!¡± Jiro grabs Oshita''s collar, ready to show him what a weakling he is by effortlessly slamming him into the ground.
¡°Hey, Kusomoto, I have something to say to you.¡±
¡°What!?¡±
Oshita opens his mouth and spits into Jiro''s face. Jiro''s vision blurs, as his every thought turns into beat the shit out of that asshole!
¡°Stop fighting.¡± It''s Nadeshiko-chan''s voice that cuts through the veil of anger and lets Jiro regain his senses before he can kill Oshita for good. ¡°Jiro-kun, Hotaru-kun, please!¡±
Ah, that''s sweet Nadeshiko-chan. She intervened to save Jiro of becoming a murderer. She really loves him. Jiro lets go of Oshita, that jerk isn''t worth making Nadeshiko-chan cry.
Is that!? Nadeshiko-chan is handing Jiro a handkerchief! Jiro takes it greedily and starts wiping the spit off his face while sneering at Oshita. Oh? You don''t receive any kindness from Nadeshiko-chan, super-jerk? Jiro would almost feel sorry.
¡°Hotaru-kun?¡± Nadeshiko-chan gives him a look, she really is too kind for her own good. ¡°We need to work together.¡± Jiro thinks this thoughtfulness of hers is totally wasted, as he''s more than willing to carry all the burden for her!
¡°Of course, Nadeshiko-san!¡± This phony bastard! Jiro knows that Oshita is just pretending to take her words to heart. ¡°Everything you say!¡±
¡°Good. Erdmesser-san, where are we going next? I want to return as fast as possible to the camp.¡± Ah, Nadeshiko-chan. Of course, she doesn''t want to sleep outside when she can avoid it! She''s a lady, after all.
¡°Nadeshiko-chan, you can return, I''ll take over!¡± Jiro wants to help that poor girl.
¡°Ah, that''s good,¡± Oshita says blatantly, ¡°then I can go with her and you''re away.¡±
¡°HUH!?¡±
¡°Hey, Ku- Yamamoto. Someone has to stay with Nadeshiko-chan, after all!¡±
Before Jiro can muster an answer, a single sentence said by the girl besides them blows any resistance away: ¡°Thank you, Jiro-kun.¡±
¡°OF COURSE! Erdmesser-san, let''s go!¡± Jiro takes the hand of the round man and pulls him along.
¡°Wait, Yamamoto-dono!¡± All resistance of the cartographer is ignored, while Jiro forces him to come with him.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Finally! Oshita Hotaru is glad to be finally alone with Nadeshiko-san! Yamamoto is an idiot, that''s why he proposed to work for her without foreseeing the complications. On the other side, Hotaru is someone who has patiently waited for an opportunity. The early bird might get a worm, but the one who waits and observes will find a feeding ground instead.
¡°Nadeshiko-san, do you need a break before we head back?¡±
¡°I''d rather be there earlier than later.¡± Ah, Nadeshiko-san, such a practical girl.
¡°Then let me carry your backpack.¡± Of course, Hotaru is a suave knight in his imagination, a cavalier. However, whenever he tries to be, Yamamoto comes and drags him down to his level. This shows how Hotaru and Yamamoto may both be in sports clubs, but while Yamamoto uses brute force in a sport like judo, Hotaru is using finesse and tactics in a complicated sport like soccer.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Well, Yamamoto has his uses. Not only here, where brute force makes right, even in modern Japan: Someone has to go tuna-fishing after all.
With Nadeshiko-san''s backpack strapped over his own¡ªluckily both of them are easy to carry as their storage is in a pocket dimension¡ªHotaru walks side by side with Nadeshiko-san. He leers at her face, the beautiful, beautiful Nadeshiko-san. Hotaru sometimes has fantasies about her that are R-rated, but he''s a healthy boy, so it''s natural.
Still, now he can''t help but remember those thoughts, how his hands moved over her body in his dreams, how their lips interlocked... For a fraction of a second Hotaru even casually imagines pushing her down, here and now, another totally normal thought for someone his age. Not like he will do it for real.
His eyes wander to Nadeshiko-san''s hand. Taking it would also be natural, right? Still, he has to wait for the perfect opportunity, only an ape would lunge at every next opportunity, Hotaru isn''t a brute like Yamamoto, so he''s patiently waiting for his chance.
Yes, he can move a bit closer to her. Then he will first touch her hand with his as both of them are walking, nothing too serious. Then he will look at her face and know if she dislikes it. If she does, he will just apologize. If she doesn''t, he will slowly take her hand, giving her the chance to pull it away... This is a critical moment, therefore he needs to be careful about it.
Wait... wait... now! Hotaru is about to touch Nadeshiko-san''s hand, but surprisingly, she lifts it to take a small steel mirror out of her pocket, checking her face and hair. ¡°Ah, my hair is a mess.¡±
¡°It''s perfect, Nadeshiko-san.¡±
¡°That''s sweet. Would you stop for a moment please?¡±
Hotaru does as she says while, in contrast, his heart accelerates... Nadeshiko-san gets closer... and closer... This is it! She will finally... Her arm is now moving around Hotaru, she will embrace him, no, she needs to pull herself up to kiss him, she''ll-
¡°Thanks.¡± Nadeshiko-san''s hand moved into her backpack and now she has a comb in her hand. ¡°A girl''s hair is her life, after all.¡±
¡°I don''t like that sentiment.¡±
¡°Hn?¡±
¡°A girl is much more than her hair. Even if you''d be covered in dirt, you''d still be brilliant.¡± He said it! It''s a cheesy line but he pulled it off perfectly like a gentleman!
¡°Thanks, Hotaru-kun.¡± Her mood improves visibly, while she combs her hair carefully. ¡°Yet this is way too much.¡±
Hotaru knew it! Nadeshiko-san is really in love with him! She''s just hiding it because she''s shy! So he needs to be a bit more proactive... no, he should first improve the mood more. Nadeshiko-san is shy after all. If he''s too aggressive, she will be troubled.
¡°Nadeshiko-san, I only speak the truth. You''re a beautiful girl!¡± He heard that praises do wonders with women.
¡°Stop flattering me.¡±
¡°You are like the sun, illuminating everything you look upon!¡±
Her smile makes these embarrassing words worth it. Nadeshiko-san starts playing with a string of hair while smiling in a way that causes Hotaru''s heart to hammer against his throat from below. ¡°You''re kind, Hotaru-kun.¡±
This is it! Now he only needs to take her hand and confess. It''s so easy! Hotaru breathes in deeply, lifts his hand--- only to see that Nadeshiko-san has already started walking again.
DAMMIT!
However, the way she looks back at him: ¡°Hotaru-kun! Hurry up.¡± ...well, this is only the first half.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Cockteased. Nadeshiko looks at Hotaru-kun who is obviously smitten by her. Blinded by the hearts in his eyes he looks at a person that doesn''t exist, something Nadeshiko isn''t even pretending to be. She''s a normal girl with above average looks who likes the attention, yet isn''t willing to do anything to put up an image. Different from Momokawa Kyou, for example. That girl is just a bitch.
On the other hand, Hotarukun''s and Jiro-kun''s are right in their core beliefs: Nadeshiko is a girl who can''t fight and therefore she accepted both after they were looking like lost puppies when the parties formed. For them, she must have been a goddess, a thought that she entertains at times. Yet their twisting of her words and expressions can be sickening at times and their bickering is tiring.
Still, having two boys waiting on her sure is handy. They can do the heavy lifting and fighting, yet Nadeshiko wouldn''t be out here if she had acquired actual life-skills. She had no choice but to join the combat-group to fight on behalf of the kingdom.
The problem is that she still doesn''t know how to handle these two boys. At times she tried being kind and polite, and they would act all familiar. Then she tried being stern, and they would look like she scolded them. She also tried to be distant, and they would try to get closer and closer. ...what are they, dogs?
Yes, in a sense they are. They''re mindless animals who would do anything to get into her panties. Yet, they''re useful. That''s why she keeps them around. In this world, even they can become individuals that surpass all expectations. If they try hard enough, they might become stronger than anyone else.
Nadeshiko likes strong men. In Japan, she used to have a boyfriend, a second-year of the kendo-club. Now after so many months, she doesn''t see the relationship as still in effect, but she has always been drawn to strength.
In this world there are a lot of strong individuals and magic should also be considered when determining whether one is strong or not. Too bad that the wizards she has met so far were rather old or just plain dull in terms of personality.
Ah, she really needs someone in her life.
She looks back at the tail-wagging Hotaru-kun. No. Just no. He may look cute, but he''s a wuss. Before she even considers him as lover-material, he needs to man up three paces or at least engulf in his cuteness. What''s good about his face if he doesn''t use it? He lacks the determination to be manly and cute and he lacks the tears to be super-cute.
What about Jiro-kun? He looks a bit manly but... Nah, also no material right now. He always reminds Nadeshiko of a gorilla. Or more of an orangutan? More animal than man.
¡°Sigh.¡± The reason why she didn''t join Inoue-kun''s and Yamaguchi-kun''s party is because of the bitches, Akiyama-san and Momokawa-san. Yes, Nadeshiko used to hang out in class with them, but it was entirely superficial.
She really should have joined Endo-san''s party, but Nadeshiko had some considerations regarding joining an all-girls party. What Nadeshiko doesn''t know is that that decision may have saved her from a sad destiny.
¡°Sigh.¡± Nadeshiko is really sick of all that walking and wants to rest in a bed. There are some cuties in the camp, maybe she''ll finally have time to check them out, being a hero must have some benefits. Though she''s aiming for the wish in the end... Suddenly, a surge of motivation comes back into her.
When she or one of her classmates slay the demon king, all of them will return. Those directly responsible for his death will have a ''perfect wish'' granted, whatever it may be. Most likely a wish without any restrictions... Nadeshiko has many contenders for this wish, like being the beloved queen of the entire Earth. Or to live in luxury without ever needing to do anything for it. Maybe the perfect boyfriend.
Yes, she almost forgot about that wish: ¡°Hotaru-kun? I changed my mind, let''s follow Jiro-kun and Erdmesser-san.¡±
¡°Whatever you wish, Nadeshiko-san...¡± He doesn''t like it, he really doesn''t like it. Yet he obeys her every word, most likely thinking that she wants to be kind to Jiro-kun or crap like that. The obeying part is not so bad after all. About the rest... she needs to find a solution.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Yamamoto Jiro and Holger Erdmesser are looking at a sealed pass. Erdmesser-san puts his thumb on his lips while saying: ¡°A rock slide may have caused this. It used to be open ten years ago, though behind there is only an abandoned attrium mine.¡±
¡°What''s attrium?¡±
¡°It''s something used in medicine and smithies. Also bombs.¡±
¡°How can it be used for all of that?¡±
¡°Ask an alchemist.¡±
¡°...well, so we''ll turn back?¡±
¡°Not until we know why the pass is blocked.¡±
¡°Didn''t you say it was because of a rock slide.¡±
¡°It may have been the cause. I need to investigate it as well as possible, as the lizard people may have also caused this.¡±
¡°Ah, good thinking!¡±
¡°You just stay alert. You know even less than I about geology.¡±
¡°About what?¡±
¡°You see?¡± Erdmesser is drawing nearer to the wall of debris, looking on the ground and above as well. On the other hand, Jiro is elsewhere with his thoughts. He''s thinking about how much Nadeshiko-chan will praise him when he does a good job and how it''ll lead to her confession. ''Oh, Jiro-kun, I''ve always loved you. Hota- no, Ahotaru (Aho [Idiot] + Hotaru) is just an idiot, who lacks the basic concepts to partake in society. Let''s put him in an asylum and continue our journey just the two of us.''
Yes, that''s exactly how things will turn out, nothing else would make sense.
Oh, there is a monster! What''s that? It looks like an ostrich somehow but has a very curved beak. Well, no reason to not fight it. ¡°[Powertackle]!¡± With his skill, Jiro jumps forward with incredible speed, tackling the bird-monster like it''s nothing.
Oh wait, there are two more. Still not a problem, both are- wait, there are now five more, no, rather fifty! Where do they- Jiro lifts his arms to protect his face, as one of these bird-monsters jumps at him with the saber-like beak first. The beak easily pecks into his forearm, dismantling his armor, while another one hacks at his feet to do the same there. Without his armor, he might be just a bloody something right now, but more come from the flanks...
¡°[Drillkick]!¡± He can''t use his arms without exposing his face, so he needs to rely on the few feet-related [Brawl]-skills he learned. ¡°[Crescent Kick]!¡± The birds aren''t strong at all, but there are many!
Shit! Shit, shit, shit! He shouts and yells while the birds are coming, one wave after another. Is there no end to them!? Ah, one of them seized the moment when he used another [Crescent Kick] to trip him!
Jiro feels how his face loses its color: ¡°No, no, no!¡± One bird after another jumps on him, he''s now in an ocean of pain as these saber-beaks seem to be especially suited to attack prone prey. Jiro''s armor, skin, and flesh are ripped apart, piece by piece. ¡°Ah, aah, eegh...¡± He always thought that when someone is ganged up and torn to pieces that it would end in loud screams, just like in zombie movies, but in actuality, he can only muster eerily small cries because he''s suffocating as well... painful so painful... no, he will die! Someone... anyone, please! He doesn''t want to die! Jiro feels how he is starting to piss into his pants while tears run down his face, same as the blood dripping down from his arms...
¡°[Thresher]!¡± This voice! Suddenly, a bunch of bird-cries are heard as someone charges into them and hurls them away with his maul. It''s Oshita Hotaru! What is he doing here!? Does that mean... there! Nadeshiko-chan! She''s here!
Jiro stands up, blood is dripping down from his entire body, but he refuses to be that pathetic when Nadeshiko-chan is watching. Seeing him down will only break her heart, so he has no choice but to keep on fighting. Miraculously, his body still moves despite all his wounds.
Oshita sneers at him: ¡°Drop again. Or drop dead, Bakamoto.¡±
Screw Oshita, Jiro will kill more of those monsters than that asshole can even count. So more than ten. ¡°Fuck yourself.¡±
¡°Here, have a bird!¡± With a strike with his maul, Oshita flings a monster at Jiro, who catches it with his hand and crush its windpipe.
¡°Thanks for the XP.¡±
¡°Just giving you a headstart.¡±
¡°Only to claim that this is why you''ll kill less than I will.¡± While snarling at each other, Oshita and Jiro starts killing one of the birds after the other. They had each other backs, and despite all of their bickering they moved perfectly in unison.
The first ten birds are no problem, yet after that Jiro''s lack of blood and exhaustion from before shows. The next ten are also beaten, yet even Oshita shows how straining it is. Twenty-one to thirty, however, is like an impossible task, there is no end!
Jiro knows that he''s done for. He''ll die here and now, next to that bastard, who also begins to resemble a bloody mess despite his armor. Oh shit.
Where is Nadeshiko-chan? ¡°Na-eck-go-han?¡± An indistinguishable yelling is heard from his bleeding mouth. Ah, of course. She must have abandoned the boys, seeing how they''re incapable of winning this fight. It''s only natural, seeing how both of them suck.
Ah. Jiro realizes that he''s on the ground now, ready for being dismembered. This is the end...
¡°[Fireblast]!¡± Then everything around him explodes ¡ª birds, Oshita, himself. Only a smoking black something is left behind... Ah, one of them moves, it''s Oshita. The birds don''t. Somehow Jiro always imagined that burned birds should smell like poultry, grilled, baked, or fried, but in the end, it''s a nasty smell instead.
Then he sees her! Nadeshiko-chan! ¡°Boys, come here! Immediately!¡± Of course, she''s pissed. Jiro moves his body, it refuses, but he still forces it to move, he can¡¯t understand why he''s able to. Still, it''s good that he does, as the next wave of birds is already at his heels.
Nadeshiko-chan also started running. She has such a beautiful running form! Jiro has reconfirmed his love for her, for this goddess!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
After running for a while, Nadeshiko sighs in relief as the bird-monsters have stopped following them. She looks back at the two boys, who are at the verge of death, her [Fireblast] pushed them to their utmost limits. ¡°Chug some potions,¡± she instructs those stupidly grinning idiots, who don''t even take care of themselves properly.
At least they listen to her orders. With every potion, more burns and cuts disappear, though there are still traces of cuts everywhere, like the flesh is just holding together. Jiro-kun is about to jump at her: ¡°Nadeshi-¡±
¡°Seiza,¡± Ordering them to sit in the traditional Japanese kneeling position, Nadeshiko keeps her calm behavior, as a girl who allows her anger to show on her face is unbefitting. The boys slowly fall on their knees and look terrified. Just like dogs.
¡°Nadeshiko-sa-,¡± Hotaru-kun begins his sentence, but Nadeshiko looks at him with her calm face and his words are stuck in his throat.
¡°In the end, both of you are just dogs.¡± She says to them, having had enough of their antics. If she didn''t hide and chanted her [Fireblast]-spell, the two of them would have died. ¡°I think, both of you need some more discipline.¡± Nadeshiko reaches into her backpack and takes a horse whip out of it. ¡°Who is first this time?¡±
¡°¡°ME!¡±¡± Only in times like these, the two of them are getting along. This only proves that they have to be treated like dogs, in the end, and need a firm hand to keep themselves in line.
She won''t try to treat them as humans again. She will instill her will into the two of them so that they won''t ever lose again. This will be a multilayered training, their bodies, their minds, their personalities.
Both boys are wagging their tails at her, worshiping what they call ''Evil Nadeshiko.''
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
What the heroes forgot was Holger Erdmesser, who is now a captive. While the heroes were busy fighting with the saber-beaks, the ones who lured them towards the heroes in the first place sneaked upon him and knocked him out cold.
Three ss''rak look at the human. ¡°Zhis will shuffish.¡± The one who makes maps. The Great One is still preparing, so having the human who makes maps at their disposal will bring them a significant tactical advantage. Due to the monster attack, he may even be declared dead.
Step 4 of the plan has begun. Step 1 was for the ss''rak to cross over to these lands. Step 2 was to build a base. Step 3 was to establish the necessary numbers. Now they''re in Step 4, gathering intelligence and further resources to match it.
With a bit of luck, Feuerberg will still be fighting the demons by the time the ss¡¯rak are ready to strike for the Great One. Maybe even letting the human heroes who fought the patriarch return to the humans was a plan to thin out the battlefront enough to draw out the war as long as possible.
There is also that one hero on their side who has come from the Northern Island to help in the grand plan the Great One undoubtedly has.
The ss''rak may not be hidden anymore, but they''re lurking. They seem harmless while gathering power, waiting for an opportunity to snap and devour their prey.
Beware, humans. The Great One will come.
Volume 05.5 - Extras - I hate being wed in the Soundbooth Theater!
Thanks to all of the ones who voted. Jeff Hays reads the story here (youtube). Sadly, I was unable to join google hangouts in time due to train issues first and technical difficulties afterward. The moment I had everything ready, it was already over... the bitterness!
Hope it''ll work better next time.
RN (Katarine von Stolzherz aka Rine): ¡°Wow, this was amazing!¡±
AA (Ara''ainn): ¡°So the chosen scene was the first time we met. What a good choice.¡±
MK (Momokawa Kyou): ¡°I don''t sound as annoying like that!¡±
KK (Katsuragi Kenta): ¡°I thought it was right on point.¡±
MK: ¡°Shut up, Kenta! Why are we all voiced by a man in the first place.¡±
krpg (kenturspg): ¡°Because there was only Jeff.¡±
MK: ¡°We should have requested a woman to read our story aloud.¡±
KK: ¡°Hey, I''m the narrator, so it makes sense to have a man do it... though we might ask for another reader next time. He mispronounced actually every name.¡±
krpg: ¡°It''s hard to pronounce everything right, as I foremost use Japanese and German names, and some letters are read differently in other countries. Funny thing is, that the pure sounds of letters are very similar between German and Japanese except the r, while English and those languages are very different from each other.¡±
RN: ¡°We should tell Jeff. He called me ''reney'', while it''s rather ree-ne. My whole name isn''t Kata-rin, but KA-TA-ree-ne.¡±
MK: ¡°You also emphasize every second syllable of my name. MOmoKAwa Kyou. Also, not Ki-oh, here it''s a diphthong.¡±
KK: ¡°Same for my surname, KAtsuRAgi.¡±
AA: ¡°For my name, you need to make more Ah. AH-RAH-AAinn.¡±
MK: ¡°Also, concerning voicing us... Kenta is more... how do I say... dark? Calm? More annoyed? More like, ''what the heck is going on?'' or ''...this can''t be good.'' Though when he''s surprised, it''s somehow funny.¡±
KK: ¡°Jeff-san messed up Rine. I mean, she''s so... it''s almost like she''s shy.¡±
RN: ¡°Tehehe, he can''t now that I''m more outgoing, he had to deal with so many characters after all and doesn''t know me well.¡±
AA: ¡°Yeah, but you are a bit more... childish and bratty?¡±
RN: ¡°Ara? Did you just call me a brat?¡±
MK: ¡°Arako, you could call her ''youthful.''¡±
AA: ¡°My voice is screeching... I''m more collected, I believe.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
KK: ¡°Still, Oro''hekk surprised me.¡±
MK: ¡°Why does he sound so... like that?¡±
AA: ¡°I think it was a nice interpretation. Aera''Jos as well. Also, the interaction between the two of them was captured perfectly.¡±
KK: ¡°Yeah, it really is... I''m so glad that I''m not in Aroahenn anymore...¡±
MK: ¡°Ditto.¡±
RN: ¡°Let''s ask Jeff to do another request.¡±
AA: ¡°We still need people to vote for it though.¡±
krpg: ¡°Yeah, if you like to have another chapter-part read, please comment. Also, while we may continue the story from this point, we may also pick another part you like instead. This time I chose the scene to give new people an insight into how things work in the story, as the earlier volumes are still doing a lot of build-ups. I don''t have particular preferences what to do next. Starting from the beginning, continuing where we left off or looking at another scene? So if you have wishes, comment them as well! Make your favorite part of the web novel come to live!¡±
KK: ¡°...can''t they just stay dead?¡±
This is the second reading, the scene chosen is from volume 4, when Kenta was captured by the mercenaries and fought them off by himself.
MK: ¡°Ken? Why haven''t you told us about being kept prisoner?!¡±
KK: ¡°Would it have changed anything?¡±
AA: ¡°You killed an alfr... I''m disappointed.¡±
KK: ¡°She tried to kill me first.¡±
RN: ¡°Kenta, you''ve really done well! I mean, you did everything you promised us and made the enemy fear you! You also proved with this, that you''re a ranger, which saved us in the end, because Haa also recognized you.¡±
KK: ¡°That hynoar-ranger you were talking about? Maybe.¡±
MK: ¡°You could have died!¡±
KK: ¡°...which would have the curse go haywire?¡±
MK: ¡°Yes!¡±
KK: ¡°Yeah, yeah, thanks for your concerns.¡±
AA: ¡°Why was this scene only chosen?¡±
krpg: ¡°Because of the comments on the chapter and a review!¡±
KK: ¡°...figures. Well, in general, this was better than before.¡±
MK: ¡°No wonder, Jeff-san had no chances to mess us girls up again.¡±
KK: ¡°I still believe that I sound different.¡±
MK: ¡°Yes, you''re ten times more annoying and nerve-grating than that.¡±
KK: ¡°You''re just jealous because I''m the only one who participated.¡±
krpg: ¡°I thought it was better to have Jeff voice a male narrator, I also wanted to let him make his own version of Kenta, as he was also a reader at this point.¡±
RN: ¡°Ah, you''re in there this time. You sounded tired.¡±
krpg: ¡°I was, it was midnight home when SBTL started.¡±
RN: ¡°Good job!¡±
krpg: ¡°Thanks...¡±
AA: ¡°I''m sure you wanted to tell more or different things.¡±
krpg: ¡°Yeah, but I was already on a path, and there are others there. I also wanted to say, that Kenta and Kyou are teenagers, in a sense purer than most other fictional teenagers.¡±
KK: ¡°What''s that supposed to mean?¡±
krpg: ¡°Every teenager is self-centered and egotistical at some point, incapable of feeling empathy, doing things even if they know it''s stupid, being full of biases-¡±
MK: ¡°Dear author, how about you, Ken, and I go there and have a nice talk?¡±
KK: ¡°I''m thinking the same.¡±
krpg: ¡°That''s when you''re finally on the same page!?¡±
KK: ¡°Well, you made us this way!¡±
MK: ¡°We''re egotistical, self-centered teenagers without a hint of empathy and full of biases, doing stupid things.¡±
krpg: ¡°Somehow I''m always digging my own graves...¡±
RN: ¡°You could sell them maybe, you only need one after all.¡±
AA: ¡°Or you could use them for your enemies, a neatly dug grave can also act as a trap or storage room.¡±
krpg: ¡°...yeah, I made all of them that weird... Back to topic, how did you like the scene by Jeff?¡±
KK: ¡°I don''t want to remember, I don''t want to remember...¡±
MK: ¡°Ken, you used the same skills over and over again.¡±
KK: ¡°I have only those! I need to work with what I have I wished I had others, like [Explode Head]!¡±
RN: ¡°I''ve never heard of that spell!¡±
AA: ¡°Seeing how the author notes something down, it may appear at some point. However, I wasn''t aware that you can use [Entangle] in so many different ways.¡±
KK: ¡°Train with Oro''hekk at some point, then you''ll learn a lot of ways... like being picked up by trees to be thrown around to ''get used to heights''...¡±
AA: ¡°I remember that one, it was funny.¡±
KK: ¡°If you like, we can emulate it.¡±
AA: ¡°Sure. With my [Motion Health] it won''t do anything, though I''m rather skeptical whether your control of spirits is enough to make trees do your bidding, as [Entangle] has restraints on its use.¡±
KK: ¡°Is that a challenge?¡±
AA: ¡°It may be.¡±
KK: ¡°Bring it on!¡±
RN: ¡°I''m glad that they have fun.¡±
MK: ¡°I''m surrounded by idiots...¡±
krpg: ¡°Well, that''s it! If you like another SBT-bit, you can comment and also propose which scene. Personally, I''m happy that I was able to do 2 nice scenes in a row, thanks to all of you! Take care!¡±
Volume 05.5 - Afterword
Afterword
Hey, kentusrpg here. Thanks for sticking around with this Extra Novel, I really wanted to do that, as it serves as a constructive break and will make things easier starting with volume 7. As I have written parts of volume 6 parallel to this, I''ve decided to not make too many direct references between the two of them. Well, Rine will at least start her wizard-training in volume 6.
My plan was to write much less here, but the story about the superfriends just got bloated and bloated, and I''ve decided to make it more concrete and firm, to make stuff bigger on the scale, as it also serves the rest of the story around them and the general setting. However, after writing down this monster, I''ve decided to not repeat the same mistake.
Now to the chapters themselves:
Superfriends: They''re surprisingly popular and important to the story, but while I had many notes, I needed to flesh them out, and I needed to revise some passages multiple times to get the right tone with the characters, without spoiling too much of what to come. Their story is about growth, similar to the story concerning Kenta''s family, in this particular piece, it''s about overcoming sadness and the feeling of inadequacy, something everyone needs to get through regularly.
Like I said, this story became bloated. It was supposed to be shorter, but I had important characters to treat, and I wanted to do them justice, and not just put there, how awesome Masahiko can be.
True Heroes: Lent and Star (formerly known as Yoshimura and Hoshibashi) are interesting characters in their own right, as they can be really powerful, but still lack the means to showcase their true strength. In Aroahenn, they were pretty messed up before their powerboost, here neither their tactics nor their gear could stand the Undead Army, though they''ll fight in-between volumes against it to get stronger and stronger.
I like the ooaks, the orc-like people. They''re a fun bunch, they just love roughhousing and are such an enjoyable bunch, if you''re their friend. If not, they can be quite vicious.
Teachers: Ah, this one... good thing that I''ve written volume 5''s Extra before finishing the story, as I could continue it there. I really hope, that I haven''t become an adult like those teachers, because they''re quite pathetic in their own rights, but maybe they''ll redeem themselves sooner or later. Taniguchi got hold on the wrong end of the stick while talking with the king, Heinrich von Stolzherz is a different kind of adult and ruler than people may suspect. Well, he is Rine''s father, so I wanted to make them strangely similar, but actually quite different at the same time.
Have anyone figured out what Saegusa-sensei might have realized? Just curious.
A new poll, this time we''re looking for the best husband. Be it for yourself, a friend, a sibling or the like. Who do you think would make the best husband?
How to support the story
If you like to support the story, there are several ways.
The easy ones (no to little effort put into it and you remain anonymous):Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
1.) Vote on TWF. It''s easy, just a few clicks, no account needed, and you''ve got a vote, which will last one week. The higher the story is on the list, the more likely it is that more people will take a look.
2.) Become a Follower/Favorite. If you aren¡¯t following the story via the Follower-option, consider doing so. Just go to the fiction page and choose ¡°Add to your Bookshelf¡± on the right side. This not only boosts my confidence, but the number of Followers and Favorites is also visible for everyone on RRL.
3.) Rate this story. If you have a RRL-Account, you can rate this story on the fiction page. The higher the rating is, the higher it is ranked, therefore making it easier for the search function to be found. There is also WLN, where you can rate this story, even without an account.
4.) Upvote and downvote reviews. You can do that on the fiction page as well, and yes, you need an RRL account. The more a review is upvoted, the higher it is on the list. The more it''s downvoted, the lower it is placed. So if you like to help, upvote the positive reviews, downvote the bad ones, and give visitors to the fiction page a more positive outlook to the story.
With the new version of RRL, up-/downvoting became a bit of a hassle (because the page reloads every time), but I''d appreciate it if you do it nonetheless.
Some effort involved (and you''ll lose your anonymity):
1.) Write a comment. I really like to read your comments, I''m easily pleased by praise, I''ll think about actual critique which is usable, and I like to converse with my readers in general. Even if you spot a typo, everything is fine. As long as you don''t write stuff like "I hate your guts," "your story is full of shit," and "I don''t like your MC," this is not really helpful. I can deal with critique, but I need reasons, I need personal outlooks, I need examples why something feels wrong.
2.) Write a review. Another way to increase the rank are reviews, also made on the fiction page. They have more "weight" when determining the rank of the story. Of course, advanced reviews have more weight. To put it into perspective a half star rating without review made me fall 10 ranks, a 2-star advanced review made me once fall about 80 ranks. So there is a lot of control here, how this story does on RRL.
3.) I also use Social Media... sometimes. Here is my FB-page, here is my Twitter. You can like the former and follow me on the latter. You can also ask questions, make comments, all the nice stuff.
Go the extra-mile
1.) Advertise the story. Be it on social media (there are also share-buttons at the end of each chapter), on other forums or fiction pages, blogs or by talking to friends, there are several ways to make this story known.
2.) Leave a review on WFG. If you have an account there, you can also make a review there. Of course, a positive one would help there.
5.) Donate on PayPal and/or Patreon. I''m still trying to figure out a satisfying resolution for my Patreon, but for mere $2 it''s currently possible to read the next chapter before everyone else, though it still need PR. For $5 you''ll be able to read even more ahead.
Another way than to hit the PayPal-button for a direct donation is my kofi-page, just hit the button below. It''s a bit nicer there and you can leave a message as well.
The donations will only be used for the improvement of the story.
5.) Make fanart. I''m always more than happy to receive anything art-related, be it pictures, be it shorts, no matter. I''ll make sure to post them on my blog as well while giving you all the credit. It''s just pleasing to see how people care about my story and go that far to appreciate it.
The next volume will bring us into new lands, and we''ll say hello to an old acquaintance. As the Crusaders are in Ohlbr¨¹cken, Kenta and his family will need to look for another way to cross the river, if they want to get to Zethtrin.
It will be out in a month or so. Have finally a PR again and hope it''s fully ready for a weekly release schedule.
Until then, have a good time
Volume 06 - Prologue
Prologue
Two bodies enclosing with each other, two breaths intermingling, the sensation of hot skin, causing some sort of electric shock, lips which wander up the neck with kisses.
A strong kiss right behind the earlobe, a soft moan. This is so unreal, so unbelievable.
Slowly, fingers climb up the body in small steps up, starting from the navel to the breasts, petting, and stroking, then with a bit of force as they arrive to the mound, like praising the person who grew them.
Unable to breathe, unable to process, unable to think, everything is dyed in colors never known.
Passion. Desire.
Stroking back the hair, another hand starts to hold the face, eyes looking full of vigor, closing in, a tongue coming deep, so deep. The never seen colors faded, only to be replaced by a whirl, the world is spinning, not able to hold the breath but still seeking this suffocation.
So... good.
The lips part, sweet air comes back. Saliva runs down the corners of the lips, ambrosial nectar.
Hot. Everything is burning.
Legs are slowly parting, eagerly welcoming whatever there may come, and what about to come is-
But before that, another series of kisses, running from the lips back to the ears. A soft voice, whispering in it: ¡°Kyou-san.¡±
¡°Ken...¡± Full acceptance.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Seventeen.
This is quite a usual number, nothing special is about it other than being a prime number. Unlike seven, which is how many crystal balls a monkey-boy has to collect to have a wish granted or the number of dwarves Snow White accompanied.
Still, it''s seventeen. For most people nothing comes in mind when thinking about that particular number, it''s so unremarkable that people would even wonder why I mention it in the first place. For me though, it has a whole other meaning. It has nothing to do with cultural references. There is nothing special about it, nothing world-shattering, nothing remarkable, it''s only about my very, very private life.
It''s the number of wet dreams I had after being transported into a fantasy world.
Like I said, very private.
Of course, I expect some wet dreams over several months, and I think that I may not have taken care of my womanly parts very well in this time-frame, but seventeen seems too much considering my prior life.
I speak of actual wet dreams, not just some sort of nightly fantasies. The kind of dreams you wake up with fully drenched underwear.
When I had a dream like that in Japan, it was usually right before my ovulation. I''m one of those rare cases of women who can feel that mild ache, whenever I''m ovulating. Which leads to another problem: My menstrual cycle is off again. When I was just summoned, the stress caused it to be a bit early, but afterward, it settled right in.
However, the last two times were concerning. First, it took five days more before ovulation, and this time it''s another two more according to my counting.
So basically, I have too many wet dreams while my menstrual cycle is also shifting.
Having too many wet dreams can be just a sign of all the life-endangering stuff I''m living through, but while five of these dreams were generic, more like feeling how I''m physically enamored, the rest was...
¡°NO!¡±
¡°But Kenta!¡±
¡°No! No, no, no!¡±
*thump*
¡°But Kenta!¡±
¡°...uarrrgh... no...¡±
The rest included the male part of the comedy duo right in front of me.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Of course a beautified version, but this boy nonetheless: Katsuragi Kenta, 16 years old, gamer, misanthropist, and so-called hero.
...my mood is the worst today.
Something in my head tells me that albeit I may have somewhat acknowledged him, I still hate his guts most of the time. While something within my body tells me to... do that.
It has to be because I sleep next to him, right?
While he''s insufferable most of the time, little more than an immature asshole, he''s still a boy my age. Plus, look at those-
Wait, stop it. Don''t think about it!
¡°Sigh.¡± At days like these, I''m annoyed about myself and everything Ken does.
I have some great conflicts with myself, so bearing with his constant whining and bossing around, his pure arrogance and dissatisfaction with everything is a real pain.
At days like these, I want to kill him.
Especially because my beautified dream-version of him is overlapping with his actual face in my mind.
Usually, I forget about the dream soon after the fact. There is a myriad of reasons why I shouldn''t worry about it. He''s the boy currently closest to me; therefore he''s fodder for my dreams which uses my subconscious to create the content. However, they have become more frequent...
...tomorrow it''ll be better. The day after worse. Counting days from my ovulation, my period should be right around the corner, I usually can pinpoint it to plus/minus three hours, but the irregularity makes me second-guess my prediction.
This will be my second period since joining Ken. I still remember the first time, when he panicky looked for me in Aroahenn, because I had some conditions like [Bleeding], so he thought I was attacked.
Actually, quite a funny scene.
For some girls, the period is quite severe, but for me, it''s just a bit of bleeding and discomfort, nothing terrible. Maybe I''m a bit more moody than usual, but the same goes for most people who have a constant feeling of being unwell due to a cold or something else.
Why do I wonder about this irregularity in my cycle though? I mean, considering the things that happened since meeting Ken again, my stress value is much higher than anything. I''m still in my teens, so irregularities are normal according to the magazines I used to read in Japan. Plus, there is no chance of pregnancy, as I''m still saving my virginity.
Most likely I wonder about that because it''s the latest drop in a barrel already overflowing. I also think that this shift is not random, I have a feeling about it.
Too bad that I can''t get a lady magazine here, or look it up on the internet. I may talk with Rine-chan and Arako about it, but the latter isn''t even human, and honestly, I don''t have much hope asking Rine-chan about this topic.
¡°Sigh...¡± I play around with the ring on my left hand, the ring which is designed with a lioness. Let''s recount my misery once again.
I was torn apart from my practically perfect life, my parents, my brother, my other relatives, many of my friends, my country, and my whole future. For what? For being a hero here. Not a cool one, however, like those in the Saturday Morning Hero Shows, but some fantasy hero dipshit.
Then I was practically thrown away by my friends. While they had the best intentions, I still feel hurt whenever I think about it, or about this betrayal of my feelings, or about my own weakness, or about how much I''ve fallen.
Yet, that wasn''t enough. I had to struggle to keep at least any form of life-standard, trying to improve my level, as it was the reason why my friends left me in the first place. Facing lethal danger alone while the people who brought me here in the first place were about to cut me off.
I decided to join forces with the only person in class I really despised. I thought I could use him and I was also desperate. Then everything turned around and we got ''married'', because the curse, which was the cause of his trouble, contaminated me as well.
I''m talking about Katsuragi Kenta, of course.
He really, really gets on my nerves most of the time, but those times when he''s dependable annoy me even more, as it makes me realize that I should re-evaluate him. But he''s straight mean to me most of the time and getting any kind of gratitude out of him is impossible.
Additionally, he''s like a magnet for trouble.
Without Ken, I''d never had this really awkward encounter with my friends again, that ended up with Ken shooting Masahiko-kun. While I do believe that this was an accident, there is still a part of me wondering, whether he did it subconsciously.
Without him, I wouldn''t need to worry about who exactly is going to chase and kill us now. He really has a streak going: former classmates, mercenaries, merchants, and even the Crusaders.
I''d probably have another set of problems if I never met him again, but I don''t care, especially today!
¡°Sigh...¡± If his face would be like the one in my dreams, he''d be much nicer to look at. Dream-Ken doesn''t wear that constantly annoyed facial expression, and his murky eyes are glowing with passion and sympathy.
At least Real-Ken could be kind to me for a change. Then I could stop being as mean to him in return. I won''t budge here, the way he treated me at school was the worst, and I''m not willing to reach out a hand to him again. He has to be the first one this time.
Why do I even think about that?
Ah, because there is still a long way to go until we get another chance to break the curse. I need to stick close to him if I don''t want to activate the negative effects of the curse again, which would slowly kill me. Him as well, but oh well.
It''s only natural that I want to have a better relationship with anyone who travels with me for such a long time. I did the same for Arako and Rine-chan, who are also tangled into this marriage curse.
Yes, that''s right! It''s not only me! It''s both of them as well, my two new friends!
I feel how a bit of my fire returns.
I don''t need to get along with Ken. I tried, he never tried back. I''m done with it.
Actually, it''ll be much better, if both of us continues arguing and fighting with each other. I don''t know why, but this feels more... natural?
Still, I like him a bit. Not in a romantic way, and especially not in the way I dreamed about him last night. In a more platonic way. Maybe a bit of sympathy?
Even though it causes me to think about stupid stuff right now. Because I have this little bit of like, I want him to be a bit less... him.
Ah, I hate days when I have a dream like this! My emotions are going haywire and I know it, but can''t do anything about that! This really gets on my nerves.
Emotions are complicated. My head and my heart are going different ways, want different things, and I make no sense.
Tomorrow will be better. The day after will be worse.
Volume 06 - Chapter 1-1 - Boggy Start
Hey, Katsuragi Kenta here, a hero summoned to this world to fight the Demon King. Bestowed with special powers, I''m able to get stronger in a much quicker manner, endure pain and stress way beyond what a normal human is capable of, and learn magic and special skills that help me in my mission.
The best part about them is the similarity to a game system, which makes me, as a gamer, make use of this system effortlessly, giving me an edge above those who were summoned besides me.
I''m accompanied by three beautiful girls, who are also my wives. My former classmate Momokawa Kyou, our healer and debuffer; Rine, who is a princess and a formidable warrior; and Ara''ainn, the alfr hero sage, whose specialty is magic.
Together all of us do our best to overcome every trouble...
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡
No, I seriously can''t get into this.
Well, once again. I''m Katsuragi Kenta, 16 years old, Japanese, once just a highschool student and a gamer. These parts are true.
Actually, all of the above is somewhat true, a bit biased though, as I tried something entirely new: being positive. Too bad that I suck at it and can¡¯t really get into the mood.
Yes, also the part of being married is true.
You noticed, right? I don''t put the word ''married'' in apostrophes anymore. I finally accepted that the curse, which married us, is a somewhat legitimate form of marriage in this shitty fantasy world.
At least it''s enough to mark me a sinner by this world''s divine laws and make me pay for it. Finally, after so many ''adventures'' I have found a new top spot for my ''worst spells ever''-list. It overtook [Gust] by a margin and is called [Judgment], a spell which makes every sinner hurt so bad they wish to die.
I was subjected to that particular spell in the city of Goldbrunn, by the so-called Crusaders, a bunch of assholes who just flail around their weapons and spells carelessly to make my life miserable.
Is being married worth this kind of torture?
Well, let''s take a look at my first wife, Momokawa Kyou. A Japanese beauty my age, and I''m sure that she''ll only grow more beautiful with the coming years. Her long black hair, her dark eyes, the way she confidently holds herself, she''s pretty damn attractive.
The real issue is her nagging, moody, self-serving personality. Actually, I think that she and I are a good match in this regard as I consider myself to be an a-hole as well. Too bad that I''m at the wrong end of her bitchy attitude.
My second wife is Rine, aka Katarine von Stolzherz, who is a bit younger than me. She may look innocent, she may act innocent, and the girl might be innocent overall, but under that facade of blonde hair and ember-like eyes she''s more than capable to kill every single one of us without even breaking a sweat. She''s like a goddess of war! With the personality of a child, throwing tantrums at every opportunity.
The worst of it: She somehow convinced herself that she likes me. I never did anything to deserve it, however, and she''s unable to read the mood and too dense overall. Plus, she has a bounty on her head, because she ran away from home. Due to the curse, I have to stick with all my wives, so I can''t get away from her for long. Therefore everyone who wants her, will also find me and treat me as an obstacle.
Finally, I have my third wife, Ara''ainn. She''s not even human, she''s an alfr. Being from different species should initially make us not being attracted to each other, but the curse just doesn''t care! If it weren''t for that, I could be really good friends with her, as she and I somehow think similar.
She thinks with her head, she studied heroes for about a century, and because she has many thoughts, of which sadly only a few are solid theories, she makes me understand the whole hero-system better. Her downsides are her overall laziness when it doesn''t come to heroes and her lousy sense of humor, which includes making fun of me at times, while she has a real streak of sex jokes whenever humans are concerned. Well, alfar are racists in general, I guess.
What feelings I have for these girls? I don''t know anymore.
Kyou-san really is a nagging bitch, but she saved me several times and we actually get along in not getting along, even though it makes no sense. Well, I guess, she''s the one I can understand the best, we''re both Japanese, even went to the same school, and have bad personalities.
Rine is the one who is so overly emotional about everything that she somehow can infect me with it sometimes. Plus, she makes me feel better about myself. Being the object of interest of such a beautiful girl, even though she looks westerner, is a really good feeling.
Ara-san is fun to be with, but currently I''m not sure where the line is with her. Because of that ear-plugging incident, and how the curse worked its way with our bodies.
Maybe I should just give up and get laid... but no, the last time I tried I met one of our many enemies, and ended up being hunted by about everyone with a weapon in Goldbrunn.
Of course, it would be easy to ask Rine for this ''favor,'' but just thinking about it, makes me shudder. Not thinking about the act, actually that''s pretty darn arousing, but thinking about asking her and the kind of self-loathe I would have before and after the act.
¡°...Phew.¡±
¡°Kenta, everything alright?¡±
The girl in question is holding my right hand, while both of us are sitting on a log. We''re currently waiting for Ara-san to return.
Kyou-san sits across from us, filing her nails.
¡°Why don''t you just clip them?¡± Even this shitty fantasy world has some nail clippers, they look more like pliers but work fine enough.
Kyou-san looks at me as if I¡¯ve asked her why she doesn¡¯t drink water from a bottle, hisses slightly and answers: ¡°Because clipping makes them brittle. It may take a while, but filing is better for the nails.¡±
¡°Kenta, can I file your nails?¡± Rine interrupts.
¡°...why would you want to file my nails? Look.¡± My nails are cleanly clipped already, I don''t know about brittleness, but for me it worked out so far.
Rine really thinks about my question, tilting her head, then she shrugs her shoulders and asks me back: ¡°Because Kyou cuts your hair?¡±
Yes, Kyou-san cuts my hair. She did twice so far, for some WP.
WP, the so-called ''wedding points'', are gathered by conducting activities with my wives, like holding hands, cutting my hair, me eating Kyou-san''s food, and some more. WP can be used to gain some specific bonuses, which somehow interacts with our hero-status.
¡°So because she cuts my hair you want to file my nails now.¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°Declined.¡±
I hate intimate body contact. While I may get used to an extensive amount of such contact due to our hunt for more WP ¨Clike holding hands, linking arms, having a girl on my lap, and more¨C I can''t help but think that letting someone else file my nails would be somewhat uncomfortable.
Seriously, why is filing nails a topic when I''m in a fucking fantasy world!?
Well, I know the answer! Just because you''re in a fantasy world, it doesn''t mean that you stop growing hair and nails, that you don''t need to take a crap anymore, that you won''t be bothered by rain, sand in your boots, and other stuff!
These everyday bothers, the lack of games, the increased mortality rate, and that so many mundane things take so much effort without modern means, make me hate this fantasy world!
¡°Kenta, can I pleeeaaase file your nails?¡± Rine looks at me with her bright eyes, which always seem to burn, her wide smile which tries to convince me that this will be fun, and the pleasant voice that just makes me want to trust her.
Damn, that''s annoying.
¡°Fine, do what you want.¡± Knowing her, she might pester me until Ara-san comes back, which would most likely be even more tedious than letting her do that nail-thing.
¡°Yay-urb!¡± The last sound comes from Rine''s face hitting my free palm, as she tried to embrace me in pure happiness. I don''t like hugs and whenever she performs one while we''re holding hands, it ends up with me being in pain.
Kyou-san rolls her eyes, but picks up her backpack and gets another nail file out, most likely Rine''s. ¡°Here you go.¡±
Rine changes her grip on my hand to intertwine her fingers with mine.
Hey, isn''t that how lovers hold their hands after having sex with each other? Well, maybe I''m wrong, I''m not that much into dating.
¡°Stretch your fingers.¡±
I do as she asks, I''m actually a bit curious. She then pinches my thumb between hers and my forefinger, while starting to file it.
This sensation is strange, somehow the whole nail and therefore the fingertip is moved by this, and it itches strangely. After some strokes, I see white powder falling from my finger, her movements started wide, strong, and fast, but quickly turned small and precise.
Then she uses the other side of the file, and after just some moments, she''s finished, even though my thumb tip is now white and I could feel some strokes on my skin during the process. Especially in the outer corners of my nail.
¡°First one done. They are already so short, so I won''t do much today. Next one.¡±
Does that mean, she plans to repeat it another day?
The whole process takes some minutes, and it''s really borderline of what I''m willing to bear. Letting someone else working on my body is just uncomfortable.
You gain 2 WP.
Filing nails may look like a menial task, but your wife made sure to remember the tiniest detail about your fingers.
Seriously? I sure hope not, even though Rine may actually know all of my sizes.
By the way, it''s another WP we got without being explicitly listed on the WP-menu. Seeing how it was two WP instead of the usual one for regular and easy tasks, I dismiss it as a usual irregular, the stuff that the WP-systems makes up on the fly. I won''t bother with that one.
Instead, I look at my fingers and rub my nails with my thumb. They somehow feel thicker, more stable, but also smoother.
Even though it''s not worth the hassle, I have to say to Rine''s defense that she didn¡¯t have much to work with in the first place, if I hadn''t recently clipped them, maybe it''d be different.
Not that I will say that out loud.
I look around instead. We''re currently near a farm, one of the few that try to grow crops in the Wildlands, even though the soil is bad.
The Wildlands is the region where we are. To cut it short, it''s a bad place to settle in: Bad soil, strong monsters, almost no minerals, and nothing else of interest. Yet, it''s connected to many countries, so merchants are using established trade routes here to avoid some tolls and taxes. As long as they can arrange for protection.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
There are some small city-states here, they get some minor income from the merchants and traders. I don''t know the exact details, but somehow it brings profit, even though it doesn''t sound like that.
Thanks to the shitty Crusaders ¨Ca self-satisfied order of maniacs who claim to serve justice, equipped with that damn [Judgement]-spell to make me suffer¨C the trading routes are currently somewhat safe, so now more and more merchants are trying to use this time to save on protection.
On the other hand, the Crusaders are also the reason why we''re at a farm. I''m a sinner in the eyes of the Crusaders, married to three girls. I ran into them in Goldbrunn and got on their wrong side in my [Ranger] and my [Student] form, same may also go for Kyou-san. Additionally, Rine is a runaway princess with a bounty on her head.
So we sent Ara-san to the next city, Ohlbr¨¹cken, a city which has a bridge over the big river Ohl. Too bad that the Crusaders are in there as well, so only Ara-san went, hopefully they have no reason to suspect her.
While we could look for a camp out there, it''s less suspicious to just wait at a farm, sitting on some logs. This way it''s easier for Ara-san to find us again, too.
You gain 1 WP.
Holding hands is not only a connection between your bodies, but also your hearts.
¡°Phew... She should be back soon.¡± I''m going through the whole WP-routine with Kyou-san and Rine right now, as we take this time to get some rest as well. We hurried away from Goldbrunn, but I know too well that this hero-body has its limits.
Being [Worn Out] isn''t fun at all.
I take a look with my [Farsight]-skill, looking for Ara-san, who''s already been away for hours.
What I see, is how the adults on the field nearby start to stand before their children, some of them try to walk towards something but the adults hold them back. The men begin to lift their farming tools as weapons, but I can see they¡¯re trembling even from this distance.
My eyes wander to the point they''re facing.
...seriously?
It''s just Ara-san. Hair white as snow, long and pointy ears which are always moving, facial traits which are different from a human''s, but moving much less, a long intertwined staff in her hand, which she uses as a walking stick, and a green dress made out of some leaf-cloth.
For some reason, the farmers treat her like she''s some sort of devil.
Wait, she''s doing something. The beasts of burdens start to prostrate themselves before her, the plants around her grow and twist, she''s creating water from her hands...
IS THIS WHAT SHE''S DOING WHEN WE''RE NOT AROUND!?
I take my bow from my backpack.
¡°Kenta?¡±
Rine is tilting her head, not sure what I''m doing here. I draw an arrow: ¡°[Seeker]!¡± My aim is right next to Ara-san, after the shot I immediately start to run into her direction, while donning my hood to hide my face.
Ara-san looks in my direction, but at this range, she won''t be able to recognize me, as alfar may have good eyes in general, but they have problems at long distances. They live in woods, after all, an area full of visual obstructions.
The farmers on the other hand, humans and folkmen, can see me, but they only see a hooded figure. They cheer. I''ve forgotten that a hood is the sign of a ranger, and rangers are actually popular here.
Doesn''t matter. Now that I got everyone''s attention, I begin to scream: ¡°ARA-SAN, GET OVER HERE OR YOUR EARS WILL BURN!!!¡±
Of course, the farmers won''t hear me clearly from this distance, but Ara-san most likely will.
Did she just sigh? I''m sure she did.
In the end, she stops her display of power and walks into my direction.
¡°What did she do this time?¡± Kyou-san asks me from behind.
¡°Alfr-stuff!¡±
The way Kyou-san easily accepted that answer only confirmed that alfar are just this way. The ''young folk'', which means they''re stuck in puberty forever.
To be honest though, Ara-san is more serious than most alfar and tries really hard to be less... alfr-like around us, so maybe she just slipped.
Most likely, she saw how cautious the farmers were when they saw her, as alfar don''t have the best reputation in general, because they''re prone to make fun of everyone. Seeing their reaction, she might have thought it''d be funny to play into these concerns and fears.
Ara-san may be the most reasonable and level-headed of my wives, but she''s a pain in her own right sometimes.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°I have good news! Our renown is rising.¡± Ara-san''s face shows a slight smile, which would be a beaming grin from a human.
¡°Great!¡± Rine pumps her fist as she doesn''t understand why Ara-san seems so amused.
¡°...the bad news?¡± The only reason why Ara-san would start a conversation like that have to be-
¡°Wait, I got another good news. If we do it right, money should be no concern of us anymore.¡±
¡°Don''t tell me-¡±
¡°Ta-da.¡± Ara-san takes some folded papers from her belt pouch and unfolds them. ¡°We''ll start with Kenta. First, we have: Bounty for Katsuragi Kenta by Feuerberg: 840,500 Newgold, dead or alive. Bounty for Katsuragi Kenta by the Crusaders: 50,000 Newgold, alive only. Bounty for the ''man in the red hood'' by the Crusaders: 202,000 Newgold, dead. Finally, a bounty for Katsuragi Kenta by the Merchant League: 410,000 Newgold alive, half if dead. So Kenta-kun is worth up to 1,602,500 Newgold.¡±
Four different bounty posters, all hand-drawn, with additional physical descriptions underneath. The only silver lining here is that the illustrators somewhat didn''t get my face right. Maybe because I''m Asian and they''re not used to draw Asians.
But seriously, this headache! Yet there is one bounty, that strikes me as strange: ¡°Merchant League!? What''s that and what- Correo, right!?¡± That bastard merchant, who sent mercenaries and the oni after us to capture Rine.
¡°Why would father or Ralf issue a bounty for Kenta''s corpse?¡± Rine puts her arm akimbo while thinking about the bounty of Feuerberg.
¡°Maybe because they think I''m a kidnapper, mind-controller, and almost-murderer?¡±
¡°Why would they think that?¡±
I really want to hit her. ¡°BECAUSE OF YOU!!!¡± I yell at her instead, she''s just too good at hitting back.
¡°Ah, maybe I should write a letter to father?¡±
¡°No, if you do that, they know where we were. Plus, they may also think, that I forced you to- Ah, this headache!¡±
Ara-san put her hand on my shoulder. ¡°Kenta-kun, there is no need to have a headache now, the people just recognize your worth.¡±
¡°The worth I have when they turn me in! I HATE IT!¡± My fingers painfully scratch the skin of my head, as ruffle my hair, but the whirling emotions inside me make me want to somehow move my body.
¡°Now we come to Momo.¡±
The person in question becomes pale. ¡°Don''t tell me...¡±
¡°Bounty for Momokawa Kyou by Feuerberg: 102,500 Newgold, alive only. Bounty for Katsuragi Kyou by the Crusaders: 60,000 Newgold, alive only. Third, we have a bounty for Momokawa Kyou by the Merchant League: 711,000 Newgold alive, quarter if dead. So it''s up to 873,500 Newgold for Momo.¡±
¡°Why does the Merchant League want me more than Ken!? I can see the Crusaders, but-¡±
¡°At least you have your own poster, I''m just mentioned as a side note on the Crusader''s posters of yours. See? ''The probably female alfr traveling with her for a bonus.'' They don''t even know my name.¡±
¡°You''re enjoying it, right Arako!? And what''s with the nose on that poster! I''m not that ugly!¡±
¡°The other ones certainly aren''t well drawn, but I think Feuerberg''s poster is quite accurate.¡±
¡°Hm... you''re right, but,¡± Kyou-san pulls Ara-san''s ear, ¡°beside-the-point!¡±
¡°Ouch, Momo, my ear!¡± Alfr ears are much more sensitive than human ears. I like to compare them to fingertips or lips regarding sensitivity.
Still, I have to agree: Kyou-san is much prettier than the posters of the Merchant League or the Crusaders show. Personality-wise it''s actually a nice fit. She looks like a witch on them, after all.
¡°Finally, we have Katarine-san.¡±
¡°I''m excited! How much is it for me?¡±
Is she not getting what those posters mean or is she just going with the flow!?
¡°Bounty for Katarine von Stolzherz by Feuerberg: 2,500,000 Newgold alive, double unharmed, persecution for dead. Bounty for Katarine von Stolzherz by D¨¦juma: 3,000,000 Newgold alive, triple unharmed, persecution for dead. Bounty for Katarine von Stolzherz by Paarlarr: 1,300,500 Newgold alive, double if unharmed. Bounty for Katarine von Stolzherz by Daemonicus-¡±
¡°The demons!?¡± I cry out in despair, as these numbers are way too high so far.
¡°Yes, there are only a few of them who actually trade, but they''re willing to pay 1,000,000 Newgold for dead or alive. Then we have-¡±
¡°Can we skip the other countries?¡± Rine asks cheerfully, which really pisses me off: ¡°I want to compare with Kenta and Kyou.¡±
¡°Sure. Then-¡± Ara-san is putting four other bounty posters aside. ¡° Katarine von Stolzherz by the Merchant League: 4,000,000 Newgold, alive only. The Crusaders only put you at a side note of Kenta-kun''s and Momo''s posters, but I think the moment they see the other posters, they will make one for you as well.¡±
¡°So what am I worth?¡±
¡°If we don''t count any country but Feuerberg, it''s up to 9 million plus a non-descriptive bonus. If we count the other countries in... 26,342,000 Newgold. I think the fact that the countries tried to compete with each other for a while lead to these rewards.¡±
¡°Phew... so basically, we can''t go into any cities anymore without a disguise.¡±
¡°At least on this side of the Ohl. I learned that many bounty hunters are currently in Ohlbr¨¹cken, maybe they are looking for us, as there are few ways to cross the river. Or more precisely, they are looking for Katarine-san.¡± Yes, turning in Rine to anyone would produce a nice sum.
While I''m sure that I could fend off run-of-the-mill bounty hunters, it''s the Crusaders I''m worried about. ¡°Are there still Crusaders in Ohlbr¨¹cken?¡±
¡°Many and constantly. They want to travel to Feuerberg, and Ohlbr¨¹cken is the only option for them to cross the Ohl. The stream of Crusaders is never-ending if I can trust the recruit I interrogated.¡±
¡°... interrogated? Ara-san, you didn''t-¡±
¡°I think it will be harsh for us to go through Ohlbr¨¹cken. They will await us.¡± She did. She totally did. ¡°Ouch!¡±
Kyou-san pulls Ara-san''s ear again. She''s pissed: ¡°Why did you need to make it worst!¡±
¡°He called me ''elf''. Why are humans always calling us elves?¡±
¡°You enjoy making us feel miserable, right?¡±
¡°In this case, yes- Ouch, ouch!¡± Sometimes Ara-san is too honest.
¡°Let her go, Kyou-san. Even if she was an alfr to that recruit, it''s not like she''s fully responsible.¡±
¡°I know, but- nnnn!¡± Kyou-san lets Ara-san''s ear go and the alfr girl strokes it gently with her fingers.
I continue my thoughts: ¡°Even without the Crusaders, I''m sure that Correo also has a trap there. In case that we escaped his mercenaries.¡± Which was a really close call, more dumb luck than ability. ¡°Seeing how he put bounties on our head for... what reason exactly, Ara-san?¡±
¡°For kidnapping the crown-princess of Feuerberg.¡±
¡°Figures...¡± While our stay in Aroahenn was worth it in terms of powering up, it threw us back time-wise. We didn''t know that Correo would hunt us later with his hirelings and underlings, as his last plan was about the alfr village, not us. ¡°Basically, Ohlbr¨¹cken is not an option.¡±
¡°But isn''t Ohlbr¨¹cken the only place to cross the Ohl within a month, Kenta?¡± Rine asks a very good question, but as she studied trade as a princess, she also knows about the most common trading routes which lead into and through Feuerberg.
Plus, she''s right. The Ohl is a tricky river, with a strong current in these areas, many obstacles protruding out and under the surface and monsters living in it, if I trust what Ara-san and Oro''hekk, my ranger mentor, told me.
Crossing without proper precautions like the exact right magic and similar would be suicidal.
I exchange a look with Ara-san, who''s still kneading her ear carefully. Then I turn to Rine: ¡°Ohlbr¨¹cken is the only safe route.¡±
¡°There is another?¡±
Kyou-san rubs her nose bridge. ¡°I don''t like it.¡±
¡°Me neither, but it''s most likely safer than Ohlbr¨¹cken for us. It''s the Spirit Swamp.¡±
¡°Kenta, I know that you''re much smarter than I,¡± Rine says with a doubtful smile: ¡°But I don''t think it''s a good idea.¡±
¡°Ken, Rine-chan, would you mind to tell me what that Spirit Swamp is? Even though I can already tell that I won''t like it.¡±
¡°Let me explain it to her, Rine. To put it simply, it''s a haunted swampland, the southern part of the Ohl feeds it, while the northern Ohl comes out of it. So basically, it''s breaking the river for a while.¡±
¡°But it''s haunted.¡±
¡°From what Oro''hekk told me, strong monsters live there. Plus, the spirits of the wildlife there are rather malicious.¡±
¡°That means?¡±
¡°Remember how the trees in Aroahenn had something like a semi-consciousness? How they''re made into buildings, which help you out, just when you ask? And how they can fuck up your sense of direction if you''re not able to use [Spirit Magic]? Let''s say, these trees are similar, only that they want to hurt you or even kill you so that you''ll end up as fertilizer for them.¡±
Ara-san nods to my explanation: ¡°That is rather accurate if we put it in simple words.¡±
¡°So let me clarify, Ken: You''re suggesting that we go into that place!? Are you an idiot!? No, don''t answer, I know that already. I''ll give you a minute to explain to me why we shouldn''t make the detour instead. It''s a month... a month in this world.¡± A month in this world has fifty days. It''s almost two months in Japanese time, but still better than being killed.
¡°First off, we can survive the Spirit Swamp, as we have Ara-san and me here. I have [Wild Eyes] and Ara-san is so good with [Spirit Magic], that she doesn''t even need to try. She''s an alfr after all.¡±
¡°Ah, you''re right.¡± Rine chimes in: ¡°I''ve heard that el-, that alfar and rangers are able to cross it.¡±
¡°What she says.¡±
Kyou-san looks at me as if she''s a sports club''s coach deciding if I really fit being a regular. ¡°Let''s say that I can trust Arako in that. But what about the monsters?¡±
¡°Let''s face it, Kyou-san: We''re weak. At least compared with what¡¯s to come. I thought I was strong, but now I face dragons, ss''rak, other heroes, cheater-heroes, onis, mercenaries, and Crusaders, and they''re also strong. I want to find a good farming ground and level up a bit, but as we also want to get away, facing strong monsters on the way will be a compromise.¡±
¡°So it''s just about leveling up? Really?¡± Uh, her eyes are burning me.
¡°Not only, but I really hate how weak I''m now. We''d face strong mobs most likely, if we go around, as the mobs were only thinned out around the trade route, but it''ll take time to get to that point. It also gives Correo a lot of opportunities to mess us up.¡±
¡°So you also want to save time and deny Correo these chances?¡±
¡°Yes. He knows that we were in Goldbrunn, most likely he also knows that we''re heading west, maybe even that our destination is Zethtrin.¡±
¡°Why don''t we change our plans then?¡±
¡°No.¡± I stand firm on that. ¡°I refuse to let him tell me what I''m gonna do! And what about the curse, don''t you want it to be lifted?¡±
¡°...¡± Kyou-san plays with the ring on her finger. ¡°...I do want to, but-¡±
¡°No buts. If we go through the swamp, then he may not be able to follow us. He couldn''t penetrate Aroahenn''s barriers without our help, so he may not be able to deal with [Spirit Magic].¡±
¡°Actually, the barriers aren''t exactly [Spirit Magic], rather-¡± I glare down Ara-san, who''s not helping here. ¡°This intense look, are you finally going to rape me?¡±
Not. Helping.
¡°Nevermind!¡± Ignoring Ara-san, I continue to persuade Kyou-san: ¡°The swamp might be dangerous, but it''s something we¡¯ll decide. Maybe things will go terribly wrong in there, I''m sure they''ll do, considering our bad luck, but we''ll get through it. We always do.¡±
Kyou-san looks at me wide-eyed as her lips move, trying to muster an answer. ¡°...fine.¡±
¡°Kenta, you''re so cool!¡± For some strange reason, Rine tries to hug me, but I put my arms between us, trying to push her away by her shoulders. She just continues with her cheer: ¡°You can count on me, too! We''ll do it!¡±
Suddenly, I feel a literal freezing chill on my neck, my body squirms as a reaction and my arms lose their tension. Therefore Rine, who suddenly had leeway, slams into me and both of us topple to the ground.
¡°Ah, Kenta-kun is still the same.¡± A relieved sigh from the alfr, who just used ice magic to give me this chill. ¡°I was worried.¡±
What is she even talking about!?
Volume 06 - Chapter 1-2
We''ll still need about four days to get to the swamp, and the sky is cloudy again. I can smell that distinct scent in the air, it may be raining again soon. We''re currently in some sort of light rain season, so rain is a constant companion on this journey.
Today it''s still dry. We''ll head to the west first, to get to the Ohl and stock up on our water. Learning about survival from Meldorn and the hunters, and later from Oro''hekk and his guards, taught me that you should always consider the terrain.
Swamps usually don''t have much drinkable water, so we should provide it for ourselves. Ara-san may able to create small amounts of water with her magic, but if my guess is right, she''s just collecting the humidity around her. So there is a good chance that the germs of the swamp water would also be collected, given the thickness of the air there.
From the Ohl, we''ll travel south into the Spirit Swamp and we¡¯ll try our best to cross it.
Until then, we''ll make best use of the time left to us. To begin with, I¡¯d like to try out my new [Spirit Magic]-spell, [Share Senses]. Ara-san explained that it allows me to use the senses of someone else as my own.
This is due to a link to the spirit of the target. That means, the weaker the spirit, the easier the connection. In general, plants have the weakest spirits, followed by animals, and finally people. Ara-san suggested to use it first on an animal, eyesight only, as plants can''t see at all.
She also insisted on being there, when I do that. This spell is not listed in her [Spirit Magic] and even though she can do some additional stuff, as alfr in general have [Spirit Magic] as a default, only the other spells that she learned as a hero are listed. I think that she doesn''t know how to use [Share Senses] and therefore wants to see it first-hand.
¡°A bird.¡± I look at the sky and see some blue hawk flying above us, it has a red beak and something like claws protrude from its wing-joint. ¡°Is it a good target, Ara-san?¡±
¡°I believe it''s the best target.¡±
The girls stop and everyone looks at me in expectations.
I try to use it first without saying its name, but it doesn''t work. Therefore: ¡°[Share Senses]!¡± I want to use its eyes!
My vision blurs for a moment, only to be cut off entirely as I felt immense pain. It feels like someone just cleaved my head with a burning axe inside and yanked the weapon afterward.
I hit the ground and hear myself screaming like a little girl. It hurts! Why does it hurt!?
¡°Kenta! [Heal]!¡± The pain is a bit lighter, but man, it still feels like my brain is tearing.
I hear a slight laughing: ¡°Fuehehe.¡±
¡°You did it on purpose!¡± I yell at the laughing Ara-san.
¡°Kenta-kun, how could I not let you do it?¡± Oh, she has fun right now! Her ears are almost flapping!
¡°Arako?¡± Kyou-san rubs her fingertips with her thumb, showing that she''s ready to give a sharp ear-pinch. ¡°What exactly happened?¡±
...is she standing up for me? Well, it¡¯s not the first time, but is the first time when I''m not in life-danger, I think?
Nonetheless, that''s a question I also want to know!
¡°I think that it is common sense to you, that many birds of prey have what you''d call ''good eyes,'' right? I''m not confident about my knowledge regarding human anatomy, but I do believe that you''re unable to see in the ultraviolet spectrum, am I right?¡±
Ah, I get it. ¡°But those hawks can, right? And my brain can''t process it, therefore this headache.¡±
¡°Exactly. You''ve just seen colors you''ve never seen before that your brain couldn''t recognize. A sensory overload.¡±
¡°Is this spell useless!? No, wait. When the mercenaries chased us, didn''t someone used it on an owl?¡±
¡°Most likely the hynoar ranger. He learned [Spirit Magic] by himself, without the help of the hero-system. Therefore he could learn how to filter it and train his brain to process the additional information it wasn''t prepared to before. As a hero, you''ve learned this spell fast and without any practice, so right now you lack the finesse.¡±
I guess in reality, she already has some experience with her fellow alfr heroes regarding this spell. I can really see her with a bunch of other alfar, laughing at the poor guy who tried it only to get hurt, just like myself.
¡°Why you didn''t tell me beforehand?¡±
¡°Fun.¡±
I knew it.
¡°So how should I train it?¡±
¡°On animals with bad eyesight or you could try to use it on Momo or Katarine-san. Both are human, so you already have similar senses. If you succeed, you can try to put a filter in.¡±
¡°Rine, I''ll try it on you.¡±
¡°OK.¡± Her ember-eyes are sparking, as she''s excited to see what will happen.
¡°[Share Senses]! Ouch!¡± I could feel my spirit sense trying to reach Rine''s spirit, but I was brushed aside before I had a chance to connect to it, which resulted in another, smaller headache.
¡°Kenta, everything alright?¡±
No, I feel bullied.
¡°Seems like Kenta-kun is still not able to make a deep connection to an alfroid spirit.¡± Alfroid, the other way to say ''humanoid''. Well, let''s not be racist here.
¡°Phew, let''s go.¡± This rather small interruption of the journey makes me feel bad again. My new skill is almost useless right now. ¡°I''ll go scouting.¡± Regularly, I go ahead, scout the area, check our flanks, and then our back to see if anyone is following us or laying in ambush.
It''s also great to get some me-time.
This scouting tour lifts my mind. Nobody before us, nobody flanking us, nobody following us.
The terrain begins to change from grassland to something more woody. In general, I like it, as it gives me more opportunities to hide.
While I skulk around a cluster of trees to see if there are ambushers, I find monsters instead. They are similar to stags, but more canine and with some sort of horns coming out of their knee-joints. They''re called hornchasers if I recall it correctly.
I use my whole array of skills and spells to keep myself hidden: [Sneak], [Hide Smell], [Camouflage], and [Mask of Wildlife]. Thirteen hornchasers plus... urks, that one looks like a boss. Twice the size, twice the antlers.
Recalling my experience with the last boss-monster I met, a vicious spider-monkey, I''m not really keen to mess with him and his herd. On the other hand, I can''t help but see them as walking XP-bags.
Oro''hekk told me that hornchasers are dangerous. When they charge you, they won''t stop. Even after beheading, they would still run for at least ten seconds. Given their stag-like size it might be possible to evade, but they''re also fast.
How fast? I don''t know, but the way to learn it would be to let them charge me, which would defeat the purpose.
Me against fourteen... I can feel something welling up in me. Excitement? Well, maybe. It''s a problem, which has to be solved, a challenge of some sort.
I take my bow from the backpack and open my quiver, but the moment my left hand is about to draw the arrow, I see a faint glimmer on my left hand, which holds the arrow.
It''s the cursed ring.
...what am I doing right now!?
Didn''t Goldbrunn teach me a lesson about looking for difficult fights by myself?
I mean, I already have a good strategy here, first try to kill the boss using [Seeker] to aim for its throat while doing massive damage due to [Assassinate], then use the trees to stay out of the mobs'' reach, trying to tie up some of them, which I¡¯ll shoot afterwards.
If everything fails, I could use [Distraction] and my [Stealth]-repertoire as well.
Yet somehow the excitement from before is replaced by something else. I can''t really tell, but I certainly have the feeling that I should go back to the girls.
Wait, is this feeling guilt?
No, it can''t be, right? I mean, I know how guilt feels, so... My mouth tastes like shit.
Slowly, I retreat. Using [Farsight] I find the girls and approach them, until I''m close enough for another new spell, targeting Ara-san. ¡°[Whisper]: No pursuers, but I found mobs. Will come back.¡± My whisper is carried to her, or more like I somehow lightly touch her spirit to make her hear it.
Ara-san talks to the others and we meet again. Then I report what I found.
¡°I believe that the hornchasers were pushed back to the woods by the Crusaders, they''re actually regular-dangerous Wildland-mobs. Would be great to see how we''ll fare with the monsters in the Spirit Swamp.¡±
The Spirit Swamp is one of the most dangerous spots of the Wildlands. Because the Crusaders cleaned monster masses around the trading route, we rarely encountered mobs so far, and usually only the weaker ones, which were beneath those madmen.
Still better than what I faced in Feuerberg, but I¡¯d like to get more XP from tougher foes and get my leveling back on track.
For some reason, this time the girls readily agree. Well, I didn''t worry about Rine in the first place, but Ara-san usually doesn''t like to exert herself, while Kyou-san bitches around on a regular basis.
First, I plan the escape route which will be vital if anything goes wrong. Then I go over formations: ¡°This may be hardly called a forest, but there are trees nonetheless. So we can rely on [Spirit Magic]. Therefore Ara-san, I like you to keep the small ones busy. Kyou-san, support her. Rine and I will take on the boss.¡±
¡°Together?¡± Rine is clearly happy about that.
¡°Nope, I''ll attack it while hiding, which will be the signal for Ara-san to keep the other hornchasers busy. Then you¡¯ll step forward and finish the deal, while I''ll use [Entangle] to restrain its movements. But!¡± Seeing how Rine''s head dropped during my explanation, I add something nice for her: ¡°You can use [Dismember]!¡±
Rine''s ultimate skill, which sadly wasn''t very useful up to now. A combat skill makes your body move in certain ways and it''s hard to alter those movements. [Dismember] is a skill that will unleash a combo-attack which, well, dismembers.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Its only problem is that it leaves Rine open during this forced movement. Plus, if the enemy is able to avoid it, it''d be easy to counterattack.
I don''t need to worry about this though. When we combine the restraining of [Entangle] with the power of [Dismember], we will surely kill the boss.
¡°Cool!¡± Yes, Rine likes to use that skill. It''s a powerful skill even Ara-san had never heard before, despite being the so-called hero-sage.
¡°This battle will be short and bloody if everything goes smoothly. I¡¯d rather like to put some stuff into test, but currently we need to see if we have the leeway. So no holding back.¡±
¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±
The way the girls answered in unison somehow gives me goosebumps.
What the heck is going on with them!?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
What the heck is going on with him!? Ken''s so... focused.
This is not the boy who continually complains about every little thing. Even though I could see this side at times, something has been different since we left Goldbrunn..
He always tended to man up whenever there was an emergency, but now the way he acts is... I can''t tell how, but it''s different. The way he holds himself, the way he looks me right into the eyes when I talk to him. How his words have some new weight behind them.
Or is it me? Is it because I had that dream? Come on, what is a wet dream now and then?
Still, I can''t deny it. This Ken is somewhat... pleasant. No, more like childish? ...that doesn''t fit as well.
Argh, I can''t tell! What exactly is different from a week ago!? Is it me after all? Because I try to re-evaluate him?
This might be the case, but when did he grow up? When did I stop even looking at him?
Strange, strange, strange, strange.
My fingers wander to the ring, trying to calm down. Strangely, the upcoming battle is less unnerving than this insecurity I feel when I think about Ken, myself, and everything in-between.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Kenta is so cool! He really has grown in his role as a leader. I need to work harder to match his expectations.
My teachers tried to make me understand all the things I need to know for warfare, including strategy, but Kenta, who''s just the son of a merchant, already thinks of many factors for battle, even without having the proper training.
I may know that the retreat route is vital, but I''d most likely just forget about it. For him, this was the first thing in mind: Our safety.
I don''t regret my decision to look for adventure and freedom, but it''s a pity that I won''t be able to introduce Kenta to my father as my husband. Or uncle Ludolf. I think uncle Ludolf and Kenta would be friends in a heartbeat. Because he also always thinks of retreat routes first.
...ah, I''m feeling bad. Kenta and I may be in love, but other than in fighting, I can''t really match him. He''s growing in such large steps, but I''m still the same.
Miriam and Fabian were always a match for each other, in brawn and in smarts.
I slowly use my hand to open up my status. I need it as a focus so it¡¯s easier to look at those miniature symbols at the corner of my field of view without staring at them. Only then the signs will grow.
Operating this status is still strange to me, but I slowly get the hang of it. For some reason, Kenta and Ara are often looking at those screens during our breaks. This is what smart people do.
I don''t get it, but I want to learn.
This evening, we''ll finally start the magic lessons. With them, I''ll become a [Wizard] soon. This way I¡¯ll become smarter and be able to talk with Kenta on the same level.
Please wait for me, Dear.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Something is different with Kenta-kun. I can''t tell what, but his spirit looks like it''s about to turn inside out. This is interesting.
Sadly, he''s also less fun currently as he takes things seriously right now.
This may be my fault, I ear-plugged him. I know it''s an intense experience, something to be exchanged between partners as it makes a full spirit connection possible.
I had something like that with Katarine-san and Momo before, but it was fainter. It was made without ear-plugging, therefore, I wanted to compare and decided to do it with Kenta-kun.
The true version is exciting, and I think it was tenfold more surreal as it was between human and alfr. For example, I didn''t realize how strong the sense of smell of humans is. How many hormones and emotions are inside them, how ardent they are about everything.
They''re also limited and ever-changing. I''m a bit afraid of that.
Since the ear-plugging incident, Kenta-kun and I have never been alone again. I miss conducting experiments with him.
My body aches for him, but this is a phenomenon caused by the curse. This may be the reason why I ear-plugged with him in the first place.
Ah, could it be, that he tries to avoid me? This may be the case.
I said to him that I have no interest in a romantic relationship with him, this might have hurt his feelings. Thinking back how intense human emotions felt for me, I should have considered this earlier.
This may be the reason. Maybe I should ask Momo about it?
No. I''ll observe it further. It could be completely unrelated to the ear-plugging-incident.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Quietly, I scout ahead. My senses are sharpened, it''s like I''m one with nature. Strange, considering that back home I did a lot which didn''t include being outside at all. Like gaming.
Slowly. My feet are making no noise, I have [Sneak] activated. My body looks like the bark of a tree, as I used [Camouflage]. My bodily odor is greatly weakened, that''s the effect of [Hide Smell]. Even my presence itself is barely noticeable, [Mask of Wildlife] mashes my spirit with the spirit of wildlife around me. In a forest, there are plenty of plants.
Almost every life-form can sense spirits in some form. It''s like a sense I didn''t notice before attaining [Spirit Magic], despite using it all the time. Part of the reason why people can feel other people watching them might be this sense. Maybe.
Oro''hekk and the other guards of Aroahenn can use [Mask of Wildlife] to the degree that normal people will just look around them, because they''re recognized as grass blades, despite standing right there.
I''m still nowhere near compared to them, but I keep getting better for some strange reason.
It may be the hood which sharpens my sense of spirits and my [Spirit Magic]-ability. As I wear it, my field of view is limited and my hearing is damped, so I rely on my own sense of spirits more.
Of course, the hood is pulled over my head right now as well.
I look at the hornchasers, which are currently eating the bodies of what seem to be other monsters mutilated to the degree that I can''t recognize them from this distance.
If I want to use my bow to its best... this tree. I climb it up, taking my time. I can see the boss, who already has had the best bits of meat and is now resting.
I look over my shoulder. I can see the girls, who are trying to get closer as well. I use [Whisper]: ¡°Only as far as my arrow.¡± Again, my target is Ara-san, as I think that she''ll not freak out by this because she more or less can feel me trying to contact her a mile away.
Then I shoot a single arrow, right into the ground. I''m confident that the girls will be able to get this close unnoticed.
Everyone is in position.
I take four arrows from my quiver and put all of them on the string.
Inhale. Exhale.
¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± All four are aimed for the boss, not the most accurate skill, but four times the [Assassination]-bonus.
*Tonk, tonk, tonk, tonk*
¡
Is that all?
I mean, yes, four arrows are stuck in the hornchaser-boss'' fur, but that sound, and the fact that I can still see the edges of the arrow tips, tell me that the attack wasn''t very effective.
¡°Dammit!¡±
At this moment, Rine blurs right under me into the hornchasers, decapitates one while passing, stepped on the head of an eating one, use it as a stepping board to jump, and while in the air, she swings her blade: ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± The vacuum blade cuts into the boss, but not very deep.
¡°¡°[Entangle]!¡±¡± Ara-san and I use the same spell at the same time. The trees and bushes around the hornchasers move, trying to capture and restrain the mobs. My target is, of course, the boss and those around it.
Kyou-san approaches the surprised normal hornchasers only a moment afterward, blowing some powder right into the faces of two of them: ¡°[Sleep Breath]!¡±
¡°[Root Lances]!¡± Then Ara-san uses a spell to impale others, but instead of splashing blood, only a few drops are coming from those rather shallow wounds.
¡°[Seeker]!¡± These suckers are tough! Yet [Entangle] keeps them under control, so let''s see how well the boss fairs if I shoot into his eye!
Asshole, don''t lower your head! Now my arrow is sticking in its forehead, but the boss is not even bothered by it, as it frees itself rather effortlessly from my [Entangle].
¡°Here we go! [Dismember]!¡± Rine''s blade flashes as she swings it around. Despite the hardness of the hornchaser''s body, Rine''s magic sword goes through it like a hot knife through butter.
The face of the boss is distorted with shock and disbelief, as it lost its forelegs with the first two strikes and two of the four antlers with the next two. Then comes the head with the fifth one. Rine moves some steps to separate its hindlegs with two more attacks, and the last two are used to cut apart the body even further.
Nine strikes of overwhelming power, the [Dismember]-skill.
This is the difference between Rine and me. The reason why I may never feel strong again. She''s someone who shatters common sense by just doing her best without even bragging.
Now that her skill is finished, the body of the boss finally starts to splash great amounts of blood, as if the skill has some inborn measure to ensure epicness. However, Rine doesn''t even pay that any attention anymore, as she jump-kicks the still airborne head of the boss into one of the other mobs.
Then she rushes into the fray, ensuring us an easy victory.
¡°Phew...¡± Whatever. Just get over this.
This is exactly the feeling you have when you start a popular open MMORPGs. You struggle with monsters of your level, then a high-level character comes in to farm some items, and one-shots every mob you have so much trouble dealing with.
I know this is not a game, and that our lives are at stake with every fight, but I can''t help but feel kinda empty right now.
Rine is a monster. More of a monster than those hornchasers. Her level may be below mine, I may have head-ups in some stats, but she''s just different from us.
She was like that before becoming a hero due to the curse. Actually, I''m starting to think that the hero-system has to catch up to her stats to make her any stronger.
The worst part is that, according to her, there are even stronger non-heroes: her father, her granduncle, her instructor, and some others she can immediately think of.
Why are heroes summoned in the first place when there are already such people out there?
As I think about that, my hands are moving to shoot more arrows. I still have plenty of them and would like to get more used to them. Plus, the bones of the hornchasers can be processed into weapons, including arrowheads.
The battle is over. ¡°Phew.¡±
¡°What is wrong, Kenta?¡±
You. But I don''t say it.
Ara-san has her own idea. ¡°Ah, maybe Kenta-kun wanted to impress us to make it easier for him to seduce us at a later time and you stole his chance?¡±
¡°Is that so? I''m sorry Dear.¡±
¡°Don''t call me ''Dear''!¡± Two stupid comments and I''m already recovering from the shock of how weak I really am. ¡°And no, I don''t try to impress anyone.¡± Except myself, but I can''t help but think about how easy everything would be if I were as powerful as Rine.
¡°Don''t be pathetic, Ken!¡± Kyou-san is in a rather bad mood. Her lips are trembling, her eyes are fierce. ¡°Everything went according to plan and it''s not like we would have lost without Rine-chan.¡±
Pathetic. That''s the right word. I feel pathetic right now.
¡°Phew...¡± Something is wrong with me. Two months ago, when I was still solo, I was content with my level and my power, I knew, and still know, that I have little room for mistakes and that I''m easily overpowered.
When did I develop something like pride in my strength? No, not exactly pride, I already lost it. Confidence? No.
Ah, it''s worry. The stakes are higher.
I''ve got a small perfectionist vein. I try to do combat as efficient as possible. Two months ago, I had something like control, or at least things went within my expectations.
Now I have more stuff to worry about. Instead of mobs, I need to worry about mercenaries, my ex-classmates, bounty hunters, and many more. They are way more dangerous, some of them might even hold a grudge.
At least I do.
Too bad that not only the nature of my enemies changed, but also what I had to protect. Before I just needed to care about myself, now I need to keep the three girls here safe so that there will be no chance that the curse will backlash at me for getting one of my wives killed.
Given that Rine can fend for herself and slash through everything which can be harmful should boost my confidence that all of them will be saved, as long as they''re with Rine... but I don''t want to rely on her completely.
Plus, knowing that she can do it without me doesn''t really make me feel better about it. ¡°Phew. Alright, we''ll dissect the hornchasers. Are they edible?¡±
¡°Yes, I''ll make ragout out of them. But I''d like to gather some seasoning here. The bark there can be used, for example, the same goes for those herbs.¡± Kyou-san easily picks up my urge to change the topic.
¡°Ragout? Can I help you?¡± Rine never dwells on anything much.
¡°Sure. You''ll also help, Arako.¡±
¡°I do?¡±
¡°Or you can start our laundry instead. We didn¡¯t have an opportunity in Goldbrunn to do it.¡±
¡°I will be glad to help you with cooking.¡±
Laundry is a pain in the ass in this fantasy world. I''ve never used a washing machine myself, but when I return home I''ll appreciate it like some sort of deity.
While maintaining equipment every day is a hassle in itself, laundry can take several hours, even with the [Dry]-spell. Of course Ara-san isn''t thrilled about it.
¡°What about Kenta, Kyou?¡±
¡°Hm?¡±
¡°Kenta. Will he also help?¡±
Kyou-san looks at Rine as if she just suggested to train a hamster to be a dog. ¡°Erm... well, Ken? Do you want to help?¡±
I know that she only asks me so that Rine won''t bother her anymore. This actually makes me want to say yes, but: ¡°Rine, you know that I''ll scout and look for tracks during the cooking. I''ve got to ensure the safety of the party.¡±
¡°Ah, you''re right.¡±
Actually, it''s just awkward being around the girls when they cook. Because they become all chatty, then Rine will try to include me into the conversation even if I''m doing something else entirely. Ara-san will begin to make sex jokes at my expense while Kyou-san will say something which will rub me the wrong way, and then we''ll fight with each other.
That''s why I use their chatty-time to get more me-time instead. Time to think, time to enjoy, time that I can use to just be myself with no strings attached.
¡°But you will be there for the magic lesson, right?¡±
That''s right, Ara-san will teach Rine the [Wizard]-class, which the alfr girl might have never attained herself, but learning about magic itself will unlock it... in theory. At the same time, Ara-san will also try to unlock Kyou-san''s [Arcana]-ability, which allows the user to change the traits of spells.
¡°Of course.¡± I''m kinda excited about it. Maybe I''ll pick up the [Wizard]-class later on myself, I still have that one empty class-slot. At least I want to unlock the class to have as many options as possible when I finally decide to fill that final slot.
Though I''ll also look if there are better choices for it.
Volume 06 - Chapter 1-3
That evening, finally Ara-san gives her lesson about magic.
¡°Here, Miss Ara''ainn!¡±
¡°Hey Rine, why are you giving her my glasses?¡± She stole them from my space in our shared [Inventory]!
¡°Because she''s now a teacher!¡±
¡°These are called glasses? Non-alfr uses them when they have bad sight, right? So what does it have to do with being a teacher?¡±
¡°I don''t know, but all my teachers in studies had those.¡±
Well, if you read a lot without proper lighting, which can be really hard to provide in a fantasy world, your eyesight worsens.
¡°Rine, you know that looking through glasses with good eyesight is bad?¡±
¡°It is?¡±
I facepalm, as Rine is totally oblivious how glasses and eyesight works. Well, actually I saw only a few glasses in this fantasy world so far, so I guess bad vision is either no real problem or glasses are too expensive to use them when you still can do without.
Nonetheless, if almost nobody wears them, it''s more likely that they also don''t know about what they''re actually doing, especially those who don''t need them in the first place.
¡°Let''s try it.¡± Ara-san, curious about the glasses, puts them on, and immediately her outer irises begin to expand, as her inner irises narrow, while her slit-like pupils shorten a bit. ¡°I see fine.¡±
Maybe alfr eyes work like camera lenses? Actually, I never saw an alfr with glasses so they really may have an inborn correction-option. Enviable.
¡°Oh?¡± But the next moment Ara-san''s left ear moved and with it her temple, throwing the glasses from her nose. She catches them before they fly out of her reach. ¡°I don''t think that I can do it with glasses.¡± She puts them in her backpack, back to my belongings from where Rine took them in the first place. Without my permission!
But damn, Ara-san, what reaction speed! She caught the glasses practically the moment they were flung away! This is the first time I¡¯ve noticed it.
¡°We still need to change something about your look, Ara,¡± Rine insists.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because...¡± Ah, I can see it. Rine is about to say something rude to Ara-san but falters as she doesn''t want to say it bluntly and lacks the word to phrase it positively.
Kyou-san doesn''t sweeten her words as she helps out: ¡°Because it''s hard to take you seriously otherwise.¡±
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°Do you remember the farmers earlier today? Or that you slapped my behind when we both were sitting on Ken''s lap? How you let Ken use that spell despite knowing the result? How you tried to escape helping me cook by taking forever to cut those roots? That sex joke during dinner?¡±
¡°Not particularly.¡±
¡°...¡± Kyou-san rubs her nose bridge: ¡°That''s part of the problem. I can see why Rine-chan wants to change your look a bit so that we can be in a mood which makes us actually want to learn from you.¡±
The worst part about it: I can totally agree. It''s not like I really care, but given a choice between giving her the teacher-vibe or just keep her the way she is, I''d support making her look a bit different. So that I can try to forget about things like how she told me every single detail she felt with her ear while her head was on my lap today.
¡°Rine-chan, we''ll pin her hair up.¡±
¡°Should we put some make-up on her as well?¡±
¡°Sure. Too bad that she''s that short otherwise I would lend her a robe.¡±
¡°OK, I''ll make sure to sew her something soon. Like a wizard''s robe.¡±
¡°Can you do that?¡±
¡°I don''t know, but [Tailor] will lead me.¡±
¡°New foot-laces as well, since alfar don''t wear shoes.¡±
¡°I have no accessory that would fit her. I think a wooden bracelet would be fine, we need to get one.¡±
¡°Wouldn''t something colorful better match her skin?¡±
¡°With her hips, I believe trousers would be good. We could accent them with color pieces.¡±
¡°Do we have something which can be used as a kerchief?¡±
The girls lost me. Same with Ara-san, who looks at me with a pleading look, as Rine and Kyou-san are already working on her hair without even asking her opinion.
I turn my head to the side so that I don''t need to look into Ara-san''s eyes anymore.
It takes some minutes, and there she stands, Miss Ara''ainn. Let''s sum it up: The properties of alfr hair make it hard to pin it up, so it''s already beginning to get loose. While the make-up looks decent, it only emphases her non-human facial structure. This and her lacking facial movements cause her to look more like a doll.
At least the cloth which serves as a scarf works somehow, but it looks itchy.
¡°What a fine prank.¡± Ara-san comments after looking in the metallic hand-mirror. So that''s how she thinks of it. Well, pranks are a common form of alfr bonding.
¡°We need to think about our make-up technique with her.¡±
¡°Agreed.¡±
Both girls are whispering to each other, but given that Ara-san and I can hear them clearly, it doesn''t make a difference.
¡°Now that you have your well-deserved fun let me begin the lesson. Magic. Knowing about the magic in this world is the fundamental step towards the [Arcana]-ability, which is also part of the [Wizard]-class.
¡°In future lessons, I''ll go into the details, but for today I will try to give you an understanding of the basics, which will make it easier to delve into the specifics.
¡°We need to know what magic is to understand it. Before there is magic, there is mana. Mana comes from the planet itself, it''s invisible to the naked eye, and it passes through matter. When it passes through a living organism, it''s collected and changed into magic, in layman''s term, which will be stored in our bodies. So the MP in our statuses show how much magic currently resides in us, and that''s also the reason why it recovers over time.¡±
So basically, there is an energy force called mana and when it hits me, my body changes it into magic and stores it.
¡°Every body has a limit, which can be increased by training, the same as someone can train their lungs to be able to hold their breath for longer. It''s a common belief that magic resides in every organ, even though I personally think it''s within the cells.¡±
¡°I thought that magic is collected in your spleen?¡± ...seriously? Spleen? Rine''s somewhat educated in this world, so I won''t question her, but that doesn''t make much sense.
¡°Usually, there is an organ that stores more than any other one, but which one differs from species to species.¡±
So much for having a ''magic organ.'' For humans, it''s the spleen. Good thing that I still have mine.
¡°Also, it can differ from person to person. For alfar, the most common magic reservoir would be in the vestibular system, but there are rare cases when it''s focused in the stomach as well. Or other organs. Heroes have a higher chance to use another organ as a magic reservoir.¡±
Ah, I can see that. Like: ''Oh, that hero is originally not able to use magic, how do we fix it? Let''s use the stomach!''
¡°Fine and good, but why is there [Divine Magic], [Spirit Magic], or [Elemental Magic]? They even use the word ''magic''! Isn''t ''magic'' just the power itself?¡± Good point, Kyou-san.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°...I don''t think that I understand your question. Has it to do with terms and language?¡±
The hero-system translates stuff and while Kyou-san and I hear and understand everything in Japanese or English, Ara-san understands everything in Alfr Speech.
¡°Kyou-san, I think that the terms for [Divine Magic] and the others are different for Ara-san. The hero-system might just translate it this way to make it easier for us to understand.¡±
¡°These forms of translations are really not helpful sometimes.¡±
I agree, but nothing we can do about it.
¡°To sum her question up: For us Japanese, the term ''magic'' is used for the source ''magic'' and the application of that power, so she wanted to know if there is a connection.¡±
Ara-san''s right ear stands up. ¡°How stupid can your language be?¡±
Even though I don''t disagree with her, I fight back the urge to pinch her ear to give her a sharp pain.
¡°Phew, go on.¡±
¡°Alright. Magic is something living beings produce and store and when the capacity is exhausted, the body won''t transform mana into magic anymore. So there is no overdose of magic in your system, at least not naturally. Maybe you could produce one artificially, though I''ve never heard of a case like that.
¡°So now you know the origin of the power, so we''ll take a shallow look on how to apply it. Magic is in itself just a power source and like every power source, there are multiple ways to use it.¡±
¡°I don''t get it!¡± Rine waves her hand.
¡°I think that might be the case because you''re not familiar with power sources... Kenta-kun, would you please?¡±
...Ara-san, are you saying that you can''t dumb it down on your own? Nah, I think she thinks of it as a pain in the ass.
¡°Rine, listen. Let''s say that the power source is ''food'', you''re following me?¡±
¡°I think?¡±
¡°When you eat, your body gets energy. It''s used to keep your heart beating, your muscles moving, your digesting system running, and your brain working.¡± Even though I think that the last one is working on energy saving mode in her case. ¡°Basically, food is used to make multiple things work, even if they function differently. Following this example, magic would be food, [Divine Magic] your muscles.¡±
Rine nods, but I think she only gets the gist. Kyou-san also nods slightly for some reason, I guess that she had a gist before and now understood it.
Seriously, how stupid are you girls?
¡°Yes, Kenta-kun''s analogy is quite accurate,¡± Ara-san continues: ¡°The spell-[Abilities] would be different systems using the same source of power. The ones we''ll deepen are [Arcana], the ability to sense and manipulate mana and magic, [Elemental Magic], which produces resonance between magic and the environment, and [Alteration], which changes the properties of objects and beings on the idea-level. Even though,¡± Ara-san lifts her chin and sets back her ears close to the head: ¡°I have no clue how exactly [Alteration] works!¡±
¡there is no reason to be proud of that.
But yes, [Alteration] isn''t one of Ara-san''s [Abilities].
Hm... but I think that I already saw an [Alteration]-spell at work... ah right, back with the spider-monkey boss, when Ponytail from Inoue''s party used it to slow down the mobs.
Idea-level though? What''s that supposed to mean? ''I have the idea that you''re slowed down, so now you''re slowed¡¯?
Well, no need to figure that out now.
¡°For Momo, [Arcana] is the only one of the named applications which is usable. The first task will be to feel where your magic is stored. As a hero, you''ve skipped that step, while Katarine-san should already be able to tell her own center of power.¡±
Rine nods. Well, she actually learned [Divine Magic] the hard way. Even though spells are still easier to learn than other skills for native people, so calling it the ''hard way'' is a bit misleading.
¡°Momo, I will look where your magic is gath-¡± Ara-san''s holding in laughter, she''s totally holding in laughter! Her ears are also flapping!
She has used the [Detect Mana]-spell, I guess. Even though she shouldn¡¯t be able to tell where ¡®magic¡¯ is, only ''mana'', but maybe she can tell from the mana-flow or bullshit like that, where Kyou-san''s magic center is.
Well, considering Ara-san''s behavior, I have a guess.
Kyou-san also has an idea: ¡°It''s in my breasts, right?¡± Yes, we have the same thought. For some reason, alfar find breasts hilarious, so Ara-san''s reaction is a definite hint.
¡°Fi- *snicker* finding where your largest reservoir lies is also part of the trai- *chuckle* -ning! So take a deep look inside and only think only of the part of your body where your magic resides most in.¡±
Ara-san hasn''t thought this through. Kyou-san has a moody day, so she grabs both of Ara-san''s ears and begins twisting them.
The cry of alfr anguish sounds throughout the plains.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
For some reason, Kyou doesn''t show the same patience to Ara as to me. I can''t help but cock my head, as the alfr who wants to teach me [Elemental Magic] is squirming on the ground while whining about her ears.
¡°Are you OK, Kyou?¡± Today she has a bad day.
¡°Don''t worry, Rine-chan, I''m just tired.¡± Ah, that makes sense.
I look at Kenta, who puts his hand over his face, I think he calls it ''facepalm''. He often does that when we''re having a conversation, so I think he might be a bit disappointed in Ara. Like he''s constantly disappointed in me because I''m not very smart.
Kneeling down next to Ara, I begin to form a small prayer in my mind: Please ease her pain. I send this prayer to the Vastness, I feel how the left side of my stomach is heating up a bit, just before I feel how power is channeled through me, which I send to Ara through my fingertips: ¡°[Heal]!¡± This last word is essential, even though I never really understood why.
¡°Thank you, Katarine-san.¡± Ara stands up and is all wobbly, so I support her. ¡°I would appreciate it if you would stop Kenta-kun and Momo from damaging me any more, otherwise I may only serve as a meat doll in the future, given that these pains are bad for my body and mind. That ear-twisting almost whited me out.¡±
Ara is an alfr, so she''s different from us. I can''t even imagine how all that pinching and twisting of her ears are anguishing her.
¡°Do you need a break?¡±
¡°No need. But could you move a bit more to the left? I need to instruct Momo more.¡±
¡°You mean right? Because if I move left, then I''d be right between the two of you.¡±
¡°That''s the idea.¡±
Sometimes I really have problems getting her, but I have no reason to decline her request either.
Kyou, even though she doesn''t look pleased, nods to Ara''s further instructions. It''s just the basic magic awareness training, meditation, figuring out the flow, trying to move that flow. Other than, different from the me back then, Kyou can already use magic, so she can cast a spell or two to give her a better idea how and where her magic flows.
Kenta also tries this training, even though he doesn''t need it. My husband is a curious one and likes to understand his hero-body more.
Oh Dear, you''re earnest in whatever you do. Your face right now is so hot!
¡°Katarine-san, are you about to jump at Kenta-kun? Because I can try to teach you [Elemental Magic], but if you don''t have time right now, then I might take a nap.¡±
¡°Ah, sorry. Tell me, what am I to do?¡±
¡°To learn how to use [Elemental Magic] you need to understand that mana touches everything. While a living body is capable of changing it into magic, those mana particles are also hitting non-living matter, causing a minute disturbance in them, which might not influence them on a visible level, but do on a microscopic one. To use [Elemental Magic] you need to seize these changes so that you can use them to cast your spells.¡±
¡°I didn''t understand any of it.¡± I have to be honest here since I don''t even know what ''microscopic'' means. Or what ''particles'' are.
¡°...¡± Ara gently flicks her ear. ¡°I''ll try another approach. Are there any users of [Elemental Magic] in your family?¡±
¡°Almost everyone, I was supposed to learn it at some point as well, but I preferred sword fighting and skipped some lessons on other subjects, so it got delayed. Eber can use it, though.¡±
¡°Your little brother, correct?¡±
¡°Yes, he''s cute. A bit brisk at times, and also bratty, but this makes him so adorable.¡±
¡°So you love him?¡±
¡°Of course!¡±
¡°You really, really love him?¡±
¡°I absolutely love him!¡±
Ara opens her mouth as to say something, but after looking at me another time, she pauses for a second. ¡°Well, good for you. You know of the four cardinal elements of [Elemental Magic]?¡±
¡°Yes. Fire, water, air, and earth, right?¡±
¡°Exactly. Does any of those four stand out in your family?¡±
¡°Fire.¡±
¡°I see. Every person has a certain affinity for certain elements, mine are mainly water and to some degree earth. It''s possible to learn other spells, but for a hero, the natural affinity plays a big part on what kind of spells you will learn by using the hero-system. So I will plan your training with fire in mind.¡±
Ara takes some of our firewood out of her backpack and puts it on the ground.
¡°Observe me, as I''m using the one fire-spell I know. [Ignite]!¡± She points with her finger to the wood, which starts to burn in a matter of seconds. There was nothing to see though. ¡°Try to make the flames move in an unnatural way. Concentrate on them, try to send your magic into them, and do whatever works.¡±
I stare into the flames. It looks like they are dancing. The hearth would be the feet, the tongues the arms, the wood the dance floor. To what kind of music would they dance?
Thinking about it, I start humming. A bright melody, a bit like that waltz from Gr¨¹ninger I like. It''s been so long since I danced to that melody, I¡¯d love to dance again. With Dear.
Being close, his hand on my back, the other in my hand. I would wear a frilly fire-colored dress, made out of silk. He would wear a noble''s suit, I think that something like dark green would suit him. Even though his crimson red armor is also great. Yes, let''s go with the armor, he''s a hero after all, so his armor would be the best clothing. Though I really want to see him in a suit, I have to make him one soon.
First, the music would start slowly, Dear might not be able to dance, but in my mind, he can. He would whisper something into my ear, bringing his lips close to mine for an instant, just to move his body back a bit to tease me.
Then he would take his first step, leading me over the dance floor, while I can''t help but blush a bit while looking at his solemn face.
Then we would make the first turn. He would add another spin, and then-
Danger from the right. Faster than thought, I draw my blade and cut at a water jet, which was about to hit me, I advance two steps, ready to kick the attacker right into the stomach, but I stop my body before I do so.
I''m glad I did it, because the source of that attack-spell is Ara, after all.
¡°Ara? Why?¡± Why would she attack me?
¡°Because yelling didn''t work. You almost burned me with the flames.¡±
¡°Hn?¡± I can''t help but cock my head.
¡°You didn''t notice? The flames started spinning. You cleared the first stage.¡±
¡°Ah, did I?¡±
¡°Well, I guess already knowing what kind of element you''re most likely affiliated to certainly helps. Now that you can somehow influence the fire, we can move to trying to control it. First, let the flames come closer to you.¡±
¡°But how?¡±
¡°You just need to apply whatever you used to influence it earlier.¡±
What did I just do? I looked into the flames and started humming. Maybe that''s it?
I hum ''Come, Lenz, come'', a nursery rhyme. Like answering my humming, the flames start to move, trying to get to me.
¡°...now repulse them.¡±
I change the melody to ''Hush Firemount'' and the flames move as if they try to escape from me, even though they can''t.
¡°What about moving them left and right?¡±
''Tridarara?'' It works, the children dance lets the flames move as Ara wanted.
¡°Make them bigger.¡±
''Gird yourself.''
¡°Make them smaller.¡±
''Sitting on the cloud.''
¡°Let them die out!¡±
''Sleepy swallow.''
¡°Make it burn again!¡±
''The best day all year,'' it''s my favorite birthday song!
¡°Kenta-kun, Katarine-san is picking on me!¡± For some reason, Ara runs to Dear, who looks at her flabbergasted, while standing up and trying to put some distance between them.
What''s wrong, Ara? I just did what you asked me to...
Volume 06 - Chapter 2-1 - Muddy Continuance
Chapter 2 ¨C Muddy Continuance
My consciousness returns after a night''s sleep.
It''s raining again. I hear how the raindrops are falling on the tent, which I share with Kyou-san and Ara-san. The latter is just sitting by my side, having a conversation with Rine, who talks to her from the side of the tent, which I left open when setting it up.
Our camp has more or less a dry spot with my smart arrangement of tarps and tents, even though only the trench we dug hinders the water from swashing over.
I rub my nose bridge while the information I gathered during sleep is hammering on my mind thanks to my [Dormurnal]-skill. I don''t really sleep like others, a part of my consciousness remains active and can wake me if it notices something strange.
However, I also forget most of it after I decide to stay asleep, most likely to give me as much rest as possible instead of dwelling over stuff. When I wake up, however, I get a flood of all the things I heard and smelled during the time I was sleeping, everything I forgot before. ¡°Phew...¡± Looks like Rine divided her time between tailoring and playing with the campfire for magic training purposes, while she tried to get more information out of a totally frustrated Ara-san.
Rine is just too talented. I guess that she actually somehow already knew the basics of [Elemental Magic], but of course, it would be frustrating for Ara-san to be outgrown by Rine in fire magic within five minutes.
Well, nothing I can do. Or willing to do.
I open my eyes and a message-window greets me.
You gain 2 WP.
Sleeping next to your wives gives you the energy to face the next day!
As if.
I slowly raise my body and let my eyes wander around the camp.
¡°Good morning, Kenta!¡± Rine is needlessly cheery as always.
¡°...good morning.¡±
¡°Have a drink.¡±
Rine takes a metal pot from the fire and pours some chai into a wooden drinking cup. This is a drink which is somewhat like a fruit tea. I don''t know how Kyou-san was able to make it, but it''s a good countermeasure against this shitty weather.
A few sips are enough to make me feel warm inside again.
I hear rustling behind me, Kyou-san is also getting up. I can hear her groaning, but that''s pretty normal whenever we have to sleep through the rain. Moist air just isn''t pleasant for sleeping.
What''s not normal is that Kyou-san sluggishly puts her head on my shoulder, while fetching my drinking cup. She drinks from it.
You gain 1 WP.
An indirect kiss is nice, especially if it comes unconsciously. It shows how much the two of you adapted to each other.
¡°Shut up,¡± groans Kyou-san, after emptying the cup in one big gulp.
Wait, the way she moves, the way she sounds, does that mean... I check her status. [Bleeding].
Not again...
What many men don''t consider when they imagine how cool it would be to travel as the only male with an all-female party, is that girls have periods.
It''s a natural function, which comes once a month and lasts from a few days to a week. As far as I know, girls feel like shit during this time and have a primal instinct to unleash their bad mood to whoever is available.
So men developed a primal instinct as well, which is best expressed with the following question: How can I get away without pissing her off even more?
Last time we were in Aroahenn, so I had plenty of ways avoiding her by training with Oro''hekk and the other guards to obtain the [Ranger]-class-up, just get there a tad earlier, try to stay longer, it was entirely possible.
In contrast to that, we''re traveling now, so I have to converse with the rest of the party repeatedly, giving her more and more chances to gnaw my ears. So what should I do?
Actually, just pushing her away and start running comes into mind.
¡°Why are you acting like I''m some sort of beast?¡± She caught on! ¡°Don''t act like a pussy, Ken, I can''t stand that today. Another cup, please!¡±
She nonchalantly pushes her breasts against my back, as she tries to give my cup to Rine for a refill. While it may feel pleasant in a certain way, I can''t help but feel unnerved by the fact that she sticks close to me, like she doesn''t want me to get away.
Maybe I should start learning how to count days to avoid this in the future?
Wait, wasn''t Rine''s period right after Kyou-san''s last time!?
¡°Please no...¡±
¡°Keep it quiet, Ken!¡± Kyou-san pinches my side, as she grunts her displease.
¡°Phew...¡± I need to stay calm. The reason why I''m panicking here is my concern that Kyou-san can easily tear up my ear with her teeth, and I can''t help thinking that this might actually happen if I''m not careful. ¡°Could you please let me go? I need to... scout.¡± Let''s switch the schedule today.
¡°No.¡± Kyou-san''s iron fingers bury into my flesh.
¡°Why, woman!?¡±
¡°Don''t feel like it. Need something to support me.¡±
¡°Make sense!¡±
¡°Not so loud, idiot! Today is a bad day. A girl''s bad day.¡±
As if I wouldn''t know!
I can''t even imagine what she''s going through, but I have my rights! Well, not exactly, as I''m in a fantasy world and other sets of laws apply, but she may take into consideration that her period is her business and not mine!
¡°Kyou, are you alright?¡± Rine comes closer to feel her temperature. What about me? Why no concern for me?
¡°It''ll be better in an hour or so. Just waking up is bad. I also need to change my underwear.¡± Could you leave out these details!? I seriously don''t want to know!
¡°Didn''t you use a pad?¡± Why are you talking about that stuff with me in-between!?
¡°I did, but it slipped during sleep.¡±
¡°Ah, I see. That happens to me as well, because I move too much sometimes and tear the strand.¡±
...spare me...
¡°Back at home, the pads were less baggy before they were soaked, I still need to get the hang on how to best place them.¡±
¡°Oh, I see. I can teach you.¡±
¡°...thanks. Another cup, please.¡±
As a man, it''s hard to not think about how Kyou-san is currently bleeding down there while she''s stuck to my back, and this is kinda revolting.
I know, it''s a natural phenomenon and such, but this is just... dirty. I guess the same goes for girls when they think about things like morning woods and such.
¡°Phew...¡± Too bad that I need to get used to it.
Then Kyou-san pulls out the next bitch-move: ¡°Rine-chan, Arako, could you please look around to make sure if monsters are close?¡±
¡°Hey, that''s my job!¡± Don''t take away my chance to get away from you!
¡°Your job right now is to let me lean on you.¡± Here she is again, tyrant Kyou-san!
Some guys might fantasize how this behavior would be romantic inclined. Like ¡®Don''t leave me while I''m feeling bad¡¯, but Kyou-san is another matter, as she just lets me suffer to make herself feel better.
I''d probably do the same. Heck, I did the same sometimes in the past.
...karma really sucks.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We''re back to traveling.
I hate the rainy season, as most of the days I''m soaked wet. Even with the waxed coat, moving around as much as I do, as I scout ahead and behind the girls while they''re walking, tends to let water pass through the hood and the opening of the coat.
Kyou-san mood has improved since this morning, not by much, but I''m thankful for every tiny bit. She has made a lot of soup, using the water from the rain and Ara-san''s [Create Water]-spell which creates much more water when it rains. Then we arrived at the Ohl and followed it upriver to the Spirit Swamps. At least we could spare the water-fetching trip.
This now stored soup should give us the necessary nutrients for a lengthened march through the swamps, which may have no edible plants, animals, or monsters at all.
¡°Here we are.¡± Some trees with long, string-like leaves, in addition to little lakes of dark water, it doesn''t look like much from here. Looking into the distance, there are a lot of these tree clusters, and I guess there will be some spooky mist, which has currently been ripped apart by the rain.
I activate [Wild Eyes] and sense spirits... the trees right here have strong ones for plants, similar to the ones of Aroahenn. I don''t like these spirits... well, they''re just some plants planning to kill us, right? How bad can it be?Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡
¡°Phew... better be prepared.¡±
Kyou-san''s body shivers. ¡°If you want to reconsider your decisions, I won''t make any remarks.¡± She also has [Spirit Magic], so while she may have no skills to help her navigate through the swamps, she''s somewhat aware of the maliciousness of this place.
¡°Trees, back off.¡± Ara-san just starts walking, yet the trees are actually bending away to put some space between them and her laid back ears, that show her confidence. ¡°I''m the boss here, so you don''t have to worry. Praise me!¡±
I put my hand on her shoulder. ¡°First we need to get through.¡± Usually, Ara-san doesn''t need any praise or acknowledgment, but I guess after Rine''s training, she may feel a bit disgraced. ¡°When we are, you''ll get candy.¡±
¡°That''s not what I''m asking for.¡±
¡°Phew, yeah, yeah. Let''s get over this first. I think we need to alter our usual approach. Scouting ahead on my own just sounds like a stupid idea here, same goes for splitting the party for other purposes. Ara-san, you''re in the middle of the formation, so we can retreat to you if things go bad. I''ll take the front, Rine and Kyou-san to the back, Rine right, Kyou-san left, but stick close enough to Ara-san.¡± Kyou-san is on the left because it''s a little smoother for me to turn to this side while having my bow or spear armed. ¡°Finally, those trees will try to play with your mind. So be suspicious of everything they might pull out. Ara-san, I''ll rely on you to sense their tries, and to counter them.¡±
¡°This is a great responsibility for sure, but I''ll do my best.¡±
¡°Any questions?¡±
¡°If we do get separated,¡± Kyou-san starts, ¡°what will we do, Ken?¡±
¡°Die.¡±
¡°How precious.¡±
¡°That''s how it is. Rine, any questions?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°OK. Let''s just do it. Everyone, light up a torch.¡± It''s to make it easier to spot each other and if the rain recedes and the mist returns, then it will also disperse it a bit. Kyou-san and Rine use the [Torch]-spell and make a white light flicker on their palms, while Ara-san and I use the standard one, which is a bit weakened in the rain, but still easy to see.
I set a slow pace, while I¡¯d like to get through these swamps fast, I also want to get some mobs killed during this trip, and the terrain might be treacherous.
While navigating between the lakes, my boots are starting to sink in a bit, giving squelching sounds with every step. There is also some pressure I feel; the trees are trying to influence me, or to be more precise, my spirit. I use [Wild Eyes], and while it doesn''t have any direct effect, I feel like focusing my spirit for [Spirit Magic] does make it easier to dismiss this uncomfortable feeling.
Ara-san behind me seems to be busy covering up for Rine and Kyou-san, whose spirit capabilities are severely lacking.
Cool mist starts to appear, despite the rain, and it touches my skin, giving me shivers, while I can''t help but follow every sound around here. Barbed frogs are swimming inside the dark lakes, mosquitoes fly above the water just to be preyed upon. They''re also swirling around us, at least for a short while, before they suddenly scatter.
¡°Is it you, Ara-san?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°The insects. Is it your [Bug Repellent]?¡± A [Spirit Magic]-spell that she has had since forever.
¡°Affirmative. I usually use it.¡±
¡°Aha...¡± I didn''t pay much attention before, but I guess it makes sense. Who likes insects around them if they can help it? It''s just that in these swamps I really feel the difference.
I need to calm my nerves. We''re just at the border and I''m already going crazy.
Maybe turning back isn''t that bad of an idea after all? No, this only strengthens my earlier argument: If even we, who have [Spirit Magic] in our party, feel so bad here, Correo or any other people won''t be able to follow us here.
I just need to grit my teeth and stop being overly conscious about the fact that the plants will kill us if we''re not careful. In games, plant-enemies aren''t as spooky as this swamp makes me believe them to be, so while this world is not a game, I can still try to trick myself to calm myself, imagining that we''re in a game instead of a horror movie.
These plants would be just like some random treant mobs, they may be tough, but not excessively dangerous. They might try to kill us, but we''re stronger, we''re prepared, and we have a fucking [Druid] in our party! What can go wrong?
Everything, but the answer I try to give myself is ''nothing''.
At least I''m a bit calmer now, the squelching of my boots is less nerve-wracking, the barbed frogs don''t show me omens, it''s just like a bad horror movie.
¡°Kenta, how about a hiking song?¡±
¡°...hah!? What are you talking about, Rine?¡±
¡°A hiking song. Because everyone looks so tense.¡±
¡°...first, I don''t know any. Second, it''ll attract just some mobs. Third, how do you even come to ideas like that?¡±
¡°I know some, and learning magic is easier while humming songs, that''s why I started to remember many. I didn''t consider monsters, but I don''t mind either. Maybe we''ll be less tense, after fighting once?¡±
¡°Rine-chan...¡± Kyou-san rubs her temples, ¡°I know you try to help, but today I''m really not in the mood.¡±
¡°Ah, sorry Kyou! I forgot. How are you?¡±
¡°It''s not that bad, but if anyone of you starts singing now, I might hit you.¡±
...should I be thankful for Kyou-san''s condition, or should I try to just distance myself to the whole mess, including her condition and this whole insanity of a conversation? I mean, this topic is just too surreal! Well, at least the tension is gone.
¡°So we need something else. How about... a game? Like the syllable-game?¡±
¡°Please don''t,¡± Ara-san begs, ¡°this will only lead to even more headaches. I mean, while we speak the same language, we''ll hear everything translated. That''s why there will be next to no fitting word.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Just assume, that the syllable-game is impossible with heroes.¡±
¡°Oh, then do you know any games?¡±
¡°We could play mental irlkrin.¡±
¡°Ah, I''m not that good at that one.¡± Rine, you''re basically not good with anything that requires patience and planning ahead, it''s not like the alfr board game is an exception.
Kyou-san groans, while rubbing her temples another time: ¡°Girls, can''t we just talk about something like usual? I mean, I don''t like the atmosphere here, but I''m in no condition to overdo it.¡±
¡°So whenever I''m scouting you leisurely talk, huh? Well, I don''t care, but I like to focus on what''s ahead, so whatever you do, don''t distract me.¡± Seriously, that''s why I''m usually circling them, looking for dangers and pursuers.
¡°Kenta, can you explain to me, what exactly you''re doing?¡±
¡°Huh?¡± What are you talking about, Rine?
¡°About tracks, about detecting enemies, can you teach me?¡±
I so want to turn my head to her and show her my baffled face, but instead, I consciously furrow my eyebrows, to keep me focused. ¡°I''m just using my [Skills], not much that I can teach you.¡±
¡°What are they telling you?¡±
...I can''t hate her for wanting to know how my [Skills] work, I''m the same, I also want to know what each of the girls'' [Skills] does. ¡°First is [Pitch]. It doesn''t directly enhance my hearing, but it makes it possible to discern sounds easily. So your and my voice doesn''t overlap with the croaking of the frogs, the splashing of water whenever a frog jumps in, the sound of the mosquitoes flying around, the wind blowing at my ear, each of your breathes, the snarling of some reptile ahead. With this [Skill] all those sounds are clear to me.¡±
¡°Wow! I didn''t know, that''s amazing! How is it to hear all of it at the same time?¡±
Hm... I used to think of [Skills] as a tool, something I just use to make all that hero-stuff work, but I guess it can be actually an experience if you''re open-minded. Maybe I''d be way more excited about this world if I weren''t a kidnapped juvenile, but something like a tourist.
I used to look down on the way Rine always finds something positive about every situation, but maybe she has finally infected me. Or maybe I''m just too easy as a man, to fall for something like that comment about my [Skill] just because a pretty girl is saying it.
¡°How it is... You''re feeling like an idiot because you realize how many sounds escape you usually.¡± As long as it''s possible for me to hear it, I can listen to it with [Pitch]. So I can even hear my own heartbeat, which usually isn''t audible unless you''re in a silent room.
¡°Ah... sorry.¡± Don''t apologize. ¡°What about the next [Skill]?¡±
¡°It''s [Farsight]. Like it says, I can see farther away. Doesn''t do much inside the mist, but it also makes it easier to see details from afar, so it''s still useful. Like that frog there, it has a broken barb right under its left eye, just the tip though.¡±
¡°I think I can see the frog... It''s like a spyglass?¡±
¡°It doesn''t narrow my field of view though.¡±
¡°Amazing!¡±
I''m really too much of an easy man, a warm, fuzzy feeling inside of me is growing, which makes me feel a lot manlier. ¡°Last one is [Wild Eyes], it sharpens my spirit sense so that I can detect lifeforms through the mist. While Ara-san is way better than me without any [Skills], [Wild Eyes] is faster when focusing on spirits than her.¡±
Of course, Ara-san can''t let it slide like that. ¡°Actually, it''s a [Spell], since it uses MP. [Wild Eyes] allows Kenta-kun to swiftly focus all his capabilities to take in his environment using certain criteria. For now, he just uses it to see if spirits are there and what kind of spirits they are, as his spirit sense is still underdeveloped. Think of it as a [Spell], that gives you fast information, how many yellow objects are within your sight.¡±
¡°I don''t get it, but it''s cool, right?¡±
¡°If we sum it up, yes. It certainly lets him stand above most [Spirit Magic]-users that are not alfar, at least concerning spirit senses.¡±
¡°Phew... it''s not like I''m trying to mess with any alfr anytime soon.¡± The last one was enough, the mercenary-alfr I killed. She underestimated my spirit senses and tried to sneak up on me, so I got her when she let her guard down in her arrogance.
I sure hope that [Wild Eyes] is up to the task of getting us out of these swamps safely. At least we still have Ara-san, she''s often dependable enough, so as long as we keep this alfr here, there should be nothing here that outsmarts us on the spirit-level.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Kruan rips the meat from the crocodile with his maw, sharp teeth separating meat and bone. The still living animal fights within his grasp, but Kruan¡¯s claws dig deeper into it. ¡°Giff up!¡± He spits out the meat-crumbs and bores his teeth into the crocodile''s neck, breaking it with a strong jerk.
He then throws the bloody cadaver into the bog. This should be enough to lure some monsters into their direction, it''s for the task the Great One gave him and his companions. At least one of the tasks.
¡°Thanks, little lizard.¡± A smiling fellow, who''s all flesh and meat, without a single scale to boot, claps with his hands while coming closer to Kruan. He also tried to shove Kruan into the bog, but Kruan bore his hind claws into the ground. ¡°Kch. Don''t be so uptight, man, this way you won''t win any friends.¡±
¡°Noat uptigh, but carrful.¡±
¡°Ss''rak, typical. No honor in falling into water, no honor in brushing your teeth, no honor in being relaxed. Well, not that I need to care. By the way, when are you shedding? Just for reference.¡±
¡°Yuu!¡± Kruan is a bit on edge, but he just clenches his claws, feeling them on his scaly palm, which can withstand the sharpness easily. ¡°Juast be carrful, yuu!¡±
¡°I know, we talked about it in full length... To be accurate, I talked about it in full length, but could you please try to work on your pronunciation? I mean, it almost feels like I''m preaching to a speech-impaired, it may be not fair to ask for it, but I''ve heard D?kk who are easier to understand.¡±
Kruan can''t take it right now. He is at the end of his nerves because of reasons which have nothing to do with this quest, but he roars at the soft-skinned nonetheless: ¡°UAAAAH!¡±
¡°...you still have blood in your spit. This is certainly impressive within your kind, but I''m no ss''rak, so you don''t need to make a point. Ah, there is a monster, another fullupi.¡±
A slimy amphibious aberration of a salamander, fullupis eat fresh cadavers, though sometimes they produce them on their own. For Kruan, it would be a formidable enemy, acidic skin, sharp teeth, a maw large enough to swallow an ss''rak.
The soft-skinned, on the other hand, picks up a stick, just a small twig fallen off a tree ages ago. ¡°Maybe that''s overkill?¡± He throws it, right through the head of the fullupi, which instantly dies. ¡°Ah. No more fullupi please, I''m not getting any XP out of them anymore.¡±
While Kruan doesn''t like that soft-skinned person, he has to recognize his strength. Which isn''t surprising, counting the fact that this one has been a hero for quite a while.
¡°Back to the top- ah!¡±
¡°Whazzit?¡±
¡°Intruders... from the northeast, four people it seems.¡± The soft-skinned used magic to set marks around the swamps, even though the weak soft-skinned avoid this land usually.
¡°What kaind?¡± Kruan has to know because it could endanger the missions he was bestowed with.
¡°Let me check... there. Three of them are humans...¡± Humans? Kruan feels his throat growling, as his bad mood is something he has to carry because of a human. ¡°Two of them have tits, so they''re either women or fat. I guess women, one is blond, the other black-haired.¡±
Black-haired? Like that one... They''re close enough to D¨¦juma, which is supposed to have many black-haired people, but Kruan can''t help but gets his hopes high. ¡°The other one?¡±
¡°Male, I guess. Or really flat and muscular. Guess, no man would pork her then, but let''s say he''s male. All of them are rather young.¡±
¡°Haer-kollor!¡±
¡°Man, keep it down. It''s also black. I thought the girl was just plain ugly, but the boy has similar facial features... They aren''t D¨¦jumians or Southerners, the skin color is different. I can''t sense their spirits with the insects, but I think they''re really humans. Maybe mutants?¡±
Different from other humans!? ¡°Zhe boi... Neim!?¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Hish... hi-s na-me!¡± Kruan tried his hardest to pronounce each word like a soft-skinned would do.
¡°Do you expect me to just flip a switch so that I can hear their conversa- it''s Kenta.¡±
Calmness. A wave of calm grows from Kruan''s conflicted heart, at this moment his state of mind is entirely serene. ¡°I ne-ed you-r help.¡±
¡°Oh? You really hate that guy, right?¡±
Kruan nods, though it isn''t hatred for that human that spurts it. It''s obligation, it''s honor, it''s love. It''s the answer to his frustration, it''s the pinnacle of his doubts, it''s the hatred he had for himself.
¡°Well, sure. Let''s head back to the village and rally some more guys. But let me look at the final one first who has [Bug Repellent] on, my spy can''t even take a look... ah, there. Good thing that I planted it into some frogs as well... Oh shit! It''s Ara''ainn!¡±
¡°Hho?¡±
¡°Ara''ainn! The hero-sage, the alfr hero of knowledge. That''s bad, that''s really, really bad!¡±
Kruan furrows his eyes, as he looks at the soft-skinned. Why should he be so rattled, just because he saw one of his kin?
Volume 06 - Chapter 2-2
¡°Dammitdammitdammitdammit!¡± Unable to stop cursing, I run as fast as I can. Why? Because a fucking gatling water gun is shooting at me, whenever a ''bullet'' hits the ground a hole appears. I might survive a shot or two, but it''s about eighteen shots per second!
¡°Here!¡± Rine swings her sword at a mob... that only she is seeing. ¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Rine-chan, turn around! Arako, do something!¡±
¡°I certainly do.¡±
Several water-blasts are repelled by her [Watershield], ever time the water-barrier is hit, water splashes at her and Kyou-san, who are hiding behind it. It proves to be very effective against those bullets. I also want to hide behind the shield, but then I can''t attack anymore, and with Rine in this state...
Using this assault as an opportunity, the trees started to mess around with her mind. Do you know those game, where the confused condition also messes with your controls? Like reversing them or changing them all the time? She moves awkwardly like that.
The gunner is a large monster with the face of a ram. Four hollow, curved horns are coming out of its neck, all point forwards, shooting the water-bullets in quick succession. It has green-gray skin and large feet, which are hidden inside a swamp hole.
I think it pumps the water from the swamp hole through its leg to its horns, but I''m too busy with surviving to take a good look to be certain.
Finally! It lets me off to shoot at Rine, who reflexively starts to deflect the water-bullets with her sword. The speed she''s moving at while not even sure where to look is amazing. Too bad the mob still makes sure to shoot at the [Watershield] and me for small instances to keep us away.
The moment it turns its head to Rine again, I use [Camouflage] to adapt my appearance to the surrounding and [Mask of Wildlife] to mix my spirit with the vegetation around me, though they are only a few, there are some trees and reeds. However, they''re close enough to do something... Good, it lost me.
Time to mount a counterattack. Rine moves closer while deflecting, as she now at least knows where the attacks are coming from, let''s get it in a pincer!
Theoretically, it''d be great just to cram its horns, but it''s not like I can simply use [Quadruple Shot] to jam each of its horns with an arrow, especially while it''s in rapid-fire mode. So I have to kill it.
Without hesitation, I get closer. My [Camouflage]-skill only adapts my body color the moment I use it, so it doesn''t change again when I move, but I just have to hope that the mob will take some time to realize that there is a strange color mix moving.
A full barrage of water-blasts answers my hopes! I turn around to make it hurt my back instead while trying to use the sheer force to sling myself back behind Ara-san''s [Watershield]. It hurts! My back hurts badly, each bullet has the power of a baseball bat behind it... I think? It''s not like I was beaten up by one ever before.
¡°[Heal]!¡± Kyou-san''s spell makes the pain subside. ¡°Let''s count on Rine-chan.¡±
Ah, my motivation drops. I literally feel like all the excitement I had before, even if it was just angst and cursing, is blown away, like a balloon losing air. Well, I guess we have no choice here, I mean, Rine can even keep up with this rapid-fire, even deflecting it.
Ara-san points at the princess of Feuerberg or rather... ¡°You mean the one, who fell into a bog?¡± I facepalm.
Seriously? ¡°Phew...¡± Well, I can''t say what Rine is currently even seeing, so missteps should be a given.
The mob keeps shooting at the bog, Rine is losing HP, as the water impedes her movements and therefore she can''t deflect all bullets in time anymore. Which means, she''s still capable of deflecting a lot, which is crazy in itself!
Then she decided to dive in, giving the mob no way to find her, so it shoots at random into the water.
Well, time to step in. ¡°Kyou-san, give me [Protect], Ara-san, drop the [Watershield], I''ll charge in.¡± This will hurt, this will really, really hurt. Nonetheless, I change into [Pikeman] to buff my [Vitality] as much as possible.
Kyou-san gives me a strange look for a moment, but then: ¡°Fine. [Protect]!¡± A small, protective area surrounds me, it''ll just act like a cushion, but seeing how the [Watershield] holds, maybe only the initial impact of the water-bullets is powerful, so [Protect] might be worth much. We under-use this spell anyway.
¡°I''ll drop the shield in three... two... one...¡±
The second the [Watershield] dissipates, the mob changes its target. Instead of shooting a Rine it can''t detect, it blasts me with a series of shots. Luckily, while it slows me down, and feels like hitting the water with the chest after jumping from a ten-meter platform, I just keep pushing forward.
Thank you, [Protect].
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± Working against the bullets, I catapult myself forward using my skill. The spear blade just graces the nose of the mob, then gravity takes its toll, and I fall into the same bog it''s in.
Time to take the reigns! I grip one of its horns and pull myself up onto it, swinging myself on its neck, just to jam my spear between its horn, giving me leverage to twist its neck. The mob stands up on its hind legs, but I won''t let you go!
¡°Anyone, a killing blow he-¡± I gasp, as I look back at Ara-san and Kyou-san, as suddenly something shoots out of another waterhole, winding around the latter girl.
¡°Huh?¡± Kyou-san looks startled, as she''s caught by something slimy, pink... a tongue, it''s a giant frog''s tongue. ¡°Wah!¡± Here she goes.
A huge purple, green-thorned frog pulls her in and swallows her whole.
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡°WHAT!?¡± Unable to really process what just happened, the strength in my grip loosens, and the water-shooting beast''s struggle becomes more severe.
Dammit mob, try to read the mood! I wrestle back for control, as Ara-san is facing the purple frog on its own. She slings her [Watergun]-spell at it, as she tries to get some distance. Despite Kyou-san just being eaten, Ara-san remains calm and methodical.
For me, I can''t even think straight. ¡°RINE, DAMMIT! WHERE ARE YOU!¡± Just emerge and... wait, what if she hasn''t submerged voluntarily, but was in a battle with another mob? I check her status, and this seems like the case here.
Time to get reckless.
I jump from the horned mob''s neck, while still twisting it, then I stem my feet at its flank, while slowly using the leverage my spear has. There it is! The point I''m looking for. I yank the pole forcefully and an ugly sound later, the mob falls lifelessly into the bog, with me on it.
Struggling against the carcass and the water, I feel how my breath is running out, but I need my spear, which is still caught between the horns.
Air! I need air!
Looks like I have to lift the corpse with my spear to the surface. It''s surprisingly easy, but on the other hand, I''m in my [Pikeman]-class, which has the highest [Strength]. This and the fact, that the cursed ring boosts all my [Attributes], as long as I stay close to my wives, gives me all the power I need.
¡°Buah!¡± Diving inside a bog isn''t recommended, I have a slimy feeling inside my nostrils, and ears, while my whole body just feels... filthy. Although there is no time to be disgusted, I need to keep pressing forward.
Rine or Kyou-san? One being underwater for a while, the other one swallowed alive. ...I hate myself for this, but I''ll choose Rine, as breath is something both will lack, and it might take a while to recover Kyou-san, the odds are bad for her to get out of this alive in the first place. Plus, Ara-san is on this.
Back into a bog, the one Rine fell into.
Only problem: I can''t see shit, even after changing into [Ranger]! The water is too foggy, the pure [Perception]-ability isn''t enough, and I have no skills to circumvent these conditions.
Wrong decision? I need to dive further, hoping to feel some sort of fight going on.
There is a water current flowing... there! Good thing, that [Perception] enhances all my senses. A small white-glowing orb, Rine''s [Torch]-spell. So it functions underwater, too.
What about the girl itself? She''s caught in... vines? Did the trees or other plants decide to harvest us? Dammit!
If Rine can cast [Torch] underwater, that means... ¡°[En*splosh*tan*splosh*gle*splosh]!¡± Usually, it would only strengthen the grip, but in this case I want them to leave Rine alone, so I choose a new target for them: Myself.
Yup, I''m entangled entirely by the vines, but then suddenly, they all come loose. Rine cuts them. I guess she was cutting them the whole time, but kept on being restrained. Back to [Pikeman], I need that [Strength] again, as I can glimpse how blue Rine''s face is looking, while she smiles at me. She''s running out of air!
I grab her arm and pull her behind me as I resurface. Her weak kicks just support my theory that she''s about to pass out. Though I have to be fair; she has been fighting killer-vines without breathing the whole time, of course even Rine would hit her limit.
¡°Uuaaah *cough, cough*!¡± With a really primal sound, Rine starts breathing in the second her face is above the surface, only to swallow some water in the process.
You gain 6 WP.
You''ve saved each other, a true couple faces peril together!
...I''d rather avoid that situation altogether, instead of getting these WP, but I guess it''s better than nothing.
I swim to the shore with Rine in tow, put her at the shore, and go to the next fight, the purple frog with green thorns.
For some reason, that mob isn''t looking good. ¡°Ara-san, what did you do to it?¡±
¡°Almost nothing.¡± I see some ice around it, shattered [Icicle Knives], I guess she couldn''t fire a [Tidal Wave] due to its chanting time and was hesitant to pierce it with [Root Lances] since she might also hit Kyou-san inside...
Wait a minute... These mouth-movements...
The frog uses a spray of acid. Not against us, it just barfs, including enough chunks to give us an idea of its diet. One of them is Kyou-san. She''s definitely the reason why the frog threw up!
¡°Seriously, you''re so toxic that even the mobs won''t eat you?¡± I know, this is mean, but let me have this moment, she''s safe; her squirms, moans and status tell me that she''s fine; and this is such a rare occasion.
Another monster emerges... acid and mucus all over its body, the greasy hair bundled in thick, slimy strands, it''s a really pissed Kyou-san, and she''s scary! ¡°Shut up.¡± It''s not an order, it''s an unspoken threat. She stands up shakily, while she draws her knife. ¡°[Coating]!¡± A new skill of hers, it transforms an herb or medicine into a liquid. The perfect tool for poisoners.
Her body changes muscle-proportions, she just changed classes. I know, it''s [Cook].
The look she gives the frog makes it startle, I guess it''s afraid. I''m just glad that I''m not it right now. Especially as she jumps right into it, using a skill she attained just a few days ago: ¡°[Butcherknife]!¡±
I will spare you the details of Kyou-san stabbing inside the monster, how she starts to tear flesh, bones, and sinews apart with scary precision, while her poison slowly paralyzes it.
To be fair, Ara-san and I also help, but the slaughter starts and ends with Kyou-san. After the matter, her eyes glance at us, as if she''s thinking about whether we''re her next target or not.
I can only imagine the horrors of being swallowed, and she''s in that particular time. I guess this only squares the bad mood. ¡°...what?¡± She glares at me.
Questions I won''t ask...
Are you alright? - Of course, she isn''t.
Are you hurt? - I can see her status, yes, her HP shaved off a bit, and I guess being swallowed is a way to get bruises everywhere. There is a lot of force at work in the gullet.
How was it inside? - I didn''t survive this battle just to commit suicide afterward.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Therefore I point at the bog in which the water-shooter died. ¡°This one is most likely safe.¡±
¡°...¡± She nods and walks into the rather filthy water. Still better than the goo she has to deal with, I guess.
I take a look at Rine, whose breathing stabilized. ¡°I thought I was dead.¡±
¡°Almost.¡± No matter how ridiculous strong you are, you still need air to breathe. You might also just be unfit to fight some enemies, like plants. Yeah, I found Rine''s weakness, it''s plants, finally! I''m sarcastic, you know?
I mean, she may be the reason why I''m a bit sulky, but it''s because of me, not her. I feel just like I''m not as good at fighting as I used to be, or maybe I''m just jealous because I''m running into too many problems, which I could easily solve if I were only half as strong as Rine.
It''s complicated, but it''s not like I blame Rine, she''s doing her best. I''m not like those people who put all their hatred on a person who''s just better than them. It''s the frustration because I''m not as good as her. Not even comparable.
This is why I don''t feel good about Rine failing against plants which are playing with her senses, even though I''m better than her in this regard. First, my whole prowess is a hero-thing, something that was granted, and I did put some effort into attaining my classes and the [Ranger]-class-up, but it''s not like I could have learned it without the kickstart.
Second, having Rine is always great, because she''s a fail-safe, someone who can turn things around, when they become dangerous, so I''m a bit concerned whether I can keep counting on her.
Third, who would feel good to see a girl almost dying? ¡ OK, to be fair, I would be quite amused if it''d be one of Inoue''s girls.
However, there is still work to do: ¡°Ara-san, there is a plant or a vine monster down there, could you please kill it?¡±
¡°Do I have to?¡±
¡°You''re the only one who''s not wet, so fair dos.¡±
¡°...you''re getting better.¡± Ara-san nods, I guess this plays in her alfr-humor. ¡°Though you''ve forgotten something: [Air Bubble]!¡± She casts a spell, the air around her shimmers, and she quickly jumps into the bog, a bubble forms around her, keeping her mostly dry.
¡°...well, can you stand up, Rine?¡±
¡°Please take my hand.¡± Ah, there it is, her almost-crying face.
¡°Phew...¡± I take it and lift her up. ¡°Anything broken?¡±
¡°I think? Because I can hardly tell the difference between up and down. When you grabbed me, I thought ''Why is Kenta swimming downwards,'' but it''s me. I think my sense of direction is broken.¡±
What a pain. Good thinking, me, that I grabbed her when we were underwater. I thought she might not have had enough strength to swim anymore, but to think that all that spirit-manipulation will get her this messed up. I''ve known before that your senses are the doorway to reality, though it was just a pure philosophical thought until now.
To not trust your own senses, this is just crazy. Is this why Rine is clenching my hand? Because it gives her some minimal security of which way is which? ¡°Tehehe.¡± No, she''s smiling like an idiot, so she''s just happy to hold my hand.
I hear someone closing in, it''s Kyou-san, who may be wet, but at least got most of the mucus from her. The way she walks is awkward, could it be... that it hurts? Considering how she treated me way back, I don''t feel sympathy, but at the moment, a lot of bad stuff is happening at her at the same time.
Normally, it''d be me, so again: No sympathy. A bit of concern, yes. Especially how it''ll worsen her mood. Yes, like this, how she looks at me with contempt, asking with a strained voice: ¡°...what?¡±
Not again. I wish I had a choice-screen, because then I may deduct the right answer. ¡°Could you please take a look at Rine?¡± So I opt for a diversion, trying to act as always. Well, I added a ''please'' to be sure.
¡°...fine.¡± It worked? It worked! Kyou-san changes to [Priest] and takes a look. ¡°Just some bruises, and some minor damage at several places due to suffocation. When we''re out of here, I''ll treat her properly, but for now [Heal]!¡±
¡°Ah, this is good. Another one, please.¡±
¡°[Heal]!¡±
¡°Thanks, Kyou!¡± Rine falls into her arms, or more, she tries to fall 50 degrees left from Kyou-san in some air-arms. So I gently correct her course before she smashes her head into my face. ¡°I''m super happy, that you''re alright.¡±
Kyou-san pats Rine''s back, even though she''s half a head shorter than her, so it''s a bit awkward.
*Splash* Ara-san emerges from the water, dragging a knotted vine behind her. ¡°Kenta-kun, if you could please?¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I change into [Pikeman] and begin reeling it in. A big clump of knotted vines surfaces, at the center a small, gnomish looking creature made out of wood, struggling to move the vines, but I guess Ara-san has control here.
¡°Thanks, Kenta-kun. Now I can properly aim. [Plant Whip]!¡± The wood-gnome is whipped by several of its own vines, and Ara-san''s staff, after it lost consciousness, crushes its head. ¡°These monsters are capable of using [Spirit Magic]. At least to some degree.¡±
The easiest to understand the difference between a monster and someone from another humanoid species is speech. A kobold might look like a two-legged dog and have some sort of culture, but the latter goes for apes as well, and those are also still animals.
There is only one language in this world so far. If it can''t speak it, don''t treat it like a human. Or alfr. Keep things simple, especially if it tried to kill you. Maybe it''s totally wrong, but it works for now.
¡°Let''s get to a place that at least feels safe.¡± There are two bogs, some trees, and a lot of trouble. I''d really hate to fight even more of these monsters!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Phew...¡± Thanks to Ara-san and her [Dry]-spell, we''re at least not wet anymore, though I think I still stink like swamp. Maybe I just imagine it, but same goes for the girls, who at times sniff at their sleeves.
Finding a place to take a rest is surprisingly difficult, as we tried a ''no trees, no bogs''-policy. For now, we ignited a campfire on a clearing, to keep some warmth and keep the mist at bay.
Rine links her arm with mine, as we''re farming the WP, though she''s cuddling it even more than usual. I somehow have an inkling that there is something wrong with her, and that I should know what.
Kyou-san has treated her, so unless it''s something her [Check-up]-skill missed, it should be no injury or another health-related issue. Usually, I might ask Kyou-san to check her up again, but my instincts tell me that I shouldn''t. Most likely she would take it the wrong way.
Well, let''s start the uncomfortable but necessary conversation instead: ¡°Let''s reflect on the last battle.¡±
Rine cocks her head, Ara-san''s ears are twitching, Kyou-san looks at me as if I want to start a conversation about Japan during WWII.
¡°I don''t like to pussyfoot around, so I''ll be direct: We sucked. Big time.¡±
¡°...sorry...¡±
¡°Rine, don''t apologize! And don''t you dare to tear up here! There is no reason to apologize. It''s not like it could be helped. So don''t sulk about that, because we can do better now. If we talk about it, analyze the strategy so far, and figure out what to change..¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Her beaming smile is much better than her crying face, she often changes moods like that, but usually, she''s the one that keeps us all thinking positive, so something is odd.
Let''s concentrate on the strategic meeting right now. It''ll be similar to MMORPGs when there is a new raid or something; you suck at it at first, then you''ll talk over it; it becomes better, you discuss again, rinse and repeat. We face the same problems: Foes we can''t easily get rid of, new environments to adapt to, and a huge lack of knowledge of what is coming at us.
Most raids become easier, sometimes due to updates to the raid or the characters'' statuses, but the best way to improve is just knowing how it works: Which areas constantly spawns monsters, when there is a need to rebuff, which enemies need tanking, which ones kiting, which are mez, what kind of mez they are, how to avoid them. Many things accumulate to a hell of a headache until these questions are answered.
¡°Let''s first name the three mobs: Vine-gnome, thorn-frog, and rapid-water. So, we have the vine-gnome, which has actively messed with Rine''s perception.¡± The moment it was dead, Rine could tell the difference between directions again, it''s basically a mez. ¡°This is bad news. It was able to tell who has the least amount of protection against [Spirit Magic] and made that person practically helpless. If it weren''t Rine... it wouldn''t have gone so well. Ara-san, please keep your eyes open for those.¡±
¡°Affirmative.¡±
¡°Whenever someone feels strange, try to get to that person. Can you dispel it?¡±
¡°No. There may also be cases when I can''t even detect the anomaly.¡±
¡°How come? Shouldn''t you be able to notice it, if someone plays with our spirits?¡±
¡°Only during that moment of interference, in this case, I can stop it. If I miss this moment, it becomes complicated. Your human spirits are strange compared to alfr spirits. This difference makes it difficult to perceive changes that aren''t intrinsic. Humans and folksmen are especially capable of having sudden and strong changes in their spirits, during a battle your spirits usually shift their spectrums constantly.¡±
¡°So basically, you can tell if someone is messing around, but not if it was messed with... but why can''t you remove it, even if you know it?¡±
¡°I don''t have a spell, which can detect and solve whatever is done to the spirit, and I lack the professional knowledge of a psychiatrist to do it manually.¡± So psychiatrist of Alfarheim are messing around with your head for real? ¡°However, there is another strategy. Whenever something is done to your spirit, just widen the distance to the one who did it. As long as there is no irreparable damage done, your spirit will set itself right back.¡±
¡°Which is hard, if you don''t know which direction is which... Phew, just try your best to keep the victim safe, OK? Plus, take these vine-gnomes out!¡±
¡°Affirmative.¡±
¡°Next one, the thorn-frogs. As far as we know, they only have the tongue to look out, but they''re also lurking monsters. Kyou-san, did you poison it from inside?¡±
¡°...yes.¡± This face, she just remembered how it was to be swallowed. ¡°Inside it''s dark, wet, cramped, and it squeezes the juice out of you. I couldn''t properly move, without my arm-pouch, I''d have never gotten outside.¡± Too much detail!
¡°Hm... let''s try stink-bombs next time. Maybe that''s enough. Aside from their swallowing, they''re just a bunch of HP, so Rine, you''ll concentrate on those.¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°Next the rapid-water... this one is just nasty. Its shots are soft enough to man up with a buff, the mob itself is neither fast nor that sturdy. I''ll tank it, if necessary, as they could prove fatal while fighting something else. This water-gatling can be really serious if you''re not prepared, and will mess up everything else.¡±
¡°Here.¡± Kyou-san lifts her hand. ¡°What should I do?¡±
¡°Until we encounter a new type, just stick killing thorn-frogs.¡±
¡°Great.¡± She smiles, she holds a grudge and is willing to kill. I guess it''s good that she''s motivated to fight directly?
¡°Be prepared to run away if things go bad. We''ll follow Ara-san then, these monsters are in our level-range here so far, so it''s not all bad. I''ve already leveled up once, it''d be actually a great grinding ground, but don''t drop your guard. Especially the deeper we go, because the worst mobs will claim the best territories. So we''ll try to circumvent them, if possible.¡±
¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡± ...why in unison? And all of you? I mean, it has a certain charm, but it makes me feel like some commander guy. I''m just a gamer...
I just wish we could shield Rine''s spirit. Ara-san has the [Mind Shield]-spell, but it''s a passive one, which merely increases her own mental fortitude against mind-controlling effects.
You gain 1 WP.
Even in times of peril, you remember to maintain the actions of love.
¡°Good, linking time is up, let''s-¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°Ouch!¡± For some reason, Rine starts hissing at me, as she really claws her hands into my arm. I know, she doesn''t like to let me go, but this... wait... please no... ¡°Rine? Are you feeling good?¡±
She pouts! She isn''t even looking at me, she''s in the worst mood right now.
This can only mean one thing... Right? Wait, the timing is wrong... ¡°Kyou-san? Please stay calm and answer this question... is this what I think it is?¡±
¡°...¡± Kyou-san starts counting days at her hand. ¡°It''s actually late...¡±
¡°But isn''t it after-¡±
¡°Put it together.¡± So this means that Kyou-san''s also late? Ugh, uncomfortable here! It''s your stuff, not mine! Yet she begins mumbling something. ¡°...no, it can''t be, right?¡±
I don''t like that tone. ¡°What?¡±
¡°There are cases where when several women are together for some time, their periods align.¡±
¡°Hah!?¡± This has to be an urban myth, right? How does that make sense!?
¡°I thought you humans are ovulating all the time?¡± At least there is one, who knows even less than I about this.
¡°...the ring. It''s the ring!¡± Kyou-san stares at her left hand. ¡°It makes sense! That''s why I was late recently.¡± Please, spare me the details. ¡°Now Rine is also late, but we''re closer... so Arako will have her next early.¡±
¡°...no! I don''t want to get through it again, especially not earlier than necessary!¡± Ara-san sure hates that. I can''t even blame her for that. For her, it''s not even natural.
However, there was a hidden message in there...
¡°Kenta, why are you just talking with them? What about me?¡± Ouch, let my arm go!
Argh! Let''s be straight: Rine is always moody, very naive, and in many senses a child. She may also have PMS. What that is? Look it up, I won''t talk about it! To sum it up, right before her ''monthlies'' she tends to swing from one mood to another while being highly irritated.
I only witnessed it once, back in Aroahenn when I was making the [Ranger]-class up. I wasn''t prepared, I didn''t know what to do, I call it the ''five days of terror.'' When the irateness stops, it starts, she becomes a whiny moanbag then.
Whatever Rine does, she does it three times more intensely than the regular human. Including that time of the month.
Knowing that, the best I can do is not to challenge it. ¡°Rine, how are you?¡± I really suck at starting small talk.
¡°Do I stink? Is that why you were trying to break us apart? Or because I made another mistake? But Kenta isn''t it you, who-¡±
...this might take some time...
I also have mixed feelings about the future. If all of them are really aligning, I''ll have to deal with three of them in ''that state'' at the same time. On the other hand, it''ll only last a few of the thirty days, which are three weeks in this world''s calendar. This may still be better than handling each of them individually over a much longer period of time...
Anyone who thinks that traveling with an all-female party is a bliss should face this reality: Girls have periods!
¡°Here, Rine-chan.¡± For some reason, Kyou-san presses some liquid in a small flask into Rine''s hand. ¡°Drink it.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°It makes Ken like you more.¡±
¡°Oh!!!¡± Rine''s eyes are sparkling, as she drinks the liquid. What is it? As Rine holds it, I can identify it as if I were holding it by myself thanks to the curse.
[Madhorn Extraction]
Description:
A medicine Momokawa Kyou made out of the madhorn-herb for her friend Katarine von Stolzherz.
Status:
Adjust hormone levels.
Value:
105 Newgold
Madhorn? It''s one of those herbs which causes hallucinations and such, right? Rine just drank something like that. As a hero, medicine works fast and sometimes strange, so a sudden change is visible, her facial expressions loosen, she cocks her head, looks at me and smiles...
¡°Kyou-san, is it?¡±
¡°Yes, I made it for her, because she was suffering the last time. I looked at her with [Check-up] back then and found out it''s because of her hormone levels. So I made a medicine to make small corrections there.¡±
You know, I always liked crafting classes. Today, I fell in love with one, [Herbalist]. Because it can make miracles happen.
¡°I''ve never tested it before, so I can''t guarantee its effectiveness. I just did what my skills suggested.¡±
¡°What are you even talking about?¡± The girl in question is asking. ¡°But I''m feeling somehow calmer. Ah, I was troubling Kenta again, I''m sorry.¡±
¡°Don''t mind. Could you let me go?¡±
¡°Ah, sorry!¡±
With this new freedom, I grab Kyou-san''s hands: ¡°Thank you!¡± It comes from the heart.
Her eyes are full of contempt: ¡°You''re about to ask, if there is a medicine for the other thing too, right?¡± She caught me.
¡°There is?¡± Ara-san is also keen, no wonder, she''s the one who''s actually suffering.
Kyou-san plays with the ring on her finger, while grumbling: ¡°It''s something natural, so I can''t use [Check-up] to see what''s wrong... so I have no clue...¡± So she was looking for it?
¡°Nonetheless, thank you.¡± I put some severity into my words, and look directly into her eyes: ¡°You''re doing great.¡± While she still has a lot to learn about combat, she''s way ahead of me in terms of crafting.
Crafting is besides combat another reason why heroes are summoned. Not only their knowledge about technology, but how quickly they can learn and apply stuff. Kyou-san doesn''t know anything about hormones, but after leveling up so much, she could see what exactly happens with Rine during that time, and use this knowledge to counter it by relying on her skills to make things right.
¡°...¡± For some reason, Kyou-san''s agape. ¡°Could you please let my hands go?¡±
¡°Ah.¡± I let her go, scratching my head. ¡°Sorry. I mean, I don''t know... just sorry.¡± She made this medicine, because she was either concerned about or annoyed by Rine last time. Either way, she did it, and that''s praiseworthy.
Rine makes a request. ¡°Kenta, can I hold your hand?¡±
¡°Good idea.¡± This not only gives us another WP today, but also some peace of mind, as I''ll know where Rine is. ¡°Time to move on, relight the torches at the fire, then we''ll extinguish it.¡± Last fight the torches were extinguished because we dropped them for free hands, and they were inside the [Watershield].
Nonetheless, they might still prove useful.
I mean, Kyou-san turned out to be useful as well, and now she has risen to something like a saint-status for me. At least until she starts nagging again, which might be soon. Nonetheless, I''m very thankful at this moment.
Volume 06 - Chapter 2-3
My head hurts. At the same time, it floats way above the clouds. I feel bad, but I also feel good. I wish I could say it''s not because of Ken''s praise, but that would be a lie.
I would be happier about it if it weren''t for his selfish reasons. Using the hero-system to craft is somewhat tricky as there are several steps needed even to know where to start. [Check-up] gives me more details of what is wrong, in Rine-chan''s case, it''s a hormone thing. [Nutrition Counseling] gave me an idea how to regulate it, [Herbal Lore] told me what kind of herbs have the necessary agent to counter Rine-chan''s imbalance, while I had to use all what my tutor, Pavi''yorn, taught me about processing herbs to find the right way to compound the medicine.
A lot of trial and error, most of it back when I had only the [Healer]-class to rely on, instead of the superior [Herbalist].
Until now, I wasn''t even sure it works. Actually, [Check-up] tells me that it''s still not all well, Rine-chan will start to get a stomach ache if she takes the medicine regularly, so I still need to refine this.
To be honest, it''d be much better if Rine-chan just starts to learn how to get a grip on her mood swings, but it''s too much to ask for. For now, a regulated intake of the medicine will at least relieve the rest of us for some time.
The real scary part is how easy it is to control a body via medicine. Back at home, I saw some TV-reports and visited some sites with my smartphone which explained how hormones have a great effect on people, but I still believed that the mind rules over the body.
I''m not sure anymore, as I just adjusted Rine-chan''s mind by drugging her body. Well, the pill also works with hormones, after all...
Will I be able to control my own mind as well at some point?
¡°*sigh*¡±
¡°Is something wrong?¡± Arako''s left ear rises as she musters me from the side.
¡°Plenty. This place makes me all gloomy.¡± While Ken is the one who irritates me the most right now, I won''t discuss it with Arako when he can listen in with his good hearing.
I need a skill which makes it impossible to listen in on my conversations... maybe the [Conversation]-ability has one, but only my [Priest]-class can use it. Right now, [Herbalist]''s [Spirit Magic] is more important, it may be only superficial protection against the mind influencing powers of the trees here, but it''s the only one I have.
¡°I have an idea, how I can lift your mood. Please, give me your hand.¡±
I have a bad feeling about it. Arako doesn''t sound any different, and her face is the same as always, but the way how her ears are moving... ¡°Are you planning to put itching powder on my hand?¡±
¡°Oh, you already knew this method?¡±
¡°Are you serious? The itching would drive me crazy!¡±
¡°You would also stop being gloomy.¡±
Actually, I''m not gloomy at all anymore. This bad joke pushed my gloominess aside for disbelief and irritation: ¡°This only exchanges one problem with another.¡±
¡°Sometimes you''re hard to please, Momo.¡± Is she offended? While I can read some of Arako''s expressions, others are just perplexing, like the way her lips just twisted. Is this a smile or is she sore?
¡°You''re confused, right?¡±
¡°...what?¡±
¡°I tried to read your face. The way your eyebrows move, this is confusion, right?¡±
¡°Are you playing with me?¡±
¡°I''m also trying to learn to read human faces better.¡±
¡°So you''re playing with me! Ken! Stop smirking!¡± Embarrassing! I feel my cheeks redden. Arako tricked me and Ken has heard the whole conversation! I want to disappear, this has to be because I''m on my period! Usually, I''m more on guard!
I want to snap at both of them, I want to say something, but right now, I''m not in the condition to say something that''s not just mean. I could take this embarrassment if it''d be just Arako, she''s a friend, nothing to be ashamed of forever, but Ken also knows!
This may be my pride as a woman, but I don''t want Ken to see me on this side of the joke.
You gain 1 WP.
Your husband and sister-wife deepened their bond by holding hands. Be sure to get your turn as well.
Please no!
¡°Kenta-kun, I''ll take Katarine-san.¡±
¡°Take good care of her.¡±
¡°Yay, Kenta''s worried about me.¡±
¡°You have a big ''victim'' tattooed on your forehead.¡±
¡°I have?¡± Rine-chan feels her forehead.
¡°Figuratively. Just go to Ara-san... Actually, Ara-san, Kyou-san, come here. We''ll make the hand-holding with both of you.¡±
Don''t you care about my feelings at all!? Holding your hand right now is the worst thing, my head is still filled with shame, you insensitive moron!
No, I''m the idiot! Why do I even expect Ken to have any form of delicacy in the first place?
Too much, my head is about to burst! It hurts, it''s full of feelings, I need a break!
¡°Kyou, is everything alright?¡± Rine-chan is the only one, who cares. ¡°Do you need a break?¡±
No, I can see Ken snorting already. If I ask for another break, he will start looking down on me again. More than usual... I mean, I''ve finally got some ground, was able to make Ken praise me for the first time, so-
I MAKE NO SENSE AT ALL!
I just want to go to sleep. Dangerous, it''s dangerous. I need to calm down. It''s just... yes, it''s just Ken. No reason to get that excited. Looking into his face calms me down because I can still see traces of the boy I knew back in Japan.
He may have grown a bit, but he''s still an untrusty idiot who''s full of himself. Just what''s wrong with me?
¡°Why are you looking at me like I''ve waltz myself on the dirt, trying to make a mud angel?¡±
¡°No reason.¡± I just take his stupid hand and get over it. It feels like always, no, it''s giving me solace, no, it''s like a poisonous snake. So many contradictions.
In the end, all four of us are holding hands, Arako and me with Ken, Rine-chan with Arako. This surely feels a bit odd, especially given where we are right now.
There is an eerie silence here. Of course, bugs are buzzing through the mist, a constant croaking can be heard, and sometimes the water ripples when a fish or amphibian is jumping out of the dark water. Still, all four of us are quiet, giving it this vibe of danger.
Ken''s looking about everywhere, I look at his stats, he spends his SP and MP freely. Don''t do that, you''ll be exhausted!
¡°Everyone, I have an idea,¡± Rine-chan''s voice cheerily just interrupts this tense moment. ¡°Let''s sing.¡±
I feel a tug at my hand, as Ken is about to make a facepalm, but after realizing that it''s occupied, he just rolls his eyes. ¡°Serious? Again? I mean, serious!?¡±
¡°Of course! I''m all about singing right now, thanks to Ara''s training, and I don''t know any songs of your world.¡±
Obviously, ''Saa, Ike Ninninger'' is the first song that comes into my mind. Though I wouldn''t even dare to sing it with Ken present. Or ever in any form of public.
Still, how did Rine-chan come to this idea?
"Music? Sounds interesting." I don''t know if this is typical for Arako or not. "Who begins?"
"...please don''t sing." Ken is of course against the idea.
For me, I''m a bit torn. In Japan, my friends and I often visited karaoke bars, therefore I''m not opposed in general. It''s just that the idea of singing here in the swamp is strange.
"Girls, do I have to explain it again? We''re in the midst of a dangerous swamp with a ton of things which wants to kill us here, the fucking trees are out there to get us, and you think of singing!?"
"But Kenta, trees don''t have ears. Also, whatever is here to get us, don''t need to rely on their hearing to find us, right? They have their spirit senses for this, the monsters we met before were more about laying traps anyways. Besides, I remember that your [Pitch]-skill makes it possible for you to hear everything no matter how many other noises are around, right? So no problem!¡±
Ken''s mouth is agape. He''s thoroughly overwhelmed by Rine-chan''s arguments, which even make sense. Of course, he''s in disbelieve. I am as well, I know that Rine-chan is smarter than she thinks she is, but this is a bit unexpected.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°I''ll begin!¡± The princess answers the question of the alfr. ¡°Maybe you know this already, it''s ''Miller''s Journey!''¡± Rine-chan clears her throat.
¡°In the mill, there was alone
the miller and his grinding stone.
He was tired of its song,
packed his stuff and said: So long!¡±
Something strange is happening here. While listening to Rine-chan''s beautiful singing voice, I have different lines in my head:
¡°The Miller was in the mill alone,
always listening to the grinding of the gears.
''It''s boring!'' he says
So he takes his backpack and leaves.¡±
While the first one is marvelous, the second one is a horrendous crime against music itself. The whole rhythm and melody are wrong; nothing is at sync.
I begin to concentrate on the harmonious version of the song. I''m almost capable of ignoring the other version, which pops into my head. Still, this is unpleasant.
Looking at Ken, I''m sure he has a similar experience, Arako is calm, though her ears are lowering, so she may be proud or maybe excited. She must have known...
I remember how Arako always says how the translation function of the hero-system can make some things messy. Music is one of them.
Rine-chan''s song ends, it''s an easy one for children. Still, she had much fun singing, it''s impossible not to notice.
¡°It''s my turn,¡± Arako claims, while she clears her throat. ¡°Alfr music is a bit different, so excuse me.¡± Without even waiting for an answer, she starts. I don''t know what it is, but she starts.
Dissonance. I can only hear about half of the sounds she produces, but every note brings more headache. On the other hand, Ken yells while jerking his muscles: ¡°STOP! STOP IT!¡±
Alfar and Ken have a much better hearing than ordinary humans. Therefore, Arako might hit notes in a pitch I can''t hear anymore, while Ken can hear every single one of them.
I guess that''s the reason why Arako was looking forward to sing a song. I use my free hand to reach over Ken and pull her ear: ¡°Ouch!¡± These are much more sensitive than human ears, so I put some vigor into my pull. I have no nerve to endure this kind of torture. ¡°I was at the best part.¡±
¡°You''re just trying to trick us with this music. I still remember how you sang in the rain with us.¡± It was when we left Aroahenn and it started to rain for the first time in this rainy season.
¡°...I was careless.¡±
Too bad, Arako might have a bit of a hoarse singing voice, but I liked the song from the other day.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°They do have nerves. They''re singing!¡±
¡°Zhey do watt!?¡± Kruan and his eight companions are walking through the marshes, guided by their alfr companion. These humans take the swamp very lightly, on the other side, Kruan and the other ss''rak can also slack off a bit, as long as they have their alfr.
Most dangers of the swamps are nothing to an alfr, it seems. ¡°We clos?¡±
¡°''Close.''¡±
¡°Rr?¡±
¡°The word is ''close.'' Not ''clos.''¡±
¡°Arr we close?¡±
¡°Now you''re messing up your ''are.'' Well, maybe I should just focus on the nouns for starters. Means: ''Arr abut zree maooafs clos enoff?''¡±
Kruan is a very patient ss''rak. Which means that this kind of disrespect only makes him swash his tail towards the alfr, instead of his claws and teeth.
Too bad that the meat-skin nimbly evades: ¡°That was close, you almost broke your tail! Watch out!¡±
¡°I apologize,¡± this was not honorable, ¡°we cloze to boy, lost nerf.¡±
¡°Don''t worry.¡± The alfr throws a mudball right into the ss''rak face. ¡°This is how my people forgive.¡±
Kruan has never met another alfr before. Still, the more time he spends with this one, the more he concludes that they''re a species worth hating.
¡°Back to topic, I''m not sure... do you even use the looaf-system?¡± Kruan shakes his head, he can only imagine that it''s a sort of distance. ¡°OK, it''s simple. This is about a looaf.¡± He spreads his arm a bit. ¡°If you have eight looaf, you have a kuooaf. Twenty-one kuooaf are a pooaf. Five pooaf are a fyooaf, and seven fyooaf are one maooaf. It''s simple, right?¡±
It doesn''t make any sense at all and is much more complicated than it needs to be.
¡°Well, you don''t, I guess... Let''s say, that''s unlikely to get to them before sundown, especially for you. I mean, if it were me, I could definitely catch up to them, but the boy is your date, and I really would like not to meet Ara''ainn, y''know?¡±
¡°Whazz up wiz her and yuu?¡±
The alfr is flicking his ear, as he ponders about this question. ¡°Complicated and personal. By the way, how did you convinced wannabe-boss to let you go?¡±
Kruan remains quiet. The leader of their whole clutch here doesn''t know how Kruan pursues this particular prey. Kenta. An unusual name, so it was likely that he was the same one as the one Kruan knows. The ss''rak is concerned whether he would be allowed to hunt him, so he did something dishonorable and didn''t even ask the one above him for permission.
¡°Well, suit yourself. It''s also complicated and personal, I guess? ...still, I''m curious, what exactly did you do to please wannabe-boss? I mean, did you help him shed his skin? Did you tell him the best place to take a sunbath? No, don''t tell me... did you praise him, telling him how honored he is?¡±
¡°Zhu haff no idea of honor.¡± The ambivalent sense of honor other species feels is making Kruan sick in his stomach. Honor is earned, not given. Even if someone treats you like dirt, you still can have your honor.
¡°Nah, just kidding. Don''t like that guy much. He always tells me to be more, urks... respectful! I mean, thinking he''s all that great and such, what a phony. I liked Taraan more, he was a fine guy.¡±
¡°It''z dizreshpectfool to speek of ze dead.¡± The memory alone shall be enough for them.
¡°That''s why nobody wants to be friends with your kind.¡± From all sides, the alfr is hissed at, as all of Kruan''s warriors are feeling offended. ¡°Hey, I''m only speaking the truth.¡±
Kruan is only assured that the only people who can possibly like alfar are other alfar.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s nighttime, Kyou-san and I are having our night watch. I rest my head on her lap, as we couldn''t farm this WP otherwise, while Ara-san lies next to me, fast asleep. She will take over with Rine later, but for now, both of them can rest, while I feel sleepy already, despite just starting the shift.
Kyou-san looks very unnerved, as she looks everywhere, she sure is cautious about the trees, she glances outside the half-open tent into the mist. The sound of croaking toads and buzzing insects fills the air, I sure can be glad that Ara-san''s [Bug Repellent] works even if she''s sleeping.
Rine doesn''t need it, sometimes I can hear her sword swinging through the air, as she kills an insect trying to bite her. Of course, doing this doesn''t really wake her up, at best some half-asleep mumbling, she''s just that much of a murder-machine.
I want to sleep, too. This day was hectic, I mean, I''m used to days this tiring at this point, but I guess using all of my skills so often drains me more than I might admit. It''s the swamp''s fault, I may be overly cautious and skeptical all the time, but now I''m at 150%.
¡°Ken?¡±
Oh, Kyou-san wants to talk? ¡°Yeah?¡±
¡°...nevermind.¡±
¡°...¡± This annoys me, so I look up to her, trying to ignore her ample breasts and concentrating on her face. She rubs her nose-bridge. Well, if something annoys her, I''m the wrong conversation partner. For cases like this, I''ll gladly refer to Rine. Well, I can ask her about a different matter. ¡°How about the shampoo?¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°The shampoo. You wanted to create shampoo, right? Not just that hair soap.¡± In this world, there is no shampoo, only some sort of soap which cleans the hair, but it still doesn''t feel as clean as back when in Japan.
¡°...shut up.¡±
¡°Still no progress, huh?¡±
¡°Why do you even speak about it?¡± She''s pissed. Well, nothing new. ¡°Do you want to rub it into my face, do you like reminding me of what I can''t do?¡±
What you can''t do. I can tell you a thing or two about it. ¡°Phew... calm down. I''m just curious.¡±
¡°...jerk!¡±
I''m too tired to argue right now, so instead, I turn my head to the fire, focusing on the sounds around us. So I just shut up and go back to thinking.
Not Kyou-san though. ¡°Hey, say something.¡±
¡°...why?¡±
¡°...¡± A small pause, then the answer. ¡°Because.¡±
¡°...what kind of reasoning is this!?¡±
¡°Shut up!¡±
¡°I can either say something or shut up, don''t be so-¡± At this moment I remember that Kyou-san has her period, so I may be insensitive here. A passing thought, interrupted by a WP-message.
You gain 1 WP.
Resting your head on the lap of your beloved wife gives you the energy to continue with the arduous night watch.
No, it doesn''t. ¡°Let''s just switch, OK. Too tired.¡±
¡°Fine.¡± Oh, that low voice is a hidden threat, but Kyou-san lies down on the pelts that we use as a sleeping place, while I switch to sit on my knees so she can rest her head on my lap. Then she asks: ¡°How far are you with Rine''s book?¡±
¡°Urgh.¡± Rine lent me her favorite book, a story about Miriam Leise and her husband. I''m still stuck in the same passage as before when Fabian found an assassin which tries to murder Miriam. ¡°Shut up.¡± She knows that I haven''t touched the book in days.
¡°Read it to me.¡±
¡°Hah?¡±
¡°I need something to relax and you need to practice reading.¡± Of course I can read, I just have some trouble deciphering this world''s alphabet.
¡°What about monsters? Reading and night watch doesn''t mesh.¡± I may be able to read with [Darkvision] during the night, but it''s a matter of attention.
¡°Use [Pitch] to filter out sounds.¡± I so shouldn''t have explained how it works. Now all the girls take it as granted. ¡°Also, I think that you also need to relax.¡±
¡°I can relax when I sleep.¡±
¡°Do you?¡± She''s right, when I sleep, I use the [Dormurnal]-skill, which keeps a part of my consciousness vigilant while I''m sleeping. ¡°Thought so.¡±
Seriously, reading this book would still not be relaxing. I have to remember each letter of the alphabet, arrange them in my head to get the word translated, then read it. It''s taxing, though it may become better with practice, but so far it''s the opposite of relaxing. The book''s content also doesn''t help.
¡°Come on, Ken.¡±
Most of night watch is just being awake in case something happens and to tend the fire, staying vigilant for several hours is just plain impossible by human standards, especially seeing how tired I''m currently.
Hey, Kyou-san. Why do you grab the book from your backpack, which is connected to an [Inventory]-space all four of us share? I hate it when someone touches my stuff! You also don''t need to push the book onto me!
With Kyou-san acting like that, I''m about to throw the book just into the next bog, but imagining how much Rine would fuss about it later, understandably, makes me take it, though my first impulse is still to dismiss Kyou-san''s request straightforwardly.
However, there is another thought. ¡°If I read that book to you, what will you do for me?¡±
¡°...¡± Kyou-san looks into my eyes with a blank look. I got her! ¡°So it''s not enough that I cook for you?¡±
¡°I''ll keep on scouting.¡±
¡°Not in this swamp.¡±
¡°Because of the danger.¡±
¡°I still have cooked today for you!¡±
¡°I come up with the battle-strategies!¡±
¡°I was almost eaten alive today!¡±
¡°This isn''t my fault!¡±
¡°Just do me a favor for once!¡±
¡°Why!?¡±
¡°...¡±
¡°...¡±
A stare-down between her and me, which feels kinda strange, as she rests her head on my lap, but I still don''t budge here. The only thing that breaks this silence are the sounds of the swamps and Rine''s insect-killing sleep-slashes.
Hey, why is Kyou-san raising her hands? Not knowing what she''s about to do, I put the book aside and grab her wrists, as her hands are about to touch my face. ¡°What?¡±
¡°...¡± Her dark eyes are looking at my face. This time they''re telling me nothing, she just looks at my face, which is lighted by our small campfire a small distance away. ¡°You may develop a pimple on your chin.¡±
¡°So what?¡± Of course I''ll have some zits now and then.
¡°Just saying.¡±
¡°...¡± This is so strangely pointless. So why was I annoyed at her again? Ah, the book. Now that I think about it, it''s a stupid reason to fight. Thinking of it, most times we fight it''s for petty reasons retrospectively.
¡°I still have some creams against pimples..¡± Ah, she''s a [Herbalist] after all, she even made medicine to regulate Rine''s period, so it stands to reason that she also takes care of her own zits...
Ah, dammit. This alone feels enough to give in to her request regarding the book. As I''m unwilling to start that topic again, I let her hands go and just fetch the book and open it at the mark, reading it slowly. ¡°Fabian was afraid, but not about himself, he-¡± For a second, I look away from the pages just to see Kyou-san smiling. A smile I''ve never seen before.
Volume 06 - Chapter 3-1 - Sloughy Turnaround
Chapter 3 ¨C Sloughy Turnaround
I wake up, getting all the impressions I heard and smelled during my sleep hammered into my brain at once, [Dormurnal]-skill. Sometimes it makes me wonder about stuff like why Rine and Ara''ainn spent most of their night watch trying to make instruments out of most likely willows and reeds when none of them knew how to do it.
¡°Phew...¡± This is one of the days when you wake up and have the urge to jerk off. My god below is greeting the day as well and wants to say hello to the sun, despite mist and clouds blocking it out. I fold my blanket above my crotch to hide it, one of the many strategies I''ve picked up while traveling with this party, especially since Ara-san will most likely want to draw a picture of it.
I sit up and open my eyes.
You gain 2 WP.
Sleeping next to your wives makes you feel better despite the danger.
If having a boner is ''feeling better'', then you''re right, curse.
I look at the still sleeping Kyou-san besides me. I want to wake her up and ask her if it''ll rain today, as she has the [Weather Forecast]-skill, but instead, I look at Ara-san, who sits at my other side, while she''s staring blankly into the nothingness. Guess, she''s dozing off in her own way...
Only Rine left, she''s doing push-ups on her fists in quick succession. This sweating appearance isn''t helping with my nether problem, you know!? Luckily, she''s fully concentrated on her training...
Wait, so Rine and Ara-san aren''t keeping watch at all!?
For the fracture of a second, I think if I can get away with some right-hand action right now if I keep quiet, but with Ara-san next to me and her good senses, it''ll be impossible. As I don''t dare to get out of camp on my own, I have to wait for it until we''re out of this swamp, so for this particular uprising, I need to sit it out, literally.
Well, time to distract myself. I take my shaving set and look at the mirror, especially my chin. Nice fact: Medicine helps heroes immediately. So the moment I put the cream Kyou-san gave me during the night on my zit, it just vanished. This hero-body of mine may be the only upside of being in a fantasy world.
I still have some left, so I search for other suspicious places, but it seems like I can shave just fine.
The moment I''m finished: ¡°Dear, good morning!¡± Rine greets me. Since she finished, she waited at my side, as I forbid her to come close to me when I shave. She knows why!
¡°Who''s your Dear!?¡±
¡°You.¡±
¡°I''m not.¡± Almost every day the same routine.
¡°Do you want to start with lap?¡± This means WP-farming with resting one''s head on the lap of the other or having Rine sitting on my lap.
Usually, doing it as early as possible per day would be a good idea, but sweaty Rine looks way too hot, and I just have lost my vigor, no need to make her feed it again. So I just point at her.
¡°Oh. Sorry, I''m all sweaty. Give me a minute.¡± She simply wipes her face with a towel, as we try to save water for drinking. ¡°Ah, I''m also drenched...¡± Her suit made out of fryon-mane cloth is actually her armor undergarment, it''s super resilient, though it doesn''t do much against physical force. ¡°Do you mind?¡±
Why do I have to have one of my horny mornings? Well, in the end, it''s always mind over body. ¡°Did I ever?¡± Yes, I don''t care if she smells a bit or not, it''s not like she''s not taking care of herself, she just does stuff that makes her sweat now and then.
For some reason, it makes her irritatingly happy. ¡°Tehehe.¡± Oh, she looks like she''s about to burst, so this is my cue to use [Focus] so that I can at least try evading her attack this time. My score isn''t looking good so far, but one day... There it is, the classical hug, I''ll use my palm-barrier, then- wait, her hand is flashing forwards, she''s about to grab my hand, I need to- too slow, I can see it, but my body isn''t as fast as hers, so while my hand is halfway back to me, hers catches up and clenches my hand. Wait, don''t pull me!
What a high-level technique, now I''m about to crash into her, it looks like I''m jumping off from my seat to hug her by myself! There she is, opening her arms to welcome me, her breasts ready to cushion me.
Not with me! I know that this will hurt me, but I push my other hand forward, trying another palm-barrier directly aimed at her face, there is enough force behind it to hurt her. Given Rine''s reflexes... there it is, she grabs it and twists my arm before she even knows what she''s doing, a sharp pain, but still worth it! Now instead of forwards, my body is yanked to the side.
You may call me petty, but I''m the one who decides who I let hug me, and I choose nobody! I''m adamant about my personal space!
¡°Ah, Dear!¡± Rine lets go of me: ¡°I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to, I...¡± Why are you about to cry? ¡°Sorry.¡± Now she''s crying... oh god, Rine, get your mood together, it''s not like it''s the first time you did this to me. Nor the tenth time. I''d guess we''re about thirty right now?
Just to be sure... ¡°Rine, did you take your medicine?¡± This may explain her current behavior.
¡°...uh, now I even forgot to take it.¡±
¡°Just do it now, OK.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
Seriously, I can''t endure this girl crying. I''m a wuss in that sense, but seeing her cry just feels bad.
Now to another matter. ¡°Did you enjoy the show?¡± Ara-san''s eyes have been fixated on us for a while now.
¡°Seven out of ten was amusing, but the joke is getting old.¡±
¡°Aha. And you?¡± This time at Kyou-san, who woke up from the noise.
¡°...shut up.¡± She greets me with her bad mood after waking up while having her monthlies.
This day is bound to be great. I''m being sarcastic, you know.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Today''s a rain-cloak day, so being in a swamp that means water from above and below. We walk through some shallow puddles, as the mud above water looks much more treacherous. Like it''ll make your boots sink in up to our ankles. So there is water up to that point instead, still much easier to handle. Sadly, Ara-san''s [Air Bubble] works only underwater.
¡°Vine gnome.¡± The alfr proclaims while lifting her staff: ¡°[Entangle]!¡± A current in a bog, most likely a vine gnome who''s caught by its own vines. It''s rather pathetic.
Still, I finish it: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± The spear blade pierces something underwater, I lift it to confirm a dead vine gnome is on its end, showing it to the girls afterward.
In the end, vine gnomes are solitary and wait for other monsters to catch their prey, so when Ara-san detects one, it has no chance. Good XP though, so we kill every single one of them. Staying here for a few days would certainly be great for farming, just hunting these suckers, but that''s not our agenda. This time.
Sometimes I feel a burden on my mind, the pressure of someone using [Spirit Magic] on me, but so far Ara-san could deny any attempts to mess with my mind, though my own mental resistance might also be a factor.
I regularly look with [Wild Eyes], searching for other threats so that we don''t push all of the work onto Ara-san, but so far-
¡°Ara-san?¡± I ask her, pointing into some bushes at the shore: ¡°Could you look at that?¡± There is a really strange spirit here, but I feel like I have sensed something like that before.
¡°...[Synchronize].¡± Her ears freeze.
Dammit, the squirrel-skill! One that synchronizes several [Spirit Magic]-users to strengthen their power, a nasty skill. Also, a strong indicator that the panda-squirrels are here, who have some sort of mini-war going on with Rine. The squirrels'' hatred made them work with Correo''s oni in the past!
By the way, Ara-san is terrified of them, so she''s currently overwhelmed by the sheer possibility, that the squirrels are here... shit!
Suddenly, from all directions, vines, reeds, and other plants begin to move, trees are whipping at us. Without a moment of hesitation, the trees seized the opportunity of Ara-san slipping her guard.
¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± Still, Rine is faster. She sends a flying sword-strike at the branches, cutting them, while she dances around the vines which emerges from underwater.
¡°Rine, Ara-san, I leave it to you.¡± My attention is at whatever uses [Synchronize]... wait, the bushes are moving... no, the monster itself is the bushes! Wait, underwater! Root shoots from there right into my direction. It''s just like Ara-san''s [Root Lance]-spell!If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
However, I''m still too nimble and could sense the change in the water current on my boot beforehand, so I can evade it, but the movement messes up my balance, and I slip on something in the water, maybe a moving vine or just a pile of dirt, but I fall on my butt. Great, now my underwear is also wet.
No time to whine, another current! I roll to the side, causing everything to get wet and soak in the process, then I quickly get back to my feet. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I narrow the distance and stab the bush-monster.
...no effect!? I get a fist full of leaves, and more roots shoot out to pierce me, this time they hit me straight on my armor, which protects me from being impaled. The pain is really, really awful, but I''m still glad to not be turned into a shish kebab.
¡°[Protect]!¡± A little late, Miss Support!
I would like to switch to [Pikeman], I rather need toughness than mobility here, but I also need [Spirit Magic] or more specific [Wild Eyes]. As my opponent uses [Synchronize] and my last attack had no effect, there is one thing that comes into my mind: The enemy is actually a bunch of critters that use its linked [Spirit Magic] to move the plants around here, including that bush golem.
To attack the critters, I need to see their spirits inside the plants. I can sense them, though I can''t see them with their coat made out of plants. That''s exactly the reason why I need [Wild Eyes].
If these bushes act as armor... ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± Aiming at the one inside the shoulder, I pierce effortlessly through leaves and wood, stabbing something. Let''s see what''s inside, time to fish it out. There! It''s a kind of swamp-rat, though the head is rather weaselish. No squirrels, good news.¡°Ara-¡± My words are stuck in my throat.
This is natural, as a pillar of water emerges from the bog. What is- It''s coming at me!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Ken? Rine-chan? Arako? Where are you!?¡± They were right before me a minute ago, I just followed Ken after he gave the signal for the retreat! I shouldn''t have looked back to see if someone was following us because everyone was gone when I turned my head back...
Ken and Arako have to hear me, I''m so loud that I fear that someone else will hear me, but how will they know otherwise that I lost them?
An icy block is forming inside my stomach, because of that other possibility I deny with my everything, but the doubt is there... That they left me behind. You don''t have to be faster than the tiger, as long as you''re faster than the slowest member of your group.
No, they wouldn''t do it, right? But considering how Ken and Arako think... no, don''t let them in, these thoughts. I need to focus on what to do right now... My head, it''s so heavy! Out! This is mine!
What did Pavi''yorn-shishou tell me... I need to remember these lessons on [Spirit Magic], but I can''t! Why can''t I!? Panic starts welling up, I feel like drowning, struggling uselessly in a swamp. We should have never entered this place...
¡°Kyou-san, come here!¡± There he is, there is Ken! He came back!
¡°You asshole! Don''t just leave me behind!?¡±
¡°Shut up and follow me!¡± He turns around but doesn''t go away.
I run to him, but I notice something... something is wrong, I can''t say what, but... Intuition tells me that I''m about to make the same mistake again. ¡°You...¡± No... The chunk of ice in my stomach shattered, its shards wander through my spine instead. ¡°You''re not real.¡± The moment I speak my suspicion, the image of Ken slowly fades away...
What have I done!? There was no retreat signal. I was lured away from the rest by... by these trees! This means that I''m alone somewhere within these murderous swamps.
Time to woman up. I ban the grip of fear and chain it deep inside. I haven''t learned much about tracking and navigation, but there is no other chance than to stop with the nonsensical stuff and start to work on bettering it.
This is just like the chasm, but this time I''m on my own. I can''t be sure which way I came, as the heavy feeling in my head tells me that the trees are still spooking inside it, maybe messing up with my perception and orientation.
So the best course of action would be to stay here and make noises so that the others can find me. I also need to write them a message and put it into my backpack, so that they can use theirs to access our [Shared Inventory] and read it.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Then here I did a turn, I think... So this may be the place where I cut the vines...¡± Here I am, backtracking my last battle moves. How exactly did I get lost during fighting? I have no idea, but this is a bit concerning.
I sure hope that I will find the others, but I''m not nearly as good as Kenta when it comes to finding and reading tracks. I can''t even find my own footsteps, especially as many were done within the shallow water.
I''m also not as systematic as Ara, who would easily get through this predicament by deciding what course of action would be the best before even attempting the first try. Maybe I should have thought this through before I started moving again.
Kyou might know what to do in this situation, but she isn''t here either.
Danger from below, I quickly draw my sword and thrust at it, it''s just a leech. Ah, being bitten by one would be bad, though they shouldn''t be able to get through my boots.
Where was I? Ah, backtracking. However, I have no idea what I did before the cut as I tend to move a bit during a fight and I plainly forget most of it. I''m more living in the present moment during combat, so... ah, my instructor would scold me for being so careless. ''Idiot, can you tell me, how good a sidestep is when you smack into the wall in the process!?'' He always told me to pay more attention to my surroundings and to mind my moves while not thinking about them. It makes no sense to me, but that only means I''m not there yet.
Nonetheless, I have no other option but to keep trying.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
They''re here, they''re here to get me, they won''t, never again! Painful memories are emerging, when I was in their grip, their claws on my body, their malicious spirits! Never, ever again! I brokered a deal, so why did I let Katarine-san attack them? They''re here to get me.
¡°[Entangle]!¡± I use vines to grab other vines. ¡°[Warp Plants]!¡± This way, it''ll take them a while to do anything with them. ¡°We need to regroup!¡± Why haven''t Kenta-kun made that call so far? We''re at this for some minutes and it won''t get any better!
I look around and see... nobody? Why am I in the midst of a fight on my own? My ears drop, as I realize that I should have kept more attention to my comrades, especially their spirits.
Quickly, I change to [Acrobat] and leap out of the pool. If nobody is here, I need to get away on my own for now and regain my composure. I may have made an unforgivable mistake there, but as long as I''m in a life and death situation, I can''t assess everything accurately.
Another leap, then a third one. I run while concentrating on the sounds and spirits around me, while my eyes wander in every direction, my senses are sharper than usual, though I can also hear my heart beating and my breath jangling.
Apparently, nobody is following me. I take a deep breath and dismiss my angst about the squirrels for starters. I better think about what exactly happened there. I was very distracted and have tunneled my whole perception, but I''m changing into [Druid] again. In this class, I have a high [Intelligence] which also makes my memories work better. Therefore I may be able to unveil my perceptions from back then.
Yes, the moment Kenta-kun asked me to let my spirit sense investigate a particular spirit, it made me jump to conclusions. [Synchronization] is a spell awakened rodents usually learn. I also know that the squirrel-plague is capable of using it. I should start from there...
There I made the first mistake, the trees used that opportunity to attack everyone''s senses. Kenta-kun may have escaped that due to his training with Oro''hekk, but Momo and Katarine-san? The latter had no chance, so if I piece it together correctly, she distanced herself further and further during the fight. Maybe she wanted to charge and ran in the wrong direction, causing her to get lost into the swamps?
What about Momo... ah, there she screamed. It''s unlikely that it was a battlecry, so she may have been hit by a vine instead... Oh, she also called me several times, I guess I was too distracted with attacking some rats controlling the vines... Ah, thinking about it, it may be those rats that have been synchronizing as well.
Is everything actually my fault?
What about Kenta-kun? He was fighting something with a large frame. Wait, there was a big splashing sound. There were constantly some during the battle, but this one beat everything regarding volume. Was he attacked by a water-spell?
As I can''t imagine awakened rats learnt water-magic, which belongs to [Elemental Magic] and is much different from [Spirit Magic], it may have been another monster.
My assessment of the whole situation isn''t good, though it''s not hopeless. We need to regroup, but the chances to find anyone in these swamps are almost nil, even when trying to meet up at a point we decided upon. Neither Katarine-san nor Momo are capable of adequately navigating in here. As long as the others are close by, I should still be able to-
A new spirit, alfroid, this... isn''t one of the others, but it''s still familiar. I turn my head also to see the person, but suddenly it''s behind me, the presence just slid the moment I turned my head, and I can''t hear breathing or something else except the squelch of bare feet. Bare feet, another alfr? One I hadn''t met a while ago, can it be one of the other heroes?
Like human faces, alfr spirits can change over time, so it can be hard to recognize one by spirit alone if you haven''t seen the person for a few decades, and it''s over twenty years ago since I last heard from another of my hero-generation.
I try to turn my head again, but suddenly, I feel tired. Soooo tired...
Then plants wrap around my body.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Sweet dreams, Ara''ainn.¡± The alfr hero waves at the unconscious Ara''ainn, who he just enclosed into a cocoon made out of bushes to protect her while she takes a little nap. She may be in the way in what he has in mind with the dumans, he may also be careful about her, but he doesn''t hate her or something. It just may become problematic if she''s snooping around, especially when he takes reigns over the plants here so that his dear friend Kruan can have his date without worrying about what the malicious spirits may do to him.
So, the male one was flushed away and the duman girls, lured away. Nice quota. Even Ara''ainn didn''t notice how he orchestrated each step, though he''s not sure why she slipped her guard to begin with, what a rookie mistake. Maybe because she''s usually just lazing around in her house and lacks the experience?
¡°Today''s lesson: Never be lazy.¡±
Then he takes a look at Ara''ainn''s face, as expected from an alfr, she looks like before. What a shame! Time to make some improvements. He puts his hand into his backpack, his [Inventory] and retrieves a belt with several fastened bottles and jars. His very own atelier.
¡°Now the critical question... what to do with this canvas...¡±
¡°Ze human!¡±
¡°Hm... making her look like a human? Certainly quite the challenge, maybe I should start with writing ''breeding sow'' on her head, though... Could it be that she already is? I mean, she''s with-¡± He catches an incoming tail without even looking, maybe Kruan hasn''t intake his daily ration of flies yet and is easily irritable. ¡°-humans, did the male turned her into his bitch? Ah, poor Ara''ainn, maybe I should just let her be, let her dream her sweet dreams of not being a human plaything... Nah.¡±
¡°Alf!¡±
¡°Alfr.¡±
¡°Hu?¡±
¡°It''s alfr, with an ''r''-sound at the end. It''s because of people like you, who just drops stuff because you''re incompetent and call it convenience, that we''re called elves.¡±
¡°Alf-r.¡±
¡°Better.¡±
¡°Kenta!¡±
¡°That''s not my name.¡±
¡°Lu- La-¡±
¡°Lvo''tjos.¡±
¡°Luvo''toss.¡±
Lvo''tjos turns his head to Kruan. ¡°Look at my tongue. L-vo-t-jos.¡±
¡°Lbrotshos.¡±
¡°Ah, forgot about your way too flexible forked tongues. Well, you can call me ''friend''.¡±
¡°I rather dai!¡±
¡°Then ''boss''.¡±
¡°Kall yuu hero.¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah. So now that this is finally said, I''ll return to my canvas, which is Ara''ainn''s face.¡±
¡°Hero! Kenta!¡±
¡°We were there before...¡±
¡°Shtopp shtolling!¡±
¡°If you stop nagging me, I would be much faster here, so if you mind?¡±
¡°Pleeeze!¡±
¡°*sigh*, I can''t say no to you with your serpentine eyes and your spit that''s raining on my face. OK, time to make the spirits here understand who''s the new king around here, then I''ll lead you so that you can catch your date. While you have fun, I''ll return here and play a bit with her. Really, I feel like a mother here.¡±
¡°Theeenk yuu!¡±
¡°But when we''re back in the village, I make a muzzle for you, so that you stop spitting on me. That''s unsanitary.¡±
Volume 06 - Chapter 3-2
¡°*Cough*!¡± Air, air! Sweet oxygen fills my lungs, as I finally emerge from the water, though I will only have a moment before I''ll be pulled underwater again. I use that one moment to look around, a tree! ¡°[Entangle]!¡± The branches start wrapping around me while I use it to pull myself out of the water.
I sit down on another branch and can practically feel the dissatisfaction of the tree spirit that I used it to save myself. However, it also doesn''t attack me, maybe it judges me as too strong. I climb the tree up to get a better view of the scene.
Hm... I was in an actual small river, so if I follow the current, I''d most likely end up in Ohlbr¨¹cken downstream. There was nothing like this before, so the water-pillar may have flushed me quite a distance. Hard to say, given that there is too much vegetation here to see far.
This is bad. I''m on my own. Well, if it were just that, then everything would be fine, but in this context... No WP-message, so this means that everything is still alright.
You''re separated from your wives.
The curse will return in increments and also affect your beloved wives. After 48 hours it will be at its full potency, unless you meet up with at least one of your wives to extend the time limit. Another trial for your love for each other.
Well, I just called it. This is one of the many reasons why we''ll die if we get separated in these swamps. ¡°Phew...¡± This is bad, this is really bad, I can feel the anxiety crawling under my skin, I thought I might get used to it with all the stuff that has happened up to now, but this might take much longer.
Also, I lost my grip on my spear when I was flushed and I have no idea where it is, so my combat capabilities have just dropped immensely. Good thing that my backpack is still there; I can swap to my old hunting spear, though I hope to find my new one. It''s strange how you can feel so vulnerable without a weapon after some time.
Yet there is still the flicker of confidence in my skills as a [Ranger]. If I take a low profile, I will most likely survive here, but Rine and Kyou-san... not even when I try to be optimistic. So the only way to get out of this is to be fast, but I have no idea where I came from..
Inhale, exhale. I need to calm down. This time I''m the one who is lost, but as long as the girls have Ara-san, they''ll be fine here. I need to actually believe it, not just think it, however, trying to convince myself of it fails miserably.
So what do I have to do? Calm down first. I need to ban this anxiety before it overwhelms me. If I let my emotions direct me, the swamp will turn them against me.
...these rats? They''re leaving the river, are they the ones who made the bush-golem? So they were flushed with me, this means that whatever caused that water-pillar is most likely not connected to the rat... does that mean that someone ambushed us?
¡°SHIT!¡± No chance to calm down after all, because if the one who caused it flushed me away, it may also try to separate Ara-san from the easy victims...
Dammit, I won''t let this swamp win! I''ll be damned if I let coming here become a poor decision! I said that we''d get through this and I''ll keep my word!
First things first, though. I draw my bow from my backpack: ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± Killing these rats will earn at least some XP, let me take off some steam, and the satisfaction needed to change gears.
The rats are no problem and slaying them gives me a clear head. I check my [Inventory] first, which allowed us to communicate in the past despite the distance. There is a new note, placed central to the screen, Kyou-san writes that she''s alone, alright, and waiting for someone to fetch her while describing her surroundings.
OK, this lightens one of the loads on my shoulders at least. I should also write something, here, though my writing in this world''s letters still needs improvement: ''Alive and well. Close to a small river. Be cautious. Someone may have separated us for a reason. '' Still, no answer from Rine or Ara-san. While the former might not even thinking about her backpack, the missing message of the latter raises some concerns. ''I''ll fetch you when I know about the rest.''
Better I start backtracking. In the best case, both of them are together and well. [Mask of Wildlife], there are enough plants to hide, especially given their relatively strong spirits. Ah, the heaviness in my head also decreased, so this will make it harder even for the trees to detect me.
Yes, I better keep it at this. My swimming tour has cost me some SP, the usage of skills against the rats as well, I''m hard at my safety-limit. I just drink an SP-pot and start moving. Just in case, I should get some bombs out of my backpack as well, good thing I only had two stinking bombs on my body during my swimming trip, those are ruined.
Here is the river, I need to go upstream first. The current is still brutal, is it natural for this river or did someone tampered with it? Doesn''t matter, at some point I was flushed into the river. I need to find it.
...damn, fifteen minutes of walking and still no sign. How long was I in the river? Or did I pass the point and didn''t notice? I was hit by a water-pillar, which most likely dragged me a while. This would mean that there are most likely strange puddles there... well, enough puddles here, but they look too circular and old.
How long did I exactly involuntarily travel? Or how fast? I just cared about breathing, so I have no idea. This may take a while.
Hm... that may be it. No, these are holes made by shots, most likely from a rapid-water, one of these water-shooting stags. I really should be careful, they don''t look fresh, but the dirt at the borders is still roughed up, so it had no time to smooth. A few days at most, considering the humidity, it''s hard to tell.
There! This almost looks like a tributary, what kind of power had that water-pillar? It seems like it has just cut into the muddy swamplands to connect to the river. Still, considering that I have received little to no actual damage... maybe its main job was to push me away? A specialized spell? Did a monster do this? As some monsters can use [Skills] and in the Spirit Swamps are monsters capable of using [Spirit Magic], maybe there are some capable of wielding [Elemental Magic] as well...
Another possibility would be... Bounty hunters! So they split up the party to capture Rine? Do they have a ranger? Maybe it''s even the Bloody Nose; they had a ranger I''ve never met, so it''d be possible for them to traverse these swamps...
So many possibilities... I need to keep my fragile cool, rushing things will only lead to more problems. Stay calm!
Is this the place where we fought before? There is the shallow bog we tried to cross. Yes! Here is my spear, it''s swimming on the water, so that means I''m right here! Time to use [Track], which highlights the tracks around here, now that the tracks aren''t as obvious as before... Urgh, what a mess. The vines and roots have disturbed the ground enough to leave traces while covering others... Oh, at the border of the pool is something. Bare feet. This is Ara-san, who might not leave tracks in grass but mud. So she leaped away... Has she sent a message? No, still only Kyou-san''s, but everyone''s HP, SP, and MP are stable, so they aren''t in immediate danger.
Ara-san, could you please give me a message? No? Would make things much easier, because usually, you''d have the least priority as you''re good on your own in this swamp.
What about the others? This is a lot of space to cover and the tracks under the water are already gone. Still no kidnapping message from the ring, so Rine should be fine, but most likely on her own, haven''t found any tracks close to Ara-san''s.
Ah, there. Rine''s tracks... I think? Looks like she jumped all over the place again, so I''m missing a clear footprint. Should I fetch her now? At least I know that Kyou-san is fine, though this is also just a matter of time.
This is just like when Kyou-san was swallowed; I have to decide which one first, weighing up both of them. Not a good feeling, Rine may be in much more danger, so it''d make sense to fetch her first. I need to look inside my backpack again, is there any message? No...
I hate this. I make a new note for Kyou-san: ''Haven''t found your tracks yet, but Rine''s. Will look for her first, stay where you are. I''ll come for you.'' She needs to deal with this. Again it''s Rine who I have to prioritize. Life''s not fair.
Would be actually nice if Ara-san decided to join in. Is it so hard to check your [Inventory]? There is also another possibility, but it''s not one that I like to entertain... so maybe Ara-san first, after all? No, I have to trust her. If I can''t rely on her here, then I don''t know what to do.
The stats of everyone are still go- Wait! Something changed with Ara-san! She has [Condition: Sleep]. So this means that she either spontaneously fell asleep¡ªwhich actually happened in the past¡ªor that someone put her to sleep.
Oh god, why do I have to decide stuff like that!? Unlike a game, I can¡¯t save and just try stuff out! Still, I need to decide quickly or things will get worse... Ara-san or Rine... If Ara-san was put to sleep, she''s not in immediate danger, Rine''s status also doesn''t give anything away, but other than Ara-san, she can move and therefore might even end up at a place I won''t be able to reach her.
Sorry, Ara-san. I feel bad about it, but Rine can drown at any moment, so I need to prioritize her first. Whatever happened to you, I might not be able to overcome it by myself as well. My self-doubts right now are the worst, and I hate myself for wanting to rely on Rine here, but in the end, the choice I made sounds and feels the best at the moment.
Not that there were any good choices in the first place.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
So Ken won''t come for me... I feel betrayed. No, I''m sure that he has thought this through, I''m still somewhat safe, so it makes sense. Though I can still feel betrayed about it!
The croaking of the frogs, the buzzing of the mosquitoes, the dripping of the water, everything gives me shivers by this point, as I know that the moment any monster attacks, I''m most likely death. I''m afraid!
¡°Oh?¡± Behind me, someone makes a sound. I quickly turn my head to see what exactly is coming at me... it''s an aged woman! ¡°Welcome to the swamps, my girl. Were you left behind?¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
This hurts, my heart hurts! I wasn''t left behind, I was just deemed less important than Rine-chan... Ken, you moron! I grind my teeth while giving that granny a friendly smile: ¡°I wasn''t left behind, baa-san. My name is Akiyama Eri, who are you?¡± Let''s loan my friend¡¯s name for now.
¡°I know that your name is Kyou, girl. If you lie to a person, you should pick someone on your league. I''m Mama Orana, the witch of the swamps.¡± A witch? I think Arako mentioned them when telling us about users of [Black Magic], the magic that curses people.
¡°A real witch?¡± Actually, she looks the part, her hat with a wide brim gives her certainly the flair. If she knows [Black Magic], she might know how to break the marriage curse of the ring! This is great news, especially as she isn''t hostile to me!
¡°Usually, people aren''t that happy to meet a witch, interesting.¡±
¡°How-¡± I''m sure that I could hide my emotions well, I sounded skeptical instead of happy as well!
¡°As I said, I''m out of your league. A piece of advice, get your spirit under control. Humans are hard to read, but there are spells that are about the emotions your spirit reflects.¡±
Arako and Pavi''yorn-shishou tried to explain to me what a spirit is, it''s part of my mind which also mirrors many of the thoughts and emotions of a person. So she was able to learn what I''m actually feeling using my spirit? Well, if this is the case, I don''t need to be polite. ¡°Witch, I need to know about curses. Or more specific, how to break them.¡±
¡°Are you under a curse, Little Kyou? ...we can look into it. Here is not the place, we can go to my hut.¡±
Don''t follow strangers. It''s a teaching okaa-san was adamant about. Still, it may be the best chance to break the curse. Also, staying here comes with its own dangers, so if she''s a real witch who really lives here, it may be better to follow her, as she has to have some tricks to traverse these swamps unharmed. ¡°I''ll come with you, but if you try something funny, I''ll make you pay.¡±
¡°Something funny? Mama Orana would never do such a thing.¡±
¡°You just made yourself even more suspicious.¡± Maybe it isn''t a good idea after all, but considering the alternatives, I''ll take my chances.
Mama Orana steps through the swamp with her boots, while the branches of the trees avoid her as if she''s an alfr. So she can use [Spirit Magic] herself... actually, if she lives in these swamps, this is only logical.
Suddenly, the granny stops: ¡°I forgot something... I''ll leave it to you.¡±
¡°What did you forget!?¡±
¡°That I don''t have a spell to mask your presence, so a monster is heading towards us and it''ll try to eat you. Good luck.¡± Are you serious!? I draw my knife, which is more like a dagger due to its size, not sure whether to stab her first to be sure or to defend myself. ¡°It''s an ss''rak weapon...¡± Wait, she knows how the weapons of the lizard people look like?
Before I could ask her about it, a rapid-water emerges from a deep spot of the bogs... the stag-like monsters which shoot a bunch of water-bullets. [Priest]! ¡°[Protect]!¡± I don''t cast it on myself; the target is Mama Orana instead. Why?
Because she acts as my shield, I take cover behind her: ¡°What are you- Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!¡± Ken''s right, only the initial impact is massive, as long as the barrier of [Protect] cushions it, the pain seems to be bearable even for old ladies.
Mama Orana may have masked her spirit, which makes her practically invisible to those monsters, though she somehow made it so that I can still sense her, but she''s still physically here. Ah, now she disappeared from my sight as well, she may have included me as a target of her spell which most likely works like Ken''s.
However, thanks to her sacrificing her body, I was able to reach cover behind a big tree, so now I need to prepare. ¡°[Protect]!¡± This time for me, as I may need to defend against those bullets. Next, I change to [Herbalist], I can use the [Herbal Weapons] when I get closer and it''s my strongest class. [Itching Breath] might be better, as putting it to sleep may take too long, so I prepare the right powder. My skill infuses it with magic, decreasing its effect but making it easier to use.
The rapid-water isn''t moving at all, it also doesn''t shoot. It knows I''m its only enemy and Ken theorized that it uses water from the bog, so of course, it won''t leave it if it doesn''t need to. I''m not as fast as Ken or Rine-chan, so I can''t just hop out without being shot... No, wait. Ken would fight smarter. It''s like way back in Vulkan-mountains, he had a trick to beat every monster, like flipping the rock turtles. So there might be a trick to it that we haven''t figured out yet...
Actually, I''m not that good at thinking on my feet, so maybe I need to use brute force, though it will hurt. ¡°[Coating]!¡± However, I''m not in the mood to let it make me feel miserable. Time to charge!
The moment I leave cover, I''m greeted by a barrage of water-bullets, they hurt! They hurt so much, my breast is delicate, you brute! Still, [Protect] does help and my body is taking the abuse rather well. My HP, on the other hand, tells another story, so I retreat back to the tree and change back to [Priest]: ¡°[Heal]! [Heal]!¡± This hasn''t worked out.
Ken''s right, the monsters here are around our level, but the terrain is against us. Also, I have no combat-classes which is too big of a hurdle to overcome. Thinking about it, I do rather well despite of it. If my body just wouldn''t feel so sluggish today.
I look down at my poison coated knife and realize something. If it uses the water inside the bog, then I just need to poison the water! Wait, would it work? Maybe it''s just using tubes without even actually absorbing the water, more like a natural water pump, so... Ah, I was thinking like Ken right now, it''s really not my strong suit. I need to do things my way.
How do I win my fights? With words and using others. ¡°Mama, help me!¡± Relying on my [Persuasion], I ask the witch for help. I may have no [Conversation]-skill that helps me here, but it may be enough for her to give me at least a bit of help.
The rapid-water starts to shoot, but instead of the tree I''m hiding behind, its bullets hit the ground as if it''s following something.
I jump out of hiding towards the stag-monster, it widens its eyes, realign its aim, but while I''m hit by bullets, I''m also close enough: ¡°[Itching Powder]!¡± I blow the powder from my hand, which is infused with magic during the process, the monster starts to jerk several times, throwing off its aim. Next step, [Cook]. ¡°[Butcherknife]!¡± It''s such a satisfying skill, the poisoned blade cuts through flesh and sinews like a hot knife through butter, while I need to put some strength into my attack to pierce through the hide. This skill works best against meat.
When I think back, I''ve changed quite a bit since my friends left me alone and I tried to raise my level on my own. I''m more willing to put up with pain nowadays and push through where I used to escape.
¡°Mama, thank you.¡± The rapid-water is dead. As long as I have time to put up [Protect] and have a distraction, it''s a doable enemy. Just like Ken said, it''s neither mobile nor tough.
Hearing my gratitude, the witch begins to become visible to me again, she''s standing right next to me. ¡°You used me as a shield!¡±
¡°But Mama, you''re much more experienced than I am.¡±
¡°You manipulative bitch.¡±
I stick my tongue out in a cute way, showing her that she''s right in that behalf.
The granny begins to cackle: ¡°Hihehe, you have what it takes to be a witch, Little Kyou.¡± Like all girls at some point, I wanted to be a witch, but to be honest, I''m not sure if I should feel flattered or insulted by this compliment of hers.
I don''t need to play goodies-two-shoes here, I can be honest: ¡°Are we talking about a sexy witch or an old hag?¡± If things are going as I think, maybe I might get something like a [Witch]-class-up.
¡°Actual witches, using witchcraft, spirit magic, and black magic. Let''s say, that when I was your age, I had already slept with several men. Seducing is also an art of us witches...¡±
So she''s an actual bitch, who spreads her legs for her ambitions... or maybe just because of the fun of it. I guess she would now still accept any man willing to put up with her decaying body. No thank you, some people may call me a bitch, but I have clear conceptions about roma- out of my thoughts, idiot!
¡°You''ve mentioned my knife.¡± I change the subject. ¡°You know ss''rak? Aren''t they living on mountains?¡± The ones we met in Feuerberg had been in the Vulkan-mountain range, so I just thought that''s usual for them.
¡°There are several native tribes in this swamps as well. They''re a bit different, as they¡¯ve learned spirit magic. What is the story behind your knife, Little Kyou?¡±
¡°I''ll tell you later when we''re in a place a bit more private. Lead me to your hut.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°He''s more capable than I expected.¡± Lvo''tjos, the alfr hero, looks at the lake, the same lake he planned to flush the Kenta-guy into. However, he''s not here. ¡°I''ve underestimated how good alfr training really is for humans.¡±
¡°Alfr-traeening?¡±
¡°Yeah, he had a hood and can use [Spirit Magic] to a degree, so he has at least [Ranger] under his belt. Maybe he has used a tree to lift him outside the water stream, would be logical, after all.¡±
¡°Weer to?¡±
¡°Hm... he''s a human, so that means he''ll do something based on emotions. Most likely he''ll feel insecure, so he might try to find Ara''ainn, as she''s the one who has the best chance to get out of the swamp. We must have passed each other, as we were directly heading here. So it''s easy: Go back.¡± A hissing comes from the ss''rak: ¡°You''re right, that takes too long, let me do it on my own. Just wait here and don''t die. I know it''s hard to take a sunbath when there are clouds all over the place, but you may use the time to wash your teeth. Here, this gel is what I''m using.¡± After leaving some body-care products for the lizards, Lvo''tjos activates his [Swishstride]-skill and hurries in a blinding speed through the swamps. [Waterwalk] also makes him just run over the water instead of through it.
When he arrives at the place he left Ara''ainn, he just finds an open cocoon. He uses [Plant Memory] to look at what happened here, it''s not the most reliable spell, as the memories of plants are very fleeting, but as long as it''s about current events, it''s good enough. ¡°She escaped.¡± [Sleep] wasn''t good enough to hold her for long, it''s another unreliable spell as usually exhaustion is required for it to work on people and monsters, as both have rather strong spirits. However, he was sure that the level difference would overcome this, especially seeing that she actually went to sleep. Yet he also didn''t consider that Ara''ainn is an expert sleeper, therefore she must have broken that spell literally in her sleep! Afterward, she opened the cocoon with her magic and walked away...
He shouldn''t have half-assed it, so, for now, he will overplay it! Time to change some conditions around here and create some mist. Not magical though, as it would make it impossible to navigate in the swamps via [Spirit Magic], a clear sign that someone is pulling the strings here, as well as a hindrance for himself.
Therefore he will support the natural phenomenon. This might take longer, but it''s almost as good as the magical variant to keep Ara''ainn''s party from meeting up.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Why doesn''t it rain right now? The upcoming fog makes it hard to see any tracks. I need to find Rine, dammit! [Wild Eyes] helps me sensing lifeforms, so no help with tracks. [Track] highlights tracks, so with my vision obscured, it doesn''t help much either, because I can hardly see the ground.
Wait, while rain would disperse the mist, it would also destroy the tracks!
Seriously, I need a break. ¡Ah, new messages inside the [Inventory]! I sure hope that they''re good news.
''Met a witch, following her to her hut. - Kyou'' ¨C Don''t go with strangers!
''Kenta, I tried to find my way back, but I don''t know where I am anymore! - Katarine'' ¨C So why didn''t you wait in the first place, don''t you know what a lost child is supposed to do, idiot!?
''I''m safe, will think of a strategy. - Ara''ainn'' ¨C At least one knows how to make me feel relieved.
I note something down on each paper.
First Kyou-san... why is she going with a witch in the first place? I mean, what is a witch in this world!? Isn''t she just asking to be cooked here? How can someone get even to the conclusion, that''s OK to follow a stranger, and a witch no less, to her hut... Maybe it¡¯s because I decided to track Rine instead, which means that Kyou-san, who is who knows where in the swamps, felt at the mercy of monsters, trees, and other dangers? ¡however, following strangers is still wrong.
I write my answer in Japanese, as the witch may read it over her shoulder or something. ''Don''t go with strangers, idiot! Make sure that she''s not planning to eat you. If it''s safe, stay at her house, maybe kill her while she sleeps if she''s too suspicious. I''ll find you later.''
Next one, Rine. I should be glad that she''s still alright and finally remembered the [Shared Inventory]. Why do I imagine her crying while calling my name at this point? I mean, Rine is capable, but- OK, she''s also childish and may not be able to deal with this situation.
''Just look for a cave or another place that you can take shelter in. I''ll come for you. Just make sure that, after you''ve found a good spot, you don''t move, also, make sure you don''t walk through the water, so it''ll be easier for me to follow your tracks.''
Finally, Ara-san. Her message contains almost no information. So I just write ''What happened? Why were you asleep?''
At least the pressure now is lessened, all of them are well. Though it''s everything but a good situation, Kyou-san is meeting up with strangers, Rine is totally lost and alone, Ara-san is not telling what happened, and we have no way to meet up.
¡°Phew...¡± Also, there is the curse, which will slowly start to weaken me. The first symptom before was being forced to class-change into [Student] and being locked there which would be a disaster right now, as I will lose most of my [Spirit Magic] then. Therefore I won''t only have to deal with limited combat capabilities but with all the mental disorientation...
I clench my teeth, as I still don''t want this route to be a bad decision. I need to bite the bullet here and put even more effort in turning the bad into something good.
Even Rine can''t be that far away, but the mist slows me down tremendously. However, I should be able to find her soon. If she actually stays still for a while.
Volume 06 - Chapter 3-3
Danger from the right. Friedensbote cuts through a tongue, I grab and pull it, forcing the frog-like monster to get closer. Jump-attack! Next one! As long as I can touch the monsters, I''m able to fight them!
Oh, no more shades or movements. That was easy.
The mist is making it much harder to see them, but somehow it makes my head so light! Maybe the coolness helps against the suffocating air from before? I don''t know, but I know that I want to find Kenta, Kyou, and Ara.
Kenta asked me to look for shelter, so I''m looking for a cave or something like that, but so far, I have found nothing but monsters. At least they''re easier to defeat than before, maybe because the trees are sleeping now?
It''d be much easier to navigate if the mist weren''t here. Where do I look next? This is like a dead end, the only way to get further is to wade through the water and Kenta asked me not to do that. So no choice but to go back a bit, looking for another path.
Danger from above, oh, it''s just a mosquito. I''ve already cut it though. I don''t even bother sheathing Friedensbote anymore, as my battle instincts cause me to use it every other minute. Oh, what''s that? Is that another leech? It looks kinda gross, but it''s the first time I see a living one. I cut the one before too fast to take a good look, after all. I already saw some potted ones, but this one is still moving. Did it fall off an animal after sucking enough blood?
I prick it carefully with my sword. Will it jump at it, thinking it''s a living being? No, it curls up, like trying to protect itself. That''s interesting!
Danger from behind, the tip of my blade picks up the leech and throws it at the source, it''s a giant snake with some sort of beard! Are they spikes, scales, or callus? I can''t see it in the mist, but the leech has attached itself on it, and the sudden movement made it falter. One, two, three steps, one swing and I''ve decapitated the snake. The leech flies off. The body of the snake still squirms and it''s too big to simply kick it away, so I just wait until it ceases its movements.
Then I take the head and look at its beard and touch it carefully. Is that a horn? It feels a bit bony. What do I do with the body? Maybe it''s edible, so I could put it into the backpack, but Kyou-san hates if anyone puts wet ingredients into the [Inventory] without packing them first, and bloody snake meat counts as wet, I think. So I need to cut it into pieces and put it into the jars we have for that purpose.
Done. I have no idea how well I did the gutting and cutting out, but Kyou or Kenta can do the rest. Now I-
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
What was I doing again? Ah, looking for shelter. Where can I find some? Maybe in this direction? Yes, that''s good. Somehow I know that''s just the right direction! No, somehow it feels like that one is much better. Let''s go there.
An hour passes, I''m still not closer to any shelter and I think I''m lost... or even more lost than before. Kenta will find me though, so no matter where I go, I''m bound to find something at some point. I should hurry a bit, I guess...
Another hour. Is it me, or am I encountering monsters more often? Also, my head feels so heavy! Ah, I''m in a bog again, I need to go outside. This happens much more often, though I can cut the vines lashing at me before they can drag me down. It''s not that bad, as long as I''m close to the shore...
I think it¡¯s another hour later, I don''t know anymore, I''m busy deflecting water-bullets from those stag-like monsters. I know the direction and can get closer slowly as long as it shoots at me, so I stop when it stops shooting. I learned from my mistakes. Hm... there! Running straight towards it, I deflect the bullets on my way, I know where the next one is coming from before I can see it, as it always repeats the same pattern, I just need to adjust my timing to the distance. Stab into the skull! Wow, Friedensbote cuts it like a hot knife cuts butter.
Another long time passes. The mist is almost gone, so it''s all good. Though the heaviness in my head is even worse, and I have the feeling that I¡¯m walking into more and more monsters. I need a break. Time for soup, good thing Kyou has prepared it beforehand. I only need to make a fire to warm it up. Too bad that I''m no wizard yet, otherwise I could just use magic to ignite it. Still, making fire is a life skill, so even I can do it.
...this is lonely. This is strange, we''ve only been apart for maybe half a day, hard to tell with the clouds blocking the sun, and I also traveled on my own when I ran away from home...
I stare at the fire and the pot with the soup, while my thoughts wander. The excitement of exploring this place is still there, but doing it alone is so... how do I call that feeling? It''s not as fun as it should be. Without Dear at my side, without Kyou and Ara, it''s just... not as fun.
¡°Tehehe.¡± I imagine how Dear and I would look at the wonders of this place together, his collected face and calm demeanor makes me all fuzzily warm inside. I want to see him again. I want him to praise me because I can fight these monsters now. Ah, he looked so cool when he saved me yesterday from drowning, it was the best. Dear, not drowning, that was actually scary.
Why is he always talking with Ara? It looks like he has fun talking with her, while he''s all annoyed whenever I try to talk with him, to cheer him up. I was on a date with him, I really, really enjoyed it, but Dear... he didn¡¯t?
Oh, I''m tearing up, why do I even think of things like that? I mean, I know that Dear is shy, that he''s not very talkative, that he- no, does he hates me? No, that''s Dear I''m talking about, I love him so much, so, so much...
Yes, he loves me as well, he''s looking for me after all. That''s right. It''s not that he doesn''t love me, it''s that- are we even a good fit? No, love conquers all! Why won''t he kiss me though... he kissed Kyou... Will he kiss her again if Kyou asks him?
My insides are hot and cold at the same time. My head feels heavier and heavier... Why am I even doubting Dear? I''m in love with him, therefore I have to trust him. He loves me, so he doesn''t need to say it out loud.
Ah, last time I tried to tell him that I love him, he looked... hurt? That face... Pure pain. He stopped me, putting his hand over my mouth before I could tell him. He knew what I wanted to tell him, so why...
Maybe he''s in love with someone else? Someone from his world? No, that thought is crazy, he would have told me, right? He would have also told me if I was just a nuisance. Ooh, that hurts, this hurts my heart, I''m not a nuisance, I''m... What am I to Dear? He never told me...
Tears are falling down my cheeks as the doubt whispers in my heart, but I know that these feelings are wrong, that I have to trust Dear, so why don''t they stop? That''s weird. I mean, the moment I learned that I married Dear, I knew that he''s the one I love, and since we''re in love with each other, everything else should just be pushed aside.
I wish I could ask my mother, she may know what to do in times like these. Just like when Alej and I were fighting about who will be the knight and who the damsel in distress. I yelled at Alej and hit him, while he pushed me and pulled my hair. Mother came in, and requested us to sit down and tell her what happened. ''Kati, do you like being yelled at?''
''...no...''
''Alej, how did you feel when Kati yelled at you?''
''¡bad...'' For some reason, simple questions like these was all we needed to make up. She always read me the stories of Hagen, Miriam, and Thorsten, she also made sure to always help me when I was behind with my studies. She never got angry... why am I so different from her?
Different... different... different... I can''t play knight with my siblings, because I''ll hurt them. I can''t act like I want, because I''m a princess. I can''t understand what Kenta and Kyou are talking about, because they''re from another world. Different... different... different! I''m always different!
I look at my hands. These look normal, it''s not like Eber''s and Yvonne''s are that much different. I have two eyes, I have two ears, I have two arms, I have two legs. I have a nose, I have a mouth, I have hair, we''re all the same, right? Why do I even feel different? Why am I treated differently?
My name is Katarine von Stolzherz, first princess of Feuerberg. Is it the blood of Hagen von Stolzherz, the blood of a hero, that runs through my veins? Is that''s why Dear ha- NO! He doesn''t! He can''t!
A numbing void stretches from my heart to my toes, at this moment everything is like washed away. All doubt, all happiness, all thoughts, in this mere second I just exist. After that strange sensation, I suddenly remember the medicine that Kyou made for me, which makes Kenta like me more. I take a pill and within a moment notice, I can''t help but laugh at how stupid I was again. Of course, Kenta loves me. If he wouldn''t, he wouldn''t go on dates with me. We do so much together, if he''d hate it, I''d know.
It''s just that he''s from another world, so it''s like with different countries, there are cultural differences. Maybe he''s a bit like an Arrivinian, less open and direct with his relationships? That would make sense.
Ah, the soup is ready. I need to eat to stay healthy! Good thing that I helped Kyou with cooking, otherwise I may have missed the timing. I scoop some into my bowl and start blowing, steam is coming from it.
After it cooled down a bit: ¡°Let this meal be clean!¡± I eat a spoonful. ¡°Mmmm.¡± It''s like all of Kyou''s cooking, a bit meagerly seasoned. Also, she could really put more fat into it, but it''s still delicious. Another difference between cultures, how to season it. Dej¨²mians, for example, like to put less salt and more herbs with a bit of vinegar into their seasoning.
This may be the first lonely meal in a long time, but that only means that I need to rejoin the others as soon as possible. Dear told me to look for shelter, so I need to find some.
Maybe I should pray, though I don''t know which gods are responsible for this area, so perhaps just to the Four? Which one? The Fire is Feuerberg''s deity of creation, creativity, and people, the Freedom Fighter has freedom, warfare, and justice as domains, the Foundation is about the law, structures, and knowledge, and the Fleeting escapes our understanding.
I want to find shelter, therefore I need someone who guides me there. As I want to meet up with the others, I think the Fire will do. Though it''s improbable that it''ll hear me, considering how far away I''m from Feuerberg. I still want to try.
''Please lead me back to Dear. And Kyou. And Ara.'' I hope this is enough... The Four don''t accept any sacrifices, so I have to rely on their goodwill.
Time to finish the break and start walking. I shovel some mud on the fire and pick the direction which seems the most promising. The smoke of the cooking fire went that way. Maybe it''s a sign?
Oh, there are some bogs, but a narrow path goes between them. It''s stable enough for me to stand. I pick up the speed a bit more. Oh, what''s that? It''s an old piece of meat, which is covered in flies and maggots. Did a monster leave it here?
Danger from the front, step to the right and slash, another tongue cut. I kick the piece of meat against that giant toad, right inside its screaming mouth. It swallowed it, ugh. It also thinks the same, as it begins retching, though I use the opportunity.
Or try to, danger from the right, vines! ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± My flying cut hits the water. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± I make a second one immediately, a third one follows: ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± This skill doesn''t seem to travel far underwater, but it''s enough to see a bit of the vine-gnome. I jump into the water, blade first, to impale it before it can try something funny. Ah, the croak! I just... oh, it''s vomiting. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± That''s it, no one left standing, I think.
I continue my journey. Ah, look at these reeds, they look a bit like a bear curling up! Is something inside them? Oh, a puddle full with tadpoles. They''re big, so they will most likely become these barbed frogs one day, they even have thick hair where the barbs will be one day!
Oh, what''s that smell, it smells sour. Ah, it comes from the puddle itself! Why does it smell like that? Ugh, I think it''s too much for me, I need to get some distance.
Oh, a regular frog! It''s eating some mosquitoes, good for you. ¡°Eat your fill, little one. Ah, you will? Do you know where I can find shelter? Oh, so you do? Where? This direction? Is it far? Is it close? Are monsters there? No? Why? Ah, you don''t know. Thanks anyways.¡±
I walk a few steps, following the instructions the frog gave me. This was nice of him... did I just conversed with a frog? Sometimes I have the feeling that I can talk to animals and they answer me. Wait, didn''t I have... open the status screen, open the status screen... there. Ah, [Whisperer]. What does this skill do? It gives me the ability to convey easy ideas to animals and learn the same from them... Well, I was always good with animals, I just don''t talk to them often nowadays, as I can speak with Dear, Kyou, and Ara. Could it be that I''m rude to the animals by not talking to them anymore? I hope they''ll forgive me.
Oh, look at this! It''s like a small tent made out of wood and reed! Who made this? Is there an entrance? Ah, there. ¡°Hello? Is anyone inside?¡±
¡°...whaz?¡±
¡°Ah, there is. Hello, I''m Katarine von Stolzherz and I''m looking for shelter.¡±
I hear some smushing sounds, then a head comes out of the low entrance, it''s a scaled head, reminds me a lot of lizards... I think I learned about the lizard people, though I never met one myself, as they live far away in the Northern Islands, or at the Zarona Jungles. So they also live in the Spirit Swamps? No wonder that I don''t know, as everything I learned taught me to avoid this area.
The lizardman looks at me, its eyelids widen: ¡°Humaan?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°...raaanger?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°... ¡ ¡ ¡whaz arr yuu doing here?¡±
¡°I''m lost and looking for some shelter.¡±
¡°...village.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Go to village.¡±
¡°Where is it?¡±
¡°...I wuill leed you.¡±
¡°Thank you very much.¡± So there is a village of the lizard people here. I''m fortunate, maybe they can help me find my husband and fellow wives as well, they have to know about the terrain and the dangers of the swamp.
The lizardman and I walk through the swamps, he looks around, he reminds me of Dear in a way, always cautious without being slow. ¡°Yuu alonez?¡±
¡°No, I was separated from my husband and now he''s looking for me. He asked me to find shelter, that''s why I kept looking for a while.¡±
¡°Howw yuu surviffed?¡±
I cock my head, as I don''t exactly know: ¡°Pure luck?¡±
A hissing sound is heard: ¡°Laack alonez... doezn''t help.¡±
¡°I also know to fight.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°[Spiirit Majick]?¡±
¡°Not myself, but my husband is a ranger.¡±
¡°I zee. Ztill, stranche zing yuu''r hear.¡±
¡°I''m glad that I found you.¡± I smile at him, I''m really fortunate to find someone in the Spirit Swamps of all places that''s willing to help me.
¡°...stranche.¡±
¡°Are you a ranger as well?¡±
He shakes his head. ¡°Hanta.¡±
¡°A, a hunter. But you can use [Spirit Magic]?¡±
¡°All of uss living hear do.¡±
¡°Wow, you''re like alfar in this regard?¡±
¡°...nozzing like elfes.¡±
¡°Ah, you shouldn''t call them that, it''s offensive to them. By the way, how do your species calls itself?¡±
¡°Ss''rak.¡±
¡°Ah, let me try... Sz''rack?¡±
¡°Ss''rak.¡±
¡°I need to break it down first. Zs?¡±
¡°Ss.¡±
¡°Ah, more of a hissing, I see. Ss?¡±
¡°...yess. Ss''rak.¡±
¡°Ss''rak.¡± He nods as an answer. ¡°Ss''rak, ss''rak, ss''rak. Fine?¡±
¡°Yess.¡±
¡°Ah, I didn''t ask for your name, forgive my bad manners.¡±
¡°Noz your faalt. Yuu introduced alreedy, Katarine, so I waz rudd. Neim iz Braksh.¡±
¡°Braksh. You can call me Rine.¡±
¡°...for human, yuu stranche.¡±
¡°I think I''m normal... *sigh*¡± I can''t but help thinking back at the doubts I had some time ago. I''m normal, right? Yes, of course I''m normal. I mean, everyone could do what I can do if they spend the time and effort I did. I''m not someone special, after all.
Braksh doesn''t say anything, but after a while it begins to rain, so I take out my raincoat, while the ss''rak doesn''t care about getting wet. Well, he''s living in a swamp, after all. For me, I need the hooded cloak with the wax-layer to not feel miserable after a while.
Looking at Braksh, I notice that his kilt is made out of leaves. ¡°Why does it look so dry?¡±
¡°...whaz?¡±
¡°Your kilt, there are beads of water, but other than that, it looks dry.¡±
¡°Zhashekk.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°The leef. Zhashekk-leeves.¡±
¡°Ah, you can make clothes with it? Can you teach me?¡± I''m a [Tailor], so I may learn how to make waterproof clothes here! I know how to make cloth out of leaves, this is how alfar do it, though I still have to practice it, but if I learn how to process Zashekk-leaves, I might be able to combine them with the knowledge about leaf-cloth to create something great! Dear will surely praise me for it!
¡°...don''t knooh mutch.¡±
¡°Ah, too bad. But don''t worry, I''ll ask in the village.¡±
After a while, we arrive at the village. It''s a place full of the reed huts, two large fires are burning despite the rain, ss''rak are doing their businesses, most of them are working on some sort of plantation, it''s just inside of a bog.
¡°Zhere, hut of matriarch.¡±
¡°Is she the chief?¡±
¡°Patriarch, matriarch, both chiefs.¡±
¡°So why I''m going to the matriarch?¡±
¡°...¡± Braksh looks helplessly at me as if he''s trying to figure out how to explain something so natural to him, that he has never put it into words before. Dear looks at me sometimes like that, so I can tell. ¡°...shust do it.¡±
¡°OK.¡± Braksh and I go to the hut, which doesn''t look any different from the others as far as I can tell. The ss''rak on the fields are looking at us, but seeing how I''m accompanying Braksh, they may have decided not to interfere. In Feuerberg, all guards would try to sate their curiosity by asking what the stranger is doing here, ss''rak may be different from us in that regard.
He just enters, so I follow suit, ducking into the low entrance. The interior is a single room without any fire, but there are some pelts from those stag-monsters on the ground, and strangely enough, the air is warm and a bit humid.
A ss''rak is grooming the scales of a ss''rak child, it''s really young, some flaps of skin are on her claws, so maybe she is removing some remainders from a recent skin-shedding? ¡°Braksh, hoo is zat?¡± She calmly continues her activity, which looks interesting, I can''t help but stare.
¡°Zhe''s Rine, looking phor sheltar.¡±
¡°I zee.¡± She nods to Braksh, who nods back and leaves the hut. ¡°Rine?¡±
I take off my raincoat to show her my face. ¡°My full name is Katarine von Stolzherz, but Kati and Rine are my nicknames, feel free to call me how you like.¡±
¡°Kati it is. I''m Jarlhu, this ish my daughter Zhesha. My husband will join us soon.¡±
¡°Oh, thanks for speaking this clear to me.¡±
¡°Our tongue makesh it hard to pronounce everything like yours does. Still, it''sh easier for me to speak that way than for you to understand me talking like usual. Honor demandsh me to be the one who takesh the burden.¡±
¡°Ah, thank you. I appreciate it. Also, Hallo Zhesha!¡± I squat to speak to her on equal eye-level.
¡°Hellow. Yuu human?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Zhat fur funny.¡±
¡°That''s no fur, it''s my hair. Do you want to touch it?¡±
Zhesha looks at her mother, who nods. The small ss''rak touches my hair with its claws. I make sure to keep a bit of distance before she accidentally hurts the skin of my head. ¡°Ztranche. All week and sofd.¡±
¡°Tehehe, thank you.¡± What a cute child. ¡°Can I touch your scales as well?¡±
¡°Zure.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡± My finger carefully glides over Zhesha''s shoulder. ¡°They''re so smooth to the touch but firm!¡±
The girl let her tongue slither through her jaws. ¡°Noat week!¡±
¡°Zhesha,¡± matriarch Jarlhu hisses: ¡°don''t pout in frront of zhe guest.¡±
¡°Yess, zosh.¡±
¡°Excuse my daughter, Kati. She still hashn''t learned how to treat guests she doeshn''t know.¡±
¡°Don''t worry... have unknowingly I offended her?¡±
¡°Insult ish not given, but taken. An honorable ss''rak ish one that survivesh on its own. With the shedding, the surface of her scales are smooth, she thought you meant her scales are weak.¡±
¡°Oh, sorry. They''re not soft at all, they''re really firm.¡±
¡°Don''t apologize. Zhesha, go outside and ashk Merhan to comb the rest.¡±
¡°Yes, zosh.¡± Zhesha leaves the tent.
¡°Zhesha ish still small, doeshn''t understand honor like adult do.¡±
¡°Don''t worry about that, I-¡±
Another ss''rak enters the tent. I don''t think that I''ve met it before, and the only way I can discern genders here are voices. The newcomer bows to me: ¡°I''m Rassha, hushband of Jarlhu.¡±
¡°I''m Katarine von Stolzherz, you can call me Kati. So you''re the patriarch?¡±
¡°No, hushband of matriarch.¡±
¡°Oh! So the patriarch and matriarch aren''t married? I didn''t know, sorry.¡±
¡°Don''t worri aboot it, you''a human, zhe hushband of a king ish a queen, the wife of a queen ish king.¡±
¡°Not always, but in my country, yes.¡±
¡°Ss''rak don''t do that. Matriarch, patriarch, bosh are neimed by challenge. Sho rare to haff bosh married.¡±
¡°Ah, I see. Excuse me, if it sounds rude, but I don''t know why I''m talking to the matriarch and her husband instead of the matriarch and the patriarch.¡±
Jarlhu chimes in a calm manner: ¡°Because you''re female and no threat. A female ish judged by matriarch. Rassha ish here to advishe me.¡±
This is strange? Why would my sex matter at all? Well, it''s their rules, therefore I should respect them. That''s what auntie always told me and she''s an ambassador. ¡°I apologize for my misunderstandings.¡±
¡°No offense taken. Now explain to us what happened to you.¡±
¡°A lot, where do I begin...¡±
¡°At the beginning.¡±
¡°Ah, makes sense. After I was born, I-¡±
¡°Wait. Start from why you decided to get even close to the swamps. Humans avoid them for good reasons.¡±
¡°Because Dear didn''t want to enter Ohlbr¨¹cken.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because all of us have bounties.¡±
¡°I see... What have you done?¡±
¡°Me? Erm... I was born?¡± Sounds about right, if I weren''t born as a princess, then I wouldn''t have these problems right now.
¡°Rassha, please sherve drinks, this will take a while.¡± Amazing! This is the wisdom of the matriarch, without learning much, she can accurately guess how complicated things will be! ¡°Let me ashk you some questions first.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
This is Rine''s trail, the long, long line carcasses of monsters is evidence enough, though I''m surprised how she could deal with all kinds of them by herself without her falling victim to the [Spirit Magic] of the trees.
Still, why has she increased her speed by this much? This makes it even harder to catch up, dammit! ¡°Phew...¡± Calm down, she''s still alive and given how her status doesn''t fluctuate much, I get the idea that she''s also safe. However, this girl knows how to make my life unnecessarily complicated.
Kyou-san... still no change. Ara-san... has folded my letter into a crane origami, I suspect Kyou taught her that. Has she written something on it? I asked her what happened to her and why she was asleep in the midst of trouble. ''Just slipped my guard, everything is alright.'' Her status suggests that she has just fought, her MP is about half. Still enough for her to battle once or twice, usually, but the monsters here are unknown and a bit tricky. Well, it also looks like she''s taking a break, her SP is recovering slowly.
¡where are the tracks? I just saw them a second ago, I just looked away for a second or so to look at my surroundings. Why are the tracks away now?
This sound... water! ¡°No...¡± I turn to the source and see another water pillar. ¡°The same!? [Entangle]!¡± I quickly use my skill to fasten myself as the wall of water hits me. I close my eyes and hold my nose, I feel how the water tries to flood me away once more, this time without any success, though I hear a single squelch, thanks to activating [Pitch]. [Wild Eyes] tell me... there is no one? Ah, it''s masked, [Mask of Wildlife]-like! Don''t use my skills, asshole!
The moment I try to throw another [Entangle] is the moment my viny safety belts suddenly open up. Something has overridden my spell with ease, it feels like it slipped away, no chance to struggle at all! Before I can learn anything, I''m in a current again.
It stops as suddenly as it started. Now I''m in a shallow bog. I lift myself slowly... then something unbelievable happens, I sense how a wave of refreshment causes my body to feel like I''m at the top of my game. Even the rough treatment from before is forgotten, the pain in my head and muscles have disappeared, I feel like I just had a wonderful night''s sleep, except that I''ve never had a good sleep since coming here... or even before that.
What caused this? My eyes wander through the mist, there is a shape, enclosing. Walking on two legs, taller than a human, has a tail and claws, wait... isn''t that... what is a ss''rak doing here?
Stay calm! Memories flash through my mind, I have met ss''rak before. Long, long ago. Actually, maybe about three months, but it feels like an eternity. Back when I was the only victim of the curse, not knowing that it can even forcefully marry me to different girls.
To dispel the curse, I asked the priests of Esse, the capital of the Feuerberg-kingdom. The so-called curse-expert made me undergo a pilgrimage, pray at the different shrines to Hei?quellen, take a bottle of water from there, and bring it back to Esse within fourteen days. I asked Kyou-san back then to accompany me, as I needed a healer since I couldn''t regain HP and SP by resting anymore, and I was also short on money to pay for the necessary ritual to be cast on me for the pilgrimage.
Sounds easy enough, but ss''rak like that fellow attacked Hei?quellen and, weakened from the curse, I was overcome, while Kyou-san wasn''t a match to begin with. We spoke to the Voice of Muaotef, some sort of divine mouthpiece with a nasty personality, were sent into a chasm, and fought our way until we found Muaotef himself, the motherfucking dragon who may also be a god.
...I''m about to piss myself just remembering it, but that dragon was like a natural disaster. You realize that no matter what you do, you''ll be at its mercy. Kyou-san was able to negotiate a deal with her experience in brown-nosing, our part of the deal was to go to the city of the ss''rak and kill their patriarch.
That''s when I killed for the first time. First two guards, then the patriarch who I challenged to a duel, as I was unfit to sneak my way through a city that relies on superior climbing skills with so many guards. I may do it today in a forest kingdom, but if it''d be easy to sneak past people keeping watch, the world would be an entirely different place.
In the end, I won the duel and returned to Hei?quellen, just to be ambushed by the Voice of Muaotef, who might have been sent by the dragon or did it just because he was an asshole, still, thanks to Kyou-san''s timely help¡ªactually, didn''t she do a lot in the chasm to save my butt?¡ªI was able to overcome the situation as well, though Kyou-san convinced me to let him go. Well, not like I was so keen to kill again so soon...
That''s my history with the ss''rak, the real question is, what is a fucking ss''rak doing here!? ¡°Zo wee meeeet fainally.¡± I totally forgot how bad their pronunciation can be, though the voice tells me it''s a male.
I look at the ss''rak... they all look the same to me, so I may or may not have met it; but as the Voice of Muaotef certainly was bigger than this one, that¡¯s at least one I can exclude. ¡°Do we know each other?¡± I look around, no other ss''rak in the vicinity... no monsters either... wait, why aren''t the toads croaking either?
¡°Yuu don''t knoa me, butt I knoa yuu.¡± Was he the one that made them disappear? No signs of blood, not even the smell, so someone must have frightened them off.
I look at the ss''rak. No hood, so no ranger... dammit, I started thinking like the natives. I mean, I can just take off the hood and I''d still be a ranger! Let''s assume for starters that it''s responsible for the water-pillars and is capable of masking its spirit if necessary. So the real question is whether it''s a friend or a foe. Most likely a foe though.
¡°Faight me! I, Kruan, chellenj you!¡± The ss''rak moves into a fighting stance, both hands point their claws at me, while the body is strangely bent, is this some sort of ss''rak martial arts?
Well, there is only one answer to that. ¡°Nope.¡± The ss''rak are people bound by honor, as long as I decline the challenge and won''t attack myself, he won''t force me to fight. ¡°Bye.¡± I run to some bushes, the ss''rak¡ªCrunch?¡ªdoesn''t try to follow me. Well, I''m there, now I just need to use [Mask of Wildlife] and it''ll be hard to sense me as well, this is the direction and... I''m standing at the border of the bushes, looking at Crunch.
I have a theory. I make a 180¡ã turn and just go straight through the bushes again... yes, here again. So I just need to move through the open space, just through the mist. Not enough wildlife, but at least it won''t cause me... to get away from Crunch. However, there are other ways to deal with this, there is a pool of water, so- no, I''m not that stupid, I¡¯ve had enough of water. Despite my raincoat I''m wet everywhere, as I was just flooded again, and considering how I got here, going into the water is like asking him to mess with me.
¡°Yuu kan''t esceip.¡±
¡°Isn''t it dishonorable to make me force you to fight you?¡±
¡°Nott me.¡±
¡°So you make someone else do the dirty work?¡±
''I know, right?''
¡°Hh!?¡± Someone just whispered into my ear... it''s [Whisper], right? Where? For [Whisper] you have to see the target. Also, it didn''t sound like an ss''rak!
¡°Not derty woak, faight to keep monsters away, so yuu and I faight to fullest.¡±
Hm... so Crunch doesn''t know that I just heard a [Whisper]... I don''t know what''s going on, but this situation is the worst, I have no idea how many enemies are there and I can''t avoid it apparently. ¡°Why should I fight you?¡±
¡°Honor demendz it as you''ve killed mai fazzer.¡±
Don''t tell me... is this the son of the patriarch? ¡°Why now?¡±
¡°Koinzidenz. Duel maid yuu go free, yuu''ve gonn free. Zhis meeting by chanz.¡±
¡°Wait, when... no... why are you in this swamp?¡±
¡°Great One knows.¡± So Muaotef has sent ss''rak here out of all places? Why? What interest has the god-dragon in this place? Too bad that this one appears to be a goon, someone who only sees me as the target of his revenge.
There is a powerful [Spirit Magic]-user on his side, most likely an alfr. It''s just too easy to imagine one of them helping Crunch out because it''ll be fun to watch. Also, that way of speaking hinted to that as well.
Basically, while I''m given a chance to decline, I have no way of just walking away. I''ve already been alone for several hours, I''m on a clock right now. The moment I''m forcefully changed into [Student], I''ll be as good as death inside these swamps.
So I don''t have the nerve to keep looking for a loophole. ¡°OK, I''ll accept your challenge. Just give me a minute to prepare.¡± I guess I was healed before to be at peak condition, so I can face Crunch with all I got. Ss''rak and their strange perceptions about honor.
¡°Zo bee itt.¡± He even gives me time to equip myself properly. Seriously, what''s up with these guys!?
Well, I don''t need my raincoat, it''ll hinder me and with the water-action from before, I''m already as wet and cold as it gets. Too bad that I really want that protection from my armor, because it''s also wet and it chafes at my thighs and nipples, but it''s protection nonetheless.
Still, I can take some of my bombs and put it into my belt-pouch. This fight might be tough and it grates on my nerves that I can''t keep looking for the girls. Wait, could it be? ¡°Did you split our party?¡±
Crunch nods slowly... so I was the target after all. ...Suddenly, pieces fall together. They must have tried to take Ara''ainn out of the equation by putting her to sleep, they may have also done something so that the trees wouldn''t harm Rine or Kyou, it''s all about me. Still, I won''t accept any sort of guilt. I won''t see the eyes of the patriarch who had a look of acceptance that made me feel ashamed, though it also made me realize and accept that I''m a murderer.
Yes, this is a fight for survival, so I don''t need to feel guilty until I''m back at home. There I¡¯ll have time to lament everything, but to get to that point I have to kill the demon king, and that ss''rak and his petty revenge is in the way.
The jumble of my mind clears up, even I can tell how fierce my eyes are now, piercing the ss''rak with their resolve. I also know that the hero-system just might have adjusted to make me able to fight. Most likely, as even my lingering feelings of inadequacy are now gone. It''s only my opponent and me now.
I pull the hood over my head. ¡°Ready.¡±
¡°Go!¡± Crunch doesn''t lose any time, he kicks water and mud and strikes at me with his bare claws, the only problem for him is that I already anticipated that, as my [Focus]-skill is very good for predicting an opponent''s moves, I can see them beforehand by observing muscle movements.
The moment he wanted to slash at me, I was exactly two steps outside his reach, preparing for my first move: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± My spear is deflected!? Crunch moved his hip and blocked the spear under its blade to redirect the attack! I''m open! [Distract]! My [Stealth]-skill fills the moment I''m an easy target, making Crunch look away for a second, his tail lashes back and I block it with my armguard. Would have this been an aimed attack, this might have ended badly.
OK, I may have underestimated him just now. I also didn''t account for his tail properly, the humanoid form has fooled me. My senses sharpen, my blood is pumping through my body, I can do it. Class-change, [Pikeman], I may lose mobility, but I gain more power and toughness, also, my spear feels even more natural in my hands.
Crunch jumps at me. He starts kicking with his hind claws, fewer thrusts and a more fluent combo of slashes, he moves almost like Rine... I block one of his attacks with my left hand: ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± The ss''rak is blown away, even the water beneath us is being shot by the skill. Though while I pushed him away, I recognized another difference between Crunch and humans... his center of gravity. Because of the shape of his legs and his tail, it''s lower than a human''s.
Back to [Ranger], I use [Mask of Wildlife] while getting closer to the trees. Let''s see how good Crunch can deal with [Spirit Magic]. ¡wait, his claws are glowing, I know that! The crimson bear had something like that as well and tried to cut me into ribbons with it. He''s about to cut the trees!
Suddenly he stops, then the branches of the trees start moving, grabbing me while pushing me out of my hiding. ...ah, his alfr friend. Means that he won''t like it if the trees are damaged... Still, is that hiding guy just plain strong or somehow special?
As both of us had to abort our last attempt, we stare ourselves down while circling each other. Still, something is bothering me: ¡°The death of your father was justified. He went against Muaotef and he was the one who ordered me to kill him.¡±
¡°My fazzer alhays serffed Great One dutifulhy.¡± I think he means ''dutifully''.
¡°I don''t know the details, but he was too popular, too influential.¡± That''s what the patriarch suspected, the man himself who I was sent out to kill.
¡°Hiss tashk waz honorable, he alsho died durring tashk, hish dedd ish sad, but not the ishuu, it''z honor.¡±
Something is strange here. ¡°...but if he died honorably, why does honor demands that you''re taking revenge?¡±
¡°Becauzz he failed hish duty, it''sh me who hash to reshtore it az hiss son.¡±
This starts to make even less sense. ¡°What exactly was his duty?¡± I mean, while the duel against the patriarch was bloody and dirty, it''s not like it''s something he regularly does as part of his job.
¡°To guaad zhe temple fromm intruuders.¡± These words cause my whole body, which was pumped up just a while ago, to recede, my whole body grows cold within a second and my hands are shaking. Don''t tell me... ¡°Zhe patriarch made it, zhat yuu kan go when yuu win duel, robbing me off chaance toh reshtore my fazzer''sh honor aas a temple guard.¡±
Crunch''s father was among the first people I ever killed.
Volume 06 - Chapter 4-1 - Quaggy Setup
Chapter 4 ¨C Quaggy Setup
¡°We''re here.¡± Mama Orana, the self-proclaimed witch, and I are in front of her hut. She smiles mischievously, most likely because her hut is well hidden in a branching, one tree which basically split itself into four different stems about a meter and a half from the ground. It looks at first like just a behemoth of branches, but I lived in a village of alfar for about a month, so it doesn''t faze me.
I smile back at her. ¡°And where is that house supposed to be?¡±
¡°...you just took the whole fun out of it.¡± As she can read me to some degree, she also knows that I''ve figured it out and just played along. ¡°Hut, let us in.¡± The tree starts opening a bit, this is just like in Aroahenn, so maybe the witch made her hut herself? She said that she could use [Spirit Magic], after all.
We enter it and several rats are in there, in addition to a raven, though the raven looks a lot like a vulture. The floor is cluttered with trash, but the tables and chairs are clean, so she still beats Arako in terms of tidiness. Though there is a stench of decay here that makes my stomach turn. ¡°What a trash bin.¡±
¡°Little Kyou, if you keep pets, then some things can''t be helped.¡± I can''t help but think about Ken, Rine-chan, and Arako for a second here. They''re also always making a mess out of things.
Mama Orana takes off her coat and puts it on a branch, which acts as a hook. I also take off my raincoat and hang it right next to hers. ¡°Let''s talk about curses.¡±
¡°Let me first drink some brew.¡± The witch goes to a stone fireplace. While being in a tree does make it questionable, having a fire is a must in this world. Over the fire hangs a cauldron, the witch takes a wooden dipper and puts it into an also wooden bowl. ¡°Do you want one?¡±
¡°No thanks.¡± I don''t trust her in the least. Instead, I take a waterskin from my backpack and drink from it.
¡°Suit yourself. We can talk there.¡± The granny points at a corner, where a couch is. It looks like it¡¯s almost falling apart. Still, I sit down there, as I want to get her on my better side. ¡°Then tell me about your problem.¡± She sits down next to me. I don''t like it.
Still, I have to bear it. ¡°This.¡± I show her the ring on my left ring finger. ¡°This ring is marrying me to someone else.¡±
¡°A legitimate marriage? Strange... don''t talk anymore, let me first take a look...¡± She takes my hand and starts staring at the ring: ¡°... ¡ ¡ ¡ how... this... ah, there... and why... ...¡± Strange noises and muttering escapes her mouth. ¡°Yes, I''m certain.¡±
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Something I''ve never seen before.¡±
My hope got pegged down a bit, but just because she hasn''t seen something like that doesn''t mean she can''t handle it. ¡°It is a curse, right?¡±
¡°At first glance at least. Now tell me, how were you affected and what does the curse do exactly.¡±
How I got infected? I helped Ken with his stupid pilgrimage, as he was the first one who suffered from the curse. Then we were thrown into the chasm and almost died... I was about to fall, clinging on Ken''s hand, then we exchanged ''pledges'' by accident, which caused Ken''s ring to take all the energy of the pilgrimage to infect me with the ring.
What does the curse do? It married me to Ken, make it hard for me to stay away from him for some time, it keeps messaging me, it gives us the option to earn WP by performing acts of closeness, like holding hands, sitting on his lap, etc. Those WP can be spent on special bonuses, like our [Shared Inventory] or [Increased Experience-gain]. The curse also gives everyone a small boost to their [Attributes] by being close to each other, while we have spent WP to increase the range and the bonus.
I explain everything, leaving out most details, and Mama Orana keeps looking at my ring. In the end, she thinks for some moments while gibbering, then she tells me her conclusion: ¡°Girl, this is a potent bit of magic in here. To be straight, I can''t do much for you.¡± ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ This feels bad, my hopes are stepped on and crushed, this feels like a heartache, I... no, I need to stay strong, I''ve braced myself for that possibility, but the disappointment sure hurts. ¡°However, I can tell you where you find an expert in the field of curses.¡±
A small flicker of hope rises from the ashes: ¡°Where!¡±
¡°In Feuerberg there is an expert about curses, Pontiff R¨¹diger Glanznacht. People from all over the world visit him, he-¡± Here dies hope once again. ¡°Ah, the pilgrimage was the idea of said priest, right? Why don''t you retry?¡±
Because we''ve ''kidnapped'' Feuerberg''s crown-princess and we have no way to make her return home. We can''t force her. Like literally, we have no way to make her go back by force, and she''s so stubborn, that we can''t convince her either. In addition to that, I kinda sympathize with her after all that time. That must be because of my friendship with her. ¡°It''s complicated.¡±
¡°Then try Zethtrin, Little Kyou. I wouldn''t expect much from the black magic-users there though.¡±
¡°Why? Aren''t they expert cursers?¡±
¡°I''m also an expert curser, my curse of twenty years of bad sex is well-feared.¡±
¡°Wouldn''t twenty years of no sex be worse?¡±
¡°Not if the sex you can get makes you lose interest in it entirely, because of all the shame, the accidents, the deep feelings of dissatisfaction.¡± ...can it be so bad? ¡°Ah, you''re a virgin, so you won''t understand. ...are you looking down on me?¡±
¡°I''m a virgin by choice. It''s not like I didn''t have plenty of opportunities.¡± If I want to, I can have ten boyfriends. And not only back in Japan. I''m beautiful, after all, and there are plenty of guys who don''t even try to see past that. Still, I''m worth much more than that. I''m the one who decides who I let close to me.
¡°Ah, that cockiness... if I were so many years younger... I miss my soft skin.¡±
¡°Too bad for you. Still, tell me about the curse. What you learned.¡±
¡°Little Kyou, you demand and demand, so tell me what I get in return.¡±
I force some fluid into my eyes while making my best begging expression: ¡°Please, Mama.¡±
¡°You know how to push my buttons... This will take some time. Sure you don''t want my brew?¡±
¡°No thank you.¡±
¡°It''s delicious.¡±
¡°I¡¯d rather drink some water.¡± I lift my waterskin.
¡°You don''t need to be that alarmed... Well, technically, this isn''t exactly a curse.¡± I can do nothing but look at her in wonder and confusion. ¡°This is a power boost on curse basis. Curses usually don''t have beneficial effects, they''re there to make the life of the cursed one worse, but whoever designed that curse had something different in mind. Also, you''re not directly cursed, you just shoulder some of the burdens that strange design puts on the cursed one. You''re like a safety line, and while I can''t tell much of the curse without seeing the original ring, I can tell you that your ring is changing you to be a better security.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Did you notice any changes how you feel about the cursed one since having this ring?¡±
Any changes I feel towards Ken? Yes, I do feel closer to him, I do think I like him a bit on a certain level, I do have these dreams. Why? Why do I feel this way?
Mama Orana continues: ¡°You desire him, your body aches for him, you can''t even imagine a life without him, right?¡±
A life without Ken... well, if I hadn''t met him I would be working in a tavern in Esse... but yes, it''s just a fleeting thought, like predicting how a story ends without reading the whole thing... just a theoretical thought with nothing to back it up.
My eyes slowly wander to my ring... this is poison! This is poisoning me! It''s so clear! Why haven''t I realized it sooner!? It''s... step by step I inched closer to Ken. Like I said before, my perception about him has changed, but what if the only reason is because this... this thing is controlling my feelings, just like I controlled Rine-chan with my-
Rine-chan! She''s also... I mean, when did she ''developed'' feelings for Ken? I wasn''t there when she got her ring, but before we were separated, she wasn''t infatuated in this way.
This was so obvious! If the ring can cause Arako, who is an alfr and only has interest in sex during her mating season, to desire Ken''s body around the clock, what exactly keeps it from making us feel the same way?
Yes, I know that I had some attraction to Ken, but I always blamed the situations, especially when he looked kinda cool. What if this coolness is only me slipping my guard? What if my only protection is my hostile attitude towards Ken? What if it keeps me from falling in love with him against my will? Rine-chan didn''t have that kind of protection, therefore...
Does Ken know? He has to, right? No, if he knew, he would be... considerate. I mean, he keeps his distance from Rine-chan, he makes no advances though he has plenty of chances, he... no, he can''t know, right? What if he- No, is it me thinking these thoughts or is it the curse that makes me want to see everything about Ken in a positive light?
I drink from the waterskin and empty it in one gulp. I rub my temples. I need to calm down. My fingers want to wander to my ring instead, but I don''t want to touch it... though it''s always touching my skin. I have the desire to cut off my finger. I don''t need it, not if- No, not my finger, that''d be scary... is it me or the ring again!?
The last three months of my life may have been a lie. Am I still Momokawa Kyou or did something else gouged my personality out and replaced it with something that wants to stick close to Ken? What do I feel when I think about Ken?
No more hiding, my truest feelings...
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
How do I name it? Attraction? Yes, that''s a good word.
Am I in love with him? Is it the interest of a teenage girl towards a boy her age? Or is it the ring, which changes my emotions?
Drink, I need to drink something.
Mama Orana asks me: ¡°Do you want some brew after all?¡±
¡°No thanks.¡± I grab another waterskin from my backpack and drink until my stomach is full. I want to vomit, still, I embrace this feeling as if it''s a life belt. Now that I''m sufficiently unwell, I can clear my mind. I''m just overwhelmed about the possibility that my whole inner life may be wrong.
Yes, I¡¯ve regained control of my feelings. I''m just tired, just moody. I''m on my period after all, so I''m easily flustered. My breathing returns to normal. I didn''t realize before that it got ragged. I feel how my heart returns to its usual beat rate. Yes, that''s good.
Mama Orana gives me a few seconds before she continues: ¡°Do you remember how I said that I couldn''t do ''much'' for you? I may try to disrupt the curse on you.¡±
¡°How?¡±
¡°By putting another potent curse on you, which is designed to interfere with yours.¡± So fight fire with fire... This may work, yet is it worth to deal with another curse? Or is it the ring that causes me to be more skeptical, trying to prevent any interference.
Another question pops up: ¡°What do you want in exchange?¡± So far, the witch has helped me without any fees, but I know she wants something.
¡°What I want? Become my apprentice.¡±
¡°...why?¡±
¡°I need one; I''m getting older, things are harder to come by. When I disrupt the curse, you can stay away from your husband without any demerits.¡±
So she wants to make me a [Witch]? No, she wants a caretaker... Still, maybe I''ll be free from the curse. I look at my ring, the poisonous thing.
Then she drops a bomb: ¡°The only thing you need to do is to lose your virginity.¡±
¡°...what?¡±
¡°A witch is an entire woman. The child, the teen, the adult, the mother, the tyrant, the bitch, the lover. A witch is everything that encompasses a woman. You need to experience the joys of a woman to learn how to harness the power of it. Even a hero like you needs to complete that task.¡±
Is she serious!? ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡±
¡°No, I''m not. You may ask your husband for help in this matter, you yearn for him after all, so why don''t you use it to your advantage?¡±
Me with Ken!? My crotch begins to burn, despite having my monthlies. I remember my dreams and I feel a certain level of lust.
...wait, why does she knows that I''m a hero? Thinking about it, she also knew my name. So she has spied on us, hearing my name from Rine-chan or Ken. So let''s assume she was hiding or used her raven or something... that would mean that she has only approached me when I was alone and desperate.
She can read my emotions. Therefore she knows that I''m questioning her, so there¡¯s no need to play along and try to spring the trap on purpose to see where things are going. If I ask her directly what she¡¯s up to, she will most likely lie to me.
¡°How about some brew? You can''t think sufficiently without some nutrients in your brain.¡± She smiles at me, but I have the feeling that she''s scheming something. She wants to distract me! What''s with the brew anyways!?
I concentrate on it and find my [Poisonous]- and [Edible]-skills are ringing. There is a sleeping agent in it! Mama Orana drinks it though... maybe she''s resistant or took an antidote beforehand. Thinking about it, she saved me in battle before, so she must need me alive...
I put everything I know about witches together, which leads me to the following conclusion: ¡°You''re trying to steal my youth!¡± Mama Orana''s eyes widen for a moment, then they narrow and the witch starts to cackle.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Jarlhu, Rassha, and Zhesha invited me to dinner. Now all of us four, a human and three ss''rak, are eating from the same small table. It''s cooked meat, maybe from a rodent, together with a ragout made out of branches, roots, and mushrooms. It''s not that bad, though my teeth feel too blunt to chew it properly.
As another side dish, I contributed some of our bread. The ss''rak don''t like it, but I think it tastes great. It also has to be eaten soon, as it''ll dry soon.
Jarlhu knows most about me right now, she was shocked when she learned I''m a princess of Feuerberg, so I''m a guest until she decides whether she¡¯ll let me stay here or send me away. This is only natural, though I think it''s a bit sad that this is standing between us right now.
¡°Kati,¡± Jarlhu suddenly speaks up. ¡°To be shure, you''re Feuerberg''s princess?¡±
¡°Yes, I''m even the crown-princess.¡± When father resigns his throne, I''m the next in line. Though I need to finish my studies before I can rule, that''s why he won''t quit for a while.
Rassha hisses something I can''t understand, while Zhesha looks at her father strangely. Is this really that much of a deal? Jarlhu gives her husband a warning look.
¡°Is something wrong?¡± There is something strange here.
¡°...¡± Jarlhu looks at me, weighing something in her mind. Then she speaks up: ¡°Outside the village ish a camp of other ss''raks. They menshioned Feuerberg.¡±
¡°Oh? In what way?¡±
¡°They live there.¡±
¡°They do!?¡± I''m baffled, as I¡¯ve never heard of ss''rak living in Feuerberg... Ah, I must have slept through that lesson, showing me how long it''ll take until I''m ready to take over the throne.
¡°I think they''re enemies of Feuerberg.¡±
¡°I''m sure that I know most of our enemies, especially those that are close to us.¡± If I¡¯ve never heard about them, then they can''t be as important as Paarlar or Arrivinia. ¡°Ah, maybe they''re at the borders, living in the mountains... there are some savages there after all...¡± A sharp hiss comes from Zhesha: ¡°Ah, I''m sorry. I didn''t want to say that your kin are savages in general, it''s just that several tribes have hostility for us there, so maybe there is also a ss''rak village or so that hates us.¡± Being hated is totally normal for any nation, as some people think that everything we got was gifted to us, while they don''t understand how much work it is to create and maintain a country. Every single one of our citizens contributes, of course we have it better in several ways.
¡°Zhesha!¡± Jarlhu snarls at her daughter: ¡°Quiet.¡±
¡°Yess, zhosh.¡±
Jarlhu calmly takes up the thread: ¡°We''re close to savages, we''re simple folk after all,¡± she explains.
¡°You''re one with nature after all. I lived a while with alfar, so I know how it is.¡±
¡°My condolences.¡±
¡°Ah, it wasn''t that bad, they were only strange at times. There was a woman who tried to splash me with tree sap for good luck, she said, and I accidentally kicked the bucket out of her hand, which caused the fluid inside to rain all over her. Another one tried to sneak up on me one time. I accidentally punched him out of reflex, then he talked about something... maso?
¡°Seldom we get visitsh from an alfr, though the other ss''rak have one.¡±
¡°Oh! I want to meet him.¡± He may belong to an enemy camp, but it''s not like you can''t speak with your enemies, I mean, negotiations would be impossible without talking after all.
¡°Are you sure?¡±
¡°Of course. Where is their camp?¡±
Jarlhu and Rassha exchange a look before they give me directions. I quickly finish up my meal, slip over my raincoat, and follow their instructions to a small array of tents and fires. Oh, there are ss''rak, but they look different, their scales are duller than the ones I saw before. Maybe because they''re usually living in the mountains?
¡°Waiz, who arr yuu?¡± One speaks to me while four others look ready to attack me, I can feel their killing intent, but it''s just natural, they''re guards after all.
¡°I''m Katarine von Stolzherz and I¡¯d like to speak with your alfr.¡±
The guard looks confused to her peers, then she turns back to me: ¡°Yuu wannt to zpeak wizz alfh?¡±
¡°Yes, I- ah, wait. I have to speak with your leader first, right?¡± As I''m the guest and an enemy of theirs nonetheless, I need to follow the correct procedure and first talk to the one in charge.
The tongue of the guard slips in and out of her mouth several times, then she nods to one of her fellow ss''rak and the person nods and goes into the biggest of the tents. After a minute or two, the guard returns: ¡°Voizz will zpeak wizz yuu.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± I follow the ss''rak and find myself in a large, lantern-lighted tent, but it looks like it has a low ceiling as the one living in it is really tall. Much taller than I, he also looks strong, so maybe some sort of warrior chieftain? ¡°Nice to meet you, I''m Katarine von Stolzherz.¡±
¡°Zo it''z true. Show me yuur eyez.¡± Ah, I still have my raincoat on, so I pull back the hood to show my face. ¡°Ember eyez... Yuu prinzess of Feuerberg?¡±
¡°Yes, I''m the crown-princess.¡±
¡°Zhe lost prinzess! Kuehehehe.¡±
¡°I don''t think I''m lost anymore. It''s just that I have to be found right now.¡±
¡°Whazz arr yuu taalking about?¡±
I cock my head: ¡°Didn''t you mean that I''m lost in the swamps?¡±
The big ss''rak looks at me flabbergasted: ¡°Yuu losst to contry.¡±
¡°Ah, that makes more sense. Though I just ran away, so I''m not really lost, more like, unavailable. It''s not like they need me right now though, so we can first do whatever Kenta wants to-¡±
Suddenly, he interrupts me with a growl: ¡°KENTA!¡±
¡°Ah, you know him?¡±
¡°Zhat...¡± Some snarls and hisses I can''t understand follow, then the leader stands straight: ¡°Me be voice of Muaotef. The Great One will now talk to you.¡± The eyes of the ss''rak begin to flicker in short bursts in orange light, then it''s like they''re on fire, it becomes hotter around us, while another, burning voice fills the room: ?We''re Muaotef, the Great One, the Flame of the Earth and Bringer of Decay.?
Something about this voice makes me nervous, I feel like running away, sweat is coming from my body, there is something like a threat there. Is this ss''rak a prophet and is now a medium for a deity to speak? ¡°My name is Katarine von Stolzherz and I''m the crown-princess of Feuerberg, your divinity.¡±
?We know. We are also curious about the reason you came to the Spirit Swamps.?
¡°Erm... ¡ I think it''s just to pass through.¡±
?We hear no lie in your words. Though the goal of your journey remains a mystery.?
¡°It''s Zethtrin.¡±
?We see, Zethtrin. Then you and Our forces here don''t need to clash.?
¡°May I ask you a question, your divinity?¡±
?You may speak.?
¡°Do I know you? Your name sounds familiar.¡±
?We have not met personally, though We are an enemy of your country.?
¡°...ah! The god Kenta and Kyou mentioned!¡± Yes, back when we were in the Mauerfelsen-mountains, Kenta and Kyou tried to convince me to go back by mentioning the thread of a dragon god, though I''m positive that since father knows, he''s more than capable to fight it in addition to the demons, especially with the heroes at his side. So there is only one question remaining: ¡°Are you a real dragon!¡± That would be awesome!
?We are a deity, the form We use is only an embodiment to contain Our divine selves.?
¡°Is that a yes or a no?¡±
?We are as real as you think We are.?
¡°So the more I believe that you''re a dragon, the more you will be like one?¡±
?We will not waste time on your meager mind.?
Did he just call me stupid? ¡°Sorry, I know I''m not smart. Still, it hurts me you saying that.¡±
?We are not granting you an audience to adulate you.?
¡°Why are you granting me an audience then?¡±
?...? Ah, have I offended him? ?We are granting you an audience to give you a chance to save your country from my wrath.?
The moment he mentions this, my speaking manners snap back to court-mode, courage fills my body, banishing the fear: ¡°My apologies to you, your divinity, but I have to speak out. The moment you try to mess with Feuerberg, you''ll get burned.¡±
?You are threatening Us??
¡°I''m just stating the facts. We have uncle and father, and the rest of the vast royal family, we have Thorsten and Frieda and many other capable mages, we have Matthias, Gilbert, Susanne, Antonia, and the other leaders of the army. Even Instructor Gottfried may return from retirement to kick your armies'' butts, we also have heroes and the Four of Feuerberg, while you''re a deity from I don''t know where. Since Founder Hagen von Stolzherz we stood tall and didn''t falter against any threat, so if you try to attack us, you''re just asking us to add your name to the long list of people we defeated!¡±
?Watch your tone.? The voice is calm, but my knees start to shake and panic wells up, my desire to run away has returned stronger than before. I didn''t know that speaking to a deity can be that grating!
Still, I stand tall. I won''t falter here! I have to be the princess of Feuerberg. This god has no power over me! I must remember that Hagen slew a few of them on his own. His blood runs through my veins, I refuse, like my ancestor did, to be slaved to a god''s greed, like my ancestor! ¡°I apologize for my tone, your divinity, I was upset.¡± I won''t apologize for my words though.
?We know your country well. We also know that it is indeed a strong nation, though you underestimate Us. Even if you can stop Us and Our armies, how many of your people will have to pay the price?? Ah, I didn''t think about it! ?Feuerberg is occupied invading the demon realm, a war on two fronts would be difficult. Wouldn¡¯t also Arrivinia then declare war, trying to settle the century-long feud?? Arrivinia isn''t the strong nation it used to be, mostly because it lost several wars against Feuerberg, so maybe they will at least reclaim their honor by using an opportunity to crush us.
On the other hand, we have our allies as well, like Dej¨²ma, so... it becomes complicated. That''s why I dislike politics and would be glad to have Kenta at my side when I ascend to the throne.
?There is still an option. Just tell Us where the tablet is.?
¡°The what?¡±
?The tablet Hagen found.?
¡°What kind of tablet is it?¡±
?...? A moment of pause. ?We hear no lie. We also do not believe that you don''t know about it. You are just ignorant of that knowledge. We will give you time to ponder about it, then you may speak with Us again.? Without even saying goodbye, the presence of the deity vanishes, while the ss''rak-prophet falls on his knees and breathes heavily. Looks like being the host of a deity puts a lot of stress on the body.
¡°Are you alright? Let me help you, [Heal]!¡± I think Kyou''s [Stamina]-spell would be a better choice here, but I don''t know it yet. Maybe I should ask her to teach me just like how Ara is teaching me [Elemental Magic].
¡°The Great One ashked me to welkomm yuu. Yuu may shtay at zhe camp.¡± The prophet then sticks his head out of the hut and open his mouth. It looks like he''s screaming, though no tone is coming from his throat. Strange. ¡°Alsho, zhink aboot zhe tablet.¡±
Just what is that tablet? May I really have forgotten about it? Since it''s something Hagen was supposed to have found, it may be something related to the royal family. As Muaotef-kamisama stated himself, he''s an enemy of Feuerberg, so even if I knew I shouldn''t tell them. ¡°Even if I knew, I wouldn''t tell you.¡±
¡°I waon yuu, nobody defyes the Great One.¡±
¡°I warn you! If you try hurting me, I may hurt you back, even if I don''t mean to.¡±
¡°...whaz kaind of zreat ish zhat!?¡±
¡°It''s my warning to you.¡±
¡°Zoft-skin, doan''t try mai pashience.¡±
¡°Don''t try mine!¡±
Both, I and the prophet clash our heads while staring into each other''s eyes, even our teeth are bared. I don''t like this guy! ¡°Yuu will comfly!¡±
¡°I won''t!¡±
¡°Yuu will!¡±
¡°I won''t!¡±
Danger from the front, the prophet wants to grapple me, but my left hand darts at his wrist, my body turns, and my hip pushes under his center of gravity while my arm stretches his. I''m about to do a shoulder-throw, but he''s too big, so I sweep his feet from the ground as well. The moment he''s in the air, I can see his slimy face and my right fist takes a quick shot at it, causing the prophet to get a spin and to land very roughly. My fist hurts though, as his scales are quite hard.
I kick my foot in his armpit and take his arm to force him into a hold, but then I make a quick step back, as his tail is coming for me. ¡°Just lay down and I won''t need to hurt you anymore!¡±
¡°Yuuuuuu......¡± The prophet snarls at me while standing up. ¡°ALFR! WUERE ARR YUU!!!¡± His jaws are still open after his outcry, like a soundless scream. ¡°WHAT!?¡± Then another pause with an open mouth.
Just what is he doing? Well, time to attack, right? As we''re not at lethal force right now, I kick the chair into the prophet''s direction, while he merely hits it aside with his claws. I use the opening to kick him right at where his solar plexus is most likely to be... This feels strange. He grunts, but there should be that soft feeling in my heel which tells me that I hit a vital right now... Ah, he''s covered with hard scales, after all, they''re like a suit of armor.
Suddenly, a high pitch noise erupts and my head feels like splitting. This prophet can use his voice to hurt me, that''s unexpected. My sense of balance also suffers. Still, I cover my ears and kick him in the stomach again.
The prophet''s sound-attack is halted. I quickly draw my blade, as I hear more noise outside of the tent. Guards are finally entering, the exchange between the prophet and me was too fast for them to react before this point in time. Of course, they attack me, but I won''t bow down.
The first one is on the ground before it could realize what''s happening. I pierce through its leg and use it as a lever for a throw. The second one tries to claw at me, but it''s not fast enough, I dance between its attacks, pick up a lantern and throw it into its face. The flames will hurt, but I have no time to think about it, as a third one tries its best.
The prophet lets his guards do the fighting, maybe waiting for an opportunity to strike from a safe position, but that''s only more reason to stick close to the others and try my best to whittle them down simultaneously.
After a few minutes of me dancing between the guards and watching the prophet, someone else enters the tent. ¡°Erm, do I disturb?¡± It''s an alfr, his blue hair, expressionless face, and the continually moving, pointed ears are a clear indicator.
¡°Ffinally!¡± The prophet exclaims.
I''m still busy though: ¡°Sorry, if you want to fight, do you mind waiting a bit?¡±
¡°Nah, not much interested in fighting you though it looks funny what you do. Do you mind me joining your team?¡±
¡°Of course not.¡±
Without a break, the alfr steps in between the ss''rak and begins beating them with his bare hands. He takes them out much faster than me, though. ¡°By the way, I''m Lvo''tjos.¡±
¡°I''m Katarine von Stolzherz. Lvo, I try not to hit them too hard.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°Because if I do, they''ll fall down and the prophet might use a sound-attack again.¡±
¡°Oh, I see. How about this, we take them out quickly, then I shut him up before he can do anything?¡±
¡°Can you do it?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
For some reason, the guards are moving towards the prophet as if they''re trying to protect him. Lvo''s ears are slightly uplifted, just like Ara''s when she''s wondering about something, then he asks the guards: ¡°I can see why you don''t like to fight me, but why are you standing between him and me?¡±
¡°Rememmba, alf!¡±
¡°It''s alfr. There is an r-sound.¡±
¡°Yuu arr paat off uz,¡± one of the guards says sternly.
¡°What, we all are part of the same organism? Where are my scales then? I want scales. Also, give me one of your knives, as I have that sealed jar and opening it with brute force might break it. By the way, what can we do if we retire? Because I''m the part which has no idea what the retirement-plan is and I might have my own ideas, you know?¡±
¡°Paat off seim gruup.¡±
¡°Ah, that''s what you meant. Well, technically we are, but you never invited me to your birthday party, so I feel left out.¡±
¡°Whazz borthday?¡±
¡°You don''t know the joy of having a birthday? The one day, most alfar run away as fast as they can, as it''s a race between them and you? If they catch you, they have the right to do any prank they like with you, if you manage to escape them, then they must play along to any prank you like.¡±
This sounds strange. ¡°When it''s my birthday, we have a real celebration, with ballroom dancing at the end. I also get a lot of presents.¡±
¡°So they''re trying to buy you with presents and a party?¡±
¡°No. My family gives me presents because they''re happy I was born.¡±
¡°Why only on your birthday though, I mean, if they like you that much, then they may hold a party for you like once a month or so.¡±
¡°...I''ve never thought about that. Why do you alfar only make the race once a year?¡±
¡°Other than you humans, we alfar have a mating season, so our birthdays are all really close to each other, so it''s like a huge festival for about a month with each day having a lot of chasers and chased.¡±
¡°Ah, that makes sense.¡±
¡°I know, right? For a human, you''re alright!¡±
¡°Thanks.¡±
While I ascertain my friendship with Lvo, the ss''rak are staring at us with wide-opened eyes. Only the prophet barks: ¡°Rememmba zhe Great One!¡±
¡°Ah, Big M. Of course I remember him, he and I, we''re like best buddies.¡±
¡°Yuu''re serrvant of Great One!¡±
¡°Big M and I aren''t in that kind of relationship. It''s rather like... like... you know.¡±
¡°Ai donnt.¡±
¡°Me neither,¡± I add my own thought. The way Lvo phrases it, makes it really hard to guess.
¡°I owe him, but he''s acting like he''s my boss, though my actual boss was a much more mellow person. She always made sure to make me tea, especially the kind that makes your throat burn the whole day. Ah, good times.¡±
I think I can relate to this. No, actually I can''t, but I try nonetheless. Let''s say my boss would be mother, but she gives me something that makes my throat burn the whole day... then I would be angry at her. So why is Lvo wallowing in memories right now?
The ss''raks are equally confused, but the prophet yells: ¡°Zhe ish zhe enemy! Fait her! In zhe neim of Great One!¡±
¡°Ah, so the fish she eats? Ate? Sorry, I''m really having problems understanding you, but I guess I''m supposed to treat her for dinner.¡±
This is odd. ¡°I think he said that I''m the enemy and you should fight me in the name of the Great One.¡±
¡°My dear Katarine-san, I lived with the ss''rak for a while. What you do is trying to decipher their noises as words, but most of what they say is just a bunch of strange sounds mixed with some words in-between.¡±
¡°Ah! I didn''t know!¡± Did I misunderstand half of what they were saying because I interpreted some of their guttural sounds as actual words?
¡°Let''s eat a bit, then we can resume with all the talk.¡±
¡°But I''ve already eaten.¡±
¡°Ah, shucks.¡±
¡°Doant ignosh miii!¡± Woah, that sounds much more like a beast than before!
¡°Mushed ants for dinner? No thanks.¡± Lvo really understood it fast!
¡°Yuuuuuuuuuuuuu!¡±
¡°How about this then, Katarine-san? We both ditch these losers and go hunting so that I have a good meal for a change.¡±
I point with my blade at the ss''rak: ¡°What about them?¡±
¡°Wow, you''re bold. I''ve never considered eating people before!¡±
¡°No! That''s not what I meant!¡±
¡°Too bad, because they really look delicious to me now.¡±
¡°I mean, what do we do about them. I mean, I was just hurting them and all, so I''m a bit concerned whether it was all a misunderstanding.¡±
¡°Ah, that. [Sleep]!¡± Lvo points at the prophet, who instantly falls asleep. ¡°See, he was just tired.¡±
¡°Didn''t you just used a spell?¡±
¡°This spell only works on tired people.¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡±
¡°Hey guys,¡± Lvo speaks to the guards. ¡°Everything is just a big, fat misunderstanding. If you don''t mind, take care of Voicy and tell him later that Kruan is on a revenge-date, so he may come late. Or never at all. Most likely the latter, even if he wins, he''ll be lost in the swamps without my help, but Voicy called for me after all, and as he''s my second least favorite ss''rak, I couldn''t ignore it.¡± The alfr offers me his arm: ¡°Shall we go?¡±
I don''t take it, however. ¡°Rather than hunting, I''d like to find my husband and my friends.¡±
¡°Ah, we can look for them while hunting, right?¡±
¡°That makes sense.¡± So I join Lvo on his hunting trip. As he''s an alfr and therefore capable of navigating through the swamps, there is nothing that can go wrong, right?
Volume 06 - Chapter 4-2
Where is my party? This is a question I find myself asking a lot. Despite taking a break, my ears are picking up another spirit trying to mess with mine, I push it aside effortlessly and hurl a [Fountain Gun] into the direction, shooting a spider-monster from a tree. I don''t even need to stand up for this.
I return to my thoughts. Someone is pulling the strings here, someone with a strong spirit, a familiar spirit. The most logical answer would be that it''s an alfr. The fact that the owner of the spirit was able to put me to sleep for a moment, makes me think about one of the rangers doing a journey, just like Kara''toss or Irin''vein, or one of the heroes of my generation. Though I haven''t heard from the latter for about twenty years, they''re still out there.
Could this be a prank? The alfar of this world have a more vicious sense of humor, so it''s within the realms of possibility. A good prank, in my opinion, is one that makes the target suffer greatly without significant risks to their lives in a physical and social sense. So if it''s one of the heroes, it has to be Hu''arur, who always was a bit of a madwoman.
I try to compare my image of her spirit against the one I had felt before I was put to sleep, only to discern that it''s not a good match.
There is another possibility though. Spirits don''t only change with time, the spirits of relatives are often similar. So maybe one of the heroes had a child and the child is playing its game with us, though it has to be an impressive child to be able to influence my spirit. ...I have to admit, that lazing around all these years in Aroahenn, concentrating on my research instead of my hero-status and my magic, may have made me weak in this sense. I may be a master in using [Spirit Magic] on an everyday basis, but I severely lack in combat-experience.
The child of a hero... at best, it''s about a century old, so not that much younger than I. Heroes do procreate, they can do with each other and native people, so maybe a male hero left a native person pregnant or a female hero has given the child to the father, though that rarely happens in modern society and the heroes are from modern Alfrheim. Still, it''s a possibility.
Though like there are shapeshifters and camouflaging, maybe there are also monsters or people capable of changing their spirit to seem familiar, this trait would be very beneficial in an environment where the spirit sense is prevalent. I think that this has the highest probability so far.
Let''s not jump into conclusion though. The only fact that my pondering provided me is that there are multiple likely scenarios and that it would be unwise to narrow my expectations down at this point.
I wipe my behind, stand up from my squatting position and step a bit forward before rearranging my dress. Now that I took this activity of most concentration and creativity, I can continue with thinking about a strategy. As this whole mess came because I slipped, I refuse to come up with anything less than a masterful plan that solves all of the problems. However, the biggest obstacle is that I have no idea where my party-members are and therefore I can neither determine a viable route nor devise a good strategy.
So the whereabouts of my companions is unknown, there are at least four logical possibilities of what the enemy is, and I lack Kenta-kun''s expertise in reading tracks, while the area is large, deceitful, and lethal. This seems like a lot of work, which dampens my motivation, though finding the easy way out will be very satisfying. How can I solve this problematic situation with as little effort as possible?
The spirits around me are just trees, but there is also a monster in there. It¡¯s snake-like, uses mimicry and is clad in bark-like scales. In general a viable strategy, yet against an alfr is almost pointless. ¡°[Chin-upper]!¡± I hit it in the air, switch my class to [Druid], and: ¡°[Icicle Knives]!¡± Perforate it with icy blades.
¡ ¡I was a fool. All this time, I have only been fooling around. I just naturally switch between my [Classes], just like Kenta-kun does, and I haven''t seen the potential. I need a new monster! There, another bark snake! I use [Acrobat] to make an impressive, wide jump using [Athletics]''s [Like the Wind] while performing a cartwheel in the air. With [Motion Health] I can do anything without disturbing my vestibular system. Then I change to [Druid] and use [Fountain Gun].
I learned five things while doing so.
When I change class, there is a small lag in my movements, as my body and senses need to adjust, so perfecting the timing is necessary.
As [Druid] has no access to [Athletics], [Motion Health] isn''t usable. Therefore I feel bad afterwards.
[Fountain Gun] has a recoil. Therefore it alters my jump after using it.
As I''m not an [Acrobat] anymore, landing on my feet is difficult, so in the future, I need to [Class Change] before I land.
All things considered, it''s a moment of perfect coolness, so I should harness this combination more.
Kenta-kun might criticize it, so I need to have some good arguments why this move is necessary. One of them would be that I could do a high jump quite a distance above the others and bombard the enemies from above. This is a good point. I need to write it down, so I change to [Bookie]. This class has the [Memory Note]-skill which makes it easier to remember what I''ve written down.
Another valid argument... I''m more difficult to hit, as I move around more. It also makes me more mobile on the battleground with little drawback to my offense. Actually, it''ll increase the numbers of attacks I''m capable of doing in combat as I have an easier time finding angles to attack which don''t risk my teammates.
...what is that? That noise? It sounds like swampy footsteps. I change to [Druid] and try my best to approach stealthily. Ah, three ss''rak. Do they live here? I should have known it. This is one of the dirtiest mud-holes I''ve ever encountered, the perfect habitat for ss''rak and ooaks to do their businesses.
No, they''re not all from here. The one in front looks different from the others, the mud is so ingrained into its scales, that they look more humid and colorful, this one also seems to be more adept about walking inside the swamps, given that the others lift their feet more clumsily on the soft ground. It''s sensible to assume that the other two of them are usually living in the mountains. While ss''rak don''t have different races in general, they''re highly adaptable to different environments. Therefore the claws, muscle-groups, scales, and even their organs change throughout the years to adapt to their current surroundings. The pale and dry scales, the long claws, the lack of webbings, and the way they''re taking deep breaths tells me that they''re used to living in a dry environment with solid footing, which requires much climbing and is short on air.
They haven''t seen me so far. Differently to them, I don''t need to get close to hear how they breathe, and my eyes work well despite the underbrush, I''m a Ljos alfr after all. Being specialized in a terrain from the beginning is a much better strategy. My brain also doesn''t have the size of a pea which means I can think up strategies.
In this case, I may try following them. I''m curious about what ss''rak who used to live in the mountains are doing inside the swamps, meeting up with a ss''rak who obviously lives here. The latter will be the most difficult to fool, as it''s logical to assume that the swamp-ss''rak also adapted to actively use their spirit sense to a degree.
In my [Acrobat]-class, I follow them while staying on top of the treetops, using my superior [Balance] to make as little noise as possible. They will pass this section, therefore... I lift a branch with my staff, laying the branch on top of a different one to put it under tension. Then I step a bit back, avoiding the inferior spirit sense of the swamp-ss''rak. I wait until the three ss''rak pass this point, then I shake the branch the tensed one is resting on with my staff, and suddenly, the tensed branch lashes out, hitting a mountain-ss''rak in the face. ¡°Ou!¡± He holds his snout while groaning for several seconds.
Mission accomplished.
The swamp-ss''rak is moving its head, but I''m outside of what I believe his spirit sense range is. This one might be tough, he''s much more alarmed and aware. Therefore I need something that will get him without coming too close, so he won''t be able to react on time.
I need a swamp rat or another critter. Oh, even better, a slug. First, I change to [Druid] to look at it with [Poisonous]. A poisonous slug, perfect. I take a handkerchief to grab it, thinking about the possibilities. The scales of the ss''rak are probably making it too hard, so I have to make one of them swallow it.
[Acrobat]. Using my mastery of everyday [Spirit Magic], I move through the branches, while the branches do their best to avoid me. The trees might be out to kill me, but they also know that I can do much worse to them.
The mountain-ss''raks are cautious... I see. They''re what the common alfr calls ''victims.'' They don''t have any spirit senses, so the trees are messing with their minds, most likely the swamp-ss''rak is the one that keeps them in line.
There! The guide is about to say something, so I swing the handkerchief, using it as an improvised sling. As an [Acrobat], I''m rather dexterous, my [Luck]-status is also high, so... ¡°Shraaa!¡± I hit the eye, not what I wanted, but still funny.
Oh, the eye swells, it really swells! This is much better than expected! A feeling of bliss goes through me as I look at the eye of the ss''rak. The poison of a small slug isn''t enough to cause lasting damage, but the red-shot eye of the ss''rak marks the success of this operation.
I need a spell that will let me create pitfalls. I want to lure them into one, I want to make them fall into it. Wait, I have let my primal instincts take reign over my actions! Playing pranks is one thing, but actually, I want to follow the ss''rak to find out what they''re doing, so I should stop playing pranks that hinder them. Still, it was fun while it lasted.
Obeying the logic of the situation, I retreat a bit, using [Druid]''s [Plant Eye] to observe the ss''rak, who treat the swollen eye with some herbs they pick up. Looks like ss''rak can identify medicinal plants, most likely by the insects that gather around them. Delicious insects equal medicine.
The treatment is over and the small group continues their journey. The swamp-ss''rak explains: ¡°Laik yuu shaw, shuamp ish danjeruus. Hear, shish ish zhe bodder.¡± This is the reason why I don''t consider capturing and interrogating a ss''rak so far. They just can''t talk like people. Maybe the reason why there are so few ss''rak around here is that the best way to differentiate a monster and a person is by speech, of course, ss''rak are seen as monsters the moment they try to explain themselves and therefore attacked by those who can''t understand them.
Poor ss''rak, imagining how they want to say ''We come in peace'' while hissing ''Wii komm iin peesh'' and being slaughtered as they''re seen in the same way as kobolds, they never stood a chance to begin with.
One of the mountain ss''rak answers: ¡°This is the border? I can see nothing.¡± !!! A ss''rak who can speak clearly, which means it''s a hero! The way the hero-system translates the language of the hero to this world''s words is most likely the cause for that proper pronunciation.
¡°Zhish ish borrda. Aphta hiir, monshter mush shtronga.¡±
¡°Hm... the swamp is much bigger, so this might be only an outer ring. The Great One asks of us to seek the center.¡±
¡°Zhuishaidal.¡±
¡°We won''t do it today. We do it when our other hero is ready.¡± So they have another hero, I see... the real question is why they want to reach the center of the swamps. Some areas, including the Spirit Swamps, have different monster habitats, often the strongest ones are at the center. The legends of the swamps tell about treasures, about secrets ranging from divine wrath, to a monster¡¯s civilization, to cultivation. Maybe it''s true and the Spirit Swamps were actually made to act as a hero-training-facility.
Therefore the ss''rak hero may be actually powerful and they were sent by The Great One, the title a specific god called Muaotef claims, to train here. For the conflict with Feuerberg? Maybe... so did we run into one of the two heroes of Muaotef, and he decided to separate us for... what?
Let''s put them on the list of suspects for now. As ss''rak implement the term ''honor'' to quickly pay back injustice done to them before they forget it due to their lack of long-term memory, it''s highly questionable whether they did it because of Momo and Kenta-kun and their encounter with them.
The status of my two friends is- oh, Momo is in a bad spot. Kenta-kun as well... This is troubling, but as I lack any means to help I need to concentrate on what''s before me: Three stinking ss''rak, two of whom should take a language course, and with the final one being a hero.
I¡¯d like to capture that hero and question him until I get the tiniest bit of knowledge out of him. I''ve never had a ss''rak-hero before, he will be my first. What to do with his companions? I can tell that the swamp-ss''rak is acting as a guide, but why the non-hero mountain-ss''rak?This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Intriguing. Still, hiding my presence will serve me well.
Suddenly, a strange sound occurs and the mud around the ss''rak starts to rise, swallowing the lizard people, while the sound of quick waddle approaches, it''s a green duck, almost as big as me. Its feathers are glimmering like steel, its wings are spread, and it''s about to cut the mud-trap.
You won''t steal my hero, you mo- While I''m preparing to cast a spell, the mud-trap is blasted away by pure force, it''s the mountain-ss''rak, the one who isn''t even a hero! Did he use a [Skill]? Native people can learn them, it just takes much longer, and they can''t learn as many as a hero can.
Then the non-hero jumps at the duck, catching its wings with his clawed hands with a jarring sound. The duck stops, the hands of the ss''rak are hard enough to not to be cut. I get it, this non-hero is here for his combat-strength.
What about the hero? He opens his jaws and yells, though most non-alfr might not even notice as the sound is concentrated into a sonic attack directed at the head of the duck. The only thing I can hear is the high pitch that escapes him while exhaling.
Actually, I expected the duck to be incapacitated by the spell, as sonic attacks usually damage internal organs, but either the hero is weak or the duck is strong. However, the monster loses its balance and the warrior-ss''rak lifts it up and ground-piles it. ¡°Hero.¡±
¡°Yes!¡± The hero kills it by ripping its throat with his claws. Heroes become stronger by killing monsters, so this is the sensible choice. ¡°This went well.¡±
¡°Wizh one it doss, butt too oar shree?¡±
¡°You''re right, but ultimately we have to find the center, so I''ll ask the Voice to move the camp into this area soon.¡± The Voice... this is a ss''rak Kenta-kun told me about, so it''s most likely really Muaotef.
''COOOOM TUUU CAAAAAAMP, INTRUUUUUDAAA!'' This is a high-pitched message coming from far away, several maooaf at least. By the slur, I expect another ss''rak, but for who is this message? Well, it could be for me, I''m the well-known hero-sage after all, but I doubt that they need my expertise to deal with intruders.
Maybe I''ve just overheard a message which is supposed to arrive at a specific person, as I have a properly functional hearing.
With this distance, it will be difficult to find the origin. From the slur, I can exclude another hero. This is probably from the [Sound]-ability, one of the many forms of magic. This may be a somewhat common [Ability] for ss''rak. However, I expect this spell to be a difficult one, as otherwise, the head of the user might explode while creating these sound-waves. Not that I know how [Sound] works precisely, I just assume it, as I enjoy the mental picture.
Still, a ss''rak who sends the message and talks about a camp. To find said camp I need directions. Maybe I need to interrogate the hero after all, so I better check out the ropes and herbal interrogation tools.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°FAIT!!!¡± Crunch''s tail begins to grow while he swings it, a glowing arc follows it, increasing the reach of his attack by a lot.
My body mechanically blocks the attack, but I put way to little force into it. Therefore I''m blown away, while the wooden part of my spear groans about the abuse.
I need to get my head into the fight, but it''s too busy processing everything. My feelings about my first kills are back, it''s like back then, when I realized that I just killed people. My thoughts return to that fateful moment, trying to recollect my kills. Two of mine, the third one by Kyou-san, as feelings of guilt paralyzed me. I should have killed him as well, but because I was unable to, I needed Kyou-san to kill him. Could that final one his father? Would it make a difference?
I stand up with shaking knees. While my body is used to fighting at this point, it feels sluggish and doesn''t move as I want it to. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± With my skill, it moves on its own, but my sluggishness is still there, weighing me down. I already realized before that skills aren''t exactly autopilot, you can alter them to some degree and you can stop them, but they also don''t override your physical condition, and physical and mental states are closely related. Right now my muscles aren''t ready to fight. I force them nonetheless.
Crunch blocks my attack with his scaled elbow and he''s hitting me with a claw, I can feel a searing pain in my face. Dammit, move, body! I should''ve been able to evade it! I''m a nimble and agile [Ranger], after all!
I need to tough it out, I guess. I switch to [Pikeman], and with the increase of muscle mass, something else changes as well. My body feels lighter, much lighter! Crunch is pouncing at me, but I smash my spear against him, I feel how the power transfers from my body to my weapon, pushing him back, while there is a cut at his chest.
What''s this? Why? I still feel like shit, but while it''s a mental effort to command my body, it follows easily enough. Wait, isn''t it obvious? I''m a [Pikeman]! The moment I got the [Class], it made me feel like I''ve been fighting with spears for years. A [Ranger] might also be a strong fighter, but for a [Pikeman] it''s its bread and butter, its whole point of existence.
A [Class] always grants the hero the capabilities necessary. A [Ranger] is, in the end, a warrior of nature, who uses magic, wits, and martial skills, a [Pikeman] is someone who stoically stands within a military rang, who has nothing else but his spear and his comrades. The spear feels like a friend right now, and this eases my mind to have it in my hand with an enemy to fight.
I change to [Ranger] again, while the spear does feel familiar, it''s unlike before, but I sense how something that was clogged before has been freed. Still, what I need is not being a warrior, it''s being a soldier. A [Pikeman]. ¡°Which one was your father?¡± I must know it. I killed two, Kyou-san murdered one. The first died by a knife through the throat, the second by a stab into the heart with a bone, the last one was killed by so many stabbing wounds that I couldn''t even keep my eyes open. I have no idea what knowing which one he meant will accomplish, but still, I need to know!
If I guess right¡ ¡°Zhe wann hu wash shtabbed zrou zhe hart.¡± ...I was wrong. My guess would have been that he was my first kill. Instead, he''s my second one, which takes a lot of... ¡ªweight?¡ªfrom the whole situation.
This unfateful revelation makes it easier to calm down a bit. However, it doesn''t mean that Crunch will be any less of a threat, but I guess I''m stronger than him. I admit it''s difficult to guess his moves right as he''s using claws, teeth, and his tail to their advantage and I lack experience fighting it, yet I should be able to beat him.
While my thoughts are running in high-speed through my brain, he''s already attacking again, I block his first claw with my spear-pole, then his head shoots forward, trying to bite or headbutt me, and I twist my weapon to hit his head on the side, but he seizes the momentum to attack with his second claw. My body reacts to it in time though. It feels so light right now. I get low while moving my spear a bit more while my head is now below his waist. I change the movement to a strike, hitting Crunch in his now open hip.
Need to get away here. With wide steps, I try to get some distance, but the muddy underground slows me down and Crunch got me with his tail. Good thing that I have the armor, I feel some pain, but my HP is only reduced by a small amount.
I''m in a swamp, I need to remember it. While my fighting style isn''t all about mobility, it''s one of my options, the option I''d usually use with this kind of opponent, as he has more weapons than I do and it''s hard to keep track of all of them in close quarters.
Change of tactics, I swap the way I''m holding my spear, my thumbs are pointed to each other, this ensures the best attack speed, using both sides of my weapons, beating any attempt of using two weapons at once. Just like a quarterstaff.
My spear has a small blade at the other end, other than the main-blade. It''s not a monster bone, but wood. Wood made by the alfr to serve me as a weapon, wood as good if not better than most steel. The process killed the spirit inside, but its remains merged with the fiber to grant me the best offense and defense possible. The wooden blade clashes against the scales of Crunch. He recoils without a visible wound, but now the main blade, made of monster bone comes from the other side. A claw deflects it, but then the wooden edge comes from another angle, this time it''s blocked with a tail, he tries to bite me, but my monster bone side comes, causing a cut at the face.
We exchange a real flurry of blows. Crunch has his claws on hands and feet, his teeth, and his tail, I have only one weapon, a long weapon with two sides which I need to coordinate to use. On the other hand, his limbs are getting in his way when he tries to attack. I''m on the offense now!
There! His last block caused Crunch to lose his balance. Now it''s the time: ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± This skill halves the [Defense] of the enemy, I believe that stat is used for armor and natural protection, like scales.
With a vastly different feeling than before, my spear stabs through scales and flesh, though Crunch was fast enough to put his arm in the way. Still, I''ve penetrated it, now I need to push for the torso! ¡°AAAAAAH!¡± Clenching my weapon with both hands while screaming to get more power out of my muscles, I begin twisting my spear to open the wound as much as possible to let my blade advance towards his body.
Crunch''s other hand begins to glow, shit, a skill! I change the direction of the force I put onto the spear, sidewards instead of forwards, but he stands firm, stopping his balance from shifting. Means I can try to evade, which has already proved to be difficult here, try to block the attack, or endure it and keep going.
¡ Block! I''m a coward deep inside, so I don''t want to be hit by that unknown skill! The pole of my spear meets Crunch''s hand and my weapon bends under the pressure of the attack! Then it flies out of my hand, but it also moves around in Crunch''s arm, which looks more like a blood fountain than a limb now. Seriously, Crunch?
His teeth are coming! I push my left arm between his jaws, good thing that I have my armguard there. Time to use my knife, I draw it with my free hand and stab him into the neck, though his scales are too hard around there. Again, again! There, blood!
His tail comes and strikes me in the side, while he''s gnawing into my armguard. Whoever imagines fighting as something remotely clean doesn''t know how infighting really looks like. It''s just a dirty mess of wild attacks, both hoping for the other to go down first.
So I knife and knife again. I can see how the blade chips, my arm becomes heavy, but my SP keeps me going, I''m stronger than I was with the patriarch! I can keep it up for a while!
I feel a shift in weight and I realize that the delicate balance Crunch and I had was because we mutually supported each other. Now, with this small change happening, both of us fall to the ground while our limbs keep flailing, hoping to hurt the other one as much as possible.
Stop! Moving! I notice that I had let go of my knife as well and am just punching him with enough force to rip the skin of my knuckles open. I need to stand up!
¡°Hehhhhhhhh... hehhhhhh...¡± My breathing is hard, my brain is filled with cotton, my eyes are narrowing. There, my spear. I need it. I stumble towards it and pick it up, the motion to stand straight afterwards feels like hard work for me right now.
There, Crunch. He''s also struggling to stand up, covered in wounds and with a nonfunctional arm. He looks at me, his eyes full of hate, full of resolve, full of love. He... really loved his father...
...¡±[Speedthrust]!¡± My body ignores the fatigue, it ignores my second-guessing, it may not be on auto-pilot, but it''s guiding me. At this moment, my own resolve meets his. My spear pierces through his scales, somewhere into the torso, close to where humans have their hearts. It may be lethal.
Crunch looks at the weapon that impaled him, looks at me, who holds it, then his eyes are looking somewhere, maybe at the image of his father in his mind.
I pull my spear out and he falls, all stretched out. I''ve won. It''s strange, how he doesn''t look like his father at all after I''m finished with him. Emptiness spreads through my body. I feel at the border of all the emotions I don''t need right now: Hate, pity, sadness, envy.
Crunch''s body twitches and his jaws are moving. ¡°...fffi-nish id.¡± He closes his eyes, waiting for me to do the finishing blow, his body half-submerged into the water, mud running into his open wounds, every muscle relaxed, awaiting the inevitable.
I open my mouth. My throat is dry as a desert, not only from the fight but from something else. In this dry voice, I tell him my answer: ¡°...no!¡± I grab his tail and drag him out to a spot of dry land... well, not exactly dry, but less muddy.
¡°kshhhh!¡± While this may have hurt him, I guess he''s pissed about my answer: ¡°Khill meee!¡±
¡°No!¡± I go back into the mud to look for my knife, there it is. Cleaning it up will be a task, but at least the blade can be fixed with a whetstone. ¡°I won''t kill you!¡± My voice grows stronger.
¡°KHILLL MEEE!¡± His voice is also louder, though an undertone of pain is there.
¡°Shut up! Seriously, shut the hell up! Don''t tell me what I''m supposed to do! I''m sick of it! Do you hear? Sick! Since coming here, it''s all about ''do this, do that''! Oh, a demon king, you have to kill him to get back home! What bullshit! Why me!? I didn''t ask for it! Then this fucking curse, I have to be close to my wives!? I didn''t ask to marry them! To lift the curse, just fetch some water from that spring! Seriously!? I ran into you assholes and then your stupid god tells me to kill your patriarch or he kills me! WHY DO YOU KEEP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!? I''m me, I make my own decisions, and you, blockhead, will now accept my mercy and leave me alone! You like honor, right!? I''ve won our damn duel, you''ve lost! It''s me who decides whether to kill you or not! I decide that you''ll live! Also, you won''t never, ever cross my path again, understood!? I''m sure your shitty honor demands that after a fight you respect the winner''s request or crap like that! Just leave me alone, dammit!¡± My bottled up rage is flowing freely, my words and spit come out while I finally let off the steam that was building up. ¡°Not only you, everyone you know! Just let me do my stuff, and not one of you will die!¡±
While Crunch isn''t saying anything, his eyes swell with anger and hatred against me. He grinds his teeth, unable to move a muscle right now, incapable of doing something other than growling with his voice.
I look around, looking for his allies to jump in, but nothing. I switch to [Ranger] enhancing my senses by doing so, even going out of my way to use [Pitch] and [Wild Eyes] to make sure that nobody is trying to sneak up on me. Nothing.
¡°Phewwwwww...¡± I relax a bit and my body is about to fall, I quickly save it by falling on my left foot instead, the pain wanders up to my knee. ¡°...shit.¡± It hurts, not too bad, but I definitely felt it. Another small prick that makes my anger flare up again.
If it weren''t for this whole damn revenge-stuff, I might just fall into self-pity about right now, but instead, I take my backpack and open it. The [Inventory]-screen pops up after I put my hand inside, ready to give me any item out of it that I want. A swift glance tells me that there is nothing new inside, not even new messages from the girls. Well, figures.
I get some HP-pots, as well as some of Kyou-san''s herbal poultices and bandages. Better to chuck down an SP-pot as well, regaining some HP and SP. I treat my worst wounds by just wrapping stuff around it, works wonders for heroes. Then I get closer to Crunch: ¡°These,¡± I tell him, ¡°let you restore some of your blood and it helps the healing process.¡± As he''s not a hero, the effect of HP-pots will be much weaker, but it''ll help nonetheless. ¡°Also, poultices and bandages.¡± I kneel next to him and put them next to his head, so he can easily take them when he can move again.
¡°...tekk zhem bakk!¡±
Instead of answering him, I stand up and head to the trees, which were like a barrier before.
KA-SHH!
The sound of breaking glass makes me look back! This... asshole! He shattered the potion vials with his tail! So you had enough in you to do that, huh!? ¡°...forget it!¡± I turn away and try my best to find my way out of here.
Volume 06 - Chapter 4-3
I still follow the three ss''rak, one from the swamps, two from the mountains. I half-expected them to return to their camp after all, but in the end, they''re going around and renewing some marks the swamp ss''rak made a few years ago if I can trust their words.
They''re also looking for a good space for the relocation of their camp. Without that non-hero warrior, I would already have engaged them, but that one spells trouble. He''s capable of dealing with strong monsters, so whatever the god Muaotef is planning, it''s important enough to send capable people. That ss''rak-warrior just crushed another duck, leaving the kill to the hero.
I''ve heard no further details regarding the intruder in the camp, so it''s most likely under control in one way or another. I still suspect it''s one of my party members. Their statuses tell me that they''re all alive at least. Katarine-san is also well. In terms of numbers, Kenta-kun is also recovering, while Momo looks like she''s still in a struggle, but if she could survive it for that long, she will be fine most likely.
The three of them might have done something rash in my situation as humans make decisions based on their emotions. Alfar think things through and aim for the most fun if possible. For me, it doesn''t make sense to get out of hiding as long as there is no direct indicator that any of my human friends are in immediate danger.
So far no chance to have fun with the three ss''rak, also no good opportunity to catch the hero to get some information. Of course, I could try to interrogate the swamp-ss''rak, who acts as the guide, but I want to know more than the location of the camp. I want to force that hero to reveal his status to me, I need many more numbers for my research.
We arrive at another open space. I can''t just follow them there, so the only choice I have is to stay hidden within the trees and wait until they''re entering the next cluster.
This time, the open space is a lake, some posts were placed along the edge of the shore. These are also markers. So this lake is a dangerous spot. It''d be easy to use [Fountain Gun] to push the warrior inside it, though if the monsters come out, it might end up deadly for him.
On the other hand, he''s an underling of Muoatef, who put Kenta-kun into danger in the past, and therefore he''s something like a second enemy once removed for me. This isn''t a prank, after all, this is gathering enemy intelligence, so endangering him for real would be appropriate. Is this the best course of action though?
In times like these, I would like to rely on somebody else, as this seems to be a pain. My personal preference is to make the most out of a situation with the least effort. Using monsters would conform to this, though if things go wrong, I¡¯d end up with even more work.
I use another tactic and set up a mantrap, a necessary skill for the everyday life of an alfr. [Warp Plants] to make a tree bend, some quick knots and everything is ready. Now I step out of my hiding place while the ss''rak are talking about the reptilian monsters that are lurking in that lake, casually approaching them. ¡°This really looks like a dangerous lake.¡±
¡°!¡± The ss''rak hiss while taking battle-stances, then they look at me in wonder, before the first one finally manages to say something: ¡°Huu arr yuu!¡±
¡°I''m sorry, but deciphering your words takes too much effort. Hero, could you take over?¡±
¡°...you know?¡±
¡°I''m the hero sage after all.¡± Some people might forget it, but that''s my title. ¡°So show me your status and I¡¯ll let all of you go.¡± This is the only way this can go well. ¡°Also, warrior, don''t get any closer.¡± He''s shifting his weight bit by bit, relying on my eyes being so bad that I won''t notice it. It''s only vast distances that are hard for me to see, so noticing minute changes is nothing.
The warrior stares at me with killing intent, ready to unleash everything he has, but unsure if it''s a good idea. Some people have their concerns regarding alfar, so I just make use of it.
The hero inquires about something I didn''t expect him to do: ¡°Why should I show you my status?¡± It is a good question indeed, as I have just assumed that he will play along and just do as I said.
I have a counter-question though: ¡°Why shouldn''t you?¡±
¡°Because it''s my stat and you want to see it.¡±
¡°Why can''t I see it?¡±
¡°Then you know my [Attributes] and [Skills].¡±
¡°Don''t worry about that, it''s written in your native language.¡±
¡°If that''s the case, why do you want to see my status?¡±
¡°Because I want to see it.¡±
¡°I asked you why.¡±
¡°I told you why. Also, [Fountain Gun]!¡± The warrior just came a bit closer again, so I shoot him without warning, it''s not enough to push him into the water though, but his hind-claws aren''t good to hold him in that soft ground, so I just shoot two more.
SPLASH! With the sound of him hitting the water, I take some steps back while looking at what kind of monster comes out. Ah, this seems like a reptilian, it has enormous jaws, giant teeth, and a big tongue, which envelops the warrior. ¡°Can I now look at your status?¡±
Instead of answering me, the hero hurries to the shore, same goes with the guide. Both of them are jumping at the monster while biting and hitting it, though it''s too resilient to be damaged that way.
It has a weak spirit though. ¡°If you agree to show me your status, then I might help you with this.¡± While this monster isn''t on the same level as an animal, I''m confident that my [Sleep]-spell will be enough to deal with it despite its flaws.
¡they just ignore me. That''s why interacting with ss''rak is so difficult, they''re incapable of multitasking due to their one-track minds. I have no other choice than to go with the flow.
Step one: Increasing the quantity of monsters. ¡°[Fountain Gun]! [Fountain Gun]!¡± Some wild shots into the water are enough to draw the attention of more of these water-reptiles. Then I weaken my spirit while relying on my passive spell [Mind Shield] so that the trees around here grow more courageous in their tries to mess up minds while I''m still adequately protected.
Here we are, these opportunistic plants start to use their spirits branches¡ªthe part of their spirits that can interact with other spirits¡ªto influence the spirits of the ss''rak. While the swamp ss''rak is capable of deflecting the attack, the mountain-ss''raks aren''t. As the plants already know that I''m eight levels above them in terms of [Spirit Magic], they don''t even try to mess with me.
Looking at the influenced ss''rak, it''s the classic loss of direction. The one inside the monster tongue doesn''t even know anymore where the monster is without looking at it directly, while two more of the same kind of monster emerge from the lake.
I observe this a bit, the warrior is about to get eaten, his hard scales are slowly cracking, the other two are way over their small-minded heads, so it''s time for me. ¡°[Sleep]!¡± I use [Empower] to overcome the monster¡¯s mind and overcome its mental resistance. I repeat this process two more times, now all of the monsters are asleep. I also send my own spirit branch to the minds of the mountain-ss''rak, following the plants'' spirit branches from there on to the ones holding them hostage. I slightly touch their spiritual centers which makes them realize that they''re now under my control as it''d be easy to make them suffer greatly. In the end, they''re just plants against an alfr.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
I solve the whole mess the ss''raks were in a matter of only a few moments. ¡°Let me ask you again: Would you please show me your status? I also have some other questions.¡±
Actually, it''s a bit sad that I couldn''t use the mantrap after all, but seeing these terrified visages is worth it. They know that I ignited and suppressed that battle and that I can do it again if I want to.
Unsurprisingly, the hero silently makes his status-screen visible for others. I still don''t know why there is that function in the first place, maybe to compare with your fellow heroes from the same summoning? Otherwise, having different languages without any auto-translator in the text wouldn''t make much sense.
Also, this is the first time I''ve seen this script. ¡°Give me a moment.¡± I take my portfolio from my backpack and change to the [Bookie]-class to make a copy of it, using [Fast Writing] for speed and [Font Mastery] and [Fine Writing] to make these strange, scratch-like patterns that are most likely words, as clean and standardized as possible. ¡°Now tell me, what it all means.¡±
After a while, I have everything I want from that hero. He''s a hero of Muaotef, who was summoned a year ago, so he''s rather new, and from his stats I can conclude that he''s weaker than me. This is to be expected, as an initial growth like Kenta-kun''s is unusual¡ªit needs a certain recklessness to accomplish¡ªwhile the growth of Momo was spurted by his.
¡°So, you were talking about another hero, right?¡±
¡°I won''t sell him out.¡±
¡°So it''s a he... Why won''t you tell me about it?¡±
¡°You''ve shown your prowess, so I''ll tell you about me as honor demands. I won''t tell about him, as it would dishonor me.¡± Honor... he''s most likely just trying to hide that he already forgot 98% of the other hero with his small brain.
¡°This is unfortunate.¡± Maybe this ''honor''-thing is also the reason, why they didn''t even try to resist, which means that it works in my favor in certain situations, and against me with others. ¡°Why are you looking for the center of the swamp?¡±
¡°Because the Great One demands it.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°We''re his servants. We don''t need to know what he''s thinking.¡± More like, even if he would explain it to them, they would forget it anyway.
¡°Anything else you can tell me about the center?¡±
¡°The natives say that it hosts a big power, a power that seeps into everything here, that attracts the monsters around here, a power changing the land itself into this swamp.¡± This may be the reason why a god is looking for it, either to use it or to destroy it. Elmli, the goddess who brought me to this world, also used to talk about how the scripts of the God Datien are dangerous for the balance of the world and how Datien uses them for his own means. Therefore she asked the alfar of Aroahenn to summon us and secure them.
This ss''rak-hero was summoned to obtain ten relics, magic items that interact with heroes in any way. He only found the scroll of heroism so far, which is now in Muaotef''s possession. It''s a relic capable of looking into the status of heroes though it works on every hero just one time. So the power of the swamps may be another relic, seeing how he was sent here even though he''s rather weak. Maybe it''s more likely for the heroes to prevail if they face the task they''re summoned for?
¡°You have given me something to think about. Where is your camp?¡±
¡°I won''t tell.¡± Most likely because of their so-called honor. This is starting to irritate me.
¡°I really need to know where your camp is, I believe the intruder is a friend of mine.¡± For some reason, this causes the ss''rak to be even more tight-lipped. ¡°I can see that you''re unwilling to speak. As I have taken you prisoner, you will need to follow me. You two stay here, I''ll be back for you soon.¡± All three of them are nodding, their honor is really strange.
The hero follows me into a cluster of trees. Not any group though, as the moment his foot is inside the snare I prepared, I use [Warp Plant] to trigger the plant. He dangles upside down on the tree, while some branches are whipping him the moment all the tension I made them bear while the trap was set is released.
The hero blinks: ¡°What''s the meaning of this?¡±
¡°We start with the second round. For starters, we use this itching powder, which I will balm into your wounds. Then I''ll use some of these.¡± I show him two of Kenta-kun''s stinking bombs. ¡°You don''t need to worry, I have a plan. You might not like it though.¡±
After just some minutes, his cries for mercy and help are echoing inside the swamps in different frequencies. So setting this trap wasn''t a waste of time after all.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Stupid curse, stupid wives, stupid swamp, stupid, stupid, stupid! My leg still hurts from the time I almost fell, and my thoughts return time and time again to Crunch, who was so much of an idiot, that he¡¯d rather die than take my gifts.
While the swamp was cold and damp, my innards are burning with rage. This asshole can die for what I care as long as I don''t kill him. I mean, I may be the reason why he''s so hurt in the first place, but he challenged me, and he refused my good-will, I certainly did enough!
I mean, he hurt me as well! My body has that familiar feeling of being beaten to a pulp, which it just can''t get used to, despite the fight with the red bear, the duel with the patriarch, the fall from the etna, the attack of the fourbirds, the battle with monkey-spider boss, the combat against Hoshibashi and Yoshimura, and the hunt of the Crusaders... Why am I still alive? This may be one of the greatest mysteries to me.
Somehow it irritates me even more! I mean, I should be glad that I''m still alive, but at this point, I should have been dead! I mean, it''s not that I''m amazingly lucky. Otherwise, I wouldn''t be in these situations in the first place.
It''s also not like Rine is always there... actually, she was only there for the monkey-spider boss mob, all the other hard fights happened when she was not around. OK, this means that I''m getting into bad situations whenever she''s not around, huh?
No, I''m getting into bad situations because of her. Most of this wouldn''t have happened if she had just played along with returning to her home.
Yet why do I keep getting out of these situations? ¡ ¡ ¡
Is the reason the hero-system? It certainly plays into it, the me before coming here would have died two hundred times over. What else? ¡ Ah, I see. I was childish again. It''s so obvious why I survive all of that: I can get shit done.
I was so bummed about how Rine outdoes me in so many ways, that I totally started to forget that I was already beating the odds before I even met her. I was a month on my own, raising my level like a madman, I faced the patriarch without any help... well, technically the help of Kyou-san, but that''s only because the patriarch cheated and switched the backpacks.
Tons of situations would have ended badly without the girls, I have to agree and accept that. Maybe, I should even feel more thankful to them at times, but in the end, if it were someone other than me, they wouldn''t have survived it.
Maybe some of the stuff Rine says about me is right, perhaps I''m at least half as special as she believes me to be. I can allow myself to feel that little pride, right? I''ve just faced a ss''rak-warrior who was out to kill me, someone strong. Yes, I face some hard shit, but it''s not that I''m weak, I''m just strong enough to realize how little I know about the world and the truly powerful beings.
Somehow I feel... better. I don''t know exactly what has changed since a minute ago, but everything is somehow better, I feel calmer. I sense how the rage from before is subsiding, something has changed inside of me.
Am I back? Or am I just through a tunnel and the ride is still going on? Maybe a bit of both, it''s not like emotions are that easy to figure out. At least I can say that I feel better than before. Also, that I really need to look for my so-called wives who cause more trouble than they''re worth.
Let''s check their status. Kyou-san, semi-bad shape and bleeding, and she''s with that witch, though I think it was a bad idea. Rine, she''s rather OK, I don''t know what she''s doing right now. Ara-san, still no real answer; it looks like she is just spending some MP, but her HP are fine...
I was following Rine''s tracks before butting heads with Crunch, but I lost them due to that interference. I''m also not sure where I am now. I''ve lost all leads. Can I do something? Did any [Skill] appear in my status-screen? No. Dammit, hero-system, work with me.
Isn''t there any way to... There may be. The one thing I don''t want to rely on too much, but in this case, this might be the only way. ¡°I don''t know if you can hear me, but you observe me, right? Not only me, them as well... Otherwise, you wouldn''t have known what they were doing while I was burned by that [Judgment]. So tell me, what can you do to help me find them.¡± While speaking these words, I look at the ring on my finger. The Lion''s Wedding Ring.
In some strange way, it connects me with the three girls, making them my wives, something that should only be possible by [Divine Magic] and has some supernatural effects, like that all children from marriage are born healthy. So I think that this ring may give me a way to find the girls.
...no answer, huh? ¡°Why? Why can''t you just talk to me! There is something in there, right!? Answer me!¡±
No answer is given. After all that time I had to endure it, the one time I really, really want to rely on the curse, it turns out to be in vain.
¡°You know what? I don''t need you and getting rid of you is the best thing that can happen to me!¡± It may not hear me, but I''m pissed at it nonetheless. Maybe inside this ring there is just a shitty AI, which would explain why it has so many mistakes in perceiving my actions. It''s not just overly optimistic, it''s simply plain dumb and incapable of reading my needs or the mood.
I''m back where I was. No leads, no time to waste. While the curse won''t help me, it will undoubtedly drag me down soon by forcing me to change into [Student] and therefore losing almost everything that keeps me alive in here and the means to find my party members as well, as shitty as my odds are right now.
In the end, fighting Crunch was a waste of time. I''m also tired and would like to sleep, but I''m not safe yet. I need to press on, otherwise, this swamp will get me.
What can I do to turn things around? I don''t know. What I know is that if I don''t start moving, nothing will change. I can make up a new plan while walking. I may also find Rine''s tracks again this way.
Volume 06 - Chapter 5-1 - Paludious Climax
Chapter 5 ¨C Paludious Climax
¡°Little Kyou, we ca-AHH!¡±
¡°We ca-AAAHHH!? Stop it!¡±
¡°You stop first-AHHH!¡±
¡°AHH!¡±
The last hour was pure torture. I''m mounting Mama Orana with my knife in her chest while a finger-wide branch has penetrated my shoulder. Now every time we move, a small twist here, a rip there, it hurts like hell. Blood is coming out of both our bodies and I feel frighteningly cold, the witch is also pale like a corpse.
Oh, she''s trying to control another branch which can only mean that she needs a small twist of my blade. ¡°AHHHHHH!¡±
¡°AH!¡± This hurts me as well, as her rocking body makes me scrape against the branch inside my body, but it''s better than being impaled by her again.
I''m lucky that I was fast enough to stab her before she could use her magic on me, though I was a bit too late and got myself hurt in the process. Now I examine her whole body. Each time she moves her lips, I twist my knife. Each time she moves her fingers, I twist my knife. Each time she looks away, I twist my knife. Each time I sense her spirit doing something, I twist my knife.
It''d be so much easier if I had the strength to just move the knife up to her heart, cutting through bones and innards. I''m sure that the only reason why she''s not doing something reckless right now is because it''s easy for me to make her feel pain, as my knife is still in her body. Therefore I''m too cautious to retract it and go for the kill.
My mental endurance is at its end while my body loses blood. Still, I''m most likely in better shape than her, I''m younger and a hero which lets me push my body over its limits. ¡°Now listen to me, Mama. Just pass out.¡±
¡°Then you''ll kill me. Let me show you that you can trust me. I''ll remove the branch if you stop hurting me whenever I try to use [Spirit Magic].¡±
¡°Or you''ll impale me with another one.¡±
¡°I''m tired, Little Kyou. I was just testing you, please, let me go.¡±
¡°Just go asleep. Trust me.¡±
¡°I can feel your emotions, girl! I know you''re planning to kill me!¡± This is the one thing she can do with her spirit. She''s reading my spirit somehow and can look into my emotions, and I''m not capable of severing this strange connection with pain alone. It''s as Arako said, when a connection is established, it''s hard to sever, though I can just distance myself from her to force it to collapse, we¡¯re in this situation after all.
¡°...how about you teach me that?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°If I can read your emotions as well, I can tell if you''re lying, right?¡±
¡°...let me-AH!¡±
¡°AH!¡± This time, it wasn''t intentional for me to hurt her. I think she just tried to shift her weight to be a bit more comfortable.
¡°Understood. How good are you in feeling spirits?¡±
¡°Bad.¡± A [Herbalist] doesn''t need that much [Spirit Magic], therefore I have far less practice.
¡°Oh, why... Girl, a body has several parts, like limbs, organs, and such. A spirit is the same, part of it is the emotional spectrum. Instead of pushing your spirit branch into the spiritual center to control it, you move it to where emotions are and feel them like your own. It''s a spell called [Empathy].¡±
¡°You feel the emotions yourself? Like pain?¡±
¡°YES! Ahhh!¡±
I grind my teeth, as another pain is coursing through me while she yells at me. Does that mean... that she feels the same pain as me and did so since the moment she stabbed me!? Does she also feel my period, how my stomach is cramping a bit, how unwell it feels to mount her for so long while the pad is pressed against my nether regions? Who wants a package of that voluntarily? ¡°Why... why don''t you cut it out then?¡± She should be able to just drop it.
For some reason, she''s tearing up and starts to yell in a sad voice: ¡°Because I want to feel young! Your pain is much better than the pain of my old legs, my backache, my bones. You have that young pain I''ve almost forgotten!¡± Now she''s outright crying: ¡°I just want to feel young again!¡±
Seeing her face, I realize that this is the whole reason for real. She saw a young, helpless girl in her teens, who embodies everything she wants to feel. She''s trapped in the nostalgia of youth, the illusion that everything was better when she was younger. As a juvenile, I can''t even start to comprehend how it might be for old people, and to be honest, I don''t want to try either: ¡°Shut up!¡± Because of her, I''ve endured so much pain right now and I ask myself if she is even trying to get out of this situation, as this pain is so much better than her old people¡¯s pain!?
This is astronomically stupid! Slowly, I retract my knife and start standing up. The branch in my shoulder hurts, I want to cry myself, but after that pathetic display of the witch, I''m not in the mood for self-pity. I grab the branch and slowly walk forward, trying to not hurt myself further as much as possible. I need to treat it properly, otherwise, it''ll become another scar.
After the initial treatment, I cast [Heal]. It works almost like sewing, just cleaner. Means it doesn''t directly heal the injury, but restores HP and closes open wounds. Time for my poultices as well, then some bandages and I hope that it''ll heal properly, as I would hate any more scars.
The whole time, Mama Orana does nothing but weeping and getting on my nerves. At least she doesn''t try anything funny either.
¡°*sigh* What a waste of time. Granny, I''m off.¡±
¡°...wait.¡±
¡°I''m not giving you anything.¡±
¡°No, you, I mean... what about treating me?¡±
...actually, I don''t want to. However, ¡°What do I get out of it?¡±
¡°I... about the curse!¡±
I''m not sure if everything she told me about it was a lie or not, but she has my attention. ¡°What about it?¡±
¡°Little Kyou, I- you know, you- I mean-¡±
¡°Could you please speak clearly?¡±
¡°I can help you! Little Kyou, I can help you find your husband.¡±
¡°How?¡±
¡°The rings are connected. I can use my [Black Magic] to make you sense the connection better.¡±
¡°You want to curse me?¡±
¡°No, I want to change a small condition of the existent curse.¡± So she can''t help me breaking this curse, but altering it? She has already offered it once, so maybe she really can?
I still can''t trust her. She may try something funny, but if she''s really trying to help... I want to believe her, but my mind says it''s a stupid idea, but I guess I''ll trust her anyway, as I''m also denying the possibility that following Mama Orana was a stupid idea. ¡°Well, that''s not enough.¡±
¡°You''re extorting me further?¡±
¡°You''ve tried to take my youth. Explain me, why should I blindly help you while you have enough reasons to trick me during the treatment or when you''re casting your magic?¡±
¡°...what is it you want?¡±
¡°Let me see... I think I want to become a witch, but what does it mean for heroes?¡±
¡°For heroes? It''s a class-up.¡± A class-up? One for my [Herbalist] I suppose, but I''m below the needed level to class up that again. I mean, I would need level 100 for that, I''m level 44 currently.
However, it doesn''t mean that I can''t do some preliminary studies and research about curses. ¡°Hm...¡± I look at the books in her shelves, there are no titles on the back, but I take one and flip through the pages, they''re similar to what I''ve learned in Aroahenn, the alfr village, about curses, but somehow different: ¡°Are these books about [Black Magic]? Give them to me.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°These are books that will make me a [Witch], right?¡±
¡°You can learn something, but-¡±
¡°You give me the books now. Later, when I''m finished with the curse, I''ll come back, become a [Witch] and we''re even.¡± I know, that''s an atrocious deal, but I want to extort that woman as much as I can.
¡°...deal.¡± She holds out her hand to me, while her face is still full of pain.
¡°Deal.¡± I grab it.
Suddenly, black flames are dancing around our hands. I''ve made a mistake! ¡°Don''t worry, Little Kyou. Just a curse to enforce this contract. If you don''t head back to me if the curse is lifted, every third day you''ll have diarrhea.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°NO!¡± This sounds terrifying! I don''t want that! What an evil curse! She got me! She got me, that old hag! I have no other to blame for it than myself... except her, of course, that sneaky witch, that used her patheticness as a tool!
However, I planned to learn how to be a witch anyway, so it just robbed me of my freedom of choosing the time or teacher... which really gets on my nerves! I want to strangle her. I want to cave her head in. I want... ah, mood swings. I need to calm down.
¡°Please treat me, I''m too old to die!¡±
I''m not in control right now and that makes me feel anxious, but I need to remember that this is what I¡¯ve agreed upon so far. Though I''m sure that she''s already planning what to do with me the moment I return... I need to counter that... yes, I''m a hero, I''ll become stronger by then and can make her explode with my mind if she''s doing something like that again! Or I may just lift her curse alongside the ring''s, yes, she didn''t think of that, I''m sure.
I smile as I¡¯ve found a way out of this predicament. No need to panic, I''m still holding all the cards. ¡°Of course I''m treating you.¡± Mama Orana feels how I feel, so she knows that I''m full of confidence. Let her think about it.
I treat her the same way I treated myself just before. The witch is still in pain, more than I, but she looks healthier than before and starts giving me some of her books. ¡°So let me hold up my part of the bargain. Take the books, read them, learn them, come back, and finish your training then to lift my curse.¡± She gives me a small library while I mechanically put them all into my backpack and therefore [Inventory]. ¡°Now your ring.¡±
I present it to her a second time, this time she chants something. Suddenly, she distorts her face and is about to fall, I grab her by the hip: ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°I... I don''t know. Something happened, but what...¡± Then a familiar screen pops up in my vision.
You have chosen [Spouse-Locator], a newly acquired WP-bonus that makes spouses feel where each other are. Are you sure?
Yes, of course I''m sure! Let me find Ken already!
Your husband and sister wives have been informed. Wait for their answers.
Technically, I''ve done what I can. However, I don''t want to stay here any longer than I want. Also, I want to get back to the others as fast as possible. ¡°You have observed me, yes? Can you also locate a friend of mine?¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I hate these swamps. ¡°Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!¡± Again I''m running to evade the shots of a four-horned stag which shots water bullets, the rapid-water, as I named it. This time, however, I neither have Kyou-san and her [Protect], nor Ara-san and her [Watershield]. So I need to survive this on my own!
The monster is standing inside a pool again and just moves whenever I try to get in its back so far, it''s unlikely that I can make a roundabout approach work. Watching the flying bullets, I try to see a pattern here. Rine could deflect them on her own, maybe I can do it too. This looks scary though. I need another strategy.
Of course, I could have run away, but these are XP-bags, after all. It''s only one, I should be able to handle it! There, it stopped with the bullets! It needs a quick break, time to get my bow and shoot it! There! Now just before it''s about to shoot, I''ll-
Momokawa Kyou chose the [Spouse-Locator]-option from the WP-shop. Do you agree with this purchase?
*WAMMM* In this single moment I''ve realized why the hero-system has no level up messages, condition-messages and the like. If a screen suddenly pops up during combat, it''s really, really distracting! In this case, hurtful as well. *WAMM-WAMM-WAMM-WAMM*
Retreat, retreat, retreat! It hurts! There, some trees! [Mask of Wildlife] and [Camouflage]! The shots are receding and the rapid-water is without a doubt just waiting for me to make my move. This message just now has not only robbed me of the opportunity but also put me into danger! Imagine what would have happened if I was fighting up close with this thing. It could''ve trampled me to death!
Dammit, what was all of this about anyway? [Spouse-Locator]?
Katarine von Stolzherz and Ara''ainn agreed. What is your decision?
What is that!? Can''t it wait? I try to push the pop-up to the side mentally, but the WP-system doesn''t care about that. Well, I''m playing the waiting game with the monster now, so let''s check the WP-store... yes, this option is indeed there, but why? It wasn''t there before... could it be that my demands were heard after all? What does it do? ¡
Well, it cuts into my privacy. It means that I know in which direction my wives are and they know where to find me. This means it''s impossible to do something on my own without all of them knowing where I am. ¡ On the other hand, if we had this in Goldbrunn... But I don''t want to... However, this may be the only way to meet up right now...
Oh, fuck it. Maybe I would have been able to haggle a removal option or an on/off-switch, but I can''t be picky here. Yes, I want that [Spouse-Locator]. Finally, the pop up goes away.
[Spouse-Locator] purchased, you now innately feel in which direction your wives are.
...seriously, that''s strange. In fact, I can feel something, it almost feels like an arm, it has weight, it''s part of me, but I can''t see it or move it by myself. That mental direction also doesn''t come with a feeling how close the destination is, but three of these strange sensations are now within my mind... yes, all of them are apart, I can''t tell which one is who, this feels like a terrible patch.
I won''t think about the WP that were just sunk there. It was only 200 WP, which amounts of 10 days of WP-grinding in our usual fashion... I want them back! We''re back to bottom again... well, I told Ara-san that I wanted to keep them for emergencies, this is one, but... seriously, why is it such a shitty version of a feature.
¡ah, the rapid-water is retreating, thinking that I ran away. ¡°[Seeker]!¡± It turns around, but I was counting on it, as my arrow hits it in its face. Too bad, just an eye, but: ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± Four more arrows, three are shot down by bullets, the last one is deflected by its horns. ¡°Phew...¡± Ranged combat isn''t working and it''s aiming at me. Time to make it shoot until it needs its break and then fight back like planned.
After about three minutes, I stand above its carcass while writing to my wives. ''I''m coming for each of you. If you''re safe, don''t move. Except for Ara-san, come here, you...'' I didn''t finish it, as I couldn''t come up with an insult that would be appropriate.
Well, now I have three leads and no idea who is who and how far away they are. At least not now, I guess the more this sensation moves, the closer I am. Time to fetch them. They''re all in roughly the same direction, I''ll just start from the right. This is the one I''m looking for first! Whoever it is, just make sure that you won''t waste my time by doing something stupid!
...I heard someone. [Pitch]. ...there. I draw my bow and aim in that direction, using [Mask of Wildlife]. A strong spirit. ¡°Come out!¡± Two ss''raks are emerging from a small pool of water, they were lurking in there, waiting for something. ¡°Are you friends of Crunch?¡±
¡°Yuu still alaif. Yuu beaten Kruan?¡±
¡°Yeah. If you want to fetch him, he''s somewhere there. Just track my steps back.¡± I have no desire of fighting with even more of them. Also, they shouldn''t attack me, because of the duel or something.
¡°Kruan alaif?¡±
¡°At least for now. Why are you out there in the first place, I thought you guys would watch?¡±
¡°Losst.¡±
¡°You''re lost!?¡± Seriously, what''s up with these guys! ¡°...¡± No, don''t do it, don''t: ¡°You can stick around if you like.¡± Dammit, why did I just make that offer, it makes no sense! It''d be much easier just to leave them to die here.
¡°Wii looking for others.¡±
...great, really great. ¡°How many?¡±
¡°Ssewenn.¡±
¡°Wait a minute.¡± Something is strange because I don''t know how they were separated in the first place. Right, they had that [Spirit Magic]-user, someone so capable that I automatically thought of an alfr. ¡°Did your alfr ditch you guys?¡±
Both of them silently nod. It surprises me how it doesn''t surprise me that their alfr-guide has just left them because of some business. It''s just too accurate of how alfar behave. They were most likely at the sidelines of the fight. When their alfr-ally disappeared a monster attacked or something like that, they got separated and aren''t able to find each other again, as they''re subjected to the [Spirit Magic] of the plants that are trying to kill them, messing with their sense of direction to lead them into even more danger.
¡°Phew... OK, I''ll lead you to Crunch, then I''ll look for your comrades.¡± Wait, wait, wait! Why do I keep doing that!?
¡°No.¡± How dare you to reject my unintended kindness! ¡°Yuu enemy, but yuu won duel. Honor demaands to let yuu go, no favvorrs taken.¡±
¡°Do you understand what it means, you morons! You''ll die here!¡±
¡°Alf shtill shomewere. Wii wait.¡±
I want to hurt them. I feel how the inner rage I had is about to burst out of me, I''m clenching my fists so hard that it hurts. I have no idea why it bothers me so much. ¡°OH YEAH!¡± I yell at them, I''m so annoyed, it''s not like I actually wanted to do them a favor, but somehow... somehow... ¡°ARGH!¡± Without saying anything further, I turn away and walk in the direction of the wife I''ve chosen before.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! I don''t even know if I mean them or myself. Actually, I should feel glad that they rejected my offer, I''m on a time limit here, the curse is at my throat, and the moment I lose the [Ranger]-class is the moment I''ll probably lose my life as well.
Still!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Take this please.¡±
¡°Wii hunt oursselff.¡±
¡°But I really, really have too much.¡±
In the distance, Kati tries to give some of her quarries to the local ss''rak here. Lvo''tjos knows that the reptilian alfroids are just overwhelmed by having too much food.
Lvo''tjos and Kati are now good buddies, though it was hard to convince her to head back to the village, as she suddenly proclaimed that she knows where to find her husband. It''s most likely that Kenta-guy, he''s really popular considering the male-female ratio of his party. Well, Kruan may still have his revenge-date and Lvo will pick him up later if he''s still alive. Most likely not, but as long as he''s still breathing, his ss''rak companions will be capable of keeping him alive for a day or two.
Next to Lvo''tjos, who listens into Kati''s conversation from afar, stands a large specimen of a ss''rak. ¡°Watt waz shat beforr.¡± It''s the Voice of Muaotef, or how Lvo''tjos calls the deity: Big M.
¡°You meant when I saved your life? Voicy, you were almost killed by her. I had to do something and I was hungry. Actually, I''ve kinda lost track of time, she''s a pleasant person and if you would have seen how beautifully she dices monsters, you would most likely shit yourself... well, more than usual at least.¡±
The Voice of Muaotef is a big ss''rak, but his body is only the acclimation of being a prophet of a deity, which especially made his lungs and speech apparatus grow. It''s not like he''s a capable warrior, though he''s a [Voicespell] at least, a spellcaster that specializes in [Sound]-magic. So this and his reptilian physiology makes it only natural for him to be not capable of controlling his sphincter all the time.
¡°Zshhhh.¡± Voicy hisses, but after looking at Kati for a while, who is finally able to give her spoils of the hunt to the swampy villagers, he looks a bit concerned. ¡°Wii zhould imprrisson her.¡±
¡°Maybe.¡± Lvo''tjos knows that this girl can fight, but he''s not concerned at all. He''s been a hero for about a century, his level and fighting experience vastly outmatches hers, so he''s sure that he can easily capture her if needed. ¡°What does Big M think about it?¡± Lvo''tjos would have let Kati go if the deity didn''t have any plans with her.
¡°The Great One doeshn''t need her. Zhough if zhe shpeaks abuut tha tabblett, he kan furrtha his plaans kuicker.¡±
Lvo''tjos looks at Voicy in a severe and calm demeanor: ¡°Would you please mind your language? It''s troublesome to understand.¡±
¡°Zshhhhhhhhh!¡±
¡°Calm down, calm down. Well, it''s time for your big appearance soon, right? Another speech to those even more primitive than you, what a heartbreaking moment. I''m also interested in how things will turn out.¡±
¡°Alf, wha-¡±
¡°Alfr, with an ''R''-sound. Why is it so hard for you to use an R after an F if you''re putting these harsh Rs at every opportune word? Also, I¡¯d like to speak with Big M for a while, would you be so kind? It''s about the other heroes and what to do if things go wrong.¡±
¡°...what''z your game?¡±
Lvo''tjos answers in the only way any alfr would answer: ¡°Everything.¡±
Volume 06 - Chapter 5-2
Too bad that we haven''t found anyone from my party, but Lvo has convinced me to head back to the village, despite the feeling I have in my head. It''s like Kenta''s heart and mine are now connected, I can point in the direction he''s in.
Yet he told me to stay in a safe place and while Lvo could have helped me in the swamps and the spirits that are lurking there, the alfr also thought it would be easier just to stay there. Wouldn''t it be fine just to get closer to Kenta instead? Well, both are smarter than I so I may miss a point or two.
Rassha, the husband of the matriarch, finally accepts my gift. ¡°Remember, Kati, zhat an ss''rak that issn''t self-suffishient ish one wizhout honor.¡± I can''t understand it, isn''t declining a gift also dishonoring to the guest? I have to remember what mother said: Each culture has their own morals.
¡°There are many people coming here.¡± I have the feeling that within the last two minutes, the numbers of villagers at the square has doubled. The fields have almost no one left. It''s like they''re waiting for something despite the rain.
¡°Zhey wait for zhe Voice of Muaotef.¡±
¡°Ah, the prophet, right?¡±
¡°Yess.¡±
¡°I don''t like him.¡±
¡°Me too.¡±
¡°Why are you waiting for him then?¡±
¡°He bringsh zhe words of Muaotef, zhe Great One. I want to lishten what he saysh.¡±
¡°So it''s a sermon?¡±
¡°Wordsh off woar.¡±
¡°?¡± I cock my head as I don''t know what that exactly means.
Zhesha, Rassha''s daughter, joins us, though she looks at me with narrowed eyes. Maybe she can''t recognize me as easily, as I wear my rain-coat? I wave at her, but she doesn''t make eye contact, that''s sad.
Ah, there is Jarlhu, the matriarch, she talks with another ss''rak, a seemingly old, big one. ¡°Is that the patriarch?¡±
¡°Zhat ish the former patriarch. Now Juras ish the patriarch.¡± He points at another ss''rak, who looks younger and stronger. He''s in the midst of a group of ss''rak. ¡°Be carrful, he ish shtrong and hate-filled.¡±
¡°How can he be a leader then?¡±
¡°...for humanz it ish maybe eassier to understand it thiz way: The patriarch ish the power of the tribe, the matriarch ish itz wissdom.¡±
¡°So a military leader and a governmental one?¡±
¡°I don''t know what that miins. It''z also more to it than being strong or wise.¡± I can''t expect to understand everything about them right away, I think he really brought it down on the most basic level. It''s like saying that my father, who is a king, rules. That''s what he does, but ruling a country is much more complicated than just giving orders.
¡°But is Juras a good leader?¡±
¡°He is the patriarch.¡± This isn''t the answer I''m looking for, but maybe it''s the best answer I can get.
¡°Tash!¡± Zhesha nudges her father and points at a large ss''rak. It''s the prophet. Some other ss''rak surrounds him. Now that I can see them, I recognize that they somehow look different from the others. I''m sure that Kenta would point out every difference, but for me, I just notice that both, the villagers and the camp-ss''rak, belong to different tribes.
One of the people accompanying the prophet is Lvo''tjos, who waves at me. I still don''t know exactly where he fits in, and I haven''t asked him yet. I should have done that during the hunt, but somehow I forgot about it, maybe because I was too happy with feeling where Kenta is. Well, I can ask him later, right? First, I need to wave him back though.
The prophet stands in the middle of the square so that everyone can see him. Then his voice pierces through the rain, much louder than screaming would do, but not in an unpleasant way. Most heralds would be envious of this voice. ¡°Ss''rak off zhe shwammpsh! Shinn lash taimm-¡± Sadly, I don''t understand anything. Somehow this loud voice makes their dialect that much worse, which causes me to not being able to understand the prophet at all.
How can the ss''rak understand it? He''s speaking way too fast. Whenever I try to decipher out a word, he''s already three sentences ahead.
Still, I think it''s a hate-speech. It certainly sounds like one, I can sometimes hear a word, which reminds me of ''Feuerberg'', something about ''honor'' and ''claiming their hereditary place.'' I need to ask Jarlhu and Rassha about that later. Or maybe Lvo as well, though I still can''t understand why he''s even standing there.
I really don''t like it. I grind my teeth to stop myself from interrupting this nonsense, as the matriarch and the patriarch are allowing this. Why would Jarlhu do it? I don''t know about Juras, but this- Ah, I want to scream!
¡°Knuu it!¡± Who was saying that? Ah, it''s Zhesha. The girl points at me: ¡°Yuu arr shanshing colorz!¡± What is she talking about? Ah, I think I''m red with rage.
Why am I holding back in the first place? ¡°HEY!¡± It may be impolite, but if someone is feeding the crowd with nothing but hate and lies, it''s time to step in... well, I don''t know if what he told are lies, as I couldn''t understand much, but I''m sure he did.
¡°Zssh...¡± Rassha is hissing at me, but this is what I need to do. I step forward, right into the space that was made for the camp-ss''rak.
Lvo is stepping forward a bit. I can see that he''s ready to jump in any direction. However, I won''t let it get to me: ¡°I don''t understand the words, but I know what the prophet is saying, I-¡± Someone throws a mudball at me, but I step aside and let it pass me. ¡°-want you to stop listening to him! Hate is never a proper motivation!¡± It''s not like I believe that wars are avoidable altogether, but there needs to be good reasons! I may not be smart enough to tell what kind of reasons are good, but as Feuerberg is at war with the demons, they must exist!
¡°Yuu zhee? Ewenn tekkinn yuuar rrightz too lissden.¡± What is he talking about? I think he''s taunting me.
¡°Everyone, Feuerberg isn''t your enemy! We want to save people! Demons are a danger to everyone. Why wage war with my country? What have they done to you!?¡± It''s really hard to speak that loud, the prophet is really, really good at this.
¡°Zhe doeshn''t undashtand honor. Zhe doeshn''t undashtand behing a ss''rak!¡± I can''t win against that volume, but that hatred makes me angry!
¡°Human!¡± There comes a big ss''rak, it''s Juras, the patriarch, who enters the ring. ¡°Your turn to shpeak hashn''t come!¡±
¡°But he''s feeding you hate and lies!¡± I believe.
¡°Jarlhu! You''re reshponsible for that intruder.¡±
Oh no, now Jarlhu is here as well. ¡°Zhe''s my guest.¡±
¡°I shee.¡± Why is he smirking like that!? Is he also a bad guy? ¡°Jarlhu, she ish acting with no honor.¡± What? I- I''m honorable! I think... I mean, why shouldn''t I? What-
¡°She ish a human, don''t treat her the same as us.¡± Huh? Of course I''m a human, but why should I be treated differently?
I don''t know what to do! Wait, the evil guy is the prophet, so I just need to beat him up, right? But somehow this feels wrong, though it''s the obvious thing to do. You beat up bad guys and then everything is right. Right?
Ah, I don''t know anymore. Because of me, Jarlhu and Jura are fighting! ¡°You!¡± The patriarch points at me: ¡°Shtand down.¡±
I''m supposed to stand down? Even though the villain is right before me? ¡°I can''t!¡± I don''t know what to do, but I know what I can''t do!
Suddenly, the eyes of the prophet flare up, until now he just stood there like he was pondering something. The rainy air begins to shimmer around him, even some steam rises from his scales. ?Behold Muaotef, the Great One, Bringer of Decay.? That burning voice, it''s the deity! Though it lacks the volume of the previous voice, it still scorches through the air like no other sound has the right to be here. ?Ss''rak, listen to Our words. The human you see is Katarine von Stolzherz, former crown-princess of Feuerberg.?
¡°What is ''former'' supposed to mean!¡± I''m the crown-princess of Feuerberg!
?Your ignorance is only surpassed by your audacity. It amuses Us.?
I want to move, I want to hit this prophet and deity right into the face, but my body isn''t moving again. ¡°You swine!¡±
?Your insults are only the crying of an inferior being. Behold her, ss''rak, in all her patheticness.?Stolen story; please report.
¡°Hey, don''t insult me after dissing me!¡±
?This is what a human is. Mark Our words. Ss''rak of the Spirit Swamps, We grow tired of your indecisiveness. We expect an answer within a week.? The prophet''s body waves up once, then the fire in his eyes disappears, while he falls on his knees while panting.
Silence. No one says a word, only the rain and the heavy breathing of the prophet is audible. I feel how I can move my body again. It''s like whenever the voice of the deity is speaking, I¡¯m frozen. How can it be?
¡°Guardzz...¡± The prophet says while he comes back to his feet. ¡°Seiss zhe giarl!¡±
Jarlhu steps in front of me, Rassha is there as well: ¡°She ish our guest.¡± The matriarch proclaims.
Juras faces Jarlhu: ¡°This ish not the matriarch''s decision.¡± Ah, they''re staring each other down! I have no idea what to do!
The guards of the prophet come in, they try to circumvent Rassha and Jarlhu, but both of them are blocking them, so they hiss: ¡°Zhis ish for Great One!¡±
¡°Yuur Great One doeshn''t have a shay here yet!¡±
The guard swings his tail at Rassha, who cries out. Suddenly, an ss''rak from the crowd jumps the one who hit Rassha, then more join in, it''s like a battlefield! Now several ss''rak engage in battle with each other, crying a lot of things I can''t understand. It feels like water that''s boiling over.
I draw Friedensbote, my sword. I can fight now, right? I aim for a guard, first a thrust in the shoulder, then fist into the face, finally kick on the bone that connects the tail. This one is down! ¡°Rassha, Jarlhu, step away. You still have a daughter! Keep her and non-combatants out of here.¡± Both of them aren''t fighters, so they better step aside while I''ll concentrate on beheading the prophet.
I take off my raincoat, I need mobility, I can handle the rain! With some swift strikes I open up a way. I dash towards him. This is it! The prophet looks at me in surprise, my blade is about to reach his head.
*clong*
Something has blocked it... what is that? A piece of wood? No, a branch... rather, a whip? I follow that branch-like piece of wood and see Lvo at the other end. He holds a wooden weapon. It almost looks like a sword, but it''s like the blade has grown to deflect my strike. ¡°Sorry Kati, but on the bright side, I''m not supposed to kill you. Well, bright side for you, for me it''s quite a predicament.¡±
¡°Lvo, why are you doing this!?¡±
¡°Well, it''s 3% orders, 60% confidence, 13% boredom, 15% chance, 8% curiosity, and 1% friendship.¡±
I don''t even know what that means, but this is most likely because he''s such good friends with the prophet. Though I can''t see why. ¡°So be it!¡± I change my target to Lvo, whose weapon is shrinking. It''s indeed a wooden sword, but it''s one of the living ones the alfar use and therefore they can apply their magic on it. He''s about to parry it, but: ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± If I use it so close, I''ll-
¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± He also uses that skill? Two wind-blades hit each other the same moment the swords clash, canceling each other out. ¡°This is strange,¡± Lvo says: ¡°Mine was bigger than yours.¡±
I kick at him while our swords are in a deadlock. He moves his blade and tries to cut my foot instead, so I pull it back to use the momentum for an elbow strike, which he blocks with his open hand, while he draws a small blade from a pocket under his arm, throwing it at point-blank, but I use my crossguard to deflect it.
Where is he!? Danger from behind, my sword tip is already on its way to meet it but misses. I look at where that opponent is. It''s actually Lvo again, who just jumped back some steps. ¡°How... why... For a moment even I thought I''ll die. How did you do it?¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°I mean, it was like, when that blade hits me, I''m dead. Well, time to break your blade: [Steel Slicer]!¡± He swings his sword, which becomes whip-like.
I dodge it, but it accidentally hit another ss''rak, who is cut into two... ¡°...¡±
¡°...¡± Both Lvo and I look perplexedly at the poor victim. ¡°Why did you dodge?¡±
¡°Because it looked dangerous.¡±
¡°But because of you... is that one of yours or mine?¡±
¡°I... don''t know.¡±
Not only we are aghast, but the ones around us are also looking at both of us in shock. Then they take some distance before resuming their respective fights.
Wait, where is the prophet?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I prick my ears, hoping to hear another high-pitched out-cry. After some questioning, I heard many worthwhile details while I was getting a general direction from the ss''rak-hero. I heard about a village of ss''rak, about the Voice of Muaotef, and about an alfr hero. That last bit is very interesting and I''m dying to know what is behind this. This may also be my hope of finally seeing someone from my hero-generation again, as it''s been about twenty years since I heard from them.
I hear a voice. Oh, it''s a screaming Momo, the way she breathes between her screams tells me that monsters are hunting her. Yes, now I also hear the monsters, sounds like these strange swamp skaters I''ve seen just now. I guess she needs some help. Why is she calling for her mama, I wonder?
The rain makes it hard to see in the distance, so I just need to guess it by ear. I begin with my [Tidal Wave]-chant, making small adjustments to the surroundings with every syllable to prepare for the actual spell. ¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡± The sound of water bursting is echoing, also a surprised outcry of Momo who I barely missed.
Now it''s time to audaciously walk towards here. There is Momo, I believe. She''s wearing a raincoat, but her spirit is the same. ¡°I can''t let you alone for a-¡± I don''t finish the sentence, as she grabs me by my ears: ¡°I know what you''re about to do and I want to convince you not to do it, but I don''t know the words sufficient to convince you, that''s why I would be very inclined if you could just tell them to me before I even encourage you to twist my ears.¡±
After a moment of silence, Momo lets go of my ears, just to draw me into a hug which may be even more strange: ¡°Araaaaaakooooooo!¡± Is she crying? ¡°You idiot!¡±
Well, she has the right to complain, as it is me who is to be held responsible for our separation in the first place. ¡°I apologize.¡±
¡°Just don''t leave me alone here again. Also, did you see that traitorous rat?¡±
¡°Oh, poor Kenta-kun. Being treated like a rodent. Has he savaged you?¡±
¡°$#&!!!¡± After making an unidentifiable noise, her hands slowly crawl back to my ears. ¡°Last chance.¡±
¡°I don''t know what you are talking about.¡±
¡°Mama Orana gave me a rat to guide me. When the monster came, it ran away.¡±
¡°Guide you to where?¡±
¡°To you, of course! With Ken having a radar, I wanted to get us all together as fast as possible.¡±
¡°I think waiting for him would have been the better choice.¡±
¡°Shut up!¡±
¡°I suppose that the rat returned to the so-called Mama, as you have found me.¡±
¡°...yes...¡±
¡°Also, you''re heavy.¡±
¡°A-ra-ko!¡±
¡°Have you ever considered that I''m just a frail girl?¡±
¡°Why does it sound like you consider me fat!¡±
¡°Because you''re self-ce- I mean, because you are- I''m not sure what to say when your fingers are stroking my ears.¡±
¡°...how about... you''re healthy and beautiful?¡±
¡°Ah, being healthy as a synonym for ''being sexually active'' and beautiful for ''being worthy of sex-''aaaah!¡± Why is she doing it!?
¡°Sorry, Arako.¡± She lets my ears go. ¡°I''m just in a bad mood. So please do me the favor of not provoking me to hurt you anymore.¡±
This is a prime example of twisted logic. As it¡¯s not my intention to provoke her, I don¡¯t know how to avoid it without her telling me. Also, as she¡¯s the one who actively hurts me, she could just reign in her bad mood and not do it anymore. Yet, arguing seems pointless at this moment. ¡°Could you please let me go?¡±
¡°Yes...¡± This event reminds me of Momo when she was bothering Kenta-kun just this morning. Her moody side during her menstruation is something not to be trifled with.
After being freed from the dangerous embrace, I need to assess the current situation while only inquiring the most essential part of her past: ¡°Is it right to assume that you haven''t attacked a ss''rak settlement?¡±
¡°Ss''rak? Why are you talking about them?¡±
¡°A simple ''yes'' would have been sufficient. As Kenta is in this direction while the calls came from that direction, I think I know where Katarine-san is. While I¡¯d like to go into the details, I need absolute silence. The rain is already downing the sounds enough.¡± While my ears are better than Kenta-kun''s, I don''t have [Pitch] to hear through the environmental noises.
''SHAAAAAKAAAA, REEETUUUUUUURRRN!'' Ah, there it is. Shaka is the ss''rak-heroes'' name, that''s why this message, which surely comes from a [Sound]-spell, comes this way. Of course Momo can''t hear it, as she''s unable to hear the frequency in which the message is traveling. It will most likely become an audible frequency for the ss''rak-hero when it arrives at him.
Not that he''s capable of hearing anything right now. His companions will look after him though.
¡°I have just heard it,¡± I explain to the audio-impaired Momo. ¡°This way.¡± Following the direction the emergency call came from, I start to hear more and more things, hissing, movement of objects, and the like.
There it is. Lightly obscured by the mist, a camp emerges with several ss''rak within. They also notice us and lift hooked poles in our direction. I think this is a weapon to restrain opponents. A large specimen is turning our way and he looks important: ¡°¡°You!!!¡±¡± The ss''rak and Momo exclaim at the same time.
¡°I have done nothing?¡± I quickly explain, as while it''s more probable that they mean each other, maybe they''re referring to me.
¡°YUU!¡± This time the ss''rak certainly means me.
¡°Do you know us? I think I haven''t seen you before, but maybe when you were smaller? On the other hand, you shouldn''t be even capable of remembering it.¡± Ss''rak have such a bad memory, after all.
¡°Arako,¡± Momo''s voice certainly sounds like she''s agitated: ¡°It''s the Voice of Muaotef!¡±
¡°So he is the voice. Does Muaotef also have arms?¡±
¡°CAPSHURE SHEM!¡± That''s very impolite. I was just asking.
¡°YOU RAT!¡± Why is Momo screaming now, again about rats: ¡°YOU OWE ME YOUR LIFE!¡± It causes the ss''rak warriors to stop for a brief moment. Some of them suddenly sit down, this is strange. ¡°Yes, if I hadn''t interfered, you would be dead!¡± I think I remember. Momo told me about that final encounter in Hei?quellen when Kenta-kun was about to kill the voice and Momo stopped him. Kenta-kun also begrudgingly confirmed that statement.
Now, this has connected some memories. The ss''rak warriors that are still standing look at the Voice, who calmly explains: ¡°Zhe ish right. Zhough zhe''s an enemy of zhe Great One. I will fazze herr myzelf.¡± The big ss''rak is stepping forward.
¡°...¡± Momo doesn''t look good. Well, I believe she looks beautiful by human standards, at least that''s what my observations of the humans around her made me think, but she looks a bit pale, she is sweaty and I believe that a duel to the death isn''t what she''s looking for.
¡°...I will do it.¡± This fight will be a hassle, the Voice isn''t even a hero, but I''m still pride-hurt about the whole separation-situation.
¡°Arako, you don''t need to do it.¡±
¡°I will do it, Momo.¡± Making some cheap amends is the best way to restore that pride of mine, and the Voice is someone who lost against Kenta-kun before he even had his class-up, therefore: Easy prey!
¡°Arako... thank you.¡±
¡°You don''t need to thank me. Hey Voicy, I''ll be her substitute.¡±
¡°Voichii... Yuu impuudent-¡±
¡°I''m positive that I''m not impotent... most likely. I''ve never tried having any children.¡±
¡°...SHEEEEEEEEE!¡± A soundwave! It hurts!
¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± Time for payback! The voice is pushed back by my spell and my hearing returns to normal... wait, I hear fighting noises, metal on wood. What a speed, this... ¡°Momo, go this way, I think-¡±
¡°Zhe cann''t go. Shubshtitute yuu may be, butt shee shtill challanged.¡±
The other ss''rak warriors start moving to block the way. I look at the Voice. ¡°This is bad for you.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because this means that I don''t have time.¡± For style, I take off my raincoat. ¡°I''m Ara''ainn, the hero-sage! I have a century worth of experience being a hero. Go down on your knees and begin to pray, as the only mercy you can expect right now comes from the gods.¡±
Volume 06 - Chapter 5-3
¡°...phew.¡± After fighting several monsters on my way, I''m in an entirely different zone. It feels like... peace? The spirits around here aren''t as weighing, I haven''t encountered any monsters here, this all feels different. Is that a hut? Is actually someone living here?
I look inside, it''s empty and wet, though still intact with some tools inside and bedding. So I guess if it has been abandoned, it happened recently.
I check up with the feeling in my head, the [Spouse-Location]. All three are almost on top of each other which actually gives me the impression that I''m farther away than before. Yet that wouldn''t make any sense unless they''re moving faster away from me than I get closer to them which would be insanely stupid of them.
The other option would be that they have found each other which would be kinda annoying, thinking about how I have just lost of some of my privacy by accepting [Spouse-Location]. ...or that [Spouse-Location] also works within the girls, a case which would make the description of it bad, but it''s a patched shenanigan after all. Let''s assume that, otherwise it''ll be irritating.
If that''s the case, then we''ll meet up soon. I follow the feeling and the more I do so, the more I have the feeling that they''re really closing the distance to each other, two are in the same direction, one is somewhere else. I guess I''ll follow the single one for starters then. It''s the feeling I was following from the beginning after all.
I''m tired. Today, a lot has happened, and being in this swamps makes me feel so numb and drowsy. However, if I sleep now, I''m sure that things get worse, I''ll eventually run out of time, and wake up as a [Student]. I don''t want that, so I just need to keep pushing myself.
Oh, a frog. It has a small, flexible tail. Also, the squelching from my boots starts to sound different. Is the rain a bit heavier than before? Why do I even pay that much attention to these details right now? Ah, because I''m tired of course, my focus is all over the place, literally.
Time to down an SP-potion. It''s actually an energy brew, something like an energy drink, so I hope it''s enough to wake me up. Ah, usually I don''t even take my time to taste the sourness, but now it''s welcoming. I feel like my senses are returning to their usual performance... Or maybe they start imagining things, as I hear battle-cries.
How probable is it that a battle is right in the direction where one of the girls is? ...actually, it seems too likely, as each of them has traits that make it easy to imagine how it could escalate. It''s most likely Ara''ainn though. She may be intelligent and smart, but she has even less common-sense than Rine.
This will be a pain. I follow the [Spouse-Location] and therefore the origin of the sounds, this is like an all-out battle between... well, it sounds close enough to Crunch, so I guess ss''rak. Against who? Metal against wood... Some hisses, a lot of jumbled words, are they fighting monsters? Or each other? But metal... this clang, it''s Rine.
Please don''t tell me that she attacked a village of ss''rak, thinking of them as monsters or because of some other misunderstanding. Or have the ss''rak captured Kyou-san and Ara-san and Rine is about to free them? Also possible, not being capable of telling distances with [Spouse-Location] is terrible. Worst designed feature ever. It''s like one of those mission arrows in games, the worst ones also don''t come with a distance specification and only shows the direction instead of the fastest route which can cause you to go cross-country as you think it''s a shortcut while you''re actually in a labyrinth of terrain and monsters instead and may find yourself in front of a wall, unable to proceed beyond that point while your map does nothing.
Looking at their stats doesn''t help at all, it''s like all of them are somehow in battle. ¡°Phew...¡± Nonetheless, I should first get a better picture. I activate [Mask of Wildlife], [Sneak], and even [Hide Smell] to make it harder to perceive me. My [Camouflage]-skill doesn''t change when I move, and if I''m approaching a settlement, I don''t know if the color pattern from this environment will do me anything good. [Camouflage] costs too much SP for this.
I approach the origin of these sounds. There... why are ss''rak battling each other? In the middle are some fast-moving blurs... [Focus]. This one is Rine like I suspected, I know how she fights and whenever it looks like she''s about to be overwhelmed she just shifts up her gear and this results in this fast-paced movements. What about the other... A blue-haired alfr... OK, what the fuck is going on, why is Rine fighting an alfr in the midst of a mud-pile village of ss''rak?
She''s also losing, she just got hit right at her hip after the maybe eighteenth attack, but then the alfr disengages again, using his wooden sword which grows due to his [Spirit Magic] for some ranged attacks just before Rine could mount a counter...
The alfr speaks, I use [Pitch] to listen in despite all the background noises: ¡°You also have a magic weapon, right? Otherwise, it should have been already shattered. Mine is called Ashenvalm, how about yours?¡±
¡°Friedensbote.¡±
¡°Wow, that''s awesome, it''s been a while since I crossed blades for more than a moment. Totally forgot how it is to actually put some effort into combat.¡±
¡°Thanks?¡± Don''t be flattered, Rine... Wait, I can use this moment of stillness to contact her with [Whisper], this- ¡°Next bout!¡± Dammit, Rine!
As I learned before, it''s a bad idea to get any messages while you''re fighting. I don''t want to distract her, especially seeing how she''s actually on the short end of the stick here, what''s with that alfr anyway? I mean, how can he best Rine? ...strategy, I guess.
If I get closer, Rine will get the status-boost of the cursed rings which will most likely give her the edge she needs. However, to do this, I need to walk through the battlefield of ss''rak, who are fighting for whatever reason. If I do that, I''ll be seen.
...well, if I''m detected anyway, I can be a bit nasty. There, Rine and the alfr are back in close-quarter, but the alfr is in the offense, she''s more or less just dealing with his onslaught on attacks. Sometimes he makes a quick sidestep to attack from another angle, too quick for Rine to realign herself. Though despite all that, she can still block and dodge them because she''s Rine. Yet she''s slowly driven into a position where she can only make the alfr hit something not as important... wait for that moment... Here! ¡°[Whisper] Do you know that you lost the tip of your left ear earlier?¡± The target is the alfr.
His ears twitch and this fracture of a second of hesitation is enough. Rine cuts at his stomach, he''s thrown back and squirms on the ground: ¡°OOOOUCH! What... this... Without Pelfrm I''d be cut! What''s wrong with your blade... ah, my ear, it''s... it''s still there... LIAR!?¡±
Rine cocks her head as she''s too surprised to have landed a hit. Of course the attack was overwhelming, it''s Friedensbote after all. It''s rather a surprise that he''s not dead, I mean, look at the stats of that weapon:
[Friedensbote]
Description:
A royal treasure of the Feuerberg-kingdom. A sword blessed by the human gods and a gift of the founder of the ''von Stolzherz''-family to his heirs. It''s true power can only be unleashed by its rightful owners.
Special (Exorcist):
Double damage vs. undead and demons.
Special (Heritage):
All special traits are only active if someone of the von Stolzherz bloodline wields the weapon.
Special (Increase attack):
Adds twice the wielder''s level to Attack.
Special (Keen Edge):
Manifold increase of keenness.
Special (Prevail):
Increases attack depending on the level of danger the wielder is exposed to.
Status:
+250 Attack (basic); +346 Attack (wielded by Katarine von Stolzherz)
Value:
Invaluable
It''s ''Prevail''. Rine''s weapon becomes stronger when she''s in danger, so whenever that alfr tries to actually hurt her, it''s attack power grows enormously, looking at how he''s even stronger than her.
Why does the ground- I jump ahead and run over the battlefield which now looks like a much better place than a second ago, as roots start to protrude out of the ground, trying to impale the space I was just standing. [Root Lances], huh?
Ah, the ss''rak are looking in my direction... and a bunch of them immediately stop fighting. ¡°Rensha¡± ...OK, I think I know what it is: The latest chapter of how [Rangers] are people so extraordinary that everyone loses their mind about them. Especially seeing how they bow down to me.
The few left standing look as surprised as I feel. ¡°KENTA!¡± Here she comes, ignoring all the ss''rak around her, Rine runs to me, her open arms show me how much she wants to hug me. I can feel how her presence boosts our [Attributes], but I have no idea what to do about that hug: When I try to resist, more often than not it ends up with me being hurt... Palm-barrier! ¡°urgh-¡± It worked! Rine''s face presses against my outstretched hand and she stops.
You gain 1 WP.
You have reunited with your wife. If you had just let her embrace you, this reunion would have been so much more romantic.
Shut up.
The alfr jumps to his feet like someone from a martial arts movie. ¡°Can you please reproduce somewhere else?" Then he turns to the ss''rak. "Also, why are you bowing to him?¡±
A strong-looking one answers: ¡°He ish a ranger. We honor rangers.¡±
¡°Is that all? I mean, I can do everything a ranger can do.¡±
Rine asks the devastating question: ¡°But are you a ranger?¡±
The alfr flicks his ear a bit. ¡°Erm... no.¡±
¡°You see! Kenta is an actual ranger, so of course he''s revered!¡± Rine, why are you boasting with me.
¡°But I''m better than him...¡± He''s pouting like a child... well, he is an alfr after all, which means that his mental development is forever trapped in puberty. I guess this one wants to be one of the cool boys.
You know what? All the ''cool boys'' suck. They''re just a bunch of jerks, whose sole reason for their confidence is their hormone gauge.
¡°No, you''re not.¡± Wait Rine, I don''t like where this is going on. ¡°Kenta is the best!¡±
¡°He''s not!¡±
¡°Sure he is!¡±
¡°He''s not!¡±
¡°He totally is!¡±
I don''t know what is worse, that childishness at display here, or that the ss''rak seem to be amused about this... or how should I phrase it... I have the feeling that they enjoy this kind of drama... thinking about it, back in the Vulkan-mountains, they also meddled in my affairs with Kyou-san... could it be, that they''re closet drama-fans!?
¡°Then I''ll show you. I''ll fight him and then you know how pathetic he is!¡±
¡°Bring it on!¡±
¡°Wait, Rine!¡±
¡°What is, Dear?¡±
¡°I''m not your Dear!¡± Ah, my head! After three seconds of valuable facepalm-time, I''m ready to explain her in the easiest way, why this is the worst idea since... no, entering the Spirit Swamps was not a bad idea! ¡°Rine, who is stronger in combat? You or me?¡±
¡°Me?¡±
¡°Exactly. Then who is stronger, you or him?¡±
¡°Him?¡±
¡°Then what do you believe, who is stronger: He or I?¡±
¡°You!¡±
¡ The ss''rak cheer, while I double karate-chop the air, as I''m unable to express my emotions in any other way right now. ¡°Dammit, this isn''t rock-paper-scissors!¡±
I can''t read the alfr''s face well, as alfar lack many facial muscles and therefore aren''t as expressive as humans, but I''m sure that he feels pity for me. ¡°Well,¡± he begins: ¡°I''ll just end it, OK?¡±
He blurs away, but Rine blocks his wooden blade, it feels like a moment of slow-motion, both, alfr and her are looking into each other''s eyes. ¡°You can''t beat us! Dear and I are in love, and love always prevails!¡±
¡°Love? As expected from humans.¡± The alfr jumps back, this jump is several meters long. ¡°But this is supposed to be a duel, right? So why are you interfering, Kati!¡±
Wait, he calls her Kati!? ¡°Because Dear and I are fighting as one.¡± I know it''s unintentional, but this certainly sounds like Rine wants to exploit a proverb to trick that alfr.
¡°Oh yeah? You can even invite more, I''m still better! I''ll show it, bring it on!¡± He also falls for it... Well, I guess it''s better than facing him in my own, right? Though I''m not sure how well it will go, as teamwork between Rine and me is at best covering weak spots, we can''t coordinate our attacks in a meaningful way unless we''re facing superior numbers.Stolen novel; please report.
Now that this ''duel'' is set, the prominent ss''rak begins yelling: ¡°Make more space. Ss''rak, come out from your huts. Matriarch, come out of hiding. I, the patriarch, declare this battle as important. Let all the ss''rak see if wisdom or power shall decide our future.¡±
OK, what is that supposed to mean?
Another ss''rak steps forward. ¡°I, the matriarch, accept. Your welcome guest against mine.¡± Hey, are they just shoving something political onto our shoulders? ...fuck it, I have no time to complain.
¡°I am Lvo''tjos, the moon-hero!¡± The alfr swings his sword, this movement looks like some sort of sword dance. It earns some cheers from the audience.
¡°I''m bestowed with the name of Katarine von Stolzherz, the [Princess Knight].¡± OK Rine, the way you just threw your sword in the air and somersaulted, only to catch it again, in addition to the perfectly timed words, I''m sure that you''ve practiced it. Just why!? It''s not like you knew it would come to this... More cheers are coming, this may be the most dangerous battle in my entire hero-career, as shitty as it was so far, so why all that theater?
Now all eyes are on me. Do they expect me to do something? Well, you know what, I''ll do something, I slowly open my hip quiver and take four arrows out, lining each of them on my bow, that I also retrieve. I''ll show you the best trickshot of all! ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± Aiming all of them at the alfr.
¡°[Warp Wood]!¡± Suddenly, all of the arrows bend midair, the alfr smirks at me. Whenever an alfr smirks, it''s because they''re so amused that even the lack of facial muscles can''t hide it. OK, so he has [Spirit Magic] for combat purposes which I already thought of, but now I got proof. ...I''m doomed, right?
He quickens his movements, but [Focus] plus my [Perception]-rank is enough to see where he''s heading. Only problem is that he''s aiming for me again, and since it''s the most direct route, I have next to no time to react.
*Clang* Rine blocks his attack and they enter a new clash... well, I''m useless here, because when I attack him, I may hit Rine instead, because both of them are so fast... ¡°Phew...¡± However, it doesn''t feel as bad as it used to feel. This time, Rine has the edge as well! This is what Ara-san and I found out that the bonuses to [Attributes] by the ring are better than a mere level up. However, I can still use a tactic which is a valuable PvP (Player versus Player) asset... trolling! ¡°[Whisper] OK, when you were challenging me, I thought you were more than just a n00b.¡±
Ah, he [Whisper]s back: ¡°Who do you call noob?¡±
¡°[Whisper]: She will kick you now.¡±
¡°Do you th-argh.¡± This is the moment when that Luuto-bastard got kicked into the side.
¡°[Whisper]: Next it''s the elbow.¡±
¡°You ca-aaagh!¡± Called it.
Luuto disengages with some backflips. It looks somewhat cool, then he throws some wooden blades at Rine... Of course she does her usual thing, picking them up with her sword and throwing them back, however, Luuto does the same afterward... then Rine... then Luuto... OK, this just turned into a tennis match. Or a quite usual mechanism for action-adventure games. In those you just have to keep up usually... ¡°[Whisper]: Luuto?¡±
¡°Wha-¡± This time he''s not hurt, he just throws the blades in a random direction. ¡°...¡± Now he doesn''t [Whisper] but yells instead: ¡°What''s wrong with you!¡± He points his blade at me, while his face is calm, his voice carries that tone of annoyance... my plan works! His weakness is trolling!
Time to use that voice: ¡°What''s up, are you distracted?¡± My malicious glee is seeping through my voice, the perfect way to confer arrogance and scorn.
¡°You... Well, I was trying to be nice! I mean, I really did my best, do you know how hard it is to hold back?¡±
He''s holding back? Or is he bluffing? Please, let it be the latter. ¡°Hold back your blunders?¡± Still, troll-train.
¡°!$#!¡± I''m inside his head, it''s really like taunting some middleschooler in a chat, who thinks so high of himself. You can gloat if your skills back it up. Well, Luuto is right to be confident in this strength... ¡°You know what? That''s nothing for me, I''m so much stronger than you all, so why should I care what you think about me?¡±
¡°Oh, how cute. Trying to act tough.¡±
¡°ACT TOUGH!? ...I''ll hurt you, I''ll hurt you so much.¡±
¡°Now you use violence, what would the other alfar think of you.¡±
¡°*Hiiii...huuu¡*¡± His ears are trembling while he''s deeply inhaling and exhaling, he''s royally pissed. This part of my plan worked, I just hope that it won''t backfire.
¡°Kenta...¡± Rine, why are you looking at me like I''ve just ascended onto a new level of coolness while I did something which is considered the worst? ¡°I can''t fall back!¡± Now Rine runs up to Luuto and starts attacking him, he dodges everything but doesn''t mount a single counterattack, this shows that he''s mentally too occupied by my trolling. Great!
However, no matter how much Rine pressures him, he easily dodges, especially as he has forfeited his offense for now. He may be even better than I initially thought, if that''s even possible.
In this current bout, he looks in thought, then he finishes it by hitting Rine''s blade hard enough to make her fly back a few meters, though she makes a salto and lands on her feet, making her look just more competent in the progress. ¡°I''ve decided,¡± Luuto explains: ¡°Kenta, I will break your penis!¡±
...a moment of pause, then Rine blushes deeply: ¡°But he still needs it! I mean... I mean... erm, you know...¡± She fidgets while saying it... hey, what are you imagining?
My reaction, however, stems from the realms of biology: ¡°...YOU CAN''T BREAK THAT!¡±
¡°Try to stop me,¡± Luuto gloats.
¡°No, I meant that LITERALLY! There is no goddamn bone, idiot!¡± A penis fracture is a misleading term, as it''s rather a rupture of- Oh god, the horror!
¡°Wait, if there is no bone, how can they get so hard?¡±
Oh god, am I really here, about to explain that idiot of an alfr how human erections work!? In the midst of a battlefield? ¡°Phew...¡± Don''t do that, me, this is a lost cause. Just try to convince him, that there is no need to-
¡°Let''s see, if you''re trying to deceive me. Just let me try and if it doesn''t work, you''re right!¡±
¡°...I won''t let you in my nether regions!¡±
¡°Are you afraid?¡±
¡°He''s not!¡± Ah, Rine, remembered that you''re part of this conversation? ¡°But it''s off limits!¡±
¡°Come on, just let me have it once!¡±
¡°I won''t let you have it! They don''t belong to you!¡± Now it sounds like Rine and Luuto are fighting over my penis. This hurts, my head hurts so bad.
¡°Who do they belong to? You?¡±
Rine blushes a bit: ¡°Yes!¡± No, they don''t! ¡°They also belong to Kyou and Ara.¡±
Luuto''s voice becomes sharper: ¡°Then I''ll take them and make sure that they''re not good anymore!¡± ...this is astronomically stupid! Yet I have actual concerns! Argh, my common-sense just took a critical hit!
So it''s no surprise that I start yelling at both of them: ¡°THEY BELONG TO ME, THANK YOU!¡±
¡°They are yours?¡± Luuto says in a menacing tone: ¡°Then I will make them mine.¡± With this, he starts his next attack.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°EEEAAAAAAH!¡± Another shockwave, but as I''m currently an [Acrobat], I''m agile enough to evade it before it leaves the voice''s jaws, though my head feels heavy with all these sound-based attacks. Other than Momo or the ss''rak, I can hear some uncomfortable high-frequency sounds.
This is also the reason why I wasn''t able to shorten the distance so far. This big ss''rak is capable of using a [Sound]-spell which acts as a shield. Not only does the spell attack my hearing, but my inner organs as well. The moment I''m stunned by this spell, I''m hit by the tail. I sure hope that it didn''t break my nose.
However, the problem with ranged attacks is that I can only use my spells in [Druid]-class while I want to use the [Acrobat]''s mobility. Of course, I already have a strategy, but this requires the perfect moment.
My staff is lying on the ground several looafs away from my current position, but I don''t need it, because I''m busy with a rope. I concentrate my ears on my enemy and my eyes on the rope. Here we go, a lasso. The Voice also seem to be sufficiently weakened.
Time for operation ''animal-taming''. I head directly to the ss''rak, who of course, inhales to use his [Sound]-protection. I jump backwards into the air, [Like the Wind] allows me to leap several times the distance that is usually possible, then I change to [Druid] midair: ¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± I aim at his open jaws, but before I even finish the spell, I change back to [Acrobat] to deal with the falling.
The soundwave bursts the water, just as expected, but that''s what the rope is for. While the Voice reflexively closes its eyes due to the water-explosion, I jump at him and throw the loop around his neck. Then I leap over him while holding the lasso tight. The Voice might be bigger and stronger than me, on the other hand, I have my superior jumping capabilities. The loop tightens now around his neck, giving him a start.
I run at the closest tree around here and quickly bind it there in a particular knot we alfar call ''the hangman''. One branch to hold the weight, the other one to pull, it''s similar to a tree-based pulley block. I change to [Druid] to activate this specific trap: ¡°[Warp Plants]!¡± The branch bends upwards, pulling the rope which causes the Voice to be thrown from his feet.
Usually, the lasso would be wrapped around an ankle, instead of the neck, but I need to limit his vocal capabilities. It''s not a prank, it''s a fight. ¡°Urghh...¡± The ss''rak is too heavy to be lifted up, it''s the branches that worries me more.
I need to use the time efficiently. I begin my chant, each syllable making a small change to the environment. I can be glad that it''s raining right now, and the swamps themselves are humid, it''s much easier to gather the necessary water: ¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡± The spell swallows the ss''rak, blunt force combined with being washed away, while he wasn''t capable of moving properly.
A limb figure hangs on the rope, I can hear Momo gasp, maybe she thinks that he''s dead. Considering the hardness of ss''rak scales, killing him by strangling was unlikely to begin with, but I can also hear his shallow breathing. I walk closer to him, ¡°[Ignite]¡± and burn the knot. The Voice of Muaotef falls to the ground, he''s still conscious, but I have shown my superiority.
Maybe I should make it like an ss''rak? I put my foot on his head: ¡°I declare myself victorious. The matter is resolved.¡± The underlings of the voice begrudgingly applaud me while I walk up to Momo: ¡°Kenta-kun is already with Katarine-san, we should hurry nonetheless.¡± It is not only the feeling of the [Spouse-Location] that tells me, also several outcries and Kenta yelling about something.
¡°Arako... I didn''t know that you could be so... reliable.¡±
¡°This hurts, I think I''m a very reliable person.¡±
¡°No, you''re the greatest slacker I''ve ever met.¡±
¡°Ahem.¡± This is a great compliment, as I see slackers as people who are excellent in working smart. Or not at all.
We follow the [Spouse-Location] and come to a village made out of mud. This certainly looks like the perfect condition to build a ss''rak settlement, it''s dirty and malodorous. There is a circle of ss''rak. They''re most likely looking at another battle, these curious bystanders. I change to [Acrobat] and jump on a mud-roof, it''s slick, only my [Balance] keeps me from falling.
In the middle are people fighting, but I can''t discern who, they look like colored spots to me. The only thing that alfr-eyes lack is farsight. No matter how good they are, this distance is too much for me. However, the [Spouse-Location] makes it clear that Kenta-kun is one of the spots. I think he just turned my way, maybe because he feels how I was suddenly on a different height level when jumping on the roof.
I only have moments before I lose my best time for an entrance. I jump in their direction over the ss''rak-crowd, carefully managing my landing position, I want to not only land on both feet at the same time, due to the wet ground, but I also want to slide a bit for maximum epicness... Mission accomplished.
Now I can see everyone, there is Kenta-kun, there is Katarine-san, there- ¡°Lvo''tjos?¡± This is the alfr-hero I''ve heard about? Also, he has to be the one who separated us all.
His spirit is beik, why is it beik? ¡°Erm... hey, Ara''ainn, what''s up?¡±
¡°You haven''t written to me.¡±
¡°You know, I had broken arms.¡±
¡°For twenty-odd years?¡±
¡°Very badly broken arms.¡±
¡°They don''t look broken anymore.¡±
¡°Hey,¡± Kenta-kun interrupts us, ¡°is that guy one of the other heroes from your summoning?¡° That''s Kenta-kun, he doesn''t need to ask if I know Lvo''tjos or how we''re related, he just affirms his own idea.
¡°That''s correct, this is Lvo''tjos, also known as guinea pig #1.¡±
¡°Oh, Kenta!¡± Rine whispers to Kenta-kun, not realizing that I can hear it: ¡°Maybe he''s Ara''ainn''s former lover?¡±
This presumption is typical for humans. ¡°No, he''s not.¡± In the first place, what humans imagine when they hear ''lover'' is vastly different from an alfr understanding. ¡°There are also more important matters than my nonexistent... what is it called? Lovelife?¡± At least I believe it''s nonexistent as there are still some open questions regarding Kenta-kun, but as I have dismissed any current chances to explore that nebulous area of relationships, I conclude that ''nonexistent'' is the right term to describe my current status about love.
¡°Well,¡± Lvo''tjos looks at me and the beikness intensifies. He has noticed that my attention is on him which makes him feel more uncertain. ¡°How about we just cut the talking and go back to fighting? I have a penis to break.¡±
¡°...Kenta-kun, what is he talking about?¡±
¡°I don''t want to comment to that.¡±
¡°Ara, Ara! He''s trying to break Kenta''s penis.¡±
¡°So what? He will grow a new one.¡±
¡°What am I, a duck!?¡±
¡°You are a human, Kenta.¡±
¡°Don''t talk to me like I don''t know that!¡±
Usually, I would use this opportunity to make even more fun of him, but some matters are more important. ¡°Be that as it may, I need to confirm something first. Lvo''tjos why do you wield Ashen-¡±
¡°HEEEYAA!¡± Instead of letting me finishing his question, he throws some blades at Katarine-san, who deflects them back, though he uses Ashenvalm¡ªthe magical wooden blade that was originally bestowed upon Egve''rein¡ªto deflect them back.
¡°[Seeker]!¡± The same time Katarine-san repels the blades once more, Kenta-kun shoots his arrow from another angle. Looking at how Lvo''tjos suddenly moves his ears and eyes away, Kenta-kun also used [Distraction].
¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± I also launch my spell. If Lvo''tjos is liberally trying to divert from the topic the conversation is heading to, seeing how his armor and bracelet also had other original owners, then I will force him to tell me.
Instead of facing any of our attacks, Lvo''tjos jumps into the air.
I change to [Acrobat], but Kenta-kun is actually faster than me: ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± An air current builds up around him as he readies his spear, and then catapults him while still surrounding him.
Lvo''tjos, however, catches the blade: ¡°You''re just an anno-¡± Kenta-kun yanks the spear as Lvo''tjos tries to insult him. With one pull, both of them are closer, and Kenta-kun tries to headbutt Lvo''tjos, who somehow is capable of dodging it mid-air: ¡°-yance!¡± He''s about to use the spear to throw Kenta-kun to the ground with full force.
However, I''m already above both of them: ¡°[Stingfall]!¡± Using my staff like a nail, I''m about to hit one of them. Which one is hard to tell at this point, though if Lvo''tjos doesn''t move away, I''m positive it will be him.
From below another skill comes: ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± Katarine-san fires a wind blade at the same time which makes me question whether my move was that smart after all.
There are several outcomes to the current situation, but some of them include that her [Crescent Moon] will hit Kenta-kun or me.
¡°Not today!¡± Lvo''tjos uses Ashenvalm in conjunction with his own magic, making it grow to break the [Crescent Moon]. Then he swings at me. The blade hits my staff and I''m pushed farther into the air, though he has overlooked Kenta-kun, who just took out something from his belt pouch, a fire bomb.
A fiery explosion occurs, I change to [Druid] as I can see how Lvo''tjos hurries outside of it: ¡°[Icicly Knives]!¡± I create ice shards in my hands that I throw at him.
He''s capable of deflecting all of them, but he''s close to the ground again: ¡°I got you!¡± It''s Katarine-san, who was already waiting for him. Instead of facing her, he uses a skill, is it [Dash]? He moves up to Kenta-kun, who was also in the fire explosion and is recovering from the fall. ¡°Kenta!¡± Suddenly, Katarine-san also moves at an accelerated rate, has she just unlocked another skill?
This causes Lvo''tjos to change course. ¡°Hey, hey! That''s unfair, three against one...¡±
¡°It''s the power of love!¡± Proclaims Katarine-san.
Kenta-kun''s assessment is a bit different: ¡°Power of love my ass.¡±
Lvo''tjos spirit is uvre, it''s a sign of disdain. ¡°Power of love? I see, I see. Of course, you''re humans after all. Let me tell you something: Each alfroid species has its own thing. For the dwarves, it''s greed, for the ss''rak it''s honor, and for humans it''s love. Your power is your weakness, and I''ll show you! If you''re as good as I am in [Spirit Magic], you can take the feelings of someone and reflect them towards themselves. So let me show you my trick!¡±
I go next to Kenta-kun who still struggles to stand straight. However, he also doesn''t lose time and throws another fire bomb, which Lvo''tjos counters with a blade. ¡°Phew!¡±
Katarine-san appears calm: ¡°Show it!¡±
For me, I''m honestly interested. It could be a [Spirit Magic]-spell I''ve never seen as Lvo''tjos isn''t a psychiatrist and therefore never learned how to influence other people''s minds himself... properly.
¡°You preach love? I will show you love, Kati! You''re the one thing I can''t properly estimate, so I''ll just make you stop fighting as I take your love and make me look like the one who you love most! This is easy. Humans can''t harm the ones they love.¡± I... after seeing how Katarine-san treats Kenta-kun at times, I''m sure that for humans, loving and hurting each other are not mutually exclusive. This is something Lvo''tjos might not have realized yet. Still a risk though.
I feel a change... As the tide of battle is currently on our side, I try to interfere with his spell, but it''s too strong. I already thought so, as Lvo''tjos has been a hero for a century and the last time I saw him, he was level 319. He hasn''t fought so far to kill us, but to make a point.
Suddenly, Katarine-san looks wide-eyed at Lvo''tjos who laughs in glee: ¡°Yes, now I''m your beloved Kenta, and you can''t harm him, right!?¡±
However, she falls on her knees and she shows the human reaction of crying. For some reason, humans start releasing tear fluid whenever they''re emotionally excited. ¡°No--- nono! The one I love- NO! NOOOOO!¡± Her cries grow harder and harder to understand, this isn''t the reaction I had thought would happen.
Same goes for Lvo''tjos whose surprise even marks his face.
Only one person sighs as if this was inevitable. ¡°Phew... here we go.¡±
Volume 06 - Chapter 5-4
This is looking bad.
Let''s sum all of it up: Our enemy is fighting us for reasons I don''t know of, but he''s also a former colleague of Ara-san, so as long as he didn''t slack off like her, his level is the accumulation of a hundred years as a hero. If he''s like my classmates, he hasn''t done that much for his level, but the number of years will still make him a high-level character.
However, between Rine and me, he had some trouble and when Ara-san joined, we had the advantage. He should theoretically outdo us in every aspect, but he may either be holding back or can''t use his power for some reason. Maybe it''s because of Rine? If he puts too much force into his attacks, she might cut him with a full-powered Friedensbote, so he settles for a level where he can observe Rine who defies all logic and leaves him a bit of leeway?
Whatever it is, he decided to demoralize her by letting her see the person she loves the most. Seeing how it turned out, it''s not me she''s seeing.
¡°Kenta... I''m sorry, no, this... this... this has to be a lie, I mean, Kenta, I love you, please, believe me, I''m not like that, I''m not!¡± Seriously, don''t act like that.
¡°Rine-chan!¡± Ah, finally! From between the ss''rak our healer and my personal worst enemy emerges, Momokawa Kyou.
I''m about to say that she''s too late, but to be honest, it''s not like she could have done anything. I''m not sure that even I can do anything at this point. ¡°Take care of her.¡± So I leave her Rine, as comforting isn''t something I''m remotely good at.
¡°Erm... yes! Everything is according to plan!¡± That Luuto-guy is indeed an alfr, he''s like a teenager who''s bragging, despite the fact that this result was only by chance. He doesn''t even know what he exactly did... No, he does. He brought Rine''s love from deep within her, he just doesn''t understand what it means.
Nonetheless, I''m quite pissed. I''m really, really pissed. I know that I''m weak against Rine''s tears, but I couldn''t imagine before how pissed I can be because of that dick-move.
From behind comes a small assist. ¡°[Protect]!¡± I turn to Kyou-san who looks at me with an also agonizing face while her arms are wrapped around Rine''s head. I don''t know if it''s something like genuine worry or because she can''t stand her crying right now, being in her period and all: ¡°Ken... make him suffer.¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± Easier said than done, but I don''t care at this point. Because of this jerk, we had one of the worst possible scenarios and I want to repay him for that.
¡°We can''t win,¡± says Ara-san who stands next to me.
¡°I know.¡± Still, I don''t need to win right now. If I can deform that smug face of Luuto, it''ll be enough.
¡°You don''t want to talk it out?¡± Ara-san asks.
That would be the smart way. ¡°Nah.¡± Not like he wants to talk with Ara-san in the first place, as he did his best to make her stop. It''s strange, I''m calm despite the likelihood of me ending up as a beaten pulp. Or dead.
I''m already scorched by the fire bomb, despite covering myself as best as possible. I feel my hurt leg and all the wounds I got from Crunch, all the frustration. Still, I''m in control of myself. Maybe because I''m next to Ara-san, and it feels like we faced so many perils together that I can rely on her. This might be the reason why people are always praising the power of friendship.
I get punched in the face, it takes less than a second. While my eyes are capable of keeping up with Luuto''s movements, my body is still way too slow. I taste blood and I rub my tongue against my teeth to check whether they''re still alright, as the force I was hit with certainly feels like it could have cost me a tooth or two. Despite having a [Protect]!
I swing my spear-blade, trying to get that bastard, but Luuto just jumps back while laughing at me: ¡°Slow-poke!¡±
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I try to ignore the hissing from the sideline, the ss''rak who, for whatever reason, decided to just let us do their fighting. Actually, quite an effective tactic, but the only thing they did so far is to increase the distance between themselves and our fight as Ara-san starts using magic and Luuto evades most of the spells which in return causes collateral damage among the reptilian people.
¡°You know,¡± Luuto tells me while sidestepping at the last possible moment, just like how Rine does: ¡°you''re not as tough as you thought, right?¡± He swings his sword, it hits me right at the head. ¡°Don''t worry, I blunted it.¡±
I lose my balance, as it feels like my head just caved open. My sight is fading in and out, but I''m a hero, I can push through it! This is blunted? Why does he do that!? Still, I should consider myself lucky, right?
¡°Ken! [Heal]! Rine-chan, look, Ken is doing his best!¡±
¡°uhhhh... aaaaaaahhhh...¡± ...I can''t see her right now, but I can hear her bawling. She always believed in me. She always thought that I could do impossible stuff. She never grew tired of telling everyone how great I am. She told me how important I''m for her...
I may feel like hurling; it may hurt so much I just want to drop down and sleep, but I won''t. This is one of the times that I need to keep doing it. ¡°Hey, Luuto...¡±
¡°It''s Lvo''tjos!¡±
¡°Fuck yourself.¡±
¡°What exactly is-¡± I throw a smoke bomb. ¡°Wow, you got me, you really-¡± Despite using [Mask of Wildlife] and changing my position, I feel something tearing through my armor. ¡°-need to get a reality check, seriously. I''m an alfr, my senses are superior. I have more experience. You got nothing, duman.¡±
The cut is on my right side, somewhere between chest and stomach. I can''t spontaneously remember what important organs are there, but at least it hasn¡¯t pierced through... maybe two fingers deep inside my body? ¡°Phew... I got something.¡± I clench his blade with my left arm, there is my armguard.
¡°Oh no, you''ve just hindered me for two seconds!¡± The smoke dissipates and Luuto is looking with the usual aloof alfr-face though his annoyed voice tells me that he''s as pissed as I am. Suddenly, his ears move: ¡°What''s-¡± He looks upwards and see Ara-san''s [Fountain Gun]. Instead of panicking, he lifts his arm, I can see the minute muscle changes typical for an alfr''s [Class Change]: ¡°[Windblade]!¡±
Now! I change to [Pikeman], my muscles grow. With the higher [Strength] I pull his blade. I feel how it cuts into my hand, but I put some force behind my pull. He, on the other hand, has switched to a class that most likely doesn''t have much [Strength]. His value itself might be way higher than mine, as he sure has his crazy high level, but Ara-san and I know that there is more to it than just stats. Starting with the body build.
My stronger [Pikeman]-body whips the weapon out of Luuto''s hand! He looks at me from the corner of his eye, then the wooden sword''s grip grows back to his hand while his muscles change back. ¡°Nice try.¡±
Ah, I feel how [Protect] fades. Luuto also shrinks his blade, coming closer while evading Ara-san''s [Icicle Knives], here it comes. Incoming punch.
¡the fist connects, I feel the power behind that punch which forces my head to move backwards while my body follows.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
¡ ¡ ¡I roll around the ground, unable to break my fall.
Three, two, one... ...ouch... There is sometimes that slight delay between being hit and the pain.
¡°...no... you... you won''t... I won''t...¡± While I''m busy lying on the ground and feeling like shit, Rine is about to rejoin the fight. Hey, Rine! Your knees are shaking, your face looks like it''s about to burst into tears again, your focus is off, and your grip is weak. Don''t fight in that condition!
Instead of saying all of it, what comes out from my mouth is instead a ¡°Buargh...¡±
¡°Don''t overexert yourself! I''m here.¡± Hey Kyou-san, it''s strange that I''m glad to see you. This is certainly a bad sign, right? ¡°[Heal]! [Heal]! Argh, [Heal]!¡± I certainly want her to learn more potent healing spells. Still, each [Heal] lets some pain disappear, so I won''t complain. Yet.
By the way, you''re beautiful. How you''re looking at me, this concern, this care, I finally understand why it''s a troupe that soldiers on the battlefield fall in love with the nurses at their sickbay.
Still, I need to explain Rine, that she shouldn''t fight at all. ¡°Ken? Ken! Say something! NOW!¡± Stop demanding stuff from me. I''m about to tell Rine, that I''m... ouch! Why did you pinch my nose? ¡°*sigh* still reacting to pain. [Heal]!¡±
Ah, where is Rine? ¡°Kyou-san!¡± I''ve never thought it would be such labor just to speak a few words: ¡°Rine, don''t!¡±
¡°Stay calm!¡±
Ah, eye-language: ''Kyou-san, Rine won''t be able to fight in her current condition!''
¡°We don''t need to fight, just let them-¡±
''Do what!? Talk it out? I would love to, but look! Look!''
Kyou-san looks at Rine and the two alfar. Currently, all three of them are fighting... well, Ara-san and Luuto hurl spells at each other as Rine tries to approach Luuto while each second is agonizing her.
¡°... ¡ Why are we fighting at all!?¡± Kyou-san suddenly grows pissed and starts yelling. She steps up to Luuto. ¡°Just stop!!! Whatever the reason, you and Arako are friends, right!?¡±
¡°A reason? Well... the human udder is right. If all of you surrender, we''ll talk. It''s actually hard fighting all of you without accidentally killing one.¡±
¡°...how did you call me!?¡±
¡°Hey, Ara''ainn. Just surrender. I''ll beat the humans half to death to please Big M, then you can all go. How does it sound?¡± He''s totally ignoring Kyou-san and it pisses her off even more.
¡°Lvo''tjos, tell me the reason for your affiliation to Muaotef and what happened to the others.¡± Here is the bomb, so that jerk-alfr is Muaotef''s underling? Maybe he''s forced like I was, but why didn''t he explain anything of it in the first place!? Isn''t he Ara-san colleague!?
¡°Seriously, it''s you and the humans who are intruding! I don''t need to answer any questions!¡± Now he''s throwing a tantrum.
¡°If this is your response...¡± Ara-san closes her eyes. ¡°Then I''ll make you pay for everything you did to my friends.¡± ...Ara-san, you used to be the reasonable one of us!
Well, I also want to hit him. I can somehow understand her. It may be foolish, it may be a poor decision, but humans are irrational, doing stuff that''s stupid, making bad choices, so I guess it''s that.
I slowly stand up. I start walking and pass by Kyou-san, giving her a soft pat on the shoulder: ¡°...you''re our lifeline.¡± I pick up my spear and feel how heavy it is for the first time since forever. ¡°Also, I need more [Protect].¡±
¡°Geez, [Protect]!¡± Then she changes classes and become a more toned [Herbalist]. She takes something from her arm-pouch: ¡°I''ll try to support you.¡±
¡°...yeah.¡±
Why can''t I stop? Why are my feelings making me do stuff that my brain decided as crap? ...no answer. Well, time to start the next round.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I feel... bad? Lvo''tjos and I are both alfar, so I feel like I should have been the one who solved the situation, even though every sign Lvo''tjos gives me is telling me that he can''t be argued with. He''s also hiding something.
¡°[Itching Breath]!¡± Momo starts with a [Herbal Weapon]-skill, but of course, she''s too slow. Kenta-kun charges in, but his movements are sluggish and imprecise. Then Katarine-san comes in, but she''s in a worse state than the severely injured Kenta-kun.
¡°You know what?¡± Lvo''tjos taunts us while easily evading everything: ¡°At this point, I don''t even need to fight back.¡±
I start with my incantation for [Tidal Wave], the rain and the humid terrain in general are good conditions for the spell, however, Lvo''tjos shows me one of his throwing blades and he throws it. I break off the chant to evade it, as having my calf pierced would also cause me to lose the chant.
Lvo''tjos is playing with us. He doesn''t take us seriously, and this gives me the desire to disprove this sentiment.
Logically speaking, Katarine-san is the only one capable of hurting him. She''s also the one under his spell, but his [Spirit Magic] is too strong. However, it makes it more difficult for him to use Ashenvalm as freely as before.
I may not be able to break his control, but I have another idea. Katarine-san''s spirit is weakening under all of Lvo''tjos pressure and the exhaustion of being active the entire day. ¡°Katarine-san. Just run at him while wielding your sword.¡±
¡°...yes... I... I''ll do it!¡± She looks at Lvo''tjos with a face that''s really hard to read, then she begins to blur. She''s using her new skill again.
There she is. She stands right before Lvo''tjos. ¡°You know what? You''re so pathetic right now, that I''ll knock you out.¡± He lifts Ashenvalm.
¡°[Sleep]!¡± My target isn''t him, it''s Katarine-san. She immediately closes her eyes, the mental strain weakens her spirit enough to make this spell even possible.
Lvo''tjos is at wonder about her limping body but just continues with his attack. This is a bad decision. Because Katarine-san has a specific trait: Whenever the tiniest amount of danger is approaching her while she sleeps, she adopts measurements to eliminate it.
Therefore, she throws a punch, hitting Lvo''tjos face, then she blocks his swords with hers, glides along his weapon to hurt his hands, then he gets a knee into the stomach, a chop to the side of his neck followed by an elbow alongside his face, then she performs a low-kick, hits him with her crossguard, and the combination of attacks doesn''t stop.
Lvo''tjos, first surprised by the sudden speed-increase in Katarine-san''s movements, tries to block and evade, but he''s already trapped in a flurry of blows and the moment he finally is capable of disengaging her, he looks beaten up, his nose is bleeding, and he has several cuts in his face. Even his magic armor is open at two points, revealing large wounds while his spirit tells me how much it hurts. His body is that of a hero, however, therefore the way he stands and moves is mostly unaffected. ¡°What has just hap-¡±
¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± Without a chance to even shout out, Kenta-kun comes in. He hits Lvo''tjos in the back, his armor withstands the attack, but this skill certainly did its job of hurting his enemy.
¡°Hrr... Ouch.¡± Kenta-kun doesn''t give Lvo''tjos any more time and keeps attacking. With all the wounds from the two of them, blood is spreading while they''re fighting, though Kenta-kun is still at a considerable disadvantage.
¡°[Heal]!¡± Momo first heals Kenta-kun, then she gets a stink bomb out of Kenta-kun''s stash in our [Shared Inventory]. She waits until there is an opportunity.
I change to [Acrobat] and jump at both of them: ¡°[Scorpion''s Tail]!¡± Lvo''tjos blocks my skill, but is hit at the side by Kenta-kun. No matter his level, he only has only two arms.
¡°...enough! [Squall]!¡± The spell pushes Kenta-kun and me away, it''s not unlike the [Gust]-spell, but it''s stronger and works in all directions, Momo is also thrown from her feet, the sleeping Katarine-san rolls away, even the ss''rak-audience takes some steps back. ¡°You know,¡± Lvo''tjos shouts: ¡°I was trying to be reasonable. I mean, my offer was: I don''t kill you and you let yourself be beaten to a pulp. That''s how it should work! Why are you all putting up that much of a resistance? I mean, what''s the reason? Is there any? Where is the logic in your actions! Ara''ainn, where is the fun!? Have the humans actually brainwashed you? This is neither smart nor funny, so why are you as an alfr putting up with it!?¡±
The answer is clear: ¡°Because I enjoy being around them.¡± They often puzzle me, they often make me wonder my reasoning, they''re young, they''re human. Katarine-san makes me question my common sense regularly, Momo always complains when I want to slack off a bit, being around Kenta-kun is challenging my sanity, but when I''m with the three of them, everything is a bit better. Of course, I don''t need the curse in my life, but each day was enjoyable so far. Even when I argue or even fight with one of them, I won''t give this up!
Lvo''tjos doesn''t understand though: ¡°...I can''t even describe how wrong it sounds. Are you his sex toy? Is it that? You''re in love with your abductors? Don''t worry. I''ll help you.¡± He turns towards Kenta-kun who is already fighting a war, a war to stand up while changing his class again. ¡°Kati is special, but as long as she sleeps, it''s alright. Time to break you as well. First your mind, then your penis!¡±
¡°No!¡± He''s about to do the same to Kenta-kun as he did to Katarine-san! He tries to make him see in him the one he loves the most, but seeing how it worked with Katarine-san... I can''t do anything!
Kenta-kun''s struggle of balance ceases, he falls on one knee while his eyes are locked on Lvo''tjos, his mouth is agape. Then something strange happens with his face, his cheeks begin to distort in a way I''ve never seen, he shows his bloody teeth while his mouth begins to spread wider and wider open. The words coming from his mouth are quiet, but his hoarse and unfamiliar voice is frightening: ¡°I will kill you.¡± Then with a loud and beast-like outcry, he begins to run faster than ever before, wielding his spear like it''s some sort of giant claw. ¡°RRRHUUAAAAAAAAGH!¡±
His spirit is the worst of all: It''s hvur. There is only one kind of alfr who houses a hvur spirit: the insane.
Volume 06 - Chapter 5-5
This shouldn''t have happened. Lvo''tjos is struggling, as he is incapable of severing the connection between him and the wannabe-ranger. Never, ever touch the spirit of an insane alfr, as it will contaminate you. Lvo''tjos feels how madness is about to seep into him, only his concentration keeps him pushing it away.
Like he was warned as a child, he can''t sever the connection anymore! Lvo''tjos doesn''t know high voltage power lines, but it''s like them: The moment you touch one, your muscles start to spasm, causing you to clinch to the fence that''s damaging you. It''s the same with a hvur-spirit.
If it weren''t for his [Avatar]-class, he might have already been driven mad. However, he''s now incapable of doing much else but keeping the madness away. He has to knock out that human or get away as fast as possible. As the latter doesn''t fit his style, he decides on the former.
Here he comes. A century of experience makes him move his body despite that immense pressure and the fear for his mental health. Still, he notices that the human now moves differently, driven mad by whatever he sees. He also doesn''t care about consequences anymore.
With his spirit involuntarily occupied with keeping him safe from the human''s insanity, Lvo''tjos needs to rely on his physical power. To his disadvantage, he''s an [Avatar], one who encompasses mystical power. He needs to switch to [Sword Dancer]!
Ah, here it comes, the first attack. Lvo''tjos blocks with Ashenvalm, but he can''t put any spirit into it. It may still be a nigh-indestructible weapon, but is as blunt as a bat. The force behind the human''s attack is immense, but still not ¡¯that¡¯. He''s just actually using the hero-system like intended.
Nonetheless, this isn''t good. If Lvo''tjos could just kill him, things would be so much easier. Yet if he kills him, then his deity will be alarmed, which will make Big M''s plans more difficult, which in turn will also hinder Lvo''tjos ambitions.
Lvo''tjos won''t allow any uninvited delays on his agenda! So he will dance on the edge between madness, not killing the human and not provoking him, to get a step further.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°HIYA! HA! HYYYYYAAAAAARH!!!¡± Guttural sounds, bloodshot eyes, the face of a beast. I''ve never seen Ken like this before. Whenever he fought for his life before, he might not have been a model for self-control, but he was never that... feral.
He''s lost in anger, lost in hatred, like he''s at the abyss of human emotions. Like he embodies everything ugly about them. Looking at him gives me shivers, it makes me question his sanity. I''m scared. I''m so scared of him. Yet he looks so much in pain.
What is he seeing? What makes him want to kill it? I don''t know. I don''t know anything. The only thing I can do is to wake up Rine-chan who is weeping in her sleep. ¡°sorry, so sorry, no, a lie...¡± What makes Ken so furious, while it makes Rine-chan so... pitiful?
¡°Arako, can you lift your [Sleep]-spell?¡±
¡°One moment please.¡±
Rine-chan opens her ember-like eyes that are red from crying. ¡°Kyou... Ara...¡± Her expression shows self-disgust. ¡°I- Dear-no! Kenta! Where-¡± She hears Ken''s screams and I need to look up as a strange sound arises. It''s a falling tree, Ken stands next to it, the spear still inside the trunk. He tears his weapon out and charges at the blue-haired alfr again.
It wasn''t a thick tree, but was still about as wide as my waist. He never showed strength like that! Also, his speed, he''s moving as fast as Rine-chan while the alfr moves slower than before, it looks like he has problems keeping up. The alfr still throws a punch, hurling Ken several meters away in the process, but Ken just turns his body mid-air to land on his feet and uses his [Speedthrust] to come right back into melee.
I can''t keep looking at the fight. It''s Rine-chan who needs help: ¡°Rine-chan, please! Keep your act together!¡±
¡°I''m sorry, so sorry, because of me, just because of me.¡±
¡°Rine-chan!¡± I speak louder, but her eyes are blankly looking at Ken.
¡°Momo, let me,¡± Arako says. ¡°Katarine-san, it was a mental attack from Lvo''tjos, so whatever you saw, it was just an illusionary image projected into your mind.¡± So [Spirit Magic] is capable of showing illusions? I didn''t know.
Still, Arako''s words fall on deaf ears. Rine-chan is so occupied by what she saw, that she doesn''t even hear us. This is the same for Ken. Whatever that Lvo''tjos-guy did, it''s too powerful.
Wait, what''s that? Why is a ss''rak child running to us? ¡°KATI!¡± She yells. I can see two adult ss''rak chasing her, most likely her parents: ¡°YUU WEEK!¡±
¡°...Zhesha?¡± This girl however caused a reaction within Rine-chan. I''m wondering how the two of them are related, but I decide to bet on the girl¡ªZhesha?¡ªas she caused Rine-chan to listen where neither Arako nor I could reach her.
The child jumps at the lying Rine-chan, but suddenly, she''s kicked away, one of Rine-chan''s reflexes. ¡°...ugh...¡±
¡°Zhesha!¡± Rine-chan jumps up, tears still defiling her beautiful face: ¡°I''m sorr-¡±
¡°DOAN''T BEE SHORRY!¡± The parents finally caught up and look at their daughter, lifting her up, trying to get her away: ¡°NO, ZOSH LET MII, IT''Z HONOR! KATI! FAAAAIIIIIIT!¡± She yells even while being carried away: ¡°YUU WEAK BUT SHTRONGER SHAN SHAT!¡±
¡°Zesha!¡± The mother presses the jaw of her daughter shut: ¡°This ish a fateful fight, interfering ish dishonorable!¡±
¡°GRWWGAAA!¡± Zhesha flails around like a child throwing a fit, but she doesn''t get tired of it. She swings her tail until it, in addition to her legs, is restrained by her father.
¡°...¡± Rine-chan looks at her blade. ¡°...¡± She looks at Arako and me. ¡°...¡± She looks at Ken, who is hit by the wooden blade time and time again with a series of thrusts. He keeps going forward even though he cries out in pain. As if hurting the alfr is the only thing on his mind. ¡°...later, I need to do that later... ''If you don''t fight in the present, you don''t have a future to worry about...''¡± The last one is most likely a quote from her instructor.
Now she charges also in, coming from a blindspot, hitting Lvo''tjos with her blade. The alfr is capable of moving enough to let his armor take the brunt of the force, but this allows Kenta to tackle him.
Lvo''tjos jumps back and is now drawing a dagger, parrying attacks from Ken and Rine-chan. The more I see Ken and Rine-chan act together right now, the more I see how similarly powerful those two are right now.
From my side, Arako comments something. ¡°I knew it.¡±
¡°You knew what?¡±
¡°Kenta-kun''s movements are different.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°His muscles. Humans have well-defined muscles.¡± From her standpoint, this might be the case: ¡°Katarine-san''s muscles are moving according to her movements. Kenta-kun''s, however, don''t.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°How do I explain it to you... it seems like it is easier for him to move at that speed than Katarine-san. Like it takes less effort and therefore less work from his muscles.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡±
¡°That maybe Katarine-san is still not using the hero-system to its utmost potential.¡±
¡°So Rine-chan could be much, much stronger!?¡±
¡°Among other things. However, we should join now. Lvo''tjos is at a disadvantage, he can''t focus enough on the two of them, as he''s currently about to be devoured.¡±
¡°Devoured?¡±
¡°From an abyss which he won''t be able to come back.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It shouldn''t be this way. Lvo''tjos should win, but he''s losing. Despite his power, despite his level, he''s so busy keeping the madness of the human away from his mind, that he can''t use much of the hero-system. He can only use a fraction of his power to deal with the two humans, both of whom he can''t kill, as one is a hero connected to a deity while the other is royalty. He just can''t concentrate enough to adjust the strength properly with so much going on.
Yet the worst is yet to come. Ara''ainn and the last human will join as well. So he either has to kill or he loses. If he kills, everything he''s worked for the past twenty years will be in jeopardy. If he loses, then Ara''ainn will use the chair to make him talk. He can''t do that. If he tells her everything, it''ll be too embarrassing!
He needs to cut the connection to the human, especially as just thinking about how to deal with this situation has made him lose more and more mental fighting ground. Lvo''tjos hates it, but he has to admit defeat against these newbies. He really should have cut off the limbs of the humans earlier, yet this isn''t his style. Now he has to deal with this choice.
The only way for him to cut the connection is to widen the distance, which means he has to run away... so be it!
With this, Lvo''tjos jumps back and starts dashing. However, both humans, the black-haired boy and the blonde girl are chasing him. The boy of course, because he has lost his mind. The girl, however, is even worse, as she uses [Swishstride] to just catch up to him, it''s a skill which increases the running speed.
Time to make something risky. Lvo''tjos changes to [Sword Dancer], the moment of inattention to the mental war for his sanity causes the front line to move directly before his spiritual center. Only a step more and Lvo''tjos is going bonkers.
However, he now has the [Dash]-skill to move even faster! He chains [Dash] after [Dash], the strain isn''t a problem at his level, and then he feels the relief of the disconnection. His mind is safe!
He looks back, seeing neither the princess nor the boy. It would be easy enough to find them and then beat all of them up. After taking some medicine, his body will be fully healed and then they can''t do anything to him, as he will be more careful with them. ¡°Nah, they won.¡± However, Lvo''tjos is fickle as an alfr, therefore he just gives them that victory.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Time to look for Kruan and his friends. He''s done enough for Big M for today. It''s not his business anymore.
However, it was nice to see Ara''ainn again. He is still a bit worried whether that boy has made her his sex slave, but from the looks of it, her spirit seems healthy, so it''s unlikely. One day, he might tell her. He might tell her about how they all fought for the world but met the ultimate loss.
Right now, however, it''s too early. For her and him.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Before we could even join the fight as Arako suggested, the blue-haired alfr already retreated. Our two idiots, Ken and Rine-chan, ran after them despite Arako''s warning, but both of them weren''t open to reason.
At least it''s easy enough to follow Ken with that feeling in our mind. There he is, on all fours. ¡°Ken.¡±
He turns his head to us: ¡°Give me a moment...¡± He forces himself to stand, the pain in his face shows how bad his body is. Though there is another sort of pain there. I''ve never seen him so... vulnerable. It''s like I''m seeing him for the first time in my life. He looks so young.
No, he is young. I''m also young, same goes for Rine-chan. We''re all just teenagers. We shouldn''t fight for our lives! We should go to school, have fun with our friends, slowly becoming adults. Up to now, I somehow never realized but seeing Ken like that...
There is a sharp pain in my heart. It''s hard to breathe, everything starts to hurt, my head grows heavier and heavier, my mind is clogging up. Air, I need air!
I barely feel myself falling on the wet ground, yet I feel my heart bursting, it hurts too much! Make it stop! I can hardly notice anything around me, though I''m sure that Arako is by my side. She''s talking to whom? ¡°Momo... shock... let it go!¡±
Let it go? Let what go? Why does it hurt? Why is it so... I can''t even describe it, it''s such a bad feeling, it''s overwhelming me. Breathing hurts, everything hurts, being here hurts, why do I feel so... so bad?
¡°Kenta-kun, no! You need to distance yourself!¡± What is Arako talking about? What has Ken to do with it? Ah, it became worse, the feeling got so much worse. I can''t breathe, I''m dying! I panic, but in the end, something else is so much worse, so much worse. ¡°Momo! [Sleep]!¡±
I feel how my mind wanders... sweet, sweet blackness.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
This was unexpected. I already knew that Momo has the tendency to attain most of her [Skills] based on current events, but this [Empathy]-spell is dangerous. Like Kenta-kun''s [Share Senses], using it unfiltered has obvious demerits.
¡°Is she alright?¡± Kenta-kun sounds more concerned than usual. Seeing how his current emotional state almost caused Momo to suffocate, I can only imagine what he''s feeling. From my ear-plugging with him, I had a vague sense of how strong humans emotions are.
¡°She is still connected. I apologize for my phrasing earlier, but you need to increase your distance to her, as she''s incapable to cut the connection by herself right now. It''s the same reason why Lvo''tjos ran away.¡± This is an interesting similarity. Both, Lvo''tjos and Momo, tried to delve into Kenta-kun and found more than they could handle.
¡°Phew...¡± Kenta-kun drinks a potion to regain some HP. ¡°Today''s the worst.¡±
¡°It sure is.¡±
¡°You''ll tell me about that Luuto-guy, right?¡±
¡°Later.¡±
¡°OK. I''ll look for Rine now. Don''t make it too hard for me to find you.¡±
¡°Returning to the village may be dangerous, that''s why we will stay here.¡±
¡°Good. ...might take a while.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun... are you really fine?¡±
¡°To be honest, I feel the worst. Need time to figure stuff out. Still, Rine is worse off. First reality-check in a while, I guess.¡±
Other humans better understand the emotions and thoughts of humans. So I can''t provide useful advice for this: ¡°Be safe.¡±
¡°...yeah. You too.¡± This mood reminds me of the time I ear-plugged him again. Maybe it''s what humans would call ''romantic'', but I believe it''s more about uncertainty. About Lvo''tjos, about Kenta-kun''s feelings, things that weren''t shared before and now come down like the rain.
Kenta-kun vanishes in the rain and I make a shelter with my [Spirit Magic], warping plants to my will. I look at Momo whose spirit branch snaps back, proof that she is no longer connected to Kenta-kun. I let her sleep, however, as she sure is tired.
Everything today is my fault. It''s not that I''m sad about it, but if I had acted differently here and there, none of it would have happened. It''s a human habit of looking at their own mistakes and not acknowledge them. It''s an alfr habit to look at their own mistakes and not take them seriously.
I''m an odd alfr, so I''ll start to analyze every step I took and what it brought. Just as I do with my research about heroes, if I do it carefully I might find some insight. Then I can still decide whether I will act differently in the future or not.
For the first time in a long time, I feel the need for self-improvement. I need to conquer my fears. I will find more ways to fight. I will bring my research to a new level without letting my greed overshadow my judgment.
Nonetheless, I won''t give up being a slacker. I will also follow my wimps, like every alfr, no, every living being should do!
With this determination, I write down the stats of my party-members. Katarine-san and Kenta-kun have shown me new ways to look at the [Attributes], giving me the idea that Katarine-san may actually not be using the hero-system as intended. Since she was so powerful before becoming a hero, it''s hard to judge her improvement...
Why does the hero-system support Kenta-kun''s movement, however? His muscles moved less than Katarine-san''s, though he has more mass than her. There are two ways to look at it. The more likely reason is that the muscle''s output is increased and therefore he can do more with less work, making him work more efficiently. The question is, why did it only worked so well when he was at the brink of insanity, or whatever a hvur-spirit means to a human?
Thinking about it, Kenta-kun performs best under a certain amount of pressure, so a hero may be the most powerful when he''s cornered? This is a trend I have already observed by reading hero-literature. I hadn''t taken it seriously, as stories are told to be entertaining, and overcoming difficulties that seem overwhelming is an efficient method to bring excitement.
However, if this is true, wouldn''t it mean that if a certain state of mind can be trained then all of us would become stronger?
Interesting.
While today may have been a disaster, it may open a new chapter in my research.
The possibility of enhancing muscles and other functions by having a specific state of mind. Though instead of enhancing himself there is another option on how Kenta-kun could move like Katarine-san without having that much work put into it. Forcing his will on the environment.
While this may be counter-intuitive, I still note it down.
I look at Momo next to me, who is making some of her usual humans sleeping-sounds. Her face looks less tense than before, so I presume that she is recovering from her former bad experiences. This... she has a bandage around her shoulder...
¡°Momo.¡± I put my hands on her ears. There is almost no reaction. I forgot again that the ears of humans aren''t as sensitive. So I put my thumb on her nose, this makes her face grimace and makes me wonder, what will happen if I try something different.
Until Kenta-kun returns with Katarine-san, I will have some fun with my friend.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I sit on a trunk, neither Kenta nor Lvo is here. I can feel in which direction Kenta is, but I feel too bad... I could put myself together after seeing how Zhesha went out of her way to cheer me up, but now everything is crashing down.
¡really, I should have taken the raincoat with me. I''m wet from head to toe. I''m cold. I feel miserable. Though it''s not the weather that makes me feel so down...
I feel like a traitor. I''ve betrayed everyone, my country, my friends, my lo... no... he is... ¡°uuuuuuhhh...¡± Tears are coming from my eyes. It feels like they''re replacing the raindrops. I taste their saltiness. ¡°Mother... father...¡± ...I want to go home. I also want to be here, but I want to go home as well. Why can I feel both ways? The voice of my mother whispers into my mind: ''Kati, do you want to be away from home?''
''No.''
''What do you think, how does Kenta feel?'' !? I- ah, no! No, no, no! What- no, wait, what have we done!? Dear... Kyou... I''m sorry! So, so sorry! ¡°Ugh...¡± An ugly noise comes out of my throat. ¡°Ugh...¡± My heart is filled with a thousand needles, each time it beats I feel pricks all over it. My vision blurs as more and more tears are coming. I''m the worst.
Wallowing in pain and self-hatred feels terrible, but appropriate. However... ¡°Seriously? You can''t even cry ugly.¡± This voice... no! No, not him! Not now!
¡°Go away! I want to be alone!¡± I hide my face in my hands.
¡°Ain''t happening.¡± Without even asking, he sits down next to my trunk. Why does he sound so... so... argh, he sounds so different than usual. It''s almost like he''s happy seeing me like that! How mean, Kenta! ¡°Well, woken up?¡± He asks casually.
¡°...go away...¡± I don''t even know how to face him, what to say to him.
¡°Hurts, right?¡± Yes, it hurts! Please, leave me alone! ¡°Well, you can just cry. I''ll wait.¡± Why does he sound so gentle right now?
¡°GO AWAY!¡± I try to stare him down, yelling at him. Can''t I have a moment for myself!?
His face, however, is calm and less... like him. ¡°Nope.¡±
This is making me angry: ¡°WHY!?¡±
¡°Because I can''t miss it.¡±
¡°GRRRRR!¡± I''m not angry at him, but I still feel a raging feeling inside me and take it out on him. I''m sorry, it''s not your fault, it''s all me.
¡°Let me guess... When he showed you the person who you loved the most, it wasn''t me, right?¡±
It feels like a nail in my heart. ¡°...¡± I turn away, trying to not look at him, who seems so... infuriating!
¡°I know what you saw,¡± he continues. How can you know? I didn''t even know it before! However, Kenta is smart: ¡°You saw yourself.¡±
...he''s right. Lvo vanished and I saw myself. Does that mean that I love myself more than anyone else? It feels so true... I can''t put it into words, but it was the truth, which makes me a horrible person, only loving myself.
¡°Rine, I''m bad at consoling. So I''ll be straight: How could you love me when you never saw me?¡±
¡°...what do you mean?¡±
¡°Rine, have you ever considered why I do stuff?¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Still too high, huh? Well, I''ll make it easier. Rine, you''re an idiot.¡±
¡°Wha-¡± I may not be that smart, but calling me an idiot!?
¡°Whenever something is going on, you interpret it as you want. When I help, you''re like ''Kenta, you''re noble'', while what I''m actually doing is just trying to win a favor or stop a risk. When Kyou-san is kind to you, you''re like ''She''s my best friend'' instead of thinking about how she tries to manipulate you. And I won''t even start with Ara-san... Face it, Rine. We''re not good people.¡±
¡°But-¡±
¡°Shut up! Just shut up and listen!¡± Why is he so mean to me right now...? ¡°Rine, it''s only natural, if you think about it. If everyone always loved you, how can you even imagine one hating you? If everyone acts upon your whims, how can you even consider their own standpoint... you might have an idea that the world doesn''t revolve around you, but you have never witnessed otherwise... Think, what would happen if you cry usually?¡±
¡°...mother or father would find me... telling me that everything is going to be better...¡±
¡°Why would it be better?¡±
¡°...because...¡± I can''t even think of an answer...
¡°This is the problem. You don''t think. You never actually thought about these things. You''re just an idiot because you neglected using your brain. Today is the day you can start.¡±
¡°Start?¡±
¡°Yeah, start using your brain more. Watch me, try to guess why I''m doing stuff, don''t just assume something. Then you''ll learn that I''m not close to anything you thought I am. Get to know me, instead of some superficial delusion you have of me.¡±
¡°...get to know you... Sorry, this is more than I can handle.¡±
¡°Wrong answer. You want to be a [Wizard] to become smarter, right?¡±
¡°...yes...¡± Have I really said that? This sounds so...
¡°Then start thinking. You may feel like crap right now, but it becomes better. It always becomes better.¡±
¡°Kenta... do... can I ask you something?¡±
¡°You can ask me what you like. I just won''t answer everything.¡±
¡°What did you see... when Lvo...¡± Thinking back, Kenta was like a whole other person, no, he is still like a whole other person...
¡°Just someone from my past.¡± His face has a strange, melancholic expression. I can''t even pry further, as I have the feeling that Kenta isn''t here anymore. ¡°Well, if you¡¯d like to cry, I''ll wait.¡±
¡°Please give me a minute.¡± It''s not that I want to cry more. It''s something different. I feel a strange thing in my heart, something that almost hurts: ¡°Kenta...¡± He''s so far away despite being close... I want to ask him something, but I can''t even order my thoughts... ¡°When... when I become... when I get to know you... can... I mean, will you... Kenta, do you even like me?¡± Seeing how I''m just an egotistical girl, who puts her expectations onto everyone without even questioning it, I don''t even know how Kenta and me are actually related... I mean, he is my husband, right? No... he''s cursed, so he hates me, right? Everything I thought is just a big fat lie I told to myself...
¡°I, like you? ...well... Let''s say this: The way you are right now is much better than before.¡±
So he likes me more if I cry, wallow in my feelings of self-pity, self-hatred, and insecurity? I... ¡°What does that mean?¡± He slowly moves his right hand, almost like a fist, to my forehead. Then he flicks it, but my hand moves faster than I can react, giving him a straight on the nose which makes him fall on his back, while his nose starts bleeding. ¡°Kenta! I''m sorry, I''m sorry!¡±
¡°Phew... if you''re sorry,¡± his pained voice comes: ¡°Could you please stop doing it! I hate it!¡±
¡°So sorry... ¡ ¡ can I ask another question?¡±
¡°Hm?¡±
¡°Will this pain ever go away.¡±
¡°Mine? I hope.¡±
¡°No, I mean the one inside my heart...¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°No?¡±
¡°No, but you get used to it. You always get used to it...¡± Kenta falls into silence, staring blankly into a place I don''t know.
Despite everything, this feels like a precious moment for me.
Volume 06 - Epilogue
Epilogue
In the ss''rak village, matriarch Jarlhu and patriarch Jura are facing each other. Zhesha is standing on the sideline while both of them argue. The ss''rak girl has the feeling that the fight from before has caused some rift in the village. Or maybe it was there before and is finally in the open...
The patriarch Jura insists this can''t count due to several interferences, while Zhesha''s mother says that their champion decided to take all of them on, never saying a number.
¡°Tash, whaz gooing on?¡± Of course, Zhesha can only rely on her father to understand why this tense atmosphere has emerged.
¡°Zhesha, shtay quiet for noa.¡±
Suddenly, patriarch Jura yells to the audience: ¡°The judgment ish unclear. Neither power nor hash wisdom won.¡±
Zhesha''s mother speaks in turn: ¡°In times of need, the wise ushed raw power.¡±
¡°In times of need, the powerful reshorted to wisdom.¡±
¡°Foreign ss''rak, your leader hash left.¡±
¡°Yet you remained and honored our rules.¡±
¡°Ss''rak of this village, you decide. Shtay here, if you shee honor in humbleness and closeness to nature.¡±
¡°Or join Muaotef, if you seek the honor of returning and righting the wrongs.¡±
¡°Neither the patriarch nor I can lead you in this decision.¡±
¡°There ish power in resilience, there ish power in fighting for undoing a wrong.¡±
¡°There ish wisdom in protecting what we have, there ish wisdom in claiming a new future for our descendants.¡±
¡°Patriarch Jura hash shpoken.¡±
¡°Matriatch Jarlhu hash shpoken.¡±
Zhesha''s mother returns to her family and exchange an important looking gaze with her husband. It''s Zhesha who disrupts the silence: ¡°Zosh! Waat happned?¡±
¡°Zhesha...¡± Her mother seems angry at her, though she remains calm, which makes it somehow worse: ¡°Try to shink before acting. Why did you interfere?¡±
Is she talking about how Zhesha has put Kati back to her place? It''s because it felt strange, seeing Kati that... weak. Kati is weak, she has soft-skin, she has a weak attitude, she doesn''t understand honor, still, seeing her all bawling was what made Zhesha angry, so angry that she couldn''t just stay there, doing nothing. Though she had almost no contact with that human Zhesha felt some sort of connection and it would be dishonorable to ignore it and let Kati fail because Zhesha did nothing.
However, before her mother, saying all of it out loud was impossible. So Zhesha instead looks down and uses the answer her mother wants to hear: ¡°I''m shorry, Zhosh.¡±
Jarlhu accepts that answer, though she knows that her daughter got inappropriately close to the human. She was just that sympathetic. She also knows that she also carries the burden of guilt as she has decided to wage an important decision on a fight with no ss''rak included, thinking that the ritual combat will be more readily accepted by those who lust for blood and revenge.
Still, honor demands that she stands to her decision. Without Zhesha interference there might have been an actual victory for Jarlhu''s standpoint, but everything considered it was a draw.
However, she is the matriarch. Even if most of them will join the ss''rak of Muaotef for honor, for bloodlust, for revenge for wrongs long passed, she''s responsible for those who let wisdom lead them and stay here. Though the servants of Muaotef may also uproot the reason why they are here in the first place...
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Hey, you''re still alive?¡± Lvo''tjos stands atop of Kruan''s body.
The beaten ss''rak looks at the alfr with disdain. ¡°Leeef me...¡±
¡°Man, don''t just die on me. Your arm looks messy, you know? You''re probably going through eight stages of gangrene here.¡±
¡°Leeef me!¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah. I just want to say, you and I are the same. I also got owned by Kenta.¡± The name itself makes Kruan growl. ¡°Let me guess, now honor demands that you can''t fight him anymore, right?¡± These words hits the mark, Kruan''s grimace is showing how much this hurts him. ¡°Well, you are out of a purpose, right? How about a new one? One that may let you meet Kenta again if he''s interfering with Big M.¡±
¡°...what purpose...¡±
¡°Here, do you see this vial? This liquid is the blood of Big M. As your arm is almost non-existent already, how about replacing it by becoming the Arm of Muaotef? That position has everything, power, fame, maybe even honor. Big M gave me the blood as he''s looking for someone who can execute his will, if necessary, and despite everything between him and me, he trusts my judgment. Just choose: Do you like lying and dying in the dirt or do you want to rise again and become much more?¡±
Honor would demand from Kruan that he declines this offer and honor is one of the most important aspects of a ss''rak. A ss''rak without honor is not living a ss''rak-worthy life. Still... it would only taint his honor if he accepts the offer only to find a new opportunity to fight Kenta again, right? If he diligently fulfills his new purpose and just happens to fight Kenta again it would bring him honor instead, right?
¡ ¡°Do it.¡±
¡°Welcome to the VIPs!¡±
With the Arm of Muaotef at his side, Lvo''tjos will also have an easier time fulfilling his original task in this swamps: Find the center and find out what''s within. Big M is certain that a god is sleeping there, put to sleep by the alfar long time ago. These alfar were the ones who originally awakened the trees of the area to protect others from his harmful nature. In the end, they were contaminated by the god''s evil itself, forming the Spirit Swamps as they''re known today. Sounds plausible.
If this theory is right, this might be a power for Muaotef to claim. After Big M is done with the humans of Feuerberg, he will wage the next war. The one Lvo''tjos is actually interested in.
A war to save the world, to take revenge for his comrades, and for Elmli. They will pay!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Ohlbr¨¹cken, the only safe way to cross the river Ohl within weeks of travel. An old man is walking down the streets. He observes how the Crusaders are vigilant and looking at everyone, though they''re not as inquiring as they used to be. Most likely because of what happened in Goldbrunn. It caused some trust-issues.
The old man hears how the people in the alleys praise the red ranger. If he hadn''t met the boy himself, he would think of him as some sort of saint by now. However, some interesting bounties, bounties of juveniles he knows, are showing up on the east of Ohl, from Ohlbr¨¹cken to Feuerberg, that''s why the city is so full right now. A lot of mercenaries and bounty hunters are here and they''re less subtle than the Crusaders, causing a lot of problems for the city guard.
He sure hopes that the boy and the girls aren''t stupid enough to let themselves be caught. However, right now he''s facing different troubles. ¡°Hey, geezer!¡± He''s currently surrounded by some ruffians who ambushed him in a back alley. It''s only natural, as he just sold the parts of a giant monster he picked up when he was out fishing in the Ohl for dinner. ¡°Just give us the money and everything will be fine.¡±
¡°Youngsters, didn''t you see why I got that bag? I just slaughtered a giant monster; so why should I be afraid of you?¡± This always happens when he has his coat, though these days are really getting cold at his age. Running topless may be a good thing for youngsters, but even the hardiest barbarian will find comfort in some warmth at his age. ¡°I mean, look at me. I''m dirt poor, so how would I get any money otherwise?¡±
¡°Maybe you stole it? A dirty thief, right?¡±
¡°I don''t steal, I plunder. Big difference.¡± The old man is taking off his cloak and the moment he''s topless, the ruffians look like they want to run away. ¡°Booh!¡±
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Correo is a merchant, and therefore part of the merchant league. While he has the look of a humble peddler, he''s wealthy. While he does have some funds, it''s not money that defines his wealth, however. It''s connections and power.
He just talked with the Bloody-Nosed Mercenary Company who were going in the wrong direction, led astray by the enemy ranger which wasn''t part of the contract he had with them. Correo didn''t know before that the boy has attained the [Ranger]-class-up and after some negotiations, they refunded part of his advance and quit the contract.
Of course this makes Correo angry, yet it was partly his fault. He spread his budget among too many mercenaries, not only the Bloody-Nosed but others as well. So confident in his scheme and his servant, he didn''t even think about how said servant would mess up his scheme. If she just had waited back then... It was a major setback.
Now Correo is in the woods near Goldbrunn, he looks for the squirrels that are subservient to his slave. After hearing about several lost mercenaries and Crusaders, he knows that this is the woods they are in. ¡°Squirrels, come out,¡± he asks, surrounded by nothing but trees.
Some of them appear on the trees and on the path he has taken. He is surrounded by them. At least they listen, though he couldn''t understand their intentions.
He has to continue: ¡°The ones you are looking for aren''t here. My slave returned to my side. Listen to my orders.¡±
The squirrels are exchanging glances, making some movements, yet no sound is to be heard. This heavy silence sure feels like they are talking to each other telepathically. After a few seconds, all shake their heads.
¡°You are the servants of my slave, and therefore also mine.¡± Again, they shake their heads. ¡°My slave is being punished right now. Heed to my order, and I will set her free again.¡± More shaking heads. This is really unnerving. Correo can''t tell what they are thinking or if they are really servants of his oni. However, they are good assets. They can spy and more importantly: They can deal with the alfr''s magic. ¡°So be it. I''ll return another time. Please wait here for my slave or me.¡± This negotiation has failed. However, he knows where they are for now and may send his slave back to gather them when she has been punished enough.
Correo already knows the whereabouts of the heroes due to his relic. It shows the direction to the closest hero and a rough estimation of how far that one is. With his other magic items it was easy enough to follow them, but entering the Spirit Swamps would have been suicidal.
He has another scheme to counter them. This time he will play a more active role in capturing Princess Katarine. For this, he only needs the right underlings. For starters, he has Lent Wood and Star Killer, the new heroes of the Lady. He will contact them next, though he also knows the perfect candidates to bolster them.
The reason why he left the squirrels is evident: If he told them about the whereabouts of the princess, they may follow her by their own discretion. He doesn''t need unnecessary cogs in his fine-tuned machinery.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Lent Wood is kneeling in the star-chamber, the room where Kami-sama is residing. At his side is his partner, Star Killer. Both of them were asked for by the Lady, the goddess they serve. Her midnight blue hair with the stars inside is waving in the wind, while she listens to Lent''s report: ¡°We have conquered their first line of defense and slaughtered every unliving we could see. We''re building fortifications to stage the next skirmishes.¡±
?Your work pleases Us.? Lent feels how his devotion to the goddess burns inside him as she praises his work. He conquered the ooaks and leads them into battle against the Undead Army, its general Laharel and whoever is creating these obelisks. With every battle, he and Star gain more and more XP, turning them into even more capable heroes than before. What they lacked previously were numbers, Lent learned it with his clashes against Laharel. Two people still have a limited number of arms and bodies. With his new underlings and class-up, he can turn anyone into dust between his fingers.
¡°Kami-sama, we''ll win this war for you. This necropolis will be yours!¡±
?It already is. We ruled this city since long ago. The undead are nothing but a nuisance that can be ignored.? She really thinks nothing of them. ?Our eyes are on what comes in the far future.?
¡°What will the future bring?¡±
?Our victory.? Kami-sama has connections far away. She stays here, hidden, so she can cast her web from the sidelines. While others carry on their fights, she has her eyes set on the price. ?Yet, Our heroes, you will need to travel.?
Lent narrows his eyes and Star looks aghast. However, Lent controls his emotions and asks the question that is on both of their minds. ¡°...why? Of course, I will heed your order, but our progress in the fight against the undead will be in jeopardy if I leave. I''m the commander.¡±
?As we said, the undead are a nuisance. Correo sent Us a message. He failed Us in capturing Katarine von Stolzherz. However, We will forgive him. For his new plan, he needs more people, so We send you, Our most trusted servants, to his side.?
This pleases Lent, Star also seems to be more at peace. It makes sense to send them if it''s about that particular mission. Kami-sama desires the princess of Feuerberg and that person is a menace. Someone like Correo can''t do it on his own, so they need to help. ¡°We''ll do it. We''ll give orders to our underlings and make sure that the undead will stay where they are.¡±
?Excellent. This is a letter of Correo. It contains where you will meet up with him. Also, take these flasks.? From her wide, kimono-like sleeves she takes three bottles which contains a midnight blue liquid. It looks like ink. ?This is Our divine gift to Our servant Correo.?
Lent has seen it before. It''s a special ink that contains divine power, something precious and powerful, something that escapes the mind of mortals.
Currently, Correo might still enjoy special privileges within the servants of Kami-sama. However, with this mission, Lent will earn all of her favor.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Here, Sir Gottfried,¡± the alfr says. Meldorn and the others are sitting at the forest edge of Aroahenn. The elves haven''t opened up their barrier, but one of their guards, a ranger named Oro''hekk is serving them drinks in wooden cups. ¡°Make sure to drink everything.¡±
¡°No thank you.¡± For some reason, Gottfried is cautious around the alfr. Meldorn can see that the alfr is moving like he''s hurt, though the ever-moving ears, the almost expressionless face, the strange way he holds himself makes it hard to discern his feelings.
Rotfeld takes a sip: ¡°This is really good. What is it?¡±
¡°Dried Aeolferelda-leaves, with a bit of extra spice.¡±
Pontiff Kasse is also drinking some, relaxing seemingly. ¡°This is good...¡±
Meldorn is curious, but he is also careful. Instead of doing something, he decides to observe more. He''s a hunter at heart, so he only moves when he knows that it will lead to his quarry.
Oro''hekk continues with a nonchalant voice: ¡°Why are you here this time, Sir Gottfried?¡±
¡°Because we are looking for Princess Katarine.¡±
¡°Ah, the princess. How do you know that she was here?¡±
¡°We have the Huntsman on our side.¡± Meldorn has just found and tracked her steps up to this point. They were washed out, but if you know what you''re looking for, it''s easy enough. Asking in the inn before also helped.
¡°The Huntsman? Well, then let me just tell you, Sir Gottfried, that she''s not here anymore and there is no need for you to attack our barrier. I may be a little concerned about whether you can break it or not, and we like being protected.¡±
¡°In which direction did she go?¡±
¡°I can''t tell you, so look for her tracks yourself.¡±
¡°Fine.¡±
¡°Also, you''re welcome to stay here at the border for a while.¡±
¡°We plan to continue as fast as possible.¡±
¡°Oh, then I''m sorry.¡±
¡°Sorry for what?¡±
¡°For having put some laxative in your drinks.¡± Rotfeld and Kasse are looking shocked to their already emptied cups, while Meldorn sure is glad that he didn''t drink anything from them.
Gottfried also looks like he''s glad he took his own internal advice.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Thanks for everything, Braxas!¡± Masahiko hugs his stout friend and tutor like a brother.
¡°Don''t mention it, lad. Be sure to give''me a crash-course if you find a cool [Class-Up], kay?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°''n get your girl back.¡±
¡°She''s my friend, but I will!¡±
After everyone has finished their training in Kraggwas, the underground city of the dari, Masahiko and his friends finally leave the hospitality of the stout yet strong folk.
It takes a while, but finally, they''re at the gate to the outside world. The dari stationed here open it, and for the first time in a while, Masahiko sees the sun again. This makes him feel all nostalgic. ¡°You know what,¡± he says to Daichi, Katsuo, Teru, and Eri: ¡°I really missed the sun.¡±
Daichi shields his eyes from the sun rays. ¡°Actually, it hurts.¡±
Teru is snarling: ¡°Try having [Perception], Dai-kun! I need sunglasses, it burns!¡±
Katsuo also has the [Perception]-ability, therefore he moans: ¡°...too accustomed to the underground.¡±
Eri tries to smile back at Masahiko, but hers is a bit wryly: ¡°Masa, we should start slowly.¡±
¡°Yeah, you''re right.¡± Even he can tell that the tears at the corner of his eyes are due to the brightness instead of the happiness he''s feeling: ¡°Still, time to head back to Esse.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Is this the border, Ara-san?¡±
¡°Positive.¡±
¡°Well... are you all sure you want to do this? This is going to be dangerous.¡± All of us are standing at a border-area, the border where the monsters of the Spirit Swamps become stronger. This is a place that neither the local ss''rak nor Muaotef''s minions have trodden.
¡°Ken, staying would be dangerous in itself.¡± Kyou-san wants to raise her level more than ever before. In these parts, the monsters will be stronger, and therefore give more XP.
¡°Kenta-kun, if my hypothesis is right, we should be able to handle it.¡± Despite our failings with the weaker monsters, Ara-san is sure that we can win against the stronger ones, as it was more of a lack of strategy and knowledge than of pure combat prowess. I also agree with this, but theoretically, we should practice with the weaker ones before...
¡°...¡± Rine isn''t saying anything. Since our talk, she is often in thought. ¡°...I''m ready.¡± It''s untypical for her, but I think she just took the first step to becoming an adult.
¡°Well, I did warn you.¡± I can''t say that I''m unhappy with this decision. Fighting stronger monsters, getting through the swamps faster by a more direct route, going to places that the Luuto-guy might not want to enter...
The whole journey through the Spirit Swamp up to now was a mess. However, I still refuse to see it as a bad decision. Strangely enough, the path to making that decision right is going through more hardships.
Every one of us has changed since we came to the swamps, though it may only last until we leave this place. No, we have been changing the whole time...
I''m OK. I will bring the whole party to Zethtrin, then we will undo the curse. Finally, I will start training to fight the demon king, then I will kill him and return home... Then I may finally be able to...
Volume 06 - Extras - Gottfried vs. Revolutionary Swordsmanship & Swampy Sequel
krpg (kentusrpg): ¡°Good job, everyone!¡±
KK (Katsuragi Kenta): ¡°...¡±
MK (Momokawa Kyou): ¡°...¡±
RN (Katarine von Stolzherz aka Rine): ¡°...¡±
AA (Ara''ainn): ¡°I guess you broke them.¡±
krpg: ¡°Hey Kenta, how are you?¡±
KK: ¡°Fuck off, hamster.¡±
MK: ¡°You know no delicacy.¡±
RN: ¡°Meanie!¡±
AA: ¡°You brought them back to life.¡±
krpg: ¡°Why are you so down? I mean, it''s like always, somehow you survived against the odds.¡±
KK: ¡°...eat shit.¡±
RN: ¡°Usually, it feels like we won something. I mean, in volume 1, Kenta won against the patriarch, in volume 2, we won against the giant monkey-spider, in volume 3, we protected Aroahenn, in volume 4... this is volume 4 again!¡±
MK: ¡°You lazy writer!¡±
AA: ¡°Momo, how is that supposed to be an insult?¡±
MK: ¡°Normal people don''t think that laziness is a virtue, Arako!¡±
AA: ¡°But laziness is the best.¡±
KK: ¡°Shut up, all of you! Hamster, what was the point of this!?¡±
krpg: ¡°One day, my son, you''ll understand.¡±
KK: ¡°Who''s your son!¡±
krpg: ¡°I''m the writer, so you''re all my creations and slaves to my whims! Kukukuku!¡±
RN: ¡°Woah, I''ve never heard such an evil laugh before!¡±
KK: ¡°Don''t admire him, Rine! Can we just go on?¡±
krpg: ¡°Alright. There are three Extras included. One is a Gottfried Extra again. They seem to be popular.¡±
KK: ¡°Well, he can''t be worse than Luuto.¡±
RN: ¡°Don''t worry. We''ll become much stronger until then.¡±
krpg: ¡°The final Extra will be that special something.¡±
MK: ¡°Why do you continue with the final one? Also, special something?¡±
AA: ¡°Ahem.¡±
krpg: ¡°Ara''ainn gets her own little corner this time to describe the different species of this fantasy world!¡±
KK: ¡°...let me get this straight... you ask the most racist of us to describe other people?¡±
AA: ¡°Kenta-kun, everybody is a bit racist.¡±
KK: ¡°And some more than others!¡±
krpg: ¡°The readers voted it and it won... with one vote!¡±
MK: ¡°What was the alternative?¡±
krpg: ¡°A short story called ''Queen Momo''.¡±
MK: ¡°Shoot! So close!¡±
KK: ¡°...dodged that bullet.¡±
RN: ¡°I''m very excited to read Ara''s thoughts on different species.¡±
AA: ¡°I even drew pictures.¡±
RN: ¡°Wow!¡±
AA: ¡°Katarine-san, your sparkling eyes are blinding me.¡±
krpg: ¡°Then let''s talk about the second Extra at last. This is the canonical one, which is a sequel this time.¡±
MK: ¡°A sequel to what?¡±
krpg: ¡°This volume.¡±
All: ¡°....EHHHHHH!?¡±
Extra 1 ¨C Gottfried vs. Revolutionary Swordsmanship
Proofreader: Antsago
Two weeks after the Aroahenn-incident...
Meldorn looks at the distance, following the tracks of the princess and her companions with his eyes only. ¡°They¡¯re leading to Goldbrunn, after all.¡± After the delay with the laxative, they had a harsh cross-country marsh and so Meldorn is questioning whether the other party even stopped at the cities. They have the skills to circumvent it, but maybe they needed to resupply. It¡¯s the same for his own search-party, after all.
Sir Gottfried also knows it but doesn¡¯t like it at all. ¡°Meldorn, you¡¯ll stay outside the city and find their newest tracks. Boy-mage and the pontiff will do the resupply.¡±
¡°What about you?¡±, asks August von Rotfeld, a soon-to-be archmage. He¡¯s by far the youngest one of this group, only in his twenties, and seems to be sick to be called boy-mage, wannabe-archmage, youngster, pukefrog, or mage-brat.
¡°It¡¯s ¡®What about you, Sir?.¡¯¡±
¡°What about you, Sir?¡±
Sir Gottfried overlooks the sarcasm and says in a dry tone: ¡°Even if they let me in the city, I¡¯ll get too many visits anyways.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°Mage-brat, this is a small city-state. They¡¯ll keep tabs on who is entering and the moment my name falls, they¡¯ll either shit their pants, fall on their knees in admiration, or both. Not to brag, but I could storm a city like that on my own. They know it as well and I¡¯ll be held at the city gate for hours until they make a decision, whether they want to defy me or showcase that they care about the safety of the city by formally declining my request to enter the city while shitting their pants so hard that they have to yell their denial at me from afar, in fear that I take a dislike of their stench and go on a rampage.¡±
Rotfeld thinks a moment about that. ¡°In terms of power, wouldn¡¯t they need to reign me in as well?¡±
¡°How adorable. Brat, you don¡¯t have a name and no reputation outside Feuerberg. Use it as long as you can, after you have passed a certain point, you can¡¯t even visit your relatives in another country without someone crying ¡®invasion¡¯.¡±
The young mage is about to say something, but Meldorn can see how Rotfeld thinks about the past few weeks, and what kind of feats Sir Gottfried did in that time, and remains silent.
Meldorn puts his hand on the youngster¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Confidence and pride are separate things. Same for pride and dignity.¡±
Rotfeld says and shows nothing, so Meldorn can only hope that his message comes across.
Pontiff Reiner Kassus claps into his hands, interrupting this conversation before it becomes sour: ¡°I really need something to eat. While camping can be fun, I need something properly cooked for a change.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It went exactly as Gottfried imagined it. He separated from the group before going to the gates and when it was his turn to say his name, occupation, and reason for entering the city, the guard broke out in cold sweat and ran to her superior officer.
Now he¡¯s currently waiting until the lord mayor makes his decision, a process that may take up days if that fool thinks that delaying tactics will work. Gottfried regrets his decision to even try to enter the city in the first place, but he had hoped he could go into a bar and enjoy a drink before he gets countless visits from challengers, wannabe-disciples, city-officials, and the like.
The retired knight watches the gates as the people go in and out. Of course, he¡¯s under surveillance, another futile attempt to give everyone the illusion of safety. Some people are also looking at him as if he had just split the sky with a single sword-strike: a possible but foolish way to boast.
Bored by the waiting, Gottfried decides to stand up, the guards around him tremble in fear and anticipation. ¡°Seriously,¡± says the old man, ¡°I¡¯m just going to pass the time with some training.¡± These words cause almost a panic, most likely because guards can¡¯t imagine Gottfried to just stick to basic body training, instead of destroying cities. If he needed that to keep a certain level of strength, the world would be a whole other place.
What Gottfried hasn¡¯t anticipated was that multiple mercenaries would come from the city and join his push-ups, sit-ups, sword-swings, and the like. It seems that some of them want to learn how to be like him, but the retired knight doesn¡¯t care about any of these people.
After Gottfried finishes his light training, the first idiots¡ªalso called challengers¡ªcome. Of course, Gottfried accepts their challenges seriously. Yet all of them are green, most of them short on limbs afterward¡ªthe same as always. True masters are either wanderers or restricted in where to go.
His eighth challenger, however, was different. A lean but well-trained man in his thirties, the first gray hairs are to be seen in his ponytail and beard. ¡°I¡¯m Aster Torhom.¡± The man holds his head high as if Gottfried should know who he is.
However, he doesn¡¯t. ¡°Good for you.¡±
¡°... I¡¯m the inventor of the Torhom Sword-Style.¡±
This, however, piques Gottfried¡¯s interest, as he is always interested in new combat styles. The man is also old and capable enough to back it up. ¡°You named your style after yourself?¡±
¡°Yes, of course. I also know that you have also invented your own style of swordsmanship.¡±
¡°That¡¯s correct though I have never named it properly.¡± Not that Gottfried didn¡¯t try, there were several ideas like ¡®Whirlwind Death Style¡¯, ¡®Strike and Stab Style¡¯, or the ¡®Pain-Rain Style¡¯, yet nothing really caught on. However, naming your style after yourself is a sign of hubris, something that he has already too much, so Gottfried seriously thought of alternatives.
¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to compete with someone strong. I challenge you to a duel.¡±
Gottfried smiles dashingly, as he has been bored cutting down monsters only barely capable of fighting back, and challengers that think that holding a sword right and using it properly are the same. ¡°Are you sure? I don¡¯t take any challenge lightly.¡± Despite his words, the older man is looking forward to it as Torhom is most likely at his peak right now and has honed his skills to perfection.
¡°I¡¯ve seen that, and I wasn¡¯t impressed by your skills.¡±
¡°Oh, you¡¯re giving me hope.¡±
¡°You¡¯ll only taste despair. Your style has plenty of weaknesses.¡±
¡°Oho!¡± Gottfried¡¯s smile would make most common people wet their pants, but Torhom smiles back with an equally unsettling laugh. ¡°Hey guards,¡± Gottfried asks his monitors, ¡°we need some space unless you want to put your city-walls to the test.¡±
After the walk, one of the guards becomes the judge, most likely giddy as a fangirl inside despite her formal behavior. ¡°Draw your weapons.¡± Gottfried fluently draws his weapon, a motion that also puts him into his battlestance, the blade in one hand and away from his body, though his arm is lightly bowed. The whole body of the knight looks relaxed at first, but it¡¯s like a panther: Ready to pounce. Torhom also draws his weapon, it¡¯s an arm sword. He¡¯s still in a neutral position, observing Gottfried, who is already in his stance. ¡°Take your stance.¡± Now Torhom takes his stance, it¡¯s a defensive one, the blade between the knight and himself, his fingers firm at his blade. Something is off, Gottfried can tell that Torhom¡¯s stance is good, however... ¡°Fight!¡±
Gottfried blade cuts through the wind as he approaches swiftly. Torhom parries his attack while taking a step back. Then he stabs at the knight, sending a shockwave in his direction that Gottfried cuts with ease, though this is just Torhom¡¯s way to get close again, his movements reminds him of fencing, a swift succession of strikes that Gottfried easily deflects using his free hand. This... Gottfried changes the grip of his sword and swing once to cut the air, creating a current that pushes the two of them away. ¡°Steelwind Style, Griffon Fencing, and the footwork remind of Serpent Blade,¡± he comments on the fighting styles that Torhom used.
¡°Yes, I revolutionized sword-fighting by combining the best aspects of each.¡±
¡°Jumbling techniques together doesn¡¯t make a good style.¡±
¡°Styles that don¡¯t adapt are weak. Traditional styles are the same for centuries. You also have created your own style, because you know it.¡±
¡°That¡¯s correct, but you have missed the point. I respect the masters of the old styles. You have trained each style five years at best, that¡¯s why you¡¯ll go down in three moves.¡± Without an initiating movement, Gottfried suddenly stands before Torhom, it¡¯s the same attack as before, so Torhom does the same, parry with the step back, a basic of the Steelwind Style, though this time he loses balance, as Gottfried put some more force into his attack: ¡°Traditional styles are strong, as they¡¯ve had centuries to perfect their ways of fighting. A master of Steelwind would have killed me right now.¡± Torhom tries to sidestep, but Gottfried attacks his blade and stops him from regaining balance: ¡°A master of Serpent Blade can retain his balance in whatever situation, always launching fast and surprising attacks.¡± Gottfried¡¯s blade comes in fast. Blows, cuts, and strikes are parried in a hurry, then with a creak, Torhom¡¯s arm sword breaks, causing a deep cut into his flesh. ¡°Finally, fencing takes care of your weapon as well. You had a good blade, but deflected blows hardly better than an amateur, putting all the force into your weapon. Instead of your own style, all you have is an excuse of swordsmanship.¡±
Covered in blood, Torhom falls on his knees as he looks at his broken blade. His trusted companion, a fine weapon indeed, yet it¡¯s now beyond repair. The swordsman himself is also about to faint.
Gottfried gives his lecture before that can happen. ¡°Also, you got something wrong. Every master has their own style and is a variation of a known one. This especially applies to masters of traditional styles. To become a master in the first place, you have to adapt your way of fighting to your strengths. While your current style urges me to vomit, you can start over and learn your styles properly. Then look at what suits you best instead of just mixing stuff because they¡¯re the best in their respective area. Actually, the whole idea of a ¡®best fighting style¡¯ is a shitload of crap.¡± Gottfried swings his blade once in the air, causing all blood on the blade to fall off. ¡°Guards, there is a companion of mine in the city, Pontiff Reiner Kassus. He may fix that one.¡± This is exactly the moment Torhom falls to the ground, unable to remain conscious. ¡°I may have cut his lung.¡±
There is nothing wrong with combining fighting styles to improve in certain areas. However, just dabbling into several styles, thinking that this is enough, gives only superficial knowledge. A certain degree of mastery is needed to use the full strength of those fighting styles and only those who continue to hone the different techniques from every angle can hope to combine them to something even worth called a fighting style.
Later, the pontiff gnaws Gottfried¡¯s ear again, but Torhom had to pay a hefty price: 100,000 Newgold to cover his treatment and bolster the group¡¯s travel funds.
Extra 2 ¨C Swampy Sequel
Proofreader: Antsago
I stand amid a pink forest full of glitter that flies through the air. ¡°Ken, you have to fight.¡±
¡°What?¡± I look at the monster Kyou-san points at, it seems like a fishmen that escaped a horror flick. It just had emerged from the blue grass and is now tottering at us.
Ara-san puts her hands on my shoulders and turns me to her. ¡°Kenta-kun, you¡¯re the only one who can do it.¡±
¡°Why!?¡±
¡°Because you have the Kenta Blaster. Only the Kenta Blaster can kill this thing.¡±
I see Rine hacking at the fishperson with her sword to no avails. She looks at me over her shoulder and then yells: ¡°Kenta, the Kenta Blaster is the most powerful technique of this world!¡±
Kyou-san pushes me from behind and towards the monster: ¡°Without the Kenta Blaster, you¡¯re nothing.¡±
¡°Ah, there comes Luuto!¡± Rine points at the alfr-hero who drives through the forest on his motorcycle, helmet included, and winks at us.
¡°Phew...¡± I know that pattern and decide to wake up. [Dormurnal] pulls me out of the realms of dreams and a flood of information fills my head. Everything that has occurred since I was asleep comes into my mind. The cold mist on my skin and in my lungs, the constant sighing and grunting of Rine, the scratching of Ara-san¡¯s quill on paper, the spitting of the fire.
Whenever something happens while I¡¯m asleep with the [Dormurnal]-skill, I notice it, yet something I¡¯d call a semi-subconscious decides whether I stay asleep or not. When I don¡¯t wake up, I forget the details until later.
I groan loudly, as also all the discomfort of the night, the humidity and coldness of the air, the hard roots beneath the fur I was sleeping on, and the croaking of the frogs around me assaults my mind. We¡¯re still in the Spirit Swamps. I hate this place!
I open my eyes to see a WP-message. At this point, it¡¯d be strange to not see one after waking up.
You gain 2 WP.
Waking up next to your wives bring you the energy to survive the day.
Can I take your word for it, WP-system? Because after yesterday, I started doubting the whole ¡®survive¡¯ thing. Yes, it was just yesterday that we got our asses kicked by Luuto until he kinda messed up if I understand it right.
It seems like my spirit made the alfar think that I was insane for a moment. Yet human spirits work differently and I just snapped. Seeing things I never wanted to see again. My mouth tastes like shit and my body begins to tremble with fury and sadness, a combination of emotions that causes nausea.
Next to me is Ara-san, who is fulfilling the WP-quota by sleeping and waking next to me during nightwatch. Of course, she has already noticed that I¡¯m awake. Sometimes I doubt that there is anything she would miss as long as it happens within three meters of her. Except the point. ¡°Kenta-kun?¡± Ara-san calls out to me calmly. ¡°Is something wrong?¡±
¡°Just a strange dream.¡± I mean, you may want to interpret something with dreams like that, but let¡¯s be honest: Most dreams don¡¯t make sense even remotely. Why was Luuto on a motorcycle? What about the Kenta Blaster!? It¡¯s not like this dream was a divine revelation for me to learn some strange [Skill] that¡¯s capable of defeating that ass.
¡°Is it linked to what Lvo¡¯tjos did?¡±
¡°Definitely not.¡± If I were to design a dream that uses my most painful memories as a source, it would be with much more backstabbing. My mouth tastes even more like shit even thinking about it, and as I see this matter as somewhat solved, I decide to not think about it yet. There are more important things to do.
¡°Do you want to share your dream?¡±
¡°What would you do if I tell you?¡±
¡°Make fun of you.¡±
¡°No thanks.¡± At least she¡¯s honest about it.
¡°Bummers.¡± Ara-san returns to her writing and I look over her shoulder to see what she¡¯s doing. I begin mumbling the letters, as I need this to have it make sense to me. ¡°I can explain it to you,¡± Ara-san offers, most likely annoyed by my mumbling.
¡°I¡¯m trying to read.¡± Kyou-san was right, I need that practice. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m illiterate in this world¡¯s language, but while I was solo, I may have dismissed fluent reading as unnecessary and therefore am barely able to come by. In general, I have neglected any life-skills, mostly because I don¡¯t want to live here at all.
¡°If that¡¯s your goal, I can give you a novel. It¡¯s called ¡®Burning Fangs¡¯ and you may mark any references to heroes in there.¡±
¡°Why does it sound like you¡¯re pushing your work onto me?¡±
¡°Because I am.¡±
¡°I think I¡¯ll rather talk to Rine.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± Without a shred of hesitation, she goes back to writing her piece.
I look at Rine, who tends to the fire and seems to be deep in thought. When she notices me, she becomes pale and tries to avoid my glance. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I ask her while sitting down across her, on the other side of the fire.
¡°Erm...¡± This is rare, Rine thinks about what to say. ¡°Kenta... I... I¡¯m trying to think about you...¡±
¡°About me?¡±
¡°Yes, you asked me to... so...¡± She seems already at a loss. Then she suddenly breaks out into tears. ¡°I...¡±
Seems like she¡¯s overwhelmed by her emotions and can barely hold it back. ¡°Phew, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking, but let me be clear: Don¡¯t cry on me. It¡¯s annoying.¡±
With an audible gulp, Rine swallows whatever makes her tear up. It¡¯s as childish and adorable as ever. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±
¡°For what?¡±
¡°For... annoying you...¡±
¡°It¡¯s neither the first time nor the last time.¡±
¡°I... I¡¯m sorry.¡± She¡¯s about to cry again.
¡°Hey, don¡¯t misunderstand. You don¡¯t need to apologize for annoying me. That¡¯s basically what you¡¯ve done since the beginning, so I just accept that as my fate.¡±
¡°Ugh...¡± Her lips are trembling and then she dashes away at an unusual speed, her new [Swishstride]-skill creates a small gust which fans the fire for a moment. I can¡¯t see her anymore, but I can hear her bawling from behind the bushes.
Ara-san teases me: ¡°You made her cry!¡±
¡°Shut up!¡± Dammit! This somehow came out wrong. All the years of not caring about others may have made me worse at socializing than I thought. ¡°Phew...¡± This will become a handful.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We sit at breakfast. Rine¡¯s back to a somewhat stable emotional state, yet she¡¯s also still taking her medicine for her hormone balance. Soon, this bomb will explode.
The breakfast is leftovers of yesterday¡¯s dinner, frog-soup. After everyone has their share, Ara-san begins to speak up. ¡°I would like to review a piece of the fight with Lvo¡¯tjos,¡± she says.
Of course, we¡¯re rather spooked by this. Rine¡¯s emotional breakdown, my mental breakdown, and Kyou-san¡¯s unnecessary breakdown after accidentally using [Empathy] made all of us somewhat fearful of this topic.
Yet Ara-san continues without care: ¡°When Kenta-kun had his incident, I noticed something. I already told Momo, but while Kenta-kun moved as fast as Katarine-san, he moved differently.¡± She tells about muscle movements and asked me to repeat some specific actions, same for Rine, to visualize what she means. ¡°After comparing the differences between Kenta-kun and Katarine-san, I¡¯ve come to the conclusion that the reason why Kenta-kun moves at the same speed with less effort is that he used the hero-system more efficiently.¡±
I scratch my head while trying to summarize everything, especially as it ties into prior conversations I had with Ara-san: ¡°So our [Attributes] are¡ªwhat did you call it¡ªa potential? So my [Agility] as a [Ranger] may be 201, but I usually use less than that?¡±
¡°That¡¯s my hypothesis.¡±
¡°Which means that Rine hasn¡¯t even properly used the hero-system at all!?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Heck!¡± Rine was overpowered before she became a hero, and now she has all that dormant potential!?
¡°Hn?¡± Of course, the girl in question needs some explanation.
¡°Rine, imagine a bottle. That bottle is filled up to a third with water. That¡¯s my [Agility]-attribute. If I need to move faster, there is enough space for more water in the bottle, so I can add to it.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
¡°Won¡¯t having more water in you make you heavier and therefore slower!?¡±
¡°...bad example. Well, let¡¯s just say that when you look at my status, the [Agility]-value indicates how fast I can be, while I usually use less.¡±
¡°How does it do so?¡±
¡°...¡± Maybe this is because of what I told her, but all these questions make it difficult for me. ¡°Ara-san, take over.¡± I guess I only got the gist of it and that¡¯s why I can¡¯t explain it properly.
¡°Katarine-san, our hero-status is very misleading. For example, as a [Druid], my [Strength] is 68, but what does it mean? Can I lift 68 hand-sized stones at once? Each [Attribute] lacks a scale of unit. So I¡¯ll make one up. Let¡¯s call it hero-sparkles.¡±
¡°Worst name ever,¡± I toss in.
Ara-san turns to me, the ears parallel to the ground, I guess she¡¯s protective of her brain-child. Then she turns to Rine and Kyou-san again: ¡°Each hero-sparkle improves you. They add to your power, speed; heighten brain activities; and even your charm. Some of them are always at work, while others are sleeping. When Kenta-kun had his outbreak, he may have awakened all of his hero-sparkles, causing him to become that much stronger.¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡± Seriously!? This is more complex than my explanation... or is it? Actually, this is way too easy to imagine, if I look at everything about the hero-system I know and many things make a lot of sense with this explanation.
I mean, when I think back to the experiment of lifting a head-sized rock with different classes and with and without the curse-bonus by staying close to my wives, this would explain everything! When I¡¯m in a particular class, more hero-sparkles are active in specific [Attributes], depending on the class, and the curse somehow creates more hero-sparkles that are instantly active. It also explains why I somehow survive a lot more than I should, because I still have hero-sparkles dormant that start activating when I need them.
Hero-sparkles... while the name is horrible, Ara-san might be onto something. ¡°Since when did you have that thought?¡±
¡°Around eighty years ago, but I also had some other ideas. While traveling with you, I can gather data firsthand, that¡¯s why I can move on from hypotheses to actual theories.¡±
¡°So following your thoughts, your physical capacities aren¡¯t recorded in the status, only how much you can enhance them?¡±
¡°Broadly speaking. I doubt that your inherent traits and the hero-enhancements are entirely independent, as the numbers I have from all the heroes I interviewed seem to reflect certain physical and mental attributes individual to them, in addition to the fact that the [Class] is also adapting the body, most likely to create a better vessel suited for the hero-sparks.¡±
¡°This theory is full of holes. The sum of all of my [Attribute]-points isn¡¯t equal when comparing my classes, so why can I suddenly create or lose hero-sparkles?¡±
¡°I think you have a lot more hero-sparkles and the [Attribute] only refers to how many of them you can activate for certain tasks at most.¡±
¡°So there aren¡¯t different types?¡±
¡°I do not believe so, but I could tell more if we find a hero who has reached full capacity in an [Attribute].¡±
¡°What about numeric stats that aren''t [Attributes], like [Attack] or [Defense]?¡±
¡°They¡¯re most likely derived numbers, like an [Attack] equal made with X hero-sparkles.¡±
¡°What about-¡±
¡°Hey, you two. Your soup will get cold,¡± Kyou-san snarks from the side-line, visibly annoyed. ¡°I¡¯ve done my best to make the frog edible, so I dare you to wait until it regains its former taste.¡± Her tone makes clear that she¡¯d rather make us force down this soup than let us trash it.
Too bad, this was a very constructive conversation. Hero-sparkles, huh? Despite its name, it might be the answer to some of the incongruences of the hero-system.
The next logical step would be to be able to activate all of these sparkles at will. It might be risky, as I don¡¯t know the reasons why many of them are dormant in most cases, but after my experiences in these swamps so far, I can tell that the key to activate them lies in the mental condition.
Despite the possible danger, having access to all of them whenever I want would be a powerful tool I can use in emergencies, rather than relying on the hope that they¡¯ll answer my needs when I face danger.
I also need to remind myself that it¡¯s still a theory.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The dark landscape before us begins to depress me. At this point, my mind tries to make strange metaphors with my situation, relationships, and life. Dark, decaying, joyless, and no end in sight. ¡°Phew...¡± My body aches from the wounds I suffered yesterday. Kyou-san treated all of them, but I guess the pain was bad enough to leave an impression. If I weren¡¯t a hero, I would have needed months of recovery.
I look over my shoulder for a moment. Rine notices it and avoids eye-contact, though I¡¯m sure she was staring at me just a moment before. At this point, I¡¯m really concerned whether she¡¯ll be able to fight or not. Even though she hasn¡¯t been as overwhelming as usual in these swamps so far, she still adds a lot to our combat prowess. I guess, I¡ªas the somewhat leader of this party¡ªhave grown too reliant on her. Now that I think about it, counting Rine into our party-strength is kinda bad, as the moment something happens to her, we lose too much to offset with the rest of us.
Dammit, now I¡¯m second-guessing our decisions again. There is a reason for our current route through the swamps. We entered a more dangerous area to increase our [Experience], hoping to get as many levels as possible while we¡¯re here. But are we strong enough to do that without Rine?
What¡¯s that noise? Ara-san and I turn our heads towards the origin. Something emerges in a puddle right before us! I don¡¯t even know what that is. Just imagine a vaguely humanoid figure with the posture of a hare, the face of a frog, and rubbery green-blueish skin with a lot of mucus. They are also a head taller than me, definitely what I imagine as a swamp-monster.
I draw my bow and shoot at it. While my arrow pierces through the body, it gives me no confirmation of whether it was effective or not. Suddenly, Rine jumps forward, her blade gleams for a moment. The monster lifts its gooey fingers, trying to hit her, but she quickly makes a side-step while turning around her axis and decapitates the thing with a powerful slash full of momentum.
Seems like my worries about her combat-prowess were unfounded.
¡°Interesting,¡± says Ara-san as she realizes the same thing that I did: That thing is still standing! It swings at Rine, who skips away without even looking at it. ¡°Kenta-kun, there is one more.¡±
I look into the direction Ara-san is pointing at, as a second of these goo-fingers is emerging. I retrieve my spear and put my bow into my quiver. ¡°Give me support. [Speedthrust]!¡±
¡°[Protect]!¡± Kyou-san uses her one buff-spell to give me an additional layer of protection. This spell can only target one person and when it¡¯s cast again, the previous one ends, so casting it on me, who is much more likely to be hit than Rine, makes sense.
Despite its appearance, the goo-finger nimbly dodges my [Skill] and it moves its hand in my direction. Drops of mucus are flying, and as a precaution, I jump back to avoid it. This goo strikes me as poisonous.
¡°Watch out!¡± Kyou-san says. ¡°It¡¯s poisonous!¡± With her [Nature Lore]-skill called [Poisonous], Kyou-san can see whether a substance or plant is poisonous or not. So she can confirm what I already knew.
¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± Ara-san hurls a waterblast at the monster, but it also evades that. So let me sum up, it¡¯s agile and able to poison its opponent ¡ª nasty combo.
It charges at me, but I learned my lesson: The ground here is too slick to dodge constantly, so I plant my feet into the ground and put my armguard first. If its goo can¡¯t touch my skin, it shouldn¡¯t affect me.
With my other hand, I aim the tip of my spear, ready to unleash a [Skill]. ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± This is more of a test, as I don¡¯t know if the rubbery skin counts as armor or not. Apparently not, as I feel no difference. Transparent blood gushes out, yet despite aiming for the middle of its torso, I don¡¯t believe that I hit a vital organ. I change to [Pikeman] to increase my power. With a sharp thrust of my spear, I push it away from me so that I can use my left arm also to grab my weapon and put more strength into my next move. ¡°Uaaaaah!¡± With a yell, I have enough power to swing the thing against a tree. I immediately pull the blade out, step back, and: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± After my attack, I jump back and look if it was enough.
Nope.
I change to [Ranger] again, mostly to shield myself from possible interference from the trees. But heck is this thing resilient! ¡°Rine, what about yours!?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. It still moves.¡± I risk to take a look and see something squirming on the ground. Then I realize that it¡¯s a limbless torso, so it can even move after all this!?
Therefore I better fight smarter with mine. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± I force the tree the monster was knocked against to grab it. ¡°Ara-san!¡±
¡°[Icicle Knives]!¡± In games, magic would usually hit another kind of defense, therefore doing more damage against opponents weak against magic and less against opponents resistant to magic. Against my better judgment, I hope that this might also work here. Logically speaking, it doesn¡¯t make a difference whether I stab someone with a knife made out of ice or to create those ice-knives and hurling them with magic.
That may be the reason why there is [Defense], but not [Magic Defense] in the hero-system.
Well, Ara-san¡¯s attack penetrates the body, but it¡¯s not that different from my arrow. Yet I noticed something... With my [Focus] on the goo-finger, I see something within the spear-wound I caused before, that I wasn¡¯t prepared for... moving organs. Gross.
¡°Their bodies are just bags with their innards floating freely there.¡± Standard brute force is possible, but not very effective. ¡°Ara-san, use [Tidal Wave] on mine. Kyou-san, look at Rine¡¯s if your poisons work.¡± Let¡¯s see whether brute force everywhere or harming the organism works.
Another alternative are firebombs. Yet I want to save them if possible. I don¡¯t know when I can replenish them. We also have the fight pretty much in the bag. I feel a spiritual struggle between me and the goo-finger who tries to escape my [Entangle], yet I¡¯m clearly superior here. Training with the alfr wasn¡¯t a life-scarring experience for nothing.
Kyou-san draws her knife: ¡°[Coating]!¡± The herbs in her hands turn into dripping poison on the blade. She gulps once and then charges, stabbing the goo with her blade, then she runs away in panic. I won¡¯t make fun of her because of that¡ªI know exactly how she feels¡ªbut I still find it hilarious.
The goo-finger torso moves a bit different. ¡°How is it, Kyou-san?¡± She has [Check-up]-skill, which is the best way to determine whether her poison works or not. In a sense, Kyou-san¡¯s synergy there is not bad.
¡°It works.¡±
I put some more effort into my [Entangle]-spell as I wait for Ara-san to finish her chant. ¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡± A massive amount of water crashed on the goo-finger. Tied up as it is, it can do little to subvert the brute force of the spell.
If it can move its organ, it may be able to create a crumple zone with the rest of its body, so I don¡¯t expect it to die. But depending on how its body works, it may lose consciousness, at least. I guess we need to dissect one of them later.
The [Tidal Wave] subsides and I see the goo-finger almost as vivid as before. This becomes a pain, time for a firebomb. Due to the moistness of the swamps, I don¡¯t carry any in my belt pouch to preserve them, so I put my hand into my backpack to open the [Inventory] to retrieve one and throw it.
After a burst of flames, the goo-finger is still there. Does the mucus protect it from fire? Too bad that firebombs are more fire than bombs, otherwise they might be able to blow off that goo.
What a pain. ¡°Kyou-san, I think we found your enemies. Do you have anything that can kill them outright?¡±
¡°No?¡±
¡°Phew... then aim for coma or paralysis.¡± I go to the limb- and headless torso and step on it, forcing its innards outside. ¡°Do it to the whole one, we¡¯ll dissect that later. I try to kill this one.¡± This may be the spleen, this the stomach, this the heart. After some more steps, I have just a suit of skin under my boot. ¡°Kyou-san, is this thing still alive?¡±
¡°Of course not!¡± I guess I¡¯m annoying her, but this is an important way to understand how these mobs work. I¡¯ve never faced anything like that before.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
After some disgusting work, we found out that these things are literally bags full of fluid and organs. I have no idea how this is supposed to work biologically speaking. Best I can imagine is that the nutrients are somewhat solved into the fluid and most likely also dissolve their victims.
We¡¯re on a break and I try to wrap my head around how to deal with the goo-fingers in the future. The second one died after we crushed some organs, yet it¡¯s not like I can aim for these when the monster is still intact. I guess I need to try it like Rine and dismember these mobs for the best effect. Poisoning them is all well and good, but I like to have my own options, instead of entirely relying on the rest. ...bad enough that I need to rely on them at all.
Ara-san goes around the plants. I guess she uses [Plant Memory] to get more intel. From what she said about that spell, it doesn¡¯t seem to be very useful, as plants tend to forget things that don¡¯t happen often.
Rine and Kyou-san are in a conversation. ¡°Rine-chan, if it¡¯s torturing you so much, you can talk to me.¡±
¡°I- I¡¯m fine.¡±
¡°Come on, I¡¯m your best friend. You can tell me everything.¡±
I stand up after hearing it to make clear I want to say something. ¡°Hey Kyou-san. Don¡¯t manipulate her.¡±
She faces me and draws herself up to her full height. ¡°What are you saying?¡±
¡°The ¡®I¡¯m your best friend¡¯-thing¡¯, of course. That¡¯s exactly the line you use to guilt someone into fessing up.¡±
¡°I want to help her.¡±
¡°Then don¡¯t help her.¡±
¡°What!?¡±
¡°Let her think for herself and make her own decisions, for once.¡±
¡°What do you imply?¡± Both of us glare hostile at each other.
Before I can answer, there is a sudden, loud interruption. ¡°I¡¯M SORRY!¡± Rine takes Kyou-san¡¯s hand and speaks up to her: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you two. I... Kyou, I want to try what Kenta said. Please don¡¯t be angry at him.¡±
Kyou-san looks first at her and then at me, sending me a telling glare: ¡®What have you done?¡¯
¡®What was necessary.¡¯
¡®If this makes her feel miserable, you¡¯ll feel worse.¡¯ Then she turns back to Rine: ¡°It¡¯s alright, Rine-chan. We won¡¯t fight.¡±
...again with this pampering. That¡¯s exactly the reason why Rine turned out the way she did. ¡°Is it alright? Or do we rather avoid the conflict because having Rine upset would be inconvenient?¡±
I sure hope that there is no [Skill] that can kill with a glare because I¡¯m sure that Kyou-san is on the verge of learning that. Yet I stand firm, I¡¯m honest, there is an underlying threat in Kyou-san¡¯s eyes that I take seriously, as I know she¡¯s capable skill- and morale-wise to slip poison into my dinner and brutally kill me off later.
Rine looks at the two of us and is about to say something, but then does nothing. Kyou-san grimaces in anger and then tramps away, most likely royally pissed with me, and maybe even with Rine.
...this is a win for me, right?
Rine now also grimace, but it seems in pain. ¡°...I need a moment,¡± she says while looking for cover.
Ah, she needs to take a crap. ¡°Ara-san, please go with her.¡± Having Rine walking alone would be bad.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because Rine needs to take a crap.¡±
¡°Erm... not that...¡± She blushes deeply red while being weak on her legs. ¡°It started.¡±
¡°What started?¡±
Suddenly, she begins to yell at me in pure anger: ¡°MY PERIOD, OF COURSE!¡±
...crap.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Menstruation. Once every month, a woman¡¯s body uses secretion and a little bit of blood to flush out an unfertilized egg cell. A completely natural process that only sounds disgusting. Yet it takes time for the body to do. Therefore menstruation lasts some days.
Kyou-san is in the midst of one, but Rine has now entered that state. While Kyou-san is only in a bad mood, however, Rine¡¯s case is a bit more extreme. I think I mentioned that before? Well, she¡¯s always quick to change her mood, but her period makes her mood swings faster and more intense, while also opening her to upright hostility, fretfulness, and annoyance.
The last time, we were in the safety of the alfr village of Aroahenn, so I have no idea how much it may affect her in combat. I guess, when we add her mental anguish to the mix, she¡¯s pretty much done for.
Means I have to carry her weight, because Kyou-san can¡¯t really carry her own, while Ara-san is very unreliable. The problem is that Rine carries a lot, and to be honest, it makes me a bit afraid to fill in her part. I just hope that I¡¯m wrong and the moment combat comes, she snaps out of all of her problems and just kills everything that¡¯s not us, like usual.
Rine claws at my arm. It¡¯s actually WP-grind-time and she¡¯s supposed to link her arm with mine, but she¡¯s squeezing it so strong, that my left arm feels numb. ¡°Erm, Rine? Could you ease up a bit?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not the only one who stinks!¡±
I have no idea what she¡¯s talking about. Make sense, girl!
Facing this randomness, I do a facepalm. Yet this also triggers Rine: ¡°Am I annoying again?¡± She¡¯s somewhere between anger and crying.
I try to answer as calm as possible. ¡°Somewhat.¡± Sometimes honesty hurts. Especially when being honest causes your arm to twist and yanked by a very pissed girl.
Kyou-san and Ara-san are going in front of us, conversing in soft voices. They noticed that the whole plant-life begins to change here. To be honest, I didn¡¯t pay attention to it before, but now that they speak about it, I also notice that the trees have other leaves and barks, the herbs and aquatic plants are more stout, fungi are growing at some spots, and even the grass looks different.
As we know next to nothing about what lies ahead, I don¡¯t know whether changing the route will be for the better or worse. Yet this reminds me of something my mentors, Meldorn and Oro¡¯hekk told me: The more fertile the land, the more animals and monsters are making their territories there.
My [Perception]-enhanced hearing, however, makes out an irregularity. ¡°Ara-san, can you listen ahead? Is it me, or is there less noise?¡± Why is the croaking and slithering behind us louder?
¡°You¡¯re right.¡± We nod at each other, understanding what it means. ¡°You want the trouble?¡±
I silently nod.
Kyou-san finally gets what this is about: ¡°So there are strong monsters ahead? And you want to fight them?¡±
¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re here, right?¡±
Usually, Kyou-san would come with sound logic shrouded within insults to tell us what a stupid idea this is. Yet my argument sticks. I can see how she tries to mount an answer while playing with the ring of her finger, then she sighs and says in defeat: ¡°Let me check my gear first.¡±
¡°Alright, I also like to wait until we finish the arm-link WP. Should be in a minute or two.¡± I look at Rine and try to fight back my doubts about whether she can do it or not. She¡¯s Rine, so she will kill all the mobs with ease.
...maybe I should think about a battle-formation that won¡¯t put her directly into danger. Sadly, there are only few options with the members we have. Kyou-san can¡¯t be at the front and in case of Ara-san, I need to decide whether her magic or her much weaker close-combat capabilities should be the priority...
¡°Kyou-san, you¡¯ll take the back. Rine, you¡¯re the center. Ara-san and I do the front.¡±
¡°I, at the front?¡± Even Ara-san can¡¯t believe it.
¡°We need your [Spirit Magic] to locate the suckers. Maybe we can get some clues where they might be, but you¡¯re our best chance to find them. You also don¡¯t need your [Druid] to do so, so you can stay in [Acrobat] and change your position depending on the situation in the blink of an eye. From the center, Rine can attack after she knows where the monsters are. Kyou-san can observe from the back and decide whether we need CC, support, or more offense.¡± In exactly that order: Crowd control if there are too many to handle, support if they¡¯re too strong, more offense if the little Kyou-san can provide makes a difference.
I know this isn¡¯t a real strategy, but when you face the unknown, you have to deal with the cards you¡¯re given. Kyou-san at the back makes my stomach turn, but as Ara-san has little to no experience with being at the front, I can¡¯t let her do it alone and move back in the formation. At least, Kyou-san has a little [Spirit Magic] and might at least not fall for a sudden hallucination.
With this, we enter the too-good-to-be-true habitat. Our cautiousness is the best option to be not counter-ambushed. I¡¯m looking and hearing so hard that I almost dig through dirt and weed with my focus alone.
As I scout my surroundings, I hear a [Whisper] from Ara-san: ¡°Kenta-kun, there is something dangerous in that water.¡±
I look at a bigger pond with my [Wild Eyes]. ¡°[Whisper]: I sense nothing.¡±
¡°Its spirit has ceased to be detectable, yet for a fraction of a moment, I sensed something there. It¡¯s lurking.¡±
Without giving me a chance to answer, something shoots out of the water. The splashing and slurping seem for a moment slower than the motion itself, only my [Focus] and the forewarning helped me to raise my armguard to deflect a bullet made out of slime and mud. A sharp pain goes through my arm before it becomes numb, but the strain on and below my shoulder tells me exactly how painful this will be.
The monster¡¯s ambush failed and therefore it attacks before we can prepare. I guess, even though Ara-san and I used [Whisper] to not alert it.
In an instant, I check what everyone is doing. The moment the bullet came, Ara-san has jumped into the air and is still there, Rine has already drawn her weapon and stands between the pond and Kyou-san, while Kyou-san is still processing what¡¯s going on.
The monster is still in the pond and now I can detect its spirit clearly. No other monsters around as far I can tell. Four against one, we have the strength in numbers. The monster is also emerging, which cancels its cover.
Something like a mud-head emerges, mud that¡¯s framed by wood and held together by vines and bushes. The problem is that the head itself has the size of a washing machine. The shoulders come out, the two arms, the torso, the four legs... it¡¯s a six-meter (20 feet) mudgolem-centaur! Well, let¡¯s call it swampgolem instead.
I feel a spirit... how can I describe it... waving over me. Something like an omnipresence spreading out. I instinctively know what it means: The swampgolem just took control over the whole plant-life in its surroundings.
Ara-san lands next to me with an overdramatic pose, so I ask her: ¡°Can you dispel the control?¡±
Her ears twitch twice before she carefully answers: ¡°Only for a moment on a small area.¡± Precious.
I don¡¯t want to charge that thing, yet I feel how the scrubs and grass beneath me start to move unnaturally, the more I hesitate, the more I have to deal with them. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± So charge it is. ¡°Wuuuu...¡± Let me remind you, [Speedthrust] is a skill that propels my body towards my target and makes me charge it with increased speed with my spear in front. Now imagine, that during this speedboost, the six-meter thing full of mud and slime, which is made with an awful lot of water which is pretty heavy, just gave me a hook from around my spear! This thing is much faster than I thought.
My head and torso hit the soft ground, sliding some meters before coming to a halt. I can be glad that I was [Ranger] with my [Focus] on it, predicting the hit a moment before it came and therefore being able to abort the [Skill] and move with the punch instead. Otherwise, I may have been knocked out, now I just scream in pain and feel fuzzy.
Where is my [Heal]? I get back to my feet and see how our formation is broken. I see big piles of mud everywhere... does it mean that it didn¡¯t only hit me, but also shot its mud-missiles at the same time?
Ara-san changes to [Druid] and shoots a [Fountain Gun] without any visible effect. Ah, Rine charges, now she can... get hit as well, as her movements are sluggish and without her usual sharpness... She still takes the hit better than me, as she at least jumped back and is able to land on her feet.
Shit, she¡¯s in the range of a tree! It¡¯s grabbing her, and the swampgolem thuds towards Ara-san and Kyou-san.
I quickly get my bow: ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± I have no idea whether arrows will even work. One of them is deflected by the wooden frame, the other three vanish inside the mud and slime without any trace.
¡°[Plant Whip]!¡± Ara-san points at the monster itself, trying to use its own greenery to attack, but they don¡¯t even tremble.
¡°[Protect]!¡± Kyou-san backs off while providing Ara-san with her buff. Well, backing off is hard with grass grabbing your feet, Kyou-san falls on her butt instead, curses, and begins to cut the grass with her knife.
Rine is circling the swampgolem, most likely looking for a good angle for another attack, while I stow my bow back into my quiver and pick up my spear to do the same. If we coordinate our assault, then we should be able to get at least one attack in.
There are three problems, however. First, Rine and I actually never coordinated our attacks, as she¡¯s usually just doing her thing and I pick up whatever is left. Second, I can¡¯t see eyes or other sensory organs, so I can¡¯t tell whether there is a blindspot or not. Third, I¡¯m pretty sure that this thing can deal with numbers from the little I have seen.
Well, time to attack its butt. That¡¯s the best shot I got: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡±
¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡±
... DON¡¯T USE THAT WHEN I¡¯M CHARGING, DAMMIT! I know, she has set it in an angle that it shouldn¡¯t hit me, but as she¡¯s on the opposite side, having a [Crescent Moon] flying in my general direction is scary! What if that swamp-thing hits me into it!?
Ara-san changes to [Acrobat] and joins our lackluster effort of a team-combo: ¡°[Chin-upper]!¡±
[Crescent Moon] is blocked by the wooden exoskeleton, there is damage, but it¡¯s slowly growing back. While I¡¯m able to skip over some scrubs that try to grab my ankles, I abort [Speedthrust] to evade a mud-bullet. [Chin-upper] is dodged by the swampgolem. It grabs Ara-san by her staff and throws her aside like a gamer his pad during a bad streak.
Rine blurs and begins to move with amazing speed and gets closer, ready to jump. The problem is that the grass grabs her ankle and she falls on her face instead, the swampgolem turns to her and stomps on her: ¡°Urgh, argh!¡± Her cries of pain echoes into my ears.
¡°Rine-chan! [Warp Plants]!¡± Kyou-san has freed herself and tries to influence the plants of that thing, despite Ara-san¡¯s earlier failure. That¡¯s just wasted time!
If it¡¯s about pushing things aside, I have the right [Skill]. I evade the grasping scrubs rather cumbersome while shortening the distance. Here comes its fist: ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± It only has enough force to push the fist aside and with its four legs, the swampgolem doesn¡¯t even lose its balance. At least I can get closer: ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± I use it on the foot stomping on Rine and the moment it stops hurting her, Rine rolls aside and get some more distance. She has cuts and bruises on her face and it seems that her body moves only under great pain.
Rine is basically a glass-cannon. Usually, she evades all attacks and destroys everything that can be dangerous in a second, but the moment an assault hits her, she takes much more damage than I. Maybe it¡¯s because she doesn¡¯t use her¡ªurgh¡ªhero-sparkles at all?
Nonetheless, I have no time to ponder about that. ¡°Rine, recover. Kyou-san, distance.¡± Me, survive.
¡°[Power Dive]!¡± Using one of her most dramatic and most useless [Skills], Ara-san flies at the thing like a meteor.
¡°[Rising Point]!¡± I can see how the air-current that builds up around me blows away some of the monster¡¯s mud. With me attacking from ground to air and Ara-san vice versa, we may have any effect on it.
Or we¡¯re just knocked aside by hand and foot, respectively.
OK, let¡¯s think about retreat... we can go between those trees which are definitely under that things control and I¡¯m not sure if Ara-san can wrestle it out long enough for all of us to pass through. The pond... bad idea, the golem has home-advantage there. The clearing... no cover, Kyou-san is too slow to evade those bullets, and even I may have problems when I¡¯m not facing them. Dammit.
Kyou-san and Rine have used [Heal] on the princess to make cuts and bruises disappear, but I know from experience that it still takes a while to really get into shape. Rine¡¯s eyes also look a bit glassy and unfocused, so I¡¯m not sure how much longer she can perform at even that subpar level.
Ara-san is wobbling on her feet, I guess without [Protect] she would have been knocked out.
Dammit! Fuck! Shit! While my stomach feels icy, the rest of my entire body burns with anger and hatred towards this whole crap. I know I need to calm myself, but I can¡¯t!
This is a fucking random encounter! Or did we trigger a boss-fight without knowing? The last one against the hornchasers wasn¡¯t nearly as hard! This is rather another monkey-spider boss!
This isn¡¯t a game, so there is no difficulty curve. This is a shitty fantasy world that doesn¡¯t care about you, just like the world I¡¯m from.
Yes, I¡¯m forging this hatred to awaken my hero-sparkles. It¡¯s as easy as that. I can already feel the power coursing through my veins. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± A first well-placed hit right into the weak mud. I feel my spear sinking into it, but there is nothing... shit!
I¡¯m picked up by the swampgolem like a flower. I stab at it with my spear, try to hit the wood, the plants, but I have no idea how this thing functions. Is it like the goo-fingers and basically a sack of organs that can be moved?
The swampgolem throws me a bit upwards to grab me on my legs. Then it swings me overhead towards the ground. Then it repeats that, again and again. I can sure be glad that the ground is somewhat soft. It still hurts, though.
¡°Ken! [Protect]!¡± Unable to give me real help, Kyou-san makes this at least less painful.
¡°Kenta!¡± Rine charges again, evading the bullets that are shot into her direction, but the swampgolem runs closer to the trees, which begin to bend to block the path. ¡°Go away!¡± Rine hacks at them, but they quickly regrow. ¡°KENTA!¡± Using the new terrain, I¡¯m meeting hard wood instead of soft ground, it¡¯s sure an improvement in terms of pain.
¡°[Entangle]!¡± Ara-san uses her own magic to get control over the trees, and it seems to work for a moment, yet the swampgolem sicks other plants to immobilize her while shooting mud-bullets into her direction to break her concentration.
I change to [Pikeman] to improve my durability. I can still fight. ¡°[Ri]-urgh!¡± Well, I can try to fight. As I can¡¯t get a moment to use a [Skill], I stab at it whenever I have the opportunity, but to no avail. I lack power.
I¡¯m about to lose consciousness, my head feels heavy, the pain begins to feel less painful, and I can feel blackness approach ¡ª one last attempt. I need more power. I used more power against Luuto. I only need to repeat this.
¡®It¡¯s not your fault.¡¯ Cold anger flushes my system. ¡®Come here. I¡¯m there for you.¡¯ Blackness corrupts once fond memories even further. ¡®Ken-chan, I¡ª¡¯ I taste shit.
I want to destroy. I want to kill. I want to hurt. I channel all of these feelings into my spear and make a large swing. Without any lasting effect, my weapon bounces off the wooden exoskeleton, the cut I made quickly regenerates.
I can¡¯t do it. I can¡¯t lose control on command. I¡¯m still thinking about what I¡¯m doing! Even if I try to remember it, it¡¯s not the same as Luuto pulling on my memories, emotions, and even my perception. Something like thinking about it isn¡¯t enough to open that old wound.
I endure two more hits against trees. I can only see colorful dots and hear my heartbeat. Fuck it. At this moment, I just need one good strike. If I can¡¯t dip into my hatred and other emotions, I just outset it with pure willpower. As long as I¡¯m a [Pikeman], I can use my spear. It¡¯s the exact thing as with Crunch!
I swing my spear another time, I feel how something tears underneath it. I have cut through the exoskeleton, but in the moment of glee, I feel how my power is drained from tip to toe. I gasp for air, but my vision returns. I¡¯m still upside down and can see the huge cut I caused... This is it. This feels familiar.
¡°[Rising Point]!¡± I repeat it, it feels like my spear sucks out my power, but the [Skill] ¡¯s current is much stronger than before. Mud is blown away, offering me an enrooted stone ¡ª a heart. I unleash my attack at it and shatter it like it¡¯s nothing.
The swampgolem falls apart, burying me with mud, plants, and wood. I can¡¯t stand up on my own, but Ara-san drags me out of the mire. ¡°Kenta-kun, what was that?¡±
¡°...heh.¡± I can barely say something and even if I could, I wouldn¡¯t be able to describe it. Maybe I¡¯m now able to access my hero-sparkles. Perhaps, I have found something else. It¡¯s strange, and I don¡¯t know exactly how I did it, but I keep that feeling in my heart. If I train a bit, I should be able to do it freely.
¡°Momo, Kenta-kun feels bad. He¡¯s smiling.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not a smile, Arako.¡±
Was the swampgolem a boss or just a strong mob? Or maybe even a usual mob in these parts of the swamps? I don¡¯t know, but I check my [Status]. This is it. [Experience]. But there is no new [Skill], what I used is something different.
For now, though, I will just be glad that I survived this.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m the worst.¡± I can hear Rine¡¯s weak bawling as she has fallen into a fit of sadness and whining. ¡°KENTA, YOU IDIOT!¡± Now she¡¯s angry. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take more care of yourself!?¡± Then she grabs her hair, looking earnestly scared.
My conclusion: Rine is halfway stable during a fight, though she can¡¯t access her usual badassness. Also, the moment combat is over. She¡¯s overwhelmed by all the feelings she ignored and falls into rapid emotional outbursts.
Rine grabs me and starts opening the belts of my armor. I tell her with a straight face: ¡°You¡¯re hurting me.¡±
¡°We need to look at your wounds.¡±
¡°Rine-chan, that¡¯s my job?¡±, Kyou-san carefully reminds. Rine starts to tear up again.
Oh god, I¡¯m still alive and almost well, dammit! Just don¡¯t move me!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The worst part of my injuries from the boss-fight is that they¡¯re at the lower end of beat-ups I received. In the situation, I may have been more helpless than usual, but the damage wasn¡¯t so bad. So we decided to continue.
Now it¡¯s evening and this day was intense. After the boss, we fought some giant dragonflies, a strange twig-monster, and some more goo-fingers. I feel exhausted. Partly because of the many battles, partly because of Rine. ¡°My tummy hurts!¡± How can someone who has beaten up by a giant monster make sound stomach-ache worse? The pitch of her voice, however, grinds on my ears, it¡¯s annoying!
Another source of exhaustion is right next to me. ¡°Try again!¡± Ara-san insists. We¡¯ve been trying for around half an hour to replicate my empowered attacks. ¡°Activate your hero-sparkles!¡±
I try to concentrate on my hate for that term. ¡°[Rising Point]!¡±
¡°The wind-current becomes weaker. Try harder!¡±
¡°I¡¯m dead beat.¡±
¡°That¡¯s no excuse.¡±
¡°It¡¯s your own primary excuse!¡±
Her inner iris narrows. ¡°That¡¯s why you can¡¯t use it.¡±
¡°Come on!¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, we need to figure out how you did it.¡± Her fervor to learn everything about the hero-system makes her reckless again.
¡°What if it wasn¡¯t about being a hero, but because of the curse? Something like a husband protecting his wives?¡±
¡°Hm...¡± Her ears rise a bit. She also wants to learn about the curse but is less ardent about it. ¡°Then we must ask Kyou-san to put herself into danger.¡±
¡°WHAT!?¡± The person in question isn¡¯t keen on that proposal. ¡°Why don¡¯t you do it?¡±
¡°It would put me into danger.¡±
¡°And what about me?¡±
¡°You¡¯re a human and very resilient. You have excess blubber to act as natural armor, while poor me is just a frail girl.¡±
Instead of going into an anger-fit, Kyou-san just sighs and yawns. ¡°I¡¯m too tired for this. Rine-chan, would you and Arako take over the first watch?¡±
¡°...sure.¡± Rine sounds like she¡¯s dying right now. But as I¡¯m also about to fall asleep, I won¡¯t argue with going to sleep first.
While Rine and Ara-san do some magic training, Kyou-san and I make everything ready to sleep. While I brush my teeth, Kyou-san changes into her pajama and joins me only a minute later. ¡°Hey Ken...¡±
¡°What?¡± At this moment I have some ideas about what she wants to talk about. I try my best to check my spirit to notice whether she uses [Empathy] or not.
She doesn¡¯t, but somehow she becomes angry. ¡°...nothing.¡± Has she noticed that I made sure? No, she¡¯s just good at guessing what goes through my head.
Well, it¡¯s not a topic I like to talk about anyway. Let¡¯s concentrate on more important stuff than what Luuto did to me. It doesn¡¯t matter in the greater scheme and dwelling on that will only hinder me.
There is a reason why we¡¯re in these swamps. I have levels to grind, I have [Skills] to learn, I have the¡ªurgh¡ªhero-sparkles to master. It may seem much, but I will do it to beat this shitty fantasy world!
Volume 06 - Extra - Araainns Species Guide
Extra 3 ¨C Ara''ainn''s RacistRacial Species Guide
After begging for three volumes, I finally have my own little corner to explain to you the world I was summoned into. I could talk hours about the hero-system and how it probably works, yet I have to do with this heavily edited version of a species guide instead. Even the title was changed, what a spoilsport! And the change wasn¡¯t even accurate, so I had to correct it. What a blunder.
Know that there aren''t any monsters here. We''re talking about alfroid species here. They may look similar to alfar, yet they can''t reproduce with each other. All of these species are treated as people, for the most part. There are some borderliners included that are or will be relevant to the story at some point. Also, all of these species have heroes which is the real reason why I''m even making this guide.
Have fun learning about others.
Alfr (plural: alfar)
We start with the standard stuff. Please bear with me, as I''m sure that you''re familiar with alfar at this point, but as you''re humans, you may have been lost in sexual fantasies about my people whenever the author tried to tell you something about us, you sex-maniacs.
Physical description: Alfar have an average height, are on the slimmer side, and have normal proportions. We do have pointy ears that can move freely for better hearing, we also have skin instead of fur. That skin can look a bit greenish at times, depending on the lighting. Our hair can have about any color, while the eyes of most alfr are green and yellow... ah, we do have two eye-colors, as we have a double iris. Both irises work with each other and can widen and narrow quickly, while we have a slit-like pupil. We have noses, fingers, and toes. Also, teeth. Seriously, what do you expect me to say here? We''re absolutely normal. Other than most species, however, our bodies barely deteriorate with age. The deterioration process only makes our irises brighter, yet this brightening doesn''t affect our eyesight at all.
Capabilities: Alfr can do a lot. As there is little contest, we''re the most intelligent species that exists. Whenever humans think of alfar, they think of their shortcomings, yet objectively speaking, we have the best ears and some of the best eyes of all species. Other than farsight, we can better see details within medium and short distances, we can see motions very well, we can look even with bad lighting, and we can partly see around obstacles. True fact that doesn''t get used in the series so far, but we''re living in forests, so looking around trees is practical. Try to imagine it as a colored shadow that gives us a hint of what lies behind a tree.
Because of our good senses, we also have appropriate reflexes, yet what sets us apart from the rest is the use of [Spirit Magic]. We can manipulate the spirit of a lifeform, the summary of different parts of the mind of a creature. We use it to control plants for our convenience, to read the general mood of other alfar (as trying the same with other species is difficult at best), and we can literally connect minds, though it takes time and knowledge to do that.
Behavior: Alfar love having fun. We''re called the ¡°Young Folk¡±, as we have an eternal youth in us that gives us that certain amount of happiness. Yet we have our emotions under control and most of what we do is out of logic. As we''re rational, we developed a fine a sense of humor that subverts conventions that much better. This is why we are masterfully able to see which buttons to push whenever we talk to others.
Outside our pranks and jokes, we are very efficient in our daily lives and work together with few conflicts, as we are very accepting of others and their particular personalities and cultures.
Culture: I will only delve into the culture of the Ljos-alfar of this world, as it''s unbeknownst to me whether D?kk are even here. Also, if I explain you the culture I''m from, you may fall into deep despair due to your inferiority, as you¡ªfrom what I''ve heard of Kenta-kun¡ªare actually engaging in war, about to destroy your natural habitat due to non-reflective consumer behavior, and overpopulating your planet despite your short lifespan because you can''t stop having sex for even a minute.
Therefore it''ll be pleasing for you to learn that alfar of this world are rather primitive. They still haven''t figured out how to make a spiritual network which is a shame, yet they''re too busy surviving as hunters and gatherers with some cultural peaks. Their sense of humor is crude and dangerous as well. They can easily cause actual harm to people they prank, so be careful.
Pranks are important, that''s how you make friends. You show your ingenuity and your care by planning out every step and having fun with every moment. Fun is another crucial aspect, a good joke and a playful attitude are what makes a good alfr and other people should take a page from their book.
For some reason, the term ''elf'' has been put onto that poor, primitive alfar which is a cause for much grieve. My personal theory is that humans have butchered the pronunciation and let it spread like their brethren.
Alfar have a practical approach to families. In this world, after a child is born, the community decides who takes care of it. While it''s usually the mother for the first month¡ªas she produces mother''s milk during that time and the child still can''t walk¡ªit falls to the person afterward who is interested, which are usually many. The relationship between child and parent ends after thirteen years, as the child is fully grown and able to take care of itself.
Fantasy world alfar live in trees and use their [Spirit Magic] to create secure habitats far away from human settlements. This solitude has two reasons. First, nonalfar lack a sense of humor and therefore can''t take a joke. Second, there have been conflicts between humans and alfar in the past. They used to be allies until there was friction in interests. Humans have abandoned the pact and started persecuting those poor alfar who had to forfeit against the superior numbers. Nowadays, the humans have mostly forgotten about this and I have yet to see a human history book that includes this story. Yet some alfar are untypical resentful for our kind which means that the betrayal and its consequences were that severe.
We¡¯re great company and love to have fun. Though sometimes I wonder if the world hates us.
Dar (plural: dari)
I can do you the favor and just skip them. I mean, there is nothing worth talking about. No, it''s not that I have anything against these greedy, joyless dirtbags. Do you still want to hear it? Then make sure to keep track how much of your time you''re going to waste.
Physical description: They''re just hairy dwarves. Also dirty. Short, fat, stinky...
Capabilities: I would like to say that they have a sense of humor, but it would be a lie. To be honest, I''m not sure what they can other than stirring up trouble. Bread can mold, dari can''t even do that. Maybe they''re fit for cleaning? I mean, perhaps their dirt-crust is the result of innate magic that attracts dirt?
Well, some people say that the dari have their way with metal. It''s pitiful whenever people need to burrow in the dirt to excavate clumps of minerals and go through a long process of refining it to create subpar weapons and armors... So we can say that the only thing that others admire in them is actually just an elaborated way to waste their time.
Behavior: They''re not fun.
Culture: To be honest, I barely studied their culture. Yet their greed is legendary, as they''re the reason why this continent has the Newgold-currency. You should know that there were gold, silver, and copper coins before. The dari started to hoard them and they always kept every supply of them for themselves. Throughout generations, the dari had most of the money, so the Merchant League started to negotiate with several countries to switch to a new form of currency that doesn''t use any rare metals. Thus the Newgold was born. The dari had no interest in these metals, most likely because they don''t shine as bright.
Now from history to actual culture... Dari seem to have something like a democratic monarchy which seems somewhat contradictory. Something about clans, elders, and being voted to be king for some decades.
As my knowledge is superficial, I''ll tell you what I think their culture will be. First, dirt is wealth. We can see it at their skin, they like to have this crust of dirt of them, and as people want to showcase their wealth, it can only mean that the dirtier they are, the more wealth they possess. Why don''t they don their gold then? Most likely because they exclusively collected gold, silver, and copper from other species because humans valued it, and when something has any worth, the dari want to have it, even if they don''t know what to do with it.
Whenever there is an argument, dari engage in mud-fights. That''s the primary method of how to solve conflicts or to make decisions for darikind and most likely how they crown their king while that strange democratic monarchy is just a farce they put up to make other people believe that they''re so great.
I''m also positive that every child that''s born is being brought to auction. This will teach them from the beginning, that greed is the only virtue they can rely on and I just realized that this has gotten dark¡
If your eyes are as good as mine, you can see how much they stink. They¡¯re also even hairier than I drew them, but I lack the skill to make it not look like fur.
Demon (plural: demons)
Actually, there are many different types of demonkind, but I''m the hero sage, not some demonologist. So why are all of them summed up under the term ''demon''? Because there are several spells like [Exorcism] that target specifically demons and everything that''s hit by a spell falls under it. Though in case of [Exorcism], it also targets undead, so you need to be extra sure that the person hit by the spell isn''t an undead before you can categorize it as a demon.
Therefore I try to write about the most basic similarities demons have with each other.
Physical description: I know that there are bestial and alfroid ones, but all of them come with secondary traits of other species and the animal kingdom, like horns, claws, tails, or wings. Some tribes within the demons are the same race, like the lamia, the oni, the devils, or nukpakka, but most of the demons I know of are crossbreeds. Maybe they''re like dogs and if you do enough breeding, you can create a race within the species?
Capabilities: All demons have destructive capabilities. Aside from their physical prowess, most of them can create or manipulate elements similar to [Elemental Magic]. Other than that, most of their traits are apparent by their features, like demons with scorpion tails have poison or demons with wings can fly. It seems that the pure-tribe demons have often hidden powers, like how oni can shapeshift.
They can also ''infect'' monsters, which will change the monsters'' bodies to resemble demons more. Maybe they''re somewhat related?
Behavior: Demons love to destroy and kill. There is no doubt about that and every single one I met so far, including the whole half of a dozen that didn¡¯t try to raid Aroahenn, were willing to murder and destroy everything and everyone they met. So it''s safe to say that this applies to all demons, especially as the stories about demon-heroes are usually about spreading out, sowing chaos, and annihilate everything that arises to stop them. Or at least trying to do so, as demons seem to be bad at ascertain risks and take on countries that are easily able to deal with them. However, this destructive nature makes demons a menace to most nations, as the damage they cause when they go on a rampage can cripple a state long enough for it to become targeted by its neighbors.
Luckily, most demons are content to satisfy their desires by attacking and killing each other.
Culture: Demons live in tribes. The strongest rule and the other follow while trying to usurp the leader whenever possible. Therefore, they don''t have much of a culture, as intelligence and civilization aren''t virtues for them.
They usually raid their neighboring tribes, yet a strong leader can gather more and more demons and guide them for greater goals. Strong leaders are called ''demon lords'' and they often possess intelligence and a tactical mind, able to dominate several tribes and force them under their rule. In very rare cases, there can be even a demon lord among demon lords, the ''devil king'', and whenever one happens to appear, things become dangerous. First, a demon king has to be terrifyingly strong to be the undisputed leader of a species that defines itself via their might. Second, these powerful people can now be used for greater schemes. This certainly sounds worrying, that may be the reason why Feuerberg declared war on the only demon nation known to me. Though calling Daemonicus a nation may be a bit of an exaggeration.
The demons outside the so-called demon realm only exist in small tribes and while they can threaten some communities, they''re too busy fighting among their own... ...do they do something else than fighting and killing? How can they even keep up with their numbers if all they do is killing each other!? Strange...
Thanks to the encounter with the oni, I have now a demon-race to draw. I did it well, no? Praise me!
Folkman (plural: folkmen)
The folkmen are sweet, little things, they''re all cuddly and very pleasing to look at. Sadly, the law prevents us from keeping them as pets...
Physical description: Whenever you''re close to one of the Folk, watch your knees! They''re really short and you might accidentally hurt them! With faces as broad as theirs, they¡¯re easy to hit, and you might even poke out one of their big eyes. Not only their faces and eyes are big, their mouths as well. They have many tiny teeth that give the best smiles, though their angular ears are a rather halfhearted attempt to be alfr ears.
Their fingers are short and whenever they walk, they waddle, as they''re a bit stiff around the knees. I never understood why, but that way of walking makes them so adorable! When petting them, be beware: They have kinky hair. It''s usually brown, dark grey, bronze, or brass, while their skin has the color of hazelnuts. The males can also grow beards.
Capabilities: Despite their small frame, folkmen are strong. If these tiny fingers were any longer, they could easily crush an arm under their grip. They can pick you up and hurl you several looafs, uproot young trees without breaking a sweat, and break open stone walls even before they actually start strength training. My hypothesis is that they can transform the power of cuteness into physical might. Other than that, they''re known musicians and entertainers!
Despite their adorableness and power, folkmen have a common archnemesis they need to face in many cities... stairs! With their waddling stride, people of the Folk need space and time to climb up each step. That''s why they build ramps.
Behavior: Folkmen are jolly people that live in the moment and create many bonds throughout their lives. They also like to explore, telling stories, and playing games. This makes them ardent investigators and puzzle-solvers. While they love sharing stories about the past, they''re not bound by it and every folkman is ready to break with tradition whenever it becomes a hassle.
Culture: Folkmen have nomadic roots. That''s why one of their most enduring rites of passage is a two-year-long journey in small groups. During that time, they pick up a lot of different life skills and learn how to socialize with other species. Sometimes they even went to Aroahenn. Sadly, they were too popular...
Yet while this is a still popular way to be seen as an adult, the present-focused world-view of the folkmen has many abandon even this tradition and come up with something new and unique. If you''re ever in a settlement founded by the Folk, you will notice the assimilation of different cultures, ideas, and philosophies that can be abolished the moment a ruler feels like it.
I have yet to hear about a pure folkmen settlement as they let strangers join them without any prejudices. Therefore it''s only a matter of time until a small village becomes a vast city with many different species living there. Examples of those cities are Armina, Zethtrin, and Oltrin.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
In terms of families, after they''re coming of age ceremony, folkmen usually return to their families. Whenever they marry, one of the spouses marries into another house, and even members of other species are adopted into one of the families. Maybe I''ll get adopted as well at some point so that I can cuddle each of them to death!
Just look at them! How can you not adore them!?
Human (plural: humans)
I believe that you know already a lot about the plague that befell this world, the overly emotional and sex-driven people that multiply so fast that makes it impossible to keep up, and now reigns the continent with superior numbers because they can''t keep it in their pants.
Physical description: Humans are above average height, yet not as tall as many other races. It''s almost as if someone took alfar, stretched them a bit and made them fat. They have round ears and strangely moving faces: There are no species with as many facial expressions as humans, though I doubt that it has any benefits.
In cases when humans build muscles, they really build muscles.The growth is abnormal, especially seeing how badly muscle size and power increase works. I guess this only shows that human bodies are just made to be bloated.
Female humans are generally visibly physically weaker than male humans and have utters of different sizes on their chest, which are called breasts. Its actual composition is still unknown to me, but they seem to be made of fat, as soft as they are. The general alfr hypothesis is that human women grew these for either attracting males to have sex with them or that they have a specific purpose during sexual intercourse.
Humans have hair everywhere, even in places that don''t make sense, and males have thicker hair growing on their faces than females. Most humans have bright hair and only Southerners are the exception, and they have different iris colors, often blue, green, and brown. The skin ranges from bright to dark and the rule of the thumb is: The darker their skin, the darker their hair and eyes.
Capabilities: Stamina is the keyword when describing humans. They can keep going on and on forever, a vital trait to support their procreation, as they won''t get tired. Sturdiness is another strong point of them. With bloated bodies like theirs, it''s easier to endure attacks as they have plenty of meat to protect their vital organs. They also have a good sense of smell and taste in addition to being able to see into far distances.
Humans are generally fertile. They don''t have mating seasons and their pregnancy and childhood periods are on the faster side, though alfar still beat them at least there. Yet with these traits, humans have started to overpopulate this world. Their sexual drive is so strong that they can feel attraction to the same sex, other species, animals, corpses, and even inanimate objects. ...this makes me feel sick.
Behavior: With a sex-drive like theirs, humans are incapable of engaging in any activity without thinking about how to bone it. They can learn to hide it¡ªmaybe even control it to a degree¡ªbut keep that always in mind and be careful when interacting with them. They''re also moody, fickle, and whiny, which is most likely the result of them trying to suppress their sexual desires. This may also be the reason, why they act so dumb at times, I mean, when 90% of their thoughts are about not having sex with something, there is only little capacity left to be logical, especially as they treasure emotions so much as well. If you read their literature, you find a lot of love stories¡ªeven in stories that don''t need any romantic relationships to work. I guess that ''love''-thing is the excuse they need to let loose of their sexual desires within a regulated context, therefore it works?
What happens if a human woman gets accidentally pregnant? This is why humans engage in marriage and family foundation! The man gets a woman to pork, the woman gets someone to support her through pregnancy and someone to pork her, the basically helpless children get someone to take care of them until they can pork as well. Everything is fine, right?
Culture: Human culture revolves around: ''We want to have it, so we take it. If we can''t, we try it until it works.'' The ones who are the best at it could inspire and lead other humans and found kingdoms. Then they told the rest that their offspring is superior as well and nobody doubted it, and now the world is covered in human feudal systems.
As human emotions are so strong, they''re easily swayed and alter their culture around what they desire. If the humans crave for stability, they may ask the gods and build temples. If the humans crave for wealth, they will found conglomerates. If they want domination, they will put together militaristic orders.
As humans subconsciously know that their only real advantages lie in numbers and stamina, they band together like small fishes to create swarm-like institutions and organizations. Of course, this happens to every alfroid species, but humans do it more than anyone else and they will even alter their culture to fit the newly created madness they just came up with.
Still, their imaginary nobility is held up high and I struggle to understand their class-system. I mean, why are farmers low, if they provide the necessary food, while bureaucrats tend to be of higher standing, despite them only managing the resources? If I know how it works, I may negotiate a better wage when I return to Alfrheim. I''m an accountant, after all.
One of the most hated words for humans is ¡®diet¡¯.
Hynoar (plural: hynoars)
Imagine a dirty rug full of fleas. Now imagine, that said rug has a conscience and can talk. This is the hynoar-species.
Physical description: The hynoar are a tall species that didn''t manage to be original and therefore took different traits from others. We have the general body-build of an alfr with the exception for their legs, that have another joint under their knees. Then we have the tail of a horse, a canine snout on a horse''s head, paws for feet, claws and fangs, and the chest and arms of an ape. They may be relatives of kobolds, after all.
Capabilities: Just like their appearance, hynoar''s are also halfhearted in other regards. They are good at climbing, balancing, fighting, and have a good sense of smell, but you easily find someone better in any of these disciplines. Alfar have a much better sense of balance, hynoars can''t climb like monkeys and can''t smell like dogs. Yet these rugs have a certain amount of resilience, as they can endure years of flea-bites without complaining even once. Sadly, they''re beaten by humans in this regard.
Behavior: The typical behavior of a hynoar contains snarling, gnarling, grunting, and hunting. They''re an unpleasant sort you can''t bring to any social activity other than playing fetch.
Hynoars like being in a pack. Packs are groups of people that have the same clan of fleas. Therefore, hynoars share their fleas with their friends, so it''s better not to befriend them at all. The only upside would be that hynoars gladly give their lives for the pack, but do you really consider that a friend, instead of a servant? Are you willing to put up with a flea infestation to have someone willing to sacrifice its life for you, even though it''s at best adequate? I really can''t understand the native alfar at times...
Culture: ''You''re nothing. The pack is everything. The pack must survive.'' These are the cores of their beliefs and are the reason why hynoar are among the species, that still harbor a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. While they can be part of a civilization, they''ll usually end up as hunters, mercenary scouts, or bounty-hunters, as they aren''t able to act civilized. Within a pack, however, they are very structured and every hynoar knows its task. A specialty of theirs is to change leaders depending on the situation, so that they have the right people to make the best decisions for the particular case. So they have a leader for attacking, one for retreat, one for gathering, one for hunting, one for taking a crap... yes, this certainly sounds overly complicated.
I always forget how many claws they have. I would get close to one to burn it into my mind, but I like to avoid the fleas. A true dilemma.
Oaak (plural: oaaks)
I''ve heard they''re delicious but will cause food poisoning. Not that I would eat one. It''s just too much for me alone. Fun aside, now we come to the best buddies an alfr can have outside other alfar.
Physical description: Oaaks are porcine people that are separated into many races. If we talk about the usual oaak, the ones that make up two-thirds of their people, they''re about as tall as hynoar. They have the tusks of boars, pig-like noses and are a mixture of muscles and fat. They only have four fingers and two toes. Their bristly fur ranges from gray to brown, their eyes are yellow or red, and their hair is usually black or dark brown.
Other races are variants of this. Bigsmalls are huge and fat, smallbigs small with big heads, leanfasts lanky, sharptusks have overly big tusks and neck-muscles, fatsturds are the fattest of them all, quagstunks a tad smaller with darker fur, and goodbosses are brawny and bigger than usual oaaks but not as much as bigsmalls... it''s a hassle to go into detail here.
Capabilities: While the typical oaak is barely able to replace a candle, the different races within this species specializes in certain traits. Bigsmalls exchange their intelligence for power, smallbigs vice versa, leanfasts are nimble, razortusk have dangerous tusks, fatsturds are resilient, quagstunks have a strong odor, and goodbosses are overall above average. The thing is, that neither of them can hold a candle to other species that are more specialized: Bigsmalls are weaker than the Folk, smallbigs and leanfasts are inferior to alfar, fatsturds are surely inferior to the potential fatness and sturdiness of humans, and quagstunks can''t compete in stinkiness with the dari. So let''s look at the oaaks with compassion and remember that there is more in life than being able to do something right. At least they have humor.
Behavior: Oaaks fight hard and party even harder. You can say that their whole life is based on violence, alcohol, and music. That makes them fine companions, though they''re a bit rough at the corners: They yell instead of talk, they roughhouse instead of play, and they don''t know personal space.
Culture: One of the main aspects of the oaaken culture has to be drinking because every oaak becomes drunk at least once per day. Their pecking order is determined by who yells the loudest and fights the hardest, that''s why they hardly built up any form of civilization at all. Though the moment a goodboss is born, it takes over the tribe due to pure reverence.
Their settlements are primitive fortresses with watchtowers spread some pooaf away. When there is danger, I suppose that they communicate with each other and the fort via some kind of fart code. Ask an oaak about their profession, they most likely say ''warrior'' without a second doubt, though there is a more fitting word for them: Bandits. Most oaaks raid villages, monster lairs, or other armies to get food. Yes, food. They don''t particularly care about trade and while they wear some trappings, it''s purely based on ''This looks good! Me find great!'' They also can tell you a story for every trinket they have in possession. I mean it, one story only for all of them which is summed up in: ''We raided that place. I killed a bunch. I took that.''
There are some mysteries about oaaks, even for me. The first one would be whether they have male and females or only have one sex, as neither their voices nor other features differ from each other. I also have yet to see children, so this means that either the women and children live separate from the males or that they don''t need another sex to reproduce and grow up fast. Alternatively, they may eat most of the children, as they eat at least their fallen comrades. They call it ''return to the tribe and give it strength'', but I believe that even they know that they''re delicious!
On the left side is a normal oaak, on the right a bigsmall. I really don¡¯t want to draw more of them, it takes forever and makes me hungry!
Ss''rak (plural: ss''rak)
There are things that work despite logic telling you it shouldn''t and ss''rak are a prime example of that. They should be beasts or monsters by all accounts, yet they somehow act like people.
Physical description: Ss''rak have scales, fangs, claws, and strong tails. You could say that they''re born with their own armors and weapons. They''re tall, have good muscle-composition, and long, forked tongues.
More than the other species, ss''rak can adapt to their environment. It takes years, but the length and form of their claws, the existence of webbing or not, the dryness of their scales, the number of layers on their eyes, the size of specific organs, all of it can change depending on where they live, be it a beach, a swamp, a forest, a desert, or a mountain.
Capabilities: No other species is capable of mutilating language as much as the ss''rak. They don''t even need to try to make every word almost indistinguishable. Besides, they also are the fastest of all species in terms of memory loss. It''s practically a miracle that they could form any kind of culture, so we can''t dismiss supernatural luck as another of their traits. Ss''rak are also nimble climbers and swimmers and they know how to use their natural weapons. As I mentioned before, they possess adaptability to different terrains, and from my newest observations, they may have an innate talent for [Sound]-magic.
Behavior: Try to imagine someone really stupid. Multiply the stupidity by ten and you have one second of the idiocy you can expect from a ss''rak. They''re easy to insult, as they have something they call ''honor''. I call it the mental construct that acts as a replacement for common sense. They always say ''honor this'' and ''honor that'', no wait, rather: ''honnnoar shish'' and ''hoanar zhat'' whenever something irritates them, they keep on prattling until it even gets into their own thick heads and they can remember whatever or whoever made them mad in the first place.
Culture: I learned some more about ss''rak in the Spirit Swamps. It seems that their settlements are ruled by two people, the patriarch and the matriarch. They are chosen among the people and have different roles in different subjects. In terms of gender roles, they act as representatives for their respective sex. For work, the patriarch is the one who represents agriculture and hunters, while the matriarch represents the traders and manufacturers. Both of them act as judge, but only for those of their own sex. In terms of war and security, the matriarch represents wisdom and the patriarch power.
Matriarch and patriarch are usually not related in any way and they vote once every decade or so. Other than that, ss''rak come just as colorful and different as humans, only not in so many numbers, so I guess they don''t have the raw material to try every stupid idea, unlike humans.
What I like about ss¡¯rak is how easy it is to find their heroes. Just pick the ones that can actually talk!
Tengu (plural: tengu)
Great, we''re with the bird-brains now... How about we do it like them and just instantly get distracted by something shiny and ignore everything else? No? Well, then let''s discuss into the fowl.
Physical description: There are two major races of the tengu, I like to call them full-birds and half-monkeys. What both have in common is the general anatomy: They''re average tall, have wings growing out of their backs, and the joints of their knees and elbows is tilted outside of their bodies. Both of them have also have chicken-legs.
Full-birds have bird-heads, their arms are also chicken-legs, and always have black feathers. Half-monkeys have a monkey-like alfr face, their ears are small, and some of them sport long noses. Their feathers can be white, black, gray, or brown.
Capabilities: Tengu are capable of forgetting everything that was supposed to be pressing the moment they''re distracted by something shiny. They also sport a good muscle memory, most likely not to forget how to breathe, walk, or eat while being thoroughly entranced. In most cases, a tengu needs only to be taught a motion once to be able to mimic it almost perfectly. The bad thing about it is that they like to train in martial arts, so they can whip your behind with ease when you make fun of them.
Now you may get your hopes high and think that tengu can fly... yes, they can. Technically. The truth is that tengu are a bit too heavy for flight and therefore they need strong winds to take off and keep aloft. They can glide well, though. The problem is, however, that they aren''t as mobile in the air like they want, so tengu usually associate the word ''aerial assault'' with suicide, though they may try it nonetheless as long as you''re barbaric and use glimmering arrowheads.
Behavior: As it becomes hard to invent every little detail of their behavior, I will just sum it up in one piece of advice: Keep a mirror around.
Culture: Thankfully, tengu are a rare sight and the only place that is theirs is Mount Blackbird, the sacred domain of the deity Datien. There, they practice martial arts and serve the evil god that actually said in public that we alfar are a menace and that other people should shun us¡ªbecause of that, being an alfr is illegal in three countries! That''s racist!
The chief virtue in tengu-culture is piety. Tengu choose a deity to serve for life. Of course, that spoilsport Datien took almost all of them and whenever you meet a tengu outside Blackbird, you can be sure that it''s a servant to another deity. Maybe even Muaotef has a tengu or two.
With their devout spirit, tengu are basically the bitches of their commanding deities, have no life on their own, and their culture is only a hollow construct to mirror their god''s wishes. I guess it was unavoidable, as it''s most likely impossible to establish free will and a culture when all it takes to break your spirit and conscious is to have a shiny piece of metal.
To make their arms slightly bend the wrong way is difficult, so I just made weird poses. Looks accurate enough.
Vryloka (plural: vrylokas)
Finally, at the end... How about this, I leave this as open space? You know the drill, just fill it with whatever. No? ...pretty please? It''s tiring and boring. *Sigh* Understood. We finish this guide with the sad, gloomy, necrophile bug-eaters.
Physical description: Members of these species look like very pale alfar with small pointy ears, a wide nose, fangs, and black tongues. They''re hairless, have colorless pop eyes, a face sharp enough to cut yourself with, and their arms have two hinge joins. They have retractable nails on hands and feet and suction cups on their palms.
Capabilities: They can climb well and are adept wrestlers. They also are good at sucking your life out. Figuratively speaking, as the moment they enter a party, everything becomes just dull and awkward. Yet they have an innate talent for [Necromancy] and can, therefore, bring dead bodies back to a pseudo-life which is the only way for them to make friends, as vrylokas are so unbearable embarrassing, that they subconsciously even shun out others of their species.
Behavior: I think I already said everything you need to know. Whenever I think about them, I feel a sense of shame, regret, and guilt. Still, they act like they''re super popular and everybody is supposed to know them. They celebrate every day in their sorry lives, which is just sad.
Culture: Vrylokas like to hang out in dark places and haunt down parties to spoil with their existence. Their cities tend to be underground, in dark forests, or damp caves. They hunt and gather bugs, spiders, and earthworms. They also like poetry, visual arts, and what they call music.
I believe they''re currently trying to hype up their image, to be all mysterious and edgy. I mean, there is that ''Burning Fangs'' book that shows a totally different kind of vryloka. Though it may be smut written by a folkman, it may also be the beginning of an extensive image-improvement campaign!
Males and females look the same, so why drawing two of them? If you see one of them, avoid eye-contact, otherwise it may think that you want to talk with it, as depraved of conversation as they are!
Did I earn my corner to explain the hero-system now?
Volume 06 - Afterword
Hello, kentusrpg is here. Volume 6, a rather ominous volume. I needed to rewrite the climax entirely and I still feel like I wanted to do more, but on the other hand, it''s too early for the things in my mind!
This time we explored more of Muaotef''s camp. He''s a popular villain and he has some long-term plans against Feuerberg which is already at war with the demons. A real opportunist, who looks for the tablet. It''s something important, so important that even Rine doesn''t know. Or maybe she just forgot?
Rine is a good keyword here, she is growing up! She has taken the first step away from a self-centered worldview. Don''t worry, she is kindhearted and thinks a lot of others, but she was like a child up to now, believing that everything revolves around herself. Even the kindest children are selfish, it''s necessary for their development. Kenta is the first one who actually criticizes her this way, the first one who treats her like an adult in a way. Will she still love him after all of that?
Speaking of love, Kyou has learned that she is also mentally affected by the curse. She also has her first on-text period. Researching periods was a bit... well, it was hard to ask all the women about their periods as a man, same goes for wet dreams, but I had some really helpful people around me, who understood why I''m doing it. I hope I was able to capture it well enough.
Next, we have Ara''ainn. While she is taking a prominent part here as well, it''s hard to make a whole volume around her, given her personality. She likes to see where things are going and going with the flow, that''s why she isn''t as active as I originally wanted her to be in this volume, though I made sure that she had her moments here and is playing an essential part. Much better than having her showing up at the end at the battle and made Lvo''tjos return by all the embarrassment. Still, many important steps are done to kick off her arc... at least one of them.
Lvo''tjos, the alfr hero. I already planned him way before this volume. Like all alfar, he''s mentally forever a teenager, so he''s cocky, thinks himself of being in the right all the time, and has problems to admit when he''s wrong or when he did something bad. He sees himself a bit of a victim, but he''s like a teenager after all. He also is really strong, though his goals made it impossible to kill any of the MCs, and he lacks the cruelty to just chop off their limbs or something like that. He also doesn''t want to harm Ara''ainn, who he fears a bit.
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I hope you liked this volume. When I finished it, it all felt so lurk-warm, but with time, I was able to really grow fond of it.
Nonetheless, next comes the usual break and then we¡¯ll see each other again in volume 7! Correo will bring new forces and there will be a lot of heroes fighting each other!
Volume 07 - Prologue
Prologue
Close to the Spirit Swamps lies a bandit-camp. The bandits have practically gone into hiding thanks to the bad reputation of the swamps. No one sane will look for them here. In fact, even some of the bandits were skeptical when their boss decided to put up their camp here, but in the end, as long as they don¡¯t get too close to that treacherous landscape, they will be safe.
It¡¯s evening, and after successfully raiding a caravan the other day, the bandits are satisfied with their loot. Since the Crusaders have finished off many monsters around the trade routes, it¡¯s a thriving banditry-business. Traders won¡¯t pay as much for bodyguards as before because monsters are more of a concern than raiders. It also helps that these particular bandits are a large group. Several species work together and whenever they become too notorious, they just move on. Usually, the monster-infested Wildlands are a dangerous place for bandits, but thanks to the Crusaders and their current hideout, they¡¯re living quite a comfortable life.
The bandits are also enjoying the rain-less day. It¡¯ll soon be Deepdrops for sure, and that month will bring many storms. However, the hardest time is the winter afterward. Yet they have provisions, they have built huts, and everything is on schedule.
Now they all surround the cooks who give out their supper. Chef Evily is eating with her officers, enjoying how lucky they are for the timely arrival of the Crusaders, which makes it so easy to fill their bellies.
¡°Boss!¡± One of the guards is coming, Evily wonders what this is about. ¡°We have an intruder.¡±
¡°An intruder? What kind of intruder?¡±
¡°It¡¯s a human girl.¡±
¡°A girl?¡± Evily may be a human woman, but she knows that most human women and girls aren¡¯t cut to travel this far away from the trade routes on their own. ¡°Interesting.¡± This means that the girl isn¡¯t normal, most likely one of the few who were capable of breaking the limits of the average person, the area when sex doesn¡¯t matter anymore. ¡°Did she said who she is?¡±
¡°No, but we captured her. I think.¡±
¡°You think? Bring her to me. Messan, ten people, please.¡± Evily¡¯s officer gathers people for more protection.
Her guards bring a black-haired girl with a strange, exotic-looking complexion. It looks almost Southerner, but her eyes are odd as well. They look too narrow at first glance, but the more Evily inspects them, the less she can explain what exactly is wrong with them.
Despite being captured and having her too long knife taken away, the girl looks calm. ¡°You are the boss, I presume?¡±
Evily doesn¡¯t like the way the girl talks. She also reeks like decay, another thing that alarms the bandit-leader: ¡°Silence, just answer my questions. Why are you here? Looking for benevolent people? Well, this is the wrong place for that.¡±
¡°I¡¯m just a messenger. My name is Momokawa Kyou.¡± Even her name sounds strange: ¡°I¡¯m a hero. My party and I are just out of the Spirit Swamps and we like you to share intelligence and some food and water with us. Maybe some riches as well, if you would be so kind.¡±
A hero? Evily heard of heroes though she never met one. They are supposed to be powerful despite their age. They are supposed to face dangers way greater than a normal person can even imagine. She claims to have survived the Spirit Swamps? Well, this sure sounds like a story... more specific, like a scam, but something about that girl makes her rethink this...
No, she is the boss of this camp. She can¡¯t let herself being lured into this. ¡°A nice story, girl. Can you prove it somehow?¡±
¡°I have this frog.¡± She takes a barbed frog out of her belt pouch, it¡¯s inside a thick glass jar with breathing holes. This certainly looks like a frog Evily have never seen before, but she doesn¡¯t know much about amphibians. ¡°This one is from the Spirit Swamps,¡± the girl proclaims.
¡°You don¡¯t say.¡± The girl¡¯s story becomes more and more believable, though logically speaking, she doesn¡¯t do much. However, she has that self-control, that confidence... ¡°Anything else?¡± Evily is the boss of the biggest bandit group around here. She is strong, she has several skills, she won¡¯t be intimidated by a mere girl!
¡°Have you heard, Ken? She wants something else.¡± To whom is she speaking?
Suddenly, an arrow flies by Evily, she feels how it cuts the air next to her cheek only to pierce the roast meat on her wooden bowl which is still on the table. She looks at where the arrow is coming from and sees nothing. ¡°How did you do that?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. I¡¯m just here to give you a chance to show us hospitality before we decide to treat you like the bandits you are. Among my companions is a [Ranger], just for your information.¡±
This... this biiiiiiiiiiitch! Evily feels laughed at by this girl with her calm demeanor! Evily is a bandit boss, she is better than that skank! Why does she look so smug in the first place? She may have an ally out there with a bow, but a ranger!? This is ridiculous! ¡°Now listen to me, bitch! I will just take you hostage and then I will kill you and your companions and take your stuff!¡±
¡°...you shouldn¡¯t have said that.¡± Suddenly, several screams rise.
Someone from the camp-border runs to Evily: ¡°Boss, a hooded one! A hooded one! He just took out four of us!¡±
A hood... no, this can¡¯t be.
This isn¡¯t a defeat, however; she just needs to take the girl and then! Yes, confidently, Evily tries to grab the girl, but her hands somehow phase through her. Is she a ghost!? She is blurring! ¡°[Sleeping Breath]!¡± Somehow the girl turns around while having Evily¡¯s arm in her chest and a bluish mist is hitting some of the guards. Wait, she is there a second time, just a few steps away! How can that be!? ¡°[Sleep]!¡± The man with her big knife falls asleep while the others who were hit by that mist look drowsy. ¡°I had warned you.¡± The girl runs away after picking up her weapon...
Another bandit comes: ¡°Boss! There is a girl at the armory!¡±
¡°A girl? Why are you telling me this.¡±
¡°She is too strong, she also deflects our missiles against our people! She already got twenty of us.¡±
¡°Twenty!? And she does what?¡±
¡°In eight seconds.¡±
¡°WHAT!?¡± In fact, Evily can hear sounds, it¡¯s like they are attacked from multiple sides. ¡°TO ARMS!¡± She yells, as most of her bandits aren¡¯t sure what to do. ¡°We will-¡± She can¡¯t continue, as she notices that she is in a strange shadow... above her, there is water. It¡¯s magic!
Then the center of the camp is flushed, Evily feels like being hit by a wagon. Nonetheless, she is strong, she can dismiss this as feedback. Her officers are also wonky on their legs, though this spell has knocked out some of her underlings.
Evily can still fight and she won¡¯t back down! However, she comes to regret not just accepting the black-haired girl¡¯s offer...
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
A few days prior.
Masahiko and his friends are back in Esse, the capital of Feuerberg. They¡¯re climbing up the hill to the castle, but there are several strange fellows in this city. People who hoist the banner of a claw clutching a sword. ¡°Who do you think they are?¡±
¡°Mercenaries, maybe?¡± Akiyama Eri, Masahiko¡¯s childhood friend, comments. Her classes are [Student], [Geomancer], [Trader], and [Exorcist]. She¡¯s also a smart and kind girl who has her trademark ponytail.
¡°...think so as well.¡± Kita Katsuo is a bit on the shorter and leaner side, though he also has the build of an athlete. He is the [Student], [Sharpshooter], [Leatherworker], and [Fletcher] of the group, and a former member of the kyudo-club. He sometimes looks darker and meaner than he actually is.
¡°I don¡¯t think so... they¡¯re acting way too important for that.¡± Kurosawa Teruko is a bit vertically challenged, but she is also a [Student], [Knight], [Deepstalker], and [Cook]. She lifts as much as the others, and she is a bit rough at the edges despite how frail she may appear.
¡°Yeah, they¡¯re too well-equipped to be run-off the mill mercenaries at least. Maybe foreign knights?¡± Yamauchi Daichi is a large person, not only height-wise, but he has a broad build and muscles to support it. He¡¯s the most sturdy one of the party, having the [Student], [Knight], [Grappler], and [Forgemaster]-classes. He is easy to distinguish with his shaved head, as he used to be part of the Judo-club and followed it through.
Would there only be a handful, Masahiko wouldn¡¯t have bothered, but seeing how many are here, it makes him second-guess it. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re some forces of Feuerberg we haven¡¯t heard about.¡± Another possibility, but they have no flag showing the emblem of the kingdom, the burning mountain. ¡°We can ask them later. I¡¯d rather report to the king first.¡± The leader of the party, Inoue Masahiko, is what people would call handsome, though he doesn¡¯t think much of it. The classes of his choice are [Student], [Vanguard], and [Champion], he still has an open slot to fill with something useful.
A group of riders on horses comes by, but the horses are different from the ones Masahiko knows from his world. As he and his friends are heroes, all of them were summoned from another world. In this case, the world he would call Earth in lack of better knowledge, from a nation called Japan. While the horses of this world look familiar, they have claws instead of hooves, which makes them look a bit exotic. However, about every animal Masahiko knows from his world is a tad different here.
Masahiko goes to the side of the street to let the riders through, his friends follow his example. The ones atop the horses are more of the strange warriors, the one leading looks important. It¡¯s a man in his late twenties or early thirties, it¡¯s still difficult for Masahiko to guess the age of people of this world. The man has wild brown hair and a strong beard with only the lip parts left out.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
His eyes meet Masahiko¡¯s and he suddenly stops his horse. ¡°You...¡± For some reason, he looks angry. ¡°No... not you... not any of you...¡±
¡°Excuse me, sir, but what do you want to say?¡± Masahiko doesn¡¯t like the way he looked at them, so he stares back and puts a bit of force behind his words.
¡°Boy, where are you from?¡±
¡°I¡¯m from Japan. Why do you want to know?¡±
¡°Japan... never heard of it... where is it?¡±
¡°In another world. I¡¯m Inoue Masahiko, a hero.¡±
¡°A... a hero...¡± The commander looks like something just dawned on him. ¡°A hero, I see. Of course!¡±
This is strange. Eri steps forward to speak: ¡°Excuse me, sir, but could it be that you already met one of us?¡± Great idea, Eri! You may be onto something! This would explain that strange situation! ¡°Could it be a girl named Momokawa Kyou?¡±
For a split-second, this guy¡¯s face looks scary, before it smooths to a more neutral expression. ¡°I met a girl who was called Kyou, not Momokawa, however.¡±
His words cause Masahiko¡¯s heart to jump, as he and his friends are looking for her! They lost every lead and now there is a slight possibility! Yet Masahiko tries to think of the best way to inquire about her without being disrespectful.
However, Daichi is caught in the moment: ¡°Where!?¡± He¡¯s about to grab the commander, but Masahiko is fast enough to catch his hand. Daichi looks at Masahiko, but realizes what he was about to do, which causes him to look at the ground: ¡°I¡¯m sorry for my behavior, sir.¡±
¡°I¡¯m also sorry, sir. She is a dear friend of ours.¡±
¡°A dear friend?¡±
¡°Yes. We are looking for her. She may be in a bad spot...¡±
¡°A bad spot... sounds about right. If you like to know... Reginald, the bounties.¡±
¡°Yes, sir.¡±
Another knight gives him three papers, all of them have hand-drawn pictures on them. The one who got his attention immediately is for a ¡®Katsuragi Kyou¡¯, 60,000 Newgold alive only. ¡°This is her! Why... for impeding and escaping the investigations of the Crusaders!?¡±
¡°We are the Crusaders, and she is suspected to be in cahoot with a sinner, the ¡®man in the red hood¡¯. She and her brother are to be found and brought to the next Crusader-station for further... questioning.¡±
¡°Whatever you think she did, she didn¡¯t do it!¡± Masahiko is furious about having his friend blamed by these unjustified claims!
¡°Then bring her to us and we will see. I¡¯m no monster. I¡¯m just looking for the profane and keeping humankind safe. She is no sinner, so I don¡¯t want her dead. However, she has attacked one of my men, so a bit of punishment is appropriate.¡±
60,000 Newgold... this is quite a sum, enough to buy an excellent weapon or a coach. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡±
¡°Believe me or not, boy, but you and I are going to be allies against another thread. I¡¯m just doing what is right, so don¡¯t let your personal feelings interfere with our common goal. I¡¯m Captain Archibald Alchenain. Inoue-dono, farewell.¡±
The Crusaders are moving out, leaving Masahiko and his friends behind. ¡°Sorry, guys,¡± Masahiko turns to his friends, smiling, ¡°I couldn¡¯t hold it in.¡±
¡°I would have bashed him,¡± Daichi admits.
¡°...jerk.¡±
Teruko nods at Katsuo¡¯s comment. ¡°I¡¯m with you, Katsu-kun, a real jerk.¡±
Eri points at the bounty posters. ¡°Still... look at this... ¡®man in the red hood¡¯, 202,000 Newgold, and 50,000 Newgold for urks... Katsuragi Kenta...¡± Her voice tells how much she dislikes Katsuragi-kun. He always was a rather... special case. They also suspect him of using a magical ring to control Kyou, which also makes Masahiko doubt whether Katsuragi-kun is bad or just misunderstood.
Teruko snatches the bounty with Kyou¡¯s picture. ¡°Where is Goldbrunn? Also, why Katsuragi Kyou?¡±
¡°...the jerk said ¡®brother¡¯ before...¡±
Eri looks at Katsuo with narrowed eyes: ¡°...you want to tell me, that they¡¯re traveling as siblings? I mean, look at her. Look at him. Like this... this thing could be her brother.¡± She really dislikes Katsuragi-kun.
Masahiko is looking at it more calmly. ¡°Maybe the people in this world can¡¯t tell the difference. I mean, if we all acted like a big family, nobody would deny it, right? Nonetheless, let¡¯s go to the castle. We need to report and then we will chase after her. We finally got our clue!¡±
Following his decision, Masahiko and his friends get to the castle gates. They¡¯re wide open for visitors, as the main-temple of Feuerberg is also build on the courtyard, an architectural choice Masahiko keeps wondering about. One of the gatekeepers addresses them: ¡°Welcome back, Inoue-dono, Akiyama-dono, Kurosawa-dono, Yamauchi-dono, and Kita-dono.¡±
¡°Thanks. Could you please send a messenger to the chancellor?¡± Just going to his doorsteps would be rude, especially as a group of five: ¡°We¡¯ll wait in our chambers until then.¡±
¡°No need, Inoue-dono.¡± A tall man with blonde hair and beard, whose most striking feature is his ember-like eyes, is walking towards them. It¡¯s Heinrich von Stolzherz V, the king of Feuerberg himself.
Of course, the guards lower their head for less than a second to show him respect, but the way the king nods back is also paying respect to them in return.
Behind the king are the chancellor and the queen with some guards and servants. ¡°Your Majesties, your Excellence.¡± Masahiko bows to all of them and his friends follow suit.
¡°If you like, you all can join us. We are currently between meetings, but I¡¯m personally interested in hearing your stories from Kraggwas.¡±
¡°Dear,¡± the queen, a dark-blonde beauty with eyes as burning as her husband¡¯s, chimes in, ¡°maybe they are tired from their journey.¡±
¡°You¡¯re right, My Love. I apologize for my manners.¡±
Masahiko looks at his friends. It¡¯s Daichi who says: ¡°Don¡¯t mind that, we want to talk to you as well as fast as possible.¡± The others nod, Masahiko does so as well.
¡°I see, Yamauchi-dono. It seems important enough for you.¡± The king leads them to a blanket with several snacks on top, mostly something similar to sandwiches. It looks like a picnic. ¡°Join us. It may rain soon, but we will make the best out of it.¡±
Masahiko starts eating, he¡¯s accustomed to the greasy jams and spreads of this world. Even the rather hard bread doesn¡¯t divert too much from having a nice meal. ¡°Your Majesty, we had an encounter with the Crusaders on our way down here.¡± He talks about their commander and learns that the king just had an audience with him, as well. The king explains that the Crusaders are much alike to free knights, a military powerful enough to fit a larger nation if all of them come together, and that they have decided to aid Feuerberg, though the king is still negotiating the details of the collaboration.
¡°As a king, my people are of utmost importance. This also includes the soldiers of the lowest rank. I want to respect the Crusader¡¯s autonomy, however, if they just do whatever they deem necessary, it will create disorder within our ranks.¡±
¡°I see...¡± Masahiko is not sure why the king is talking about politics with him, but this is much better than at the beginning when they were just seen as people who weren¡¯t important enough to be involved. It seems like their hard work is paying off. ¡°However...¡± Masahiko shows the bounties they received.
¡°I¡¯m aware of that. You want to chase them, right?¡±
¡°...yes.¡±
¡°I have already sent a team out to retrieve my daughter a while ago. They may not know the exact location, yet they have the Huntsman with them.¡± Masahiko imagines that said Huntsman is something like an excellent tracker.
¡°Inoue-dono,¡± the chancellor continues. ¡°It¡¯s not only that. The Crusaders saw them in Goldbrunn last time and they left it already. The distance is too great. Even if you head directly to Goldbrunn by horse, it will take at least two weeks.¡± A week in this world is ten days, so around twenty days. ¡°The weather is worsening as the month changes. It may take as much as thrice the time as that, as there are mountains to overcome and landslides to consider.¡±
They are not talking about not allowing them to go, it¡¯s about that it seems futile. Masahiko knows it. He also realizes that the king, chancellor, and queen already discussed it by themselves before they even knew that Masahiko and his friends were back. Maybe they thought about sending another team with the new information they got.
¡°We will do so anyway!¡± Daichi proclaims.
¡°... we¡¯ll save her.¡±
¡°Yes, we will!¡±
Katsuo and Teruko are also voicing their opinions, Eri shrugs her shoulders, as she¡¯s more level-headed and knows that the king and chancellor are right.
¡°I can see your resolve, young heroes, but we still need to talk about other things. What I have to tell you will occupy your minds most likely, so please tell me about Kraggwas before we come to that. There was a demon-incursion?¡± The tone of the king gives Masahiko a bad premonition, but now he and his friends tell about Kraggwas and the demons.
After a while, they really get into it, forgetting their respect as they praise each other¡¯s deed: ¡°And then Katsuo shot, it was crazy! This arrow would puncture stone!¡± Daichi gestures with his hands, trying to convey how much force that arrow had.
¡°Teru-chan was like: Don¡¯t underestimate me, scum!¡±
¡°Come on, Eri-chan. It wasn¡¯t like that.¡±
¡°You really owned her in the end!¡±
Katsuo is the only one who is not telling anything elaborated, but his smile conveys that he also is proud of himself and the others.
The adults smile while listening to the teens, not interrupting their stories. Just at the end, the king says: ¡°You have done well. You really are heroes and it warms my heart to see you grow that much. I hope you keep working hard.¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Yes!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±
¡°It pains me to be the bringer of bad news, but at the border to the demon realm, the situation grows fiercer.¡± His serious tone wipes away the former pleasant atmosphere, and his words make it all worse... The demons have started several raids, especially aimed at the scouts and the provision lines. The destruction and death they brought... including their fallen classmate Tetsukawa Nobuo.
Masahiko bites his lips to not cry out in righteous anger. Nobuo might not have been a friend, but he was a kind guy. Nobuo was the one who lent Masahiko a handkerchief when he dirtied his before by wiping a dog who fell into a river on his way to school.
¡°That¡¯s why, Masahiko-dono, my wish would be to have your party return to the border. Not only because of your prowess, but because of your heroics. In times of need, people can look up to you.¡± The words of the king are genuine. He really believes that having Masahiko and his friends there will change something.
However, it conflicts with their goal to rescue Kyou... their dear friend, the one they swore to get back. Still, leaving the people he can reach and help to follow a clue which is at least twenty days old is...
¡°Let us think about it.¡± Masahiko can¡¯t think of an answer right now. Of course, Kyou is his friend and he should prioritize her, but if the king has already sent a team... if her whereabouts are that hazy...
In the end, Masahiko ponders with his friends about it on their own. All of them are sitting in the courtyard, on benches and a table made out of wood, and discuss things.
Eri¡¯s opinion is to leave Kyou to the professionals, as it might end up as a wild hare hunt. Daichi wants to help Kyou, but he also admits that he wants to help at the border as well. Katsuo trusts Masahiko¡¯s decision, while Teruko wants to save Kyou as fast as possible.
¡°You look lost.¡± The voice of a stranger says. It¡¯s a middle-aged man who wears a hat with a broad brim. He has a short beard and his hair is dark, the same as his eyes. He also has a different skin tone, he looks like a South European. ¡°If you¡¯d like, I¡¯ll leave you alone. I was just about to greet you, seeing that you are heroes and such, but this may be the wrong time. My name is Correo, by the way.¡±
¡°I¡¯m Inoue Masahiko. These are Yamauchi Daichi, Kurosawa Teruko, Kita Katsuro, and Akiyama Eri. So you know that we are heroes?¡±
¡°Your face tells me everything. I already met some of your fellow heroes, so I know that the land you¡¯re from is most exotic.¡±
Correo¡¯s clothes are full of dirt. It looks like he just had arrived here after a long journey. ¡°You don¡¯t look like you¡¯re from around here, either.¡±
¡°I was born in the South. Most people look like me there.¡±
¡°What are you doing here, Correo-san?¡±
¡°Curious? I¡¯m a trader for special items, and I¡¯m here because I heard of the hero summoning. I used my connections to establish contact with the royal family so that I can sell my wares to them and heroes, like you. I¡¯m a traveler and have seen faraway places and find rare items.¡±
So he comes around... Eri was in deep thoughts up to now, but she asks a question: ¡°You said you met some heroes... heroes that looked like us, right?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Where did you meet them?¡±
¡°The last time, beyond Ohlbr¨¹cken in the west. I was surprised at first, as I had never seen humans like them before. I was also curious, so we talked for a while. At least the girl talked to me.¡±
¡°The girl?¡±
¡°Yes, she called herself Momokawa Kyou.¡±
¡°!¡± This information made Masahiko and the others stand up. ¡°You saw Kyou?¡±
¡°Yes, it was less than a week ago.¡± Wait, isn¡¯t it too far away, to- ¡°Ah, you have to know, I also have my ways to go around the lands quickly. Otherwise, I would be so busy traveling that I couldn¡¯t even sell my findings.¡±
This... ¡°Can you take some people with you?¡±
¡°Not that easily... actually... usually, I keep these things in secret, but other than mere trinkets, I also brought news to the king. Maybe things will work out for all of us.¡±
In times of need, a man appeared out of nowhere who shows the way forward. This certainly sounds like a hero-story.
Volume 07 - Chapter 1-1 – Rumors to the Person we Know
Chapter 1 ¨C Rumors to the Person we Know
Far away from Feuerberg, there are two heroes that shitty kingdom summoned, that country¡¯s crown-princess, and an alfr who has nothing to do with Feuerberg at all.
I¡¯m one of the heroes, Katsuragi Kenta. I was kidnapped from my world when I was sixteen years old and I think I¡¯m still that age. I really need to make the math since this world has longer days and the weeks, months, and years are calculated differently. A year is ten months, a month five weeks, a week ten days, a day twenty hours, an hour a hundred minutes, a minute a hundred seconds. Problem is that their second is different from our second, maybe around half as much, and the days are longer than 28 of the hours I used to know... Well, it¡¯s a mess and it becomes only more difficult because I have only a rough estimation of how long I¡¯ve been in this world... maybe five months of Earth time? No, 28 hours per day, so every six days it¡¯s an additional day... let¡¯s say 150 days here, so 175 on Earth, making it roughly six months... I¡¯m still sixteen years old.
Well, back to topic: kidnapping. As the kingdom of Feuerberg wanted some help with their war with the demons, they decided to use some magic to summon a class of Japanese highschool students, including two teachers, without even asking them. The only way back is when one of us kills the so-called demon king. Each member of the party who does so gets a so-called `perfect wish` granted by the gods of this world, just let¡¯s assume everything goes.
Before I became a hero involuntarily, I was just a gamer, someone who didn¡¯t really fit into class, but seriously, most of them are just plain idiots while the rest are fakes without any redeeming traits. I also was kinda bullied, mostly trashed-talked behind my back and treated like a bag of shit. Hah, good times... not really, but way better than what I¡¯m facing in this sorry excuse of a fantasy world.
I¡¯m a gamer at heart, I love RPGs. Yet I¡¯m not a moron who actually wanted to be in one. As a hero, I may have a status, a lot of [Attributes], [Abilities], [Skills], and the like, but if I¡¯m hit, it hurts. When I hunt a monster, I actually kill it. When I¡¯m killed, I will stay dead.
¡at least I should be thankful that I received something to survive this world, I guess. The hero-system wouldn¡¯t be so bad if there wasn¡¯t the whole summoning-kidnapping connected to it.
I have three classes, [Student] is the default-class and more or less just myself with a slight power-boost due to being a hero. The other two classes are much better, they even reshape my body to make it more capable of doing what those classes do. First [Pikeman], which makes me rather buff, the other is [Ranger], which turns me into an athletic warrior of the wild.
Currently, I¡¯m roaming the abandoned bandit-camp, looking for some valuables and food. Especially food. During the last two weeks, the number of frogs I¡¯ve eaten is horrifying. Though Kyou-san made them almost delicious... ¡°Phew...¡± Still, I¡¯m starving for something else right now.
...I feel a presence, my [Perception]-ability enhances all of my senses. Though I¡¯m sure who it is... yes, it¡¯s Rine. Her hair is blonde, her eyes are like fire, her body is clad in leather armor, a sword is at her side. She already wiped off the blood of the bandits she killed before. Now she¡¯s staring at me from behind a corner...
Well, I told her before that she should watch me, but I wasn¡¯t talking about stalking. ¡°Rine, come out.¡± Untypically mute, Rine comes into plain sight. She still stares at me, it¡¯s actually even creepier now that she¡¯s not hiding anymore.
This is Katarine von Stolzherz, my wife. Yeah, my wife. While the marriage was involuntary and is actually part of a curse, it¡¯s still legit in the eyes of the gods, with all the benefits I don¡¯t need, and all the demerits I don¡¯t want.
Rine¡¯s blonde hair reaches her shoulders and it¡¯s held back by a black hairband. Her face is beautiful and cute, her eyes have the color of burning fire, under her leather armor she packs a voluptuous body. She¡¯s usually kind, optimistic, ardent, and stubborn, but recently, she¡¯s a bit down. This has to do with a realization that still haunts her: The realization that, in the end, she was thinking like a child, believing that everything revolves around her while interpreting everyone¡¯s actions by her own standards and make-believes.
To make matters worse, I gave her some food for thought with the way I worded her feelings, and even homework. She thought of me as some kind of superhero before, thought that she was so in love with me, and I finally got through that thick head and now she¡¯s supposed to figure me out in real.
At least she¡¯s quiet again. Shortly after our talk, her period kicked in, and Rine is always extreme in what she does, including having her menstruation. So she was moping around all the time, crying whenever I spoke to her... this quietness is much better.
I also had an argument with Kyou-san, one of my other wives... yeah, the curse married me to three girls, and it¡¯s not pretty. In this world, if you¡¯re married to more than one spouse, you¡¯re a sinner and there is magic which can make sinners burn... I hate Crusaders.
Well, back to topic. Kyou-san and I had a huge fight about Rine¡¯s predicament. Let¡¯s boil it down to the most crucial part. Kyou-san said to me: ¡®You can¡¯t be serious, moron! Did you really say something like that to Rine-chan!?¡¯
¡®Yeah.¡¯
¡®That¡¯s far too difficult for Rine-chan to understand! What were you thinking!?¡¯
¡®The only reason why Rine is like that is that nobody really cared to let her think on her own! Her head is full of what other people said to her and the shitty stories she admires! So don¡¯t you dare to ¡®help¡¯ her! She has to learn it!¡¯
Yes, Kyou-san doesn¡¯t believe in Rine¡¯s mental capabilities, and to be honest, I can¡¯t even blame her as Rine so far acted like a simple-minded, one-tracked fool. However, trying to console her or giving her an easy way out is out of the question. Even Kyou-san must have realized it, though she gave me a look like I¡¯m giving a speech about saving electricity while standing next to a cooling fan.
... I¡¯m certainly not the best guy to offer life counseling. However, I¡¯m the one who decided to make that girl take the next step, so I need to stick to it.
I just wish that she would stop stalking me. ¡°Rine, what are you thinking about?¡± I try to make it sound collected while I try to start a conservation as Rine silently staring at me gives me the chills.
¡°...¡± Rine cocks her head, it¡¯s not her usual ¡®I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about¡¯, but a more brooding gesture. ¡°We attacked the bandits for provisions... it has nothing to do with bandits being a threat to the people who make their living honestly, right?¡±
¡°Basically.¡±
¡°So did we steal?¡±
¡°Yeah. From bandits, but we stole.¡±
¡°But stealing is bad, and we still have provisions. It¡¯s just a bit one-sided, but we could have hunted.¡±
¡°So why do you think we attacked the bandits anyway?¡±
¡°...for their loot?¡±
¡°Is a nice side effect. What else?¡±
¡°For... for... ah, intelligence.¡±
¡°Yeah, it¡¯s easier to ask some after capturing them. There is one more reason.¡±
¡°... ¡ a...¡± She looks a bit lost here.
I won¡¯t give her the answer, though. ¡°Think about it if you have time.¡± The answer is that the bandits were a test-run. After the first few days in the Spirit Swamps, we had some serious downs, especially when facing Luuto, or however that alfr was called. Afterward, we decided to up the game, but we had serious trouble, and Rine started menstruating, which made it worse. Soon enough, Ara-san, wife #3, also started... During that time, however, in terms of fighting as heroes, we rebounded.
In fact, each of us had some level-ups and learned new skills, as if we were adapting to those harsh conditions. While Rine is all gloomy in private, the moment combat begins, she¡¯s the murdering machine of massacre she has always been, but now she has finally gotten some new [Skills]. Rine isn¡¯t a hero like the rest of us who were summoned to this world. She became a hero when the cursed ring married us off. So she always was a bit behind in terms of skills, but now she¡¯s catching up.
I also have a new trick up my sleeve, so of course, I wanted to do a test run. As we will face more and more bounty hunters, yes, another of our worries, I wanted to fight humans. Bandits are scum anyway, so while I still have my qualms about killing people, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll have sleepless nights over it. In fact, Kyou-san even proposed to speak to them first, using her high [Persuasion]-attribute, but I guess she was too cocky... I heard everything as I used the [Share Senses]-skill on the frog she brought with her. She also left it there and the bandits totally ignored it, I knew every single one of their orders...
Also, Rine on her own is enough to level a bandit-camp, she¡¯s so overpowered. Though I believe that maybe even I could have beaten them all on my own. I shouldn¡¯t be too confident, though, as combat is more about being able to use your strengths and avoid your weaknesses, and who knows, there may be very powerful bandits out there.
¡°Rine, I need to know something. If you put me into Feuerberg¡¯s military, how strong am I?¡±
¡°...I don¡¯t understand the question.¡±
¡°What would be my rank?¡±
¡°Kenta¡¯s rank? Measured by what?¡±
¡°Combat strength.¡±
¡°Kenta, this is not how it works. Your military rank is decided by your accomplishments and your ability to lead, not your combat strength.¡±
¡°I see... but it¡¯s easier to gain accomplishments when you¡¯re strong, right?¡±
¡°Ah, that could be... Sorry, I can¡¯t tell you.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± Would be great to have a proper measurement, but I can¡¯t even measure myself against soldiers from my world, as I have no idea what they¡¯re actually capable of. In games, they¡¯re either basically useless or unbeatable monsters that will kill you for entering another person¡¯s hut, but ask you to gather some herbs because the monsters outside town are so scary. Games aren¡¯t just good for comparison.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°Kenta?¡±
¡°Mh?¡±
¡°Would you raid other people for food and wealth?¡± The way she looks tells me that she doesn¡¯t really believe it, but this is the effect of her bringing my actions into question.
¡°...nah, not worth it. Why become criminals if you can provide for yourself?¡± That¡¯s 90% the reason why I have the [Ranger]-class in the first place.
¡°But aren¡¯t we wanted? Because of me...¡±
She¡¯s right, I¡¯m already a criminal. In Feuerberg, they believe that I have kidnapped their runaway princess, my too beautiful wife Rine. The Merchant¡¯s Guild has also put a bounty on my head for the same reason, though I¡¯m sure it¡¯s because of that bastard Correo, who used his oni thrice to mess with us, and who is the whole reason why we chose crossing the Spirit Swamps. Finally, there are the Crusaders, who are looking for me when I don my hood, as they know that I¡¯m a sinner, but never got a look at my face. Nonetheless, they¡¯re also looking for me without the hood for investigation.
Rine is down, I know. The easiest thing would be to say something corny like ¡®It¡¯s not your fault, it¡¯s theirs¡¯, but realistically speaking: If she would have consented to return to Feuerberg right after we had that incident with Fake & Friends, we may have cleared the misunderstandings. But like I said, Rine is overpowered, she¡¯d beat the shit out of me before I can even cry uncle.
So instead of some shitty consoling attempt, I switch the topic. ¡°We haven¡¯t farmed WP yet today. Let¡¯s continue searching while linking arms.¡± While the curse of the rings is bad, it has one questionable upside: WP. Collect them, use them for special features. Its downside: I need to act intimate with the girls, and while I¡¯m getting used to it, it¡¯s not like I would miss it if we just stopped...
Two weeks ago, Rine would be all over me by now, yet she slowly starts to link her arm with mine. She and I are about the same height, so she technically can¡¯t look up to me, but somehow she manages it while looking a bit shy.
Girl, don¡¯t make my heart flutter like that. While it¡¯s better than her dragging me around like before, I can¡¯t wait until Rine is out of her slump and starts being more vivid again. Maybe because it¡¯s what I¡¯m used to. Maybe.
After a while of searching and looting, we see Kyou-san, who is already at a cooking fire. Momokawa Kyou, the black-haired beauty, is technically my wife #1, the first one I married. Her long hair reaches under her shoulders, she has two hair clips that keep it away from her face, black eyes, and is a Japanese like me. She used to be my class president, but in this world, there are no such titles. We also don¡¯t get along, neither back in Japan nor here.
Currently, she acts as our [Herbalist], [Priest], and [Cook], her job is to heal and feed us. At this point, I¡¯m already hooked up to her cooking, though I will never admit it, as sometimes I think that we¡¯re fighting a battle of dominance.
¡°Hey,¡± I ask her, ¡°where is Ara-san?¡± That would be my third wife, the hero-sage Ara¡¯ainn.
¡°She¡¯s still busy with the bandits.¡±
¡°Poor them.¡± Ara-san has just recovered from that particular time of the month she shouldn¡¯t have, as she¡¯s an alfr. Some people may mistake an alfr for an elf but don¡¯t. It would be unfair to elves which may be entirely fictional but still deserve that dignity. Alfar are special, they¡¯re the young folk, which means: Forever stuck in puberty. For centuries.
Now imagine an alfr, who has a yearly mating season and, therefore, an annual menstrual cycle that doesn¡¯t involve bleeding. Then imagine that alfr to be cursed by a ring, changing her biology to have a monthly period with bleeding and all the other bad stuff, that I, as a man, can only imagine. Finally, let that alfr, who has just recovered from it, interrogate people... I can only think about how she will make them suffer to pay them back for something they didn¡¯t commit...
Actually, they¡¯re bandits, so it¡¯s only to be expected that they murdered, stole, and maybe even raped. So they don¡¯t have my empathy... speaking of empathy... I use my spirit sense, trying to figure out if Kyou-san used her [Empathy]-spell on me. I don¡¯t feel anything...
For some reason, Kyou-san notices that. ¡°Come on, Ken. As I said, I won¡¯t use it on you without your permission.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t trust that.¡±
¡°Why are you so paranoid about it anyways!?¡±
[Empathy] is a spell that makes the user feel how the target feels. As Kyou-san can guess up to 80% of what I think at any given time, I don¡¯t want to let her into my emotional life as well. I also know how manipulative she is, so this spell is a perfect way to give her more ways to control me... she¡¯s too good at figuring stuff out.
¡°Ken, let me tell you... That one time was enough. I need to practice it more before I¡¯m even remotely confident enough to try to use it on you. You¡¯re a boy, I¡¯m a girl, we feel different.¡± She says that with enough conviction that it makes me want to believe it, but while I started to be less on guard around her in the past, my emotions are one of the most private things of me... I mean, it could only be worse if she would actually be able to read my thoughts and memory. These are mine, dammit!
¡°Kenta, Kyou is really trying to practice it. Though I make her feel down... Sorry, Kyou.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Rine-chan. I just wish that Ken would be able to feel how you feel...¡±
¡°We¡¯ve already gone over it.¡± The last two weeks in the swamps were a full training-camp, including learning new skills or improving the control of older ones while putting them into practice with dangerous monsters.
However, I can¡¯t even get close to learning that [Empathy]-spell despite observing Kyou-san using it on Rine every evening. She¡¯s currently struggling with filtering it before she uses the spell, but as I know from [Share Senses], it¡¯s not that easy.
I still hope to learn [Empathy], though I¡¯m sure that I¡¯m not very compatible with it. According to Ara-san, who has researched heroes for a while, each hero has a certain compatibility to different skills and spells. That¡¯s why I still haven¡¯t learned that damned [Perforate]-skill from the [Spear]-ability, though I really, really want it. It would be so good to either keep enemies at bay or to get multiple hits on soft but large targets. ¡°Phew...¡±
¡°Ken,¡± Kyou-san¡¯s sudden determination surprises me: ¡°I...¡± There it goes... again. Another thing that repeated over the course of the last two weeks.
I¡¯m sure it¡¯s about the incident with Luuto, the alfr hero, former colleague of Ara¡¯ainn, and now an underling of the dragon-god Muaotef. That bastard used a spell on me which was supposed to make me see him as the person I loved the most.
Let¡¯s say that it backfired and made me want to kill him instead. Actually, not even I¡¯m that clear on the whole situation anymore, though I now know at least that the most inner nature of humans is that of a beast. This feral outburst, however, almost invaded his mind, a predicament that saved us all.
I still don¡¯t know how to feel about that encounter. In the end, it seems so pointless, but I guess that¡¯s life ¡ª a collection of pointless stuff accumulated together. I guess Muaotef tried to gather some more soldiers for his future war with Feuerberg and wanted something from the center of the Spirit Swamps. We just stumbled upon them, which forced Luuto to fight us.
Though Ara-san has some business with Luuto, she agreed that staying would be too dangerous. She¡¯s rather quiet about the whole topic, though I don¡¯t try to pry. It¡¯s her business, after all.
As Kyou-san is still struggling with asking her question, I just ignore it. ¡°Is it OK for me to just drop the loot we collected so far here?¡±
¡°...go ahead.¡±
I reach into my backpack with my hand and take some stuff out of it, the magical [Inventory] is rather practical for this. The things I brought are mostly valuables, as we didn¡¯t find the place they keep their provisions yet, though I wasn¡¯t getting tired of opening their trunks, raiding their shelves, and turning everything upside down. It almost feels like a game, though it¡¯s a crime. Well, taking from bandits isn¡¯t that bad, right?
Wait a minute. ¡°Kyou-san, did you find their provisions?¡± As she¡¯s cooking right now and the smell of the meat isn¡¯t frog for sure, this is the logical conclusion.
¡°No, the bandits had dinner when we raided them, I¡¯m just trying to make their meal edible.¡±
¡°That bad?¡±
¡°Worse.¡± We both know how bland the cuisine tastes here in comparison to Japan. Of course it does, thinking about how many spices and flavor enhancers Japan uses in its food. High-class in this world means that it¡¯s covered with spices to an unhealthy degree. So bandit-cooking... urgh.
¡°This is a nice facial expression.¡± Finally, here is my third wife. She just came out of a hut and is now walking toward us with her long, pointy ears upright while her face is as expressionless as always. It¡¯s Ara¡¯ainn, the hero-sage, 144 years old with the mind of a juvenile. High cheekbones, a long nasal bone, two irises per eye, one dark blue, the other dark green, while her pupils are cat-like. Long flowing white hair bound to a ponytail, a frail-looking body, the complete lack of breasts, yes, she¡¯s an alfr alright. Her classes are [Accountant], [Druid], [Bookie], and [Acrobat], though she is mainly [Druid] for combat-purposes, using her spells. Recently she also uses her [Acrobat] more, I just hope that she will become decent in melee combat at some point... ¡°How are you feeling, Kenta-kun?¡± As she doesn¡¯t have as many facial muscles herself, she never learned how to read a face that well, while her usual method of deciphering mood, reading a spirit, only works well on alfar so far.
¡°I¡¯d call it ¡®mild disgust¡¯, I guess.¡± She¡¯s also my only friend in this fantasy world. She¡¯s intelligent and crafty, like me, just less... capable of common sense. However, we get along. Though her curiosity led her to be cursed as well, she¡¯s the one who figured out how the curse is capable of marrying me off and triggered it willingly while she thought it was just a party system instead of a marriage.
Well, she got what she deserved. Like I mentioned before, biology-change. Monthly period and she¡¯s physically attracted to me, and I to her, despite us being from different species.
¡°Mild disgust... The reason?¡±
¡°Food.¡±
Ara-san turns to Kyou-san: ¡°Momo, I want to ask you to stop putting your bodily fluids into the food I¡¯m going to eat.¡±
This is poking her head into a hornets¡¯ nest: ¡°Arako?¡± The way how Kyou-san says her nickname for Ara-san is somewhat unsettling, especially seeing how she smiles like she¡¯s in a great mood, which is a bad sign: ¡°I haven¡¯t put any ¡®special ingredients¡¯ into this stew yet, but I¡¯m thinking about something new today. Alfr ears, I heard they¡¯re delicious.¡±
¡°This may be the case, but that would be cannibalism for me. Additionally, you lack any alfr for this experiment.¡±
¡°I think we¡¯re going to be fine. At least, I will.¡±
¡°If you¡¯re thinking about using my ears, be warned: I may look delicious for a human, but I don¡¯t know how I taste. You can, however, lick my fingers to get an impression.¡±
¡°...nevermind.¡± Usually, Kyou-san would go to her and pull Ara-san¡¯s ear or something like that, but whenever she¡¯s cooking, she rather minds the food. ¡°Let¡¯s see...¡± She has her cooking pouch in her hand. As far as I know, there are several herbs and some salt for seasoning in there. I can distinguish the different kinds of herbs, though it¡¯s also ultimately not my job, and therefore, I don¡¯t know how each of them tastes.
¡°Kenta?¡± Rine at my side looks at me. Here it comes, now she¡¯s trying to figure out what just happened between Ara-san and Kyou-san. ¡°Did they tease each other in friendship or are they fighting?¡±
¡°You can ask them yourself.¡± If I have a guess, I would say it¡¯s teasing. I get the feeling that the girls in this party get along most of the time, but I¡¯m also aware that the girls in my class always badmouthed each other behind their backs, so it could be that everything is just a farce. At least from Kyou-san¡¯s side, as Rine lacks the dishonesty and Ara-san the finesse of social interactions. She¡¯s just like me.
¡°Ara?¡± Rine turns to the alfr, ¡°Have you just teased Kyou?¡±
¡°Katarine-san, be sure that I never will ask someone to lick me seriously.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Erm, why would she?
¡°Because I¡¯m too sweet, and then poor me will be eaten alive.¡±
¡°Seriously?¡±
¡°Yes, here. Try me.¡± Ara-san stretches out her fingers to Rine... OK, she¡¯s contradicting herself right now.
¡°...¡± Rine takes Ara-san¡¯s in hers and licks her fingertips. ¡°...uaaah.¡± Rine is stretching out her tongue. ¡°Ah, zhat...¡± The blonde girl looks a bit in pain.
¡°Hot-tongue paste, when it reaches the tasting buds, it feels like the tongue is on fire. I just used it for the interrogation, so there are still traces on my fingers. The amount won¡¯t be sufficient to last longer than a minute or two.¡± OK, that makes sense. Stupid alfr-humor.
There is a flaw though: ¡°Won¡¯t it be harder to interrogate someone when they can¡¯t speak properly?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I did it after the interrogation.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°He asked me to.¡±
OK, here comes a punchline. ¡°Why would he do that?¡±
¡°Because he had the option between hot-tongue on his tongue or itching powder in his gluteal cleft.¡± Bandit, you chose wisely.
¡°Let me guess, you said something like ¡®Either you tell us and you get hot-tongue or you don¡¯t tell us and get itching powder.¡±
¡°Precisely.¡±
He¡¯s a bandit, a bad guy. Still, sometimes I wonder if this alfr, who is even less harmful than the regular one, might be worse in terms of humanity... well, alfar aren¡¯t humans after all. At least they¡¯re less malicious... well, less dangerously malicious.
It¡¯s also not like our party is as heroic as our slapped on hero-title would make people believe. To be honest, I think our last bastion of decency, namely Rine, is taking a break right now...
Volume 07 - Chapter 1-2
A few days before. Masahiko, Eri, Daichi, Teruko, Eri, and the merchant called Correo are close to the Vulkan-mountains. It¡¯s half a miracle, but after Masahiko talked to the king with Correo again, they got his blessing on this hunt. Correo laid out a plan and is selling himself as a guide, and he only wants the bounty on the princess. While Masahiko knows it¡¯s a lot of money, they will just give it to the merchant. It¡¯s a small price to pay.
Correo talked about some secret, fast trading routes, about a way to find heroes who are close enough to him, about reinforcements. While he didn¡¯t exactly explain anything, the king seems to trust him enough. It looks like the king accepts Correo¡¯s trade secrets as such, so they already worked with each other for some time? Though there was a stern warning Masahiko didn¡¯t understand: ¡®Let me be clear, Correo: You better don¡¯t hold any of those.¡¯ What does ¡®those¡¯ mean? Correo called it ¡®another trade secret¡¯ when Masahiko asked about that.
¡°Where is it?¡± Daichi is looking around. Correo said before that they will enter a special route in this area, but currently, there is nothing of interest here. A farm is close, furry-legged goats are here, all part of a herd. The point of being here isn¡¯t that clear to Masahiko, as well.
¡°Wait, Dai-kun.¡± Teruko lays her hand on the ground. ¡°There is something deep under us... Like a long crack in the stone spiraling downwards towards to... could it be? Deeptrails?¡± These are underground ways of the dari, though most of them collapsed twenty years ago.
¡°Correct. I should have known that I couldn''t fool you for long, seeing how you were trained by the dari. You¡¯re right, here is a secret entrance to the Deeptrails, it must have appeared when they collapsed. I used special means to make it more traversable, basically a secret underground-route. Yet this part of the Deeptrails isn¡¯t as long as I wished, the collapse was too massive. But currently, it¡¯s enough to cross the Ohl underground.¡±
¡°The Ohl?¡±
¡°A big, monster-infested river. Our other companions are waiting for us on the other side.¡±
Masahiko doesn¡¯t know if he should be happy about reinforcements. A part of him is glad that he can give a bit of his mental burden to others, but... something about it seems wrong. ¡°Are the trolleys still functioning?¡± As far as Masahiko knows, the Deeptrails are connected by sledge-like trolleys that are powered by [Metalmancy], the magic which is inherited by every single dar, though they try their best to keep as much of it a secret as possible.
¡°Not as intended, it was way above my skills to determine how they even worked in the first place. However, I¡¯ve got around it. To get to the entrance, we need to go this way.¡± Correo adjusts his hat and starts walking.
After a while, they find an entrance hidden behind bushes that leads to a tunnel that looks like it was melted into the stone. Eri, who is also a [Geomancer], looks at Correo while furrowing her eyes: ¡°Did you molt your way in here?¡±
¡°Not me, a servant of mine. It took her a while, but it was worth it.¡± The older man looks like he was already expecting this question. ¡°You may be too young to understand, but for me, these tunnels are an exceptional resource. They¡¯re my headstart over my competition. While I do have ways to journey at great speeds, landscape and monsters are still factors I need to be concerned with.¡±
¡°You know, that the dari will eventually claim them again?¡±
¡°When they do, we¡¯ll negotiate. Even in the worst case, I can make my profits with this route until they¡¯re back.¡± Masahiko thinks it would be better to make a deal with the dari in the first place, working together to rebuild the Deeptrails, but his own experiences with the dari also make him doubt whether it would work or not.
A few meters behind the entrance is a reinforced door, Correo opens it up with a key. Then they enter the tunnels. They already know that it will take a while before they¡¯re deep enough for the Deeptrails. Correo really made sure that the door is locked behind him, giving Masahiko the feeling that this is a point of no return. The merchant provides torches to everyone as light sources, then they start their underground journey through a long and vast tunnel that slowly spirals down.
After a night sleeping in darkness, Masahiko is finally standing in a colossal corridor-like tunnel with several rails made out of metal down here. ¡°This metal,¡± Daichi explains after examining it: ¡°It¡¯s an alloy which uses iron, aluminum, and even some gold and silver.¡±
¡°Gold and silver?¡± This piques Correos interest, though Eri and her [Trader]-soul also look a bit excited. ¡°So that¡¯s why the dari always buy them.¡± Yes, the dari buy gold, copper, and silver. They like them so much that at some point actual gold coins were taken from the market, as the dari started to hoard most of them, leading to a new currency, the Newgold, which doesn¡¯t have any gold in it. Braxas, a dear dar friend and mentor of Masahiko, told him that [Metalmancy] works well on rare metals, so they use them for many things. The Deeptrails are only one of the many applications.
¡°...carts,¡± Katsuo, who has leered everywhere, said. In fact, there are several carts, though it doesn¡¯t look like they¡¯re supposed to be there. After all, this is neither a station nor a collection site, they¡¯re just all standing on the same trail.
¡°Good preparation is the key for good business,¡± Correo explains proudly. ¡°Do you see how you can chain all of them together? In case I want to transport something big from Feuerberg. Would you mind putting your weapons and armor into your backpacks? The lighter, the better.¡±
Correo already said that he trades with heroes, so he knows about the [Inventory], of course. Masahiko does as the hatted man says, making himself as light as possible. Even his new cape is put into the backpack.
After all of them are down to some basic clothes, Correo asks them to get on a big sled-like cart, then the merchant starts pushing them a bit. ¡°Seems doable. Put out the torches first. Otherwise, there will be an accident.¡± Following his words, it becomes all dark. Masahiko is in his [Vanguard]-class, therefore he can use [Metalmancy] and feel the cart and the rails at least. Then Correo continues: ¡°Be sure to hold fast, I¡¯ll increase the speed.¡± Masahiko hears a strange cracking noise and suddenly, the cart accelerates.
It¡¯s fast. Masahiko has no chance to feel the metal anymore, as the surroundings are changing way too fast. From the feeling, though, it¡¯s like sitting in a car or maybe rather a train. This reminds him of how long it was since he traveled at speeds like that.
However, this makes Masahiko feel great because he knows that he¡¯s finally catching up to Kyou.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
After a subpar meal, Ara-san fills us in with what she learned about the current situation on this side of the Ohl from the bandits. They regularly send some people to the farmsteads, inns, villages, and the city of Ohlbr¨¹cken to keep on track with news, rumors, and of course, people trying to capture them.
My head rests on Ara-san¡¯s lap for another WP, it¡¯s always a bit uncomfortable to do that. I don¡¯t even know why, maybe because she lacks some meat or because of how her flesh feels. In addition to the usual discomfort I hate being too close with any of the girls.
However, it¡¯s practical to do that when there is an opportunity instead of waiting until evening and trying to catch up with all the stuff.
I listen to Ara-san¡¯s summary. The Crusaders are still coming to Ohlbr¨¹cken, looks like a whole army was scattered around here for monster-hunting before, which is now going to Feuerberg. Because of that and other matters, it¡¯s hard to get to this side of the Ohl, especially without bribes. Ohlbr¨¹cken has also sent an army out to uproot the bandits as preparation for winter, now that the monsters are driven back. That¡¯s why these bandits are close to the Spirit Swamps in the first place, as they didn¡¯t expect that real monsters like us would emerge from them.
There are also sightings of so-called barbarians. Seems like the word ¡®barbarian¡¯ is patented in these parts, same as ¡®rangers¡¯. While a [Ranger] is a warrior of nature who was trained by the alfar and is revered, barbarians are something like a special breed of savages, nomadic human warriors that are into slaying, razing, and raping. Practically bandits, just ten times worse.
However, the rumors about the kidnapped princess of Feuerberg are vague at best, no bounties outside Ohlbr¨¹cken either, so we may be in luck in that regard. Or we¡¯re faster than the bounty posters... thinking about it, they need to be distributed, who would do that? There are no phones, there is no internet, there is no international law... Means, as long as we evade Ohlbr¨¹cken and the Crusaders, we¡¯re golden, right? They thought that it¡¯d be impossible to get around Ohlbr¨¹cken, that¡¯s why they didn¡¯t pay enough for the posters to reach further. Finally, good news.
Spirit Swamps... they were a big pain in the ass, but it wasn¡¯t a mistake after all. ¡°Stop smirking.¡± Kyou-san looks at me like I¡¯m totally proud to have at least crossed the finish line of a hundred meter (328 feet) dash.
¡°No.¡± My smirk is just my way to show my own little happiness that a poor decision back then turned out to be right. The power-boost due to the levels and skills doesn¡¯t hurt either. ¡°Now the important decision: What do we do about our prisoners?¡± We have at least thirty bandits that were either knocked out, too wounded to flee, or just surrendered. ¡°We can either kill them, we can just let them go, or we can take them to some authorities. ¡°
¡°Not only that, Kenta-kun,¡± Ara-san adds: ¡°We can also leave them bounded and let fate decide or lure somebody else to do the job, like some of the swamp monsters.¡±
¡°Why would you suggest this?¡±
¡°At this point, these aren¡¯t even suggestions. I just want to further our general options. We can also combine some of these methods.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± This doesn¡¯t help. In fact, it only gives more to think about. ¡°Let me be straight, I don¡¯t care much. I would, however, like to avoid authorities.¡± OK, to be honest, I also don¡¯t want to kill them, but in the end, they¡¯re a bunch of murderers themselves and some of their comrades already died by my hand, so it¡¯s somehow justified and I would do it. Just not gladly.
I look at Rine, who looks like she¡¯s holding herself back. Kyou-san is thinking about it, while Ara-san has already her opinion: ¡°We can leave them behind or release them. Both aren¡¯t much work, though I prefer the first, as it¡¯s no work.¡± In a way, it¡¯s cruel, but Ara-san is a sloth, so of course she wants to be over it as fast as possible.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°I don¡¯t want to kill them...¡± Kyou-san speaks her mind.
I ask the final member of our party. ¡°Rine?¡±
¡°They have plundered at least... they need to be punished by the laws of the Wildlands and all of the city-states, if I recall correctly, punish banditry by death.¡± I would say harsh, but seriously, as the Wildlands is mostly a bunch of city-states and the surrounding villages, the life-lines are their farmsteads and traders, which are primary targets for bandits. It¡¯s clear why the law is strict. It also makes it easier for mercenaries and such, who happen to come across some bandits. ¡°However... I don¡¯t think we should do it. It¡¯s not justice at this point, just convenience.¡±
This sounds like Rine, the girl who hunted bandits on the mountains to relieve her people. She may have killed a few, but everyone who surrendered ended up in the care of someone responsible for stuff like that. Well, time to burst that bubble: ¡°So what do we do?¡±
¡°Erm... sorry, I don¡¯t know... Ah, right. I need to think about it... We could take all of them with us until we find a village or so.¡±
That¡¯d be a pain. Ara-san is most likely thinking the same. However, Kyou-san doesn¡¯t. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±
¡°Phew... Ara-san, anything to add?¡±
¡°We could leave them in this camp and just tell someone that they¡¯re here. Or we let Kenta-kun scout ahead and look for a place which might take them in.¡±
¡°Ah, great idea, Ara!¡± Don¡¯t be that ready to put that load onto me, Rine!
¡°So it¡¯s three against one,¡± Kyou-san states her agreement unsubtly.
¡°Phew...¡± Like it was waiting for this, the curse makes a screen appear.
You gain 1 WP.
Resting on the lap of your beloved is a soul-healing activity, make sure to spoil her later.
Like always, the curse just assumes that I¡¯m in love with all of them. Well, doesn¡¯t matter. With this task off the list, I can move freely without wasting time. So let¡¯s see how I can make it as efficient as possible to be over this soon.
I stand up, take a look at the sky, and use [Farsight], looking for birds. There is one, a blue hawk, using this opportunity of having sun between the rainy days to go on a hunt. While the fantasy world has animals like ours, all of them have a subtle change in color or one or two other traits. Like horses with claws instead of hooves. ¡°Let¡¯s see what¡¯s in the surrounding.¡± I put some effort into training the following spell, as it backfires without a bit of fine-tuning. ¡°[Share Senses]!¡± I already have my filter in place. Without it, I would see exactly what the hawk is seeing, which would cause my brain to overload, as it can¡¯t process all of the information a hawk is seeing.
My vision becomes a tunnel, my stomach is acting up a bit, as I see how I¡¯m flying, while my other senses tell me that I¡¯m on the ground. Still, using more than one sense is way too complicated for me, so I just endure this minor motion sickness.
In a sea of blackness, I see some trees, some animals too big for the hawk... there, humans... they wear metal, I think, my filter makes it hard to see... Fire. The direction is... I cut the connection and climb on a hut to use [Farsight]. Yes, a glint of metal, some around four kilometers (2.5 miles) ahead. ¡°I¡¯ve found something. Armored people with horses, they¡¯re camping. Could be mercenaries, soldiers, or Crusaders.¡± It¡¯s easy to hear my disgust when naming the last possibility. ¡°Ara-san, you come with me. In case of Crusaders, you¡¯ll take over. Kyou-san and Rine, gather the loot and ask the bandits about their provisions, then go north.¡± To be sure, I show them the direction: ¡°We¡¯ll catch up later.¡±
As many harmful side-effects the curse may have, it also gives some boons, like an [Attribute]-boost or an increase in XP-gain, though it shares the XP in the first place which already put me into a losing position, as I get second-most kills. Another thing we bought from the WP-store is [Spouse-Location] which allows my wives to feel in which direction I am, while I can feel the direction of each wife. Stupidly, it doesn¡¯t let me feel distance or which wife it is. No, these adjustments are now sold separately in the WP-store.
Still, this flawed feature makes regrouping much easier and it was a life-saver in the Spirit Swamps, so I won¡¯t complain about it anymore. For now.
Ara-san and I start walking towards the armed group. About four kilometers, this will take a while. However, it¡¯s finally an opportunity to be alone with Ara-san, as in the swamps we all stuck together for safety. ¡°Hey, Ara-san,¡± I start the conversation nonchalantly. ¡°Can I ask you about Luuto?¡± If she doesn¡¯t want to talk about it, it¡¯s fine with me. Still, some things don¡¯t fit yet.
¡°About who?¡±
¡°You know, that alfr hero.¡±
¡°Ah, you¡¯re referring to Lvo¡¯tjos. So you call him Luuto, I see. I need to memorize it. What about him?¡±
¡°You told us that you were both summoned at the same time. That¡¯s why you used him for experiments and such, right?¡±
¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±
OK, how do I phrase it without giving it a double meaning? ¡°Is there something else?¡±
¡°What are you referring to?¡±
¡°I mean... well, why couldn¡¯t you talk it out? What kind of beef do you have with him?¡±
¡°I already explained this, as well. I don¡¯t know what his issue is, but it seems like he joined Muaotef.¡±
¡°Any idea why? I mean, he didn¡¯t kill us, though he has to be much stronger than us.¡±
¡°Are you jealous? Or offended?¡±
¡°It¡¯s just irritating. I also think you don¡¯t tell me everything.¡±
¡°I will share it with you if you tell me what exactly made you go feral, when Lvo¡¯tjos used his spell.¡±
¡°... that¡¯s private.¡±
¡°Then, I¡¯m holding my knowledge hostage.¡±
¡°Come on, just tell me. We¡¯re friends, right?¡±
¡°We are? I came to believe that I¡¯m just a plaything of yours, poor me.¡±
¡°...phew... alright, you¡¯ll keep your secret, I¡¯ll keep mine. Fine with me. I¡¯m just irritated.¡±
¡°Anything you want to tell me about?¡±
¡°It just feels so... wrong. I mean, it was like we were intruding on something, like we weren¡¯t supposed to be there... also, there is the stuff with Crunch.¡±
¡°Who is Crunch?¡±
¡°...ah, I didn¡¯t tell you. Well, I can tell you if you like. For your secret.¡±
¡°What about this: You tell me, and I¡¯ll tell you a tiny detail I heard from the bandits before, which wasn¡¯t important for the summary but is very interesting to you.¡±
¡°...we should stop haggling intel. Well, Crunch was a ss¡¯ rak I fought with. You remember that I killed an ss¡¯ rak patriarch, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Well, before that were two other ss¡¯ rak, plus one Kyou-san killed. Crunch was the son of one of them and fought me for revenge.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t believe it. A ss¡¯ rak who is capable of remembering something for an extended period. Did he write it on the back of his claw?¡±
...alfr are racist. Or more like speciesist. For them, humans are only driven by their sex-drive, folkmen are cute and cuddly, ss¡¯rak plain stupid, and dwarves greedy. They¡¯re full of stereotypes, which makes them even harder to converse with.
The easiest way to deal with it is ignoring their remarks: ¡°Well, after Crunch attacked, I was all like: This is another thing which puts me in the center, but in the end... well... how do I say it...¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, mind listening to another theory of mine?¡±
¡°Go on.¡±
¡°While I was researching hero-stories, I found many similarities. One of them is that heroes attract events that strengthen or oppose them. You might call it the ¡®drama effect¡¯. So your ¡®drama effect¡¯ lured that ss¡¯ rak¡ªCrunch was it?¡ªto you while he was already a companion of Lvo¡¯tjos. Then Lvo¡¯tjos¡¯ ¡®drama effect¡¯ occurred, causing every one of us to become part of his hero-story. Lvo¡¯tjos was level 189 the last time I met him, so it¡¯s probable that he¡¯s gone over level 200 after these twenty years. He should have written a letter to me, broken arms or not.¡± I see her ears twitch, I think she liked Luuto¡¯s joke about how he hasn¡¯t written Ara-san because he had ¡®very badly broken arms for twenty years.¡¯ ¡°Back to the topic, though. We found out that Lvo¡¯tjos held back for whatever reason. Any ideas why?¡±
¡°Hm...¡± This is a question I¡¯ve been asking myself for the last two weeks. ¡°Because killing a hero has a consequence.¡±
¡°Exactly. How did you come to this conclusion?¡±
¡°The Muaotef-incident. He asked me to kill his own hero, I thought before that I was convenient, but after seeing Crunch, he had warriors strong enough to do the job for him. I also got a free pass to meet the patriarch after mentioning Muaotef... well, almost.¡± I still want to beat up the so-called Voice of Muaotef and it¡¯s a pity that I missed him in the swamps. ¡°So there had to be another reason.¡±
¡°Did you feel different since killing the patriarch?¡±
¡°Yeah. He wasn¡¯t my first kill, however... Don¡¯t say it to the others, but I still feel guilty.¡±
¡°Feelings of guilt... he¡¯s the only hero you¡¯ve killed so far.¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± While I may have injured Inoue by accident before, I didn¡¯t finish him off. Sometimes I think it¡¯d be better if I did without knowing if I really mean it or not... well, he¡¯s Kyou-san¡¯s friend, so she may have never forgiven me... I guess I¡¯m not sure if she even forgave me for shooting him in the first place and you can¡¯t just ask: ¡®Hey, do you remember the time I¡¯ve shot Fake? Did you forgive me by now?¡¯ I hope she has just forgotten, but I don¡¯t believe that. However, she was also into placing traps for him and her other friends!
...too complicated to understand.
I also wasn¡¯t capable of finishing off Yoshimura and Hoshibashi, though there it was the oni who interfered. I¡¯m just glad that I came out of it alive...
¡°Kenta-kun,¡± Ara-san asks me, ¡°can you think of another reason why it may matter if a hero is killed or not?¡±
¡°A lot of ideas and speculations, nothing to show.¡±
¡°Let me hear your ideas.¡±
So our conversation continues, we move through bushes and other covers until we get close enough to the camp to see what they might be: Soldiers, mercenaries, or Crusaders. There, a banner. It¡¯s always good if armed troops carry one. I think it¡¯s for them to be identified by other officials, for us to find out who they are... they aren¡¯t Crusaders at least, as the banner doesn¡¯t show the claw clutching a sword. Instead, there is a bridge and a river... ¡°You see the banner? It¡¯s Ohlbr¨¹cken, right?¡±
¡°You forgot again that despite my superior eyesight in most regards, I¡¯m struggling with distances.¡± Hey, it¡¯s only natural, as alfar have better senses overall, but as they usually live in woods, evolution didn¡¯t bless them with farsight.
¡°A golden bridge above a blue river with brown hills in the background.¡±
¡°This sounds like Ohlbr¨¹cken.¡±
¡°OK, then I¡¯ll talk to them, if things go bad, cover my retreat with magic.¡± Things often go bad though they will definitely escalate if Ara-san speaks to them.
¡°Affirmative.¡± Good thing she¡¯s oblivious to this and believes that she¡¯s contributing. Otherwise she might challenge it by coming along with me.
After parking her in a bush close to the camp, I pull my hood over my face and walk out into the open. Some are looking at me with a somewhat irritated look, ah, I still have [Mask of Wildlife] on, so while they may see me, they feel something is off with me. It¡¯s a skill that meshes my spirit with the surrounding plants. Within trees, it¡¯s almost impossible to find it and to some degree, humans also feel spirits, causing them to mistake me as part of the scenery. With only grass and a single berry-shrub around here, it¡¯s not enough to fool them, but I may seem unreal to them, almost like an illusion.
I deactivate the skill, and of course, swords and maces are drawn, some noses are scrunched as well, as my swamp-aroma is still there. Then a soldier points at me: ¡°Red Ranger.¡±
Oh shit! I¡¯m still in my red armor! The Red Ranger is a known sinner, someone who has broken the Divine Laws, bringing humanity one step closer to extinction... don¡¯t ask, it¡¯s stupid! Dammit! After two weeks of the Spirit Swamps, I¡¯ve totally forgotten about the armor! The hood is also a giveaway, as it¡¯s the sign of a [Ranger] in these parts.
I start to shift my weight so that I can run away if they attack me, but for some reason, most of them lower their weapons instead. The captain, easily distinguished by his tabard, steps forward: ¡°How can we help you, Red Ranger?¡±
...OK, this isn¡¯t what I expected. Are they trying to lure me into false security? ¡°...there.¡± I try to lower my voice as much as possible to make it harder to hear my real voice: ¡°If you follow this direction, you will see the remains of a bandit-camp.¡±
¡°Could it be the camp of the Wicked Evily?¡±
I shrug my shoulders. ¡°Don¡¯t know, don¡¯t care.¡±
For some reason, the soldiers look strangely at me... I somehow have the feeling that... I don¡¯t even know, but it feels weird. Not hostile, but... well... I can¡¯t describe it. The captain, however, takes the cake: ¡°Thank you, Red Ranger.¡± He bows to me! ¡°We thought that even Evily wouldn¡¯t dare to get so close to the swamps, but thanks to you, we not only found them but just need to pick up their remains.¡±
I think I get goosebumps. ¡°...some of them fled.¡± Here, take that!
¡°They always do, but finding and scattering them is enough for now. We¡¯ll find the ones taking shelter in the villages and farmsteads, and the rest will most likely die in the winter.¡±...harsh.
¡°...I see.¡± I turn around, I need to escape these looks. I finally know what it is, it¡¯s the same one Rine used to have for me: Admiration! I can¡¯t deal with it and I don¡¯t even know how it came to be, I mean, it¡¯s not like my Red Ranger-persona caused something else but trouble so far.
Ara-san comes out of her hiding spot after I left the camp. ¡°This worked out better than expected.¡±
¡°...¡±
¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying something?¡±
¡°I had a brainfart.¡±
¡°You released rectal fumes into your brain? I didn¡¯t know that humans were capable of doing it, though this would explain a thing or two.¡±
¡°Figuratively. It just feels like someone farted into my brain, hot and moist.¡± I rub my nose-bridge. ¡°I need some time to process that. Why the hell did they act that way?¡±
¡°Maybe they like you.¡±
¡°Nobody likes me.¡± It kinda hurts if I say it myself, but it¡¯s the truth.
¡°I like you.¡±
¡°Let me rephrase that: Nobody who¡¯s thinking clearly likes me.¡±
¡°Did you just insult my mental condition?¡±
¡°I just called you eccentric and strange.¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡± This improves her mood, which shows that one, I do know her, and second, she¡¯s as odd as I suspect her to be.
I use my [Perception]-skills to make sure that nobody is following us, then we head to Kyou-san and Rine. This was a strange encounter...
Volume 07 - Chapter 1-3
¡°Kyou?¡± Rine-chan asks me while we¡¯re heading north, following Ken¡¯s instructions. ¡°Do you like Kenta?¡±
This question surprises me, as Rine-chan used to assume that I love him. It also addresses another matter I¡¯ve wanted to tell Ken for two weeks but never had the courage to. Because admitting it would make it way too awkward... ¡°I like him a bit... Don¡¯t tell him.¡± This is the current state. ¡°Also, I don¡¯t like him in a romantic way.¡± This is the part I¡¯m not even sure of anymore.
¡°What do you dislike about him?¡±
Two months before, I would have said ¡®Everything¡¯, before that I would have even meant it 100%. Now things are a bit muddy... ¡°He has the worst personality.¡±
¡°What exactly makes a bad personality?¡±
...OK, this is getting a bit annoying, but seeing how Rine-chan is earnestly asking about my opinion... ah, we¡¯re actually alone with each other for the first time since entering the swamps. Maybe she wanted to talk about it for a while... ¡°*Sigh* First, he¡¯s selfish.¡± For some reason, Rine-chan seems hurt by these words. Well, she¡¯s also selfish often enough, like a child throwing a tantrum... no, she¡¯s trying to grow up. Does it have to be this way? Wasn¡¯t she fine before? What is Ken just thinking!? ¡°He rarely listens to the advice of others.¡±
¡°He listens to Ara.¡±
¡°Both of them are alike in some sense, so it¡¯s more listening to his own suggestions from another person. However, the moment I try to talk some sense into him, he shuts off and acts like he knows better.¡±
¡°Doesn¡¯t he often listen to you and adapt his plans because of it?¡±
... don¡¯t come with me with facts! I know that it became better and better, but it¡¯s easier to pretend that it hasn¡¯t. ¡°Also, he feels happiness in the misfortune of others.¡± I may also like it from time to time, but for Ken that¡¯s most likely the only real joy he feels. ¡°He also looks down on others, is easily irritated, and the worst.¡±
¡°Then what do you like about him?¡±
This is an even worse question! I mean, I don¡¯t even know the answer. The curse that we¡¯re all subjected to has a side-effect, it changes my feelings towards Ken. How much of my ¡®like¡¯ is even coming from myself? The effect was subtle, or maybe I was just subconsciously resisting it, but now that I know of it, it¡¯s so obvious. Rine-chan is also a victim of it, perhaps this is the time to tell her... no, she¡¯s already overwhelmed by all the other stuff...
Let¡¯s think about how to answer her... ¡°He¡¯s dependable.¡± It¡¯s most likely only because of the curse and its negative effects if we¡¯re separated, but he didn¡¯t leave me behind in any situation, no matter how dire. He always worked something out, often for the better. Though his worst ¡®something¡¯ was also the worst possible outcome, which practically killed my friendship with Teru-chan, Masahiko-kun, and the others. ¡°He¡¯s also capable.¡± While his social skills are horrible, the moment we joined forces, he was always ahead in everything else. Level, combat-experience, survival skills, he really is someone who specialized in fighting alone. ¡°Also... I think he¡¯s a tad better personality-wise than before.¡± Maybe I¡¯m just seeing some sides of him I didn¡¯t see before. Like how responsible Ken is when he finally decides to take care of something, how mentally resilient he is, how he may forfeit a fight because it doesn¡¯t matter in the big picture...
Still, that pain... when I acquired [Empathy], I accidentally used it on Ken, right after he was released from the spell of Lvo¡¯tjos. I was curious, seeing how he became so... vulnerable. It hurt so much it rent my heart. Despite that, he looked only a bit flustered, but no sign of the pain he felt. Maybe it¡¯s a difference between boys and girls... maybe he just got used to the pain? A thought I find terrifying.
He won¡¯t tell me, so I also won¡¯t ask. I already know that Ken keeps a personal distance from everyone else, even to Arako, who is his only friend. Still, it makes me think that something happened to him, something so awful that it still hurts.
It may also be because of the defective spell of Lvo¡¯tjos. Everything points to that it didn¡¯t work as intended, causing some disturbance in the spirit, which is linked to the emotions as well. This connection between spirit and feelings is why I can use [Empathy] in the first place.
Aarrgh, it¡¯s so much! This is frustrating beyond belief! Now, whenever I want to interact with Ken, I remember it, and I keep asking myself many questions, including if my concerns are genuine or just because the curse makes me so.
¡°Kyou?¡± Rine-chan cocks her head, not knowing how to interpret my silent anguish. ¡°...Kyou, do you... I mean...¡± She takes a deep breath: ¡°Do you believe it was wrong of me to leave Feuerberg?¡±
I immediately know that I¡¯m the only person she can ask this question. It¡¯s also a very tough one because when looking at myself, the answer is ¡®yes¡¯, while there is also Rine-chan¡¯s feelings and needs to consider. ¡°Why did you leave your home?¡±
¡°I... I used to think that I wanted to help Feuerberg, but now I... I have these ugly feelings.¡±
¡°Ugly feelings?¡±
¡°Yes... It¡¯s like... I felt like... This is hard to express, I feel like suffocating. I really wanted to make my parents proud, but I¡¯m not smart, so I used to think that I disappoint them all the time, but there is something different... or maybe I¡¯m the one different? Because I¡¯m the crown-princess? Or because I¡¯m... well... maybe people around grew frustrated. Just like Ara with magic training.¡± Arako is currently teaching Rine-chan and me magic. At this point, I¡¯ve unlocked the [Arcana]-ability, but lack any [Skills], while Rine-chan wants to choose the [Wizard]-class. However, no matter what kind of training method Arako thinks of, Rine-chan aces it in record time. The worst part may be that Rine-chan is still incapable of choosing [Wizard] despite that success rate.
¡°Arako¡¯s pride just hurts a bit, and she has too much in the first place... in all the wrong places as well. I mean, she¡¯s proud of how long she can avoid laundry, about how much of our rest time she sleeps, how fast she can create chaos in the camp...¡± I feel the urge to pinch her oversensitive ears right now because I¡¯m usually the one who has to deal with her self-prized sloth.
¡°My siblings may have felt the same... Maybe the soldiers I sparred with didn¡¯t hold back at all? At this point, I can¡¯t even tell anymore...¡± Rine-chan is looking down.
I use [Empathy], and my heart begins to ache. It¡¯s a pain I can at best describe as loneliness, though the one I know feels different. However, mine is by being left behind, while hers is about being surrounded by people without connecting with them. I can¡¯t help but tear up as I feel this estrangement from everyone else around Rine-chan.
Of course, my tears cause Rine-chan to feel guilty, the guilt stings in my heart as well. I cut the [Empathy] before we start an emotional loop. After around two seconds, all of the feelings from before are just a memory. I only need to remind myself that they weren¡¯t my feelings. It becomes easier with experience, at the beginning of my training, I felt down for hours after using this spell on Rine-chan, as many of these feelings were already blooming back then. If Ken would just know how she really feels...
Nonetheless, I stop walking and draw her in an embrace, though the girl is taller than me, that¡¯s why it¡¯s a bit clumsy. ¡°Rine-chan. It¡¯s alright.¡±
¡°...*sniff*¡± Finally she bursts in a flood of tears. She answers my embrace by almost suffocating me. Without any word, she clings to me like a child to her mother.
I want to sigh, but I have a sense of delicacy, so I just pet her hair and let her cry a bit. I may know her feelings, but I don¡¯t know what kind of inner conflict she¡¯s going through. I hope that she¡¯ll be able to solve it.
Ken said to let her figure it out by herself, and a part of me agrees, yet another part wants to help her, tell her that she can just go back to how she was before, not thinking about anything at all. Yet here am I, saying nothing while she starts to rethink every step she took up to this point.
I also did this several times. What would have happened if I hadn¡¯t decided to take a solely supporting role when I was still in a party with my friends? What would have happened if I didn¡¯t agree to help Ken with his curse? What would have happened if I just returned to my friends after the disaster with the spider-monkey boss instead of being too ashamed to see them? What would have happened if I decided to just obey Ken instead of resisting whenever possible? What would have happened if I seized the opportunity and made Ken my boyfriend right after our kiss, manipulating him and his feelings to my absolute advantage?
At every step, each choice I made seemed right. Now in hindsight, I see several flaws in my decision-making. I guess it¡¯s the same for everyone, including Rine-chan. Yes, that¡¯s what I want to convey to her: ¡°You¡¯re here because of your decisions. Sometimes they might have been poor, but they were your own and you acted to your best knowledge. Learn from it and do it better next time.¡± The moment I say this, I feel somewhat instantly matured. This is strange, but I¡¯m also still lacking here and there, even though I don¡¯t like to admit it.
¡°Yes.¡± Her answer is a bit lifeless but still heartfelt. She slowly detaches from me and starts looking at me with her eyes that always look like they¡¯re burning: ¡°Let¡¯s grow up together.¡±
¡°*sigh* It¡¯s not like we have a choice. Here, take this.¡± I give Rine-chan my handkerchief to wipe her tears while taking out a waterskin from my backpack. I¡¯m so glad that we found the water supplies of the bandits, as the boiled water we needed to drink in the swamps somehow tastes less... like water? However, it was necessary to survive in those cursed swamps.
Speaking of curses, I look at the ring on my left ring finger. The face of a lioness stares back, never-changing, never leaving my finger, not responding to words but reacting to our deeds. Mama Orana, the witch I met in the swamps, was capable of altering something, causing a minor shift, yet she couldn¡¯t lift the curse altogether. I¡¯m studying her books so that I¡¯ll also be able to alter the curse, though I may need to take the [Witch]-class-up first, which... is still far away. I sure hope that I¡¯ll be able to do it without the [Class-up]. Sadly, Mama Orana also put a new curse on me in the process, but as we try to find a way to break the supposedly strong curse of the ring, a witch¡¯s curse she made on the fly shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Curses grow stronger with preparation, according to her books. She had only some of my blood and maybe she could strengthen it a bit with a hair of mine, but for some reason, biological information is the weakest link to empower a curse. It¡¯s better to have a favorite doll of the victim than having a whole arm. [Black Magic] is strange.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Rine-chan has finished wiping her tears and gives me back my handkerchief. I put it back into my pocket in the vest and smile at her: ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
¡°Yes!¡± She has a bit of her vigor back.
My [Weather Forecast]-skill tells me that in eight hours there will be rain again, a heavy shower. I hope that we find shelter before then, as raindrops falling on tents are noisy and somehow find their way inside despite the number of preparations you do, even if you dig a trench around the tent. Evenings like that are usually bad-mooded and busy for all the wrong reasons.
I feel a small tingle just before a voice whispers into my ear, it¡¯s Ken who used his [Whisper]-spell on me. ¡°Soldiers from Ohlbr¨¹cken, they¡¯ll take care.¡± Only a short message, but I believe it¡¯s the nature of that spell. I look in the direction the [Spouse-Location] tells me, but I¡¯m not sure whether the two dots are him and Arako or not. The distance and the darkened sky make it hard to tell.
¡°Ken just [Whisper]ed me. The bandits are taken care of, let¡¯s wait for them.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
I take a stool from the [Inventory] to sit on while Rine-chan gets her tailor¡¯s kit, which also includes a blanket to sit on. She examines one of Ken¡¯s shirts, there is a tear in the middle. She sighs once and gets some long cloth-like stripes from her kit, snips off a bit, wetting that piece, and starts rubbing it over the tear, connecting both sides of the shirts. This is an alfr cloth which is made out of leaves, it has some strange properties like that.
While she does her thing, I¡¯ll read a bit in one of the books of magic. It¡¯s written in bad handwriting with letters of this world, but I¡¯m somewhat capable of reading it slowly but fluently. This is a long-winded explanation about how curses work in general, though I already know the gist. It¡¯s about altering probability, causing misfortune, though I don¡¯t really know how it works. A curse can even make other magical forces work differently, giving [Black Magic] a wide array of effects which are at the end rather detrimental and harmful. Yes, of course, they can cause damage, but it¡¯s the damage of bad luck instead of being reduced to dust by elemental forces. It¡¯s possible to use it to cause a spontaneous self-combustion, but that would be only possible if the caster has the best possible conditions or is powerful enough to level a mountain if he¡¯d use all that talent in [Elemental Magic]...
¡°*Sigh*...¡± Why am I even bothering, the only class, which is capable of being upgraded to [Witch] seems to be [Herbalist], which is already a class-up. A second one will take a while, I need to be level 100, while I¡¯m just barely 55. I like to say that I¡¯m up to the task, that I¡¯m halfway there, but to get this far, I needed about five months, while getting levels becomes more and more difficult. Yes, I got eight levels in the two weeks in the swamps, but this was against strong monsters I wouldn¡¯t be even able to take on alone, and without Ken¡¯s expertise of hunting monsters, we may all have died.
Why is he so capable anyways! I mean, yes, he was on his own for two months, this much is true... No, don¡¯t think fondly about how cool he looks here and there, how he has these muscles that show power but also a certain tenderness! I need to cool down, this is just the ring telling me that I desire him.
Ken is still the same as before... well, actually, he has changed quite a bit, seeing how- No, another topic! I put the book back, I can¡¯t get into it right now. Instead, I take my current creation out: A sock I¡¯m knitting. I¡¯m not good at this, but there are only few things you can do for entertainment and when your eyes hurt from too much reading or it¡¯s too dark for it, as a campfire doesn¡¯t create the best reading atmosphere, you don¡¯t want to go through the tedious work of making medicine, and when you have no desire to talk either, you¡¯ll face a problem. No smartphone for checking stuff on the net, no TV to mindlessly look at, therefore no DVD-recorder for re-watching your favorite shows, and drawing comes with other difficulties like how paper is too valuable for some bad drawing with coal-pens.
Knitting isn¡¯t that fun, but it¡¯s something you can do almost always and the socks will be practical when winter arrives. Also, counting stitches always helps to take your mind off everything else.
Knit, knit. Before coming into this world, I hadn¡¯t an idea of how much you have to do to survive. Seeds have to grow, animals that give meat have to be hunted or raised, clothes have to be tailored, socks have to be knitted. In modern Japan, this is the concern of few who started to rely more and more on technical devices and scientific knowledge. While those things also exist in this world, they¡¯re more primitive, I think. How much has to be done to raise from the medieval age to the modern era? The fantasy world has magic, but it also has monsters. There are people capable of impossible physical feats, but there are big differences between cultures and even several species. Gods like Muaotef are about... A shiver runs through my body, it happens every time I think of that draconic deity.
Knit, knit. Ah, I¡¯ve miscounted, so time to drop some stitches... here we go. Am I happy with my current life? There are definitely some things that bother me, some things I¡¯d like to fix like these stitches, but is this better than struggling in Esse because I can¡¯t raise my level, taking a job as a [Cook] somewhere to make ends meet? Or return to the rest of the class, the non-combatants, with my tail between my legs, admitting that I can do nothing useful?
Knit, knit. Oh, this looks good. The knitting, not the prospect of achieving nothing at all. While it would have been safer, it would have also broken my pride, I may have lost something inside me. This way, I¡¯m at least somewhat... OK, is it me, or is it the ring again!? I want to scream as now every time I try to be positive about the current situation, this shadow of doubt is lurking at the border of my thoughts!
Knit, kni- Ah! I messed up again! I¡¯m about to throw my knitting away, but I control myself and put it on my lap instead, then I take some deep breaths while looking to the sky. All the stress is culminating right now, I need to do something to get rid of it. How about some music...
HA! HA!
Usually, I can cope with all of that, but after the swamps, I¡¯m mentally tired. I need to do something different.
¡°Hey.¡± Now an unwelcome voice grinds in my ears. It¡¯s Ken with Arako in tow, I look at him and for a moment I consider either punching or kissing him, though the last thought is only fleeting. We already kissed, it wasn¡¯t that great and we never talk about it... maybe we should at some point, because this old, already put aside topic is fresh in my mind again.
With an irritated look, Ken turns away from me to Rine-chan, who puts her things back in her backpack. She returns his look and starts smiling slightly: ¡°Kenta, Ara, welcome back.¡± It sounds like she really feels a bit better.
¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He just replies curtly. Then he grabs my hand for a daily WP, though it makes my heartbeat unwillingly stronger. Just why him? Ken isn¡¯t my type at all. However, now I can¡¯t help but think of his very well hidden good traits... strong, smart, reliable, responsible... it¡¯s the same as before, but aren¡¯t that actually really good traits? If he just would smile once, then maybe he would have at least a bit of handsomeness... He always looks like he has eaten something sour he doesn¡¯t even like.
Nonetheless, I walk with him, hand in hand. It¡¯s the one hour of the day, where we regularly have a conversation. ¡°There will be heavy rain in eight hours.¡± He¡¯s always interested in things like that, so it¡¯s a good ice-breaker.
¡°Precious... if Ara-san and I are right, there is bound to be a trade route within a few hours. Let¡¯s hope we¡¯ll find it and shelter somewhere on it.¡± On all greater trade routes are inns and resting places so that caravans and traders can rest during their journey. ¡°Remind me to ask about the Merchant¡¯s League next time we have a chance.¡±
¡°The one Correo may be part of?¡±
¡°Exactly. If they put a bounty on us and have all that information, he¡¯s likely part of the club. ...I wish I¡¯d known back then that he was more than a greedy merchant...¡±
¡°What would have you done? Kill him?¡±
He shrugs his shoulders. ¡°Don¡¯t know. Still...¡± Correo is responsible for three major incidents we faced: The battle of Aroahenn, being hunted by mercenaries, and the fight in Goldbrunn, which caused the Crusaders to find and chase Ken. While I don¡¯t know how much he¡¯s involved in the third one, the actions of his oni are his responsibility. No wonder that Ken is bitter, I would also take any chance to bite that man¡¯s nose off.
¡°What would you do if you meet him again?¡±
¡°Kill him.¡±
¡°If you say that, be serious about it.¡± I¡¯m good at reading Ken¡¯s intentions by now, and I know that while he said it, he actually doesn¡¯t know what to do. There is something else in his voice... ¡°Are you alright?¡±
¡°Why do you ask?¡±
¡°Just a hunch.¡±
¡°...¡± He thinks for a moment and shrugs his shoulders again, dismissing my inquiry. ¡°There is a flock.¡± He points at the sky, are these skylarks with feather crowns? They¡¯re flying north as well, are they migrant birds like the ones from my world? Why north, though? Ken opens his mouth again: ¡°Lead me while I try to find the trade route. [Share Senses]!¡±
¡°Thank you for waiting for my reply.¡± Nonetheless, I¡¯m more mindful of where Ken is going.
¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Asshole. ¡°...¡± He¡¯s obviously annoyed.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t make the animal turn its head, which is really stupid about that spell. It¡¯s already bad enough as it is with the filter.¡±
¡°Then try without it, at least I¡¯d have something to laugh at then.¡± It was amusing to see Ken rolling in pain on the ground when he first tried to use [Share Senses].
¡°No thank you.¡± The focus of his eyes returns. ¡°Couldn¡¯t find it. Doesn¡¯t mean much, though.¡±
In front of us, Rine-chan seems to be a bit flustered about what Arako told her. Ken scratches his head. He most likely listened into it, his ears are too good. Yet I ask him: ¡°Can¡¯t you just stop with eavesdropping?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not like I want to. I mean, who cares about what Rine did with her horse, or if keeping animals is a form of slavery or not?¡±
¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re talking about?¡±
¡°Rine is losing the discussion.¡±
¡°Hasn¡¯t she already lost when Arako started with it?¡±
¡°Practically.¡± Both of us know that Arako would only start such a conversation when she¡¯s confident that she would end it. A prime example of how she ¡®teases¡¯ her friends.
¡°Back to my question, can¡¯t you just stop? It¡¯s their conversation.¡± That eavesdropping is annoying in general. I¡¯d like to have some private talk even if Ken is around.
¡°I could, but first, Ara-san is also listening into our conversation, and in terms of pure hearing, she¡¯s better than me, and I like to listen to my surroundings as well.¡±
¡°Why can¡¯t you leave it to Arako for a change.¡±
His face is priceless, it¡¯s like he can¡¯t even begin to understand the concept of relying on others. While it¡¯s funny, it¡¯s also sad in a sense. ¡°Why should I?¡±
¡°Because you should relax sometimes, take things easier.¡±
¡°Might work. Maybe for an hour, maybe for a day. Heck, it might work all the time. However, it¡¯s not Ara-san¡¯s job to keep me alive. It¡¯s my responsibility.¡±
¡°You keep me alive as well.¡± He¡¯s fought several monsters that threatened me.
¡°Because my life is also dependent on yours? At least most likely. Curse, forgot?¡± How could I? My constant reminder is the ring I can¡¯t take off. When Ken and I are separated, the ring will make both of us suffer. So there is no telling what happens if one of us dies.
Yet it hurts a bit to have it said so bluntly into my face. ¡°Yes, yes, you hate me, everything is old stuff.¡± I put some annoyance into it: ¡°Anything else you¡¯d like to comment?¡±
¡°Actually yes. What the fuck, Kyou-san!?¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°When I showed myself in front of the soldiers, they...¡± Ken seems to be troubled to find the right words: ¡°...erm, they treated me like some kind of hero, I mean, the kind who actually helps people.¡±
¡°So, what does it have to do with me?¡±
¡°I noticed a change in how people treated me since Goldbrunn. Right the moment you¡¯ve got the [Rumor Mill]- and [Glorification]-skills!¡±
¡°Ah, that.¡± In fact, I have subconsciously used these skills to spread some rumors, which would make people believe that the ¡®Red Ranger¡¯ is someone who helps people, though with... creative ways. I used the admiration of the people for rangers and the dissatisfaction with the Crusaders to spin a web of lies, including rumors of dark rangers, girls that transformed into monsters, and maybe some more.
Don¡¯t get me wrong, I didn¡¯t do it for him, I did it because Ken bears the title of the ¡®Red Ranger¡¯ whether I like it or not, and I won¡¯t let anyone tarnish that name. Who would have thought that it reached Ohlbr¨¹cken¡¯s people as well? In fact, I¡¯m happy about it, as with the ¡®Red Ranger¡¯ being Ken, he needs the best publicity possible.
Now how to answer him? ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±
¡°...¡± Oh, another priceless expression. ¡°Tell me what you told them!¡±
¡°No.¡±
I can see some of his thoughts, like how he wants to hit me, but he can¡¯t as he still has his pride. Then he thinks about tricking me, but he knows that he can¡¯t win against me in a war of words, Ken¡¯s a loner, I¡¯m a popular girl, we¡¯re worlds apart in terms of social skills, so he usually loses our disputes. Then he ponders if he can annoy the heck out of me, but it would be just mutual pain. I won¡¯t back down.
Just why is it so hard for him to just say ¡®please¡¯?
Volume 07 - Chapter 2-1 – Message to the Person we Expect
Chapter 2 ¨C Message to the Person we Expect
Inoue Masahiko and his friends are finally out of the Deeptrails. After days in darkness and torchlight, they¡¯re now greeted with the burning sun, but Masahiko already had that experience once after leaving Kraggwas, the city of the dari, and was mentally prepared this time.
In days of old, the Deeptrails would have been lit, but Masahiko is glad for the dark ride nonetheless, as he¡¯s now so much closer to Kyou. He and his friends are in a rocky wasteland, supposedly close to a canyon from what Correo told them before.
Suddenly, Teruko steps forward and braces her spear. She asks: ¡°Who is there?¡± Masahiko looks in the direction she¡¯s looking at and two people come out from behind a large rock. One of them is large, not as tall as Masahiko or Daichi, but with a massive build, his hair is long, a bit of a beard around his chin. His armor looks strong, though it¡¯s mostly monster-skin with some metal here and there. It¡¯s hard to see the face, as his blonde-tipped hair is black and covers most of it.
The other man has even longer hair, bound together. He also has a beard, though it looks like he wants to cultivate it, while the other just didn¡¯t shave. His armor is light and resembles a bit of a robe. However, Masahiko recognizes his face and starts smiling: ¡°Yoshimura-kun! Then you have to be Hoshibashi-kun! Man, I can¡¯t believe it! You¡¯re looking great.¡± They have to be the reinforcement Correo has been talking about.
Both of them vanished after the princess hunt, so Masahiko was afraid that they had died, so it makes him really happy that they¡¯re here. They also look very strong. Though there is something strange about them like they¡¯re not the classmates Masahiko used to know, but on the other hand, would anyone recognize himself right away?
Yoshimura-kun gives a smile, it¡¯s very confident: ¡°Inoue Masahiko, it has been a lifetime.¡±
¡°You¡¯re exaggerating.¡±
Teruko starts relaxing, though Daichi is looking at Hoshibashi-kun, most likely interested if he would still be stronger. Hoshibashi-kun used to mesh with rather violent people, but he wasn¡¯t all that bad himself, so there was no reason to be alarmed.
Eri and Katsuo are exchanging glances, then Eri gets closer to Masahiko, whispering something into his ear: ¡°Something is strange about them and why they¡¯re here. Keep your guard up.¡±
Masahiko accepts her opinion, but he also thinks that Eri¡¯s too careful. Although she¡¯s also smarter than him, so he doesn¡¯t dismiss her advice completely. She¡¯s right, both of them look different from before, a sense of danger surrounds them, but they were on their own for about three months.
Hoshibashi-kun comes closer, the way he moves is full of power, it reminds a lot of Daichi, in a sense. Daichi walks sharply, while Hoshibashi-kun is dull yet feels as if he¡¯s charging up with every step.
Hoshibashi-kun scratches his head, then he greets them: ¡°Hey.¡± He doesn¡¯t say anything else, as if he doesn¡¯t know how to start a conversation.
Masahiko takes his hand and shakes it firmly. A second later, Hoshibashi-kun returns it and his grip is strong! ¡°Welcome aboard! It¡¯s amazing to see you two here! You know what this is about?¡±
¡°The princess, right?¡±
¡°Ah, I see. It¡¯s painful to say, but there is something more important to us, it¡¯s Momokawa Kyou. She¡¯s somehow involved, so our priority is to save her.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Yoshimura-kun chimes in. ¡°This makes matters more complicated. Inoue-san, it may be strange, but we should first catch up with each other. I¡¯d also be interested in how your party fights, as my partner and I are used to fight only as a pair. We also faced Katsuragi¡¯s party before, so we need to figure out who has the most recent news about him.¡±
¡°Faced them?¡±
¡°Correct, it was a bit unfortunate how it all went. Be careful, he¡¯s not the boy we used to know from school.¡±
Correo, who was observing the youngsters before, claps into his hands to gain the attention: ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand me, I¡¯m all for a reunion and think we can take the time, but as I¡¯m the oldest here, I want to suggest we first go to the camp. There we can talk, refresh ourselves, and I¡¯ll take care of moderating the conversation so that we¡¯re doing it chronologically. It''ll be easier to understand and might shed some light on the developments of the Katsuragi-party, as it¡¯s important to know your enemy.¡±
Masahiko doesn¡¯t agree to see Katsuragi-kun and his companions as enemies right now, but he¡¯s willing to converse. His lack of knowledge is the reason why he can¡¯t even decide which approach would be the best.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Yoshimura Rentaro isn''t anymore, instead another person has taken his place: Lent Wood, the [Wizard], a true hero who also has the [Merchant] and [Warlord]-classes. He''s the [Warlord] of the ooaks of the newly named Woodkiller-clan, porcine people who wage war on an army of undead. The war is still in progress, as a mighty death knight called Laharel is their general, yet Lent and his troops had the upper hand.
Therefore he''s discontent how he and his partner were sent here, but he''s also a servant of Kami-sama, a deity who rules over the city the undead wants to reclaim for themselves. Nonetheless, Kami-sama isn''t concerned about the undead and has more interest in seizing Katarine von Stolzherz, the crown-princess of Feuerberg, instead of purging the manifestation she doesn''t even see as a threat. So Lent followed her order and let his adjutant, The Boss, take care of the undead for the time being.
Following the description Correo gave them, he and his partner¡ªthe former Hoshibashi Takashi, nowadays Star Killer¡ªcame to this meeting spot. They also already knew that Correo wanted to get more of Feuerberg''s heroes as reinforcements to be on the safe side.
While Lent thinks he and Star are more than enough, he also likes the thought of ganging up on Katsuragi and his girls. Of course, only if necessary, as Lent hopes to convince them to join Kami-sama, especially as this would benefit his hero quest, convince twenty heroes to join Kami-sama''s cause.
On the other hand, Star has to kill a hundred heroes. This mission is to further both quests, though the inclusion of Inoue and his party makes it more complicated. However, if the memories of his former self are right, everyone hates Katsuragi...
Lent needs to balance everything out during this mission, be prepared to change plans immediately. At least Inoue and his posse won''t harm Momokawa Kyou... Lent needs to see her, as his former self was infatuated by her, but was not good enough. However, Yoshimura Rentaro was weak in body and mind. Lent Wood is powerful, a true hero.
For now, he has to play the role of that weakling, as he wants to use the minor heroes who will rather trust a former classmate than a much more powerful being. This way, he can manipulate them, pushing them in the direction he needs them to go, maybe even convincing one or two to join Kami-sama... or kill them if they get in the way.
He sure hopes that he will have an opportunity to talk to Correo without any of them listening, as the merchant certainly is pulling the strings as well. However, Lent might be willing to share them if he knows what Correo is after, as both of them are servants of Kami-sama.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°There is a small river ahead,¡± I tell the girls while using my [Farsight], looking for the trade road.
¡°Finally,¡± Kyou-san says, her tone tells me that we have to do that. I know we need to do it sometimes, especially now, as we¡¯ve emerged from the swamp, but seriously, I have no desire to even think about it. ¡°Laundry time!¡± I knew it...
Ara-san falls head-first to the ground, she looks like she just suddenly died. Rine is surprised: ¡°Ara, is everything alright?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Rine-chan,¡± Kyou-san says while smiling. ¡°She¡¯s just pretending. Arako, I have [Check up], so you should know that it won¡¯t work on me. But if you¡¯re too tired to walk, I¡ªconsiderate as I am¡ªwill do you a favor and drag you to the river by your foot.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°...this sounds hurtful.¡±
¡°Then drop your act and start walking.¡±
¡°...yes, yes.¡± Ara-san stands up and her slightly wriggling ears tell me that she¡¯s a bit amused. I think she¡¯s going to slack off the laundry again.
Laundry... the single most tedious task in a fantasy world! Forget fighting monsters, escaping Crusaders, life-endangering situations, this is the real deal!
OK, I¡¯m exaggerating, but seriously: Laundry sucks! As there is no washing machine in this world, it has to be done by muscle strength... unless there is a spell we still need to learn that does it for you.
The reason why we waited until we had a large body of water? We only can carry small washbasins in our [Inventory]. Items have to fit inside the opening of the backpack, after all. With Ara-san¡¯s [Create Water]-spell, we can usually do laundry every time we want. Still, as even the [Inventory] with its pocket dimension has limited space in the end, we only have three basins, which would be enough usually... however, we were in the swamps.
Let¡¯s face it, we stink! All of our clothes reek like something that was forgotten behind a refrigerator for months. Yet it was not worth even trying to do laundry in the swamps, so bit by bit, everything became swamp-tainted and with so many pieces and so little basins, it¡¯ll be a pain in the ass.
Now we have a creek which will make things easier. We approach it. There seems to be no monsters around either. ¡°I¡¯ll set the net.¡± The current isn¡¯t particularly strong, but just to be on the safe side. If someone drops the laundry, it will be caught by the net.
¡°Alright, we¡¯ll set up the rest.¡± Kyou-san is the only one eager to do it, I think she might be sick of the stench. Well, I¡¯m also not fond of it.
After I¡¯m finished, the girls have put washing boards, some small blocks of soap, and the washing basins, one of them is full of our dirty clothes. We don¡¯t need a clothesline as long as we have Ara-san¡¯s [Dry]-spell.
Time to start. At the beginning, all of us kneel at the shore and start holding them inside the water. I can already see how the dirt is spreading into the former clear creek. Then some soap, and here comes the washing board: ¡°Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!¡± With repeated strong movements, more dirt is removed, bubbles form on the creek¡¯s surface. Some of you may complain about environmental pollution, but I have to say something to those of you: Shut up!
After some scrubbing, rinse the piece of clothing, check if you missed something, put it into the basin for the cleaned clothes. Ara-san will dry them later and check whether they belong in the backpack or the third basin so that Rine can fix them up.
Sounds easy? Well, you have to do it for every single piece of clothing. We change underwear regularly, mine reminds of trunks, for girls it¡¯s a bit more like briefs. Kyou-san and Rine also wear corsets. Then there are the shirts, I sweat enough to change it daily rather than every two days, same for Kyou-san. Why do I know that? Because we all share the [Inventory], of course I¡¯m bound to learn way too much about stuff like that.
In this fantasy world, some materials are sturdy enough to grant protections to cuts even if they¡¯re thin. Reminds me of those bulletproof suits in my world, Rine¡¯s bodysuits and Kyou-san¡¯s strange sleeve-like arm-things¡ªI really don¡¯t know the proper name¡ªare examples of how it complements their armor with good protection. Same goes for Ara-san¡¯s dress. Due to my [Armor]-ability, I don¡¯t need something like that, I can move fine. Rine may also have the necessary [Armor]-skill, but she has had the armor way longer than the hero-status.
Therefore the girls also have clothes that they don¡¯t change often but clean regularly. Well, the same for me and my hood. Kyou-san also takes good care of her scarf.
Then there are Rine¡¯s and Kyou-san¡¯s other clothes, and... well, it¡¯s a tedious task. Also, there is an added problem: Our armors also reek, cleaning mine is a thing I do every evening, but it doesn¡¯t do much about the odor, it¡¯s about maintenance and getting the dirt out of it. Now we also need to eliminate the stench...
After a while, Ara-san begins drying our clothes, while Rine switches to [Tailor] to mend the rips. Kyou-san and I stoically continue with scrubbing. After an hour or so of hard and straining work, we¡¯re almost finished. The armors are done, even our boots, but there is still something we need to take care of: The things we wear.
¡°Ken, my suggestion: You¡¯ll go upstream until we can hardly see each other, do your washing there, then clean your body. We do the same here. No [Farsight] allowed.¡±
¡°Gladly.¡± While it would be interesting to look at the naked girls, it¡¯s just my lust speaking. I have some decency in that regard! Also, that means some solitude, I need it! I¡¯ve been craving for it for two weeks!
I take a washing board and basin in addition to my backpack. I already have a spare set of clothes in the [Inventory], freshly washed and dried, so there is no problem.
As the region becomes more hilly, it¡¯s not too hard to find a spot where I have my privacy. After undressing, I wash my stuff, put it into the basin, and then step inside the creek. It¡¯s cold. While my hands are used to the temperature due to all the washing, it¡¯s strange how cold my feet feel. Well, time to sit...
It¡¯s almost the same as the chill at the balls when you enter a swimming pool. I grind my teeth a bit and concentrate on enduring the feeling until my body adapts to the cold. ¡°Phew...¡± Then I lie down, my whole body feels a shock as everything submerges, but I still feel the creek floor with my ass, my breathing is a bit irregular for a moment, then I have full control over my body... Ah, refreshing.
I look at the cloudy sky. Kyou-san said it¡¯ll rain, but this opportunity was too good to pass up. Also, finally some me-time, I¡¯d better just push these thoughts away. My head becomes blank, at this moment, I just exist. Like all of my burdens vanished within a second, I feel some sort of peace, a moment with only me and nature. I hear my heartbeat and the water rushing at my ear. I see the clouds and the birds. I feel the wind in my face.
...boring. Even after all that time, I¡¯m not a nature-guy. I¡¯m a city-kid, a homebody. I can¡¯t help but think about my poor computer and consoles which are alone at home, nobody who will play the heck out of them... well, not like I put feelings onto objects, that¡¯d be crazy, but somehow it feels a tad better if I just pretend that they miss me instead of me missing them. Despite that, I still feel no real homesickness, maybe a bit of regret...
Since coming to this world, I¡¯ve been at the mercy of whatever happened with and around me. First, the hero-system which changed my mind to not feel homesickness anymore, giving me the mindset and body of someone who can actually fight monsters. Then the curse which first tried to kill me, later married me to Kyou-san and the others afterward, and now behaves if I stay close to my wives, even rewarding me when we¡¯re close... Then Muaotef, who used me for some kind of scheme. The church, Fake, Correo, the alfar, the mercenaries, the oni, the Crusaders, Crunch, Luuto, all together it¡¯s a net of necessities, forces, and choices.
If RPG-heroes were real, they would go mad. I almost feel like one, here a quest, there a story-twist, here the area which should be explored later...
I¡¯m still OK. I can keep moving. Everything I do is for my return. At this point, it might have been easier to just forge the girls and me to an actual party and beat the crap out of the demon king. However... I look at the cursed ring, the ring with the face of a lion which I can¡¯t remove... is it a distraction or part of my journey?
Let¡¯s face it, in terms of levels I slowed down since finding the ring while the dangers multiplied. On the other side, I learned about class-ups, the hero-system. I gained experience fighting many different foes. I think I¡¯ve built up something more valuable than mere levels...
Maybe I¡¯ll never know whether this journey is worth it or not, as there are a myriad of ways to accumulate real-life experience, but only one reliable way to gain levels: Killing.
I stand up from the creek and knead my face with my hands a bit. It doesn¡¯t feel good but helps me focus. Well, time to wash my body, need to get off the swamp-aroma. Soap, hair-soap, washcloth, and go.
After cleaning myself, I feel much better. It¡¯s almost like I¡¯ve rinsed away everything that happened inside the swamps. ...well, there is still something I should polish to get rid of a certain kind of impurity. Let¡¯s fuel it a bit... I think how the girls may play a bit in the rivers, stark naked, filling out the details that I¡¯ve never seen... here it is.
I may have some decency, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I don¡¯t let things out once in a while. Two weeks! I wasn¡¯t able to do it for two weeks despite all the input I got! Now it¡¯s time to escape to my fantasies... which fictional girl?
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
Well, the deed is gone, though it¡¯s tough to slap another girl¡¯s face onto a fantasy that derives from certain real-life scenes. Nonetheless, I feel calmer. Now I¡¯ll take a piss and finish my me-time. I¡¯m a bit tempted to just leak inside the river, but I decide to just do it next to it.
¡°Kentaaaaa! ... !?¡±
What timing... Rine climbs the raise, most likely to call for me, seeing my naked backside. ¡°Look away.¡± I¡¯m not embarrassed at this point, as, sadly, this isn¡¯t the first time she caught me pissing, it¡¯s just a matter of time when traveling together. Yet I¡¯m mindful about how her eyes are glued to my ass. I¡¯m inclined to ask for a fee or to see hers in return, but she might actually do it, which would be way too awkward.
¡°But Kenta, you told me to observe you.¡±
Now I¡¯m slightly angry: ¡°You know that this isn¡¯t what I meant!¡±
¡°I know, but it¡¯s so hard to look away!¡± You just slipped your thoughts like it was normal... well, I guess my [Ranger]-ass has some attraction to some girls. Well, time to change to [Student], my whole body bloats a bit, it¡¯s my true, nonathletic form, including belly.
Suddenly, I feel my face reddening a bit. While I thought that changing to an unattractive form would make her stop staring, it also feels more real now, as she¡¯s staring at the person who I really am. Without clothes. Why is she still staring!?
Change of plans. [Ranger]-class, [Distraction]! This [Stealth]-skill diverts the attention for roughly a second. Now I move closer to my backpack, [Camouflage], [Mask of Wildlife]. My body changes colors to match my surroundings while my spirit meshes with the grass, not the best environment, but I take what I can get.
I dive for my backpack, quickly selecting my underwear from the [Inventory] and put it on. Covered! ...why do I make such a fuss about Rine seeing my ass? Well, now I can turn to her without risking to expose that particular portion. Even the rest of my body is hard to make out, as it looks like I have a full body-paint. In that sense, [Camouflage] has a unique secondary-effect: Making it harder for peeping-toms! What a useless application...
While [Camouflage] is a skill that costs many SP to activate, the upkeep is neglectable. Therefore I continue running it: ¡°Is it easier now to stop staring?¡±
¡°Ah, sorry. I... I couldn¡¯t help myself. Kenta, we¡¯re finished, you can get dressed.¡±
Exactly what I had in mind... seriously, what a waste of time and SP... Also, why do they send someone when I could still be naked!?
Volume 07 - Chapter 2-2
After a long walk, we arrived at the trade route and from there at an inn. This is welcome, as Kyou-san''s precognition of the weather sure is right, the sky looks like it wants to drown us, building up more and more strength to do so.
Some negotiations later, we got a room, though it''s usually used by two people, so with double the amount, there is barely enough room to move. However, this was the only room we could get, as this inn is packed with people who want to wait out the rainstorm.
The bed situation... To gain some WP, I sleep next to Ara-san and Kyou-san, which isn''t usually a problem, but adding Rine''s bad sleeping habits, which causes her to kill everything harmful or fast-moving close to her, everything becomes a headache.
While the two beds have enough safety-space between them, we would need three people squeezing into one bed, which would be very, very, very uncomfortable, but we can''t move the beds either, they''re anchored to the ground and wall, same as the two cupboards and trunks.
Yes, we could sleep on the ground, but even for two people, the room would be tiny. With three, one of us would have to sleep close to the beds, therefore much too close to Rine.
There is also too little room to sleep under a bed... the most logical thing to do is that one of us two share people share each bed. They''ll be squeezing nonetheless, but it also spells death for the one who shares with Rine... ¡°OK, let''s do the most sensible thing here... Kyou-san and Ara-san one bed, Rine the other, I''ll sleep at the door, let''s skip these WP today.¡± This way, everyone can sleep peacefully. Nobody has to die, I don''t have to get too close with someone else, it''s perfect.
Except that Ara-san dares to traise a complaint! ¡°Kenta-kun, while I think of Momo as a friend, sleeping that close to a human appears to be dangerous.¡±
Kyou-san looks at Ara-san as if the other girl has bitten into a stone, thinking it was a hamburger: ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡±
¡°Momo, you''re a human, right?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°You see.¡±
¡°You''ve just skipped some sentences in your reasoning.¡±
¡°Do I have to explain the same points over and over again? Despite all your better sides of your personalities, humans are driven by their sexual desires, causing them to think about sexual intercourse around the clock, being turned on by the other and the same sex in addition to other species, like animals or alfar. Do you understand the source of my concerns?¡±
¡°I see, Arako. I haven''t thought about this.¡± Kyou-san is smiling friendly, so she''s pissed. Her hands move at an inhuman speed, trying to reach Ara-san''s ears, but the alfr is prepared, stepping back, which causes her to stumble as the room is too small and her leg hits a bed. She falls backward and hits her head against the wall. ¡°Arako!¡±
¡°Uhhh...¡± Ara-san groans while holding the back of her head. ¡°My poor brain.¡± She tries to stand up but seems to be troubled.
¡°You should just sit. You have a concussion, so just be calm. [Heal]!¡± How good does that spell work on concussions? [Heal] is good for fights, as it closes wounds and heals minor injuries, but doesn''t do much for many other things.
I exchange a look with Rine who isn''t paying attention to any of this, seeing how her facial expression changes, she''s conflicted with her own fantasies.
Well, I''m sick of all of it. ¡°[Doff]!¡± This is an [Armor]-skill, which opens all the belts and straps of my armor, which is practical to save time. My red armor slips from my body and I put it into my backpack, the same as my hood and weapons except for my steel knife. ¡°I don''t know about you, but I''ll head to the common room.¡±
¡°Have fun,¡± Kyou-san just says while examining Ara-san''s head.
I leave the room and breathe the wife-free air. It''s warm and stuffy, but I really need some more me-time, bathing wasn''t enough after all. Now that we''re out of the swamps, I plan to add some more scouting into the schedule again to get away from them from time to time to recharge my batteries.
Well, time for the common room. I walk down the stairs and see a packed room with all sorts of people, I guess most are merchants, but for some reason, there are more folkmen than usual around here. Folkmen are small people, almost like halflings from games, but they''re strong! Each of them would be able to lift and hurl me through the room.
¡°Hey!¡± Suddenly a voice cuts through the air and I see an old man who wears a poncho. The hair is wild, he has a beard, I think I might know him... I try to search my memory, but... ¡°Red Ranger, good to see you.¡±
Now, that rang a bell! He''s the geezer from Goldbrunn, just an acquaintance, but for some reason, he puts his arm around my shoulders, leading me to a table. ¡°Hey!¡± I try to escape, but for a geezer, his grip is surprisingly firm.
¡°Don''t fret, I''m just happy to see you again. Where are your girls?¡±
¡°...why are you asking this?¡± Why is he immediately asking about my companions? Is he maybe a bounty hunter who didn''t realize in Goldbrunn who we were... but wasn''t he a beggar? ¡°Why are you even here, you don''t have money, right?¡±
¡°Earned some. Also, I want to see some pretty faces, nothing against yours, but... actually, speaking of it, your face has that certain something. Add some more wildness in your eyes, some blood of your enemies to your face, and you would look great!¡±
¡°Are you joking?¡±
¡°Half. Sit down, sit down.¡± I''m inclined to decline, but let''s see where this is going. ¡°Eza, you beautiful plum! Come here, girl, you have a new customer!¡±
A plumb woman comes, she looks at the geezer with a stern but also amused look. She turns to me: ¡°How can I help you?¡±
¡°Something to eat and a beer.¡± I might be a minor, but I''ve given up asking for juice or tea. Beer is water that tastes like something, at least. Also, in this world, people my age drink beverages as the concept of adulthood is a bit different here.
¡°Sure. Today we serve roasted hammleton meat together with some underneep salad¡° I guess hammleton is a monster, while underneep is some kind of vegetable. ¡°Alternatively, you can choose bread with cheese and underneep soup.¡± Why is it always bread and cheese?
¡°I''ll take the meat.¡± After giving my offer, the geezer tries to pinch the woman''s behind, though she blocked it while smiling at him.
The geezer grins at me then. ¡°You know, boy, the trick with girls is to be enough of a brat that they''ll forgive you if you''re mischievous.¡±
¡°And why should I care?¡±
¡°Well, considering our former conversation, I thought you needed some advice.¡±
¡°Forget that conversation.¡±
¡°But-¡±
¡°Forget! It!¡± I just remembered our last talk, when I asked him where I could find a prostitute. I just wanted to get rid of my virginity, but it ended with me fighting Correo''s oni, which caused the Crusaders to be on my trail. An incident I want to wipe out of my memory entirely.
Worse of it, if any of the girls know about it... I can''t really imagine what will happen, but I don''t want to find out... most likely a never-ending flow of jokes at my expenses from Kyou-san and Ara-san, and too many accusing looks from Rine.
This would be a pain!
¡°I will, under one condition... Did you succeed?¡± I try to keep a poker face, but the geezer may have seen my answer despite that. ¡°I understand. Well, sometimes things don''t go right! So let''s talk about your girls instead, how far are you with them?¡±
Why is he... OK, let''s just be especially rude to him: ¡°That''s none of your bloody business.¡±
¡°Boy,¡± he says in a dead-serious voice: ¡°I''m just curious.¡± The content of his words is the opposite of his tone! ¡°Well, if you''re shy, then let me just talk a bit to myself and you may take what you like out of it.¡±
¡°Shut up!¡±
¡°You know, in my younger days, I had many women. However-¡±
¡°I said, shut up!¡±
¡°-I was just a piece of shit, who-¡±
¡°Shut-up-shut-up-shut-up-shu-¡±
¡°Here is your order!¡± Interrupting the both of us is that server woman who put a plate in front of me, greasy meat with some sliced turnip-alikes, mixed with something that looks similar to cabbage, all soaked in some sort of dressing. She also puts two mugs full of beer on the table. ¡°Also, be quiet! Save it for later.¡±
¡°Yes, Eza-dear.¡±
¡°Hmph.¡± It''s not my fault that this old fart can''t take a hint.
¡°Ah, Eza was pissed. This is why you''re not popular.¡±
¡°Who needs popularity?¡± I cut my meat and try some of it, it''s bland and the amount of fat makes it hard to have a good bite, but that''s the food quality of this world.
¡°Wouldn''t it be better if people liked you?¡±
OK, what''s with this geezer? I look at him and the more I look at him, the more dirty and fringed he appears. ¡°Why? What does it change?¡±
¡°It''ll change how they''ll remember you.¡±
¡°That''s stupid.¡± I can''t get my head around that. Why does it matter? It''s not like I dismiss human bonds entirely, but trying to act a certain way to please others is just the start of a small net of deception, which grows bigger until it captures your whole life.
¡°Give it a few years. You''re still young, you can still change.¡±
¡°Even you can change. Take a bath.¡±
¡°I can still change? Thank you.¡± OK, why is he earnestly thanking me, it gives me the creeps. ¡°Do the people here know that you''re a ranger?¡±
¡°No.¡± I hid my hood this time to be on the sure side. ¡°Would be glad if we could keep it this way.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°Why are you even here?¡± He said he was a vagabond when we first met him in Goldbrunn, but this is a strange coincidence.
¡°I''m heading to Zethtrin.¡±
...the girls and I are also going there, trying to find someone to remove the wedding-curse. It''s a big city that also has strong users of [Divine Magic] and even some [Black Magic], according to Ara-san. Kyou-san may have met that witch in the swamps, but seeing how bad she''s in orienting, which is thousand-times worse in the Spirit Swamps, it''d be a waste of time trying to look for her. Especially as the witch seemed to be incapable of doing something about the ring in the first place.
I guess there are other things in Zethtrin as well. Like the so-called games, something akin to a series of tournaments in different categories, a great festival that happens once every five years. Almost like the Olympics. Maybe the geezer wants to watch them, something like one of the things he wants to do before he dies. ¡°Zethtrin... seriously, you''re going there alone, geezer?¡± However, it''s still a big distance to cover and the geezer looks like he could die any moment.
¡°Kehehe,¡± he chuckles in a nasty way, ¡°I''ve sneaked away from my people.¡±
¡°So, you have family?¡±
¡°Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren even. However, I''m old and I hate being a burden.¡±
¡°...¡± Hate being a burden... Something about these words resonates with me. ¡°Seriously, let your family help you.¡± I try some of the salad, it''s slightly bitter, but maybe almost tasty... I''m addicted to Kyou-san''s food and I may have passed the point of no return...
¡°Nah, it''s alright.¡± The way he dismisses it makes me think that there is something to that geezer... well, he did travel from Goldbrunn over Ohlbr¨¹cken to this inn. Even with the monsters gone, it''s quite a journey... Yet there is more, how should I put it...
Something about him is off.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°The ninth wife-conference starts, the chairman is Momokawa Kyou, the secretary is me, Ara''ainn.¡± This is some sort of ritual we girls do, though it had to pause in the Spirit Swamps. With Ken in the common room, however, we can finally start it, though I treated Arako first and afterward, we took our time to change into more casual clothes.
The purpose of the formerly known Anti-Katsuragi-Kenta-Summit is to assess the current situation of the curse, how it influences us, and how to deal with Ken. ¡°Thank you, Arako. Since we haven''t had a meeting for some time, let us start by stating how we currently feel. I, for my part, feel rather troubled and insecure about the current state of things. The incident with the swamp-ss''rak and the fight with Lvo''tjos have made things awkward. How about you, Rine-chan?¡±
¡°I''m confused and I don''t know what to do. Everything used to feel so clear, now it''s all mushy and difficult. Ara?¡±
¡°I''m just glad that I stopped bleeding.¡± She''s referring to her human-like period. ¡°Chairman?¡±
¡°We need to order today''s agenda. Secretary Ara''ainn, are you willing to speak about Lvo''tjos without Ken around?¡±
¡°Chairman Momokawa, I don''t believe that this is something related to our current goals, I also have only many theories and few facts. At this point, sharing my knowledge might be more confusing than helpful.¡±
Arako is really secretive about this, but we''ve gnawed through this again and again, the only thing we could be sure of is that we stumbled upon something we shouldn''t have and for some reason, Lvo''tjos decided to not kill us over it. ¡°Then I suggest the following order. Ken: During and after the Lvo''tjos-incident, Rine-chan''s dilemma, and what to do for now.¡± There are things I don''t want to share today, like how the curse affects Rine-chan and me similarly to Arako, making us desire Ken as a man. Rine-chan has already way too much on her plate, hearing that all of her feelings for Ken are suggestions put into her mind by the ring might break her.
¡°Agreed.¡±
¡°...agreed...¡± Rine-chan is also slower on the agreement. Actually, the whole conference started out much different in tone than it used to, but at some point, we all started treating it like an official meeting, so the whole portion in itself is strange.
¡°Then let''s start with Ken. Like all of you know, the alfr-hero known as Lvo''tjos used a spell on Rine-chan and later on Ken. Secretary Ara''ainn, please tell us the specifics of the spell he wanted to cast.¡±
¡°The alfr-hero with the name Lvo''tjos proclaimed that ''love'' is the power and weakness of humans, so he wanted to delve into the spirit of the target so that it starts constructing the picture of the person the target loves the most and put it over his own appearance. It''s a psycho-emotional compulsion effect.¡±
¡°As this is a private matter, we won''t ask Rine-chan any questions.¡± At least anymore, even Rine-chan became all panicked whenever I tried to pry, she even broke out in tears and started crying. Ken doesn''t share anything he knows about her, as well. ¡°However, her reaction strikes us as unusual, though we put it aside for now as this may cause her to become unable to partake on the further conversation.¡± While she may be incapable of joining in the last point of order ''What we will do'', we need to have her talk about it at least a bit before we can make good decisions. ¡°So we analyze the state of Ken at first. Rine-chan?¡±
¡°I don''t remember much, I also didn''t pay much attention... I think he was angry, furious. Secretary Ara''ainn?¡±
¡°He appeared to be set back into a more primal form as if his rational thoughts were separated from his emotions at that moment. However, he was capable of some words, like ''kill'', which lets me assume that he had murderous intentions. He also was capable of moving with enhanced speed and he could exert more raw strength than usual.¡±
¡°As you know, I accidentally used [Empathy] on him when he was out of his rage, it caused me unbearable pain, despite him calming down. It felt like my heart was being torn apart.¡± I was unable to process any thoughts, I felt like dying. ¡°It may be related, but there could be other explanations.¡± Like before, Ken and I are biologically different, so maybe I felt like a boy and my body was incapable of expressing these strange feelings in anything but pain. ¡°However, afterward, he rebounded, though I believe that he has changed how he behaves towards Rine-chan.¡±
¡°Well, we had a talk... how should I say... he was different back then... how should I say...¡±
¡°Vulnerable?¡± This is how he looked to me right before I subconsciously used [Empathy].
¡°Yes, that. Also, he was like... like a father? If it makes sense.¡±
¡°What did he say?¡±
¡°...¡± She starts thinking hard, most likely because she''s insecure how much she wants to share: ¡°I will get used to it.¡±
¡°To what?¡±
¡°The pain.¡± This somewhat sounds just like Ken, while being the opposite of him at the same time¡ªat times he can be surprisingly deep. Getting used to everything while trying to improve at the same time, that would be the best way to put my perception of him. He might get used to being married to us, but he fights every single step of improving our relationships. Well, Arako being the exception, but he does fight his urges while still pursuing their strange friendship.
However, this bit reminds me of the pain Ken has felt... ¡°Secretary Ara''ainn, do you have anything to add for what happened after the incident?¡±
¡°He appeared to be stressed and I caught him several times checking the surroundings, looking for escape routes whenever we made camp, especially during the first week. Most likely because of the two menstruating women.¡±
...Rine-chan had her period soon after the incident, so she was an emotional bag even I couldn''t handle well. That girl does everything tenfold, even having her period. All of our cycles shift. I think they''ll completely align soon, which increases the trouble, so even I have some sympathy for Ken here. A little bit, because some girls are prisses in their periods, like Rine-chan and Arako. I''m okay though, just a bit moody in the mornings.
¡°Let''s see...¡± I continue the conversation: ¡°I believe we have everything for now. I think there are three ways to interpret his behavior. First, the most dramatic one would be that he saw someone he loved once but started to hate to a degree, that he wants to kill her. However, I can''t imagine him loving someone so much that the resulting hate would be that out of proportion.¡±
Rine-chan cocks her head: ¡°How can you hate someone who you love in the first place? Don''t those feelings exclude each other? What do you think, Ara?¡±
¡°I think that Lvo''tjos is right in one regard: Humans feel love to unhealthy degrees, claiming that there is no stronger power, that it can defeat all, this is illogical and dangerous thinking.¡±
¡°If love isn''t the strongest power, which one would it be?¡±
¡°Fun.¡±
¡°Can you surpass your limits with fun?¡±
¡°Of course you can, that''s common knowledge. Building up elaborate schemes which need years of preparations for the ultimate prank is only possible by the power of fun!¡± Arako''s ears lower a bit, showing her pride.
¡°This doesn''t make sense. For a loved one, you can do everything?¡±
¡°Can you blow out the sun?¡±
¡°Erm... most likely?¡±
¡°Then, at this point, we wouldn''t have a sun. Seeing how many humans there are¡ªtheir non-stopping reproduction be cursed¡ªthe probability of someone trying to use the power of love to blow out the sun is rather high. Nonetheless, it''s still in the sky.¡±
¡°But if it''s for a loved one, you might learn the magic necessary for this feat!¡±
¡°You could also do the same if you think it''d be a great prank instead of the world''s ending.¡±
¡°Secretary Ara''ainn, Rine-chan, this isn''t the matter of the current problem.¡± It''s also childish, like some ''my daddy is stronger than yours''-debate. ¡°I talked about two other possibilities. One of them is that the person Ken loved the most died, which triggered him. Seeing a person you long for only to know it''s just an illusion...¡±
¡°...¡± Rine-chan''s silence and face show that she imagines it. This would also explain his pain, though, to be honest, for Ken, this is too much of a clich¨¦. The thought alone stirs up my emotions, I refuse to show any jealousy! This is the ring speaking, not me!
¡°This doesn''t sound like Kenta-kun at all.¡± Even Arako dismisses this theory. ¡°What is your last interpretation, chairman?¡±
¡°That Lvo''tjos made a mistake.¡± This is the most reasonable one, especially seeing how Rine-chan and Ken acted differently from what he surmised. ¡°Maybe he got a wrong emotion, maybe that spell differs for each person. In medicine, things like sex, body weight, hormones, and other aspects can influence the treatment, so it may be the same for the spirit.¡±
¡°This sounds logical,¡± Arako adds, ¡°especially seeing how human spirits are that strange. The backlash certainly wasn''t part of the plan.¡± She explained before that Ken''s spirit was invading Lvo''tjos'', which caused the alfr-hero to fight a battle at two fronts, one of them decisively weaker than the other.
Rine-chan is silent, though this is a good way to get to the next bullet point. ¡°Rine-chan, do you want to talk about what you saw after all?¡±
¡°No,¡± she refuses again. ¡°...so Lvo''tjos might have been wrong?¡±
Ah, this is the opportunity to dissipate all of her doubts. Instead of a life-crisis, this is just a mistake made by another person... It would be so easy. Yet there is still Ken''s words in my mind, that Rine-chan is only that naive and dumb because everyone is spoiling her... Wait, how does he come to this conclusion!? Is there something about it after all? My curiosity is killing me right now!
While I''m still in thoughts, Arako already answers: ¡°There is the possibility, nothing more, nothing less.¡±
¡°...I see.¡± Rine-chan rubs her forehead, maybe this is too much input for her and she doesn''t know how to deal with it.
¡°Rine-chan,¡± I try to get her back on tracks, ¡°how are you feeling right now?¡±
¡°Mostly confused... It''s like there are a thousand paths and I''m standing at the crossroad, not knowing which one to take, despite looking at every single of them carefully. In the end, most of them are looking the same, all of them go in the same direction as well, so why does it matter which path I take?¡±
Somehow I can relate to this as well. ¡°Do you know your destination?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Why are you looking at all the paths so carefully then, instead of first deciding which direction you want to head to?¡±
¡°Because Kenta always asks me about things...¡± ...interesting. ¡°He''s patiently waiting for my responses, but it''s so hard if everything looks so similar.¡±
¡°Katarine-san,¡± Arako chimes in, ¡°he is just expanding your horizon. It does matter what path you take for your destination. If you choose wisely, you can work efficiently.¡± Or in Arako''s case, slack off whenever possible.
Rine-chan also doesn''t seem convinced, but she nods anyway.
Is there a good answer to this rather philosophical problem? It all seems very elusive and like a personality test, which also doesn''t have correct answers.
¡°Then let''s discuss what we''ll do from now on. I''m not sure whether Ken is currently a ticking time-bomb or not, so I''d suggest that all of us observe him. If he has a breakdown or does something stupid, all of us will suffer. If he wants to share his trouble, let him. Same for you, Rine-chan.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡±
¡°So... was there a point to this discussion in the first place?¡± Arako asks in wonder.
¡°I hope. At least we shared our information, so at least I know that something is up.¡± It also helped me to not further pry into Ken''s matters, as it might make things worse. ¡°Let''s head down and eat something.¡±
All of us descend to the common room, I look for Ken who... why is he embraced by a stranger: ¡°I love you too!¡± A confession!?
¡°FUCK OFF!¡± Wait, isn''t that the old man from Goldbrunn!? Why is he hugging Ken!? Love?
¡°But lad, isn''t asking a person questions about themselves a sign of affection?¡± ...I rub my temples, as I need time to process it.
¡°Kenta is in love with the grandpa!? I... Kenta... you...¡± Rine-chan looks genuinely shocked.
On the other hand, Arako walks up to the pair: ¡°Congratulations, Kenta-kun!¡±
¡°+#!¡± It''s hard to discern any words, but I''m sure Ken wants to curse...
¡°Pfff....¡± This is me, I have trouble holding back: ¡°Ha...hahahahahaha!¡± I burst in laughter, this is just funny! Ken''s reaction, his expression, this is pure gold!
¡°Stop it! You, geezer, and you as well, Kyou-san!¡± This is the best, how he tries to push the old man back, but is struggling, unable to push back the old man who already is too close to him. ¡°Ara-san, help!¡±
¡°[Freeze]!¡±
¡°Ahh!¡± The old man suddenly let go of Ken to touch his nape. ¡°What a chill, my poor, old bones! Do you want to freeze me to death!?¡±
¡°This is correct, but I lack the necessary spell, so you have to hold still while I use [Freeze] in succession until it deals the killing blow.¡±
¡°This might take years.¡±
¡°I have that time.¡±
¡°What about me? I may die by age at this point.¡±
¡°Could we then count it as ''death by freezing''? For the statistics.¡±
¡°The what?¡±
¡°Statistics. The numbers.¡±
¡°Math... an enemy I can''t beat...¡±
¡°Interesting!¡±
For two people who just met for the second time, both of them really get along. Ken is also looking at the two of them, unsure what to think about it.
¡°Kenta, are you interested in men? Is that why-¡±
¡°NO! Rine, just no!¡±
¡°Let me guess,¡± I just surmise, ¡°the old man struck you as suspicious and you couldn''t help but ask questions about him, which made him come to that misunderstanding if it''s a misunderstanding at all?¡±
¡°...¡± This tells me everything. Ken is really bad in conversations, so he just does the minimum. The only question is whether the old man is serious, making fun of Ken, or hiding something.
Volume 07 - Chapter 2-3
¡°So, you''re on the way to Zethtrin as well?¡±
¡°Affirmative,¡± Ara-san slips that information. Why, Ara-san!? This geezer is suspicious as hell! You should know better!
¡°I see. What a coincidence!¡± The geezer chuckles while drinking some beer.
¡°Weren''t you supposed to be a beggar?¡± I ask. ¡°Can you even afford your drink? We''re not paying it, just to be clear.¡±
¡°Don''t be a miser, Red Ranger.¡±
¡°Yes, Kenta-kun.¡±
¡°Why are you taking his side, Ara-san!?¡±
¡°He''s funny.¡±
¡°Yeah, I''m funny!¡±
Seriously, why have the two of them suddenly hit off so well!? It wasn''t like this the first time they met, there it was... yes, Rine. I look at the girl in question, who looks at the self-proclaimed traveler while frowning. ¡°Hey Rine, what''s wrong?¡±
¡°I don''t know... It feels like entangled yarn inside of me.¡± OK, what kind of description is that?
¡°Just take it one step at a time.¡± This non-descriptive advice is all I can give here. I look at Kyou-san, who is paying attention to the conversation between Ara-san and the geezer. She smiles, but I know that behind this facade, she''s scheming something.
The dishes of the girls are served and all of them start eating. ¡°Hey, Red Ranger.¡±
¡°Would you stop calling me that?¡± I''m wanted in some countries already!
¡°Why? It''s a great name. Let me show you! HEY GUYS!¡± The geezer suddenly yells to the whole room. ¡°THE LAD HERE IS THE RED RANGER!¡± Hey, I asked you to exactly don''t do that!
A second of silence, then a few people stand up, all of them buffed people who look like bounty hunters or mercenaries. They all look at me, seizing me up. I glare back at them, then one speaks: ¡°Is it true? You''re the Red Ranger?¡±
Great, now they''re all here to capture me, catching me for being a sinner or a criminal, it doesn''t matter in the end. ¡°No.¡± So lying it is.
All of them look... strange, I don''t know what to make out of their expression. ¡°I see.¡± Why is he hanging his head? Wait, all of them do the same while they return to their seats.
¡°Why did you do it, lad?¡±
¡°Yes, Kenta,¡± Rine endorses this question, ¡°they were looking forward meeting you.¡±
...are you fucking serious? You want to tell me that all of them were fanboys who wished to fawn over me because of what Kyou-san unleashed? Even if that''s the case... ¡°Why should I care?¡±
¡°...but!¡± The geezer starts: ¡°You have a good name. Why wouldn''t you want to endorse it?¡±
¡°What good is that name?¡± I hate being surrounded by people like an animal in a zoo. Also, all this superficial attention is worth nothing. I''ve rather have nobody look into my direction instead of being praised by everyone in such a skin-deep way, especially for things I didn''t do. I don''t need them to know that I''m good, thank you. I also don''t need them to distribute a name that''s wanted, double thank you.
¡°...¡± The geezer looks like he wants to say something, but holds back. ¡°I see, so you really don''t care at all. I''ll still tell your stories, bleh!¡± There are lots of things I never needed to see in my life, but this is the moment I realize that seeing an old man sticking out his tongue is on the list as well.
I hear Rine whispering to Kyou-san. ¡°Are they getting along or not?¡±
¡°He, yes, Ken, no.¡± I can''t agree more.
The geezer continues his conversation with Ara-san: ¡°Why are you even heading to Zethtrin?¡±
¡°I¡¯d like to look for the author Lezzard Limuur.¡±
¡°Who is that?¡± Exactly my question.
¡°He wrote ''Burning Fangs.''¡±
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°A novel.¡±
¡°A book?¡±
¡°A book that tells a story.¡±
¡°Ah, these kinds. I can barely read, so I don''t know books well.¡±
¡°I could give you some.¡±
¡°As a present?¡±
¡°For rent with an interest rate of 300% per week.¡±
¡°Inte-what?¡±
¡°It means that you''ll pay me more if you don''t return it within a week.¡±
¡°Thanks for the offer, but it''s not like- wait, why don''t we go to Zethtrin together?¡±
I interrupt the conversation: ¡°No.¡±
¡°We''re heading into the same direction, so-¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Come on, Red Ra-¡±
¡°No.¡±
Let''s face it, having someone else join us would be inherently stupid. In the end, I count as a sinner to this world, and when there are too many sinners within a species, it means genocide. I didn''t invent it, it''s what stands in the Divine Laws! You can''t be married to more than one spouse. The curse didn''t care, I didn''t volunteer either, but this is the gist. The Crusaders are already on my trail, but somehow Kyou-san was capable of neutralizing my public image with a ridiculous lie. However, having someone in our party that''s not part of it, someone who can find out and report it is an unnecessary risk.
I look at Kyou-san, who silently agrees with me, Rine cocks her head, maybe she thinks about why, but she''s also not arguing about my decision. ¡°We''re an exclusive club,¡± Ara-san explains joyfully: ¡°There are several conditions to join us. For starters, you''d need to shave or do you see anyone here with a beard?¡±
¡°But I like my beard!¡±
¡°You''re also not within our age expectations.¡±
¡°I''m too old?¡±
¡°In addition to being too young. You have to be under twenty or above a hundred years old.¡±
¡°You''re just bullying me.¡±
¡°Exactly. It doesn''t change the decision though, we''ll keep to ourselves for now.¡±
The geezer chuckles again: ¡°Well, thought so. Youngsters like to keep to themselves, I get it. Would have been nice to have someone who could face the monsters in my stead, but you''re doing your thing at your pace. However, I''ll take some compensation.¡± His hand snatches the bread from Ara-san''s bowl and he shoves it into his mouth, even though it''s so large that it still sticks out: ¡°Hwaush shatt!¡±
¡°[Freeze]!¡± Is she freezing the bread inside his mouth!?
¡°GGGGGEEEH!¡± Despite seeming shocked for a moment, he chunks down the bread: ¡°I''ve won!¡±
¡°Have you? We''ll see later.¡± ...eating this freezing bread will definitely upset the geezer''s stomach and she knows it.
? There is a change in the surrounding sounds. I activate [Pitch] and can hear someone climbing a small set of stairs. I look in that direction, with the old man and many people here, I didn''t immediately notice the small stage on the other side. There is someone, a human, who has a harp ready... well, a musician. I guess we''ll get some entertainment, it''s not that unusual with roadside inns, as this way the musicians can usually room for free while getting some gratuities.
Entertainment in a fantasy world just sucks in general. No games, no movies, almost no theaters, too few libraries and novels, whenever you want to have entertainment, you need to pay a sum. One of the few exceptions is music, as musicians without exceptional talent use their art for cheap. They just try to get enough for bed and food with some coins as a bonus, but in the end, this is the harsh truth of the entertainment world in its finest: Only a few selected can make a proper living using their art and just a fraction of those will ever become wealthy.
I just hope that this musician won''t suck, music is already bad enough here. I mean, he is just a single harpist, so I don''t need to expect anything from the music I can hear at home by opening YouTube.
¡°Dear guests,¡± the musician starts in a loud voice and most people shut up. ¡°Some of you have surely heard of me, I''m Incubarius, the Dream Dancer, as my music will dance in your heads in tonight''s dreams. Those who have never heard of me, don''t worry, you''ll remember me after this evening.¡± His fingers roam over the strings of his harp and some pleasant chords are heard. ¡°I''ve seen it all, the vastness of the Freshwater Sea, the fiery mountains of Feuerberg, the depths of the stout folk, the highs of the winged folk, I even took a sneak inside an alfr forest. I sure wish I hadn''t.¡± A snicker comes from the audience, Ara-san, however, snorts. The harpist starts playing his harp, always changing the tune fitting to his words: ¡°But aside from burned underwear, I also collected the stories and melodies of all over the continent and sometimes even beyond it. Funny stories, sad stories, stories about magic, stories about the mundane, stories of commoners, stories of nobles, stories of myths and dreams, stories of history. I collected them all, refined them for you, my dear audience, as while most of them are interesting to know, they''re also boring to hear.¡± The musician is looking at each of the people in the taproom. ¡°Dear husbands, make sure to look after your wives, as whenever I play, the women fall to my feet.¡± He laughs at his own words, though I don''t have the feeling that the men around here take it as a joke. ¡°As we''re in the Wildlands, let''s start ''The Settlers'' Follies.''¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
He starts singing a song with a lively tune, many people fell into the song, same goes for Rine and the geezer after a while for the refrain. Still, as heroes from other worlds, the rest of us have a problem: We hear two lyrics at once, one that only matches the content somehow but is more in line with the melody, like when a translator is translating a song for a movie or game. The other one is a machine translation that is much more accurate but doesn''t care if it fits the meter.
The content of the song? Mostly about how foolish people tried to conquer and cultivate land that''s not fertile enough while monsters are destroying their settlements and fields. It''s much longer and more detailed than that, but do you really need to know that someone set a trap that would tip a bucket full of water out on a monster, just to realize that the monster can go around the trigger and was therefore eaten? Really, every single person in this song was an idiot!
After a while, the musician starts to observe Rine, smiling at her... hey! I have to agree, Rine has a good singing voice, but what''s that jerk up to!?
The song ends, and the musician starts talking again: ¡°Thanks for your support, dear listeners. One voice impressed be especially. You there, blonde beauty,¡± he points at Rine, ¡°May I know your name?¡±
Rine looks around, as she does not realize that she''s meant. ¡°Me? I''m Rine.¡±
¡°Rine, your voice is beautiful. Are you a bard as well by chance?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Ah well, you may still become one. Is the young man beside you with you?¡±
¡°You mean Kenta?¡± Don''t give my name so freely!
¡°Kenta... interesting name. Are you his lover?¡±
¡°Erm... ah, yes, I am.¡± ...at the most inappropriate times, Rine remembers the wrong things. In Goldbrunn, we used a cover-story, that Kyou-san is my sister, while Rine is my lover to give people an easy-to-believe story of why I''m traveling as the sole male with three girls. Yes, technically, it also fits here, but...
¡°Ah, I see!¡± The geezer says to me in a low voice. ¡°That''s why! You did it!¡± Do you mean I and Rine!? No, we didn''t... well, let him believe what he wants. Maybe he''ll stop his side-comments. ¡°You''re so shy, lad!¡± What he wants... There are a bunch of reasons why I shouldn''t hit him though it''s what I want.
The bard speaks in a sad voice: ¡°What a tragedy! My poor heart is almost broken, but who knows what the evening will bring. However, I need a bit of melancholy to digest these shocking news... ''The Weather will never care!''¡±
Another song, one which somehow touches my heart a bit. It''s about mourning, a person who locks themselves at home, looking at the weather which just does whatever it wants despite it feels like the world is ending. The rain is welcome, the storms are like the turmoil in their soul. However, then comes the sun, but instead of a sign of improvement, it grows more and more annoying. The sun shines like it doesn''t care about all the sadness. Then the mourning person realizes that the world really doesn''t care, it just goes on like nothing happened.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you want,
it doesn¡¯t matter how you fare,
no matter how strong your bond,
the weather will never care...¡±
There is no relief at the end, nothing that lifts the feeling, it just ends with this chorus. The taproom is quiet, then some people start knocking on their tables, showing their approval. ¡°Thank you! Thank you! With every loss, there is change, and with every change, there will be new meetings. All you lovers, be prepared to cuddle a bit. Except you, Kenta, you don¡¯t deserve it.¡± ...would it be inappropriate to just go to him and punch him in the face? ¡°¡®Your Heart will live Forever.¡¯¡±
The sappy tune hits the right notes of nauseating tenderness. Definitely not my kind of music, a love song in its finest. I look at Ara-san, who decided to sleep on the table at this point, while Kyou-san and Rine listen to it with moist eyes. The geezer, however, looks like he¡¯s thinking about something.
Another round of applause comes at the end, and the musician bows to the audience: ¡°Thank you, thank you. I¡¯m happy to see that Kenta has heeded my warning, this might be my chance, right?¡± Laughs are echoing in the taproom.
...just stay calm, he¡¯s just like some low-level comedian who tries to make the people laugh at my expense. Ignore it, I can also just go upstairs, there is no reason to stay here.
However, the shitty guy makes a dick move. ¡°Rine, you may have noticed my feelings for you, and you may have felt some love for me as well. Now I want to devote my next song to you. To you and your next ex-lover Kenta.¡± ...WHAT!?
¡°Ex-lover!?¡± Even Rine is shocked, as Kyou-san is clearly suppressing a burst of laughter. Ara-san looks up, her face is as hard to read as always, the geezer however, just laughs out loud without a hint of delicacy.
(song inspired by Eure M¨¹tter ¡°Ein sch?nes Paar¡±)
¡°Have you been ever told that you¡¯re the perfect match?
Well, ¡®perfect¡¯ stretches it quite a bit.
Let me say this to you, Rine, while you¡¯re a real catch
he¡¯s rather the complete opposite.
Because if I called him perfect here, everything would fall apart,
it would be nothing but a big fat lie.
Though he does his best to be not as appealing as a fart,
we¡¯re all thinking that he¡¯d better die.
Yet you, my dear Rine, made Kenta your lover,
I¡¯m wondering how he was capable of such a feat.
The reason might be, now that I think it over,
the truth of the saying that is: Extremes meet.
Because you, Rine, are beauty beyond ev¡¯ry compare,
while Kenta¡¯s face looks like the gods didn¡¯t care.
With you I like to dance, I want to stab him with a lance,
you¡¯re like an edifice, while he¡¯s just a mud fence.
You are a princess, he¡¯s a tramp, you¡¯re a regular, he¡¯s a temp,
you¡¯re the soap, he¡¯s the dirt, you¡¯re the heal, while he¡¯s the hurt.
You¡¯re the shoe, he¡¯s the boot, you''re the crown, he¡¯s the root,
you¡¯re the audience while he¡¯s an angry moot.
You¡¯re as sparkly as the stars, he¡¯s as pale as the mist,
you¡¯re like a gentle touch, while he¡¯s a brutal fist.
He¡¯s the night, you are the sun, he stale bread and you a bun,
he¡¯s the displeasure and you are all the fun.
While with about every line, people start laughing like crazy, I feel how the anger is welling up bit by bit. I know that this is just a joke at my expense, that I shouldn¡¯t take it personally, but seriously, this is going too far!
The worst are the ones who sit at my table, though. Kyou-san is laughing so hard that she¡¯s about to suffocate, the geezer yells without any words to show his excitement, Ara-san started to note down the rhymes as they come.
Rine looks at me, showing how she doesn¡¯t know how to deal with this, her eyes of pity are even worse than the rest!
The musician continues, however:
¡°You¡¯re the jacket, he¡¯s the coat, you the ship, while he¡¯s the boat,
he¡¯s fractured, you¡¯re whole, you¡¯re diamond, he¡¯s coal.
He¡¯s the disease, you¡¯re the cure, he¡¯s infested, you¡¯re pure,
you¡¯re the safety-space, while he¡¯s insecure.
Though I have to tell you, folk, before I go to get a gulp,
Kenta, this is just a joke, so please don¡¯t beat me to a pulp.
I don¡¯t want to be a bother, so I say this to you sober:
You are both, in fact, meant to each other.
¡
minus Kenta.¡±
With the last words, a wave of applause and bawling fills the room, though it¡¯s almost inaudibly for me, as my enraged heartbeat is drowning this sound in my ears.
Oh, this isn¡¯t supposed to be so bad, you say? Remember: Whenever I listen to a song, I have two versions in my head at the same time, one that fits the melody, one that¡¯s a pure translation. With this song-format, almost nothing from the original text made it to the melodic version, therefore I had twice the share of insults!
It¡¯d be so easy to go to the stage and snap that asshole¡¯s neck, but what then? So I opt for another strategy, one much less striking, but most likely better for everyone involved. ¡°Kenta?¡± Rine looks at me concerned, while I stand up slowly. I guess my movements tell her that I¡¯m about to burst.
Yet I still have the self-control to turn away and walk to the door. ¡°Oh, Kenta!¡± The musician says with a smirk: ¡°Can¡¯t you handle it?¡±
I ignore him, as anything I might do will end up killing that guy. I don¡¯t care what others think of me, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I can endure such an onslaught of insults.
I open the door outside, there are already first drops... the storm is coming, while I might find another shelter, I don¡¯t have my backpack on me, so it¡¯ll end miserably. So I close it again and go upstairs to our room.
...of course, the girls have locked it and still have the key. This being proper procedure doesn¡¯t make it better at all... Should I go outside after all? Maybe I can just scream a bit and return? The more I think, the more my feelings are reined in, though I still want to be furious!
¡ ¡°Seriously, why are you even trying to be silent at this point?¡± I turn around to the stairs. Kyou-san, Rine, and Ara-san are there. They tried to sneak up the stairs despite my good senses. Kyou-san now stands tall, folding her arms: ¡°Do you want to talk?¡± She skips the ¡®Are you alright¡¯ question, as she knows I¡¯m not.
I don¡¯t answer her, though. I don¡¯t want to talk about it, because it¡¯s childish to feel that way. Still, I can¡¯t help but want to cave in that bastard''s head. So I just glare at Kyou-san, who, in return, shrugs her shoulders as if she has expected it.
¡°Kenta,¡± Rine tries, and I can already say that this will be a disaster: ¡°I don¡¯t know what he was talking about, I don¡¯t like him at all and he was super-mean! We should talk to him.¡± Of course, she took everything at face¡¯s value.
¡°Phew...¡± So I sigh and just shake my head.
¡°Kenta-kun,¡± here is the final challenger. ¡°We will go into the room and do something nice. I think I have recreated your stats.¡±
¡°...What are you talking about?¡±
¡°With the new data I got from the swamps, I¡¯m confident that I can finally predict our stat-growth with each level and, therefore, also do it in reverse, calculating your base stats.¡±
¡°... let¡¯s go inside.¡±
Ara-san opens her hands and Kyou-san gives her the key to the room. Then the alfr girl opens the door and lets me in. I enter the room, but she lingered at the door, looking at the girls: ¡°I win.¡± With this statement, she closes the door behind her.
¡°...did you made a bet with them?¡±
¡°No, I just wanted to point something out.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°They¡¯ll know. I don¡¯t.¡±
¡°...does that mean that you just said this to make them think about what it means!?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡± OK, this is kinda sadistic, but on the other hand, it¡¯s totally something Ara-san would do, it¡¯s the little prank that takes almost no effort.
Volume 07 - Chapter 2-4
¡°Well, let¡¯s see what you have.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± Ara-san goes to her backpack and takes out her portfolio, chooses a paper from within and shows it to me... urgh, this world¡¯s numbers... At least they have a decimal system as well. Long columns and long rows are covering the whole sheet. ¡°After being able to compare the numbers of you and the others with mine across all of our classes during several levels¡ªincluding the numbers I have of the other alfr heroes in addition to your capabilities in the fight against Lvo¡¯tjos¡ªI came to the following conclusions: [Attributes] are represented in a unit I call hero-sparkles. Therefore [Attributes] don¡¯t measure how good you are in specific traits directly, but how many hero-sparks you can activate for certain tasks.¡± She has already explained most of it during the time in the swamps, but repeats it nonetheless, most likely so that I only concentrate on the important details. ¡°Some hero-sparkles are always active, some are not. Therefore an [Attribute] shows you the potential you can attain in specific situations. While we still can only guess whether emotions, desire, seriousness, danger, or something else unlocks hero-sparkles, we can say that most of their power is sealed unless there is a trigger. On the other hand, our research about the curse shows that some of them are always active.¡±
I still dislike the term ¡®hero-sparkles¡¯.
¡°...so practically, I may usually use about 10% of my [Strength] or something like that.¡±
¡°I actually believe it¡¯s not a percentage, but a fixed value. Your manual gave a piece of valuable information to me.¡± When we were summoned, each of us received a manual about the hero-system, but while Kyou-san¡¯s and mine are identical, Ara-san¡¯s is different. Most likely each hero-summoning gives another manual. ¡°When you change into a class, specific [Attributes] gain a bonus¡ªso more usable hero-sparkles¡ªand that this bonus is always active, same goes for the curse-bonus we get by being close to each other.¡± We already knew the last part, as we tried some stuff here and then. ¡°However, we should concentrate on the class-bonus now. The information that a [Class-change] gives a bonus implies that your stats aren¡¯t changing in their core, some just gain an increase.¡±
¡°So I have my base stats overall and when I switch classes, I get a bonus. OK, how is this news?¡±
¡°This is just the assumptions I base my calculations on. This is the next paper.¡± She shows me a sheet with graphs on them. ¡°This is your growth in your different classes. You see a linear growth. With this, I was able to calculate the factors and therefore reach your base stats with level 0.¡±
¡°Level 0? Not level one?¡±
¡°This was a mistake of mine in the past. The first level, the one who we started with, is already part of the growth of a hero. Katarine-san¡¯s weapon, which [Attack] raises with level, got me the idea. It was a simple step, but one of the complications that made it impossible to calculate exact numbers before.¡±
¡°One of the complications?¡±
¡°Yes, I was close to it several times, but the numbers the other alfr heroes provided me with don¡¯t match the calculations, so either there are conditions that influenced their growth which our party didn¡¯t meet so far¡ªaside from [Class-up]¡ªor they gave me wrong numbers at some points.¡±
¡°Not to be racist, but I think the latter is too probable.¡± I mean, they¡¯re alfar after all! Of course, they¡¯ll sneak in false numbers to mess Ara-san up! She would most likely do the same... no, not in this regard. Still, it¡¯s somehow sad that Ara-san is most likely the most reasonable alfr of the bunch.
¡°This is most likely the case.¡± She¡¯s even acknowledging it! ¡°It¡¯s sad, however, as it gives me more complications. Before observing the stat-growth of you humans, I actually started to believe that the trend might be individual as well, so that some people have linear and others an exponential progression. This might still be the case, but since observing you, it has been always linear except for the [Class-up]. I just needed more numbers, as the stat-growth is rounding down.¡±
¡°Rounding down!?¡±
¡°Affirmative. The rate is a decimal which is multiplied with the level. The more numbers we have, the more accurate it is.¡±
¡°OK, you have found out the rate, so what are my base-stats?¡±
¡°Would you mind letting me explain it more?¡±
¡°Why? You just used the rate to count to level 0, did it with all classes to find out what is the constant, then guessed how the classes give their bonuses.¡±
¡°...spoilsport.¡±
¡°...you know what? I¡¯ll do it myself.¡± I switch to [Student] and retrieve my glasses. As a [Student], I have the highest [Intelligence]-attribute, I also have the [Calculator]-skill, which makes me into a human calculator.
...harsh! If I didn¡¯t know this is linear, I¡¯d might give up with all the rounding. Still, I just need to subtract the lowest number from the highest and divide it with the number of level-span... [Pikeman] ¡¯s [Strength], level 45 is when I first met Ara-san, I¡¯m level 63 now... 230 minus 170 equals 60, divided by 18 is 3.3 repeating. So my [Strength] as a [Pikeman] at level 0 would be 18... I still know my [Strength] when I attained the [Pikeman]-class, [Strength] 45, I was level 8 back then. With this calculation... 44.6 repeating, so rounded down 44... OK, we¡¯re a number off... ¡°...you didn¡¯t actually figure out my rate, right?¡±
¡°Why do you believe it?¡±
¡°Because when I try to recreate my old stats, it doesn¡¯t fit.¡± I¡¯m often enough one point off.
¡°Kenta-kun, you¡¯re naive. You most likely are just at the beginning, like I said, the more numbers you have, the more accurate it becomes, the course of 18 levels isn¡¯t that long, so with a quick calculation you won¡¯t get there. Which stat do you have?¡±
¡°[Pikeman], [Strength].¡±
¡°Rate 3.38.¡± This isn¡¯t much of a difference, but it shows.
¡°How did you get from 3.3 repeating to there?¡±
¡°Adapting the number, again and again, until everything went well.¡± This... this is such a waste of time! I mean, wouldn¡¯t it take minutes even with a calculator? In addition to being possibly wrong, because it may be 3.3801 and she wouldn¡¯t notice before I hit level 100!
The other thing is: ¡°How is that supposed to help at all? I mean, even if you can recreate my base-stats, it¡¯s not like we can make educated choices with only that. It¡¯d be different if we knew how each [Class] and [Class-up] empowers us before choosing it, but seriously, there is no point!¡±
¡°Knowledge always has a point.¡±
¡°You¡¯re just clutching at arguments why you should be freed from chores!¡± I figured her out.
¡°Kenta-kun... I really abhor chores.¡±
¡°You¡¯re even admitting it!¡±
¡°You understand me! If I present it right, Momo might halve the time I need to do chores.¡±
¡°You¡¯ve already given up on a full excuse as well!¡±
¡°Because dealing with Momo doesn¡¯t involve logic and sound arguments, she¡¯s irrational!¡±
¡°What¡¯s irrational of you taking care of your own stuff!¡±
¡°I do the math!¡±
¡°Just help with tidying up our camp instead.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡±
...at least she¡¯s honest. ¡°...well, what are my base-stats?¡±
¡°Now you¡¯re interested.¡±
¡°Hey, I¡¯m just cleaning after myself and only expect everyone to do the same. Also, when I do it myself, I do it at least right.¡± At least I can do it my way, which is less irritating than having someone like Kyou-san or Rine order it in a way I can¡¯t get behind. Seriously, just order our tents by when we need the respective parts!
¡°So would you support me if I try to convince Momo to make me work less?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t fight losing battles if I have a choice.¡±
¡°So turn it into a winning battle.¡±
¡°Not worth it. About my stats?¡±
¡°...your stats at level one were the following.
¡°[Intelligence] 15... how about yours?¡±
¡°Twenty-three.¡±
¡°Dammit!¡± Well, I know that she¡¯s on another level, though she can¡¯t use her head that well. She¡¯s like a supercomputer which is used by a child in nursery school: More damage than good. ¡°Do you have the others as well?¡±
¡°I¡¯m currently calculating Momo¡¯s. Might finish it soon.¡±
¡°Is her base-[Intelligence] better?¡±
¡°My rough estimation is that it¡¯s below yours.¡± I pump my fists, as this makes my day! Actually, I was sure that this was the case and while my [Intelligence]-stat may be higher, we don¡¯t know how much it corresponds with our real-life skills. I believe that both are connected, but as those stats are mostly just numbers lacking context, there are only a few conclusions to draw.
¡°OK, then what about Rine¡¯s status?¡±
¡°This is a mess.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Most likely because she¡¯s a native human, not someone summoned and only received the hero-status via the curse. You know that the difference between the classes of [Princess Knight] and [Tailor] are vast, the rates as well. Her base stats besides [Intelligence] are way above us, but seeing the difference between the rough estimation of the base stats of her two classes makes me believe that [Princess Knight] may have a bonus included from the start and is rather treated like an actual class, instead of a base-class. Still, I believe that she still hasn¡¯t access to the power she should have, considering that [Princess Knight] is already her second class-up, technically speaking. She should attain more classes to make things more clear in her regard.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
¡°OK, I didn¡¯t understand everything, but the gist is: She¡¯s cheating and [Princess Knight] might actually be weaker than it should be, right?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
...oh god! What a headache! Rine is already more powerful than all of us, she was that way even before she became a hero and before her stats caught up with mine. She¡¯s the living example that stats aren¡¯t as direct as others might suspect. ¡°She¡¯s way too overpowered.¡±
¡°Like I said in an earlier conversation, she may not even be using the hero-system right now.¡± Yes, when I fought Lvo¡¯tjos, Ara-san saw Rine¡¯s muscles move more than mine, despite having around the same speed. So she may still not actively use her [Attributes] as intended...
¡°So the moment she gets the hang of it, she¡¯s an unstoppable force... more than before.¡±
¡°That¡¯s to be expected.¡±
¡°Phew... well, the question is if she even remains a hero when we break the curse.¡±
¡°Exactly. By the way, how do you feel about that bard?¡±
...what an elegant way to switch the topic. I¡¯m sarcastic, of course. ¡°Well, I just forgot until now. ...I feel a bit better, though.¡±
¡°Then let¡¯s find out if the bard has a mount.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°For your eight-steps revenge plan.¡±
¡°My what!?¡±
¡°Eight-steps revenge plan. This is a plan I made for you to make the bard suffer for the humiliation you experienced.¡±
¡tempting. Usually, I would let it slide after a while of being pissed, as revenge is making things only worse, as there is retaliation after retaliation without anything constructive along the way. It only serves for short-term relief. ¡°What are the eight steps?¡± However, I¡¯m interested.
¡°First, we take a look at his mount. If it¡¯s a horse, we feed it malheira, this causes constant farting for the next day, if it¡¯s a daiosar or axeken, we¡¯ll use sharan instead.¡± Daiosar and axeken are two reptilian mounts, one good for fast travel, the other one can climb and swim very well.
¡°OK, so he¡¯ll smell the stink. Next?¡±
¡°We¡¯ll paint its scales or shave its fur with some insults, like: ¡®Tramp music for a coin and a piece of bread.¡¯¡±
¡°This would make some bad advertising, I see. Next?¡±
¡°We¡¯ll glue some sand on the seating of the saddle.¡±
¡°So he has a bad time riding, I see. What¡¯s after that?¡±
¡°His show should be finished by then, that¡¯s why we¡¯ll observe which room he has and sneak in when he¡¯s away again. Inside his room, we put some itching powder in all of his underwear first.¡±
¡°...OK, next?¡±
¡°We look at what kind of different instruments he has and put different kinds of herbal extract on the mouthpieces. Some which cause swelling lips, some which have a bad taste, some which allow for some more fun.¡±
¡°I like that. Gives his shitty music some feedback. What comes afterward?¡±
¡°Then you¡¯ll defecate on his bed.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll do what?¡±
¡°Defecate. This will make it much harder for him to sleep in peace. When he¡¯s finally asleep, we can sneak back for you to urinate into his boots.¡±
¡°Why don¡¯t you do it?¡±
¡°Because smelling an alfr-girl¡¯s excrement might be one of his fetishes, so it has to be yours.¡±
¡°A fetish!? How likely is that?¡±
¡°He¡¯s human, after all.¡±
The moment I start to argue, I¡¯ve already lost. Because arguing about this is already a loss for intelligence. Just let it slide... ¡°Then let¡¯s assume that this is also finished... what is the final step?¡±
¡°Looking for his diary, copying the most embarrassing secrets and distributing them among the other guests.¡±
¡ I¡¯m honest, most of these things sound petty, childish, and not helpful at all, but the way Ara-san presents them to me makes them very tempting nonetheless. ¡°Can you pick a lock?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Then how are we supposed to get into his room?¡±
¡°...you could break the door open?¡±
¡°Then he¡¯ll notice. Heck, I know that there are no rooms in this inn, but I doubt he¡¯ll sleep when his door is broken.¡±
¡°How about freezing the bolt so he can¡¯t lock it?¡±
¡°Then he¡¯ll ask the innkeeper for assistance and if it doesn¡¯t work, he stays awake as well.¡±
¡°You¡¯re right... we¡¯ll substitute some steps. I think we need to go the extra mile.¡±
¡°Why do I have the feeling that his situation got worse?¡±
¡°Because you¡¯re right.¡±
Sometimes people complain about how teenagers cause a lot of trouble for the adults. I guess teenagers doing bad stuff is normal. Now we have me, a teenager who is coached by an alfr who brings a century of experience of being a teenager...
At this moment, however, I don¡¯t care.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It¡¯s almost time to sleep and I sit on the bed with Rine resting her head on my lap. The blonde girl is avoiding looking me into the eyes, while I check my status. A sharp smell waves the room as Kyou-san prepares some more medicine, she¡¯s trying to recreate HP-potions. She has the ingredients but lacks the [Skill], so she¡¯s still experimenting. If she¡¯s successful, this might help us a lot in the future.
Her [Compounding]-ability might not be enough, though. She may be able to tell what the HP-potion is made of, but it doesn¡¯t help to make them. It may be medicine, but there is more to it than just mixing herbs... question is, where the line lies between an [Alchemist] and a [Herbalist] here, or more specific: Whether HP-Potions falls into [Alchemy] or [Compounding].
Well, I guess she needs to distill them at some point, which is entirely impossible here, as she lacks the equipment and the necessary heat. Obviously, starting a fire is forbidden in this inn. Still, she tries creating the pots anyway, either to pass the time or out of a minor obsession.
On the other hand, Ara-san is crunching numbers, most likely Rine¡¯s status as she constantly sighs. Her ears are also twitching sometimes, a sign of excitement. She thinks about what we did so far and will continue doing this night. Still, overall it¡¯s a peaceful evening, something I really need these days.
My thoughts wander to the immediate future. We have crossed the Ohl, so we¡¯re basically in another region, though still in the Wildlands. Yet the river marks an important border and from what we heard, our bounties will likely spread much slower from now on, possibly halting completely. Unless Correo spreads them further... he will, right?
I take out a paper from the backpack, it¡¯s our route. Some rough sketches that serve as a map¡ªmost likely outdated¡ªand some comments on the side. From here on, the most direct way would be through the Redstone Canyon. There is a trade route, so we could follow it. ...it would be easier, yet it¡¯s also much longer than going directly. However, this is a canyon, so there will be only a limited amount of traversable paths.
OK, time to ask the girls: ¡°Next stop is the Redstone Canyon. We have two options: First, we can use the trade route. It winds through the canyon, but it¡¯s marked and, therefore, easy to follow. On the other hand, it¡¯s a route everyone knows and Correo likely put some mercenaries there to stop us. Our other option is to look for a path ourselves, which might involve a lot of climbing, yet with my [Shared Senses] I might look upon it from the sky.¡± Only conditions are that there are birds that conveniently look downwards from high above.
¡°Maybe we can ask if there is a faster route?¡± Kyou-san suggests while grinding her herbs.
¡°But then everyone will know what we¡¯re up to.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not like the people will gossip about it. Also, we cut through the Spirit Swamps, so if you¡¯re worried about pursuers: We have a headstart?¡±
¡°Unless Correo placed an ambush way before or assumed that we somehow got through Ohlbr¨¹cken, in this case, we would be way behind.¡±
Kyou-san looks over her shoulder to me, as if I had claimed to predict the lottery numbers. ¡°I know that your paranoia can be helpful, but the faster we¡¯re through the canyon, the faster we¡¯ll be able to move unrestricted again, right? You can also spread false information to confuse pursuers, right?¡±
...I haven¡¯t thought of that. This is Kyou-san, our underhanded, two-faced healer, who doesn¡¯t think twice about lying for her benefit. ¡°I¡¯m convinced.¡± This certainly looks like the most promising way. ¡°Anyone against?¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡°Ken, they haven¡¯t listened.¡±
¡°Obviously. Well, we¡¯ll count that as abstention. Would you do it, Kyou-san?¡±
The first second, Kyou-san looks like she wants to object, yet after looking at me, Rine, and Ara-san, she just sighs. ¡°I¡¯m the only one who can be trusted with this, after all. Let me finish this one, though.¡± After two more minutes of grinding herbs, she packs her stuff and leaves the room. Hopefully, there are still enough people in the taproom, though I guess places like this inn call it a night much later.
Now I¡¯m alone with two people busy with their own stuff. Usually, this would be heaven, but I¡¯m a bit concerned with Rine, who is uncharacteristically absent-minded. I mean, she usually indulges herself in her fantasies, but with her current mood...
You gain 1 WP.
Giving your concerned wife a lap-pillow doesn''t only relieve her worries, but also give her an opportunity to rest.
Rest? I listen to her breathing sounds... shit, Rine dozed off! Like I said, she has murderous habits while sleeping and now she¡¯s on my lap with her head. If I move, she might kill me!
¡°Rine? Rine!¡± I try to wake her up with my voice, but waking her after she falls asleep is difficult, unless she has some hours of rest. What is she, a one-year-old? ¡°Ara-san? Ara-san!¡± So I opt for the next best thing: Asking Ara-san for help, like a scaredy-cat.
¡°What is it?¡± Ara-san¡¯s ears move downwards while tilting slightly forwards, her tone tells me that this is a sign of irritation.
¡°Rine fell asleep on my lap.¡±
¡°...¡± Ah, this is Ara-san, she¡¯s thinking about a plan. ¡°You¡¯re on your own.¡± A plan to decline my cry of help.
¡°Remember our ploy for the bard.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll do my best on my own.¡±
¡°What about me?¡±
¡°You¡¯ll most likely die tonight. Anything I should include in your funeral?¡±
¡°It hurts how truthful that assessment sounds.¡± There are tons of things that may cause me to die. I may fall asleep, lose my balance, and then move by this logic. If that happens, Rine will crush my windpipe. Or my legs fall asleep, I lose balance, and Rine will snap my neck. Or I may try to move her head and Rine will rip off my hands so I will bleed to death... ¡°I don¡¯t want to die!¡±
¡°I also like living. So your and my interests collide.¡±
¡°Hey, let¡¯s think about this rationally. Can Kyou-san do anything?¡±
¡°Probably not. If she knew, she might unbalance the world!¡±
¡°That¡¯s exaggerated, but that means waiting for her won¡¯t bring us anywhere...¡±
¡°Katarine-san asleep may be the most powerful being in this world. This means you want to try something now? I will get some distance.¡±
¡°More powerful than Luuto!? ...distance, that¡¯s it!¡±
¡°Remember how she has beaten up Lvo¡¯tjos while she was asleep. I¡¯m happy that you agree with me.¡±
¡°Come on, Luuto was just surprised, right? Listen to me, get to the door and throw something harmless at her, like creased parchment or something like that.¡±
¡°Of course he was surprised, it was my plan all along! Won¡¯t she deflect it back at me?¡±
¡°It¡¯s still crazy how it worked. That¡¯s why something harmless. She will answer it somehow, I might find a way to get out there, you have your safe distance.¡±
After having two conversations at the same time, Ara-san enacts the plan. Instead of paper, she has a ball of absorbent cotton, one of the ones Rine got for her [Tailor]-class. Even Rine can¡¯t be able to weaponize them, right? Will it be enough to trigger her remotely, though?
Well, her sword is out of her reach. Nothing can happen, right? So I give Ara-san the signal: ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±
Ara-san throws the cotton ball, Rine catches it with one hand while still sleeping, then she rolls from my lap. Lucky! Wait, what is she- She rolls from the bed, lands on her cotton-holding hand, kicks her sword, which is leaning on the wall, into the air, then catches by the handle with her free hand, swings it, causing the sheath to fly directly towards Ara-san, while making half a handspring to be on her feet while stuffing the cotton ball into my gaping mouth with a punch!
I--- it¡¯s stuck into my throat! Breathing hurts and itches! She has weaponized a ball of absorbent cotton!!! Also, my face hurts! Wait, she¡¯s about to fall onto me! I quickly move aside, evading the sleeping Rine at the last second. She half-opens her eyes. ¡°...bad sleeping posture.¡± She climbs onto the bed and corrects it, still holding her sword.
¡°*COUGH, cough*¡± I try to unstick the absorbent cotton, yet it¡¯s resisting my attempts. My fingers slowly wander into my open mouth, there... I have a thread. Slowly I pull it, freeing my throat from that intruder. This feeling is disgusting.
¡°*cough, cough*¡± Well, I¡¯m not the only one suffering, as Ara-san had a sheath flying into her stomach. ¡°...this exceeded our expectations. We still could lure the bard into this room. When he sees the sleeping Katarine-san, his human instincts will make him trying to rape her, then he¡¯s dead.¡±
While everyone who tries to rape a person, be it sleeping or not, would deserve this, I¡¯m not keen on inciting anyone to do it. ¡°Actually, we¡¯re lucky. We¡¯re still alive, after all. Can you stand up?¡±
¡°Probably.¡±
¡°Why don¡¯t you do it?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t feel like it.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I pick up Ara-san and put her on her feet. However, she just let herself fall, not even trying to regain balance. ¡°Come on, we have only limited time.¡±
¡°Ah, you¡¯re right.¡± With this, Ara-san changes into [Acrobat] just to immediately use her more acrobatic body to directly jump on her feet, a totally pointless use of [Class Change]. ¡°We¡¯ll see if he was foolish enough to leave his window open.¡±
Volume 07 - Chapter 3-1 – Tidings to the Person in Need
Chapter 3 ¨C Tidings to the Person in Need
After a night on the floor with Ara-san next to me¡ªthe best compromise was to have Kyou-san sleep in the other bed¡ªwe eat breakfast in the taproom. Yeah, it''s soup! Totally watered down but with chunks of things I don''t know for taste. I''m sarcastic of course.
I''m reevaluating the information Kyou-san gathered. The trading road is a wide road, wide enough for carts and wagons to traverse. There is also a path that''s regularly used by pilgrims, mercenaries, and soldiers, it''s sometimes narrow, sometimes rough, but still traversable enough.
Finally, there is a dangerous path, that''s not used as it gets too close to monster territory. This once was a regular route, but many years ago monsters have started infesting this path and with another path, nobody around here wanted to spend money on mercenaries to clear it again.
All three of them are marked, though nobody is sure if all marks are still there for the old path. Or if it''s still open. As far as we know, only heroes are taking this path, as the monsters here have little value. They''re rather strong, but their parts aren''t special, so selling it for rarity or properties won''t bring enough profit for the risk, unless you can get XP out of it.
As mercenaries, it would make sense to take the safer path. As heroes who have Correo and his goons to consider, taking the difficult route is more likely, less exposure to others. I would usually say that the trading route would be the way to trick everyone, but since the Crusaders have pacified them, a lot of traders will traverse them, so it may be way too much exposure and it may be too easy to hide an ambush there.
To be honest, I''m stuck. I don''t know the best course of action. There are neither bad nor good choices from where I''m standing. Of course, that old path might be risky and not even open, but we''re only four people, so we can climb a bit. Heck, Ara-san can jump several meters high, so she may bind a rope to the top of a cliff for the rest of us. This can also be applied for avoiding ambushes.
This sucks. Not that we''re incapable of avoiding ambushes as long as I can use [Shared Senses] and Ara-san''s [Like the Wind], that''s cool. I mean deciding the best course of action if everything looks the same right now, as these decisions will come back later. ¡°Phew...¡±
Ara-san''s ears twitch once, then she turns to me. ¡°This is the eighth time. Is the soup that bad.¡±
¡°I don''t particularly care.¡± I only like complaining about it. ¡°Just weighing our options.¡±
¡°I see. That''s why you are the leader.¡±
¡°Because it''s a pain in the ass?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Phew.¡±
¡°When in doubt, just draw by lot.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Just use an event you can''t predict and base your answer on that. Like how about the bard will come into the taproom?¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°We still have three choices?¡±
¡°Yeah?¡±
¡°Then when he comes in and is angry, anxious, or otherwise showing his discontent, then it''s option 1. If he comes in and is trying to hide the fact, then it''s option 2. If he doesn''t come before we leave, it''s option 3.¡±
¡°We still need to spread the rumors before we leave.¡±
¡°I can''t think of everything for you.¡±
¡°You''re just trying to cover up that you haven''t thought of it.¡±
¡°Ahem.¡± No need to be proud of that! Sometimes I''m not sure if she''s free-spirited or just an idiot in her own right.
...Kyou-san, why are you looking at me like I''ve put an octopus into my shirt? ¡°What have the two of you done?¡±
¡°Erm... What are you referring to?¡±
¡°The bard.¡±
¡°...¡± OK, now that I have slept over the matter, I do kinda feel guilty.
Ara-san isn''t. ¡°What didn''t we do?¡±
¡°Are you realizing that this is the reason why alfar aren''t welcome anywhere!? Ken, you should have stopped her!¡±
¡°Erm, I did damage control?¡±
¡°He certainly did. There are so many things you can do with fire.¡±
Kyou-san snorts: ¡°Yes, and most of them are stupid ideas. Let me guess... you''re on a petty revenge trip.¡±
I scratch my head as an answer, as I can''t dismiss this verdict. I was caught in the heat of the moment and counseled by an alfr who certainly is a bad influence for anyone.
I look at Rine who isn''t even listening, she eats her soup while humming. It''s one of the songs that were played yesterday, I guess she liked it. I''m glad that it''s not that one. I can''t help but feel a bit relieved that she didn''t notice what we''re talking about right now.
The door of the inn opens, and a person in underwear comes in. He has a hat glued on his head, tusks drawn under his nose and a face around his emergent navel which now looks like a nose. His eyes are red, his lips are blue, his side is dirty and wet. He must have jumped out of the window to escape his room, as we may have taken his room key with us after we were done, locking him inside his room.
While he was performing last night, Ara-san spiced his drink with one of her sleeping agents when nobody was looking. While Kyou-san has more potent drugs, Ara-san has her own stash for alfr-purposes. It was enough to put him into a good, long sleep.
Of course, we had to enter his room, but the beauty of it was that it was on the second level. Ara-san jumped at the window from the outside, despite the rainstorm, and somehow opened it without even breaking anything. Then she entered the room, dried herself with a spell, found the key, and let me in.
For some reason, the bard walks up to us... wait. Now that I think of it, Ara-san is an alfr, of course she''s the one who will be suspected first. ¡°This is quite an experience. Thank you for it. Yet I''m in the need of my clothes. Would you please give them back to me?¡±
Ara-san''s face is as unmoving as ever, her ears are slightly uplifted, showing her amusement. ¡°Your clothes are where your feet are moving while they don''t tread, and you''re larger than standing while sitting.¡±
¡°A riddle! What a turn!¡± He overacts, but I guess he''s an entertainer.
¡°An easy one.¡± Yes, the answer is ''horse'' or any other kind of mount, therefore his clothes are in the stables.
¡°Thanks for your mercy. I''m also sorry if my song about your friends has angered you.¡±
¡°Angered? You don''t know alfar well.¡±
¡°For what other purpose have you put mud into my backpack, taking a bite of each of my supplies, while wetting my sheets, smear on my body, gluing my hat on my head with something alive in it which moves constantly now, putting a frog in one boot and itching powder in the other one, taking my coins and hiding them throughout my room¡ªeven opening deck boards for that purpose and masterfully masking this craftsmanship¡ªthen detuning every single one of my instruments, and taking my song books and doing a flawless grammar correction?¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
OK, now that he started listing some of the things we did, I realize that even after haggling Ara-san down we still made an overkill.
However, Ara-san is merciless. ¡°Is this all you have found?¡±
The bard is understandably shocked: ¡°There is more!?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll leave it to your imagination.¡±
¡°Shiver me timbers!¡± OK, that reaction is exaggeration. ¡°Then I need to find my clothes now. Be well, my alfr friend.¡± Then he turns to Kyou-san: ¡°You as well, my unknown beauty,¡± Kyou-san gives him a look as if he had called her a slimy eel, ¡°and finally you, my dear Rine.¡±
Hearing her name, Rine turns around. ¡°Oh, hello,¡± greeting him like she hasn''t noticed. ¡°I''m sorry, but I''m not interested.¡± Then she turns to Kyou-san, who nods at her in approval.
While being ignored actually seems to hurt the bard, the rejection makes him smile: ¡°They say love grows with distance and the next time we''ll see, you will realize that I''m the man of your dreams... Just kidding, this is just an act. Though next time I''ll be more careful and notice if there''s an alfr in the room.¡±
Hey, is he about to cry? I see his eyes are a bit wet! This somehow makes me feel delightful, as it would really, really get on my nerves if he could take so much harassment without even caring. Still, I do feel a bit guilty.
Just for a moment though, as he makes a claim: ¡°Next time I''ll change a line. Instead of ''Though I have to tell you, folk, before I go to get a gulp, Kenta, this is just a joke, so please don''t beat me to a pulp.'' it''ll be ''Now I need to end it, I hope you understand, because if I don''t stop now, he will send his alfr friend.'' My girls, stay as beautiful as you are. Kenta stay away.¡± With these words he laughs and walks away.
...what erk all the way through to the end. Well, in a way just pathetic. Or maybe he thinks he''s acting like an adult that way, I don''t know.
¡°Being treated by a human I pranked this way is unsatisfying.¡±
Kyou-san puts her hand on Ara-san''s shoulder. This is a measurement to keep the alfr from running away while questioning here. ¡°Now explain to me why you did so in the first place, Arako.¡±
¡°Actually, I don''t know. I somehow got the urge to show that musician what it is like being one-sidedly targeted... could it be? May I have finally awoken to justice?¡±
Kyou-san''s voice is so serious that it''s funny. ¡°No, you haven''t.¡±
¡°Then maybe it''s because I''m culture-sick. Being away from alfr so long may make me miss them so I have to make up for a whole village. Or maybe I''m more... how do I express this best... in certain circumstances, I have short streaks of protective feelings towards all of you. I mean, obviously I have positive feelings about you, but whenever someone is badmouthing or threatening you, I have these emotions I can''t really explain.¡±
OK, this is the part where Kyou-san would retort with something. Yet her face is unmoving and she retracts her hand. ¡°I see.¡± Is she a bit paler than before?
On the other hand, Rine starts to smile like she used to, stands up, and embraces Ara-san tightly. ¡°You''re caring about us!¡±
¡°Wwffw.¡± Considering their respective heights, Ara-san is pressed against Rine''s plentiful bosom.
Caring... so this is Ara-san''s way of being protective? ...my mouth tastes like shit.
¡°Ah, sorry.¡± Rine let go of Ara-san with her newly attained gloomy mood. ¡°I mean, erm...¡± She sends me a distress signal with her eyes, most likely because she jumped into a conclusion again and realized it.
I just nod to her, as she''s right to be more careful. Then I point with my chin to Ara-san, trying to say to her nonverbally that she''s the one who can tell Rine whether she''s right with her idea or not.
The white-haired alfr however is busy catching her breath. ¡°*Huff* The theory of developing breasts as a means to suffocate other people wins more and more credibility.¡± Then her ears start dropping while slightly bending forwards. Is this her way to frown? ¡°Caring about you though? I certainly feel a certain amount of affection towards all of you. I also feel like I want to be ravished by Kenta-kun and ravish him back, but this is another matter entirely.¡±
¡°Hey, don''t phrase it like that!¡± I retort.
¡°Well,¡± Rine takes up the thread, ¡°I believe that you''re feeling bad whenever one of us feels bad, right Ara?¡±
¡°Possibly.¡±
¡°When another person is the reason, you get mad at them, right?¡±
¡°I suppose?¡±
¡°So that means that we''re truly friends, right?¡±
¡°Is there any benefit for being your friend?¡±
¡°Hn?¡±
¡°Like a discount on potions or a membership in the Feuerberg Crochet Society?¡±
¡°There is one?¡±
¡°It''s your country, you should know about it.¡±
¡°I''m sorry.¡±
¡°I forgive you.¡±
OK, now Ara-san is just messing with Rine ¡messing. This is right, Correo is also messing with me in a way. Logically speaking, his plan to capture us with mercenaries must have cost a fortune and while it may pale in comparison to the bounty of Rine, I don''t even know if this bounty is his end goal.
When I interrogated one of the mercenaries, he said that Correo wanted me to know who they''re after. Since then, Correo and his possible plans weighed on my mind, especially with the oni coming after us in Goldbrunn.
Yet, it was only the oni. The Crusaders weren''t on Correo''s paycheck, same goes for the guards. The oni might have been doing a recon mission and acted on her own after finding me without any of the girls.
I look at Kyou-san, who frowns upon Ara-san and Rine. She was right in a sense. We''ve been through the swamps to not let Correo tell us what to do, so I need to act like that and make my decision.
The old path it is. With our set of skills it should be easy to anticipate and answer any kind of ambush and even if the path is blocked, we''ll find a way. Time to announce it.
Ara-san has one of her ears laying on her head while she says in a slightly annoyed tone: ¡°I believe that ''The Pimp''s Crochet Society'' would be more appropriate.¡±
¡°And I tell you-¡±
I turn around to Kyou-san. ¡°What''s going on!?¡±
¡°They''ve decided to start their own crochet club and now they''re fighting over the name.¡±
¡°Ah, I know!¡± Rine says loudly. ¡°We''re the Lion Squad, therefore we''re the Lion Squad Crochet Society!¡±
¡°What a splendid idea,¡± Ara-san agrees.
Hey, don''t throw mud at the name I gave us! My hands are slowly moving towards the ears of both, slowly, not with single intention to hurt someone. Now I have them pinched between my fingers. ¡°Would you mind listening? First, I won''t participate in any crochet club, so cut the name.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± Kyou-san smiles at me, ¡°I think it''s a wonderful idea.¡±
¡°Are you serious about joining!?¡±
¡°Of course. I mean, it''s not like there is much to do in this world besides fighting monsters which isn''t a real past-time. Or can''t you crochet?¡±
¡°Kenta, I''ll teach you how to do it!¡±
¡°Shut up, Rine.¡±
¡°Auh...¡± Now she''s sad again.
¡°Phew... hey, just listen, OK? I''ve decided that we''re going the old path, so Kyou-san, make sure that everyone here thinks that we''re going the mercenary route.¡±
¡°Only if you join the society.¡±
I want to hit her, I want to hit her so badly... Yet there is another distraction: ¡°Red Ranger!¡± It''s the old man again who surely has slept in his poncho. ¡°Are you alright? Also, why do you have a pair of ears?¡±
Ah, I still have Rine and Ara-san by their ears. I let both of them go. Dammit, did the geezer listen to our conversation? ¡°They had an argument.¡±
¡°You''re really busy, right? Come, let''s get a drink.¡±
¡°I thought you were dirt poor.¡±
¡°Often enough. That''s why I''m asking you to pay the bill.¡±
¡°Hell no!¡±
¡°Come on, lad. I still need a day or two to rest and want to save my money.¡±
I appreciate his honesty in this matter, but I hate the content. ¡°Why should I?¡±
¡°Because I''m that charismatic.¡±
¡°You''re not. Also, we¡¯d like to move on soon.¡±
¡°Another reason to have a drink together.¡±
¡°Do you have any knowledge about what''s before us?¡±
¡°Barely.¡±
¡°Then sorry, but no sorry. I don''t have the time right now.¡±
¡°Ah, I''ll drink something with him,¡± Rine suggests to me.
¡°Rine, don''t pay attention to him. Geezer, we''re on a tight schedule and have limited funds, so no thank you.¡±
The old man shrugs his shoulders. ¡°I see. Too bad.¡± Then he goes to the next group of young people.
Now Kyou-san can give the false intel and we''re ready to go.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Masahiko looks at Correo, who is holding a pendulum, a relic that can lead a person to the closest hero. If a hero touches the pendulum, they can''t detect them for a year though. So the two parties of heroes have all been excluded for the search.
The pendulum moves a few centimeters to southeast. ¡°We''re getting closer,¡± Correo says while adjusting his hat. ¡°Less than a day behind.¡±
¡°We should hurry,¡± Yoshimura-kun suggests. ¡°Hoshibashi-kun and I can catch up to them in half that time.¡±
¡°I don''t know,¡± Masahiko says slowly while frowning. ¡°If we''re too reckless, we''ll just tire ourselves. Correo-san, they''re in the canyon, right?¡±
¡°Most likely.¡±
¡°We need to save our energy then.¡± While Masahiko doesn''t want a battle, he does want to prepare for one. ¡°Hurrying might kill us. We need to keep monsters and other hazards in mind.¡±
¡°This is a waste of time, Inoue-san,¡± Yoshimura-kun replies, ¡°we''re talking about a canyon here, so if they''re in too deep, knowing their direction won''t help much. There are dozens of paths.¡± Yoshimura-kun sounds lecturing and urging at the same time.
¡°You''re right, it becomes more complicated. But we have Teruko on our side, she will find them.¡±
The girl in question steps forward: ¡°I''m a [Deepstalker], I can find anyone.¡±
Correo coughs slightly to gain the attention: ¡°There is an inn right before the canyon. I would suggest that we do a compromise, we''ll travel at a fast pace there and take a rest. As far as I know, you heroes recover quickly, so we''ll win time. Maybe someone has seen them there.¡±
¡°What about you, Correo-san? You would still need a break.¡±
¡°I''m a non-combatant and used to traveling. So a bit of forced march won''t affect me much. We could be there in half a day.¡±
Masahiko remembers how Correo brought them here in the first place, so yes, walking isn''t something Correo needs to be worried about. ¡°Please guide us.¡±
Volume 07 - Chapter 3-2
¡°Kenta-kun, you''re about to break me.¡±
¡°Just keep going.¡±
¡°I can''t, I can''t anymore.¡±
¡°Don''t dare to stop now! We''re almost done!¡±
¡°No, my body aches so much, I need a rest.¡±
¡°Shut up and grit your teeth.¡± I''m also doing my best, dammit!
¡°Kenta, Ara, you can do it!¡±
¡°This is so humiliating.¡±
¡°Shut up, peanut gallery!¡±
To fool anyone who might follow us, Kyou-san started with spreading rumors, then we walked down the mercenary path. Now we''re changing direction, Ara-san jumps from one patch of grass to the next with Kyou-san on her back, while I carry Rine cross-country. During our grinding in the Spirit Swamps, I learned the [Trackless]-skill, pretty self-explanatory. It''s not perfect and using it costs SP, depending on the underground, the weight I''m carrying and so on. The rule of thumb is: The bigger and clearer the tracks I would leave, the more SP.
Contrary, Ara-san doesn''t leave tracks on plants, as they start to bend back after she¡¯s trod on them. It''s something every alfr can do. Therefore, we made a wrong track first and now we''re using these techniques to switch to the old path before we''re too deep into that canyon.
The Redstone Canyon is rightfully named, as the rocks here are actually red, instead of a reddish brown or other deviations. There are some bushes and patches of grass here, but it''s rocks and dirt for the most part.
Ara-san and I hear people talking from afar, so I point at a rock so we can hide behind it. Too bad that carrying Rine isn''t enough to include her into my [Camouflage]-skill. Yet we''re fast enough to see a group of mercenaries leisurely talking to each other. They''re more attentive than their behavior suggests, yet they don''t go the extra mile of scouting behind every rock.
Good for them that we aren¡¯t raiders.
I listen into their conversation, nothing of interest. After they pass us, we continue our exercise. There, this is the first marker for the old route. It really looks not well-tended, yet there is a warning for monsters painted on it. ¡°We''ll continue this for half an hour or until we face the first monsters.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, how about looking for some monsters?¡±
That slacker! ¡°Just do it.¡±
¡°Ken,¡± Kyou-san grunts at me: ¡°Being carried the whole time is also hard on us.¡±
¡°Phew... OK, let''s make ten minutes. Fast.¡± I want to get as deep into the canyon as possible. ¡°Rine, keep your eyes open.¡± I start running, I feel how this is taxing, Rine isn''t that light because she''s as tall as me and wears armor and a sword, a lump of metal. Yet my body complies with my mind, as it''s very abusable since I''m a hero.
Ara-san starts huffing and puffing next to me, as she''s not used to actually working hard. Still, her body continues, it''s totally a mind-thing for her.
Well, even abusing a hero''s body has its limits. There is always the [Worn Out]-condition to consider, a total shut-down that makes it impossible to move properly until some rest. I hope that hurrying it now won''t bite us back later, but I''m sure that being careless will definitely do. Still, it might be too much for her, as she needs to jump between patches of vegetation with Kyou-san on her back.
The more we advance on this path, the more rocks take over the landscape, making it harder for Ara-san to continue this, as she still leaves tracks in the dirt. ¡°OK Ara-san, let''s stop. Rine?¡± The princess jumps from my back. Her face looks a bit reddish, not like she''s embarrassed or something like that. ¡°Everything OK?¡±
¡°Ah, I feel a bit light-headed.¡± She grins, she grins so wide. Did she have fun being carried around!?
On the other hand, Kyou-san sighs while stretching a bit. ¡°My legs are sore.¡±
¡°Small price to pay,¡± I say while checking Ara-san who also stretches her limbs.
Then the alfr-girl does something dangerous: ¡°Momo, if you would thin down, your body-weight might not cause your legs to compress.
Ah, Kyou-san smiles. ¡°If you weren''t that skinny, your bones wouldn''t pinch off my blood vessels.¡±
Ara-san, stop it. ¡°The body of an alfr doesn''t create fat in that magnitude.¡± Her ears are twisting a bit, I guess she suspects something. This would explain why Ara-san shifted her weight as well, ready to jump back.
¡°How about an experiment? I mean, I have all the classes I need to find out how to cultivate a fat alfr after all.¡± A surprise attack!
¡°An experiment...¡± Ara-san has almost been triggered.
¡°It''s to see whether the hero-system also includes a dieting function.¡±
The sparkle of Ara-san''s eyes tells me that she has just been bought. Whenever there is research to be done about heroes, Ara-san will comply.
...seriously though? A fat alfr? I can''t even imagine how that would look like. Also sounds like a hassle: ¡°You know that you would need to carry all your body-weight around, right?¡±
This weighs Ara-san two base desires against each other: Researching heroes and being a sloth. ¡°Hm...¡± She''s deep in thought. ¡°Considering my eating habits from the time I stayed in Aroahenn and the fact that Kenta-kun''s whole hero-body has removed unnecessary fat, I tend to believe that the effort to put on weight is currently not worth the time.¡± Translation is: Gaining weight might be too much work and the reward is moving a heavier body which is also more work.
¡°*sigh*¡± I can see how Kyou-san is tired of the conversation and is dropping it. ¡°Let''s just move.¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Rine also seems to be eager to move on her own.
¡°OK, I''ll go ahead, scouting.¡± I start increasing my pace, separating from the girls. The rock formations become higher and tighter, leading down several paths. I look for the markers, and I soon start to worry for our future as the one I find is already broken off.
I kneel before it, looking at the breakage. This is old, the wood is smooth and the color is dark. Signs of rotting, but I think that the marker was broken by force. Most likely a monster.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
I feel the presence of the girls behind me, [Spouse-Location] still works. I collect some pebbles and put them to a line, showing that I''m going farther ahead. I look at the sky, there are no animals there, so [Share Senses] won''t work.
My ears are picking up some sounds. Monsters? We''re now in their territory, so it''s probable. Still, there is also the wind that moves through the ravines to consider. Now that I think about it, this strange hissing might be just that.
Hm... can I climb that crag? One of my usually less useful skills is [Mountain-climber], which decreases the amount of SP spent on climbing and moving on mountains while also improving my climbing technique. It''s actually pretty nice, but it only works in rocky terrain though this canyon seems to count.
After some rather skillful free-climbing, I''m finally at the top, still huffing, yet not really exhausted. I see more crags, I hadn''t noticed that we were that deep. Or is it more like the land rises here? Nonetheless, being up here isn''t that helpful in terms of navigation. I just hope that if I follow the path from up here, I will at least see more.
I take my first step and I don''t like how it feels. Under my boots I feel a slight shift, my [Perception]-ability applies to all of my senses, including the sense of touch. This may be not safe to treat. ¡°Phew...¡± and I made the effort to climb up...
Still above, I look at the path. I don''t know how probable a rock slide might be or how much it''ll move¡ªI''m not a geologist after all¡ªI try the next best thing: Guessing while using my imagination. Now I climb down again and throw a firebomb on the top of the cliff while running into the other direction.
A small blast, yet aside from a bit of rock, nothing comes down. Firebombs might be too weak or too ephemeral. Well, let''s stick to the middle of the path for starters. Still strange to be in a situation where rock firmness is a life-saving detail.
The inconsistencies of the hero-system don''t help either. I would feel much better if I knew how much damage a rock slide would inflict me, yet nature doesn''t have stats... At least I''m 90% sure that''s also the case in this world.
There! Tracks. I use my [Track]-skill to highlight them, giving me a much easier time to decide... rodent! Meldorn and Oro''hekk taught me to discern all kinds of tracks, and while it¡¯s hard to recall them, I still can recognize most after seeing them. Maybe due to being Rank 23 in the [Survival]-ability?
Nonetheless, this spells trouble. A single print is half as tall as I am! Still... why is the weight distribution off? It''s mostly centered around the palm and the way the prints are slurred... is it walking backwards!? Why only to this point though? Nothing special is here!
Ah, there are more tracks. Claws and three toes, reptilian I guess, lots of them, yet much smaller than the others. So a giant rodent against a bunch of reptiles? Wait, this rock... it smells bitterly and is slightly off-color...
If my theory is correct, then the tracks furthest to our direction are the deepest as this is where it had to brace itself... yes, so this is a rodent which has moved backwards until all the reptiles were in the target area for something like a poison-AoE. Most likely ate the corpses whole.
I can''t figure out what kind of monsters the reptiles are, but most likely some sort of pack hunter that doesn¡¯t bother to move to the other paths. Given their size, they could hide behind every larger rock. On the other hand, the rodent is a pain in the ass in its own right, as I don''t know how its poison works. Maybe it''s a toxic gas? This would be a pain. How does it get into the blood-stream? Inhalation? Skin-contact? Is it strong enough to kill or paralyze¡ªor whatever it does¡ªa human?
What a pain. Well, I''ll go a bit further. I want to give the girls a warning though, so I take some new pebbles and make a circle. It''s the symbol to wait. We have only limited paper and parchment, so I like to use them sparingly until we can buy more.
So, now time to go a bit further. This might be the territory of that rodent, so I use my array of [Stealth]-skills: [Hide Smell], [Sneak], and [Trackless] while being prepared to use [Camouflage] as well, though my red armor fits nicely in this surrounding. I also use [Pitch] and [Wild Eyes] in addition to [Track] for more intel.
Too bad there is almost no plant-life for my hiding, as [Mask of Wildlife] needs, well, wildlife, to work properly. Yet the lack of plants makes it much easier to discern other life-forms as there are less spirits that distracts my [Wild Eyes].
OK, let''s stop here. I don''t like what I see, it has to be those reptiles as I sense a bunch of spirits hidden in cracks, under and behind rocks, even lying on top of the cliffs around here. All of the spirits are eerily identical, so they might be some kind of swarm, just like the swamp rats. Yet the reptiles don''t appear to be connected via [Synchronize] which is a relief, as that spell connects critters'' spirits with each other, giving a boost to each other in terms of [Spirit Magic]. Well, logical speaking, these monsters don''t have a reason to have [Spirit Magic] in the first place, this is just a bad terrain for it with its lack of flora.
So they use most likely smell for communication, just like ants. Maybe even brainwaves. Well, there is no way I''ll walk into that trap that''s ready to spring. I guess they didn''t notice me so far and are just lying in wait in general, like a crocodile that''s capable of waiting motionless for hours.
I return back to the point I set the wait-marker, I''m still earlier than the girls. ¡°Phew...¡± Don''t want to waste time, so I just walk back. After some minutes, they''re in sight, I wave at them which causes them to pick up some speed. ¡°There is an ambush further down the path.¡±
Kyou-san sighs: ¡°What kind of ambush?¡±
¡°I don''t know, but I suspect reptilian monsters. I couldn''t see them, just sense their spirits and there are tracks of them. Plus something nasty.¡± I report what I interpret into the tracks while making sure that they know it''s just my assumptions.
Now we''re at our typical problem: Safety vs. XP. While it would be safer to find a way around this encounter, we should also amass XP. Especially since the swamps we''ve been more than willing to go the extra mile to become stronger, yet fighting sheer numbers is bad for three reasons.
First, our line of defense isn''t worth shit as there will be so many monsters. A bunch will distract Rine and me and the rest will be able to easily jump at Kyou-san and Ara-san.
Second, dealing with many at once is a messy pain. I only have two eyes and two arms, and I''m not Rine, so I can''t hack my way through them so easily that it becomes a one on one several times instead of all against me. It''s even worse for Kyou-san and Ara-san.
Third, we have AoEs but there isn''t really a chokepoint there, so we¡¯ll need a lot of them at the same time to be efficient and this will drain resources, SP, MP, consumables.
If we add in the fact that we don''t know anything about these monsters, fighting them is a bad choice. Yet there is an undeniable argument I had to address: ¡°We can''t really circumvent them. We may climb the cliff, but when I was on one, I had a bad feeling. I think it''s not stable enough for our weight, and there are also monsters on top of it at that point, so fighting might cause us to make that rock slide hap-¡± Suddenly, I have a brainwave. ¡°Ara-san, time to work.¡±
¡°Please no.¡±
After discussing my plan, we head to the ambush-site. The moment we''re here, I point in its direction and Ara-san begins chanting. Each syllable is like a small spell which changes the environment until a big bubble of water appears in the air: ¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡± She ends with the name of her spell and the water crashes down, her target the rock wall. Under the pressure of the water the rock begins to crumble and slide, yet it''s not over yet: ¡°[Second Flood]!¡± This is her new spell, a water-based spell that allows her to reuse a water-spell she just cast, though in a weaker form. It costs as much MP, yet it doesn''t cost any time, so the water of the first [Tidal Wave] forms a new bubble which crashes onto the wall of the other side, causing it to collapse as well.
Rine steps forward as the monsters that survived by being in the middle of the path emerge. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± Her blade cuts through three quail-like beasts with lizard feet, long, snake-like tongues, and claws on the strangely formed wings.
So much for reptilians, huh? I''m kinda disappointed. Yet those feathers are strange, they look sharp. Well: ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± My arrows pierces some more, I guess they don''t even know if they want to attack or retreat, as the whole swarm is in disarray.
Yet, with the rocks falling down, we have created that chokepoint. Ara-san is preparing a new [Tidal Wave] while Rine and I decimate the numbers with our skills and Kyou-san has her herbs ready to delay them if needed.
In less than a minute, the quail-monsters are either dead or fled. I nod approvingly. This was a good run, though we never really figured what their deal was. Total domination. I check my status... urgh, bad XP-ratio. I mean, the rockslide Ara-san caused brought her the XP and the ring divided them among all of us, yet it''s more efficient to hunt other monsters. I mean, twenty of them are about one rockinger. ¡°They''re not worth the effort.¡± Maybe I''m just spoiled after surviving the Spirit Swamps. ¡°The rockslide was good though. Enough space to walk in the middle.¡±
Volume 07 - Chapter 3-3
It''s almost evening. Masahiko looks at the inn. It''s rather modest despite its location. Masahiko guesses that this is because of how the merchants have enough space to build up tents if needed. There is a large camping site practically next to the inn.
Correo looks at the heroes while smiling confidently: ¡°Giving the time and the signal, we know they¡¯re in the canyon already.¡± Correo has his relic, after all, so unless there are other heroes nearby, it¡¯s a fact. ¡°Yet the canyon is vast and has several paths, so we should ask around here, if we can learn which one they took. Do you see this camp? They¡¯re traders, but as we had the rainstorm yesterday and their tents are still dry, we can skip them. I''ll still pry around there to be sure, so I would suggest that you ask around inside the inn. As you''re from the same country as Katsuragi-dono and Momokawa-dono I''m sure that it''ll be easy to confirm whether they stopped there or not.
¡°OK.¡± Masahiko nods at Correo who makes a sound suggestion while he looks at Yoshimura-kun and Hoshibashi-kun who don''t look satisfied at all. ¡°Teruko? Would you mind going ahead and look if you find any traces that might be them?¡±
¡°Sure.¡± From her look, Masahiko can tell that she''s not very positive about finding anything conclusive. There are a lot of people going back and forth this route, after all.
¡°Someone should join you... Would you mind, Yoshimura-kun? Hoshibashi-kun?¡± Masahiko wants to give them that, so that they have the feeling that they''re actually inching closer to Katsuragi-kun''s party.
¡°...fine.¡± However, Yoshimura-kun sounds displeased while Hoshibashi-kun openly glares at Masahiko. Somehow this team-up doesn''t feel like one. Maybe it''s because Masahiko got so used to leading his party of friends that he may be a bit too bossy.
Nonetheless, Masahiko''s job is now entering this inn and gathering information. This certainly feels like an RPG. The inn itself isn''t that bright, there is also a sour scent in it, yet the music is as jolly and the crowd is as diverse as he could hope for in a fantasy world. He sees two dari, a group of strange beastman, part canine, part equine, part something he can''t discern, also a few folksmen here and there. Yet the biggest ethnic group are humans. By far.
¡°Well,¡± Masahiko says while smiling a bit strained, ¡°we have a lot of work.¡± He looks at Daichi, Eri, and Katsuo who are also a bit overwhelmed. ¡°I guess we should search with a system. Katsuo, you begin with the dari, OK?¡± He nods, a bit relieved as he''s not the best talker, yet he learned to deal with dari well. ¡°Eri, could you ask around the traders in here?¡± She also has the [Trader]-class, so she may connect to them. ¡°Daichi, you could ask the staff first and go to the mercenaries later.¡± Daichi is tall, that''s why he might be intimidating, yet mercenaries and the staff here should be used to people of his size. ¡°I''ll ask everyone we can''t classify.¡±
All of them split up and Masahiko looks around. One of them has to look special, to give him the idea: That person knows something.
On the stage is a group of musicians who play a beautiful song, telling about the wonders and the call of the far. Masahiko sees how many people are enchanted by this music, he''s also about to just stand there and listen. Yet he has to find Kyou. The closer they get, the more his desire grows and the harder it is for his head to make the right calls.
One of the servers is looking at him while smiling, he smiles back which causes her to blush a bit. Then he looks for a table to sit on, seeing only one that''s only occupied by one person, an old man with a dirty poncho. Masahiko feels an inkling, it''s that special feeling he has whenever something is important.
That''s why he goes to that man''s table: ¡°Mind if I sit down?¡±
The old man is eating bread, it looks like the cheapest bread someone could buy but what is lacking in quality is made up by quantity. He musters Masahiko for a moment, then nods. The man has white hair and a full beard, yet somehow he doesn''t feel that old. It''s his movements, they''re still youthful. ¡°What a surprise.¡±
¡°Hm? What do you mean?¡±
The old man narrows his eyes for a moment, it looks like he''s carefully weighing Masahiko. ¡°Where are you from, lad?¡±
¡°From Sapporo in Japan.¡±
¡°Never heard of it.¡±
¡°I''m sure. I''m a hero, coming from another world.¡±
¡°A hero?¡± This old man is amused, he smiles broadly while chuckling to himself: ¡°What brings a mighty hero into this inn? Are you on your way to find a strong monster that''s plaguing the people? Or maybe you''re here to hunt some raiders?¡± His words are excited and joyful, not a hint of sarcasm, it feels like a grandfather asking of the newest exploits of their grandchildren.
¡°No, I''m looking for a friend.¡±
¡°A friend, you say?¡±
¡°Yes, Momokawa Kyou. She''s in trouble.¡±
¡°I see. Well lad, tough for you. Are you in love with her?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Are you in love with that girl?¡±
This is direct. ¡°Erm...¡± Masahiko listens to his heart. ¡°She''s a dear friend of mine.¡±
¡°Ah, boring.¡±
¡°Bo-What are you talking about?¡±
¡°You look like the kind of guy who never ever fell in love while breaking the hearts of all the girls around you. Are you into men?¡±
¡°I don''t know? I mean, it''s not like I''ve never imagined- Hey, wait a moment.¡± Masahiko lifts his hand to show a server to come to this table. ¡°I¡¯d like something to eat. Something tasty. For me and my new friend.¡±
The old man looks surprised: ¡°Usually, people ask me to stay away from them. I can''t pay.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, I''ll pay.¡± He''s an elder person, of course it''s Masahiko''s pleasure to pay him a meal, especially seeing how he chunks down that dry bread.
The server nods with a smile and hurries into the kitchen. The old man rests his head on top of his hand: ¡°Really, you''re strange.¡±
¡°I think I''m normal.¡±
¡°You''re a hero, so you''re supposed to feel special.¡±
¡°Have you met heroes before?¡±
¡°A lot. Most of them were arrogant, thinking that they could challenge the world.¡±
¡°Well, you can challenge it. The reply will just hurt.¡±
¡°What about conquering it?¡±
¡°I can''t really say. I guess it''ll be even harder. I''ve already met crazily strong people and other heroes, so even if you use violence you''ll find a lot of resistance.¡±
¡°What about without using violence?¡±
¡°This might be the hardest. I mean, isn''t that the reason why nobody could conquer the world at all so far?¡±
¡°Good point.¡± The old man looks like he wallows in memories. ¡°Who needs the world anyway?¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°I don''t know. Maybe I would have strayed from the path by now if it weren''t for my shishou and my dar-friend. I may have ended up thinking that I''m plentiful strong and that might makes right.¡±
¡°Well, back to the really important matters. Are you gay or not?¡±
¡°I don''t see why this is important, but if I had to choose between the two of them... most likely not.¡±
¡°Then tell me how you can be friends with a girl.¡±
¡°Erm... like I do it with guys?¡±
¡°...are you a child?¡±
¡°I''m a teenager, so somewhere between a child and an adult.¡±
¡°Get a beard.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°A beard. Grow one.¡±
¡°I don''t know what-¡± The server comes back and puts two bowls of stew in front of them. ¡°Well, thanks for the meal.¡± Masahiko begins eating, the stew is very juicy and delicious, just the kind that¡¯s cooked over several days. It makes sense, as having a stew like this in a wayward inn, where most people spend only a night or two, is low on cost and work. ¡°Delicious!¡±
The old man also begins eating his stew and he looks like he¡¯s in ecstasy. ¡°Trust me, lad, when you grow older, you will enjoy the softness of the roots and meat more than anything else.¡±
¡°I think that the dental care in this world is rather good.¡±
¡°You''re from the kingdoms to the east, right?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Ah, then you''ll find the worst teeth ever soon. Don''t know why, but the more you go west, the worse the teeth.¡±
¡°Hm... Maybe they don''t have brushes and paste?¡±
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°Wait a minute.¡± Masahiko takes his backpack and puts his dental care products on the table. ¡°Here.¡±
¡°Oh, I see.¡± Looking at the old man''s teeth, they aren''t that taken care of, yet they''re still mostly intact. ¡°Whenever I break off a tooth I ask a priest.¡±
¡°Magic can fix it?¡±
¡°Yeah, though my healer always gave me that bitter mouthwash. I hate it.¡±
¡°You should take care of your teeth.¡±
¡°Pah! You''re not my mother! I''m too old to care anyway!¡±
¡°It''s never too late.¡±
Instead of answering, the old man mumbles something under his beard and continues eating. Masahiko also eats while thinking about that conversation. It reminds him of when his grandfather was still alive. Ojii-san was very similar to this man.
¡°Hey, boy,¡± the old man says after scraping out his bowl. ¡°Thanks for the meal.¡±
¡°You''re welcome.¡±
¡°You''re a good lad. So you''re looking for a lass?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I have seen people that look like you, including a lass. She and her companions left this inn this morning.¡±
¡°She has!? Do you know where she went?¡±
¡°I was lucky enough to catch some scraps of their conversation. They''re taking the old path, it''s been abandoned for at least decades. After the first crossroad, go west when you''re at the first signpost, there is a path that''s almost gone. Follow it and you''ll come across old, abandoned signposts. That''s the way.¡±
¡°Thank you!¡±
The old man gives a smile while Masahiko stands up to contact his friends who are all engaged in a conversation. He doesn''t want to disturb them, so he waits while standing. ¡°Everything alright, Inoue-dono?¡± Correo appears out of nowhere, asking him.
¡°I have a lead.¡±
¡°So do I. There is a bard in the camp who has been harassed by an elf. He says that a boy, a girl with exotic facial features, and a blond girl with ember-like eyes accompanied her.¡±
¡°I have met someone who knows which route they want to use in the canyon.¡±
¡°Great. Let''s see what your friends will find. I''ll get a table, something to drink, and some snacks. I''m sure that our trackers will also return soon. I''ll also get enough provisions to cross the canyon, even if we have to feed a dozen people.¡±
¡°Thanks, Correo.¡±
¡°I''m just a merchant, so things like that are what I''ll do for the mission. You have to take care of the fighting.¡±
¡°I don''t plan to fight.¡±
¡°But they may. From what you and the king have told me, this might be a fight that''s unavoidable. We are talking about trickery and mind-control here. There are also monsters to consider.¡±
Masahiko doesn''t say anything. He still wants to believe that this won''t be solved with violence, yet he also knows that Katsuragi-kun has shot him which should tell him to be extra careful. Also, why didn''t he return the princess to her father for the bounty? So many questionable decisions... It''s Masahiko''s inner child that stubbornly denies that someone would plan something so despicable that it escapes his imagination.
¡°Masa-kun,¡± Teruko softly hits Masahiko''s back, telling him that she returned, ¡°too many tracks. I can''t tell which one might belong to them.¡±
¡°A waste of time,¡± Yoshimura-kun adds to that comment. ¡°Whatever. I hope you could enjoy the warmth.¡± He sounds a bit sulky while Hoshibashi-kun grunts twice to convey his discontent.
¡°Well, I think I know how to catch up to them. Let''s sit down and talk. You can get something to eat with Correo. I''ll wait for the others here and tell them to join you.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡± Teruko looks miserable. It has become cold around here, so it must have been freezing outside. ¡°You two,¡± she points at Yoshimura-kun and Hoshibashi-kun: ¡°Remember, just one more complaint, and-¡±
Yoshimura-kun sighs while Hoshibashi-kun glares at her. There might be some conflict here, but Masahiko thinks it''s still their business at this point.
He looks at the table with the old man, who is standing up looking with an unreadable expression at Masahiko and his companions and then heads to the stairs.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°What a waste of time!¡± Lent Wood, formerly known as Yoshimura Rentaro, is angry and irritated at the morons that comprise Inoue''s party, especially their leader. Currently, Lent is in a room he shares with his partner, Star Killer aka Hoshibashi Takashi, and Correo. ¡°Hey, Correo. Why do we even need them?¡± This is the first time Lent even has a chance of talking to the merchant without anyone overhearing them. All three people in this room are servants of the Lady, the goddess living in the necropolis. Only her request and the chance to obtain Momokawa Kyou were able to even convince Lent of partaking in this entire mission. He had a war to lead in the necropolis, after all!
¡°Lent, I know that you and Star are strong and have much more experience fighting than before, yet I suspect that the same goes for the party of the princess. You remember how you lost to the elf and Katsuragi Kenta?¡±
¡°Only because we fought at the brink of death!¡± If Yoshimura Rentaro hadn''t been such a weakling, he wouldn''t have suffered that many injuries before Lent Wood took over.
¡°I appreciate self-confidence, Lent. Yet this shows that there will be resistance. From what I heard, their party consists of an elf, the princess, and the two heroes. The elf is supposed to be a white-haired girl, so most likely the same who fought you.¡±
Being remembered of that eyesore made even Star angry. ¡°That''s good, this time I''ll crush her!¡±
Lent is a bit cooler, as he would rather have her join them and their cause. ¡°You know that my new quest is to convince twenty heroes to join Kami-sama, right Correo?¡± If Lent fulfills his mission, he''ll get a wish granted. ¡°Inoue and his party will interfere, most likely.¡±
¡°On the other hand, Star has to kill a hundred heroes,¡± Correo repeats the obvious. ¡°This is all calculated. My last plan failed because of several reasons, the biggest oversight was that I don''t know much about those heroes. While traveling with Inoue-dono, I could ask enough to basically know Momokawa-dono like the back of my hand while I see that Katsuragi Kenta is in his core a loner.¡±
¡°So you brought Inoue and his party for intel?¡±
¡°Not only. My first draft of the plan is to set them up against the princess and Momokawa-dono. They''re strong and motivated.¡±
¡°Huh, they''re supposed to be strong?¡±
¡°They earned the respect of the king of Feuerberg, that''s enough for me to believe in their prowess.¡±
Lent doesn''t think highly of that coward king, yet it appears Correo thinks otherwise. ¡°I don''t know about your former plan, but you hadn''t us back then.¡±
Correo grabs the brim of his hat for a moment, deep in thought. ¡°That''s exactly the difference between then and now. I will count on you. Speaking of the Lady, did she give you something for me?¡±
Grudgingly, Lent opens his backpack and retrieves three bottles with a midnight blue liquid inside. ¡°What is this?¡±
¡°My reward for serving.¡± The merchant receives the bottles and looks at them with a satisfactory smile.
Lent snorts at Correo, seeing how corrupt the older man really is. Serving Kami-sama should be his own reward, but during Lent''s training with Correo, the true hero learned that the merchant never does anything without compensation. It may be the greedy nature of that man.
Looking for some support, Lent turns to Star who is undressing to go to sleep. ¡°Hey Star, I thought you also hate how we need to get rest here.¡±
Star doesn''t even take time to look at Lent while answering. ¡°Like the midget said, we can spare time by sleeping here and getting up early instead of setting up and breaking camp and everything around it. We won''t be able to catch up before tomorrow anyway, so just shut up and sleep.¡±
¡°A good sentiment,¡± Correo adds.
Even Lent has to admit that discussing this has no merit at this point. Yet something about the merchant''s explanation earlier made him doubting. ¡°Hey, you haven''t said much about your plans.¡±
¡°My plan is that you and Inoue-dono find a way to cooperate and leave it into your capable hands.¡±
So in the end, Correo only wants them to work together while leaving it to Lent to make the decisions. ¡°It''d be easy to cooperate if he would just accept his place.¡± The place beneath Lent of course.
Correo looks at Lent for a moment then he points at Star who is already in his bed. ¡°I think I''ll follow his example.¡± Correo doesn''t bother to undress, instead he pulls his hat over his eyes and lies down on the bed, just two seconds later he''s already asleep. It''s always astounding how fast the merchant can nod off.
Lent undresses and while he also tries to sleep, his thoughts return to the scene just before this. All of them sitting at a table, while listening to two different statements, Inoue telling that Momokawa Kyou and the rest chose the old route while his friends said that they''re taking the one that''s still safe. Despite having only one witness, Inoue''s friends were quick to believe him and then he said that they should rest early as traveling at night is too dangerous if they''re going on a monster-infested path.
Those weaklings! Everything Lent said to convince them fell upon deaf ears and, in the end, the midget meant that every preparation made to rest outside was a bigger waste of time.
Well, it won''t matter in the end. Tomorrow is the day they will catch up. Then he''ll show those idiots why they weren''t needed in the first place.
Volume 07 - Chapter 3-4
I''m in a half-awake state as I sleep while having my [Dormurnal]-skill active. I can hear and smell like usual, yet everything is coming into my mind as if it needs to go through some kind of pillow. Every impression I get is somewhat muffled, yet I can decide to wake up any time. If I don''t, then these thoughts are forgotten until I open my eyes.
Next to me is a soft breathing, it''s just Kyou-san. That thought escapes my mind. The spitting of fire, we have a campfire, so no need to wake up. Mind blanked. A voice, ¡°Then, I don''t know, I feel like... bad.¡± It''s Rine, nothing of importance, mentally pushed aside.
¡°Why do you feel bad?¡± Another voice, Ara''ainn. Just conversing during nightwatch, thought goes away.
¡°I don''t know. Kenta said that I should think about it but how can I think about it? I mean, it''s a feeling.¡± My name was mentioned, yet it''s nothing that endangers me in any way, it has time until tomorrow.
¡°I certainly can empathize with this, though it''s the reverse for me.¡±
¡°The reverse?¡±
¡°Yes. Despite having many thoughts, I don''t know what I feel.¡±
¡°Describe it.¡±
¡°I can''t. Maybe it''s anxiousness, maybe it''s unrest, maybe it''s just annoyance of not knowing about something important that affects me. I can find many words, yet the feeling would just be... heavy?¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡±
Nothing of it has to do with me. Conversation log deleted.
¡°So I have a suggestion. You know how you feel, but can''t describe your thoughts. I know how to describe my thoughts but not how I feel. Let''s form an alliance to ascertain what both of us seek.¡±
¡°Yes, an alliance!¡±
I wake up, first sitting up while opening my eyes in disbelief. ¡°What!?¡±
You gain 1 WP.
Sleeping next to your wife gives security, even in anxious times.
Suddenly, everything hammers into my brain, the whole conversation. For some reason, Rine decided to ask Ara-san about her feelings and then it turned out that... why did I wake up!?
¡°Kenta-kun, Katarine-san and I have decided to work together.¡± OK, now I know why I woke up, because that summary gives me shivers! It''s a horror scenario!
¡°If we work together, we''ll be able to figure things out!¡± Please no, combining two idiots won''t produce any smart result! It''s like hoping that if you combine hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, you will get a less aggressive product. It won''t, it will give you aqua regia instead, capable of dissolving even gold or platinum!
So if we take two people lacking any sort of common sense, the one powerful enough to force herself through any problem, the other one intelligent yet lacking any self-control, it might come to a team that''s totally capable of defying reality itself!
While I try my best to form the words to tell them what a bad idea it would be for them to work together, Rine is asking Ara-san carefully: ¡°May I hug you?¡±
¡°I would prefer it if you would not. Usually, it ends up with me being smothered by your breasts while your arms press the air out of my lungs.¡±
¡°Then we can do what you do with Kenta, putting our hands above each other''s heart.¡±
¡°We can do that, yet I have doubts how effective it will be, seeing how your heart is hidden behind all that blubber.¡±
¡°Let''s try it out!¡±
¡ ¡ you know what? It was stupid of me to bother about that. It''s not like the two of them are that compatible in the first place. Other than Kyou-san, Ara-san isn''t the type to console Rine enough that she will stop questioning herself, while Rine is too goodhearted to fall victim to Ara-san''s very tempting offers, unlike myself.
¡°Phew...¡± I guess it¡¯s about half an hour before we switch nightwatch-shifts. I''m wide awake, so instead of forcing myself to sleep, I decide to leave the half-open tent Kyou-san and I are sleeping in, sit by the fire, and think about stuff while tending to it. One of the few things I learned to enjoy in this world.
My plans for the journey in this world used to be straight-forward. Grind until I get enough levels, then to get the best equipment I could buy, finally taking on the demon king. There was no party involved, no one I needed to rely on. Now everything is different.
...I hate it.
Still, I need to keep going. I look at the ring on my left hand, the well-known lion face stares at me. I know that my thoughts will just cycle again, as I have thought about it much, yet I can''t help but ask myself who made this ring and for what purpose. Does it still fulfill its purpose or was it cursed and is now working differently?
In the end, it does what it does very inefficiently. It has wed me to three girls, it has a wonky system that occasionally adds something without updating or fixing the rest. It just feels so incomplete. Like too many RPGs nowadays, it''s like they bring out a half-finished product, let the fanbase beta-test their crap and then they''ll fix it via patches! Hey game-makers, we want to buy games, not test-versions!
¡°...phew...¡± Not that I''m in a position to complain anymore. I need to get through this fantasy world first. I really, really have the urge to play a game. I feel like starving! Also, I will feel nothing but regret when I''m back home, as I''m sure that I''ll have forgotten basically everything about the game I was playing. I had passed the three-quarter mark of its story, I think. It''s just inhuman to have kidnapped me into this world for¡ªwhat, half a year already?
By the way, the new alliance is trying to ascertain Rine''s feelings. ¡°Then it feels like my heart is dropping a bit while sending some hot and cold waves through my chest that stops at my navel.¡±
¡°Worry? Anxiousness? Envy? Happiness? Sexual desire? A heart disease?¡± Ara-san is just wildly guessing... this is stupid.
¡°That''s not really it. How can I describe it? Kenta, how would you describe that?¡±
¡°Hey, why is it that, whenever you talk about something stupid, you always include me!?¡±
¡°Hn?¡± Rine cocks her head, she''s away from her sullen mood again, acting like always. Then it hammers into her that I asked her to figure out what I would like to want. ¡°Ah, so you don''t want to?¡±
¡°Obviously?¡±
¡°Kenta-kun,¡± Ara-san says in her usual calm demeanor which belies everything that might go on in her mind, ¡°as I believe that you are feeling irritated, could you describe that feeling in words?¡±
...she''s enjoying it! She''s so enjoying it!
¡°Phew...¡± Breathe in, breathe out. This is why I had that bad feeling about their ''alliance'', because subconsciously I already knew that I would be the one who suffers. ¡°Ara-san, even if you knew how I feel, I believe that humans and alfar feel emotions differently in the first place.¡± Actually, seeing how Ara-san acts, I have the feeling that she usually feels less than the rest of us, though she has some extremes here and there. Like fun and curiosity. ¡°Rine, do I come across as someone who likes to talk about crap like that?¡±
Suddenly, Rine jumps on her feet: Erm, did I say something wrong? She looks angry. ¡°My feelings aren''t crap!¡± She has tears in the corners of her eyes and she looks really hurt.
...OK, now I feel bad. ¡°I- sorry. I didn''t mean that.¡± I really didn''t. Dammit, this is the Rine-effect, since meeting her, I somehow feel more... upright? Nah, bad word. More like... less... OK, now I totally get how difficult it can be to describe feelings. It''s like a fist is wandering up my throat while I feel uneasy at my chest with the head cold. It''s different from guilt, yet very similar.
Despite my remorse, Rine looks like she''s fuming. I glance at Ara-san who looks me into the eyes. I try to send her a message ''Do something!''
She stares back with an empty look, then her ears twitch slightly. ¡°Katarine-san, are you angry?¡± She doesn''t understand anything! She''s totally oblivious!
¡°Yes! I''m furious!¡±
Ara-san''s ears are lowering, a sign of approval: ¡°Then we have at least one of your emotions named.¡± This doesn''t help at all!
This is one of the moments I realize that having Kyou-san in this party is a blessing, she''s always able to calm Rine down! Yet she''s still sleeping in the tent. At this point some noise won''t wake her up as it''s always kinda noisy.
Usually, I would try to somehow please Rine, yet this rubs me wrong here. Especially considering that my long-term goal is to release her from her hidden selfishness. Still, I can''t help but remember around a hundred ways she already hurt me before.
Rine goes inside her own tent and sits down, drinking some water from her skin. Then she stares at me with her angry eyes, they''re always blazing though now they look like they want to incinerate me.
¡°Phew...¡± I rub my head, trying to figure out what to say. I have to be honest, I''m also pretty selfish, so I can''t relate well to other people. Yet there is a difference between Rine and myself. Rine believes in her world-view and assumes that people do the roles she has chosen for them. I''m just not interested in other people. There is exactly one friend I have in this world and it''s Ara-san... why do I feel so much self-pity right now?
The person in question rotates her ears once, yawns, and then asks: ¡°Katarine-san, do you want to sleep?¡± Ah, because while we''re similar in many ways, she''s wasting her intellect on being an alfr. Well, I shouldn''t be that hard on her...
In a sense, we''re all sad people in this party. At least looking from an outside perspective. I don''t mind being a loner, after all, but being put into that all-girl party is grinding my nerves, my self-control, and my sanity.
Of course, hearing Ara-san''s question made Rine pout even more. Guess I have to use everything I know about consoling. Won''t take long. I go up to Rine and repeat what I said before: ¡°Sorry Rine, I didn''t mean to say that your feelings are crap. It''s just... well---you know... erm... I''m really bad at that, but I was just...¡± Why didn''t I pay attention when I-messages were discussed? ¡°I''m not good with the emotion-department, so I felt kinda out of place the moment you asked me.¡± OK, now I feel embarrassed.
Yet this seems to improve her mood, she has a knowing smile. I guess she remembers our talk about me being not as great as she thinks. ¡°Kenta!¡± I see how she''s about to hug me, most likely with enough force to break a rib or two. Yet I let it happen, I guess this is my punishment. ¡°Apology acce-¡± ¡°Hrrgh!¡± ¡°Kenta!?¡±
In a fraction of a moment I had three very different emotions: First, relief as receiving this punishment has cleared away my embarrassment and guilt. Second, the agonizing pain and discomfort from being trapped by a girl who is really, really rough. Third, her two mounts that press through her leather armor, I feel almost nothing but the springiness and the hard part of the armor, yet it gives me a good idea of what lies below.
This combination makes me groan, this causes Rine to let me go.
You gain 1 WP.
A heartfelt hug after reconciling with each other deepens your relationship and will give you joy and energy to face the next day.
Except that I feel pain and mental strain. I touch my rib-cage, making sure that nothing is broken while Rine has that complicated look on her face. ¡°I- I''m sorry, Kenta.¡±
Awkward. ¡°Phew... don''t mind.¡± It''s not like I did any attempt to avoid this, I also deserved a little pain. Not that I''ll tell her that. ¡°I''m awake anyway, so Rine, Ara-san, you can go to sleep.¡± These few minutes before the usual change won''t make any difference.
¡°Thanks, Kenta.¡±
¡°You have my gratitude.¡±
¡°I''ll wake Kyou-san.¡± Following my own words, I go to Kyou-san and just start donning my armor. Doing this so close to her is often good enough to wake her up, as there is a difference between noise and noise right beside you. She opens her eyes, yawns once and looks at the two other girls, Rine who is about to undress parts of her armor and Ara-san who is staring at her bedding besides the fire before just dropping on it as if she has lost consciousness. ¡°Good night, Rine-chan, Arako.¡±
I can already hear Ara-san''s heavy breathing, she really can fall asleep anytime she wants. With her [Rest anywhere]-skill she doesn''t even need to bother about the place, as everything feels like a comfortable place to sleep for her. Even cold, hard stone.
On the other side, Rine moves her bedding, trying to find the perfect spot. She sighs three times before giving up, she''s also usually fast asleep.
Both tents are close to each other and the fire in-between. With Kyou-san''s [Weather Forecast] it''s easy to decide whether we need to make preparations against rain or we can just leave the tarps in our [Inventory].
Random thought about [Inventories]. Imagine if you had to eat, sleep, and take dumps in a game, your [Inventory] would be full of stuff that you''ll need, like food, bedding, minor furnishings, cooking utensils, firewood, and wipers. Ours isn''t infinite either, we don''t have that much space left as we have gone hunting monsters in the Spirit Swamps and tried to gather some of their parts that we deemed valuable. Selling them will be a haggling challenge, as I don''t believe that they even have a market price, because there is no one hunting these things and no one who knows exactly what to do with their parts.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
After donning my armor, I go around the tent, first to see if there are tracks, second to give the girls the time to change clothes. Kyou-san still is in her new pajamas, one Rine made with her [Tailor]-class. The maker herself may have a pajama as well, but doesn''t bother with it. She only made it as she thought that I''d let her sleep next to me, like Kyou-san and Ara-san. It''s not like the dress-code was the problem. It''s her sleep-killing-spree!
¡°You can come.¡± I return to the fire, Kyou-san also leaves the tent, still binding her scarf. ¡°Ouch.¡± Kyou-san moves her shoulders while walking. ¡°My joints hurt.¡±
I sit down next to the sleeping Ara-san to farm that ''wife sleeps next to me WP'' as well. ¡°It''s not like the furs will soften stone that much.¡±
¡°I know.¡± Kyou-san furrows her brows while making some aerobic-like movements. ¡°How is it that you are fine?¡±
¡°I''m not.¡± I just endure it. It''s not like I can do something about it as not sleeping isn''t an option. I believe that the only one who will be fine is Ara-san.
¡°Sigh, I can''t believe you. I''m not in the mood to make medicine yet, so fix your seating.¡± The indirect way to say that she wants to farm WP. As she has chosen to sit on my lap first, I guess she wants a chair. We do have stools, you know?
Well, a WP is a WP and if we can do it early today, I won''t need to do it later with her. I mean, I have enough on my schedule. Each of the girls are sitting on my lap, holding hands with me, and giving me a lap-pillow, while I give one to each of them in return. We also call each other on first name/nickname-basis. These five ways to earn WP I share with everyone. Kyou-san, Ara-san, and I also sleep next to each other. Individually, I eat the meals Kyou-san makes for us, pretty harmless. Then Ara-san and I put our hands above each other''s hearts, a way for alfar to convey closeness, somewhere between holding hands and hugging in terms of closeness I guess. This would be dangerous if Ara-san had breasts. She has not, she''s an alfr after all, so it''s just almost dangerous. Finally, Rine links arms with me and gives me the first bite of breakfast, it''s still annoying but I just force myself through it.
21 WP per day, after weeks of traveling I''m somewhat used to the grinding process. In a sense, it''s scary how the lines I drew in the sand have been overtaken and are barely there anymore. I was so vehement at first, now I just feel resignation. So this is why adults are just empty husks, because they''ve given in to a life full of compromises, lured by the promise of improvement. I''m the same, the more WP we have, the more we can buy from the WP-store, the easier it''ll get to the point to break the curse, the earlier I can return to grinding to¡ªWhat am I, a corporate slave!?
¡°Phew...¡±
¡°What are you worrying about?¡± Kyou-san asks, still sounding unwell.
¡°The vanity of life.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°I guess I''m an adult now.¡±
¡°OK Ken, now explain to me in simple words what you mean.¡±
¡°It''s just a stupid chain of thoughts.¡±
¡°It''s not like we have something else to do.¡±
¡°You can continue knitting.¡±
¡°I don''t want to.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± It''s not like I can''t relate, like I said, entertainment sucks in this world, especially if you have only the light of a campfire. ¡°Kyou-san, if the curse is broken, what will you do?¡±
¡°Depends.¡±
¡°On what?¡±
¡°Whether you''re capable of pissing me off enough that I''ll kill you.¡±
¡°You''re welcome to try.¡± While she catches up to me level-wise, there is no doubt that I''ll always be well above her in combat prowess... yet she might start overplaying her annoyance while slowly poisoning me... the scary part is that this girl is totally capable, and most likely willing, of doing so.
¡°Well, jokes aside-¡± That was a joke? I don''t think so. ¡°-things are looking bad, even without the curse. We still have the misunderstanding with Teruko and the rest, then the Feuerberg-kingdom still thinks that we have kidnapped Rine-chan, we have to do something about Correo, there is a lot going on. If there is a way for me to rejoin my friends, I think that''s what I would like to do.¡± Figures, of course she will rather join that fake Inoue rather than staying with us. Heck, I would also choose to leave this party right now if the curse wouldn''t kill me.
¡°What if there won''t be a way to join them?¡±
¡°I don''t know... I guess depending on what breaking the curse does...¡± She sighs heavily, most likely in thoughts. Then she looks at the ring on her finger and starts touching it. ¡°Ken, I-¡± Then she stops again.
Ah, there we are again. She''s about to ask me again what I see under the influence of Luuto, what I saw when he made me see him as the person I love most in my mind. Frankly, I don''t even want to think about it. ¡°Just stop already.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Trying to question me. I''m tired of it.¡± It''s strange, in a sense I want Rine to know more about me, but I hate the thought of having Kyou-san know too much. ¡°It''s a private matter and it doesn''t concern you.¡±
¡°...no need to yell at me.¡±
¡°I''m not yelling!¡±
¡°You are! My ears are ringing!¡±
¡°Then stop yelling back!¡±
She looks over her shoulder, giving me a look like I''ve just eaten something that I barfed out before. ¡°You''re always like that! You''re always acting like I''m your worst enemy.¡±
¡°In a sense, you are.¡±
¡°What!?¡±
¡°I mean, look at this from my point of view. I have to share every kill with you. You may have been a bit useful as of late, but you have started off as a leech and now you''re still not lifting your weight in combat.¡± I said these words before I could reign them in, like they''re flowing out of months of frustration.
¡°It''s not like I chose to be cursed!¡±
¡°Well, you certainly don''t hate it as much as you say, right!? I mean, rejoining your group after the curse is broken!? After all this time of leeching of us, you''re finally at a level that you can go back, be useful, after they have left you! Without me, you would most likely work as a laborer, whore or something, hoping to earn enough to pay rent!¡±
¡°Without me, you would be dead three times over! You would have died when fighting the ss''rak in Hei?quellen! I mean, you attacked them after we were spotted, without me you would have landed in the chasm and died in no time! After that? I carried you when you were [Worn Out], I have nursed you back to health! The Crusaders would have hunted you down and killed you without me interfering!¡±
You gain 1 WP.
Sometimes a domestic quarrel can be a good way to ascertain your feelings and learn how your partner feels, yet your lap might be not the best position.
At this time!? Well, I don''t think the curse cares. Kyou-san stands up and stares down at me, so I stand up as well, glaring down at her. ¡°I have saved your life several times too! You wouldn''t survive a single fight without me!¡±
¡°Without you, I wouldn''t be there! You''re also getting your ass saved by Rine-chan several times.¡±
¡°At least I can fight! I wouldn''t pick fights like that without Rine anyway!¡±
¡°QUIET!¡± This new voice in this argument belongs to Rine who we may have woken up due to our loud voices. On another note, Ara-san who sleeps right next to us and has the far superior hearing is still sound asleep... just what does it take to wake her up!?
Well, the real problem is Rine who is in the undergarment of her armor and stomping towards us. She looks angry and now I know exactly why Kyou-san and I stopped arguing as much in the first place, as this blonde girl is scary when she''s angry! Knowing that she can easily break my limbs only empowers this fear.
Even under normal circumstances, Rine''s eyes look like the heart of a fire, yet when she''s angry, it''s like sparks and embers are coming out of them. ¡°Why are you fighting!?¡± Her voice shows how infuriated she is.
I look at Kyou-san, communicating with looks only: ''Take care of that.''
''Oh, now you''re relying on me, you cowardly jerk.''
''I, rely on you!?'' OK, this time it won''t end well. Nonetheless, where I usually put pragmatism and safety first, there is now stubbornness and it irritates me that I''m so unwilling to yield. Still, somehow it feels important.
¡°Kyou, Kenta!¡± Rine begins as neither Kyou-san nor I answered her call: ¡°I''m trying to sleep! What is going on!?¡±
Kyou-san and I point at each other: ¡°¡°She/He started it.¡±¡±
For a moment, Rine looks at the both of us, her anger still making her beautiful face... well, not less beautiful, but rather hard to look at. Then slowly the anger turns into confusion, then to wonder, and finally, she cocks her head in her usual manner, unsure what to make out of our reaction: ¡°Why are you even fighting in the first place?¡±
Well, dear princess, actually Kyou-san and I fight often though we try to avoid doing so in front of you as you scare the shit out of us. Not that I will say it. ¡°She''s trying to pry into my matters again.¡±
¡°I''m not!¡± Kyou-san retorts. ¡°Again, you understand nothing. Nothing!¡± Then she pants with rage again and takes her herbalism tools out of her backpack.
¡°Kenta,¡± Rine asks, a bit concerned: ¡°Are you alright?¡±
¡°Oh, I''m alright, sure. If she stops trying to ask me stuff, then I''ll be fine.¡±
¡°You sound hurt.¡± Rine''s words are neither accusing nor teasing, it''s a sober statement of her perception. That''s why it hits so hard.
¡°Rine... go to sleep.¡± My throat feels constricted, I''m barely able to speak.
¡°OK. But if you need someone...¡± Rine returns to her tent, yet I don''t hear her sleeping noises. I guess that just made her think again, I put another burden on her mind unintentionally...
I sit by the fire, stare into it. My thoughts are wandering, wandering into the best and worst times of my life even though I try to avoid this train of thought, trying to think of games instead. Yet my mouth tastes like shit.
¡°Hey,¡± Kyou-san finally says while she grinds the herbs into a medicine.
I ignore her.
¡°Hey!¡±
I still won''t answer. I know that she just wants to somehow make a fake reconcile attempt, something that will make her feel better while actually changing nothing about the problem. You know what!? You don''t need to. What we have is temporary after all. You''re going off with your friends the next time it''s possible anyways.
¡°*Sigh*, as you wish. You massive moron.¡±
I look at Ara-san who is still sleeping next to me. Somehow, having her beside me feels soothing. Maybe it''s the same effect that animals have on some people. Not on me though, I hate animals. I also hate pet characters in games, at least when it''s not a game designed around pets, like Pok¨¦mon, where it makes sense.
Well, soon enough things will be the same as before. Yet I feel a bit of guilt towards Ara-san, as I asked her about Luuto before, blaming myself for that double standard. I will be extra-sure to not put any pressure on it as long it''s not vital for us.
Yes, enough shit is ahead of us, so worrying about her or my past will only distract us. Especially if it''s something we can''t do anything about.
The campfire burns as I''m here alone with my thoughts. Soon, Kyou-san and I will be back to normal, just like always. Then we''ll be back on our way to Zethtrin and break the curse. Then she can go wherever she wants and I''ll go back to grinding levels, looking for the best possible equipment, then I''ll slay the demon king and return us home.
It''s as easy as that.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s early in the morning, Masahiko and the rest are still sleepy but ready to go. Contrary to them, Correo-san is painfully cheerful: ¡°I have organized breakfast on the run.¡± He shows them a big basket full of big yet flat dumplings, each of them had a sign cut into them before baking which now brightly contrasts the golden brown color of the rest. ¡°I have brought some for every taste. The ones with a cross are filled with cheese, the ones with a circle have lalask-meat, the ones with a triangle are filled with several vegetables, the spiraled are a mix of horse-meat and zuhak-mush.¡±
¡°Thanks Co*yawn*Correo-san.¡± Like most teenagers, Masahiko is also always tired in the morning and envies the energy of the merchant.
¡°No problem. Make sure to eat well, you''ll need it.¡±
Masahiko grabs a cheese-dumpling and bites into it. It tastes a bit stale, but in this world spices are expensive, that''s why only the wealthy use them regularly. Yet the cheese still has enough taste to somewhat make up for it.
Yoshimura-kun glances at Masahiko but then takes a meat-dumpling. Masahiko is about to speak to him, but the other boy starts talking with Hoshibashi-kun instead.
¡°It''s hard, right?¡± Correo-san smiles at Masahiko while looking warmly at the teenagers eating their fill.
¡°Yeah, it''s strange. I used to talk to him normally.¡±
¡°When I first met him, he was also like someone else. You''re all still so young, so adaptable. In my younger days, I started traveling and even my friends couldn''t recognize me after only a few months.¡±
¡°You''re still young and energetic.¡±
¡°Hehe, maybe? Traveling is one of my passions, visiting new places, meeting new people, learning new things. This keeps me young.¡±
¡°Do you have a family?¡±
¡°I used to, but I was never there. A wife, two children almost your age. I divorced my wife after she begged me, the last thing I could do for her.¡±
¡°Correo-san... Do you still see them?¡±
¡°Sometimes.¡± The merchant looks sad while saying it. He must really miss them. For Masahiko, it''s hard to understand how it could have been so difficult to be there for his family or why they didn''t join him on his journeys, but it was most likely complicated.
It''s strange, in fiction you''d usually have the protagonist or an important character, who has a father that has left their family, though this ties into the story, like the father being a villain. Now Masahiko feels like he has met the father of said character first, this is totally the reverse.
¡°Masa?¡± Eri gives Masahiko a vegetable-dumpling. ¡°Are you alright?¡± As his childhood friend, Eri always knows when Masahiko is puzzled.
¡°Yeah, just thinking. How can I get along with Yoshimura-kun?¡±
¡°Do you need to get along with him?¡±
¡°Of course, we need to work together. We''re also classmates.¡±
¡°Masa, there will always be people you won''t get along with.¡±
¡°I don''t believe that.¡± For Masahiko, it''s only an excuse to stop trying to get to know somebody. ¡°As long as someone is good at heart, there is no reason to not find some common grounds.¡±
¡°You always want the cake and eat it, too.¡±
¡°I''m just trying to make the best of everything.¡±
¡°Whatever.¡± Eri shrugs her shoulders and thinks about something a moment. ¡°The problem is that Yoshimura-kun wants to lead and you have grown to be our leader, Masa. If two people are leading at the same time, then they''re bound to clash.¡±
¡°So I was too bossy, after all.¡± Maybe his tone caused Yoshimura-kun to object to everything Masahiko said in reaction. ¡°Thanks, Eri. I think I know what to do.¡±
¡°Masa, I don''t like your tone. Are you planning to give Yoshimura-kun leadership?¡±
Masahiko tilts his head slightly, this was indeed what he thought about. ¡°I don''t know yet. First, he and I need to talk about it. Actually, we haven''t had a good talk yet. I know next to nothing about them. Like, what are their favorite strategies, what are their strengths, where do they need support, all of that.¡± Maybe both of them are so untiring that they didn''t consider that, aside from Daichi and possibly Masahiko himself, nobody would be able to keep up their pace.
Masahiko approaches Yoshimura-kun and Hoshibashi-kun who silently eat their breakfast. ¡°Yoshimura-kun, Hoshibashi-kun,¡± then he bows before them: ¡°I''m sorry.¡±
He feels the looks, Yoshimura-kun then says tauntingly: ¡°What for?¡±
¡°That we haven''t talked properly yet.¡± Masahiko lifts his head and looks at the two of them: ¡°We need to know each other to properly work with each other. My party members have all specialized in certain aspects. For example, I have the [Champion] and [Vanguard]-classes.¡±
Yoshimura-kun seems to wonder: ¡°What do they do?¡±
¡°Basically, both of them make me a better melee fighter. With [Vanguard] I fight and support those around me, with [Champion] I just dish out damage.¡± [Vanguard] also has another good [Ability], but Masahiko promised his mentor and friend Braxas, the dar hero, not to tell outsiders about it.
¡°So a [Vanguard]... Well, my partner and I had to spread to make it work. So I''m a [Wizard] and a [Warlord]. The latter makes people I lead stronger.¡±
¡°[Warlord]? Where did you learn that?¡±
¡°I was in an army. What about your friends?¡± Finally, a conversation happens.
¡°Daichi is tough and strong, he keeps people and monsters under control. Teruko is also in melee, yet she prizes mobility in combination to power. Katsuo is a [Sharpshooter], his range and bow is dangerous and most likely our deadliest weapon. Eri helps with spells and healing.¡±
¡°A healer! This is great! My partner is a powerhouse who can switch between toughness and mobility as a secondary trait, so anything that can keep him going would be perfect.¡±
¡°This is a lot of melee we have here,¡± Masahiko sums up the current composition.
¡°I guess I''ll stick to the rear then, some of my [Warlord]-skills also work from there.
¡°Ah, that''s good. You can also defend if someone breaks through.¡±
¡°Exactly! If Kitamura-san is half as good as you believe he is, he will be a valuable asset.¡±
This wording stops Masahiko''s eagerness abruptly. ¡°He''s not an asset, he''s my friend.¡±
¡°That may be the case, but for the battlefield I consider his capabilities, not any sympathy for him.¡±
This sounds right content-wise, but still... ¡°What do you think, Hoshibashi-kun?¡±
The one being addressed glares at Masahiko and then snorts. ¡°Thinking and planning isn''t my thing. I''m here for smashing and crushing.¡± He looks at Daichi then, who is silently eating his meal, most likely mentally preparing for meeting with Kyou and Katsuragi-kun. Hoshibashi-kun''s eyes are... it''s hard to express, Masahiko thinks it''s a mixture of concern and anger.
Maybe Hoshibashi-kun is concerned because he and Daichi are fulfilling similar roles? It would make sense, Daichi is bigger and looks stronger overall.
This will be another problem to solve. Yet first Masahiko has to do something about someone else: ¡°Yoshimura-kun? We need to figure out a way for both of our parties to work together.¡±
¡°You''re right.¡±
¡°While I think that we can talk out most things, we need someone who calls the shots in battle, that''s something I learned early as a hero. Otherwise we''ll be standing in our own way. It may be hard to hear it, but I''m concerned whether you''re capable of leading several people and my friends might be thinking the same.¡±
¡°Don''t worry about that. I''ve led several squads by now.¡±
¡°...OK, let''s try it.¡± If Yoshimura-kun is so self-confident, then Masahiko wants to give him a chance. While Masahiko hopes that meeting Katsuragi-kun won''t end in a fight, Correo was right: They should be prepared for one at least.
Volume 07 - Chapter 4-1 – News to the Person in Question
Chapter 4 ¨C News to the Person in Question
It''s breakfast time. It''s up to me to feed Kenta a bite. This brings one of those so-called WP, but while it used to make my heart beat like crazy, now all I sense is a sharp pain of guilt. Yet this breakfast is even worse than usual, because Kenta and Kyou are... frosty.
¡°Here.¡± Without even looking at him, Kyou-san gives Kenta his wooden bowl. Inside are cooked vegetables with some fat and herbs for seasoning. Usually, Kyou takes care that the meals look tasty, arranging everything, yet while she still did it for Ara and myself, Kenta''s bowl looks like she has squished everything before serving it.
Kenta looks at it once. ¡°Phew...¡± Then he offers me his bowl and I switch from the fork to the spoon to feed him some mashed pilak.
You gain 1 WP.
However, you can certainly put more love into feeding your husband.
Ah, not only that I''m very concerned about Kenta and Kyou right now, I''m even missing on my wifely duties... I feel miserable. But in the end, it''s impossible to have these butterflies behind my navels. It''s like all of them are dead, which makes me even sadder.
Kenta takes the spoon and starts eating by himself. He''s not even saying anything. On the other hand, Kyou starts chatting: ¡°Rine-chan, how is your [Wizard]-training going?¡±
¡°Erm... Ara, how is it going?¡± I still haven''t learned the class, so I think it''s bad, but Ara is my mentor, after all, so she has to know better.
¡°We may have hit a wall.¡± Ara says that with a certain proud tone in her voice: ¡°Maybe it''s not sufficient as a [Druid] to teach her enough to become a [Wizard]? On the other hand, we haven''t even passed the two-weeks mark. Well, local time.¡± Sometimes Kenta and Kyou need to be reminded that a week is ten days. Why should it be something else? ¡°So at this point, I''m still observing if I can actually teach her. Give me two more weeks and we¡¯ll know more. Three weeks are usually enough to learn a class from a teacher, so we¡¯ll take an extra week for an appropriate variance.¡±
¡°Arako,¡± Kyou says in a stern voice: ¡°Are you telling me that you''re testing whether you can teach her or not?¡±
¡°Yes. Why should I bother otherwise?¡±
¡°Because she''s your friend?¡±
¡°...ah, that''s also a reason, I guess. Though I really need to consider if this alone would be enough to make me spend three weeks on something that may fail. It''s more interesting to see whether teaching her enough [Elementary Magic] and [Arcana] is enough for her to attain the class, learning the boundaries of the hero-system in this regard.¡±
¡°Wait,¡± I have to interrupt their conversation about me, ¡°did I hear right? I may not learn [Wizard] after all?¡± But I wanted to learn it to become smarter! Maybe I¡¯ll figure out more about Kenta this way!
¡°Katarine-san, we don''t know, that''s why we are trying.¡±
¡°Ah, that makes sense.¡±
¡°From my point of view, you''re most likely almost there. You''re better at fire control than me.¡±
¡°But that''s basically the only thing I can do.¡± I can''t control water, earth, or air in any amount, while I have problems with [Arcana], a skill related to alter magic of all kinds. Ara''s explanations quickly become very complicated.
¡°Don''t worry, Katarine-san. Even if that''s all you''re capable of, I will think about how to use your gifts to my utmost fun.¡±
Kyou looks a bit strange, as if she has eaten something sour, then she looks at Kenta who''s shuddering. It looks like she wants to say something to him, but then she pouts and rubs her nosebridge: ¡°Arako, don''t you dare to do that.¡±
What is going on? I mean, using my magic to amuse Ara can''t be so bad, right?
Now Kenta''s also joining our conversation: ¡°Phew... Rine, when Ara-san asks you to burn down a building, then say no.¡±
¡°What if it''s a fortress full of bandits?¡±
¡°...why bother?¡±
¡°Because bandits are bad people. They attack villages, caravans, and travelers.¡±
Kenta seemingly thinks about my words, then he sighs and turns away while eating his mush: ¡°Phew...¡±
Ara looks at Kenta while her ears are slowly bobbing: ¡°I understand you.¡± What is she talking about?
¡°Rine-chan,¡± Kyou says while smiling: ¡°Don''t mind him.¡±
¡°I do though.¡±
Kyou looks at me as if I have cuddled a dead hedgehog. ¡°Rine-chan, you don''t do him a favor. Someone like him needs to feel that behavior like his is not to be tolerated, otherwise he won''t ever see a need to change for the better. If you show too much care for him, he will only end up being spoiled.¡±
¡°Hah,¡± Kenta says in a mocking voice: ¡°Ending up spoiled. That''s rich, coming from you.¡±
¡°WHAT!?¡± Now they''re fighting again.
What-to-do-what-to-do-what-to-do? Wait, should I do something? Before the swamps, I would have stopped them, but now with Kenta''s words on my mind, I''m so terribly indecisive.
No, it has to stop. I put my bowl on the ground and slam my hands on my knees for a lack of a table. Kyou and Kenta look at me for a moment, then at each other, make really mean faces and both begin to shovel their food in. It''s strange to see them act so much in unison after their outbursts before. I couldn''t even speak my mind...
I give Ara another pleading look, but she''s looking at places that I can''t follow.
This breakfast is terrible. Even the food has gone stale.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit! I want to yell, but I''m on a scouting mission right now, so it''d be stupid to scream out my anger. Kyou-san is such a stupid bitch!
Well, she has always been. It''s not like we got along better, in reality, we were just holding back, so now that Rine has become more introverted, the only thing holding us back isn''t as present anymore.
Then there is the stuff with Ara-san, the ear-plugging that still lingers in my mind, her relationship with Lvo''tjos which is a massive pile on all the Muaotef-stuff I originally pushed aside as it wasn''t my problem anymore.
Also, Rine. I mean, I know she may take some time to recover from her serious self-discovery, but...The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Frustrating! Anger wells up in my stomach. It has been a while since it was so strong. Yet I can barely keep my calmness to concentrate on scouting. This may be thanks to some mental adjustments as a [Ranger]. Even my thinking can change depending on my [Class], if I were [Student] right now I may lose my rag.
I miss my time in the river right now almost as much as my games. That moment of tranquility was so good. Now the whole stress is back with interest.
Concentrate! Tracks are here. Looks like the giant rodent has passed here recently. It becomes easier to tell as dirt and grass start to become more and more recent. There is even a small tree standing nearby.
Wait... my [Wild Eyes] has caught something other than vegetation- SHIT! I have my bow in my hand while my hand wanders to the quiver at my hip, drawing four arrows: ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± The lurking creature jumps. As it moves, it''s skin starts to perfectly match its surroundings. It''s a natural camouflage, a quick one which is far superior to my own [Camouflage]-skill!
I guess only my [Focus] allows me to have an idea of its body-shape, the tail of a lizard, the paws of a rat, the snout either a crocodile or a mix of a lizard and a rodent. A big problem is it''s elephant-like size. This is the one monster who I was fearing to meet.
I jump back as I see it inhaling. Fighting the oni in Goldbrunn made me very cautious of that motion. A clear liquid is expelled from its... nose!? Shouldn''t it be the mouth!? Nonetheless, it smells like old socks and is quickly approaching me...
Good thing that I already anticipated something like that from my prior findings, so I can react immediately with more backsteps, narrowly escaping the snot which splatters the ground and starts vaporizing.
Wait, do I see right? Is it showing me its butt?
Fast! Why is it fast walking backwards!? Drop bow, get spear, [Pikeman]! ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± Using a rushing-attack myself, my spear collides with the tail of the monster which waggles around. This is a defensive mechanism. I''m pushed aside by the tail, landing painfully on my side, yet I also draw some dark, red blood.
Good. I can hurt it, so I can kill it. I stand up and see it turning towards me again. Snot? I jump forward, taking cover under it while narrowly evading the disgusting mass. Then the monster just steps on me. It''s too hard to move so fast while keeping track of every part of its camouflaged body.
It hurts! Air leaves my lungs as this heavy as fuck thing is trying to squeeze out my innards. ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± My spear-skill creates a whirlwind around me while my successive attack draws more blood, but it''s not enough!
If this continues, I''ll be crushed.
Shit. No choice. ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± This time, both the current and the attack is more powerful. Its paw barely moves enough to let me roll aside. One.
I dash back to my bow to retrieve it and do the only thing that makes sense: Running away.
...I don''t like that sound. It''s following me while walking backwards, it''s faster than me.
I see something approaching, it''s Rine using her [Swishstride]-skill. Guess keeping track of my status told her everything in collaboration with [Spouse Location]. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± She shoots a flying slash while passing me.
Rine''s skill does damage, but more importantly, it causes the monster to turn around and aim with its snout. I turn around and let the spear drop and change to [Ranger]: ¡°[Seeker]!¡± I hit its nose, maybe this will hinder the sn- no, it''s just wildly running down its snout... wait, is it immune to its own venom?
I don''t know, but I know that it''s not immune to what''s about to come: ¡°Thanks, Dear!¡± Using my arrow as a visual marker, Rine goes into position: ¡°[Dismember]!¡± It''s her strongest skill which does exactly what it says. Her sword flashes while she performs several slashes, each of them cutting something off. After the final cut, blood begins to shoot out of all the new body openings and the beast goes down, revealing a purplish-blue leathery body.
Rine jumps back before the blood can hit her. ¡°Kenta, are you alright?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± As long as we face only one of these things, it should be OK. ¡°Let''s have Kyou-san have a look. I suspect its snot is venomous.¡± It''s not like I forgave Kyou-san, but this might be important for our survival, so I push the other stuff aside until that''s clear.
¡°OK, let''s-¡± She stops as she feels the same thing I do... a tremor under our feet. ¡°What''s this?¡±
¡°Most likely a rocky-bear.¡± In the inn we asked about the monsters around here. While the lizards and this venom rodent weren''t on the list, most likely keeping themselves far away from humans, the rocky-bear was often mentioned. Basically a bear with rock as skin. Hard to fight, but they only come in pairs, and crushing weapons and magic are good enough to kill them. The hard part about them is that they can cause small quakes which can mess up formations. From a mercenaries standpoint it''s a huge problem.
Our party doesn''t have crushing weapons unless I count in Ara-san''s staff, so we would need to rely on magic: which means Ara-san again. Yet, I''m also positive that Rine''s sword won''t care if it cuts stone or flesh as long there is enough force behind it, and she packs plenty.
I look around, but no rocky-bear in sight. I try to feel where the tremor is coming from but I can''t. I look at Rine who may not have my senses but has a good instinct. She looks farther ahead right at a cliff. I look up at said cliff to judge if I can climb it, then I see something I want to unsee... maybe about a kilometer (0.6 miles) away I see the side of a mountain and on that side I see something climbing it. I use [Farsight] to get a good look at it. ¡°Fuck!¡± It''s not the biggest creature I have seen, that honor goes to the etna way back, but it''s still massive! At least eight times as tall in every dimension as the rodent just now. So sixty-four elephants in total!
¡°Kenta, is some- Oh.¡± Rine now follows my eyes, also seeing what I''m seeing. ¡°That''s huge. Is it a rocky-bear?¡±
¡°Worse,¡± I answer. ¡°Look, there are rocky-bears around it.¡± In fact, there are a dozen or so bear-sized creatures climbing around it, their whole bodies are covered in rock, just like the huge one. ¡°This is a boss monster.¡± The fourth I''ve met so far.
¡°Should we challenge it?¡±
¡°...¡± I say nothing as I see how the boss-bear hits the mountain with his paw, causing it to rumble, then it opens its mouth and bites, blood is coming out its jaws. Looks like it may have eaten a venomous rodent just now, despite their camouflage. Shaking the mountain like a tree to eat what falls down... ¡°Remember the stuff that happened back when the etna awoke?¡±
¡°Hm... ah, when the land crushed?¡±
¡°I''m getting a d¨¦j¨¤ vu. Rockslides, moving landscapes, earthquakes. If this thing comes down on us, we''d have to fight the terrain itself. Also, do you believe that we''ll get even close to it?¡±
¡°So you want to avoid it?¡±
¡°Obviously!?¡±
At this moment, my wish is ignored, just like always. The huge bear is looking at us, why can it even... then it jumps from the mountain and the ground under our feet begins to shoot up, causing Rine and myself to be propelled into the air. The worst is, that the boss-bear also takes two of its fellows, one in each paw, and hurls one at each of us.
Doing the impossible yet again, Rine spins while airborne and cuts her bear right before it hits her. On the other side, I''m exploiting a skill: ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± The wind-current stabilizes me and my spear hits the rocky-bear, yet it lacks the sheer power of Rine''s super legendary named sword. Still, it''s enough to push the bear back, sadly it does the same to me. I land on my feet and make a roll to distribute the force. It''s kinda sad to see myself being so used to being pushed around at this point.
Soft-footed, Rine lands as well, she doesn''t need a roll at all. ¡°More incoming! [Crescent Moon]!¡± Yes, the next two were incapable of withstanding Rine. Everything is still alright.
Still, there is the one that hit me to take care of. I''m preparing my spear, already anticipating an annoying battle against an enemy my weapon is unfit for. ¡°Rine, block the rest.¡±
¡°It''s not throwing them anymore.¡±
¡°Great, it''s cautious. Keep watching it. [Armor Piercer]!¡± Please work! Yes! The rock-skin counts as armor, my skill works and halves its [Defense]. The spear-blade penetrates the skin and hurts the monster under it. I''m useful after all!
I twist the blade and go for another one. Two more repetitions and the monster is down. I need to keep watching my SP, [Armor Piercer] isn''t my most expensive skill, but using skill after skill will drain me and it''s absolutely necessary to cause damage here.
¡°Kenta, it jumped down the mountain and I can''t see it anymore!¡± That''s bad, yet a fact in this terrain: Bad visibility.
I change to [Ranger] and activate [Pitch] to hear all sounds that I can possibly hear without them overlapping each other, looking for the one that will spell trouble. ¡°It''s approaching quickly. Lure him there, I''ll hide.¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
I press my body against the wall and activate [Camouflage], together with [Sneak], [Hide Smell], and [Mask of Wildlife] to erase my presence as much as possible. Rine starts running towards the spot I was pointing to. The boss-bear is coming from that direction, climbing platforms and cliffs, I believe.
Rine waits at the perfect spot, having a good look at the cliff while still being in the range of [Crescent Moon] for everything that tries to jump at her. Also a good spot for me and [Assassinate] to deal a whole lot of damage from hiding, especially as it''s a passive skill and even works if I use an active one like [Armor Piercer].
This trembles though... shit! ¡°RINE! BACK!¡±
She jumps back while the cliff is approaching her. The whole fucking cliff! ¡°Ah, [Scytheshield]!¡± She swings her flashing sword in front of her, the reddish-white light builds up in front of her. This is a [Sword]-skill even Ara-san hasn''t heard about before, Rine just skipped many of the basics and learned a skill that protects her by creating a shield of sharpness.
Still, a hurled cliff is merciless, yet it was just too wide to evade. That may be the reason why she opts with defense. With an ugly sound of crushing rock, the terrain just changes and Rine vanishes while the moving cliff clashes against the static one on the other side.
Flabbergasted, I look at what just happened, trying to process this. ¡°RINE!¡± SHIT! SHIT! I was the one who told her to stand there, despite knowing that this boss can cause quakes! Why haven''t I thought about the possibility of it using earth magic!?
Volume 07 - Chapter 4-2
I look at Rine''s status and she has lost most of her HP in one go, but other than [Bleeding] she has no other [Condition], therefore she was not smashed to pieces. At least I didn''t cause her to die! Yet she may be imprisoned by the cliff, unable to get out by herself.
Problem is that I can''t afford to have a look as I face another issue, namely a boss bear which is able to move cliffs. Like koalas at a big tree, several rocky-bears are clinging to its body. It''s facing me despite my stealth-mode, so it may have tremorsense or bullshit like that. The worst part is, I have no idea how to turn things around.
I change to [Pikeman], my muscles grow and the panic I feel is suppressed to a certain degree, though it also cost me my [Stealth]-ability and therefore my skills deactivate. I prepare my spear and brace myself for whatever may come.
Hurled rocky-bears! Instead of trying to attack them while they''re still in the air, I charge forwards: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± With the propulsion of the skill, I pass the rocky-bears underneath. My aim is the boss as it''s clearly the biggest threat here.
And fuck, how big it is! Each step makes it more and more intimidating due to its sheer size. My instincts tell me to run away, yet my mindset is that of a [Pikeman]; so my spirit stays firm, like a pikeman who faces a cavalry charge.
Still the size will be problematic. I''m now at it, my spear is about to hit its foreleg. My [Speedthrust] doesn''t even pierce the boss'' rock fur. Well: ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± ¡ ¡ ¡ Shit!
Yes, my spear-blade was capable of penetrating with a moderate amount of difficulty. But I''m sure that the blade is now stuck in a portion of its rocky skin without even touching the flesh underneath at all! I try to yank it out, but there is a shadow over me, the other paw.
If I evade it by abandoning my spear I may face even worse problems. ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± Of course I have no room to move the weapon, so it won''t cause any damage, but for a split-second my spear moves a bit easier. Now I can pull it out!
Paw incoming! If I were in my [Ranger]-class, I would be able to see it clearly enough to make the best decision, but I''m a [Pikeman] with too little time to change the class, so I can only rely on what my stats say. My [Agility] isn''t great, yet I have the best [Strength] and [Vitality] possible for me...
Power it is! ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± A wind-current stronger than those before builds around me and my upward-strike is enough to push the claws back for a moment. Two.
While still in the air, I change to [Ranger]. The boss-bear''s paw comes back to strike me, yet I rely on a skill that''s totally unrelated to fights and won''t help me beat that monster. Nimbly, my hand catches the upper part of the paw and I kick the middle to get enough momentum to swing over the thing. Hooray, [Mountain-climber], the skill that allows me to instinctively know what spots of the rocky paw are good to hold onto. Still, kicking the bear hurts, I feel it in my knee and hip.
I still hold onto the claw. The boss-bear seems to be confused for a moment, as it didn''t hit anything, so I better start climbing the arm before it uses its senses to find me again. Actually, it''s quite simple to climb, maybe because it makes it easier for other rocky-bears to cling to it? Speaking of which, there are still some here, yet they ignore me, like they''re sleeping or something...
Monsters are strange!
OK, the previously hurled rocky-bears are making their way back to the boss, so I''m trapped. One chance to take the giant bear down, I guess. If I don''t, I''ll be shredded to ribbons by a pack of bloodthirsty bears.
Ignoring the pain in my leg, I try to get to the neck of the bear, can''t it feel me? Maybe it doesn''t have a tactile sense because its fur is rock? I also use [Hide Smell] just in case. Its eyes wander and it lightly steps on the ground... I''m lucky!
Then it strikes the ground harder, causing an earthquake. Its own body also shakes, luckily this rock is firm, though I can''t help but groan as motion sickness, pain in my joints, and this strange, creepy-crawly sensation wave through my body.
Wait, why is it pacing itself upright, going only on the hind paws? Oh shit! The bear has noticed my groans and now throws itself at a cliff, trying to crush me. ...can I pull it off? No choice but to try! Just before it hits the cliff, I jump at the cliff myself, nimbly climb a portion of it, just to jump again the moment the boss crashes into it.
Yes, I''m above it, I- Shit, I''m above it! One forepaw on the left, another on the right. I''ll be crushed like a bug! [Distraction]! Change to [Pikeman]! ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± I know it''s futile, yet it''s the only thing that I can do.
The wind current is torn apart and the skill is too slow to escape my predicament. Now comes the pain. At least my [Distraction]-skill, which makes the enemy lose me for a second, brought the claws out of sync. The left hit first, causing me to fly head-first, as a last resort I use it to push me downwards... some meters of free fall are better than being crushed, right?
¡°*Cough*¡± ...barely better at this point. My hero-body may be sturdy, but this is it. I''m stunned by pain, unable to move for maybe three seconds, enough time for the rocky-bears and the boss to shred me to pieces.
I''m dead. My one chance at life squandered. I can finally say goodbye to this fantasy world. You suck! I wish I could at least laugh, but I have the feeling that the moment I open my mouth, only vomit will come out.
I feel a surge of energy, this can only mean that at least one of my wives is close to me. Has Rine freed herself? If not, then stay back, idiots!
You gain 3 WP.
Your wife is saving your life, be sure to spoil her later.
The sounds of high-pressure water and a groaning bear tell me that it has to be Ara-san, shooting her [Fountain Gun] at a rocky-bear close to me. Then everything becomes moist and muddy, as her [Quagmire]-spell strikes, a spell that changes earth into a mudhole. Doesn''t seem to be that effective in a rocky terrain, as I barely sink in, yet as it''s flat, it''s rather slippery, causing bears to halt.
¡°[Heal]!¡± Kyou-san casts a healing spell and the pain that paralyzed me is now duller. My body begins moving. I stand up, trying to keep myself standing in this slip-fest while seeing several of the bears falling. I change to [Ranger] to improve my [Dexterity] which also increases my sense of balance.
Shit, boss-bear is pissed. I can''t understand how I can tell that, but he begins stomping on the ground... which doesn''t cause quakes? Because of the mire? Well...
Using this unexpected chance, I look around to find the two idiots that actually tried to save my life without knowing that we''re at a point where it will only delay the inevitable. There, they''re right at the sideline, having charged without any plans it seems. Well, Ara-san is there, so she may have a plan after all.
Wait, she''s chanting, so it has to be her [Tidal Wave]! Kyou-san shouts at me: ¡°Ken, where is Rine-chan!?¡± Ah, they thought that Rine was around, huh? Well, as long as we have Rine, we''ll always win. Kyou-san may still think that despite the encounter with Luuto in the swamps.
¡°Somewhere there!¡± I point at the devastational site of two cliffs clashing with each other. ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± While moving to them I take the time to stab at least one of the fallen bears, trying to diminish their forces even by a bit.
¡°[Stamina]!¡± Kyou-san is already used to look at each of our stats, so she also knows that I desperately need the SP right now as I can only spam skills to fight these mobs.
¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡± Ara-san unleashes her spell and hurls a bunch of water on the rocky-bears that are flooded away. ¡°[Second Flood]!¡± and reuses it on the boss that''s totally unfazed by it. This isn''t Pok¨¦mon, it''s not like rock is weak to water! Yes, water may erode it over time, but it''s not like it instantly dissolves it! Many dams are made out of concrete, which is close enough to rock!
¡°Heck, Ara-san, do you even have a plan!?¡± I''m now at their side and turn around to the enemies, ready to charge them again if necessary.
¡°Kenta-kun,¡± she says in a dead-serious tone that gives me hope, ¡°are you seriously thinking that I would do this without giving it serious thought?¡±
¡°Phew... good, because I''m out of ideas.¡±
¡°Then we have a problem.¡±
¡°...why?¡±
¡°Because my plan was to make Kenta-kun come up with an idea.¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
I had thought better of you, Ara-san!
¡°We just need to buy time, Ken,¡± says Kyou-san with conviction. ¡°Look at Rine''s status.¡±
I do as she says and see that Rine is spending SPs in large chunks. She must be freeing herself right now. With her overpowered magical sword, Friedensbote, she may be capable of doing it. ¡°Too bad that this one''s not letting us.¡± Ignoring its minions, the boss-bear has stopped its futile attempts to create quakes and just charges at us while stepping on the regular rocky-bears.
Finally enough time for shenanigans. I open my pouch and grab a stink bomb, throwing it right into the face of the bear that''s too busy running towards us to go into defense. Its sense of smell is strong enough to be completely disoriented by the stench. It loses its footing, falls, and... slides towards us instead of charging. ¡°Ara-san, air!¡± I lift up Kyou-san and jump.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Knowing what I mean, Ara-san shoots a [Fountain Gun] at me, which propels me high enough to overcome the boss-bear, while she relies on her [Acrobat] to easily jump over it.
Only problem is the landing. ¡°[Heal]!¡± At least I''m healed before I hit the ground... there is also still Ara-san''s [Quagmire]-spell which will cushion at least a bit... this will hurt so bad.
¡°Ugh-!¡±
¡°-agh!¡±
Sharing the pain of impact, Kyou-san and I roll on the ground in the midst of the path of hurting rocky-bears that the boss just trampled on. But everything still seems intact, dammit rock-skin.
Kyou-san casts another [Heal], this time on herself. I can''t blame her. ¡°[Heal]!¡± The next one is for me. ¡°Ken, wake up!¡±
I feel like shit. I don''t want to stand up, my whole body hurts at this point. ¡°...meh.¡± Nonetheless, I pull myself off the ground, looking at the situation as a whole. Shit, we need to retreat. Still, Rine is inside this cliff, if we run away, she... dammit, dammit!
I look at Ara-san, uninjured. Kyou-san, scrapes over her body after our landing. Rine''s status says she''s bleeding and dangerously low on SP, most likely she has forgotten that we have SP-pots for situations like this! I''m basically down, the only reason I''m even standing is because I can abuse this hero-body a whole lot before it admits that it''s broken...
We can''t win this. We need to retreat, yet there is still Rine trapped inside these rocks, maybe she''s about to free herself, but I don''t know... It''s clear what to do. Abandon Rine, save our own hides, hope that Rine somehow survives it and meet up with her with the help of [Spouse-Location].
Still, I can''t picture her overwhelming these odds. The boss is capable of moving fucking cliffs! This, and its probable tremorsense, would make it capable of locating and finishing off Rine when we''re out of its reach...
So if we leave now, I leave her to die. Yet this is the option with the highest rate of success, of me surviving, of Kyou-san and Ara-san surviving, and with a little chance of Rine surviving as well. It makes sense to do that.
What doesn''t make sense is me pointing where Rine is buried. ¡°Ara-san, use [Tidal Wave] again.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± She begins her chant as I put myself between her and the rocky-bears that are about to stand up.
Kyou-san cries out in anger: ¡°Ken! If she does that, Rine might drown.¡±
¡°I''m betting on it. Instead of complaining, cast [Stamina] on me! I have no time to explain.¡± My body hurts, but how often is this the case? Maybe I''ll break a bone for a change? Small price to pay. Yet without any SP, I won''t be able to hold on. ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± One down, half a dozen or so to go.
¡°Aaaaaah!¡± With a scream of frustration, Kyou-san lifts her hand in my direction: ¡°[Stamina]!¡± Then she changes to [Herbalist] and takes a powder from her arm-pouch: ¡°[Sleep Breath]!¡± Infusing it with magic, she blows it into another rocky-bear''s face, making it sleepy while trying to lure it away from Ara-san, knowing that her knife won''t do much.
Problem with [Tidal Wave] is its chanting time, it can take up to a minute. Enough time for the boss-bear to get back its senses and finish us off.
Kyo-san learned to excel in stall-tactics. She also takes one of my stink bombs to throw it into another bear''s face, while another starts hitting the air as she starts using [Mirrored Moon] on it, a [Spirit Magic]-spell that creates an illusion of hers into the mind of a creature. It''s obvious why she doesn''t even try attacking, her knife can''t do shit against the bears if even I need [Armor Piercer] to pierce them.
I use brute force, as it reduces the enemies to face, while I try to keep the boss in my field of view. It''s slowly starting to get up... shit, it slipped out of the [Quagmire]-range which means it can start quaking again. ¡°Kyou-san, to the boss!¡±
¡°WHAT!?¡± She looks at me as if I have announced that she would be crowned Queen of England despite being a common Japanese high school girl with no European relations whatsoever: Total disbelief of being put in the wrong position with the wrong set of skills. Pretty accurate, seeing how I ask her, Miss Healer, Miss I-can''t-fight-at-all, to take on the boss.
¡°JUST THROW ANOTHER DAMN BOMB INTO ITS FACE! [Armor Piercer]!¡± She''s the one with the least combat capabilities, that''s why she''s expendable against the smaller ones. I would also have chosen someone else if I had a choice, yet I can''t rely on her protecting Ara-san with stalling tactics alone.
¡°#+!¡± With a grunt that is neither lady-like nor distinctive, she starts following my order. She''s most likely about to wet herself out of fear, a feeling I know too well.
The boss-bear stops its movements and slowly turns around. Well, I better look at the bears I''m supposed to kill before being too distracted... Shit, now I''m also feeling like pissing my pants.
As I stab another rocky-bear, I hear the loud noise of stone crushing stone, so either Kyou-san was between its paw and the ground or not... no scream at least? Shit, I want to see what happens, but the rocky-bears are becoming more and more numerous. I jump between one and Ara-san only to be hit... ¡ok, the pain is rather dull compared to what I have felt today.
Yet it''s enough to make me grunt: ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± Spamming the same skill over and over again isn''t good, there is a slight increase in SP-consumption and a growing delay, maybe because the body is experiencing the same stress over and over again. Well, at least no direct cooldown.
Boss growls, yet I have no choice but to kick the bear I just stabbed, feeling the pain in my knee again, just so that I can deflect a blow from another, targeted at Ara-san.
¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡± Finally! Water falls down on the site Rine is buried under, entering it through even the tiniest crevice, slowly leaking between the rubble and rocks. Come on, Rine!
A flying air-blade cuts through the rock and the water suddenly splashes out, taking Rine with it. She coughs before standing up, looking at the battlefield and rushing to the boss who is whining like a beating dog. I can see the yellowish cloud at its nose. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± The next flying cut isn''t as deep as we hoped, only some stone-skin is chipped away.
¡°RETREAT!¡± I yell, pointing at the direction the path is going to.
Rine picks up Kyou-san, who looks like she has just won a marathon wearing her slippers, and accelerates with her [Swiftstride]-skill to catch up with Ara-san and I who are already at top speed.
The bears don''t chase us, maybe because they''re bound to the boss or shit like that. Still, we don''t even dare to look back for the next ten minutes...
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I can''t believe we survived it... I, the only one of the party that has no combat-oriented classes, faced this big bear on my own and I''m still alive! My side hurts, my stomach as well, mostly because I had the urge to pee the whole time. What was Ken thinking, entrusting me with this! The only reason why I''m still here is because of [Mirrored Moon]!
We take a breather, Rine-chan combs her hair because Arako cast [Dry] on her during our escape. The sudden drying gives the worst hair and it feels gross, yet it''s still better than catching a cold.
¡°Ken, what happened? I mean, how could it end so well?¡± I look at his naked torso as I put some salve on his bruises. The only reason why he hasn''t broken some ribs may be because of how armor interacts with the hero-system, yet the black and blue spots on his body gives me an idea how much it must hurt. Damage that is beyond what the simple [Heal]-spell can properly treat. How could we still be alive despite that?
¡°Phew...¡± He looks like I''m asking for the obvious, but what goes on in his mind is sometimes a mystery to me. ¡°Friedensbote.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Rine''s sword. It becomes stronger in relation to the danger she''s in.¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Rine?¡± He asks her over his shoulder. ¡°Did cutting the rock worked?¡±
¡°No... it was hard to move and I didn''t have the room.¡±
¡°A lot of struggle to almost no avail?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
Ken turns to me again, continuing his explanation. ¡°She was trapped, but not in immediate danger, so she had a really hard and sharp sword, but that''s not a tool for cutting rocks. Especially given her situation.¡±
¡°So you drowned her to create a danger for her!?¡±
¡°Technically, Ara-san drowned her.¡±
I mercilessly punch him into one of the bruises I didn''t treat yet, he grunts in great pain, yet he deserves it: ¡°Are you insane!?¡±
¡°... ...wh...¡± He spits out and lifts his head, staring at me. ¡°Did you have a better idea?¡± His calmness here is much worse than his usual angry remarks. ¡°If no, don''t judge me.¡±
¡°Kyou?¡± Rine-chan walks over and puts her hands on my shoulders. ¡°Please, he''s hurt.¡±
¡°He was risking your life!¡±
¡°I... I know... but we were on a battlefield, so dying can happen... we should be glad that we all survived.¡± Her voice is like she''s quoting someone, most likely her instructor or one of her tutors.
¡°Rine-chan... how do you feel about it?¡± She can''t dismiss it like that, she may be gullible, but it must hurt her.
¡°I... I don''t know... but...¡±
¡°Phew.¡± Ken exhales heavily while scratching his head. ¡°We''re all alive, that matters. Rine, take your time pondering about what you think about it. Also, Ara-san? Could you take over treating me?¡±
...hey, are you telling me that you don''t want to be treated by me!?
I give Arako a meaningful look which may or not may cause her to speak the following words: ¡°You''re asking me to rub a slimy cream all over your naked body? I believe that is sexual harassment.¡±
¡°Phew..." He snaps the jar with the medicine and starts applying it onto himself. The bruises become smaller after just putting it on, showing how effective healing items are on a hero''s body. ¡°Nevermind.¡±
OK, this is pissing me off. So you still think I''m useless, is it that? I can''t even treat your wounds despite being the [Herbalist] here? Fine, have it your way. I won''t help you unless you''re begging me!
¡°Rine-chan, strip.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°I have treated your head wound, but let''s see if you have more underneath your armor.¡± She doesn''t have the [Bleeding]-condition anymore and status-wise she looks alright.
This also causes Ken to stand up while taking some bandages from his backpack. He turns around and starts trying to bandage his torso which proves to be difficult. Oh, so you need help after all? You also have nobody to ask, seeing how Arako has made fun of you while I''m unwilling?
With a sigh he stops the futile attempt and stays still. I help Rine-chan out of her armor and the top part of its undergarment. She also has bruises all over her body though it looks much better than Ken''s. I take the jar and start applying the salve. Rine-chan sighs in relief as the pain she didn''t even mentioned before subsides. ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°You''re welcome.¡± At this point I''m used to wrapping bandages, so Rine-chan is finished within a minute.
The moment she closed the top of her undergarment, Ken looks over his shoulder: ¡°Rine, can you help me with the bandages?¡± So you waited until she''s finished to ask her!? Is it so hard for you to just ask me, who is clearly the best in patching people up around here because you, more than the rest of us, keep getting hurt!?
I grind my teeth while Rine-chan is working on Ken. Arako is noting something down, I look at it and can''t help but rubbing my nosebridge: ¡°Why? I mean, a cliff?¡±
¡°Because there is nothing in my notes that resembles these special circumstances, of course I need to write down how much damage it did and how difficult it is to heal.¡±
Come on, I know you like this, but that doesn''t make any sense. From what I heard from Rine-chan, who is doing nightwatch with her, Arako always notes stuff from battles and such from the day, but I feel like she does it much more since the Spirit Swamps.
¡was it because of that alfr, Lvo''tjos? Arako doesn''t talk about the nature of their relationship, no matter how much I pry.
Ken is donning his armor after his treatment. ¡°Let''s go. I want to put as much distance as possible between us and this boss. Let''s hope for some birds. Guess they don''t come close to this area because of that thing. If we see some, it''ll be a good sign.¡± Instead of taking a break, something that would do him and us good, he just keeps pushing us.
Rine-chan is also putting on her breast piece and doesn''t seem to mind at first glance, yet I see a sad face on her for a second. Arako puts her portfolio back into her backpack and is most likely mentally absent for the next few minutes to blend out the oh so taxing activity of walking.
In times like these, I really wish I had a better party, that supports and talks with each other more.
Volume 07 - Chapter 4-3
Masahiko talks with Yoshimura-kun and Eri, while Teruko is looking around the old sign. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the elf that was mentioned in the inn might be the same one you faced against Katsuragi-kun¡¯s side?¡±
¡°Most likely. Akiyama-san has mentioned that Katsuragi may use mind control?¡±
¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Eri affirms. ¡°Kyou-chan was wearing a ring and couldn¡¯t help but do as he said. It was impossible for us to remove it, so it had to be a cursed item. I believe that the princess had a similar ring.¡±
¡°I see¡ hm¡ I¡¯m not sure whether I saw a ring on the elf or not, to be honest. It¡¯s all blurry¡ hard to notice something like that in a battle.¡±
¡°Be it as it may be,¡± Masahiko says with a stern face, ¡°I would like to give them a chance to explain themselves.¡±
¡°FINALLY!¡± Teruko shouts in pure bliss. So far, she hadn¡¯t found any tracks on this part, yet Masahiko was feeling that this is the right place, therefore she searched for some the whole time. ¡°MASA-KUN!¡± She says as she runs towards them. ¡°They really went their way to mask them. First, I thought you were just stubborn, but finally I have something! There is just a bit of dust, so I can¡¯t say much more, but my skill recognized it as tracks and I believe that there is one who is barefooted.¡±
Barefoot, like an elf, if the stories are right. Masahiko is actually looking forward to meet her, he hasn¡¯t seen an elf in this fantasy world so far. ¡°Teruko, can you tell how many people were there?¡± Four would be the right amount.
¡°No. I can¡¯t tell, however, the tracks are from yesterday. We¡¯re catching up.¡±
¡°Great! Guys, we¡¯re continuing!¡± He says it to Hoshibashi-kun and Daichi who are playing tic-tac-toe in the dirt. Katsuo is nearby and is checking his arrows, while Correo is leaning against a rock, the hat over his face. He said that he takes a rest whenever possible so that he can keep up with the heroes. Different from them, he lacks a [Stamina]-stat that can be easily replenished.
Yet Masahiko¡¯s call makes him shove his hat back to the top of his head, slowly standing up. Yoshimura-kun looks at the rest, most likely assessing how much he can push them. ¡°We¡¯ll continue at the current pace. If we hurry too much, we¡¯ll be vulnerable to monster attacks, and I¡¯m sure that we¡¯ll start facing them. Partner, you¡¯ll check our behind, Kurosawa-san, check the front.¡± Using Hoshibashi-kun¡¯s [Masterthief] and Teruko¡¯s [Deepstalker] makes sense, as both classes excel in [Stealth].
Teruko looks at Masahiko who nods at her with a wryly smile. It makes sense to send her in the front as she also has the [Survival]-ability, and she can also use a skill that gives her insight about the surrounding stone-area.
Yoshimura-kun turns to Eri: ¡°Your [Geomancer]-class has a spell that¡¯s also capable of sensing the stone in the surrounding, right? How often can you do so?¡± While Teruko¡¯s skill gives a rough idea about long distances, Eri¡¯s spell is much more accurate, but costs so much more MP.
¡°Depends on the range.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s say a hundred meters (almost 330 feet).¡±
¡°Maybe four times before I run out of MP.¡±
¡°I see¡ Can you shrink the area? I only want to be sure of the flanks, the others will check the front and back.¡±
¡°I can, but I need a certain power to get an accurate image, and I need to use it actively. I can¡¯t cover the flanks with this.¡± The spell shoots magic into the earth and depending on the resistance, the user can tell what kind of earth, stone, and metals are there. Yoshimura¡¯s idea is good, but the spell doesn¡¯t fit the shoe.
¡°Hm¡¡± Yoshimura-kun looks at the cliffs that are surrounding them in thought.
Masahiko has an idea though: ¡°Let Katsuo check the sides. He has [Perception] and is good at noticing if something is off.¡±
¡°Yes¡ Kitamura-san, would you mind?¡±
Katsuo nods without a word.
¡°What about us?¡± Masahiko asks Yoshimura who didn¡¯t give anyone else a role.
¡°I want Yamauchi-san and you to concentrate on walking. If a monster comes, I want you at your possible best, as you will form the front. Until then, let your mind rest. Same for Akiyama-san, we¡¯ll rely on your healing if the need comes. Correo, you¡¯ll be a look-out like Kitamura-san, I¡¯m betting that you¡¯re used to noticing threats as they come.¡±
¡°Traveling around dangerous areas is how I make my living, after all.¡±
¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. Also, try to be as quiet as possible.¡± Yoshimura-kun shows that he¡¯s capable of taking command of the whole team and, after talking to him, his tone is also a lot better. A bit demanding, but still an improvement.
After a while, Teruko comes back, reporting to Masahiko. ¡°There was a rockslide before us. I think it was caused by a fight, or rather: Someone caused it willingly for fighting monsters. I found many cadavers, some of them with removed feathers, claws, and such.¡±
Yoshimura-kun looks displeased while giving his two cents. ¡°Most likely them¡ as far as I know, monsters don¡¯t ambush other monsters for parts.¡±
Masahiko agrees. ¡°Then we should take a careful look.¡±
¡°I agree. I¡¯ll go get my partner to be on the sure side, you can start investigating without us. If something happens, we¡¯ll be right behind you.¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
After Yoshimura-kun is out of sight, Teruko starts speaking up: ¡°Who does he think he is? I haven¡¯t voted him boss.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± Eri also scrunches her nose. ¡°Masa, why are you allowing that?¡±
¡°Because he¡¯s making a lot of good decisions. Also, it¡¯s important to work together, we can¡¯t fight with each other over minor things.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, Masa,¡± Daichi adds to the conversation: ¡°I really can¡¯t stand them. Wouldn¡¯t it have been better to just do our own thing?¡±
¡°But Correo-san asked them to come.¡±
¡°Well,¡± answers the same with a strained smile, ¡°they¡¯re surely capable and I thought that your goals align. You want your friend back, they want the reward for the princess, and while I really want you to succeed with Momokawa-dono, I¡¯m also after part of the reward.¡±
Eri snarls with her arms akimbo: ¡°We¡¯re five, they¡¯re two, why should we listen to them in the first place? Masa does a wonderful job as a leader.¡± The rest of Masahiko¡¯s friends nod to her words, even Katsuo who hasn¡¯t said anything yet.
¡°Thank you guys, but so far we haven¡¯t had even one fight, so please be patient. Let Yoshimura-kun and Hoshibashi-kun prove themselves. They¡¯ve been fighting as long as we have. Also, Yoshimura-kun told me that he has experience leading squads. I¡¯m always at my limit just handling five people. If we count Correo-san, we¡¯re eight in total, all with different skill-sets.¡±
Teruko grimaces while saying: ¡°One fight only, OK?¡± The rest grudgingly agrees.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Masahiko knows how hard it is. He also needs to get used to it, but he¡¯s sure that it¡¯ll be fine. The more he talks to Yoshimura-kun, the less he sees the student he used to know and the more he sees a veteran. This only showed how much everyone of them had to change to acclimate to this world and lifestyle. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
The ambush site has almost no information other than the used tactic: Causing a landslide, forcing the monsters to enter a choke-point and then finishing them. Wounds caused by arrows, swords and spears give an idea of how the people are equipped¡ Katsuragi-kun had a spear, the princess a sword. The elf would be the bow, right?
After two hours or so, they spot the remains of a camp. ¡°I guess four people¡¡± Teruko pinches her nose after taking a look at the excrements several meters away from the camp, a task Masahiko didn¡¯t ask her to do, yet she just did it like it was nothing. ¡°Given their pace, we may catch up soon, unless they increased it. They¡¯re also following the path at this point.¡±
So they decided to travel a bit faster for an hour, then at normal pace for another, then a break, then back to this rhythm. So far, the journey was eerily uneventful. Where are the monsters? Isn¡¯t this supposed to be a monster-infested area?
Of course, having the other party before them would clear some away, yet there should be more¡ Just as Masahiko thinks that, Teruko¡ªwho was scouting ahead¡ªruns back to them: ¡°GIANT MONSTER!¡± She yells. ¡°I thought something was off, so I made myself unnoticeable, then saw a giant bear made out of stone with smaller ones clinging at it. The area before us is devastated!¡±
¡°A giant monster with smaller ones? Like those spider-monkeys we faced before?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°Kurosawa-san,¡± says Yoshimura-kun with a strange voice: ¡°Calm down. We need a report and not a story.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not telling stories!¡±
¡°I mean, you¡¯re too emotional and hung up, so it¡¯s hard to discern the facts.¡±
Teruko directly hisses at Yoshimura-kun, so Masahiko goes between them: ¡°Yoshimura-kun, let me handle it. Teruko, we all need to calm down. It hasn¡¯t found you, right? Then we can all take a drink, Yoshimura-kun gets Hoshibashi-kun again and then we¡¯ll talk.¡±
¡°¡hey, Yoshimura. Be thankful.¡± Omitting any honorific, Teruko sits on the ground and starts taking something out of her backpack to eat.
¡°¡¡± With an aggrieved face, Yoshimura-kun turns around and is leaving the rest alone to get their rearguard.
The expressions of his friends make Masahiko rather insecure about the whole process. They agreed to have Hoshibashi-kun and Yoshimura-kun prove themselves with the next fight, but if it¡¯s with a giant monster¡ This may be too risky when nobody is willing to work with each other.
¡°Relax, Inoue-dono.¡± It¡¯s Correo-san who seems to be the one who is the least concerned. Maybe he¡¯s just acting as the only adult here. ¡°All your concerns will melt away the moment Yoshimura-dono starts making his plan.¡±
¡°I sure hope so. The last time we faced a giant monster, we were almost killed.¡±
¡°Well, I¡¯ve heard of these kinds of monsters before. Regular people like me usually won¡¯t ever meet one, though it seems that most heroes in the field are bound to meet two or three.¡±
¡°Only heroes?¡±
¡°Usually. I talked with a monster researcher in Ulwern once, she said that whenever monsters are decimated for public safety, the ones that are larger¡ªoften called alpha-monsters, though she preferred goliaths as a term¡ªare the first ones that retreat. However, they seem to actively attack heroes whenever they can.¡±
¡°They¡¯re hunting heroes?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a hunt or just an attack when an opportunity arises. If the researcher was still alive, I would ask her.¡±
¡°Oh, what happened to her?¡±
¡°She was ripped apart by a furrongous treant. What a pity, she always had funny stories to tell and was a lovely woman.¡±
Eri chimes in, she hides a smile behind her hand: ¡°Were you lovers?¡±
¡°No, I was still married when I met her. But you can appreciate a woman without having any romantic interest in her, she was more like a good acquaintance.¡±
¡°Oh, boring.¡±
Correo-san decided that traveling is more important to him than love. Now he talks like someone who has given up on any relationships that are more than skin-deep. That¡¯s why Masahiko asks him: ¡°Correo-san, can¡¯t you find someone willing to travel with you?¡±
¡°Boy, it¡¯s my life. I¡¯m happy for your feelings, but when you¡¯re a full-fledged adult, you¡¯ll see a lot of things differently. At some point, I may also settle down and then everything will be different. Until then, I¡¯ll enjoy what I have right now.¡±
In this moment, Masahiko realized that Correo-san is on an entirely different level than himself or any of his friends. This explains why often Correo-san is silently letting the teenagers discuss, because the merchant also knows that he may help and guide them, but is not part of them.
The moment Hoshibashi-kun and Yoshimura-kun returns, Teruko starts explaining in a much calmer demeanor what she saw. At some point, Yoshimura-kun interrupts: ¡°How sure are you that their fur is made of stone?¡±
¡°What do you want, a number?¡±
¡°I need to know if their skin is really stone or some sort of camouflage.¡±
¡°It would have moved differently if it were camouflaged.¡±
¡°Correo, what kind of monster is it?¡±
¡°Rocky-bears, they¡¯re also lurking around the more used paths. Their skin is really made out of rock and they can cause quakes.¡±
¡°Just tremors or even moving earth?¡±
¡°Usually only tremors, but I don¡¯t know about the goliath.¡±
¡°¡ ¡can you draw a sketch of the terrain, Kurosawa-san?¡±
¡°Sure.¡± Teruko takes the paper and quill Yoshimura-kun offers her and starts doodling: ¡°This is rubble, this is the cliffside, there are boulders,¡± she explains while mapping out the scene.
¡°Hm¡ Kitamura-kun, you are capable of strong attacks, right?¡± Katsuo nods. ¡°The problem here is the stone-fur. I don¡¯t know whether any of us is capable of breaking it. Correo, what does it take to break through the defenses of a usual rocky-bear?¡±
¡°Use a hammer or a spell, then it¡¯ll be fine. Especially if you know skills.¡±
¡°I will assume that the¡ªwhat do you call it, goliath?¡ªhas a thicker layer of stone protecting it, appropriate to its size. I have three plans ready, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Remember them and your roles in them.¡± The skepticism among Masahiko¡¯s friends is obvious, but Yoshimura-kun either doesn¡¯t notice or doesn¡¯t care. ¡°The core is easy. Yamauchi-san, Kurosawa-san and Inoue-san, you will take care of the smaller bears, this stays true for every plan. Correo, you¡¯ll be on the watch, observing everything and telling us if there are any changes, like reinforcements or such. Everything will fall if any of you fail.¡±
Daichi looks at Masahiko who nods back. This seems logical. Daichi is powerful, but might be unable to deal a good hit at the boss, even if he uses his maul instead of his axe. Same for Teruko and even Masahiko might only be able to deal damage if he uses that, something he only wants to use in dire emergencies and if he has a vision of victory, like his shishou told him.
Yoshimura begins with the moving parts of the plan. ¡°In case we can attack out of hiding, Akiyama-san and I will hurl our strongest spells against the goliath. If we can¡¯t, or after the initial attack, we start with moderate spells. If we can hurt it on a moderate level, we will keep doing so, while Partner and Kitamura-san support the others. This is Plan Alpha. If our moderate spells aren¡¯t enough or even our strongest spells don¡¯t have a noticeable effect, we¡¯ll switch to Plan Beta. Akiyama-san and I start using moderate spells against the smaller monsters while Kitamura-kun and Partner will try to take on the boss with their powerful attacks. If this isn¡¯t effective, then Akiyama-san and I use our powerful spells in succession while Partner takes over for Yamauchi-san, who will concentrate on protecting us casters. Partner is strong in attacking and surviving, not defending. This would be Plan Gamma. I have this horn, when I blast it the first time, we change to Beta, if I blast it a second time, it¡¯s Gamma, if I blast it in fast succession, it¡¯s retreat. This will be most likely the case when we can¡¯t effectively hurt it and fighting it is just too dangerous. Akiyama-san, when in doubt, go to the others and heal them. If they fall, we will most likely fall with them. Also, be prepared that we could change tactics in the midst, I can¡¯t cover every possibility.¡±
Masahiko is impressed by how easily Yoshimura-kun came up with a solid plan. Of course it was more of a rough idea, but knowing first hand how strategizing needs a lot of leeway, this is really solid, taking their strengths, weaknesses, and usual tasks into account. Yoshimura-kun only heard from Masahiko about their party, yet he still managed to come up with a good plan.
¡°¡fine.¡± Daichi is the first one to agree to the plan, though he¡¯s grinding his teeth.
¡°I still don¡¯t like you!¡± Teruko glares at Yoshimura-kun, but also complies.
Eri is the smartest one out of Masahiko¡¯s friends, so she¡¯s also the one who sees weak spots in the plan: ¡°What if the normal monsters are too much for Masa and Daichi-kun?¡±
¡°Then we retreat. I have the perfect spell for retreating and I will keep enough MP to cast it several times if needed.¡±
¡°¡wouldn¡¯t it be better to put Teru-chan on the watch? She has [Perception] and I doubt she can deal much damage to the stony beasts with her spear.¡±
¡°Hey!¡±
While Teruko calls out, Yoshimura-kun nods, still focused on the map: ¡°I thought about that, but in the end, I¡¯d like to have her at the front as she¡¯s sturdier as a [Knight] than our non-hero Correo. Letting Yamauchi-san and Inoue-san handle everything might be too much, also, the three of them are used to fighting next to each other, which alone should increase the combat prowess of all of them. If you¡¯re able to handle the boss on your own, Akiyama-san, I might also step in as a [Warlord] to increase everyone¡¯s power. To sum the [Warlord]-class up: Following my orders makes you stronger. There!¡± Yoshimura-kun points at a spot on the map, one full of rubble. ¡°Before we start chanting our first spells, our front will try to hide behind that hindrance, then we cast from this uprising, this is also where Partner and Kitamura-san are on stand-by. Front, when they come, make an ambush, then retreat to this open space. If they can cause quakes, it might be safer there, also¡¡±
So the planning progresses.
Volume 07 - Chapter 4-4
¡°Sigh...¡± I sigh again, while my sword cuts through a red-black striped insect, looks a bit like a bee, just larger with less fur and more bristles. I run up a cliff to get a better angle: ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± My skill kills five more of those monsters.
While my body moves like always, I''m not that much into the fight. Just a hive built into a wall. Kenta found it before and we decided to attack it. It''s good to have fewer monsters around, but I''m tired. I don''t know why because I didn''t move much, but somehow I feel drowsy.
Maybe because of what happened today... Kenta has willingly risked my life to save it. It''s so strange, both shouldn''t get along with each other. What was it called... a discrepancy? A contradiction? I only know that something is off.
During the last weeks, I tried my best to look at Kenta properly and to understand him. Yet this caught me off-guard... I used to think that Kenta is like Uncle Ludolf, yet... What would have Uncle done?
I try to remember some of his long-winded explanations about tactics. ¡°Kati, the world is a dangerous place. We have to fight to be safe, and every fight will claim their victims. The question is how to minimize them. Sometimes I have to send a single soldier into certain doom, as one fallen soldier can save a dozen or more. This is also a decision you will make at times when you ascend to the throne...¡± Now that I think about that, he looked sickish when he said it. Especially the last part...
Maybe it''s because Kenta is smart. Wait, Kenta also said that I shouldn''t just assume about him, so maybe I just believe that he''s smart? Ah, this becomes so complicated. Also, evading all the monster-guts makes it so hard to think about things so complicated.
Ah, Kyou is about to be ganged up, so I better help her. One, two, three, eight, this should be enough. There is another one on Ara''s head, let''s take care of it, a fist to get it off, a slash to kill it, fine. Where is Kenta? Ah, he''s there... why is he moving in a circle? That will only allow them to surround him. ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± Ah, that''s why.
Hm... this may be the difference between Kenta and me. Kenta thinks ahead, while I... I don''t believe I do that much. Other than about the far future. Is there a trick to think just a few seconds ahead? ¡Kenta said that the world revolves around me, so maybe that''s why I can''t think ahead?
Complicated!
The last of the monsters is slain and I fall on my butt and groan. ¡°I''m tired.¡± My head feels so heavy!
¡°Take a break.¡± Kenta starts dissecting the bees. ¡°Hm...¡± He proves how hard the stingers are and starts cutting around it with a knife. ¡°Like I thought, no toxin.¡±
This! ¡°How did you know?¡±
¡°Rine, other people aren''t capable of evading almost every hit. In this fight I was stung at least ten times. Still, no swelling or something like that, so it was unlikely that they use toxins. Stabbing people with that sting is deadly enough, I guess.¡±
¡°There is a toxin in a bee?¡±
¡°...Ara-san? Are this world''s bees toxic?¡±
Ara lifts her head from her notes. ¡°I assume.¡±
¡°What, you assume!?¡±
¡°There are no bee-heroes, so why should I have a remote interest in any kind of insect?¡±
Kenta turns to me again while doing his facepalm. ¡°Phew... well, in my world they have. In simple words, the toxin causes a sting to swell.¡±
¡°Ah, I never thought about why it swells.¡±
¡°...¡± Ah, I disappointed Kenta again. ¡°Phew, let''s take the needles and the wings.¡± Wings are processed into water-repellent paper and can be melted into glass for a yellow-brownish color. Needles are used for sewing needles, nails, and weaponry, like those needle bombs alchemists sell.
This reminds me of the alchemist I went to when I was on a date... No, please. Not that precious memory, please don''t turn bleak...
¡
¡ ¡ I''m so tired...Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
No, I can''t give into it! I massage my cheeks for a second, I need to do something. I''m glad that I decided to work with Ara for this, so I go to her. ¡°Ara? I feel all bad, I''m tired, have small aches all over my body, and I''m afraid to think about something happy, because it might not be as great as I thought before...¡±
She''s not even looking at me while she writes down her numbers. ¡°Your problem is?¡±
¡°I don''t want to feel like that anymore.¡±
¡°Did you consider intoxicants?¡±
¡°No...¡±
¡°Will you?¡±
¡°Erm...¡± It may make me feel better? Yet it sounds like escaping... ¡°No.¡±
¡°Hm... maybe you''re experiencing melancholy? Depression or dejection. Gloom?¡±
¡°Ah, that''s a good word.¡±
¡°I''m glad that I was able to help you.¡±
¡°Thanks, Ara! ¡ Wait, that doesn''t help.¡±
¡°...you''re becoming smarter.¡±
¡°I am?¡±
¡°You can be proud of yourself.¡±
¡°I can?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
Having Ara''s approval makes me feel better. A warmth is enclosing my heart and somehow the gloom I felt before isn''t that bad anymore. ¡°Thanks, Ara! I really, really needed that.¡± Hearing approval from her feels so different compared to Kyou.
¡°You''re welcome.¡±
¡°Then there is another problem.¡±
¡°Katarine-san, sometimes you need a break of solving every problem you see. It''s fine to wait and save energy, even if the problem at hand is urgent.¡±
Solving the argument between Kenta and Kyou seems very urgent. ¡°But-¡±
¡°Katarine-san, you have just overcome an obstacle, so take a break, let yourself go a bit, embrace the powers of the universe.¡±
¡°What does this mean?¡±
¡°Do what I do.¡±
¡°Do you mean the super-complicated stuff or doing nothing?¡±
¡°Nothing.¡±
¡°How is that supposed to help?¡±
¡°It would help me finish my work without any more distractions.¡±
¡°But...¡± Kyou is glaring at Kenta who sometimes looks over his shoulder while having this really irritating expression. ¡°Kenta and Kyou...¡±
¡°It''s their problem and they need to solve it by themselves. If they ask you for advice, you can give it, but don''t interfere.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because they''re sexually frustrated, given that they''re pubescent humans, so everyone who might come between them might be mercilessly humped by either of the two.¡±
¡°Is this really the case? I doubt that.¡±
¡°You better do!¡± says Kenta from his position. It seems that he overheard our conversation. This reminds me of how Kyou often complains about Kenta''s and Ara''s good hearing.
¡°Kenta-kun,¡± Ara lifts her head and looks at him: ¡°I''m having a conversation with Katarine-san.¡±
¡°You''ve just done everything you can to cut it short!¡±
¡°This is this and that is that?¡±
¡°...phew...¡±
I''m a bit worried: ¡°Ara, is it a good idea to start fighting with Kenta as well?¡±
¡°You don''t need to worry, Kenta-kun can''t be so easily dismissed.¡±
¡°You know him so well...¡± I feel some envy, because I want to learn about Kenta. Yet he''s so... we talk a lot, but it always ends up with me doing the talking.
¡°I''m finished.¡± Kenta stows away two long and narrow bags. ¡°It''s soon dusk. Time to look for a camping spot.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°HAAAAAAAAAAA!!! HA! HA!¡± Hoshibashi-kun hacks at the giant bear-like monster like a madman while being crushed time and time again, yet his wounds heal while his fighting spirit remains unbroken.
¡°[Treesplitter]!¡± Daichi is standing on top of its nape, his axe opens the crack there even wider. ¡°I have flesh!¡±
¡°Splendid! Inoue-san!¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Masahiko is on the back and starts running, only to jump at the fleshwound: ¡°[Drillkick]!¡± His kick causes the giant bear to twist.
¡°Kitamura-san!¡±
Following Yoshimura-kun''s order, Katsuo draws his bow: ¡°[Powershot]!¡± It hits the created weak spot and vanishes into the flesh.
Suddenly, the goliath stops moving, falling like a dead tree. Masahiko lands on his feet. The pain crawls up his legs while Daichi makes a judo-roll despite being in full armor. ¡°Hoshibashi-kun!¡±
The one who attacked the giant bear from below must be... the bear moves a bit and Hoshibashi-kun comes from under the bear. The anger that seemingly overcame him in battle is gone. So this is the [Berserker]-class...
¡°¡°Good work, everyone!¡±¡± Masahiko and Yoshimura-kun say this at the same time, both of them look at each other for a second, then start grinning.
The fight started off good enough, yet it took forever. Eri is resting on her staff as she had to heal for almost an hour. Teruko was taking a break after she had pushed herself so that Masahiko and Hoshibashi-kun could take their break and refill their health. The whole moving-earth-and-stone-ability in addition to the thick stone fur made this a battle of endurance.
¡°Kitamura-san? Did you get any XP?¡±
¡°...yes, a lot. Five levels.¡±
¡°Good. This is always a good way to confirm a kill. Its size was problematic though.¡±
¡°No joke, man.¡± Daichi rubs his sore muscles, he hasn''t even taken any breaks. ¡°Good that you came up with taking shifts.¡± While it was possible to hurt the goliath, it was via powerful spells at first, something that couldn''t be repeated. The whole quaking made it nigh impossible to do any good attacks, so Yoshimura-kun made alterations to the plan. ¡°Sorry for before. You''re alright.¡± Daichi says that while taking off his helmet. ¡°Without you, this might have gone awry.¡±
¡°This monster was more powerful than I thought. I also might have looked down on you.¡± Yoshimura-kun admits his own failings.
¡°Don''t worry! Never thought you had the guts, I believed that you were just an arrogant ass. You, too, Hoshibashi. I hate to admit it, but you''re now stronger than I am.¡±
¡°...you''re also good.¡±
¡°Hey there!¡± Correo comes close to all of them, broadly smiling. ¡°That was fantastic! A battle of attrition, using what makes heroes so special! Also, this teamwork! I have found a nice spot for a rest, then we''ll look whether we stay the night or not.¡±
In the end, they decided to use the remainder of the day to find a way through the debris and rock-slides that were caused by the battle, using Eri''s earth magic that was the solution against being caved in. Then they''ll take a good, long night''s rest.
Volume 07 - Chapter 4-5
¡°Phew...¡± Morning. I''m on my usual scouting, this time I''m backtracking our path to see whether we''re followed by the rocky-bears or not. I find nothing, which may only mean that they''re not using the usual path, these suckers may be capable of climbing all the cliffs whenever they want.
I look around with my whole array of [Perception]-skills in addition to [Wild Eyes]. It''s good to see monsters like these swarm-lizards that are hidden in cracks and such... Hm? What''s that? A strong spirit...
Important things you need to remember when dealing with spirits: First, only lifeforms have spirits. Second, there is a hierarchy in strength, plants have weak spirits, beasts and animals are above that, people above all. It seems to be tied to the complexity of thoughts, reptiles have weaker spirits than mammals, for example.
Monsters can be in the whole spectrum, yet monsters usually have traits of several animals. You''d also call them chimeras in our world. Often enough, a monster''s strength of spirit correlates to the animals it''s made of.
The stronger a spirit, the more effort it takes to control it. While Ara-san and I can easily manipulate plants, it''s nigh impossible to do the same to people. There are some exceptions, though, like Kyou-san''s [Mirrored Moon]-skill which also works well on them.
Why do I go through all of it again? Because there is a spot at the cliff that has one person-strong spirit. I don''t look at it, yet my [Wild Eyes] have spotted it easily, as rocks aren''t alive. They''re also bad terrain if you want to hide your spirit. That person-spirit is slowly moving closer, yet I can''t even see that movement with my eyes only.
I turn around while being on full alert. I need to know if this is a rare intelligent monster or a mercenary using a [Skill]. A [Skill] to look like a rock, most likely in the [Stealth]-ability. I could use this! [Camouflage] is great, as it''s usable in any terrain, but that perfect rock-hiding would serve me well! Maybe you can even attack while being in it?
Ah, I can feel its spirit moving even closer, it becomes clearer and clearer to me. Let''s see if that thing is dumb enough. I slowly start walking myself. It''s also increasing its speed. Not much faster, it seems like it wants to keep up.
It also doesn''t make sounds. It becomes more and more likely that it''s a mercenary. Or maybe... let''s try out. During scouting, I tend to have my bow in the hand, this time it''s the same. I also have an arrow at hand, so I turn around and shoot it: ¡°[Seeker]!¡±
My sudden attack makes it jump back, then it somehow deflects the arrow, I can''t see what kind of weapon it''s using. Good reflexes, though.
I run at it while switching from bow to spear. I can practically feel how it becomes ready, yet I made a half circle, only to: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± Using my propulsion skill at point-range while the enemy needs to brace itself after turning around, let''s see how it deals with this!
It has ducked under it!? Folkman? Or just a shrimp?
Won''t matter. Still using the full range of my weapon, I swing at it at different angles, it''s nimble, but won''t mount a counterattack.
I hit something, this sound... another spear. On contact I switch to [Pikeman] to increase the power of my weapon and I''m far superior in that regard, it''s stumbling! I take a firebomb from my pouch and throw it while jumping back.
A fiery blast comes. For a moment I think I saw someone inside, something with armor. It''s also grunting, but as a [Pikeman] I can''t use [Pitch] to determine its age or sex with such a short grunt.
Suddenly, a mist arises. Shit! It''s not any mist, it''s a mist made by magic! It makes it impossible to navigate, even when using [Spirit Magic]. I need to get out of it.
The moment I''m back in the sunlight, another mist falls down on me. Dammit! No, don''t let it get you. ¡°Phew...¡± I change to [Ranger] and hide myself inside the foliage. If I can''t find you, you won''t find me. Though it irritates me, that the magic inside the mist makes my spirit-sense dull.
It''s only the second time I encountered a mist like that. The last time was in Aroahenn, the alfr village.
Could it be?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Some distance away, Kurosawa Teruko is sighing in relief. ¡°Thanks, Yoshimura-kun.¡± She takes another look at where they came from, but she can''t see Katsuragi anymore. Her other senses aren''t catching him either, so she assumes that he also retreated.
¡°...¡± Yoshimura-kun also looks cautious. ¡°He could sense you despite your [Rock Masking]... Let''s assume that he has superior [Perception]-skills.¡±
¡°Grrr...¡± Teruko hates to admit it, but Yoshimura-kun is probably right. She was also bested in the fight, she hasn''t used [Knight] yet, but she''s not sure if that would be enough to overcome him. This killing intent was massive, the last time she had felt something like that was when she was facing the demons in Kraggwas.
¡°We were unprepared. When I fought him last time, he was also able to adapt quickly, finding ways to outtrick me. We need to keep that in mind.¡±
As they got closer and closer, Teruko started using [Rock Masking]¡ªa [Stealth]-skill¡ªto mask herself completely. Yoshimura-kun also followed her around hundred meters behind. When she saw Katsuragi coming, hearing of his brand new red armor from Correo, she tried to tail him to find Kyou-chan. Yet¡ Without her [Danger Sense]-skill, she might have been killed by the arrow.
¡°Good work under these circumstances, Kurosawa-san. At least he may not know who you are, so we still have an advantage.¡±
¡°Shut up, I''m not in the mood.¡± When she needed to decide whether to keep her [Rock Mask] or to fight properly back, she opted for the former, as in this moment he attacked, she wasn''t able to step forward. It was too sudden, it was too intense, so many excuses, but in the end, she didn''t have the guts.
¡°We''ll regroup. For better or worse, they know that someone is chasing them.¡±
¡°How can it make things better!? I spoiled the moment of surprise!¡±
¡°Maybe. Maybe there was no chance to seize it either way. However, if they know someone is chasing them, they''ll prepare. This means it''s down to whether their tactics are superior to mine or not. And I don''t think I''ll lose.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°There is no sign that they have followed me and I suggest that we start moving.¡± I''m back in the camp, the girls have already started to pack up and I''m helping with the last few things while explaining.
Rine cocks her head: ¡°Start moving? Where to?¡±
¡°Ahead. They might have set a trap, but the canyon starts opening up, including some vegetation.¡± This is what a bird I hijacked with [Share Senses] saw. ¡°If we start straying from the path, we might end up in a dead-end, so if they''re only behind us, being faster than them is preferable.¡±
¡°Ken,¡± Kyou-san butts in: ¡°Why? Do you know who they are?¡±
¡°In the best case, they''re mercenaries that try to capture Rine.¡±
¡°And in the worst case?¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
¡°It''s an army of fire-spitting demons that''s under the command of Muaotef who has conquered Feuerberg and the demon realm, enslaved everyone, put his profane dragon blood in all of them to strengthen them so that they can shoot lasers out of their eyes and what we just saw were just spotters, because they wanted to see whether they''ll throw their nuclear bomb on this canyon to end us or not.¡±
¡°...is this your attempt at a joke?¡± No. If I had more time, I would add more and more to this vision, it''s not funny in the least. ¡°No, don''t answer... what''s the worst you expect?¡±
¡°Yoshimura and Hoshibashi with mercenaries and Correo. The mist reminded me of Yoshimura''s.¡±
¡°...you still remember their names!?¡±
¡°Why so surprised?¡±
¡°Who is my best friend?¡±
¡°...this has nothing to do with this.¡±
¡°Kurosawa Teruko! Why do you remember them but not her!?¡±
¡°Kyou-san, stay on topic. Time to go.¡± Everything is packed up, so we can start hurrying. ¡°We can do the talking on the way.¡±
¡°So,¡± Kyou-san continues: ¡°Why would it be so bad?¡±
¡°Because if that''s them, we won''t be able to flee.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°I assume that Correo has some magic item to detect us. Remember? He deals in relics, if his story is true. Relics are magic items that interact with heroes. If he has lots of them, then it would make sense that he has one that detects heroes. This would explain everything, how he found us the first time and how he could find us now despite us using the swamps.¡±
¡°Why don''t we attack them then?¡±
¡°Remember the last time we faced mercenaries? It''s highly probable that he has some again. I think they''ll outnumber and outdo us. Last time we were lucky that they were spread, looking for us as they had no idea where we were. Now they know. We can''t count on another ranger to save our asses.¡±
¡°Do you also remember that last time we overexerted ourselves because we were too cautious?¡±
¡°I don''t count on running away. I just want to choose the terrain, gather some intel, and see if Correo is with them. If we get him, we might succeed.¡± Correo is somehow related to the demons, and last time Yoshimura and Hoshibashi worked alongside them to get the stash of items from Aroahenn.
One of these items is the [Class Rewrite], a quill that allows a hero to delete one of their classes. Yoshimura and Hoshibashi used it before to delete their [Student]-class which was followed by a loss of personality. Each of their memories from before is now like they have read it in a book instead of experiencing them themselves.
As a side-effect, they have become much stronger. When Ara-san and I fought them, we had several advantages on our side, that we won''t have for this confrontation. We may have become stronger, but they had the same amount of time... Still, even if we can overcome them, the outlook of having mercenaries as well...
This is why I need as much intel and as many advantages as possible. ¡°Remember what I told you? When I hijacked the bird to look ahead, I could see that the paths are opening up with some vegetation. And more importantly, mice.¡±
¡°Mice!?¡±
I can''t help but smirk. ¡°Rine, could you use [Swishstride] to go ahead and catch some? I need them here, where there are no alternative paths. Also, be wary of predators and monsters.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
So close... Lent Wood¡ªwho acts as Yoshimura Rentaro for the moment¡ªcan almost taste his prey. Still, he has to be patient and reminds himself what his priorities are.
First, capture Princess Katarine von Stolzherz.
Second, make the other heroes join his cause. If that''s not possible, kill them.
Yet there is a great amount of impatience in him, as curiosity and anticipation drives him forwards. The fateful meeting... Momokawa Kyou... he never met her, just his former self who was in love with her. His pitiful former self who never stood a chance.
A part of him is sure that he will fall in love with her again and this time, he will make her his. There is no way that a man like him won''t conquer her.
But he has to pace himself and the others. The problem is how to proceed with the forces he has at his hands. Inoue and his party are all friends of Momokawa Kyou... This is good and bad. Good, because it curbs their motivation and their want to rescue her might work against their better judgment. Bad, because if Momokawa Kyou has the opportunity to talk to them, they will most likely listen.
If they weren''t heroes, Lent could just talk to them, using his [Persuasion]-attribute to give them the idea that Momokawa Kyou is under the influence of Katsuragi Kenta''s mind-control, so she can''t be trusted right now.
Of course, Lent has some actual mind-control, but he wants to avoid using it right now as it only works on single targets. If someone suspects him of using it, all the trust he earned would be gone and he would have more enemies instead.
He wasn''t convinced before, but now he has to admit that having them is a great tactical advantage. First, strength in numbers, second, because they have at least some capabilities. He only needs to use the other heroes properly. The best scenario would be to split up Katsuragi''s party and have them pursue everyone except Momokawa Kyou.
For now, Kita is in the back row while Star and Kurosawa are scouting ahead. Kita also has [Perception], so he should be able to detect an ambush. While it was great to have a proper rearguard with Star, this has to suffice, as now they need more focus on the front.
Lent assumes that Katsuragi''s party first wants to confirm their information. Yet it''s not as easy as to look if there is a scout hiding on one of the cliffs. In this world, magic is an option. Maybe they can see into the distance, using a skill like Kita''s [Farsight] while hiding far away. There might also be spells or skills that can foretell probable futures, the range of intelligence gathering is unknown.
That''s why Lent decided to not worry too much about the enemy learning about them. Instead, he''s more concerned what their first action might be. That''s why he sent Star with Kurosawa, because Star is capable of dealing with everything Katsuragi''s party will dish out, same goes for Lent, that''s why he remained with the main-group.
Kurosawa becomes visible while running towards them. ¡°There is a mouse in a glass.¡±
Inoue is as confused as Lent by this report. ¡°A mouse?¡± he asks while slightly cocking his head.
¡°Yeah. We left it there for starters, but-¡±
¡°Kill it,¡± Lent says with determination.
¡°What?¡±
¡°Kill it without it seeing you. Also, look for other animals. They might be spies.¡±
¡°Spies!?¡±
¡°Kurosawa-san, we''re in a world that is full of magic.¡±
Inoue slightly nods. ¡°But is it necessary to kill them?¡±
¡°It''s the safest and quickest option. As long as we don''t know the purpose, it''s easier to destroy it.¡±
¡°We could have Teruko just carry them away.¡±
¡°Are there alternate paths here, Kurosawa-san?¡±
¡°No...¡±
¡°You can ask my partner to do it, if you''re against it, Kurosawa-san. But if we want to waste no time, we need to deal with it quickly. If setting it up costs more time than us solving it, we''re winning some.¡±
With a heavy sigh, Inoue nods, but he''s not pleased. It doesn''t matter in the long run, this is the most logical solution.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°They took the bait,¡± I report while looking through the eyes of the target-mouse of [Share Senses]. Ara-san pulls me by the hand as long as I can''t see, using my own eyes. Someone I can''t see with the distorted picture I got from the mouse has started killing the others, soon my spy will also be done for. ¡°Ara-san, I¡¯d like to switch.¡±
¡°Sure.¡± She lets go of my hand while I stand still.
[Share Senses] allows me to share the sense of the target. It''s one of the spells that work best on animals, as plants have different senses altogether. As a noob, the mouse was the only target I could use. Still, there is another component: I can filter.
With my current mastery, I can only make rough switches in the filter. Ara-san believes that at some point I may be able to have two overlapping pictures in my mind, my own senses and the ones of my target. Now I completely filter the sight and start adjusting my hearing.
¡°...shame, ...poor... hey...¡±
Someone is talking. A girl. I also feel absolutely annoyed. I know this voice... If I compare it with my mental annoyance-level chart... A memory surfaces from deep within. ''Hey, hey, Kyou-chan! Could you ask fatso about the sports meet?''
Shrimp! What was her name... Kurokawa Tetsuko? What is she doing here? ...well, she''s a lol-hero of Feuerberg, so she''s still after the princess? Didn''t she hang around Inoue? Does that mean... Oh god, The Fakes are here!
The Fakes, the well-liked asses of the class that gained all their popularity by dissing, bullying, and acting like good students on the outside.
First, we have muscle-brain who is ready to lash out and intimidate everyone speaking bad about Inoue.
Second, we have ponytail who''s calling people names and can only tell people her opinion when she''s with someone who can physically threaten them.
Third, we have the dark one... who''s just kinda there, most likely as the butt of everyone''s jokes, the guy in the group that always takes the fall to make the others feel better about themselves.
Fourth, we have shrimp who isn''t above telling others that they suck but start bawling the moment you give some backtalk.
Fifth, we used to have Kyou-san there as well, the girl who used her good looks and a sugar-sweet act to manipulate everyone around her.
Sixth, Inoue Masahiko, the boss. It''s like all other members are only around him because he''s the nastiest and phoniest of them all. I mean, everyone seems to buy his goody-two-shoes act, but he acts via his friends, keeping himself safe from all critiques. The worst of them all.
I thought it was Yoshimura''s mist, but I guess ponytail is a magic-user as well? I try to remember the last encounter with them... ah, I clotheslined her. Good time.
Why is Kyou-san gesticulating in front of me? I filter the sound out and nod to her, signing her that I''m ready to hear. ¡°Ken, what''s wrong!? Why are you smirking!? What did you hear?¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
Ouch. I... feel something strange. It hurts.
¡°A...¡± I open my mouth trying to say something, but I can''t. My throat is dry. It''s like my words are clogging inside my throat.
I understand. I... I understand! Shit! Why!? It shouldn''t be! Though I know it is. I know why I suddenly snapped at Kyou-san when we were talking the night before the last. Why I felt so... irritated.
She mentioned her friends back then, how she would love to join them again...
I don''t want that. ...I don''t want Kyou-san to leave...
How could this happen!?
Volume 07 - Chapter 5-1 – Letter to the Person we Demand
We''re standing in a wide area with grass that reaches our ankles and some scrubs here and there, we''re still inside the canyon, but this is the place that provides the wildlife here with nutrients, making it even possible for monsters and animals to be here. According to Ken.
Why isn''t he saying something? There are plenty of moments where Ken is speechless, but usually they''re tied with anger or how he can''t deal with Rine-chan''s and Arako''s antics.
Instead of saying something, he waves us to continue walking. Yet his face... I haven''t seen him like that before. I''ve learned so many of his faces, so many facets of his personality I never dreamed about, like how he never doubts that he will return home, his courage born out of desperation, his craftiness, his pain...
I should still hate him, but I like him a bit. That''s why he made me furious with his leashing out at me. Though this feeling of ''like'' might be because of the cursed rings. I want to tell him, but he- It''s not all about you! Yes, I want to know what made you tick out in the swamps, but-
I want to slap him. I also want to know what he heard, it''s important for all of us! Talk to us for once without having someone pull it out from you! How can it be that you''re able to notice all those obscure details of whatever bad may happen but are so oblivious to things right in front of you!
Don''t you trust us?
...he doesn''t. That''s it, after all this time he doesn''t trust us! Maybe Arako a bit, but did he ever put any trust in me or Rine-chan!? ...the only thing I can think of is that he trusted me to distract the giant rocky-bear... Oh, what a great sign of trust!
I grind my teeth. My eyes wander, looking at the other girls. Arako''s ears are moving steadily, this could be a sign of caution? Rine-chan is slowly moving towards Ken, then she touches his arm. ¡°Kenta. What happened?¡±
He puts his hand over his face, as if he wants to keep it in place. ¡°I¡¯m trying to convey it into words that won''t end in disaster.¡±
¡°Bad news?¡±
¡°For me, at least.¡±
¡°Don''t tell me... that they''re after you!¡± Rine-chan is shocked and concerned, though it doesn''t make any sense. They want you, Rine-chan, we already established it.
¡°...close enough.¡± Wait, what? ¡°Phew, it''d be better to get more intel, yet if I''m caught... argh!¡±
¡°...¡± Rine-chan looks disheartened, most likely because she can''t reach Ken and doesn''t know what''s torturing him. I can''t do it either.
¡°Fuck it! I heard Teshizawa Terumi! Satisfied!?¡± ...who is he talking about?
¡°Who is it?¡± Rine-chan doesn''t shy away from asking the obvious question.
¡°Kyou-san''s friend.¡± ...again... why can''t you remember her name! Teru-chan is my best friend, care a bit about her!
Oh god, my annoyance at this is suppressing any other emotion I have, it feels like a pond: The moment I want to reach out to the feeling of joy, I have first to go through a layer of slimy annoyance first.
Yet at the bottom of the pond, the emotions are also shame: frustration, insecurity, and bitterness...
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I look at Kyou-san while saying my part. She looks pissed. Of course, because I have kept her friends being involved hidden, even if it was for a minute or two. She''s Kyou-san, so it makes sense that she doesn''t even give me enough time to find a proper way to explain all of the headache that''s coming to us in a way that won''t let her jump to conclusions.
¡°We know next to nothing except that I''m sure that I heard the shrimp. Let''s assume the most likely scenario, that her, Inoue, and the other dirtbags are here.¡± Kyou-san looks at me as if I had pissed on an unstained wall. ¡°Then they want to capture Rine and Kyou, bring them back to Feuerberg, and breaking my bones in the process won''t hurt them either.¡±
¡°We could talk to them!?¡± Kyou-san suggested the option I was thinking of, but unwilling to suggest myself.
¡°Problem is, why are they here?¡±
¡°Because they were looking for us?¡±
¡°You misunderstand. Why are they here as in: How the heck did they get that far?¡± I mean, they suck. ¡°We have gone through the fucking Spirit Swamps. If they were merely following us, they would be all dead inside them now.¡± Too bad that didn''t happen. ¡°So they must have known where we are or they have somehow attained [Spirit Magic].¡±
¡°Maybe they- no, they don''t.¡± I know what you wanted to say. That they have found their way to Aroahenn and convinced an alfr to join them. Yet this is highly improbable. First, they couldn''t know beforehand that we would pass the Spirit Swamps, we made that decision on short notice, so they had no reason to ask one for help. Second, because it would mean that they''d somehow brought an alfr to help them which can only be possible if they provide said alfr a constant supply of fun. Who would be crazy enough to do that!?
¡°So,¡± I continue my line of thought: ¡°They had help. I can only think of two possibilities, Feuerberg or Correo, and I believe it''s the latter.¡± Of course there are many, many possibilities, but from where I''m standing, these are the two who have the highest chance.
Feuerberg is a kingdom, so they have resources. Yet I''m sure that we already would have run into them if they have the means to follow us. Why holding back until now?
Therefore, Correo is more likely. It''s too easy to imagine Fake''s party hanging in a tavern like the morons they are, only to be preyed upon by Correo. I mean, that guy is suspicious as hell and the only reason why I followed his lead to Aroahenn was because I had no better option.
¡°If I''m right, then it opens up a lot of other crap. Like Yoshimura and Hoshibashi working alongside Fake''s party. Why don''t we add some mercenaries to the mix? Careful: Cougar.¡± I nonchalantly point at the green feline that''s hiding in the grass. Like many animals in this world, there is something off from the ones I know from my world.
I don''t expect animals to attack us, still, this is a hunting ground. For animals and monsters, as rocky as the canyon is, these green spaces are a valuable source for nutrients. Several birds of prey are here as well, no wonder that I have hardly seen any before.
Why hasn''t the boss-rocky-bear declared this his hunting ground though? I sure hope it''s not because there is something even more dangerous here... I take a look at the sky and choose another bird: ¡°[Share Senses]!¡± As my vision blurs, forming a very bad picture of what the hawk is seeing, I try to figure out how this area looks like from above...
¡°Ken! You can''t just stop talking!¡±
¡°Actually, I can. Yet I''m still looking for options. So far I only have facing them or evading them, though I have no idea how... Rine, do you want to return to Feuerberg?¡±
¡°-what?¡± Rine is baffled as I ask her directly. ¡°Erm...¡± I cease my spell and look at her, she''s looking at the ground. ¡°I... I don''t know. I... I like being with you. I like seeing new places...¡± Suddenly, she looks up. ¡°No. I want to help you. With the curse.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°You know that ''helping us'' would also include all of us going to Feuerberg, have that curse-expert look at us again, let your father pay for all expenses and after the curse is lifted, we would go back to our former lives.¡± I would continue my demon-king-slaying campaign, Kyou-san would be with her shitty friends, and Ara-san would most likely return to Aroahenn.
¡°...I don''t want that. Sorry, but... that''s how I feel... ah, I''m so selfish!¡± She begins tearing up, then bawling. Geez, even crying is cute with you.
¡°Well, my opinion: I don''t want to play into Correo''s hand. He''s working with the demons... most likely. So we need to find out whether he''s with them or not.¡±
¡°Ken, when I talk to Masahiko-kun and Teru-chan, they''ll understand,¡± Kyou-san suggests.
¡°The same kind of understanding that would make them leave you behind in the first place?¡± Shit, this was unnecessary, but now I said that. Kyou-san looks shocked and I can see her eyes moistening as well. Out of anger.
I scratch my head, this isn''t going well. She should know that her friends are a bunch of jerks, but... well, she''s also a bitch... at times... OK, now I feel even worse, especially as I try to figure out why I feel like keeping her... I mean, there should be no reason!
Now I turn to the woman who I haven''t brought to tears yet, Ara-san. ¡°What do you think?¡± I need an intelligent comment on this one.
¡°I¡¯d like to meet Momo''s friends. They''re heroes, so if we capture them, we can force them to open their statuses, you translate everything and I note it down.¡±
¡°...I''m not against it?¡±
¡°This way we can also separate them from any malevolent influence, talk to them and then we may find a compromise that won''t lead us leaving Katarine-san. It''s the perfect consensus for all concerned parties.¡±
Well, except Fake and his party, but hey, not everyone can be happy, right? Yet there is a problem: ¡°You know that they will most likely have company, right?¡±
¡°For this, I have a plan.¡±
¡°Stop it! Both of you!¡± Kyou-san interferes before I become victim of Ara-san''s very dangerous pulls to the alfr-side again. ¡°Whatever you''re thinking of doing, Arako, it can''t be good. And you, don''t agree so easily to every whim she has!¡±
¡°Do you have any better ideas? I mean, we could lure them into a monster-house again, this time we''ll just make sure it''s intended and that we''re outside. It''ll be easy enough to find a monster nest here, I guess?¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°Phew... just denying every idea isn''t very constructive.¡±
¡°Why are you looking so smug while only providing nonsense?!¡±
Argh, this feels so... I can''t even describe that feeling! I hate Inoue and his posse and I don''t want Kyou-san to go back to them! I mean, look at her, giving me all that bull while having no ideas on her own, she''s just throwing a tantrum!
¡°...phew... the mice have won us some time, so let''s use it. Can they follow our tracks?¡±
¡°Yes, Teru-chan has [Scout] as a class.¡±
¡°Precious... Well, I guess we need to work with it. The bird I hijacked showed me that this whole area has open spaces with wildlife separated by crevice-mazes. It''s obviously what the main-path is, it''s wide and open. Ara-san, for my idea I''ll need your spells.¡±
¡°I will not participate in any scheme that may cause the death of heroes.¡±
¡°It won''t.¡± I hate these guys, but I''m above killing them. Though they may wish that they were dead.
We enter the next crevice and I start looking at the walls again. ¡°Look if you see something suspicious in the walls. And also how brittle they are,¡± I add while touching a wall.
¡°What is your plan?¡±
¡°We have already established that there are several cliffs here that may cave in. If we can make a cave-in behind us, then it''ll be quite the obstacle. Yet there is another benefit.¡±
¡°Which is?¡±
¡°They have scouts. If we can find them and cause a cave-in behind them, we''ll split them into at least two groups. While splitting us will only be temporary, thanks to [Spouse Location], they''ll have big problems even finding each other. Especially as they can''t communicate over long distances, different from us.¡± We have a [Shared Inventory], after all, and if long-distance communication would be common in this world, things like the Crusader-hunt would have played out entirely differently.
¡°Ken... what is your plan after you have split them?¡±
¡°Playing by ear. I know next to nothing.¡± Kyou-san doesn''t like my answer, but the plan itself is a good shot. Also, I''ve learned that running away isn''t the best option...
After finding the perfect ambush site, we hide ourselves. Ara-san and my senses are on high alert, ready to cause the cave-in that would trap the scouts with us.
The problem is, even after half an hour, nobody came... Anxiety is building up... what''s wrong? Do they know what we''re planning!?
What''s their plan?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
This is the real stuff. Masahiko looks at the grass and the scrubs, at how different the leaves are from what he knows. There are even some unknown flowers here that blooms in vermilion and scarlet. He can see a green cougar running away with a red hare in its teeth, this is wilderness!
The last time he was so far away from any settlements was when he was in the Mauerfelsen-mountains, looking for the runaway crown princess. Now he''s looking for her again, though she''s only a secondary concern.
After a heartwarming sight, he returns to the problem at hand. Teruko is screaming into a conversation that''s too loud to begin with: ¡°WE''RE WASTING TIME! WE WOULD ALREADY HAVE THEM IF YOU WOULD STOP BICKERING, YOU MORONS!¡±
Now that Katsuragi-kun has noticed that someone is following him, all the impatience of Daichi and Teruko had started to burst out, while Eri isn''t approving of Yoshimura-kun''s plan. Katsuo is siding with nobody and Masahiko tries to mediate.
Daichi and Teruko want to charge ahead, crushing any other scheme and take out Katsuragi directly. They think that being quick is the key and are confident in the big party they have formed. The only reason why they didn''t do that yet is because they doubt that they can deal with them on their own, Masahiko is glad that they''re still cautious enough to admit that.
Yoshimura-kun wants to take a more careful approach as he thinks that Katsuragi-kun will counter any rash moves. His plan involves more recon and to whittle down Katsuragi-kun''s resources over the course of days while not showing any weaknesses to him. Hoshibashi-kun sides with him. This is the exact opposite approach to what he preached before while catching up, maybe because he''s concerned about Teruko''s encounter with Katsuragi.
Eri wants to do a smart move to turn everything over, but she can''t think of one. Katsuo is in thought, while Correo sat down and is following the conversation without saying a word.
Masahiko admits to himself that he can''t help in reaching a compromise. He decides to take matters into his own hands, draws a sword, and cuts a line into the ground. Dust and dirt jumps forth. ¡°Would you mind?¡± He says with a shy smile and calm voice, cutting softly into the screaming, so the rest becomes silent. ¡°Sorry to say it, Daichi and Teruko, but an aggro tactic only works in early stages. Aggro means putting up pressure and disturbing the opponent while he''s still building up. Yet we have lost that moment and the fight with the goliath cost us time and endurance. We don''t have any reserves.¡± Masahiko used to have a laid-back approach with this chase because he wanted to save his power for the real deal, yet it was spent too early to get through that huge monster. ¡°Yoshimura-kun, your ideas are very well founded, but if we take too much time, they might leave the canyon and I want to confront them here.¡± This may be the last time before outsiders who will complicate the matter are included. ¡°On the other side of this canyon is another inn and soon after a city. I don''t want to involve other people if possible, and if we let them have rest stops, they can regain their strength as well.¡± Correo told Masahiko about what lies beyond this canyon, as Masahiko loves to hear the stories of the merchant and the places that he visited. ¡°Eri, we can''t think of a plan because we have too little information. So in the end, it comes down to this: How brave are we? Are we willing to go into it blind, confident in ourselves and our friends? Or will we falter, because the odds are unknown? I''m honest here: I''m scared. I mean, last time I met Katsuragi-kun, he shot me in the back. It took a while to recuperate. He also attacked Teruko just an hour before and he seems to be terrifyingly strong. And from what we know of Katarine-hime, she might be even stronger.
¡°Yet I think that shying away is the worst option. Charging blindly is the second worst option. So I will bet on us. On all of us. Katsuragi-kun is smart. He''s the second-smartest boy in class. He may have his deficits, but we should never forget that. It''s easy to think less about someone because you don''t like that person, but it doesn''t make it right.
¡°I know, I may not always be the best leader, and I admit that Yoshimura-kun is a good tactician. I want to believe in us, so I also believe in Yoshimura-kun''s judgment. Yet I also believe that we''re stronger together, so Yoshimura-kun: Instead of thinking of Katsuragi-kun, think of what we are good at. On our strengths, not Katsuragi-kun''s weaknesses. I think this is the key.¡±
After saying his thoughts, Masahiko feels calmer. This is an important moment and he wants to do it right. For better or worse, Katsuragi-kun knows that they''re here yet may not yet know who they are. So it''s understandable that he''ll use violence first and ask questions later.
Yoshimura-kun thinks that hiding their identity is an advantage. Masahiko isn''t sure if he agrees. Maybe because he still thinks that fighting is the least favored option, yet he also fears that it''ll be unavoidable at this point.
While Masahiko regrets this development, Yoshimura-kun starts to think hard about what to do. ¡°We have a slight advantage in numbers... Correo-san, do you know your way around here?¡±
¡°Sorry, but this canyon wasn''t interesting enough. Even back then, people only traversed it, so I didn''t bother to explore it.¡±
¡°...alright, then how likely is it that they know how to- no, our strengths, right?¡± Yoshimura-kun looks around, at each of his companions. ¡°I have a strategy. It''s riskier than I prefer, but if we can implement it properly, we have some room for mistakes and uncertainties. Partner, you and Yamauchi-kun will be the spine.¡±
Volume 07 - Chapter 5-2
Kenta-kun sighs again, maybe he''s bored? I can understand that. I would also be bored if I weren''t busy looking at the status of the others. As I can hardly read human impressions, I don''t know whether the slight fluctuations in [Stamina Points] are because of being on the edge or because their muscles grow tired.
I lightly flick my ear, a soothing sensation wanders through my body. At this point, it wouldn''t be inappropriate to add the data I get to my notes instead of looking sharp, right?
*clank, clank, clank*
Too bad, there is something. I look at Kenta-kun who is several looaf in front of me, waiting to give me the signal to start my spell. He hasn''t noticed the sound of metal plates grinding at each other. He still needs to improve his hearing, though it''s still far better than Momo''s and Katarine-san''s.
Now Kenta-kun gives me a sign, so he has finally caught the noise. He lifts one finger, telling the other two girls, who are hiding further back, how many people he hears. ''Hears'' is the keyword, as it could be that there are more, as we also expect some [Stealth]-shenanigans.
Our hiding places are good, it will be difficult to see us from below, especially Kenta-kun, who is in his [Camouflage] and acts as the lookout.
My personal problem is that I''m also too far away to properly sense any spirits that are on the path. I can feel some scrubs that defy the rocks to grow here, several rodents, and a pair of cougars that became aware of us and are sneaking away. I have an idea: ¡°Kenta-kun?¡± I speak softly. Only he should be able to hear me. ¡°What do you think, should I use [Sleep] on the cougars? In case we need some?¡±
¡°Ara-san, we''re about to start, dammit.¡±
Bummer. They could be useful. Now that I think of it, the [Tamer]-class would have been a nice addition to my repertoire, but sadly I have no [Class]-slots left. [Tamer] would have allowed me to send wild beasts and tamed monsters at my enemies, not even lifting a single finger myself. Now I remember why I decided to not learn it: Traveling to a place to teach me the class and taking care of beasts in general was just too troublesome. Maybe I can learn the [Summoner]-class-up in Zethtrin though. We are heading there anyways and if I summon my harbingers of death, I won''t need to feed or toilet-train them.
Maximum results for minimum work.
After this fleeting thought, I casually return to the present situation. I think I can see the armored person... it''s still too far away to see details though humans should be able to.
¡°Daichi-kun...¡± Momo sighs these words more than saying them, yet they¡¯re easy for me to understand. She can''t see him, but maybe she can recognize the clank? Can she even hear it at this point, I''m always insecure how bad human hearing is.
Nonetheless, she''s most likely right. So this is Yamauchi Daisuke, [Student], [Warrior], [Grappler], and [Blacksmith] when Momo last had contact with him. His strategy is to draw monsters to him and either kill them with physical superiority or pin them for others to deal the killing blow.
As I expect that he wants to be able to do both strategies, I assume that someone is hiding close to him. There is no sound, so that person is most likely using the [Stealth]-ability and its [Sneak]-skill which mutes all sounds from moving.
¡°Ara-san,¡± Kenta whispers, knowing I can hear it even several looaf away. ¡°Move into position and start the spell. Target 1.¡±
There are three targets that I should aim for with my [Tidal Wave] to cause a rockslide. The first one is to separate the scouts from the group, the second is for the case where the first fails, the third one to cover our retreat.
I move to the point where I can collect the necessary water for [Tidal Wave] without the giant bubble being in plain sight. For this, I descend and I''m now standing just around the corner to my target. I begin my cast, my lips and vocal chords begin to chant a melody, syllables without any lingual roots rather than words.
I hear rock grating on rock from behind and break my chant to evade a [Stonebullet]. There is a hairy human, maybe a mercenary. Interrupting with my spell, how rude! ¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± I shoot a spell back.
¡°[Earthshield]!¡±
An [Earthshield] is a solid barrier, other than the [Watershield], yet it also steals the user''s sight. I change to [Acrobat] to jump the cliffs back up. ¡°Kenta-kun, there is someone on the other side.¡±
¡°I know! It''s Yoshimura, I think.¡±
¡°Yoshimura-kun doesn''t have a beard.¡±
¡°Beards grow!¡± Oh, that''s right. I forgot about this. ¡°Shit! The spell also alarmed the armor-guy. Phew... Retreat route 1.¡± As this was a likely scenario, Kenta-kun decided to have the first retreat route on a plateau, using my [Acrobat]-class and his [Mountain-climber] to get to a point that''s much harder to follow.
I don''t like that route, because that means I have to take Momo piggyback and jump. Nonetheless, I go to my friend with a serious weight problem and offer my small, frail body to her like a mount that would eat its rider if it weren''t for the muzzle.
We really need to come up with more plans that don''t involve me carrying heavy humans. Maybe I should put some effort, for a change, to teach Momo how to make plants return to normal when walking on them and find a way to give her access to reach higher altitude.
¡°Rine, let''s- Ara-san, go!¡± He notices at same time as me that a spirit is approaching us, most likely using his [Wild Eyes] while trying to assess the situation. Kenta-kun puts his bow into his backpack and lifts his spear from the ground.
He says I should go, so I will. I jump from rock to rock, higher and higher, until my feet touch the lush grass on top of the plateau. I start running with Momo on my back while jumping over a crevice.
¡°Arako, stop!¡± The passenger starts urging me while we''re in mid-air.
¡°I can''t.¡± I lack a [Skill] that would allow me to stop mid-jump, so Momo has to deal with it. Now that I have landed, I make another jump though. ¡°We will meet up with the rest at the mountain-top.¡± This is the retreat-point we are supposed to head to if we fail. The [Spouse-Location] is a great advantage in times like these.
¡°But what about-¡±
¡°Kenta-kun and Katarine-san? Don''t you expect them to be able to handle a situation like this better than we would be? Or are you worried about your friends? Isn''t this the reason why we retreat now before anything irreversible happens? We tried to outwit them, we failed, now we retreat, and try again. Stop being so human about it.¡± Humans are much more emotional, that''s the reason for their often illogical actions. Alfar also have emotions, of course, but we won''t let them dictate our actions. Unless it''s for fun, but even then we''re ready to put it second if necessary.
Momo falls silent after my lecture and lets herself be carried away. [Spouse-Location] tells me that there is some movement with Kenta-kun, so he and Katarine-san may have started their retreat as well.
I land on a new plateau as the ground beneath my feet begins to move. I try to jump, but a hand made out of dirt, an [Earth Grasp]-spell, gets my ankle and I fall flat on my face. It hurts, but is manageable. Momo, still in motion, falls from my back, from the sound of her grunting, she''s also in pain.
Then the rock beneath me starts to crumble, I involuntarily hit the ground below. There is another human there. She has a staff, most likely the spellcaster that brought me down. Momo is still on the plateau. ¡°You''re the wrong one,¡± the human says while she has one of those strange human faces.
There is something that I dislike about that person. ¡°You''re copying me.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°You have a ponytail. It''s my hairstyle, so I demand that you change yours.¡±
¡°...¡± This is a face I know, this is the face humans make when they''re unsure how to properly answer a question or demand of an alfr. ¡°What are you talking about? I have had this since forever.¡±
¡°How old are you?¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Your age. Maybe sixteen?¡±
¡°So what?¡±
¡°I''m 144 years old, I''ve had a ponytail since I was three years old, therefore my claim outdates yours. You are the copycat and therefore I demand of you to stop wearing a ponytail.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
I hear Momo approaching the ledge. While the human is still busy trying to figure out what to say, I look upwards and use [Whisper], delivering my message without any chance for meager human ears to overhear it: ¡°Go ahead, Momo. I know what I''m doing and will join you later.¡± After a second, I add: ¡°Stop being human.¡± This causes Momo to turn around and run.
The other human¡ªI guess it''s a girl, she has long hair and utters, though not as impressive as Momo''s or Katarine-san''s¡ªregains her composure: ¡°There were people that had ponytails even before you!¡±
¡°Can you show me a person that old to prove this thesis?¡±
I broke her brain. I can see how her facial expressions change quickly and how she''s unable to form any words or even sounds. She just flaps her lips as she can''t muster any answer to my last words.
Very satisfying.
After a few seconds, the copycat suddenly lifts her staff. ¡°I''ll-¡±
¡°You are even copying my other traits. Staff, robes, being able to cast spells.¡±
¡°I''m not copying you!¡±
¡°I know that being me is quite satisfying, but I''m sure that you have your own merits. So show me your status and I''ll help you determine them.¡±
¡°Uhhh... AH!¡± She begins screaming, totally following my pace. It''s a typical error for people so young not able to understand that she has lost this argument and should just surrender at this point instead of wasting her and my time with being verbally beaten.
It''s the same as in strategy games, only those who lack the experience and skill will fight every game to its very end.
¡°You!¡± The human girl finally can muster an answer. ¡°Where is Kyou-chan!¡±
¡°This is a good question.¡±
¡°Tell me!¡±
¡°I believe that you have the order all wrong.¡±
¡°What!?¡±
¡°To interrogate someone, first you need to have an advantage over the one you ask questions to. At this point, I have neither surrendered nor have I any other reason to listen to you, as the only thing you did was to cause me some pain.¡±
¡°Then I just have to beat you to get my answer?¡±
¡°This would be counter-productive, as if you beat me, I may not be able to answer anything depending on my physical condition. So I have a suggestion.¡±
¡°...what suggestion?¡±
¡°You can show me your status, then you explain it to me, so that we can see the gap between the two of us.¡±
¡°That doesn''t make sense at all!¡±
¡°...do you have rare classes like [Nymphomaniac] that you don''t want to show?¡±
¡°[Nympho-] WHAT!?¡±
¡°I see, so you wanted to enhance your sexual drive, causing you to select such a devious class.¡±
¡°I--- I don''t have a class like that!¡±
¡°I have problems believing you, so you better show me your status.¡±
¡°Why is it going this way again!?¡±
¡°Because you''re acting coyly.¡±
I hear someone else approaching, a person in metal armor. Maybe the same as the one who we were trying to split from the party. ¡°Eri-san, everything¡¯s alright!¡± He steps between the two of us and lifts his heavy axe.
¡°Daichi-kun! She''s horrible!¡±
I try to emulate the same head-cocking as Katarine-san tends to use. ¡°I''m confused and don''t know what she is talking about.¡±
¡°Hey elf!¡± The armored person says. ¡°You better give up and-¡±
¡°I surrender.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°I surrender. You can restrain me, if you like.¡± I put my staff to the ground. ¡°I will do as you say. You have won, I have lost.¡±
The copycat starts widening her eyes while the helmet of the other person turns to her. ¡°What should we do?¡±
¡°May I make a suggestion?¡± I ask them. ¡°Maybe you should bring me to your leader.¡±
So far, my plan is working as intended.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
A few minutes earlier.
¡°Rine, let''s- Ara-san, go!¡± I raise my spear while looking into the direction my [Wild Eyes] picked up a spirit. It''s using the rocks as a hiding space, only covered by a red-rock-colored [Camouflage].
I block a weapon, a shortsword and move to evade a club. Dual-wielding, huh? I attack using the other side of my weapon against the person who becomes visible, yet the enemy is jumping back. Longish black hair, the tips blonde, the rest black, a beard, Asian facial features... is that Hoshibashi?
Now the armor-guy with the axe, clearly muscle-brain, is charging as well, ¡°Rine, take over.¡± I disengage so I can look at retreat route 2. Yoshimura is too close, so we have no choice.
CLANG! With a horrendous sound of metal against metal, I see how Rine is blown back against the wall, yet she lands with her feet on it only to make a wall-run. Hoshibashi looks smug about this while he takes a thing that looks like the combination of an iron club and a sword from his back. His muscles grow as well, [Class-Change]. ¡°[Rock Smash]!¡± The weapon hits the ground and hurls rocks at her, yet Rine dances between them while jumping right at Hoshibashi.
The same smiles, quickly using his weapon to shield himself from the slash Rine starts, yet she suddenly raises her leg: ¡°[Sweep]!¡± Her first and only [Brawl]-skill, which has broken some monster-legs in the swamps.
Her foot crashes into Hoshibashi''s knees and he suddenly flips upside down. His head crashes into the ground. ¡°Rine, route three. Also, slide.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Following my plan, she runs into a rather narrow crevice and begins to move, in ways I will never be able to, by jumping from one wall to another to gain altitude like a game character. I run into the same crevice, it''s basically a death trap if they also have some reinforcement before us to cut off the retreat.
However, if we can create a rock slide here, we just have one way to worry about.
¡°Not so fast!¡± Hoshibashi switches his class back and starts following me with incredible speed. So he outspeeds me, huh? ...isn''t that bad?
At least we''re leaving muscle-brain in the dust. Yet, if Hoshibashi starts fighting me, even that blockhead will catch up. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I just have to hope that Hoshibashi''s class sucks at fighting. Yes, the bladed club seems to be too unwieldy, he messed up! Dammit, you can''t just dodge!
Shit, muscle-grows, this- ¡°[Titan''s Blow]!¡± The good side is that I have my weapon ready to block. Even after my spear is brutally pushed against my torso, some of the force is distributed through the staff.
The bad side is that it''s still enough to lose all the air in my lungs, hurling me several meters through the air until I hit a crevice wall, break off some rock, and then bounce from it against the opposite wall.
IT HURTS! So bad! My whole body screams in pain, dammit!
¡°Kenta!¡± I hear Rine, who should prepare to cause the rock slide, crying out while jumping down to stand by my side. ¡°Are you still alive?¡±
...seriously? ¡°...what would you do if I''d say no?¡± I mean, what''s that question supposed to do?
¡°I''d cry.¡±
¡
¡ ¡
¡°Yes, Rine. I''m still alive.¡±
¡°Yay!¡± She''s just too damn adorable at times!
I lift my head to see Hoshibashi waiting, most likely thinking how he can approach Rine without getting his ass kicked. I point at a small mark I made when we laid our failed ambush. ¡°Rine.¡±
¡°Yes! [Crescent Moon]!¡± Her flying cut hits the mark and a tremble goes through my body as the rock loosens. Rine and I turn around and start running. I look back for a second, Hoshibashi just yells some curses and starts retreating.
I guess we haven''t lost this first encounter. We didn''t win either, but that''s alright.
We follow the crevice until it starts opening a bit, there is a path climbing upwards, this way we can get on top of the labyrinth. This may sound like a good spot, but in a world of magic, this can also be a trap. Nonetheless, we need to regroup and for that I need a better look at the perimeter. We have decided upon a retreat-point, but I want to make sure... wait, the [Spouse-Location] tells me that Kyou-san and Ara-san have started separating...
Your wife Ara''ainn has been captured.
You must rescue your love or the curse will return, devouring any future you could have together. Your curse will slowly reactivate, coming back to full effect after 48 hours.
Shit! Rine is also staring at her own message for a second, before she turns for me, looking for answers.
I''m glad that there are more birds here. ¡°[Share Senses]!¡± I hack one and after a few seconds of adjustments, I notice Kyou-san, running around while looking for a way to the retreat-point despite only finding cliffs too far to overcome. In a game, she would be lost in an overworld with an arrow pointing to the next objective but it points to a dead-end.
At least Kyou-san is still on the run. At this point I should just count things that went well, I guess. ¡°We''ll regroup with Kyou-san first.¡± After looking at Ara-san''s status I know that her HP, SP, and MP are stable, therefore it''s unlikely that she was subjugated by force.
¡°OK.¡± In times like these, Rine''s optimism shines through, yet she''s the key to everything. My body still hurts from Hoshibashi''s attack, and he hasn''t even shown his [Savage]-class yet. I would have definitely noticed the furious eyes and angry growls. So this attack wasn''t even all that serious for him.
...what a headache.
We walk up the path to the plateau and I wave at Kyou-san in the distance before using [Whisper]: ¡°Just stay where you are.¡± There is still dust in the air where we have caused the rock-slide, I look for a way for us to get to Kyou-san while staying away from it. Luckily, the whole crevice situation means that we''ll be hard to spot from below. We just need to keep our distance from large crevices.
Rine and I run, jumping over smaller ones, using our well-trained bodies... well, not like mine was actually trained this way. Being a hero means being a cheater.
The moment we''re close to Kyou-san, she starts blabbering: ¡°Ken, Arako, she-¡±
I lift my hand, interrupting her. ¡°First, we need more distance.¡±
¡°But Ken-!¡±
¡°Kyou-san! Distance! This is totally the danger-zone!¡± I take her hand and start pulling her. ¡°Just shut up and follow me.¡±
¡°Eri-chan has Arako!¡±
Eri... was that the shrimp or ponytail? I think ponytail, because shrimp was Tetsuko or something. ¡°Then Ara-san is buying time for us.¡± That would be the most logical thing and while alfar are often mischievous, in the end, the only reason why they let emotions rule over logic is because of fun.
So unless Ara-san sees a reason why¡ ¡ ¡ Oh god, there are so many reasons for her to let herself be captured. She''s obsessed with heroes, after all, so of course it''s logical to let herself be captured to further her research.
¡°You see!¡± Kyou-san may have read my face wrong, most likely caused by her agitation.
¡°Kyou.¡± It''s Rine who tries to calm her down: ¡°Don''t worry, I''ll get her back.¡±
¡°Rine, you''ll come with us.¡±
¡°But Kenta-¡± ¡°Ken, you-¡±
¡°You both have a misunderstanding.¡± I say to them as they''re clearly letting their emotions get the better of them. ¡°Kyou-san, has she said something to you before you separated?¡±
¡°Erm... she said that she knows what she''s doing and that she will join me later.¡±
¡°You see.¡±
¡°But Arako is-¡±
¡°Kyou-san, if Ara-san says she''s alright, she''s alright.¡±
¡°How can you say that!?¡±
¡°Because I know her. That''s why I trust her.¡± Kyou-san''s eyes widen in shock as I say this. ¡°She does her thing. We''ll get away and come back later.¡± While Ara-san surely has some additional, rather questionable reasons to let herself be captured, she''s still led by logic.
She''s the same as me in many ways, so she sure has the same idea that just crossed my mind. Every other person from our party would be valuable in a way or another for Correo, Inoue, and the rest. Yet they only got Ara-san, so there is no way that they''ll stop and be happy with what they have.
That''s exactly why she acted like she did. She just turned this disaster into a great advantage.
Volume 07 - Chapter 5-3
Masahiko has just regrouped with the rest. During this first try to tackle Katsuragi-kun''s party, he was trying to find another route with Teruko but he was too late, most of them got away.
He listens to what has happened while looking at the elf that Eri and Daichi captured. At her side is a very cautious Hoshibashi-kun who stares daggers at her. On the other hand, the elf calmly stands next to him, looking gracious and wise.
This is the first real elf Masahiko has ever seen. She looks so... different. The elves from the games have more human faces. She rather looks like a doll, her face unmoving and hard to read. Maybe she''s just so old that she''s above emotions at this point? The constantly moving ears adds to the aura of otherworldliness.
¡°To summarize,¡± Yoshimura-kun starts to speak softly, ¡°we have rattled them. While having the elf is better than having nothing, guarding her will take some of our forces...¡±
¡°Maybe we can talk to her,¡± Masahiko suggests. ¡°She''s not resisting in any way and maybe we can find out more about what''s going on.¡±
Yoshimura-kun obviously dislikes the idea, maybe because of his earlier encounter with the elf. Eri is stating her displeasure openly: ¡°I don''t like her.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°She... she called me a copycat!¡±
¡°...why?¡±
¡°Because of my hairstyle.¡±
Masahiko looks at the elf and tries to imagine that this person would be something else than aloof and mysterious. ¡°She doesn''t seem like someone who would call people names. Especially for a reason like that.¡±
¡°Ah,¡± Daichi smacks his hand with his fist: ¡°this sounds like Katsuragi. She''s wearing the same ring as Kyou-san.¡±
Eri furrows her brows. ¡°So you''re saying that she was under his mind-control?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
Masahiko isn''t sure if he likes where this is going, but on the other hand, he believes in Eri and what she says, so this discrepancy between what she says and what he sees could be explained that way. It would also explain why Kyou ran away by herself... unless she doesn''t know that it''s her friends that are here for her.
Correo is sitting on a rock, listening to the conversation while observing the elf. Now he shares his wisdom: ¡°This may be the case, but don''t underestimate elves, Inoue-dono. There are many places that consider elves inherently evil.¡±
¡°They are different from us. They live longer, so their perspective of life is another one. I guess, they treat us like children.¡±
¡°I''ve met some elves before, Inoue-dono. Looking down on us doesn''t even begin to describe what''s wrong with them.¡±
Correo is a native person, after all, someone who was raised with all the prejudices that the world has to offer. For an outsider like Masahiko, it''s easier to be open-minded about the people he meets here. ¡°Since nobody openly disagrees with talking to her, I''ll do it. Don''t worry, I''ll be careful.¡±
With a weird feeling of excitement, he approaches the elf whose ears start twitching as she slowly turns her head towards him. Hoshibashi-kun has her staff and her backpack in hand, she''s basically defenseless, yet her eyes¡ªeyes with a strange double-iris¡ªseem unfazed. ¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Sorry for the circumstances. My name is Inoue Masahiko, and I''m a hero.¡±
¡°I''m Ara''ainn, the hero-sage.¡±
¡°Hero-sage?¡±
¡°I devoted my life to the research of heroes.¡±
¡°Really! That''s awesome.¡±
¡°Your admiration means nothing to me, Inoue-dono.¡± This certainly sounds arrogant, but on the other hand, with a title like hero-sage, he may be little more than an object of study for her.
Let''s break the ice here. ¡°You can call me Masahiko. Or Masa, for short. I''ll call you Ara''ainn.¡±
Her face doesn''t tell him if she likes it or not, the ears are moving strangely, so maybe her emotions are communicated by the ear-movements instead of her facial expressions? ¡°I have started to entertain doubts towards humans at this point, Masahiko-kun.¡±
¡°Why so?¡±
¡°Because of my so-called master, Katsuragi Kenta.¡±
¡°!?¡± A small groan escapes Masahiko''s throat as he hears these words, as the implication sounds almost like proof of all those thoughts about mind-controlling rings.
¡°I suspect,¡± Ara''ainn continues, ¡°that you already know about the rings? When Katsuragi Kenta visited me, claiming to seek knowledge about the hero-system, I treated him like a guest. The first few days he may have acted impolite at times, but I dismissed this as usual human behavior. The way his female companions behaved should have told me that something was amiss. Then he slipped this ring on my finger while I was asleep and yes, he sought my knowledge, in addition to my body.¡±
Her body!? Does this mean, Kyou has also... Masahiko feels anger rising in himself, he feels betrayed. Teruko starts screaming her anger out, most likely listening to the conversation with her sharp senses. Katsuo, who also has [Perception], has this fierce expression on his face. Hoshibashi, who is standing right next to the elf, is staring down at her, though it doesn''t impress the elf in any way.
¡°Don''t worry. We''ll capture Katsuragi-kun and then he owes us some answers. We will take upon your grudge. Can you remove the ring?¡±
¡°No, it''s impossible.¡±
The same as with Kyou. Distance to Katsuragi seems to be a factor in how much control can be put on a person. Everything considered, the whole mind-control story seems to be true. Masahiko allows himself to have that little doubt, but at this point, it may be just his wishful thinking.
¡°Do you know where Katsuragi-kun is?¡±
¡°I can point into the exact direction.¡± Kyou was also able to give them hints as to where Katsuragi-kun was. ¡°Do we pursue him now?¡±
¡°I wish I could, but we need everything you know that might help us. Also, if you get too close to Katsuragi-kun, you might fall under his control again, so we need to decide how to handle it.¡± It would be great to have her along. Teruko may be able to exactly outline how the rocky environment looks like with her [Rockmap]-skill and guess good points to plan ambushes, but she can''t find people or monsters with this. While Correo''s relic can do that, it just shows the general direction and you can roughly estimate the distance, so with both together, they could narrow it down to two spots.
That''s why they have split into two teams with the last assault, sending Masahiko, Correo, Katsuo, and Teruko to the less likely position, so that they can catch up to the rest with Teruko''s help if needed. It was sad to split the party, but they wanted to strike both places simultaneously to deny them any more advantage, especially seeing how the terrain favored small groups.
Now they need to come up with another plan, yet other than before, they have a source of information right in front of them and can work on improving their performance and choices. ¡°I know, it may be hard for you, but would you mind telling us about Katsuragi-kun?¡±
¡°I suppose that all of you will try to capture Katsuragi Kenta?¡±
¡°To be honest, we are actually just trying to find our friend, Momokawa Kyou. Though there are some here who want to bring the princess back to her home.¡±
¡°I see. So you want my knowledge as an insider, as a slave, to attain as much intelligence as possible?¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
¡°Yes. I''m sorry.¡±
¡°No need. I can tell you what you need to know.¡± Masahiko brings everyone together so that they can listen to Ara''ainn''s tale.
What a tale it is. She spoke about how she was captured and about her first orders. At the beginning of this, Masahiko harbored the urge to vomit, especially because of how descriptive Katsuragi-kun''s... well, sexual demands are portrayed. What sexual fetishes that boy Masahiko''s age had, including anal intercourse, scat, SM, and things that can be done with ears that Masahiko never dreamed to be possible.
Due to this first, horrendous part, it was no surprise how calm all of them are as Ara''ainn explains how he makes the girls with him act like slaves, abusing them verbally, calling them names, and such. Even forcing them to disclose their innermost secrets and sexual desi- they''re at sex again!
¡°Miss Ara''ainn,¡± Correo is the one who interrupts this lecture-like talk, ¡°We already know about this. We would like to know about the combat potential and goals.¡±
Being totally overwhelmed with Ara''ainn''s talk about the vileness of Katsuragi-kun and his perverted desires, Masahiko has somehow forgotten about these most important aspects at this point.
¡°Katsuragi Kenta is looking for other females to join his harem. The more powerful, the better. So while he never mentioned it, I''m positive that his next destination is Zethtrin.¡± This is a place Masahiko never heard about.
¡°This is rather far away...¡± Correo-san thinks aloud. ¡°For your information, Zethtrin is the capital of an alliance of city-states. There are several powerful factions running that city, as well as many guests, as the government stages the Games once every decade. Many countries of the continent are sending people for diplomatic missions there. It''s like a gathering of the powerful in a rather neutral setting.¡± He leaves these words, giving the teenagers time to understand what this means...
These games will be a stepping stone to infiltrate any nation he sees fit.
Correo also doesn''t like it, it''s apparent in his face. ¡°What can we expect from him?¡±
¡°Using me, Katsuragi Kenta has also infiltrated my village and learned the [Ranger]-class-up. This allows him to speak with animals and plants. He made Momokawa Kyou learn the way of the [Herbalist] to increase his ways of subjecting people, powerful drugs, hallucinogens, poisons, stimulants, and aphrodisiacs.¡± This earns another collective groan from Masahiko and his friends. ¡°Princess Katarine von Stolzherz, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t learn anything, so Katsuragi Kenta used his spare time to thoroughly discipline her. Not only to diminish her last sparks of resistance, but also sexually.¡±
¡°Katsuragi-kun... just what have you done?¡± It''s clear as day that Ara''ainn is holding a grudge against him, and Masahiko can''t help but feel sorry for her, and angry about this whole mess. It shows that power leads to corruption when it''s not reigned in.
Time to straighten him out, that''s the least Masahiko could do for his classmate.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Finally, Katsuragi Kenta is capable of causing despair into others. The only way to counter it is by laughing. So when fighting him, you should laugh as hard as you can.¡± This is also technically a truth, as when talking to Kenta-kun, he can usually point out all the bad things in any given situation and being cheerful despite of it makes him feel uncomfortable. This is usually Katarine-san''s part.
These humans are strange, and if it weren''t for the equipment, I would have problems discerning two of them because Masahiko-kun and that Katsuo-person just look too alike. The other males are easier to differentiate, mostly by their hairstyles.
¡°Thank you, Ara''ainn.¡± Masahiko-kun looks at some of his people, the ones that are in his actual party. ¡°We need a moment to digest everything and discuss what to do. So would you wait?¡±
¡°Don''t worry, Inoue-dono,¡± the man with the hat says, ¡°I''ll keep an eye on her.¡±
¡°Thanks Correo-san.¡±
The humans other than the hat-wearer are distancing themselves, around two kuooaf. Then the small girl starts in outrage, claiming to kill Kenta-kun. Maybe she''s jealous? The only question is whether her sexual interest lies with males or females.
Suddenly, their conversation is muted. I look at the most likely source, the man with the hat. ¡°You must be the famous Correo.¡± Kenta-kun said that he''s the one behind the attack of Aroahenn and the theft of some of our relics and other magic items. They may be worth next to nothing, as it only made sense to give the heroes who were active at the time the useful things, but it''s a theft nonetheless. It wasn''t even a prank-theft.
¡°I''m surprised that you didn''t start trotting out the truth.¡±
¡°With you present, I was sure that you had counter-measures in place.¡±
¡°So you decided to feed them false intel?¡±
¡°Only to motivate them more. Also, I didn''t tell any lies about what Kenta-kun and the others are capable of.¡±
¡°It seems that way.¡±
¡°It''s good that you agree.¡±
A smile appears on his face, while his voice is ice-cold. In this regard, he reminds me of Momo. ¡°I know your people. I also know that you are trying to manipulate these poor children, who are desperate to find their friend.¡±
¡°That''s why I motivated them, giving them more and more reasons to confront Kenta-kun. What is your reason to help them?¡±
¡°You would like to know, right?¡±
¡°That''s why I''m asking, obviously. I mean, it''s hard to believe that I just met a person who thinks that asking questions without any intention of having them answered is so unlikely that they need to make sure. So yes, Correo, so that you also understand: When I inquire information, I want to know it.¡±
Correo tips his hat once, still a smile on his face: ¡°So we''re both in a position where we want to know what the other is planning and how it conflicts with our plans.¡±
¡°Ah, poor Correo. He sees himself as the equal of a mere sex toy for a pubescent human, which is also a prisoner of war...¡±
The man laughs at it, it''s a jolly laughter. ¡°Good one.¡±
¡°So as thanks you will tell me about your plan?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
...this is suspicious. Especially as he had put some resistance before. I mean, for an alfr it would be natural to do so, but Correo is a human, so I would have expected him to make sexual demands of me.
The man with the hat looks to the juveniles. ¡°I''m nothing more than a mere courier, driven by greed. The true mastermind is someone else.¡±
¡°Who?¡±
¡°As you know, her goal is to capture Princess Katarine. This is because she''s a unique case.¡±
¡°In what way unique?¡±
¡°Using her, my master will have enough resources to start her conquest.¡±
¡°Conquest of what?¡±
¡°So as a courier, it''s my task to deliver her Princess Katarine, and you have foiled me before. Yet as someone who is barely able to defend myself, I need others to work for me.¡±
¡°The oni, the mercenaries, demons, and the monsters?¡±
¡°That''s why I went to Feuerberg to learn about the heroes beside Princess Katarine, and met Inoue-dono and the rest.¡±
¡°So you have convinced them to help you?¡±
¡°By the way, the two others, Star and Lent, are borrowed from my master.¡±
¡°Did you realize that you have answered none of my questions?¡± This is infuriating and while I''m happy about every exposition that isn''t an arduous task, it''s hard to be neither the one who explains, nor the one who has her questions answered.
Which means that Correo is inherently evil!
So I need to start making assumptions if I take the bits Correo told me about as the truth. I start with the assumption that he has several ways to deal with any interference I may come up with, as I predicted. Otherwise he wouldn''t have told me about his plan.
I''m also curious about the [Skill] or [Spell] he used to blend out our conversation with that of the heroes. ¡°Why are you not partaking with their planning?¡± Maybe he''ll answer this question at least.
¡°Several reasons. My former plan didn''t work, I had little chance to make proper preparations, but mostly, because Inoue-dono and Lent are both strong personalities and when both met, I knew that I needed to take a step back and see how it works out and only interfere when necessary. I¡¯m starting to believe that it''s up to the two of us who will win this conflict. Up to our ability to manipulate these heroes.¡±
For Correo, this is a game of the mind, while I believe that I''m just warming the bench.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Lent Wood, formerly known as Yoshimura Rentaro, clenches his teeth. There is a lot going on in his mind, everything is as grating as the next.
First the elf. It''s the same one that fought them in the elven village. He expected her to claim that he''s the enemy, telling about how he seemingly sided with demons. Yet she told them in too many details about how horrendous and vile Katsuragi Kenta is.
He doesn''t know whether this is the truth or not. So he can''t be sure whether she is trying to trick them or if she just decided that Lent and Star are the lesser evil to align with. This deep-running doubt makes it nigh impossible to make sound decisions about how to deal with her, other than killing her, which would offend Inoue and his companions. How can he come up with a strategy with so many uncertainties?
Knowing more is better than knowing less, but knowing false is worse than knowing nothing. What is her plan? Did she let herself be captured on purpose?
Nonetheless, Inoue and his party are motivated. Their leader makes his suggestion: ¡°Let''s use Ara''ainn and let her lead us to Katsuragi-kun. Then we can talk it out or do whatever is necessary.¡±
What a weak way to deal with this. ¡°Masa,¡± Akiyama says, brandishing her ponytail: ¡°I don''t trust her one bit. She may lead us into a trap.¡±
¡°But what are we supposed to do? Twiddle our thumbs?¡±
¡°Yes, Eri!¡± Kurosawa agrees, the shorty and the hulking Yamauchi were always in a rush, so this pattern repeats. Even the silent Kitamura seems to take their side.
¡°Yoshimura-kun,¡± Akiyama says to Lent: ¡°Tell them how stupid it is.¡±
Lent, who was busy thinking and listening, clears his throat: ¡°It''s not stupid, but complicated. Yes, she may lead us into a trap. However, when the elf knows where Katsuragi is, he might know where she is as well, so they may ambush us any time. We have the superior numbers, but it won''t do us much good if we''re sitting ducks. Rushing to them may also cause an ambush. So my suggestion is: Give up our advantage in numbers and split up. One group will find Katsuragi''s group, the other will stay here and guard the elf. If he comes for the elf, we have a strong group ready. If he prepares for us coming, we have a fitting answer by choosing the right members.¡±
¡°That is risky,¡± Akiyama says. ¡°Is it worth it?¡±
¡°At this point, I can only make assumptions. I think Katsuragi''s group is in a similar dilemma as we are, so if we can rattle them quickly enough, we might be able to break them apart before they can form a sound strategy.¡±
Volume 07 - Chapter 5-4
Being the decision-maker sucks. Yet I¡¯m the leader of this party. Kyou-san stares at me with all her unwillingness and it seriously annoys me to a degree where I can¡¯t think straight. Rine is between tears and righteous anger, which makes it difficult to calm myself.
¡°We have one advantage: I know where Ara-san is. That¡¯s about it. It seems that they¡¯re better in this terrain as we are, they found our ambush and could counter it, yet they also couldn¡¯t foresee our rock-slide-traps, otherwise things would have gone very differently.¡± Yet, I should have known about that. They had this rock-masking skill and heroes learn a ton of skills related to their situation, so just because my own skills are often rather randomly picked, it doesn¡¯t mean that it¡¯s the same for them.
¡°So what do we do, Ken?¡±
¡°Ara-san said she¡¯ll join us later, so let¡¯s assume that she¡¯s in control, possibly sabotaging them as we speak. So we don¡¯t need to mount a rushed rescue attempt.¡± At these words Rine begins to tremble. She wants to do that rescue attempt, I guess. ¡°This isn¡¯t a battle against monsters or even mercenaries, this is a battle against heroes. This was a first taste at how diverse heroes can be and it exceeded any assumptions.¡± This wide array of possible skills and spells is really a headache. ¡°Then we have Hoshibashi and Yoshimura. I¡¯m honest, I won¡¯t stand a chance against Hoshibashi on my own, the gap between us has widened. Last time, I could fend him off with Ara-san because we were fighting underneath that magic tree, which boosted Ara-san¡¯s spells. Plus, they were wounded and it became a battle of attrition. Rine, how do you think you¡¯d fare against him?¡±
¡°Hn¡ ¡ ¡ I should win? He has a lot of power, I give him that, but his technique is very predictable. You can do it as well, Kenta. You¡¯re good at discerning movements.¡±
¡°For a minute or two, sure. But Hoshibashi has [Regeneration]. I really doubt that I can make enough damage as a [Ranger] to counteract it, and as [Pikeman] I can¡¯t discern his movements at all.¡± For this, I¡¯d need the [Focus]-skill, which is tied to [Perception], which is an [Ability] I only have with [Ranger].
¡°Is his [Regeneration] worse than the oni?¡±
¡°No, but the oni is a one-trick-pony and you just reminded me that we haven¡¯t seen her yet either. Phew¡ and I only know that Yoshimura will be a headache as well¡¡± I rub my temples as I can feel a heavy pain coming over me. It would be so much easier if we could just whittle down their numbers by killing Fake and his posse, but Kyou-san will never agree to it and I also have qualms about unnecessary killing. Tiny qualms if it¡¯s those assholes, but hey, crippling is still an option.
¡°So¡¡±, Kyou-san asks with a skeptical look: ¡°what¡¯s your plan?¡±
¡°Divide and conquer. Establishing win-conditions.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°They have the advantage, so they want to take the offensive. Yet they have Ara-san and her status is stable, therefore she¡¯s taken prisoner. Dealing with her will bind their hands. Of course, they can use her as a lure, but we¡¯re in the wilds and anything can happen. Any of us can run into monsters, so there are plenty of opportunities for surprise attacks. Yet Correo¡¯s oni used monsters before and we haven¡¯t seen her today as well, so a lot of wild cards out there. Seriously, it¡¯s a headache to think about everything.¡±
¡°So you don¡¯t have a plan?¡±
¡°Like I said,¡± I repeat myself, showing my annoyance: ¡°divide and conquer. You won¡¯t like any of it, but if things go well, you might have a chance to talk to the jerks you call friends, while we can take out Hoshibashi or Yoshimura. These are our win-conditions.¡± Like Kyou-san said, it¡¯s not a real plan, more like a tactical intention, but she doesn¡¯t need to know that. It¡¯s full of holes I¡¯ll have to patch up as things go on, but we don¡¯t have a choice. With our ambush attempt, I unknowingly put us in a disadvantage because I narrowed my mind too much.
¡°Kenta?¡± Rine asks in a soft voice: ¡°Are you troubled?¡±
¡°Of course I am! I know what to do, I have ideas of how, but seriously!? Everything is a mess and I¡¯m not satisfied with any of them.¡±
Rine takes my hand in hers and suddenly, I see another girl, the more self-confident and serious girl I met months ago on Mauerfelsen, the princess I tried to capture: ¡°Kenta, do you remember when we fought the fourbirds? When we needed to climb up that cliff?¡±
¡°Yes, it was the worst!¡± I piggybacked the non-hero Rine so that she wouldn¡¯t be totally exhausted while climbing the cliff, as at least I could use SP-potions to replenish my stamina quickly. My body hurt! ¡still better than what happened afterward.
¡°Kenta,¡± Rine continues: ¡°you¡¯re sounding just like before you came up with the idea how to conquer that cliff.¡±
¡yes, that was also a headache. I mean, it was a natural fortress with no path upwards, only free-climbing. I was stressed because Kyou-san was taken away by the fourbirds and- shit, this is essentially the same situation.
I also remember Rine¡¯s words back then that snapped me out of my hysteria: ¡°Rely on our own strengths, right?¡±
¡°Yes!¡± The blazing smile of Rine calms my heart down, the warmth of her hands transmits into my inner depths.
The heavy headache plaguing me begins to feel lighter and I notice how my shoulders relax. I didn¡¯t even notice that they had stiffened. ¡°Give me a minute.¡± I sit down and mind my breathing. I really haven¡¯t learned much since the fourbird-incident. Always making the same mistakes, making the wrong decisions despite beating myself up for them over and over again.
I can get stuff done. This is a truth I found in the Spirit Swamps. Yet I also know that I can¡¯t compare in terms of combat-capabilities with Rine. It¡¯s just the truth and I have accepted it. For the most part at least.
This short break isn¡¯t a total reset, but at least I feel like I have space in my head left again. ¡°First, we need to retreat a bit. They¡¯re good with rocks, we¡¯re good with plants. We don¡¯t have a forest, just some scrubs, but they have to be enough. Kyou-san, you write a letter to Ara-san. She needs to send part of them our way. Even when we¡¯re at our best, all of them will be too much.¡± Maybe she¡¯s already on it, I don¡¯t know. I also don¡¯t expect her to be able to check her backpack, it¡¯s most likely taken by her captors, still, I¡¯m clinging to this hope. ¡°Our end-goal is to split them further and further apart, so that Rine can take down Hoshibashi.¡± I really wish that we had more preparation time, but with the curse at the door, even under the best circumstances, we have around a day left. If I consider our enemies, though, I give us a few hours at best. ¡°¡shit.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°I forgot¡ Correo has most likely a relic that can track heroes¡ they may have access to it.¡± It just slipped my mind with what¡¯s going on. Depending on how it works, it can screw with every strategy. If it¡¯s as reliable as [Spouse Location], we have good chances. If it¡¯s precise, then any plan that involves us splitting up will fail¡ ¡°We have another win-condition: Take away Correo¡¯s relic.¡±
It¡¯s strange. Other than the Bloody-Nosed Mercenary Company, I know exactly what we¡¯re facing, but somehow I feel more uncertain about everything than back then¡
I look at my spear for a second and close my eyes. This will become messy.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Akiyama-kun, the girl with the pirated ponytail, stares at me from afar while talking to Kurosawa-kun, the vertically challenged girl. They¡¯re currently discussing what to do with my staff and backpack. ¡°Maybe we could put her stuff in one of our backpacks?¡± Using the [Inventory] is usually a good idea, as this pocket-dimension is the perfect storage-room, only accessible by the hero who owns that particular backpack.
However, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t suggest that.¡±
Their heads are turning to me, Akiyama-kun then asks as both of them come closer: ¡°Did you overheard us?¡±
¡°Akiyama-kun, my apologies. While I know that your human¡¯s lacking hearing causes you to consider this volume as ¡®private talk¡¯, I wanted to warn you, before you try something you might not have the time to regret.¡±
¡°What!?¡±
¡°First, the wood in the staff is still alive, so it can¡¯t be stored in the [Inventory]. This would just be a waste of time, something that¡¯s not concerning me. Yet a hero¡¯s backpack in another causes¡ consequences.¡±
¡°What kind of consequences?¡±
¡°You¡¯re moving a pocket-dimension into another one, which causes the host-dimension to carry the load of both, causing a forceful collapse that will lead to a sudden expansion of the holder of said host-dimension and will become a sight I want to avoid.¡±
¡°What?!¡±
¡°I will dumb it down for you, so that you can understand it.¡± She¡¯s trembling, so she¡¯s either angry that I called her stupid or she¡¯s so excited to listen to me that she can barely hold it in. As I can¡¯t read her face, I can only guess, but both work for me. ¡°A hero¡¯s backpack is a pocket-dimension, right? Ever wondered why only the respective hero can open it? It¡¯s because the backpack is a part of that hero and the pocket-dimension is actually inside the hero, contained by the hero¡¯s enhanced and divinely changed body.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°So we¡¯re storing our items in ourselves!?¡±
¡°I just said that. Yet the backpack serves as the connection, the distance between it and the pocket-dimension is zero, yet it will only open by the action of the hero, in this case by reaching into the backpack. Now we have the scenario that a backpack with zero distance but no access is stored inside another pocket-dimension.¡±
¡°But isn¡¯t the backpack just the access?¡±
¡°Like I said, the distance is zero. If you carefully listen to me, I won¡¯t need to explain basic functions¡ let¡¯s dumb it down even more¡ It¡¯s like a math equation. Hero¡¯s body = pocket-dimension = backpack. It¡¯s a perfect stand-in in all spatial matters. So like I said, we have a pocket-dimension in another. Both have the same size, yet one is ruptured from the inside, the one that thoughtlessly let another one into it. It bursts like a freezing jar full of water. Inside the hero.¡±
Both human girls gasp at the mental picture of bursting asunder, organs and blood flying around, and a very pitiful death,
Of course, this is just a theory I had at some point that proved incorrect. Whenever a hero¡¯s backpack enters another, both [Inventories] are just inaccessible. Yet I want them to leave the backpack close to me, as otherwise they might believe it¡¯s a better option to take it with the force that will hunt after Momo and the rest.
There is still another matter though: ¡°May I have my backpack back for a moment? I¡¯d like to get my portfolio.¡±
¡°You think we¡¯ll let you?¡± Akiyama-san asks in disbelief.
¡°At this point, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve been led to think that you don¡¯t like me.¡±
¡°Why should I?¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t it normal to unconditionally accept people from entirely different cultures into your own?¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°I see. I just thought so, looking at Masahiko-kun¡¯s behavior.¡±
¡°Masa is special!¡±
¡°Eri-chan,¡± Kurosawa-san finally speaks out. ¡°Maybe we should just continue. This one is creeping me out.¡±
¡°Can I take it as an act of racism or rather speciesism?¡±
¡°Your face moves almost never. It¡¯s like speaking to a doll. You also are talking about things like rape and exploding people like it¡¯s nothing.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not letting my emotions guide me. My people are led by logic.¡± And fun. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s you humans who are too emotional?¡±
¡°Come, Eri-chan. We need to prepare. Elf, if you¡¯d like to talk, then talk to Yoshimura-kun, Hoshibashi-kun, or Correo-san.¡±
These are the ones that will be left behind with me, in case that Kenta-kun circumvents the rest. Correo will point Masahiko-kun¡¯s party into the right direction with the relic, a pendulum I had to touch so that it will exclude me in finding the closest hero. This is important information I¡¯d like to tell Kenta-kun, but it seems that our backpack-to-backpack communication is currently unavailable.
So the people trying to capture Kenta-kun will be:
Masahiko-kun as the squad-leader. After a heated discussion Yoshimura has accepted to let him go and stay behind himself. To use the bigger group was the sensible choice, especially seeing how good their teamwork is.
Then there is Kurosawa Tetsuko-san, their scout and stealth-specialist.
Akiyama Eri-san as the healer and magical support.
Yamauchi Daichi-kun as the front, capable of offense and defense.
Kita Katsuo-kun, their archer and ranged support.
¡°Ara¡¯ainn?¡± Masahiko-kun comes to me after gearing up: ¡°We will capture Katsuragi-kun and then he will explain himself. Don¡¯t worry, we got this. We have prepared for this day.¡±
¡°You will never be prepared for what is to come, Masahiko-kun.¡± Especially after listening to my advice.
¡°Wish us luck.¡± Masahiko-kun leaves together with his party, leaving me alone with Yoshimura, Hoshibashi, and Correo. All of them people I guess might want to kill me.
¡°I guess that you might want to kill me.¡± I say to them after the other humans have left my sight.
Yoshimura exchanges a look with Correo who smilingly shrugs his shoulders, then the hero changes his class, his muscles recedes, then answers: ¡°Not if we can help it.¡±
¡°So my choices are either to die or to become your plaything? Poor me.¡± Whenever humans are involved, it will ultimately lead to this. I was expecting that Kenta-kun would be my first, forcing himself upon me due to his physical supremacy, while the only thing I would say is that I like it, out of fear that answering otherwise would just make it worse and being the human he is, he¡¯ll actually believe it.
Yoshimura begins to inhale and exhale loudly, most likely reigning back his sexual desire. ¡°Let me re-introduce myself. My name is Lent Wood.¡±
¡°This name is stupid.¡±
¡°Wha-¡±
¡°I mean, I can see that what¡¯s left of you doesn¡¯t really identify itself with Yoshimura Rentaro, but from all the names you could have chosen, it¡¯s Lent? This was the perfect opportunity to have your name reflect your role or personality, like Smirky Jerkass, or Lousy Pimp.¡±
¡°Bwh¡hahahaha!¡± Hoshibashi bursts out in laughter while Wood tries to find his voice back after my flawless argument. ¡°Seriously, Lent. Just relax.¡± This was the strongest reaction I have seen of him since meeting him again.
Correo has lowered his head, but I can hear him snickering, so I have two people with a sense of humor here, which is a vast improvement of what I¡¯m used to with humans.
Wood begins to calm down a bit: ¡°Ara¡¯ainn, we¡¯re not here to harm you in any way.¡± Exactly what a rapist would say, he will now assure me that I will enjoy it. ¡°We want to ask you to join us.¡± ¡that¡¯s indirect.
¡°I do not wish to sexually join any of you, but if the three of you force yourselves upon me, I also won¡¯t stand a chance, therefore-¡±
¡°It has nothing to do with sex! At all! I mean, join our cause!¡±
¡°Your cause of raping people?¡±
¡°{Just shut up and listen!}¡±
There is something pushing against my [Mind Shield] which repels that mental attack. ¡°No.¡±
¡°Wha-¡±
¡°Lent,¡± Correo says in a serious tone: ¡°Remember what I told you: Two kinds of people.¡± Two kinds of people of what?
¡°You¡¯re right. Her antics just made me impatient. Ara¡¯ainn, my partner Star, Corre-¡±
¡°Star? This is his new name?!¡±
Losing any sense of humor he has, Star comes closer to me, puts his hand on my head and lifts my whole body from the ground, my legs dangling in the air. ¡°Silent.¡± I feel a bit of force as he wants to show me that he can crack my head, but at this point I¡¯m ready to start listening. I have triggered all of them at this point, which fulfills me with enough satisfaction for now to concentrate on the important matters.
¡°Like I said,¡± Wood picks up the conversation: ¡°My partner, Correo, and I are servants of a great deity which will rise to supremacy. When I swore fealty to her, my new divine quest is to convince twenty heroes to join her cause.¡±
¡°I have never heard of a quest like that. Seeing other quests, I suppose that anything is possible.¡± The quests are diverse, my own is to steal forbidden scripts from a god, Kenta-kun and Momo are to kill the demon king, the ss¡¯rak hero from the Spirit Swamps had to find relics. Yet if I cross-reference the legends and tales of heroes, the picture would be that the gods are fighting among themselves and use heroes to further their agenda. The real question would be why otherworlders like myself are used instead of transforming native people like Katarine-san. Her hero-transformation via the Lion¡¯s Wedding Ring is irregular, but shows a possibility that would make more sense. Especially considering that heroes return home if their quest is fulfilled.
¡°Ara¡¯ainn, join us in serving Kami-sama.¡±
¡°Who is this Lady? Correo already talked to me about her.¡± He definitely didn¡¯t, but I was able to overhear some bits. ¡°What are her goals? What benefits are in for me, is there a dental plan?¡±
¡°Her name is only for the worthy. Serving her is reward enough, but if you want to have something more tangible¡¡± He shows his hands, on both ring fingers are rings. ¡°With Correo, we have an abundance of relics, like these power rings, who makes us even more powerful than usual. She can summon an army at any time and transport people instantly, she has connections everywhere. However, the moment you meet her, you will see that just being herself she¡¯s worthy of being served.¡±
¡°And what if I refuse?¡±
¡°Star has a quest on his own. To kill a hundred heroes.¡±
¡°So I would be added to the count?¡±
¡°You understand well.¡±
¡°I refuse to make any decision until I¡¯ve had a talk with Kenta-kun.¡±
¡°Fine. You¡¯re coming with us then.¡±
¡°Where to? Aren¡¯t we supposed to wait here?¡±
¡°We¡¯re going to see how everything turns out. If we find a possibility to have a talk with your party first, we¡¯ll have it. Otherwise, we¡¯re going to see how Inoue and his friends fare. After all, they¡¯re the perfect way to weaken your party before we step into the fray ourselves.¡±
¡°So in the end, you don¡¯t believe that Masahiko-kun will win?¡±
¡°I have underestimated him, so I¡¯m not sure. But his goal is to capture Katsuragi and ¡®rescue¡¯ the princess and Momokawa Kyou, so even if they win, it won¡¯t interfere with our plans. It would be even easier, as we know by now what they¡¯re capable of and they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance, even if they were at their top-form.¡±
Sending Masahiko-kun¡¯s party as bait, convincing them that their usual size and make-up is the best chance, boosting their self-confidence with pretended trust. It makes no difference whether they fail or succeed, as then they will snoop in and take the price regardless of the outcome. An elaborate scheme and even though I haven¡¯t seen any of them fighting, they were able to come out of an encounter with Katarine-san unscratched.
¡°Can I get close enough to see them fighting? I¡¯m the hero-sage after all, so I want to witness it and add it to my data.¡±
¡°Not unless you swear your fealty to the Lady.¡±
¡°Bummer.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
An old man walks on the safe route through the Red Rock Canyon, the one most traders will use despite its length, as there is little chance that any monster will come. The old man scratches his beard for the thousandth time, his thoughts still with the youngsters. Three in particular.
Kenta, the Red Ranger. A dangerous fellow, but still green. Someone who knows that he kills and still mourns it. He goes his way, not caring about the people around him. Yet it¡¯s not out of arrogance, but because he values his opinion and lets others have theirs.
On the other hand, Masahiko-boy, someone who radiates so much it hurts to look at him. A kind of person the old man never met before. He genuinely worries about the Kyou-girl, that¡¯s why the old man told him what he knew.
Finally, that bearded youngster who talked with Masahiko, most likely an ally of his. All of the old man¡¯s instincts told him that this one is especially dangerous. A ruthless fellow without a shred of mercy. The kind of man the old man started to hate the most.
Sighing, the old man reminds himself that he should pay more attention to the road. There is a caravan in front of him. He used to raid them a lot in his younger days, so whenever he sees one he starts asking himself what valuables they may have.
There are only two dozen guards, if they ever ran into barbarians, they would be easy prey. Some of the tribes will be here at this time of the year, like Brimm¡¯s or Ulf¡¯s people¡ The old man wonders if the two of them are still alive. It has been so long.
Mistakes. Age. Violence. Grief. Despair. Darkness. The old man had his share of it, yet it will continue for the rest of his life.
Again, his thoughts returned to the teens. Kenta, Masahiko, that beard-boy. The old man wanted to help Masahiko, but his instinct tells him that he might have invited trouble for Kenta instead. Yet, this is none of the old man¡¯s business. He needs to go to Zethtrin, one final journey to find a glimmer of hope.
Masahiko and Kenta need to manage it by themselves. The old man has his own share of trouble.
Suddenly, his mouth starts to sour. ¡°What am I doing!?¡± The old man exclaims, roughing up his gray hair. ¡°I¡¯m still the same!?¡± He did a lot of bad things in his life, but yesterday he made another mistake by mentioning where those kids went, and he¡¯s still not trying to mend this still evitable situation? ¡°I¡¯m as stupid as most people my age!¡±
Turning on his heels, the old man begins to increase his pace to avert another misfortune he caused in his too long life of regrets.
Volume 07 - Chapter 6-1 – Report to the Person we Miss
Chapter 6 ¨C Report to the Person we Miss
¡°Kenta, is it something I said?¡± Of course, Rine interprets my facepalming as my usual dismay at whatever she just said, but in this case it¡¯s just the dismay of nothing working in our favor.
Both of us are currently hiding and waiting for pursuers, so it¡¯s not about what she said, but what I see. ¡°No,¡± I answer her while slowly pressing myself against the rocks. ¡°I have found some of them. It¡¯s Fake¡¯s party.¡±
¡°Fake?¡±
¡°Inoue Masahiko. He¡¯s a manipulative asshole who acts like a nice guy and lets his so-called friends beat everyone up who speaks up to or against him.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°When I was in school with him, I told him to piss off, then at lunch break a bunch of people started to surround me and threatened me to change my behavior.¡±
Rine cocks her head: ¡°Isn¡¯t it impolite to tell someone to piss off?¡±
¡°Shut up.¡±
¡°That¡¯s also impolite.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t care. Seriously, is it polite to approach someone in his free time, who is exhausted from the boring lessons, and running off their mouth without even considering the other person?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think so?¡±
¡°You see?¡± This is just the abridged version as Rine can¡¯t follow any conversation that includes modern words or mindset.
Good thing that Kyou-san isn¡¯t here, as my plan involves her being on stand-by in a safe spot. Meanwhile, I spy at pursuers from afar, using some rocks and [Camouflage] as cover. It was easy to find the choke-point they will pass through, given that they will either follow our tracks or use the relic to find us, and this is the most direct route.
¡°So is it Inoue Masahiko-dono¡¯s party? All five of Kyou¡¯s friends? Isn¡¯t it good?¡±
¡°No, it¡¯s bad, because I have no idea where Hoshibashi and Yoshimura are.¡± In the worst case, they could be approaching us at another angle or go around us and capture Kyou-san¡ Yet it¡¯s also a chance to beat the shit out of Fake and his goons.
I know. I told Kyou-san that she may have a chance to talk to them, but I never specified how and under what circumstances. Mainly, because while I know our win-conditions, I don¡¯t know how to achieve them at this point. I have to improvise most and told her that.
Now let¡¯s say my improvising would cause me to beat all of them up, capturing them, and then talking to them. This would let Kyou-san talk to them as an added bonus. Also, it would relieve us from a pain in the neck.
Too bad that I can¡¯t listen into their conversation, as they¡¯re too far away.
¡°Why don¡¯t you talk to them?¡±
I look at Rine blandly while trying to find an explanation that would satisfy her. ¡°Because they¡¯re bad people.¡± So I try to simplify it.
¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me that it¡¯s not as easy as that?¡±
¡stop twisting my words! ¡°I didn¡¯t say that exactly¡ look, I won¡¯t argue with you whether they deserve us talking to them or not, but I wouldn¡¯t right now. They may just be a decoy and if we start a conversation, we might play into their hands.¡±
¡°Maybe one of us could talk and the other one returns to Kyou?¡±
¡°What if there is someone hiding who can follow that person? Let me consider our options¡¡± We have opponents with questionable morale and the desire to beat me up, especially considering our last encounter. I don¡¯t think that they¡¯ll pass me shooting Fake as the accident it was. We also have at least two person that we don¡¯t see¡
Yet it¡¯s also not the direction Ara-san is in, [Spouse-Location] tells me that. She hasn¡¯t sent us a message, so she¡¯s either still captured or had to flee without her backpack¡ If I interpret her movements via [Spouse-Location] correctly, she¡¯s still captured. The feeling of direction to her changes too little to think otherwise.
Maybe that¡¯s where Yoshimura and Hoshibashi are? It doesn¡¯t seem that they¡¯re approaching Kyou-san, so¡
¡°I¡¯ve decided.¡± I point at Fake¡¯s party: ¡°We¡¯ll split them apart as planned. If we can capture one or two, it¡¯d be ideal. We won¡¯t kill them, but we don¡¯t need to pamper them either. They¡¯re heroes, so they¡¯ll recover quickly.¡±
¡°¡yes.¡±
¡°If you suddenly encounter Hoshibashi or Yoshimura while dealing with them, try to retreat. I sense Ara-san in that direction, it might be that they¡¯re there as well, but I can¡¯t guarantee it.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
¡°Then let¡¯s lure them.¡±
¡°I still don¡¯t like that part of the plan.¡±
¡°I made adjustments, right? So stop complaining, beggars can¡¯t be choosers.¡± We wait until they¡¯re within two hundred meter before I give the signal and pick up my bow from the ground. I pull down the hood, and then get out of my hiding place while finally deactivating [Camouflage]. They don¡¯t need to know that I have that skill yet. ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡±
The dark one lifts his bow as well: ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± He uses the same skill, each of his arrows are hitting mine¡ what accuracy! I need to keep that in mind.
¡°[Seeker]!¡± This time, I aim at the shrimp, but muscle-brain steps in and his armor deflects the arrow thanks to his precise positioning. Well, it would have been different if he was the target of the skill.
¡°Go!¡± Fake gives the signal and charges forward, shrimp and muscle-brain close behind him. We still have around a hundred meter between us, enough time to put my bow into the quiver on my waist and pick up my spear.
¡°Rine.¡± With this, the princess and I start running away while yelling loudly.
¡°Wha-¡± This unexpected action causes Fake to cry out, yet there is one problem here¡
The dark one aims with his bow at me: ¡°[Powershot]!¡± The sound of the released arrow makes me worry, especially with a skill-name like that.
I nod at Rine, who turns around without breaking her run while drawing her sword, using it to pick up the arrow before it hits me, and then deflect it in the direction of muscle-brain. ¡°Shit! [Shell]!¡± His armor begins to gleam unnaturally and the moment the arrow hits, muscle-brain is thrown back, but the armor is still whole. So an [Armor]-skill that strengthens armor? Maybe raising the [Defense]-value temporarily?
¡°You asshole, when I get you¡¡± Well shrimp, you have called the problem: You won¡¯t get me. ¡°Masa!¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Suddenly, Fake begins to accelerate, is that [Swishstride]? Rine also has this skill.
Oh Fake, you couldn¡¯t make me any happier. He¡¯s catching up fast, but we¡¯re almost there. I can hear them. Who? Well¡
We have been hiding in the rocky area despite their advantage there on purpose. Not only for the cover, no, to be close to a certain spot that serves as the hiding place for a pride of green cougars. This is the perfect balance between high grass and rocks, their home-turf.
It was Ara-san¡¯s random comment during one of the key-moments of our failed ambush that made me think of this idea. We used Rine¡¯s [Whisperer]-skill, the fact that she can talk to animals, to convince them that we¡¯re their friends. Actually, originally I wanted to kidnap a cub and tell them that Fake and his party has it, but Rine was opposed to that plan and even luring them here was some work of persuasion. Maybe she genuinely thinks of the cougars as friends and dislikes how I plan to exploit it.
Suddenly, green cougars pounce from the grass, right at Fake. ¡°*GROWL*¡±
¡°WHA-!¡± Hah, Fake being attacked by wild animals, what a sight. Exactly what I hoped for. Rine might dislike the whole part, but for me, it¡¯s like getting something I didn¡¯t know I needed.
Of course, the cougars look at us, I guess they¡¯re pissed that we¡ªtheir new friends¡ªare bringing other people with us without forewarning. Well¡ ¡°Time to split!¡±
Fake kicks away the two cougars, while Rine goes left and I turn right, this will make use of the confusion we just caused while making the cougars as uninteresting as possible for Fake¡¯s party, the compromise I reached with Rine.
¡°Sorry!¡± shouts the blonde girl while running.
For Fake and his party, this is the worst. If they stay, they¡¯ll be attacked by cougars and we get away. If they chase after one, they won¡¯t get the other. People like Fake are greedy, so I know what he¡¯ll do. ¡°Daichi, Eri! You follow Katsuragi! The rest chases after the princess,¡± he orders his posse around while trying to get more distance to the green felines.
Perfect.
As we¡¯re all heroes, we can run a lot. Yet ponytail and the dark one both have ranged options, so they can slow us down when needed. They think they have the advantage in this chase. Yet it¡¯s not a chase, it¡¯s a pull.
Pulling is the gaming term for drawing enemies to a specific point, either because you have a space full of crowd control or because you want to draw specific enemies away from the group. Actually, I expected Fake to come after me, but this will do. In the end, he knows fully well how strong Rine is, so I expected to face only two at most.
Around half a kilometer away while evading some dirt missile-spells, I stop. It¡¯s an open space with only grass here. I turn around and switch to [Pikeman]. ¡°If you give up and throw yourself into the dirt, I¡¯ll spare you.¡± I¡¯m only giving them the offer because of Kyou-san. I hate them. I don¡¯t care about most of my classmates, but those two, they¡¯re the ones who ganged up on me with some people. Ponytail said that if I don¡¯t reconsider my behavior, there will be consequences, while muscle-brain made clear that he¡¯ll love to beat me up.
Muscle-brain lifts his axe and an unnatural laughter comes from him. ¡°Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahahahaha!¡± It¡¯s so fake that it makes me almost hurl: ¡°You better give up, dirtbag.¡± His words, however, are dead-serious.
Not even giving me a reply, ponytail points her staff at me: ¡°[Earth Grasp]!¡±
I jump forward, knowing that this spell will grab my ankle if I don¡¯t move. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± Negotiations have failed. I tried, I failed. It¡¯s time to beat them up.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°Hahahaha! [Wheelheave]!¡± Spinning around while swinging his axe, muscle-head laughingly comes closer and closer. Our weapons hit each other, and I feel how my spear is deflected by the great force, but I keep it in my hand, despite the balance issue.
I get an armored shoulder into my face, this asshole is just too big, and he hits me again with the haft of his axe, yet I take those blows while preparing for my next move: ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± While muscle-head can block the attack he¡¯s pushed away nonetheless.
¡°[Dirt Sling]!¡± Another dirt missile, I step to the side. ¡°[Gust]!¡±
I jump aside to avoid one of the most annoying spells which creates a gust strong enough to push you away. This is my second most-hated spell, so I¡¯ll be sure to not get caught that easily.
Muscle-head charges in again. He still pisses me out with this fake jolliness, but I have to admit, their teamwork is great, whenever I break free from muscle-head, she¡¯ll keep the pressure while he charges in before I can attack her. If this would continue, I¡¯d definitely go down because at some point I¡¯m bound to have an opening.
Instead of commending their teamwork, I¡¯ll destroy it. ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡±
Muscle-head answers with his own skill: ¡°Hahaha! [Tree-splitter]!¡± His axe is about to hit my spear, he was sure that he¡¯ll come out as the victor of the clash as well, which would usually be true.
One.
His axe hits my spear and bounces back, exposing a whole chest to hit. My spear-blade cuts through his armor like a hot knife butter and I feel flesh tearing open beneath it. The annoying laughter finally stopped. ¡°Ugh¡¡± This outcry coming from under his helmet is a mixture of surprise and pain.
He has most likely [Class-upped] his warrior-class, overall he¡¯s a better fighter than me with [Pikeman] and thought so as well. I guess my level is still higher, though not by much. I think that his stats may be greater than mine.
Too bad if he can¡¯t use them properly. After my fight with Luuto, Ara-san and I realized two things: First, the [Attributes] in the status are potentials, like how, when you grip something, you can do it either lightly or with all your might. The [Attribute] is the full-power number, but just wanting to use your ¡®full-power¡¯ isn¡¯t enough to get there.
That brings us to the second realization: A hero needs to be on the edge to show their full potential. All hero-stories made Ara-san believe so, as well as the fight between me and Luuto. As I was in that state before, I learned how to control it! Well, to the smallest degree.
Actually, I can only do it as a [Pikeman] with anything related to the [Spear]-skill. I guess, because it¡¯s the class whose bread and butter is wielding spears. So while muscle-brain¡¯s and my weapon clashed, I was at full [Strength] of 220, while he was putting effort into it, but still not using his full power.
This seems like a great power-up, right? It is, but it¡¯s mentally draining! Using it three times within a time-frame I haven¡¯t exactly figured out yet will cause severe headaches. So I use it only when I get a huge benefit or when my life is in danger.
Back to him and me. My weapon is in muscle-brain¡¯s chest. I twist it before kicking him away, freeing it again. He¡¯s a hero, so he¡¯ll be up fast after regaining composure, so I¡¯ll better use the time to take care of ponytail before that happens.
¡°DAICHI-KUN!¡± Of course she¡¯s panicking, I just got rid of her wall. I switch to [Ranger] for the best mobility: ¡°[Earth Grasp]! [Dirt Sling]! [Stone Bullet]! [Gust]!¡± She tries one quick spell after another while I evade them effortlessly due to my [Focus]-skill, which keeps track of every of her minute movements. I can see her panic grow with every wasted MP.
Satisfying.
Heroes develop skills depending on their needs. As someone who has a party, she never had the need to learn spells for close-quarter combat, I guess.
I¡¯m right before her. I believe in gender-equality, so I smack her in the face, causing her to fall backwards. The sound tells me that I may have broken her nose. I kick the arm that holds her staff. It¡¯s not enough to break it too, but she cries out in pain.
I lift my spear. She looks at my face while hers is full of tears, snot, and blood, most likely knowing my intention to use it. Yet before I could deal a disabling blow, I hear muscle-brain raising up: ¡°You won¡¯t!¡± He speaks with a mouth full of fluid, either spit or blood, I don¡¯t care.
I switch back to [Pikeman], trample a bit more on ponytail before I step on solid ground as muscle-brain charges me with a battlecry. While he can still move well despite his wound, it¡¯s not like it doesn¡¯t affect his movements, each step he shudders from the pain. Wait, why is blood running up his axe? A [Skill]!
I make the only sensible choice. Running backwards while looking at that brainless idiot. Yes, each step hurts, huh? Widening the distance between us is like me, torturing you, right? Well, it¡¯s a fight. Muscle-brain stops next to ponytail while groaning in pain.
¡°[Heal]!¡± Ponytail casts it on herself first, then she turns to muscle-brain. ¡°[He-]¡± I throw a firebomb before she can heal him as well. I see a cloud of flames for a moment, but then I see how muscle-brain has thrown himself onto ponytail, protecting her from the blast as much as possible.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I won¡¯t give them time to heal themselves up.
¡°[Shell]!¡± He lifts himself up with his gleaming armor and moves so that I can¡¯t stab into its holes. Then I see a movement of his armor plates, muscle-change because of [Class-change]! ¡°[Bear Hug]!¡±
¡°AAAH!¡± His arms are around me, he wants to crush me, that ass! My arms feel like they¡¯re about to break!
¡°Good, Daichi-kun! I¡¯ll end him!¡± Ponytail will end me!? No, for powerful spells she must chant, so unless she has an ace in her sleeves, she¡¯ll need some more of them before I¡¯m dead, and I have three ways to get out of this! To my surprise, she takes off her backpack¡ what is she doing? Then she goes behind me, opening mine¡ don¡¯t tell me¡ ¡°Daichi-kun, get away!¡± Then she puts her backpack in mine. In that exact moment muscle-head releases me and jumps back, same as her.
¡
¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡
I have come to a conclusion. Ara-san tricks her allies like her enemies. Just that other than me, those morons really believed her. I grab into my backpack and pull ponytail¡¯s out. ¡°Phew¡¡± Looking at the three of us, we¡¯re all in an awkward situation that we didn¡¯t expect.
However, ponytail¡¯s reaction makes me angry: ¡°I thought he¡¯d explode!¡±
So she really wants to kill me, huh!? Well, I won¡¯t argue here. I will just drop her backpack to the ground and stab it with my spear¡ no special reaction, just a backpack with a big hole. I almost assumed that its content would spill, but oh well, good that I had the opportunity to try it with something that I won¡¯t miss.
¡°Aaah!¡± Of course that pisses her off, maybe I even disabled it, but that bitch just tried to explode me! ¡°Daichi, cover me. Time for the big canons!¡±
¡°Eri-san¡¡±
¡°Oh right, sorry. [Heal]!¡± What a bad party-management. The healer is supposed to track the party¡¯s HP, seriously. I mean, she may not be able to see his status, as she doesn¡¯t have that pain-in-the-ass curse, but she should realize that being stabbed really hurts!
Still, [Heal] is surely not enough for this wound. It will make him feel better, but I imagine him bleeding badly under his armor. Unless he has other skills to circumvent it.
I hear ponytail chanting, therefore I change to [Ranger] and start slowly approaching her. Muscle-brain runs at me: ¡°[Wheelheave]!¡± As expected, a rushing-attack. I use [Distract] to make him and ponytail lose me for a second, I jump sideways and use [Camouflage] and [Mask of Wildlife]. Muscle-brain only cuts some of the high grass and he opens the visor of his helmet: ¡°Where is he!?¡±
Ponytail stops chanting her spell, she has no target. ¡°I don¡¯t see him either!?¡±
Usually, they could see me, [Camouflage] just gives me a color-pattern, but [Mask of Wildlife] messes with their spirit-sense, something that they¡¯re not even aware of. They look at me, but they think of me as the grass surrounding me.
¡°Shit! Where are you, fatso!?¡±
Now trying to provoke me? That happens if your brain is also full of muscles. I only need to wait for a good opportunity and- ponytail is chanting again. It seems to be another spell, the melody and rhythm is different. I better take her out now.
Attacking from hiding means [Assassinate], more than enough to turn ponytail into a sorry mess. I take my bow and aim at her: ¡°[See-¡± Suddenly, muscle-brain jumps between me and her, is that another skill that warns him!? ¡°-ker]!¡± Yet canceling the skill won¡¯t help either at this point.
The arrow is hit away by the axe, muscle-brain hasn¡¯t even looked at it! This has to be a skill! I also lost my hiding advantage. ¡°I have you!¡±
¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± I shoot another four arrows, but he easily hits them away. The movement¡ he hits the arrow that would have hit ponytail in the stomach first, then the one for her waist, and then the two for her shoulder. It¡¯s not like I specifically aimed there, I¡¯m not that accurate with this skill. But somehow he prioritizes the vital ones¡
A skill that protects others¡ this is why he¡¯s with ponytail. That¡¯s also why he doesn¡¯t attack anymore, so that he won¡¯t mess up again and get wound even further.
¡°[Slow]!¡± Shit, my movements are slowing down. I try to retreat, but my legs are so slow! Even putting more power into them doesn¡¯t work, it¡¯s like my body has a speed-limit.
¡°[Powertackle]!¡± Seizing this chance, muscle-brain changes class and tackles me with all his might. The last time I tasted that skill was with the monkey-spider-boss. I didn¡¯t miss it at all.
How can my whole body be slowed down, while the pain comes as fast as usual? Stupid magic. Oh, she chants another one, the same before the [Slow]-spell, most likely her finisher.
I slowly stand up and drop the bow to wield my spear with both hands. I hear a little voice inside me, urging me to kill them finally. I had some chances before and didn¡¯t use it.
Using my slowness as his chance, muscle-brain swings his axe at me, yet he seems very cautious, maybe because he remembers how he got the wound. I guess he¡¯s just buying time for ponytail, while I need time to shake off the [Slow]-spell.
Smoke-bomb. Luckily, it¡¯s not affected by the spell and the smoke billows as fast as usual. I¡¯m still [Ranger], so I use [Wild Eyes] to sense his spirit through the screen and start attacking. For some reason, the force I feel through my weapon hitting his armor feels as powerful as usual despite the decrease in speed. So KE = 1/2 mv2 (forumula for kinetic energy, v stands for velocity) means nothing before magic, I guess, which actually worries me! I mean, that¡¯s basic physics! On the other hand: Magic. ¡maybe there are forces at play that I don¡¯t even get. Something with mana or so.
Heck, this concerns me more than the actual fight! Stop! Don¡¯t think about it, me, you have a giant oaf right in front of you!
Despite the smoke, muscle-brain begins swinging his weapon wildly. The foliage will soon dissipate, but it serves its purpose of buying me more time. ¡°Damn you, Katsuragi!¡±
¡°What? Too used to bully those weaker than you?¡±
¡°Grrrr¡¡±
To be honest, muscle-brain isn¡¯t that impressive with his axe. I¡¯d be more concerned if he ditched it and used his judo instead. As long as both of us are using [Classes] and [Abilities] as our prime means of fighting, I¡¯ll win. Especially considering his wounds.
There is the problem of the chanting ponytail though in conjunction with the [Slow]-spell. The question is: Will the debuff time out before she casts her spell?
Well, time for another bomb. This time it¡¯s not smoke though, it¡¯s a stink bomb. Using muscle-brain¡¯s spirit for aiming, I throw it right into him. ¡°Ua-ah-ah! *cough, cough*¡± Too bad I can¡¯t see his face, full of tears, snot, and pain. Well, I got my fill with ponytail, I guess.
I step out of the smoke-bomb, directly at- ¡°[Lightning Bolt]!¡± Ponytail outstretched fore and middle finger point at me, and a flash of white light comes forth of them, so dazzling bright that it blinds people. Yet in less than a second, I see a lightning arc right next to me! It¡¯s not like game lightning, where enemies sometimes even evade it, it¡¯s as fast as real lightning!
Ponytail blinks, her own spell caused her to lose sight for a moment while I¡¯m totally fine from this nasty byproduct due to [Penetrate Light]. My eyesight just pierces through the brightness and while everything is a bit brighter than usual with a tint of violet, I can see fine. So I use this to activate stealth-mode once more.
But dammit! If the spell was a straight line, I would be dead! Yet, like real lightning, it branched and changed direction.
¡°Eri-san, did you get him?¡± So muscle-brain would have been fine if I got roasted.
¡°I see no corpse!¡±
¡°Shit!¡±
¡so she used the spell fully aware that it would turn me into a corpse? ¡ ¡ Time to take off my gloves as well.
I feel how my body moves at normal speed again and I approach ponytail who is looking around: ¡°Maybe I reduced him to dust?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think so. Maybe he- ERI-SAN!¡± It¡¯s not like he saw me before I stabbed ponytail with my knife. It¡¯s just that ponytail hasn¡¯t realized it before him.
She looks at me, whose stealth-mode is canceled and the knife in her side, her eyes wide in shock. I grab her face and throw it with the rest of her body to the ground and kick it two times. She lost consciousness.
Seriously, I should have done so from the start.
I turn to muscle-brain and he shirks away a bit. ¡°One down,¡± I smirk at him. It¡¯s one of my nastiest ones, but seriously, I¡¯m done here. She¡¯s still alive and I won¡¯t set my standards any higher for today.
¡°You bastard!¡±
¡°You¡¯ve got everything wrong.¡± They have neither considered their own mortality nor their priorities. Aren¡¯t they supposed to save Kyou-san and Rine? ¡°This isn¡¯t a game.¡± If I were in their shoes, I¡¯d run away the moment muscle-brain stood up and tackled me. Yet it was more important to them to kill me than to survive.
¡°SHIT!¡± He still doesn¡¯t give up. Rather, he lifts his weapon and charges at me despite knowing the result.
This is stupid. While I got almost no damage, I have spent much SP and some MP, as well as one of my power surges. In one second, I decide whether I beat the shit out of muscle-brain and drag him and ponytail to Kyou-san, or if it¡¯d be better to just leave and let them suffer and handle their injuries.
Yet I opt for another option. I point my spear-blade at ponytail¡¯s throat, causing muscle-brain to stop moving. ¡°Say, where is Ara-san?¡±
¡°¡¡± Oh, he¡¯s pissed. He¡¯s also thinking that I¡¯m more than willing to finish the unconscious girl. Hey, give me a bit of credit here. ¡°She¡¯s at our base-camp.¡± In the end, his loyalty to his friend¡ªor rather his own survival instinct¡ªproves to be stronger than his hate for me. ¡°It¡¯s there. About twenty minutes.¡±
¡°You¡¯re lying.¡± I can feel the direction she¡¯s in, [Spouse-Location] tells me that she¡¯s somewhere else. I point in that direction, and¡ shit! I use [Farsight] to be sure, I can see someone getting closer. It¡¯s Hoshibashi! ¡°Later.¡± I retrieve my bow and start running.
Time to regroup with the girls.
Volume 07 - Chapter 6-2
I''m so terribly sorry, cougars! I really didn''t want to bring strangers to your pride! But Kenta was so vehemently insisting on needing to put pressure on Kyou''s friends that at some point I broke in and let him do this.
Could it be that he started with the idea of kidnapping a cub to make me settle on this? This sounds like what my mother told me about negotiations. Did he trick me?
Oh, another arrow. Does he keep aiming at my legs or am I so fast that his shots come short? Nonetheless, I deflect the arrow towards their general direction, but at this point they''re used to evading them, especially with the great distance between us.
Whenever Masahiko-dono uses [Swishstride], I do the same. That''s why he slowed down to have his friends keep up with him, rather than trying to chase me on his own. This is good, because I''m supposed to keep all of them busy.
Now I''m in a predicament. Kenta wants me to beat them up, but Kyou wouldn''t want me to do that. What would Ara do? I try to imagine my alfr friend and can only see her sitting down somewhere else entirely with a book in her hand and looking smart. Why is it so hard to imagine her in this situation?
Wait, I''m doing it again. I need to think about myself. What do I think is the best? Kenta was rather vague what exactly beating them up will accomplish, so is there a reason to? Should I turn around and fight all three of them?
They have Ara. So why am I so hesitant about this? I should fight them and ask them where my friend is. Ara may have her shortcomings but she''s dear to me.
...in the end, I can''t. There are so many paths to take and everything is confusing at this point. What if they''re controlled by Correo? What if they''re just trying to help Kyou? What if they''re as bad as Kenta portrays them?
I don''t know. I don''t know!
Maybe I should talk to them after all. Ah, I remember something. A gesture that Kenta showed me, what did he call it? One-finger-salute? I show them the back of my fist and lift my middle finger only. If they see that I greet them in a way they know from their world, maybe we can talk it out?
I hear a faint ¡°YOU BITCH!¡± from the small Kurosawa-dono in a volume belying her small body. ¡°SHE''S FLIPPING US OFF!¡± I have no idea what she means, but it seems that I did it wrong and may have insulted them accidentally.
This is not good. So talking won''t work either... this leaves me fewer options, but now it becomes easier to weigh all of them against each other.
Finally, I''m able to make my decision. I remember the map Kenta drew for the strategy-meeting as well as possible. It was separated into different sectors, we''re currently at Sector D, so I''ll run to F which is another crevice-maze. This way, I will lose my pursuers and they''ll be too far to catch up to Kenta. Especially since he moved again after being tied to a spot for a while. Maybe he''s already finished with his part?
I use [Swishstride] to quickly accelerate and widen the distance. Masahiko-dono is the only one who will have a chance to keep up, but he doesn''t. The moment I get to F, I''ll gain some altitude, this should make me lose them completely. Then I will regroup with Kenta.
Strange, why do I feel like I have made a decision like Ara would make it?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Waiting is hard! While I agree that I''m a hindrance for skirmishing strategies, staying here and waiting for any messages is mentally taxing. I hope so much that everything goes well for everyone. I''m OK with them hurting each other a bit. It may be unavoidable at this point. I also have the hope that Rine-chan and Ken can knock out my friends easily enough.
Yes, it''d be much better if they''re in a position that forces them to listen a bit. Why haven''t they tried to strike a conversation back when our ambush failed anyways? It''s kinda their fault... or maybe a lot of manipulation.
I hate how I can do nothing at this point other than running in circles at the meeting spot. I check the backpack again. No message... yet I feel Ken moving, maybe he''s on his way back?
Something feels off suddenly. It''s like I''m observed. I look around and I see a young man, no, rather my age? Wait, is that Yoshimura-kun? He had his hair that long during our last encounter in Aroahenn, but with the fully realized beard, he looks older.
He''s wearing leather armor that looks like he''s an important figure and has a staff in one hand with a sword on his waist. His dark eyes look at me creepily, I have goosebumps and feel in danger.
Yet I reign in my urge to flinch and look at him while straightening up. ¡°Long time no seen, Yoshimura-kun.¡±
He moves his lips a bit and then gives a smile full of confidence and sliminess: ¡°We should consider this our first meeting, Momokawa Kyou. As I''m not Yoshimura Rentaro anymore.¡±
¡°So you really have lost yourself?¡±
¡°I''d call it getting rid of my weaker parts.¡± He comes closer and it takes a lot of self-control to not back off. However, I know that in this situation he holds all the cards, he''s stronger than me and can use force, so I need to at least appear confident. ¡°I have taken up the name of Lent Wood.¡±
¡°Wood-san,¡± I smile with a bit of arrogance and disdain to strengthen my front, ¡°why are you here?¡±
¡°Because I wanted to see you.¡± He talks like he believes he''s glib, but it''s just creepy.
¡°I have rejected you before, right?¡± I can vaguely remember that moment. He was just boring and acted like he had nothing to offer, trying to prey on my pity.
¡°You rejected Yoshimura Rentaro. I, on the other hand, will make you mine.¡±
That''s what gave me the sense of danger. This greed, this desire, this selfishness. He''s set on to make me be with him without even considering what I want. He doesn''t treat me like a person, just as an object of lust!This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
He comes closer and closer, I change to [Herbalist], ready to use [Mirrored Moon] and my knife to resist before he does whatever he''s planning, but then he stops two steps away from me. ¡°I won''t force you,¡± he declares with words but not with emotions, ¡°yet I have a lot to offer to you.¡±
I feel Ken''s direction changing quicker than before which means he''s coming closer. So I''ll buy time. ¡°What do you want to offer me?¡±
¡°We''ll wait for a moment. Katsuragi is almost here and I want to extend the offer to him as well. The princess has also shaken off Inoue and his group, so she will also come. Correo will bring your elf-friend.¡±
So Correo is really here!? But ¡°How do you know about Ken and Rine-chan?¡±
¡°It''s a useful skill, called [Aerial View]. It lets me look from above which makes it easy to see the whole surrounding.¡± This skill is bad news. Ken may use the [Share Senses]-skill to a similar effect, but the former Yoshimura-kun has a superior skill in that regard, so what we thought as one of our greatest advantages is merely a bad compensation for what they have!
¡°You''re really confident about this. I mean, meeting all of us? Or is it because you hold Arako hostage?¡±
¡°Just a means to an end. ...you''re really beautiful.¡± Erm, what? ¡°Your hair like black velvet, your eyes like onyxes, the figure of a goddess.¡± If he thinks complimenting me would do anything, he''s wrong. Though it has an effect, it makes him even more disgusting.
Of course, I can use it. It makes me turn my stomach, but I won''t shy away. ¡°You look more adult.¡± He has a beard now, after all.
¡°I know, it might be hard to separate me from Rentaro-san, but trust me, my love. Give me the opportunity and I''ll prove to you that there is no better man than me for you.¡±
I want to vomit. To take all the puke that''s currently building up and vomit everything right into his face. What is he thinking!? No girl with any self-esteem would fall for words like that! I mean, maybe someone so drunk on love that has no reason left, but does Yoshimura-kun actually believe that this will make me even consider him as a boyfriend!?
I mean, even Ken- No, I won''t go that way! He still hasn''t apologized, that jerk!
Without a thought, I step closer to Yoshimura-kun and look into his eyes. They do look more confident, without a hint of self-doubt. His face is a bit longish and rough, his nose too big. He''s definitely nothing I look for in a boyfriend.
I will surely regret this, yet I cast [Empathy] on him. I feel desire, I feel confidence, I feel the giddiness from pure euphoria, I feel like a predator and under all of that a deep, deep void. ¡°Yoshimura-san, wha-¡±
I feel alert. Yoshimura-kun steps back and evades an arrow while smiling at me and I cut the connection. I feel dirty! Feeling his emotions made me feel so dirty!
But an arrow... I look at the direction I can feel Ken from and see him with the hood on while drawing his arrow. Yoshimura-kun turns to him: ¡°No need for violence. I''m here to talk and if you act up, there will be consequences.¡±
¡°Talk!?¡± Ken says while coming closer. ¡°After the shit you have pulled off your ass!?¡± He puts his bow into his backpack and draws his spear.
¡°Katsuragi-san, things have been difficult. We finally have the chance to talk without any interference, so please: Let us strike a conversation. We still have the elf, so-¡± Ken''s eyes become more fierce, and Yoshimura-kun changes his choice of words while still smiling: ¡°It''s for the best of all of us. Correo may have been too rash when he was asked to bring the princess. After our encounter in the elven village, things may have gotten out of hand, and we can finally clear this misunderstanding. Give me one more chance.¡±
¡°Ken,¡± I chime in: ¡°Please, be reasonable.¡± He looks at me like I''m his enemy. After all that time, he still doesn''t listen to me when he''s stubbornly clinging on one of his stupid ideas. Somehow I have the feeling that we can trust Yoshimura-kun that much.
¡°What have you been talking about, Kyou-san?¡± ...is he jealous? If yes, then it must be the curse which also gives me these weird feelings for him.
¡°Ken, there is nothing, really nothing between him and me.¡± Maybe I was a bit taken aback for a second, but it''s totally unlike what the ring makes me feel for Ken. I would call this feeling for Yoshimura-kun curiosity at best.
Yoshimura-kun himself seems a bit hurt, he sharply inhales, but he doesn''t let go of his smile. ¡°So you''re going out with Momokawa-san, Katsuragi-san?¡±
Ken''s face looks like he has just been hit. He moves his lips without saying something as he''s looking for the right words. ¡°Phew... this is stupid. Yoshimura-¡±
¡°It''s Lent Wood now.¡±
¡°Yoshimura, you have one chance: Where is Ara-san?¡±
¡°She''s coming to us. The princess as well. We¡¯ll all have a civilized talk.¡±
Ken beckons me and whispers into my ear. ¡°Seriously, Kyou-san. What the fuck is going on!?¡±
¡°I don''t know!¡±
¡°Rrrr...¡± Ken seems angry, but I know that he''s unsure how to handle this situation. He''s torn.
¡°Just let us hear the offer.¡±
¡°An offer!? What offer.¡±
¡°Like I said, I don''t know!¡±
¡°Oh, that''s so typical! Wagging your tail at whatever serves you best!¡±
What!? Despite my upset, I try the menacing low voice. ¡°You dare, you really dare to talk to me like that!?¡±
¡°Doesn''t it make sense? I mean, sure, he thinks he''s all powerful. It''s most likely true as well, he may have had the [Class Rewrite] by chance, but-¡± Ken pauses. It seems that he didn''t think of any counter-arguments. I often see him emotional, but rarely that confused.
Yet this calms me down a bit. I remember that Ken has the habit of thinking of many possibilities and remembering a lot of stuff. I haven''t thought about the [Class Rewrite], the relic that allows a hero to delete a class. It''s also not that important at that point. So why bring it up?
¡°Ken,¡± I start another attempt to properly converse with him, but suddenly, something runs past me with the gleam of steel and I hear the sound of metal meeting metal.
I turn around and see Rine-chan who has locked swords with Yoshimura-kun. ¡°Kenta, Kyou! Are you alright?¡± Her tall figure seems much larger than usual. ¡°Don''t worry!¡±
Yoshimura-kun now is finally fazed and shows worry: ¡°I would appreciate it, if you would call her back.¡±
¡°Rine-chan, please stop,¡± I plead to her. She may still be sticking to the idea that she has to take down Yoshimura-kun and Hoshibashi-kun.
¡°I agree, Katarine-san,¡± says another familiar voice, it''s Arako! Behind her is a man with a beard and hat. I haven''t seen him for a while, but his lighthearted attitude is still the same: Correo.
Ken stares daggers at the self-proclaimed trader who raises his hand: ¡°Well met again, heroes.¡±
¡°Fuck you.¡± Ken is basically saying what I was thinking myself. Because of this... this asshole, we had to endure hell!
¡°Kenta-kun,¡± Arako says in her usual calm and thoughtful voice: ¡°I would really appreciate it if you don''t provoke the person who is holding me hostage.¡±
¡°Correo,¡± Yoshimura-kun says, ¡°let her go. We are here to talk.¡±
¡°You''re the boss, Wood-dono.¡± In a surprisingly subservient gesture, Correo steps back while Arako comes to us, the same as Rine.
Now we have two sides facing each other. Yoshimura-kun starts: ¡°First of all, let me re-introduce myself. My name is Lent Wood and I''m a true hero. Someone who has thrown off the shackles of a former life including all the weakness. My partner, who goes by the name Star Killer, is currently with Inoue''s party which has several wounded members by now thanks to Katsuragi-san.¡±
I know, I said I''m OK with them being wounded at this point, but hearing it and having Ken as the only offender is still hurtful, so I stare at Ken for a moment to tell him about my discontent. He answers with a simple ¡°Kch.¡±
Yoshimura-kun continues: ¡°I have come here to give you an offer. I''m nothing but a servant of a goddess who has taken an interest in you, especially Katarine-hime.¡±
Ken steps forward: ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because she''s a native and a hero.¡±
¡°How does she know!?¡± I have the exact same question.
¡°Patience, patience. Let me first end my part.¡±
Arako¡¯s ears twitch a bit before she starts talking. ¡°Wood-dono, I''ll take over.¡± I know that voice, it''s there whenever Arako feels like people are wasting time she could better spend researching or sleeping. ¡°They want us to join them and if we refuse, they''ll kill us.¡±
The nonchalant way of putting their entire intention into a single sentence seems to rattle Yoshimura-kun, who sighs and just nods.
But to be honest, with the way he acted this doesn''t come as a surprise. Yet the question is what to do.
I look at Ken and I already know that this will most likely end in senseless violence again...
Volume 07 - Chapter 6-3
Masahiko huffs and puffs while he tries to catch his breath. He followed Katarine-hime only to never catch up. Katsuo tried to shoot her legs, but she deflected all arrows, without even looking¡ªdirectly at Masahiko, who could only evade because he has already seen this feat before.
If they had Eri with them, they may have been more successful with slowing her down. Yet the princess got away while she entered another crevice-maze and then just jumped up the cliffs. ¡°Seriously?¡± The more he sees about the princess, the more admiration and respect he has for her capabilities.
Tetsuko puts her hand on his back: ¡°Too bad. Did I see it correctly? Did she use [Swishstride]?¡±
¡°Yeah, just when I thought I would catch her with it, she also activated that [Skill].¡± Masahiko still feels the frustration of thinking that he finally gets her only to be outdone. ¡°Maybe I wear too much metal for that. Still, I thought that we, as heroes, would outlast her.¡± Heroes might get as tired as normal people, but their bodies won''t be affected by that much.
¡°...what now?¡± Katsuo asks while looking up the cliffs.
¡°I can''t track that. Well, I can, but who is up for a climb?¡±
¡°Teruko is right, we''ll only lose time. We''ll return to the plain and backtrack while Katsuo will look for Daichi and Eri.¡±
Following that, it doesn''t take long for Katsuo to spot them with his [Farsight]: ¡°...there. Hoshibashi-san is with them and is supporting Daichi...¡±
¡°Is he hurt?¡±
¡°...there is a hole in his armor.¡±
Masahiko''s eyes widen. Daichi became an expert in using his armor most efficiently, it''s a thick plate armor which he regularly maintains. He can strengthen it with the [Shell]-skill to an absurd level. He''s a tank in every sense of the word, but he was cracked!? ¡°Double-time.¡±
They increase their speed while Masahiko tries to think how this could have happened. Were they lured into a trap? He thought that combining Daichi''s defense and martial art experience with Eri''s level-head and magic would be enough to capture Katsuragi-kun. Or has he vastly underestimated him?
The moment Masahiko is there, he supports Daichi''s other side. ¡°Everything alright, buddy?¡±
¡°Sorry, Masa. We failed.¡±
¡°Don''t be sorry, it was my fault. We also failed. Let''s first look at your wounds and afterward we''ll review.¡±
¡°Don''t bother with first aid. Eri-san has helped me as much as possible. Look.¡± He points at the hole in his armor, under the teared layer of leather undergarment Masahiko spots bandages. ¡°I just need a moment to rest.¡±
¡°Masa!¡± Eri has waited patiently, but now that Masahiko has confirmed Daichi''s well-being, she starts wailing and runs up to him: ¡°He broke my nose, it hurts so much!¡± In fact, it''s swollen. She may have cast [Heal] on it, but the spell isn''t potent enough for broken bones or noses, though it''s at least straightened.
¡°I know, I know.¡± He gently pats her head. ¡°Shishou broke mine several times as well, remember?¡± Also some fingers, ribs, and once a leg. They were lucky enough to be in Esse with the temple and priests who could take care of that as well. ¡°Hoshibashi-kun, why are you here?¡±
¡°Le- my partner said that they needed my help. Katsuragi was about to kill them.¡±
¡°...tell me everything that happened.¡± Masahiko tries his best to keep calm, but Katsuragi-kun hurting Eri and Daichi makes him feel righteous anger.
Listening to Eri, it really seems that Katsuragi-kun doesn''t even consider talking anymore. Attacking without forewarning, aiming at vitals spots, trying to finish Eri off as quick as possible. Yet he seems nigh unstoppable. Ara''ainn was right, he can practically vanish before their eyes, but despite knowing that, Eri and Daichi weren''t able to counteract. Masahiko thought that Daichi''s [Bodyguard] and Eri''s spells would be enough for that one assault he had free, before overpowering him. Yet, when it came to it, Katsuragi-kun already dealt Daichi that devastating blow...
This is the difference. Katsuragi-kun always played games during breaks in school, always an RPG-title. Masahiko knows a lot of them, but Katsuragi-kun is a master and has used this knowledge to give himself the edge. Ara''ainn guessed his level around 50, which is ten levels above what Masahiko and his friends have. Is the difference between ten levels so great? Enough to overwhelm two people
¡°His strength when he stabbed me... it was beyond anything I saw. He had just fought half-assed before, I got cocky, and he lured me into that attack,¡± Daichi admits his fault.
¡°...¡± Katsuo pokes Daichi''s shoulder in empathy.
Masahiko looks at his party and Hoshibashi-kun: ¡°We got fooled, and I made bad decisions. Daichi can''t fight anymore, so he''ll return to camp. Eri, would you go with him? Hoshibashi-kun, we need your help. I know, you''re usually only working with Yoshimura-kun, but the princess is too fast to catch, Katsuragi-kun is too good at stealth. I hate to admit it, but despite all our growth, we''re still outdone. Our training so far was to make better basics, but that makes us slow-starters right now. To get to Kyou, we need to take care of Katarine-hime and Katsuragi-kun first. Katsuragi-kun hurt my friends, so I''ll deal with him. Hoshibashi-kun, can I ask you to take care of the princess?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
It doesn''t matter what you do or want to accomplish: It''s usually cluttered with the mistakes you make along the way. The only question is whether you learn from them or not.
Masahiko wasn''t decisive enough before. Now it''s time he corrects that.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
What the fuck, Yoshimura. What the fuck.
He wants us to join them!? After all the shit we''ve been going through because of them? Aroahenn, mercenaries, Goldbrunn, indirectly even the Spirit Swamps!
Rine looks helplessly at me. She doesn''t even know how to process it! Ara-san also looks at me and I''m sure she doesn''t particularly care. Kyou-san looks at me like I''ve applied to a position as a human crash-test dummy. She''s certain that I''ll reject the offer.
Well, I''ll show you. ¡°I have some questions first.¡± In the end, my goal is to return home. So as long as joining them will help me with it, I''m not against it. Unless the details are shitty. ¡°First: Who is the boss?¡± I thought Correo might be the mastermind, but now he acts like a subordinate, so either he''s fucking around big time with Yoshimura, Yoshimura has somehow gained the authority, or they both serve someone else.
¡°It''s an old and powerful deity. We call her the Lady.¡±
¡°The Lady!? Does she have a name?¡±
¡°Of course she does, but her name isn''t for the likes of me to speak aloud.¡±
¡°Come on, do you expect me to join someone whose name I don''t even know?¡±
¡°Her name is divine and speaking it lightheartedly is only inviting divine wrath.¡±
¡°Give me something to work with! I mean, what''s the damage to tell us at least once?¡± I want to know who I have to thank for all that shit. If it''s really a goddess, then maybe Rine knows something about her.
¡°I won''t tell you her-¡±
Suddenly, Correo interrupts Yoshimura: ¡°It''s Orinaenielle.¡±
¡°!¡± This name! ¡°Orinay- Orine-¡±
¡°Ken, it''s Orinanane- I mean, Orinaennyael-¡±
¡°Kyou, I think it''s rather Orinenenell?¡±
¡°I don''t even want to try.¡±
It''s next to impossible to speak that name aloud! The reason why Yoshimura has resisted so hard to say it is most likely because he can''t pronounce it either! ¡°Seriously!? I mean, it''s like in a bad game when the writers look up and combine some of the most unspeakable names because they think it''d make things better! Guess what, it just stinks of nerd!¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
¡°Don''t you dare to speak ill of the Lady!¡±
¡°Oh, what will happen if I do? Will you strike us down in the name of the Lady then? Which is? Can you tell me?!¡±
¡°Grrr....¡±
¡°I''m sure, Correo spent hours practicing to speak it so fluently.¡± The worst part is, Correo actually nods flippantly! Well, I''ll just stick to Ori-boss. Much easier.
¡°OK, let''s just ignore the name for now. What is so special about Rine being a hero?¡±
Yoshimura looks at me, then he shrugs his shoulders. ¡°I don''t know, honestly.¡±
I look at Correo. ¡°What about you? Your oni talked about Rine as ''the Irregular'' and that she has both. Both what?¡±
¡°I fear it doesn''t have anything to do with the offer, right?¡±
¡°Of course it does! That''s telling us what you plan to do with her.¡±
¡°The Lady will ask of her nothing that she can''t do.¡±
Suddenly, Rine bursts out: ¡°Why do you keep talking about me but not with me!? I have no idea what all of you are trying to do, but let me ask you, Kenta: Are you considering their offer?¡±
I rub my nose-bridge: ¡°Rine, let''s be straight. There might be some benefits and my end-goal is to return home. So the real question is, whether they can help me with it or are standing in my way.¡±
Yoshimura starts smirking: ¡°The Lady can bestow you a new quest, something that''s more feasible than to defeat the so-called demon king.¡± This is tempting.
Not only me, even Kyou-san and Ara-san might get a new quest and Rine may get one in the first place. ¡°And if I fulfill that new quest, I return home?¡±
¡°You''re also granted a wish.¡±
Ori-boss may be legit, just like the goddess that summoned Ara-san and was physically there. Muaotef has also his heroes and is too real for my liking. I guess, the deity who summoned us is the exception, trying their best to stay in hiding...
The more I hear, the more sense it makes to just join Ori-boss. Get a new quest, having Correo or others not chase us anymore, and maybe some way to get rid of the wedding-curse.
Kyou-san is also in thought. she''s most likely thinking the same as me. Even Ara-san is... no, I think she''s basically sleeping while standing.
¡°Kenta!¡± Rine grabs me at the shoulder: ¡°Did you forget about Aroahenn!? They attacked it for their own means! What about them using monsters to attack us and their allies alike? Goldbrunn as well! They''re bad people!¡± She looks at all of us, but there is a problem here: We''re not the kind of people that have that much of a sense of justice.
Kyou-san plays with her ring, thinking of an answer. Ara-san, who has started paying attention with the mentioning of Aroahenn, lifts her ears a bit, then her left ear slowly descends. ¡°Phew...¡± I just sigh. ¡°Look, Rine,¡± I tell her, ¡°until now we never had a choice to do the ''right thing'', the few opportunities we actually did it was because we had clear benefits. We didn''t fight against Aroahenn''s invaders because we wanted to, but because we asked the elder for a reward, right?¡±
Rine slowly turns her head to me, her eyes are scary! This isn''t the usual anger-fit, this is actual wrath, directed at me. The corner of her mouth drops, her forehead furrows, she''s genuinely pissed for an actual reason.
Before the swamps, she would have somehow excused my words. Maybe thinking that this is a ruse. Or that I have noticed something behind a mask of misunderstood deeds. Yet this time, she takes my words as what they are.
I reap what I sow.
Kyou-san is about to touch Rine''s arm gently, but I give her a look, telling her to stop that. ¡°Rine,¡± I begin, ¡°remember this feeling well.¡± Then I turn to Ara-san and speak almost soundlessly: ¡°[Whisper]: Get into a safe distance so that you can run away if things turn south.¡± I repeat it with Kyou-san. Then I turn to Yoshimura and Correo.
The latter has changed his expression, he sure knows what will happen. On the other hand, the former greedily licks his lips: ¡°Have you decided?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± I straighten up and Kyou-san starts running with Ara-san, while I swiftly ready my spear: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I aim at Correo, but Yoshimura draws his sword, steps into my attack-line, and blocks this attack effortlessly: ¡°I hate doing what others tell me to do.¡±
Correo also starts running: ¡°I''ll leave it to you, Wood-dono.¡±
¡°Rine, get him!¡±
¡°Erm...yes!¡±
¡°Not so fast,¡± Yoshimura says while lifting his hand: ¡°[Wind Weasel]!¡± Rine jumps to the side, most likely because she feels how she can''t just block a wind blade.
Yet Correo has vanished in the moment he was unobserved. ¡°Kch. Rine, help me with him!¡± If we take him down, then-
Why are his muscles receding? Wait, did he cast a spell, while being a warrior-class!? Or has he a magical-warrior [Class-up]? ¡°You don''t like taking orders? Let''s see about that! {Freeze}!¡± His voice was a bit different, is this a spell!?
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
Nothing happened? I start swinging at him, Yoshimura barely dodges while his panic obviously wells up as Rine is now getting behind him. ¡°{Freeze}, I said! {Give up}! {Concede}!¡± Somehow my head feels a slight tingle. ¡°{Don''t mo-}¡± He can''t finish his sentence as he just got Rine''s foot into his side while he was busy blocking my spear.
Whatever he''s trying to do, it doesn''t work! Kyou-san and Ara-san are also in a good distance, I see how Ara-san is collecting water for her [Tidal Wave].
Yoshimura changes his class again and drops his sword: ¡°[Gust]!¡± He can shoot it out of both hands!? At point blank I can''t evade it! Rine somehow manages it, but he continues: ¡°[Earthshield]!¡± A rock-wall rises between him and Rine, she just punched it, but now she cuts it with her sword. Still, Yoshimura could escape our flanking.
I hate [Gust], it violently blows you away and its casting time is way too short for its usefulness! I get back on my feet and see how Rine evades another [Wind Weasel]-spell. Other than ponytail, Yoshimura isn''t shy to use fast, large scale spells to buy some time.
We all know, it''s just a question of time before we get him, yet Yoshimura changes to that other class again: ¡°{Katsuragi Kenta, you will stop fighting a-¡± I feel a stronger tingling than before but it''s Yoshimura who starts to squirm in pain. ¡°Seriously!? You!? Of all people!?¡± He looks at me, ready to join the fray again, at Ara-san in the distance, and at Rine, who lifts her sword, ready for another charge to finally kick his ass. Then he says in desperation to Rine: ¡°{Get him!}¡± While pointing at me.
Slowly, Rine turns to me. Her ember-like eyes are glassy, almost as if she''s daydreaming. Mind-control!? That''s what he tried the whole time!? And while it doesn''t work on me, it works on Rine!? Shit! Shit, shit!
Rine slowly comes closer, her movements are much duller than usual. I lift my spear, ready to defend myself. I mean it''s not like I can''t defend myself, after all.
¡
I make the only sensible choice: To turn on my heels and start running!
Seriously, I can''t do that! I remember all the times Rine kicked my ass when she didn''t mean to, so even accounting for her currently dull movements, there is no chance in hell that I¡¯ll win!
The only thing I can do is: ¡°[Whisper]: Run!¡± Send Ara-san a message while I try to flee this scene like a bawling little kid that saw something scary and needs its mom.
I hear how Ara-san''s [Tidal Wave] is released and I hope that they''ll use it as an opportunity to run away.
Yet there is another sound mixed to the splashing water... The sound of steps following me... please be Yoshimura, please be Yoshimura, please be Yoshimura... no, I know these boots... help... help!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Lent Wood, wet and lying on his back, holds his head while he tries to shake off the dizziness. His head hurts so much that he can barely concentrate, and while he''s aware how all of them have run away, he still needs to recover from the shock. Not only because of the [Tidal Wave] he had to take head-on, though it certainly didn''t help.
Fiddling with other people''s mind is a lot like trying to physically manipulate them. You can only lift someone when your own body is strong enough for the weight. Though using [Order] is often more like a wrestling contest.
Correo has warned Lent that there are two kinds of people he shouldn''t try to mind-control: Elves, and stubborn losers.
Elves are supposed to have a supreme reign over their own minds. It doesn''t mean that they''re strong, but it means that trying to manipulate it is like trying to grab water. That trait is unique to elves, stemming from their inherent magic, though most other users of that magic fall short on it.
That''s why [Order] had no effect on that Ara''ainn at all. Lent knew it, but he tried nonetheless, confident about his own prowess. He was wrong, as he didn''t understand the problem before.
About these people Correo calls stubborn losers... It''s easy to say that the higher the willpower is, the harder it is to exert any form of mind-control. The mind of the user tries to take over a part of the mind of the target, changing some or all of it, depending on the exact skill or spell.
Yet ''willpower'' is a vague term for most people. Correo used another physical analogy for it: Willpower is like a muscle. Everyone has an inherent potential, but a muscle must be used to become strong. If a muscle isn''t used, it deteriorates. If a muscle is used too much, it causes muscle ache. The memories of Lent''s former self go even as far as saying that training a muscle is destroying it so it can grow stronger.
How does it relate to willpower? Easy, someone who is always faced with bad odds, resistance from all sides, experiencing defeat, sadness, and stress will train their willpower. Someone who always had their way, who never had to criticize themselves, and let everything bad slip off themselves don''t do much for their willpower.
In a sense, confidence and success are the biggest enemies to attain a high willpower. Therefore the term stubborn losers.
Again, Lent thought it was just Correo''s weakness speaking. Now he reconsiders it.
[Order] is a particular skill that puts one single sentence of an order into the mind of the victim. It can be strong or weak, depending on how it''s used. When it works, it can''t be used again for a day on the same target for reasons unbeknown to Correo and Lent.
When Lent used it against Katsuragi the first few times, he didn''t put much effort into it. It was like doing some light punches against something that seemed like a punching bag. Then Lent grew frustrated and put all his mind into it, only revealing that Katsuragi''s mind was a lightly cushioned concrete wall.
Lent was sure that the way Katsuragi acts was based on ignorance and denial. He never seemed to take anyone seriously, he never seemed to care what others thought about him. He should have had a feeble willpower, yet it proved to be too much.
¡°He... hehehe... HAHAHAHA!¡± Lent laughs, half out of the absurdity, half out of pure joy. He has miscalculated and thought Katsuragi''s mind was weak, yet who would better fit the description of a stubborn loser? Even today, Katsuragi had been bested by Lent in terms of strategy, having not only his ambush failed, but his comrade taken hostage. This miscalculation was Lent''s fault, he still thought too low about Katsuragi. Or rather too high? Only the lowest of the low who don''t know any better and try anyway can attain such a high willpower.
On the other hand, the one thing Lent was worried about, the princess, has proved to have a willpower as strong as tofu! Slowly, Lent''s vision clears up, literally and figuratively. He may have wasted his [Order] for her for the day, but Katsuragi will fall because of it. With his partner, he can overpower the princess or wait another day to use [Order] again on her.
He just hopes that the princess won''t kill Katsuragi so that Star can kill him off instead and further the goals of the Lady!
Now it''s time to look for the other two. He stands up and uses [Dry] to get rid of the water in his clothes and hair. ¡°Wait for me, Momokawa Kyou. You will be mine.¡±
First, he will look for Correo. There are only few heroes left that his pendulum will detect, after all. In the end, Lent plans to visit all of those remaining heroes one after another to be as thoroughly as possible.
Volume 07 - Chapter 6-4
¡°Arako! What happened there!?¡± Momo runs next to me, her voice trembling in fear.
¡°Ah, human hearing. I forgot. To put it into simple words, Wood-kun said to Katarine-san ''Get him!'' and she started doing it.¡±
¡°What to do, what to do?¡±
¡°I suggest that you stop panicking first.¡±
¡°But Rine-chan!¡±
¡°I''m rather worried about Kenta-kun and whether he makes it out of it alive. His best chance would be to hide, so my assumption is that he''s running to a place with more vegetation. During my absence, have you secured one such place?¡±
¡°We have and it''s not in the direction he ran into!¡±
¡°I see. Then let''s assume that he has another plan. We are running to this vegetational spot?¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°Then lead me there.¡±
¡°It''s in the opposite direction!¡±
¡°You haven''t planned anything of it out, Momo. That''s the whole reason why this is a mess, nobody plans anything anymore, not Masahiko-kun, not Wood-kun, not even you. I''m disappointed.¡±
¡°Excuse me!?¡±
¡°Correo-kun has a relic that is able to find the closest hero. As I have touched it before, I won''t be considered. Your friends also touched it, so unless we have a random hero here, the relic will either lead to you, Katarine-san, or Kenta-kun.¡±
¡°So what do we do?¡±
¡°This is a very good question and I might return to it later. For now, I can only hope that Wood-kun is acting human and won''t look for Correo-kun to get his hands on the relic while Kenta-kun and Katarine-san will deal with each other.¡±
¡°How could it end like that?¡±
¡°That''s a question for another time.¡± I have some answers to that, yet they won''t prove useful here. ¡°We should concentrate on stuff that matters.¡±
¡°What would that be?¡±
¡°What kind of skill may Wood-kun have used on Katarine-san? It was the same voice he used against Kenta-kun, so why-¡±
¡°What''s important about that!?¡±
¡°It''s very important for my research.¡±
¡°How is it important right now!?¡±
¡°Despite being captured, I wasn''t able to obtain any information that will help me with it, so I need to work it off, after all.¡±
¡°Can''t you see- wait, do you know where my friend''s camp is?¡±
¡°I do.¡±
¡°Lead me there! I need to talk to them!¡±
Well, Kenta-kun''s plan didn''t work at all, so it might finally be the time to try Momo''s. Though it seems that having no plan at all is the most popular strategy today.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
We almost got it. Yet one single incident can turn everything around. Like having a princess of mass-murder and mutilation turn on me. With every step I make, I remember a memory of Rine cutting off body-parts of monsters and humans alike.
I... I''m afraid of Rine. Not in the sense that I couldn''t handle her when she was that overbearing girl that thought to be in love with me. No, I mean that I fear her as the girl whose capabilities of inflicting pain and death onto others exceeds anything that I have ever considered possible before.
Now this lurking feeling of fear is bursting out, racing through my heart and veins, rushing through my head and feet, rumbling in my stomach, and tingling my bladder. For how long have I suppressed all of this!? ...basically from the moment we met, when she was slaughtering kobolds.
Man, how pathetic. Rine may have not been honest with herself and weaved everything into a huge delusion of a world revolving around her, while a large piece of why I pushed her away is because I wasn''t honest with her and never admitted how much I fear her.
In a sense, this scene right now, me running away from her in fear of my life while she mindlessly chases me, is the perfect symbol of our relationship so far.
It would be poetic, if I weren''t running tears and afraid to even look back, as I believe that the moment I turn my head around may cost me a hundredth of a second of running-time.
Something hits my back with blunt force, toppling me over. I lift my arms to protect my face from the rocky ground. I feel arms wrapping around my hip, one of them holding something long and metallic. ¡°Rine, snap out of it!¡± I try to push her blonde head away, but she catches my hand and twists it. After some more struggle, she ends up mounting me, her sword still in her hand, my arms fixated by her knees.
...that''s it. Guess, that''s as far as it goes. I kinda feel bad, as I can''t help but imagine her face when she regains her consciousness.
I turn my head to the side while closing my eyes, the least I can do is to not stare at her as a corpse. I remember the incident when Kyou-san was kidnapped by fourbirds and an etna, the mountain-creature woke up, throwing us off. Back then, I tried my best to make sure that I shield Rine from the fall as much as possible to give her feelings of guilt... Now I want to spare her from that as much as possible...
Maybe I should have been more open around her. It''s not like I regret how I treated her false feelings for me, but I guess I treated her only as a nuisance that happened to be way too good in combat.
¡
Also, I should have given her more proper guidance in her personal dilemma that I caused in the first place. It''s just that I''m not an expert of stuff like that and didn''t want to screw it up.
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
OK, why am I not dead and what''s that rustling sound and that strange feeling on my chest? I slowly open an eye and see how Rine is opening up the belts of my armor while she''s rubbing herself at my stomach... The sensual expression on her face could be pictured under ''lust'' in a dictionary.
...wait, is she-?
Yoshimura said ''Get him!'' I mean, it''s vague, but who could thought that it would amount to her raping me!?
I pick up my resistance again as I may have surrendered my life, but not my chastity! I struggle, trying to free my arms from beneath her knees, yet she shifts her weight accordingly to counter all of my attempts.
Oh shit! Shit, shit, shit! She drops her weapon and her now free hand creeps towards another sword. It''s not ready yet, mirroring the feeling of not knowing what to do.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Wait, I¡¯m still holding my spear! I switch to [Pikeman]. ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± The wind-current is the strongest I have mustered to this day, throwing Rine off who lands nimbly on her feet, while the skill catapults me into the air. Two.
Even before touching the ground, I change to [Ranger] and activate my stealth-mode. ...Rine, why are you looking at me? Shit, [Spouse-Location]! I knew it would backfire! She steps towards me, but then turns her head to the sword lying next to her...
Rine would never abandon this sword, it''s a weapon from her revered forefather. She may treat it roughly, use it to cut things like wood for our campfire and the like, but it''s still important to her. Even mind-control won''t change it.
Which gives me the perfect opportunity to run again. Rine doesn''t follow me immediately. However, I start hearing a distant sound, someone is fighting. These growls, are there rocky-bears? Is it the boss? Please no...
Yet this may be my best bet to distract Rine long enough for the mind-control to wear off. Yes, she has picked up the sword and turns roughly in my direction, it may be the only chance to get her off my tail!
The fighting is coming from inside that crevice. ...urgh, it''s Hoshibashi, cleaving through a rocky-bear with his clublike sword. Next to him is the shrimp, while on the other end is Inoue.
¡°...there!¡± Even the dark one is here and aims at me with his bow.
Rine is directly behind me... Dammit, I¡¯ll just run through! Ignoring monsters and people alike, I pass all of them.
Fake looks at the direction I''m coming from: ¡°Katarine-hime? The- Is that... Teruko, Katsuo, you''ll take care of the monsters, Hoshibashi-kun, take the princess, I''ll run after him!¡±
¡°I have no time for you, Fake!¡± I yell at him, but I guess it''s a lost cause. Just like his whole existence.
I leave the crevice to another grassy field, there are some scrubs here as well¡ªeven some trees¡ªand blue hares and trunked deers are running away from the two Japanese people who play a game of cat and mouse.
Dammit, Fake accelerates! Is that like Rine''s [Swishstride]!? He draws both of his swords...
I turn around and lift my spear while deactivating my skills. ¡°You know what, Fake? I''ll fight you. This will give me at least some solace.¡± Today everything went wrong. So I can have at least some fun by beating him up, right? Also, if Hoshibashi fights Rine, things could become awry, so I can''t go off too far. Maybe he might have even the edge with Rine in her current condition. Or maybe he will cause her to snap out of it? I mean, I can hope, right?
¡°Katsuragi-kun, give up. Then nobody gets further hurt.¡±
Again with this -kuning. ¡°Still playing the goody-two-shoes? Why don''t you give up?¡±
¡°You have hurt my friends.¡±
¡°You can be glad they''re still alive.¡±
¡°Grr...!¡± Yes, this is finally an honest face. ¡°[Dual Thrust]!¡± He rushes at me with two blades at once, I brace my spear to make him stab himself. For a moment it seems like he actually did it, but there is no weight at my weapon. Has he created an afterimage?
Yet I''m still in [Ranger] and I can hear him coming from the side and block his attack again. He starts to attack with both his weapons, but I effortlessly block all of his attacks while going back one step at a time. ¡°Is that all?¡±
¡°[Double Flurry]!¡± Too bad that I keep track of his movements with [Focus]. Before he can start his skill, I leap back and let him hit the air instead of me.
¡°Not impressed.¡± How can I put it... it''s not like he sucks at fighting but... well, he kinda does. I guess I''m still above him level-wise, but that''s not all.
¡°[Wolf Fang]!¡± He uses another skill, this time a low-high combo. Still, he telegraphed it as well so I can easily evade it.
Still, it doesn''t seem like he will falter. I guess he still has some tricks up his sleeve. Well, me too.
Now it''s my time to attack. I use the length of my weapon to unleash a series of thrusts while stepping back, Fake parries them while approaching. I''m sure he wants to get into close-quarter, thinking that the spear will suck there, but unless he grabs me, I''ll be able to handle it.
Then he starts spinning: ¡°[Whirldrill]!¡± This isn''t good, I jump to the side as he picks up speed while deflecting my last attack with enough force to almost make me lose balance. Using this small time-frame, he switches his skill: ¡°[Dual Thrust]!¡±
¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± I unleash my own skill, yet instead of him, I''m the one who is pushed back by my sweep. So despite the level-difference, he may even have stronger base-stats... so he had a [Class-up] at least. A base-class wouldn''t be able to stand against [Ranger].
¡°Katsuragi. Give up.¡± He''s like a broken record. I sneer at him. ¡°So be it,¡± he almost sighs, most likely relieved that he can finally end me with all the people that might watch him saying that he was forced to do it. Both of his blades begin to vibrate: ¡°[Thundertusk]!¡± This is bad!
He unleashes his attack while stepping forward, it''s as much about stabbing someone as about ripping someone apart with a shockwave. The only problem is that I''m not where he aimed it. The only thing Fake can see is how his attack is causing some leaves to fall off the tree.
Yes, the tree. I slowly lured Fake towards one, then I used [Distraction] to throw his aim off and vanished from his eyes in my stealth-mode which is coupled with [Mask of Wildlife]. After training with the alfar, I became pretty good at climbing trees and now I''m sitting on a branch with a tree-[Camouflage].
Fake looks around, but he can''t see me. He even looks directly at me, but with my colors changed and my spirit untraceable for him, he just thinks of me as an extension of the tree. He seems in thought for a moment. Time to end it!
I grab my spear with both hands. He has turned away, most likely searching the plain, I will knock him off with a smack on the back of his head. With this intention, I jump off the tree.
*Clank* I hit something, but it''s just his stupid red cape. For some reason, that cape is hard! Also, it just rose up right before my attack!
Inoue turns his head to me: ¡°Found you.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Katsuragi-kun is every bit as strong as Daichi said. This is what Braxas and shishou warned Masahiko about, how fighting people is much different than fighting monsters.
How many people has Katsuragi-kun fought? How many did he kill? There is a vast gap in fighting experience here. Yet Masahiko has stayed away from his magic sword, reminded of shishou''s warning.
The moment Katsuragi-kun disappeared, Masahiko was reminded of what Daichi warned him about. Using stealth in the midst of combat is something Masahiko didn''t believe was possible, yet Katsuragi-kun has skills that can actually do it.
However, Masahiko has his own [Ability] that Katsuragi-kun hasn''t accounted for: [Metalmancy]. The magic to manipulate metal. It''s used by the dari and one of their secrets. Masahiko used the basic spell [Find Metal] to find the only metal item Katsuragi-kun carries on his person: A single knife.
The cape Masahiko is wearing is a present from the dari, it''s made out of metal-cloth, which can also be manipulated via [Metalmancy]. Without it and [Metalsheet] he would have been defeated.
Seeing Katsuragi-kun dumbfounded, Masahiko states: ¡°Found you.¡± Then he changes from [Vanguard] to [Champion]. ¡°[Drillkick]!¡±
He hits Katsuragi-kun in the side. The kick packs enough force and spin to cause Katsuragi-kun''s face to distort in pain before he''s smacked against the tree. Without any hesitation, Masahiko begins to pummel his former classmate with knee-kicks, hits with the hilt of his blades and elbows.
Katsuragi-kun''s muscle grows and he pushes Masahiko away before he falls into a violent onslaught of attacks, yet looking at Katsuragi-kun''s face makes clear that he might be angry, but not out of his mind. There is still reason in his attacks.
¡°[Steelslicer]!¡± The first sword. ¡°[Steelslicer]!¡± The second one. With two weapons, it''s possible to unleash single-weapon skills in faster succession by alternating, yet Katsuragi-kun evades the first and hits Masahiko during the second with the spear-pole, throwing his aim off another time.
For a moment, Masahiko had the upper hand, but now it shifts back to Katsuragi-kun again.
Katsuragi-kun becomes a [Ranger] again and vanishes for another time. Masahiko switches to [Vanguard] and uses [Detect Metal]. It''s like an incorporeal sheet-like arm he can move to touch metal and therefore sense it. He doesn''t even need to see where he''s using the spell.
Masahiko feels the metal, so Katsuragi-kun is looking for a better attack angle. Masahiko keeps his cape under control, ready to use it to shield himself if the need arises, while staying still, because he notices something. It''s Katsuragi-kun''s movements! He sticks to the tree. Masahiko remembers Ara''ainn''s words, that the more vegetation is around him, the more powerful Katsuragi-kun will be. This is one of the elves'' secrets he stole.
Feeling righteous justice, Masahiko decides it''s time to attack. Katsuragi-kun has most likely aborted several offensives because he''s wary, but now Masahiko feels the metal his fellow student is carrying on the other side of the tree.
Quick and decisive, Masahiko circumvents the tree, only to see a knife. Then he''s violently punched in the face, almost losing consciousness, then another time, and a third. His arm is grabbed, pressed against the tree and another heavy blow is struck onto his hand, causing him to lose the sword.
Completely disoriented with blood running down his face, he looks at Katsuragi-kun who elbows him again...
Then Masahiko is released. He falls onto the ground while trying to shake the pain off. He can see an arrow stuck in the tree above him. He follows its course, seeing Teruko and Katsuo rushing towards him. Katsuragi-kun is nowhere to be seen...
Masahiko lost.
He was confident about how he would get Kyou back, about how he would defeat Katsuragi-kun, only to be mercilessly beat up the moment he thought he had the upper hand. Katsuragi-kun was smart, he had the second-best grades in class. Masahiko should have known that Katsuragi-kun would see through [Detect Metal] right away... Did he come to the conclusion after hitting the cape? In that one moment?
¡°Masa-kun! Are you alright!?¡± Teruko arrives on the scene.
¡°I''m hurt... especially on my pride.¡±
¡°Don''t be a baby. Can you stand?¡±
¡°A moment, please.¡± He slowly gets up and looks at his friends. ¡°I''m sorry. I got careless.¡±
¡°Come on, maybe Katsu-kun shot the arrow too fast. You would have turned things around after some more punches.¡±
¡°You think?¡±
¡°...well, I also got almost beaten, so...¡±
¡°Thanks for your honesty.¡±
¡°If we hurry, we may get to the princess and Hoshibashi-kun in time.¡±
Volume 07 - Chapter 6-5
Arako leads me to a small camp and I can see two people there. Daichi-kun, who quickly puts on his helmet and readies his axe. Eri-chan, who points her staff at me. I touch the ring on my finger to reassure myself.
I hate to admit it, but most of this mess is my own fault. Lies of embarrassment growing more and more until they become huge misunderstandings. If I hadn''t let them in the belief of a mind-controlling ring, how would have all of this turned out?
The only thing that counters a lie is the truth. I knew it, because these are words that my personal heroes believed in: Truth, friendship, justice. I have to be honest with them.
Still, my stomach acts up, my feet grow cold, and it becomes increasingly harder to breathe. It has been a long time since I¡¯ve been so nervous. Talking was never so difficult. I wish Masahiko-kun was here; it''d be much easier to talk to him.
Daichi-kun comes closer. ¡°Kyou-san! You could escape!?¡± Despite being alarmed, he also seems to be happy. This is another dart of guilt right into my heart.
Eri-chan stays doubtful. ¡°Wait Daichi-kun. Kyou-chan, why are you here?¡±
¡°...to come clean with you.¡± Slowly, I take Arako''s hand, I need some support. For some reason she nods at me... She doesn''t understand at all what I meant and the way she changes to [Acrobat] makes me sure that she has some stupid idea what I want to do! ¡°*sigh*¡± At least she''s not doing whatever she thought of yet. ¡°Eri-chan, Daichi-kun... I''m sorry!¡± I bow to the two of them earnestly. ¡°I messed up! Big time!¡± It becomes easier to say it after the initial words: ¡°There is no mind-control ring, Ken doesn''t have any control over me, it''s just a huge misunderstanding!¡± Oh, that feels so good! Yet I also feel sick because of these feelings of guilt flowing through my body, so it feels almost as bad as good. So in total, only a little good.
¡°Kyou-chan...¡± Eri looks at me... why are you pitying me. ¡°Did Katsuragi make you do this?¡±
¡°...no! Why would he!?¡±
¡°Sorry. I didn''t mean to... I mean, even if I ask, you can''t answer that.¡± What-
Daichi-kun comes closer and puts his hand on my shoulder. ¡°You don''t need to pretend.¡± He says a bit clumsily.
How... how am I pretending!? I''m honest! ¡°Seriously, listen to me. I made you believe a big, fat lie!¡±
¡°Momo,¡± Arako says to me while her ears start twitching. ¡°I think they''re ignoring you.¡±
¡°...what is she doing here anyway?¡± Eri-chan looks at Arako with disapproval. ¡°I thought you fled, elf.¡±
...this isn''t good. She called Arako elf! She hates being reduced to a word that others use on their species because of ignorance! ¡°Duman,¡± she starts with a biting tone: ¡°your ignorance is only topped by your immaturity.¡± This is rich, coming from you, Arako!
¡°What did you say!?¡±
¡°Don''t talk to Eri-san like that!¡±
Both Eri-chan and Daichi-kun are furious by Arako''s tone and words. I need to calm everyone down: ¡°Stop it! All of you! I''m not here to argue. Stay calm and listen. First, we can call each other by first name. And second, I don''t know what happened between all of you, but that''s not important right now. We''re all played by Correo-san, Yoshimura-kun, and Hoshibashi-kun! So we sho-¡±
¡°It''s Katsuragi!¡± Daichi-kun interrupts in an angry voice. ¡°He''s out to kill us!¡±
¡°If he were, you would be already dead,¡± I try to talk sense into him.
¡°...has he killed people?¡±
¡°Yes, he has. I have as well. It-¡±
¡°Oh, Kyou-chan.¡± Eri-chan pulls me into an embrace. ¡°You have gone through a lot. What has he done to you?¡±
Why aren''t they listening to me? ¡°Eri-chan, stop it. Whatever you think of Ken, he''s not like that.¡±
¡°Kyou-chan, don''t worry. We will take care of him. By any means necessary.¡± At this moment, I understand. Eri-chan isn''t interested in the truth. She just wants Ken to pay for what he has done to her.
¡°Eri-chan, please!¡±
¡°Daichi-kun.¡± Eri-chan pushes me into Daichi-kun''s arms.
I can''t move a bit. Daichi-kun has quickly put me into a hold. ¡°Sorry, Kyou-san. You''re not yourself.¡±
With a swift strike of her staff, Arako hits Eri-chan in the face. My Japanese friend starts crying out in pain, yet my alfr friend isn''t finished: ¡°[Chin-upper]!¡± Arako''s skill hits Eri-chan under her chin and is strong enough for her feet to leave the ground. Yet this isn''t enough, Arako changes her class to [Druid] again: ¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± Since the Spirit Swamps, she became very skilled at changing classes mid-combo.
¡°Eri-san!¡± Daichi-kun still holds me, so he can''t jump in to support her without letting me go.
¡°Uaaaahhh. My nose!¡± Hit by the [Fountain Gun], Eri-chan lies on the ground while groaning. ¡°You bitch!¡± Despite the pain, she gets up and eyes full of hatred look at Arako.
But the alfr is eerily calm. ¡°You started it.¡±
¡°So you''re working with Katsuragi after all! Give us our friend back! [Dirt Sling]!¡±
¡°[Watershield]!¡± The spell is repelled by a barrier made out of water. ¡°Baldy, what she said. Give me my friend back.¡±
¡°Don''t you dare ignore me, elf!¡±
¡°I don''t ignore you. I just think you''re not worth my time.¡±
¡°Grr... [Airshot]!¡± It also hits the [Watershield] without much effect. ¡°[Earth Grasp]!¡± This time she attacks from below, but Arako just evades that attack.
She doesn''t even look at the hand made out of earth that tried to get her ankle. ¡°[Icicle Knives]!¡± Instead she creates blades of ice she throws at Daichi-kun.
He turns around and takes the attacks with his armor.
¡ ¡°[Itching Breath]!¡± I take one pinch of powder from my arm pouch and blow it into his face, his skin becomes red and he starts jerking. He still doesn''t loosen his hold though. ¡°Sorry.¡± I start resisting, then I cheat a [Mirrored Moon] in, Daichi-kun sees a me that''s outside of his grasp and this makes him falter.
Therefore he''s open for Arako''s next attack. She changes to [Acrobat]: ¡°[Scoprion''s Tail]!¡± and makes a somersault attack. Daichi-kun grunts. His hold is now weak enough for me to break free.
¡°Ugh... huh...huh...¡± He breathes sharply as he holds his side.
In this situation, Ken would usually call for a retreat. However, I know that the only way to make these idiots listen is to make them. ¡°I''ll take care of Eri-chan.¡±
¡°Why do I get the big baldy?¡± Arako complains.
I don''t answer her and face my friend and something that lingered on my mind for a long time is finally spoken out: ¡°If it weren''t for you...¡± Eri-chan was the one who convinced the others to leave me in Feuerberg. ¡°You know nothing about Ken!¡± He never left me. I remember vividly how he saved me from falling down when we were attacked by those ostrich-like birds. The moment the curse wed us... Of course, he was dependent on me, but nonetheless... ¡°I knew nothing about him! We were all wrong!¡± Ken never wanted to actively antagonize any of us. He might think ill of us, but he was fine with leaving us alone, he didn''t care. ¡°He''s a massive moron, he''s an asshole, but he also has his good sides!¡± They are hidden very well, but the moment he cares about something, he sees it through.
¡°Listen to yourself! [Dirt Sling]!¡± It''s a spell strong enough to render me unconscious, given that I don''t have the beef and endurance of a warrior. Yet I have attained my own experiences. Avoiding straight attacks at this speed and distance is nothing. ¡°Wha-!¡± Eri-chan staggers as I activate [Mirrored Moon] to create an illusionary doppelganger.
With this, I tackle her, bringing her down. I slap her face twice before she can hit me back. She may be stronger in battle, but it''s obvious that she''s currently in a bad spot. She could always rely on people protecting her. On the other hand, I had to fight monsters on my own since they left me behind. Since joining Ken, I faced innumerable dangers.
I was so ready for this! Hey, stop scratching, bitch!
Arako starts attacking Daichi-kun who tries to get between Eri-chan and me. ...I hope Ken and Rine-chan are alright at least.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Why am I here? Woah, that one looks dangerous! I better evade it, one, two, three more steps. I have learned that keeping a bigger distance to attacks that look as heavy as that one is better. Now that I think about it, my instructor always palavered about the ''frame'' of an attack: You may see the weapon but it''s the frame that you need to dodge.
Back to my last memories before I woke up, I was kinda hurt. No, disappointed? I sure wish Ara would be here, she would throw me some words I could choose from. For some time, I have had all these feelings that are more distinct than the ones I knew before, so I lack the words to describe them properly.
Yes, Kenta and I faced that hero with the beard... Yoshimura-dono. I don''t remember that well, because I was overwhelmed with my own emotions. Yes, it''s because of Kenta. In the last few days he made some choices I''m not content with. Bad choices as well.
The attack of the bandits. While I think decimating bandits is a good thing as they attack and rob innocent people, we didn''t raid them for this reason... I think I can live with it, I mean, here I can think of the result.
Another giant swing, I jump at the wall and run some steps on it while the weapon follows me, plowing its path through solid rock. It also slows down with all that resistance, so I''m still quicker. No problem.
Then the incident in the inn, when he and Ara pranked the bard... While I can understand Kenta being angry, I also think it was in bad taste. I think Kenta resents this as well, so let''s not dwell on that as well.
The wall I''m running on is falling apart, so if I jump at that falling rock and use it to propel myself further, I''ll be fine.
Now we come to the fight with that giant rocky-bear. I''m ashamed that I was taken out that easily, my instructor would have laughed at me, asking me why I didn''t just cleave through the rock before it hit me. Maybe I could have done it, to be honest. I was kinda unprepared for it, a sign of my inexperience. It was scary being trapped there! I had almost no space to swing my sword and without force behind my strikes, it''s hard to cut rocks. It was especially scary when the water came... Kenta may have explained everything afterward, but... I still want him to apologize.
Rocks are shattered and hurled into my direction, I deflect most of them back.
The fight between Kenta and Kyou... it hurts. Why does it hurt me so much more than it does the two of them? Why is Ara thinking that it''s good that they fight? No matter how much I think about it, Kyou likes Kenta, and Kenta likes Kyou. They may be not always on good terms, but... how can I put it into words... Kyou and Kenta are so close... they understand each other... while I...Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
They have what I want. I don''t even know exactly what it is anymore, but whenever I see the two of them together, be it arguing, be it getting along, be it holding hands, or just openly ignoring each other, I feel something I yearn for so desperately.
Two weapons at once flurrying at me, I parry most attacks while balancing on some of the larger rocks.
The plan to ambush Kyou''s friends... couldn''t we have just talked it out? I mean, if Correo has manipulated them, why not beat up Correo on the spot? Why is everyone tip-toeing around this matter? I mean, we can easily confirm what¡¯s going on if we ask them, and even if we¡¯re forced to fight them, then at least we figured out what¡¯s up.
Maybe it''s easier to say now, as there are less people involved than Kenta feared. If there had been another mercenary army... last time, it didn''t go well. Haa really helped us back then.
Suddenly, I''m alone here, but there is danger from the left. I jump aside and avoid another quick attack.
Then Kenta''s decision to leave Ara with them and make another attempt, this time only he and I with the help of the cougars. When he asked me to speak to them, I hadn''t thought that he would use them as a distraction to feed the chaos. When he explained it to me later, I was angry! Oh, he shouldn''t have done that! In his original plan, he would have kidnapped a cub or two and thrown them onto Kyou''s friends! Good that I could at least talk him into not doing something this horrible! Though I still believe that this may have been a trick to make me somewhat agree with the actual version.
The two weapons are exchanged for the big one again, now wildly swinging, I duck under the first, jump over the second while spinning in the air to get a bit more momentum.
When I faced Kyou''s friends, the only thing I could do was run away. I know that Kenta wanted me to defeat them, but I was so unsure of what to do. I mean, they''re Kyou¡¯s friends, I don''t want to hurt them! Yet I also didn''t know how to strike a conversation at that point! When someone approaches me with a drawn weapon, I usually hurt them very badly!
I''m an easy target while airborne, that''s why I use my foot to push me away from the only solid surface in reach, it''s fleshy and hairy.
When I decided to look for Kenta using [Spouse-Location], I ran into Yoshimura-dono. I was at the end of my emotional resource, but that was one of the bad guys that had attacked Aroahenn, it should have been so simple. Why did Kenta even consider their offer?
Is it me, who isn''t smart enough to understand it or is it he, who lacks the morality to see that this decision would have been wrong? Or was it a ruse, as he has attacked Yoshimura-dono nonetheless? Then why did he tell me to remember that feeling?
A shockwave, I cancel it with my own. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡±
Yoshimura-dono said something to me... yes, it was like something deep inside had started to unleash. Chasing something I desired, making it my own. It almost felt like I felt before the Spirit Swamps, yet much more primal. It felt good, it was simple. I feel like I had it for a moment, that I was about to finally get a taste of what I was waiting for so long...
Lust. I mean, I can feel how hot and wet my crotch is. It''s only like this when I have my most romantic and most sensual dreams... or when I do that. Yes, I was overwhelmed by my desire to finally be one with Kenta.
Yet, it''s in contradiction to what my mind starts to believe. Kenta asked me to observe him, to make my own picture of the true him. I think I''m about to have it, but I''m not sure if I like it. I think this might be the scariest thing of all, having this lust for someone who I don''t like... wouldn''t that make me a dirty girl?
A rush attack, I step aside, one, two, three. I really get the hang of the frame of the attacks. At least something that goes right! Who am I fighting anyway? I look at the long-haired man with the blonde tips and a rough beard. It''s not a beard someone grows but a beard someone doesn''t shave.
The massive man looks at me with a wide grin. He seems to enjoy our bout. I feel bad, because until this moment, I haven''t even properly looked at him. His name was Hoshibashi-dono, if I recall correctly. Should I tell him that I''m sorry? Maybe not... I mean, he''s enjoying it.
Sometimes I don''t think it makes a difference whether I actively think about a fight or not. My body moves on its own, it''s just like my instructor trained me. He said that making decisions is a waste of time for me.
...suddenly, I realize that this sure is an insult!
¡°Are you in despair?¡± Hoshibashi-dono asks me, most likely seeing my face after learning the true meaning of my instructor''s words.
¡°No, I''m shocked.¡±
¡°You haven''t even tasted my true strength.¡±
¡°Not about that. I was thinking about someone else.¡±
¡°...¡± Oh, I think I hurt him after all. ¡°Have Lent talked to you?¡±
¡°About us joining you?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I decline.¡±
¡°Good.¡± Ah, didn''t Yoshimura-dono say that they will kill us if we refuse? ¡°Then it''s time for my true strength.¡± Suddenly, his smile becomes wider and somewhat scary. It''s so maniacal! His muscles grow even stronger, then he lifts his big, metallic clubsword and swings at me.
Feeling reminded of the fight with the oni, I jump back and get some distance. Even from here I feel how much power is in this strike as the attack is sharp enough to blow wind into my face. He may even have more power than the oni?
¡°UAAAAARGH!¡± He jumps, swinging his weapon overhead. I jump back again, this time it''s rubble that I need to be concerned about as the clubsword opens the rocky ground and hurls pieces around. One is as tall as me!
I jump at it and push it back with my feet, Hoshibashi-dono lifts his arm and catches it, but he can''t see me now, so I swiftly keep myself at the ground and cut his left leg from under the rock piece. Yet the wound isn''t that deep as I need to retreat because he is about to hit me with the rock piece which instead crumbles and creates a dust cloud.
Despite not seeing me, he charges through the foliage directly at me. I evade him while spinning once to land a kick at the back of his head, but I''m not sure if it did anything except making him angrier.
He turns around and tries to overwhelm me with a barrage of attacks. If I take the safety distance into account, I''m barely able to dodge them. I would love to parry him, but he uses the length of his weapon to full effect and is somehow able to wield it without losing his balance for a moment despite its weight. It''s too heavy for me to parry it without being bashed around by its force and I can''t cut his fingers off this way.
I need to remember that this is one of the bad guys, so I should be able to just cut him down in a cool manner, but my body does its best to keep me outside the frame of his attack. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± With a fast backstep, I use the skill, hoping to make him block it and then seize the moment.
He doesn''t block. He doesn''t even care. Maybe it''s too weak? Kicking him doesn''t work, [Crescent Moon] doesn''t work, and while my sword can cut him, I need to put my weight into it to have a long-lasting effect. His leg-wound has closed, so shallow wounds won''t be that helpful either.
Could it be that I''m in trouble? Hoshibashi-dono attacks are fast and strong, which makes them difficult to properly counter. Yet even if I land a hit, he can just ignore it and it will heal in time.
¡°[Swishstride]!¡± This means I need to land in a good attack, and to do that I need to create a time-frame to do it. His big weapon swings around, but I step around its arc: ¡°[Dismember]!¡± At this moment, I realize that this is a mistake.
My body moves on its own. The first attack hits, but is repelled with a *clank*, it sounds like Hoshbashi-dono''s skin is made out of iron, then I''m grabbed by my head and hurled against the wall, while my body is actually still going through the [Dismember]-movements. I can''t stop them to land on my feet!
¡°Urgh!¡± This hurts! I can''t breathe. Yet this made me stop my skill and I get back on my feet. I''m still fully capable.
¡°UAAAAAH!¡± Hoshibashi-dono is also charging at me, but he stops suddenly. ¡°Ugh?¡± He looks at his arm which is penetrated by an arrow. I know these heads, it''s Kenta! ¡°Grr...¡± Hoshibashi-dono turns around, looking from where the attack came from.
I''m also looking while standing up, as my body moves like I want to again. Kenta is so good at canceling skills, I also need to learn that.
Speaking of Kenta, he''s running at us, he looks... not really angry, more angrily annoyed. ¡°Finally snapped out of it?¡± He says while looking at me. I cock my head, unsure what he''s meaning. ¡°Just take him out and we''ll rejoin the rest.¡±
I feel stronger with Kenta here! ¡°[Sweep]!¡± This skill worked during our last encounter, so I''m sure that this will give me an advantage, especially given that Hoshibashi-dono is distracted by Kenta. It''s not like this is a duel, so I don''t need to adhere to any rules.
My kick hits him, but he swings his arm in the meantime, again while I''m moving my body accordingly to my skill. I should stop using skills against him.
Hoshibashi-dono and I hit the ground at the same time, we both also stand up simultaneously. Kenta rushes at me and takes my hand: ¡°Quick! He got reinforcements!¡± He points behind him, where more of Kyou''s friends are, one is just lowering his bow. Why though?
¡°AAAAAAAAH! [Titan''s-]¡± This is a dangerous skill, so I step in-between and thrust my sword right through his torso, this time it went through without a problem, causing a fatal wound. This time it''s you who couldn''t dodge due to your skill! But the injury doesn''t stop him. ¡°[-Blo-]
Kenta let go of my hand and ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± sweeps with his spear close to me and Hoshibashi-dono is hurled away with great force. This is one of Kenta''s powerful attacks. It must be the third in short succession, as he begins to fall on one knee while holding his head, his face distorted in pain. ¡°...ughhh...¡±
He needs to recuperate! I grab his hand again and now I''m the one who drags him away.
Hoshibashi-dono is standing up. Any normal person would be knocked out, but he''s a hero. For even a hero it would be so painful that it''d be impossible to stand straight for a while, yet he just ignores it.
So many battles, ambushes, and skirmishes with little breaks in-between. So many wounds that are just carried over... is this why father summoned the heroes?
Yet now there are more important things to do. Like getting our party together. Maybe I can then decide what I want to do. ¡°Where to, Kenta?¡±
¡°Ugh... section A, this way.¡±
We run with all we have. Hoshibashi-dono seem to want to give chase for a moment, but suddenly, Inoue-dono stands in front of him: ¡°STOP IT, HOSHIBASHI-KUN! YOU''RE HURT!¡±
This is the chance we need to get away.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Correo looks at the fleeing princess and the teenage boy who has escaped him before, almost spoiling the assault of Aroahenn. Katsuragi Kenta seems to be at his limits, yet he pushes forward. Correo knows how resilient heroes are, yet he also knows that heroes are neither invincible nor inexhaustible.
In fact, when hunting heroes, using a decent amount of pressure over time is more reliable than using too many forces at once. Yet this time, Correo decided to use other heroes and witness by himself what exactly made these particular heroes able to escape him. The fact that Wood-dono was so desperate to take over leadership also made the merchant decide to use that opportunity to observe. It doesn''t matter if Correo gets the princess this time for his own plans.
Princess Katarine, the Irregular. A hero, who shouldn''t be one, by means Correo doesn''t know. After the mess in Aroahenn and learning about her from the Lady, he has visited Feuerberg himself, using a recommendation of a fellow merchant and offering some particular relics to gain the trust of the king. Of course, this is a long-time project, as he only engaged in this to learn more about the princess, despite his former demurrals to be involved with their royal family.
Momokawa Kyou, the Mastermind. When Correo met her, he was sure that she had some of the nastiest traits a person can have: Charisma, empathy, and desires. His investigations in Feuerberg ended up hearing a lot of praise for her, she fooled most if not everybody. What she lacked, however, was firepower, which she now commands.
Katsuragi Kenta, the Renegade. He left Esse the day after he was summoned, a big unknown factor for most people. During their first encounter, Correo saw a young man who didn''t trust anything. Usually an easy target for manipulation, yet Correo underestimated him.
Seeing them and their elven friend in action makes Correo glad that he hasn''t put any of his own resources into this mission. There is something off about these heroes, the way they move and quickly adapt plans... it''s like they had superior communication and used it as a base for their plans. Communication is the key component for any planning involving other people.
The real question is what to do with this information.
Thinking about this and many other observations he could do at his current position, physically and figuratively speaking, Correo walks to Star Killer who is hard-pressed by Inoue Masahiko to be treated. ¡°I say, this heals fast enough!¡± Star is about to hit his ally.
¡°No! You need treatment! There is a hole in your stomach!¡± Inoue-dono, however, stands with much more determination than the one who called himself ''true hero'' before.
¡°Excuse me,¡± Correo says to them.
¡°Correo! Good to see you. Tell him that he can''t chase after Katsuragi and the princess in his condition.¡±
¡°They''re right, Hoshibashi-dono. Don''t worry about him, Inoue-dono. You and your friends may catch up if you run, I''ll take over his treatment. That''s the least I can do.¡±
¡°Thank you! Teruko, Katsuo. Let''s go.¡± Inoue-dono is a curious person who is ready to let his chance of success escape to do whatever he thinks is right. The best way to manipulate that sort of person is to support them.
¡°Hoshibashi-dono, please get your first aid kit.¡± Correo doesn''t have a hero''s backpack, so he carries only what he needs on his person.
¡°Grr...¡± Killer-dono does as Correo asks and the merchant starts treating the hero. At least until Inoue-dono is out of sight. ¡°Dammit, Correo! I would have ripped them apart! I was so close!¡±
¡°I know. Yet there is no need to rush. Remember Wood-dono''s plan, let the others weaken each other.¡± Wood-dono has many good ideas, but he''s still too impatient. The moment he sees the first opportunity, he grabs at it. This is the result of inexperience. After grasping the first opportunity follows waiting for the best opportunity and after this mindset is proven flawed, it''s waiting for a good opportunity.
¡°Where is Lent?¡±
¡°He''s close.¡± Correo knows that Wood-dono is looking for him, but Correo needed to get a better look at the whole situation. ¡°Do you think you can take on the princess in your [Berserker]-class?¡± A very important piece of information for every further planning.
¡°On her own, I''ll eventually win. She''s good, but I''ll outlast her. Katsuragi just now was strange though. Suddenly, he was much more dangerous. Only for a moment though.¡±
Correo nods as he has seen that one attack from afar. ¡°Most likely a special [Skill].¡± Trusting Killer-dono''s instincts, it seems like a [Skill] that provides a momentary power-surge.
¡°Correo! I was looking for you!¡± Wood-dono has finally caught up and starts complaining. ¡°Partner? Are you wounded?¡±
¡°Just a scratch. Was caught by surprise, nothing to be concerned about.¡± With [No Pain] and [Regeneration], Killer-dono is able to receive massive damage without even flinching, while his wounds slowly heals. Supported by the hero''s body, even the most basic treatment is enough to reduce even mortal wounds to minor setbacks.
¡°Tell me what happened.¡± Wood-dono listens to the story. ¡°I tried to influence Katsuragi, it didn''t go well. The princess was an easy target though. If they fled together, she must have snapped out of it which makes it impossible for me to use [Order] again on her for a while. Inoue is after them... let''s return to the original plan. Make them all fight against each other while we recuperate. Star, you''ll use [Berserker] immediately and I''ll take care of what''s left. Correo, you act as our scout.¡±
Correo smiles, this is exactly what he would have decided in Wood-dono¡¯s shoes, so he''s curious whether this is a good decision or not.
Volume 07 - Chapter 7-1 - Word to the Person we Care About
Chapter 7 ¨C Word to the Person we Care About
¡°Shit, shit, shit!¡±
¡°Kenta, I don''t think cursing helps.¡±
¡°It does for me! Argh!¡± This is the worst. I have three powerful attacks per day and I may have wasted them. One to severely damage muscle-brain, one to break myself free from Rine, and the final one to push Hoshibashi back.
I can only guess why there is this limit, but the third time always costs me a third of my SP and causes me pain. I guess it¡¯s because I can''t use it properly. Ara-san suspects that it''s too imbalanced, that I push my body only one-sidedly and therefore can''t endure the backlash. Yet it''s the only way I can do it now!
I have chugged down an SP-pot, but we''re most likely chased and I can be glad that this shit is all taking course over only one day, as I would need to consider the [Worn-out]-condition otherwise, which shuts down the whole body.
For it to happen last time, I had a forced march the day before, fought against mercenaries in a one-against-all and then had a kilometer-long dash to catch up with the girls, followed by a fight with the oni. All things considered, today is less taxing, but it''d be better to finish everything quickly.
¡°Kenta? They are behind us.¡±
¡°Dammit!¡± I turn around and see Fake and two of his posse in the distance. However, I can''t see Hoshibashi which is concerning given his [Stealth]-skills. Should we engage them and finally get rid of some? I would need to rely on Rine, looking at my own condition...
Kyou-san. I need Kyou-san! Her [Heal] and [Stamina]-spells alleviate the headache somewhat. With the outlay of Section A, we have to go that way and enter the cliffs we escaped from before... into enemy territory.
We''re running in cycles, which perfectly sums up everything we faced since my encounter with the invisible enemy. Trying to circumvent each other, looking for a weakness. Let''s try it straight this time!
[Tracking]. I see the tracks of several people, still fresh and easy to follow in the dust and dirt. There are Ara-san''s bare feet. ¡°Rine, keep your eyes behind.¡± She''s able to deflect arrows which is most likely the only reason why we weren''t shot yet.
What is this noise!? ¡°Give up!¡± It''s Kyou-san, and I think she''s brawling... no, this can''t be, I mean, whenever Kyou-san fights, she''s the stabby type.
Then we turn around the corner I see Kyou-san mounting ponytail while punching her... I have to be daydreaming. I rub my nose-bridge. ¡°Phew...¡± I need to look at it one more time. Yes, I was right, Kyou-san is bullying her so-called friend, whose face looks even more demolished than before.
¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± Not far away from that, Ara-san shoots repeatedly spells at muscle-brain, who is pushed against the rock-wall, staggers forwards, and then pushed back again...
This is proof that I didn''t waste my first power-surge when wounding muscle-brain. Without it, this scene wouldn''t be possible. I''m kinda shocked, to be honest. Not that I feel sorry for any of them, but I wasn''t prepared to see this.
Still, I can''t help but start smiling. My worst smirk is on my face as I see those two suffer a bit. ¡°Kenta...¡± Rine looks at me, her underlip is pressed forwards. This is almost like she''s scolding me.
¡°Phew... Kyou-san, Ara-san, we need to-¡±
*Clank* Metal meets metal as suddenly Fake appears, his swords are blocked by Rine''s. ¡°Eri! Daichi!¡± He suddenly moves much faster, trying to get to Kyou-san and ponytail.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I attack him, I can feel how little force is behind that attack and he easily blocks it. He then kicks me away. ¡°Urgh...¡± There was some weight behind it, but I just endure the pain and catch his foot.
¡°Katsuragi-kun!¡±
¡°Fake!¡±
We both yell at each other. We need to be quick here. I''m hitting some limits, and there is so much to do here!
Then suddenly, someone hits me in the face. The same goes for Fake. We both start staggering and fall on our knees. I try to strangle Fake, yet I stop as a blade comes between me and him. It''s Rine...
Her eyes are scary! ¡°STOP!¡± She says in a loud voice and everyone becomes quiet and all the fighting stops. ¡°I can''t take it anymore! Kenta, Kyou, and Ara, you go there. The rest to the other side. If you don''t, then I''ll make you!¡± She snapped. Rine finally snapped!
¡ ¡ ¡ I hear the sounds of people running, shrimp and the dark one are finally around the corner. ¡°Masa-kun! [Speedthrust]!¡± Without asking any questions, she immediately attacks.
I blink several times as I''m stupefied about how the girl who attacked with a running spear-thrust is now a bleeding mess on the ground next to me.
I could see everything, but I can''t believe what happened just now. In a sense, it was a work of art. Terrifying and cruel art. First, Rine grabbed her spear, ignoring the fact that shrimp just used a skill, which is much more powerful than the average blow. Then Rine pushed it upwards, which makes shrimp lose her balance and opened her torso. Then the princess kicked her in the stomach from a low angle and lifted her up. Then Rine stepped closer and uppercut her into the face hard enough to make shrimp lose her weapon and change her trajectory. What followed was a flurry of blows and kicks from all sides, finished by a fist right into shrimp''s stomach that slammed her into the ground.
¡
I silently stand up and walk to the point Rine ordered me to go. Fake crawls to shrimps side: ¡°Teruko!¡±
¡°ua... *blub* ahaauua...¡± Seems like she''s still conscious. What an ill luck she has, this must hurt like hell. She''s still a hero though and slowly stands up.
¡°Teru-chan!¡± Kyou-san is about to run to her, but with a single glare from Rine, she changes direction and stands now next to me. Shortly after, Ara-san also joins us.
Oh god, is this my fault!? Has my words finally broke something inside Rine, so that her cheerful personality has been gone for good and now we have all of her capabilities with none of her mercy!?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Masahiko looks at the princess who just turned everything around, taking everything into her own hands. Eri is busy healing Teruko, who received severe damage.
The princess coughs slightly to get all the attention. ¡°To all who may not know it, I''m Princess Katarine von Stolzherz of the Kingdom of Feuerberg. I have observed and partaken in all that fighting and at this point, it has become unendurable. Hero fighting against hero, friend fighting against friend, all of this has to stop.¡±
¡°Eri, what happened?¡± Masahiko whispers to her to get a picture of what exactly made all of this go out of hand here.
¡°Katsuragi''s mind-control is worse than we thought. He used Kyou-chan to attack me!¡± Daichi nods to her words. This is the lowest of the low, using her own friend...
The princess is right, this is out of control. Yet Katsuragi-kun has attacked them, used underhand tactics, and doesn''t even want to talk to them. Masahiko suspects that the mind-control has some limitations, one that allows Katarine-hime to speak her mind in this moment.
Maybe this is the start of an actual conversation? No, not yet. For all the grief, for all the pain, for all the anger he and his friends had since their last encounter in the Mauerfelsen-mountains and all the frustration, wounds, and hostility they suffered here, there needs to be retribution. While Masahiko is someone who likes to sit down and talk, this can''t be forgiven as it is.
Therefore he steps forward. ¡°May I speak, Katarine-hime?¡± She nods to his serene and determined voice. ¡°Katsuragi-kun! This has to stop.¡±
¡°Then give up, dammit!¡±
¡°No. I challenge you to a duel to surrender or fall! The loser''s side will surrender to the other.¡±
¡°Seriously!?¡±
¡°Dead serious. Then only two need to fight it out. I may have been too lenient with you in the past, but now I''m willing to do whatever it takes to make you stop!¡±
¡°...fine, I, as the leader of my party, accept.¡±
¡°Good.¡± Masahiko stands up. He then retrieves his magic sword from the backpack. ¡°I won''t hold back anymore.¡± He also changes to [Champion], the class with the best dueling potential. He will use everything at his disposal.
Of course, the sword catches Katsuragi-kun''s attention. ¡°What''s up with that weapon?¡±
¡°I found it after our last encounter in the cave of the monkey-spiders. It''s [Caliburn].¡± Caliburn is the name of the first sword of King Arthur, the sword in the stone. The sword that named him king. Masahiko doesn''t know if this sword is the actual sword, one sword was named after the other, or if this is a translation from the hero-system.
¡°...fuck you, Inoue!¡± It''s also a name that often appears in games, so of course Katsuragi-kum knows that it''s a powerful weapon by its name alone.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
¡°Let''s face off, Katsuragi-kun!¡±
¡°You''re joking, right?¡±
¡°Wha- Katsuragi-kun! You accepted the duel!¡±
¡°There is the thing, fake: You didn¡¯t specifically challenged me as an individual and I haven''t accepted as one. It was your party challenging mine. Rine? Your turn.¡±
¡°¡°What!?¡±¡± The princess is as surprised as Masahiko about this turn of events.
¡°What? Wanna give up, Fake? Surrender? Sure.¡±
Masahiko grits his teeth as he sees the princess being thrown into this match. He already knows that the princess is most likely stronger than him, but that''s not what makes him angry. It''s how Katsuragi-kun evades his responsibilities and send another person in his place, a person he has control over... ¡°I won''t surrender.¡± This is how a mind-controller does things. Masahiko should have expected this.
It will be an uphill battle, but he has trust in his own cause. Time to break his limits.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Stupid Fake! He gets demolished by monkey-spiders and get a most likely overpowered magical sword. I outsmart monkey-spiders and get a cursed ring!
¡°Kenta!¡± My announcement of sending Rine into this fight made her even angrier, though she minds the other heroes and speaks in a soft voice. ¡°Why!?¡±
¡°Because it makes sense. I''m almost done for, Kyou-san and Ara-san won''t stand a chance. I mean, if I fight him, then I would need to use deadly tactics. If I kill him, you will be sad, Kyou-san will be devastated, Ara-san will mourn the death of a hero.¡± I''m also not sure if I can endure it mentally to kill him. Killing bandits is one thing, but I know that guy. Hating him makes no difference here. He may be a two-faced, arrogant, insufferable moron and I like to see him in pain, but... I don''t know how to end that sentence, but in the end, I don''t want to kill him. Yet. ¡°On the other hand, you can easily handle him. Even after your skirmish with Hoshibashi, you''re still up to your game. Everyone wins except him. If they give up, we can finally have something like a conversation here.¡±
¡°You have dismissed the possibility of conversation before!¡±
¡°Do they look like they want to talk? Everyone looks at me like I have killed their grandparents here!¡±
¡°Kenta...¡± Rine does what she rarely do: Sigh. ¡°This is so complicated! Why are you so difficult to figure out?¡±
¡°Because I''m a person with my own personality and decide for myself.¡±
¡°Kyou, Ara. What do you think?¡± Both of them has listened to our quiet conversation.
Kyou-san plays with the ring on her finger. ¡°My friends don''t believe me anymore... if we get this one chance...¡± She almost sounds obsessed. I don''t know exactly what happened here, but Kyou-san is at the verge of tears.
Ara-san is pointing at the jerks across from us who are surrounding Inoue. ¡°They''re fully agreeing with Inoue-dono and are giving him advice on what to do, while complaining about Kenta-kun and how abhorrent he is.¡± I nod at this as I also have [Pitch] active. Well, not the first time they trash-talked about me, yet it really pisses me off. ¡°Katarine-san, just be as usual and end it quickly.¡±
Rine looks at all of us as if we have left her and sorrowfully turns to fake who now draws a cycle with his magical blade. Poser!
I whisper into Rine''s ear from behind: ¡°He can detect metal. Also, his cape is out of metal and he can use it to block your attacks.¡± In our small bout, I noticed the detail about his cape and when he was turning around, his sight was only roughly on me. It was a far cry, but the way his body always slightly twitched when I tried to find another angle told me that he somehow sensed me. His cape and his behavior was all I needed for a guess and then I prepared my trap. ¡°Maybe he can do more. Be careful.¡±
¡°Why... why are you now warning me? ¡I don''t know what to think of you anymore...¡±
¡°Phew...¡± It would be so easy to say something that would make her think more positively about me. Yet this would manipulate her. I will do a lot of things, but I won''t let Rine believe a world of lies. Nobody deserves this.¡°You''ll figure it out.¡±
With a doubtful face, Rine looks at the circle and nods to it. I guess, there are even rules to that. ¡°Katarine-hime,¡± Fake starts with his most smeary smile, ¡°who will give the signal?¡±
¡°I suggest Ara,¡± she answers while moving her joints. The more movements she does, the sharper they become, her face also slowly transforms into determination.
¡°Alright. Ara''ainn?¡± With a silent yelp of joy, she steps forward. I guess, she likes to be close to the fight between heroes.
Rine and fake stand at the border of the circle and Ara-san lifts her hand. ¡°Draw your weapons!¡± Rine draws her sword, Fake takes a second one into his hand. ¡°Take your stance!¡± Rine makes half of a step forward, her sword is hidden behind her body. Her knees begin to bend only minimally, but it reminds me of a spring that''s put under pressure. On the other hand, Fake stretches his arm with his magical sword forward while his other arm is bent, still with its blade pointing at Rine... I guess these are formal stances? ¡°Fight!¡±
*clank, whff, bamm, clank, clank, whoosh*
¡°Ken?¡± Kyou-san asks me. ¡°What just happened?¡± Well, it was fast and very hard to follow. Even with my superior [Perception], I needed to pay full attention to this.
¡°All weapons clashed, Rine kicked, he evaded, she changed direction, hit him, he opened the weapon lock to attack her twice, she parried both, then he tried to kick her, she jumped back and escaped.¡± Fake''s movements are different from what I saw before. I guess his current [Class] supports a whole other fighting style. Shit, he wasn''t even serious when fighting me, that asshole!
Well, time to do what I can do. With my [Perception]-skills and [Wild Eyes] I start to check our surroundings. There is nobody here as far as I can tell... yet this would be the perfect opportunity for an ambush.
Ah, Fake got kicked into his face. No, no time to smirk... well, smirking yes, but not for paying much attention to them. Rine will handle this. For me, I''ll be the look-out to see whether Correo, Yoshimura, and Hoshibashi will seize this moment or not.
I just wish, Rine would hurry a bit.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Masahiko gets a knee into his stomach while blocking the princess'' blade with [Caliburn]. He heard that she also wields a magic sword, yet this is the least of his worries. When he trained with shishou, Masahiko noticed a lot of his shortcomings and how much thought is put into martial arts. Most of the ideas are the same as the ones Daichi told him about way back in Japan.
A good defense is also an offense. Katarine-hime deflects [Caliburn] while drawing closer only to aim with the handle of her weapon at his face.
Use everything at your disposal. Every part of the princess'' body is a weapon.
Vary speed and power so that your opponent can''t get used to your movements. Katarine-hime''s movements differ so much, spectacular movements mixed with short and deadly strikes. If this would be a duel to death, Masahiko would have most likely lost his head when she jumped over his attack upside-down, instead getting a hit on the top of his head.
¡°[Steelslicer]!¡± He attacks with his nonmagical sword after finally seeing a chance to hit her despite her nimble movements. Currently, her magic sword is blocked by his, her foot is planted painfully into his side, her hand tries to push his face away. He''s in a bad spot and out of balance, but he takes what he has!
With an eerie sound he suddenly only holds a handle with the remains of a blade, as she nonchalantly used her hand in his face and her leg in his side to propel herself, her sword moves serpent-like to escape the lock while cutting his other sword into two. Wait, why is she moving back with dance-like steps? The rest of his sword! She hits it like a baseball with her weapon as the bat!
Masahiko barely escapes his leg being pierced by his own weapon by hitting it aside with his sword. ¡°[Exquip]!¡± He exchanges his sword with his other one. He smiles... ¡°This is certainly an uphill fight.¡± He breathes in and out, Katarine-hime gives him that moment, despite the menacing air around him that may be because of Katsuragi-kun''s renewed influence.
It doesn''t make her any weaker though. Masahiko''s SP is running out, he''s outmatched in technique, and he has no idea how to win this. Still, he will not lose. He''s doing much better than expected, most likely because he''s used to being beaten up by now, especially with this very offensive and mobile fighting-style. She''s his senpai, after all.
Masahiko wipes the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and starts attacking. Only starts, as he gets a knee into his face, he barely saw that coming. The pain from Katsuragi''s beating is alighted anew, tears and blood running down his face, yet he already knows what''s coming and just lets himself fall backwards. She really made a backflip to kick him under his chin.
In a duel to surrender or fall, the party that falls to the ground and stay still for even a moment loses, so Masahiko rolls to the side and quickly gets back up. This is a move he had to practice ceaselessly. Staying on the ground means death, after all.
Back on his toes, he charges in again: ¡°[Quicksword]!¡± He only slashes at air, as Katarine-hime simply jumps over his attack while spinning once to make a heavy strike. Masahiko quickly raises [Caliburn]. The princess uses the parry to bounce back, landing right before the border of their ring.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Masahiko needs to remind himself of that so that his anxiety doesn¡¯t get the better of him. As long as he has [Caliburn] at his side, he won''t lose. This sword has chosen him for a reason, therefore he has to stand his ground here.
He raises the sword, invoking its power: ¡°{Heed my call!}¡± His voice resonates with the red rocks of the canyon, causing a loud echo. ¡°{For I''m the leader, so I won''t fall!}¡±
¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± A flying cut with a charging Katarine-hime right behind! Masahiko is in the bad spot of a hero, who doesn''t have the time to transform. Both weapons before him, he evades the [Crescent Moon] and meets the princess'' magic sword.
Yet this was just a faint: ¡°Urgh!¡± He moved [Caliburn] to meet her sword first, yet there was little force into her attack. Instead, she kicked right into the blunt side of his other sword, causing it to hit him across the torso and almost cutting his face.
All or nothing. He changes to [Vanguard]: ¡°[Whirldrill]!¡± He spins around himself with his weapons outstretched, this sudden momentum made the princess jump back. Masahiko raises [Caliburn] again: ¡°{I may fight alone, yet your hearts are with me. So lend me your strength!}¡± [Caliburn] is set alight and its light began to surround Masahiko and then his friends.
The table has turned. He''s connected to his friends, share their senses and drawing power from their trust in him.
He attacks: ¡°[Dual Thrust]!¡± This time, he can see her movements from five different angles, giving him a better understanding what she will do. So he changes back to [Champion]: ¡°[Drillkick]!¡± This time he kicks in the direction the princess is evading, as he saw her shift her movement from the side.
This time, it connects. Masahiko feels sorry to do that to a girl, yet his foot landed right into her stomach, he feels how it''s drilling into her and with a unlady-like sound, Katarine-hime is pushed away. She comes to halt quickly, yet this was a clean hit.
To not waste his momentum, Masakiko makes another charge: ¡°[Quicksword]!¡± He''s sure that he hears Kyou yelling something, but Masahiko has all of his attention on the princess, blending out every distraction.
Katarine-hime loses her balance, as she parries his skill, yet he has two swords and start attacking relentlessly. He changes to [Vanguard]: ¡°[Double Flurry]!¡± She won''t be able to keep this going, this is two swords against one and she doesn''t have the time to sunder another one and even if she does, Masahiko still has other weapons at disposal. He can see her every move from different angles and has her backed into a corner. This is it, this is his part to victory!
¡°[Sweep]!¡± Yet this one word turned everything around. Literally, as Masahiko suddenly loses contact to the ground and is upside down. During this moment, the princess kicks his arms by changing her sweep into a heel kick, his nonmagical sword flies away while he has trouble keeping [Caliburn] in his hand.
Yet the real danger comes from above. A hammer fist right towards his nether regions that are now looking upwards. Without the senses of his friends, he wouldn''t even be warned. He presses his legs together, changing the course of the princess'' fist slightly so that it''s only gracing... Yet this invites a new world of hurt.
It''s not even over, as she knees into his stomach another time despite his armor. Then she grabs his leg and spins around herself to throw him. Before Masahiko can even think of breaking his fall, she''s already above him and smashes him down with another kick.
While she elegantly lands on her feet and takes distance once more, Masahiko is more or less staggering to his feet to avoid the duel to end. Without the duel-rules, she may have kicked him half to death by now. In this case, she''s different from shishou who would have finished beating Masahiko black and blue before he even hit the ground.
Pain assaults Masahiko from about everywhere. Yet it''s still better than the doubt that''s about to overwhelm him. Even after conjuring [Caliburn]''s power, she still gets the better of him. He has trained so hard, earned two [Class-ups] and yet he''s still being beaten by a girl younger than him. A girl who isn''t even a hero.
No, he can''t falter here. Summoning his courage and determination, he looks for a weakness in her stance. Something to exploit. All he needs is another chance.
Volume 07 - Chapter 7-2
¡°This is worrisome.¡± Ara-san says as she looks at Inoue''s goons who are part of a light show. She''s still standing at the border, yet she knows that I can hear her well.
While I try my best to not look at it, I feel anger welling up because of Fake''s cheating. I mean, whatever effect it is, when it''s also influencing his posse, it can''t be legal, right? Too bad that I don''t know the rules of dueling. ¡°Isn''t that cheating?¡± On the other hand, Ara-san was able to give the signal, so she may know and she can even hear me while whispering from that distance.
¡°Most likely not. As long as there is no direct interference coming from them, it''s legit. It''s Masahiko-kun who has initiated it, so it counts as his power.¡± ...I hate to admit it, but it makes a bit of sense. I mean, even if he''s using their power, we''re in a world of magic. I expect that there are hp-drain spells here as well, which had to be considered when making dueling rules.
¡°How''s Rine doing?¡± As my eyes are constantly at the cliffs, I have only a rough image of what is going on.
¡°All things considered, bad.¡±
¡°What!?¡±
¡°She''s not fighting using her full capacities. I believe that she may be stressed.¡± Well, it sounded like she was about having a breakdown after I pushed her into the duel... dammit! Should I have done it myself, after all?
¡°Ara-san, be honest. If I were at full health and would fight her in her current state, would she still kick my ass?¡±
¡°Certainly.¡± That sounds about right. ¡°Masahiko-kun is doing better than expected, yet he also falls short.¡±
At least this is right. ...strange. I have the feeling that we''re being observed. Not by anyone I can see, though... maybe someone using a skill? Or Hoshibashi in stealth-mode? ¡°Ara-san, can you hear something strange?¡±
¡°I don''t know what you mean.¡±
¡°Feels like something is observing us.¡±
¡°...I will try my best. I sense no spirits within my spirit sense radius though.¡± I also can''t sense it with [Wild Eyes], yet...
¡°Kyou-san?¡± The girl next to me is at odds with herself. Her eyes are looking enchanted at the fight between her two friends and she may occasionally warn one of them, but isn''t cheering for anyone. ¡°Something is strange here.¡±
She gives me a silent look before rolling her eyes. ¡°I''m still angry at you.¡±
...what? ...does she refer to our fight yesterday? There are literally a billion things more important than that! ¡°Take it seriously.¡±
¡°That''s what I''m doing. Whatever it is, do you think I can help!? Despite being so useless to you?¡±
¡°This is not the time to bring-¡±
¡°You''re right. Yet you''re just questioning something that strikes you as strange and want to let me know that. Message received.¡±
This-! No, don''t let her into your head! Still, she has basically determined what I wanted from her without me saying anything. Kyou-san and I have our looks to communicate, yet this is another layer, she read me like a book again!
...strange. The feeling of being watched is now gone. I have the feeling that this will end up badly.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Correo is back with Lent and Star. With his Thief''s Mantle he can easily escape the sight of the heroes due to two effects. The first emulated stealth-related skills heroes use, the second protects him from being detected by [Skills] of heroes. It''s a one-of-a-kind relic he obtained when he visited the Temple of Blackness, an old ruin of the vrykolakas.
The best part would be that it looks like an old, worn-out traveler''s mantle. Only a handful of traders or a merchant would be able to see its true value. Yet they lack the ambition to visit ruins of old which are dangerous places altogether. They¡¯d rather fund an expedition than go themselves.
Lent listens to Correo''s report, about the duel between the princess and Inoue-dono. ¡°If things go on, Inoue-dono will lose,¡± he ends it with his personal estimation. The princess is ahead in every regard and Inoue-dono can''t close the gap. Even though his sword is intriguing Correo and he would love to examine it and learn its powers, it alone won''t be able to turn the tide.
¡°The princess is strong, after all,¡± Star says while flexing his muscles. He''s a violent fellow who looks for the fight. He''s also sure that all he needs is enough time without interference to beat her.
¡°Correo, return and observe them more. Star and I will block off this path and circle around them so that we have a better attacking angle. If you need to, buy a bit of time until we''re there. All of them are weakened, it''s the opportunity we have been waiting for. Now all we need to do is seize it.¡± Correo would do things different, yet he yields control to Lent this time.
¡°As you wish.¡± Whether they succeed or fail, this will serve as a good lesson. Correo has no doubt that he will get away at least. With this certainty, the merchant starts walking back to do the part he has accepted to play this time.
For a moment, Correo considers whether he should release his oni-servant, yet he disregards this thought. While she may be a great distraction, her punishment isn''t over yet. If the need comes for him to act, he will have to do without her. He also wants to stay on the good side of Inoue-dono''s party if things go wrong.
Correo channels his magic into the mantle the moment he comes close enough. He learned the hard way that there is one species that can still easily detect him if he''s not careful: Elves. In a sense, elves stand for everything that can go wrong. Up to this day, Correo doesn''t understand their magic, and finding their settlements is challenging at best. Too bad that the raid of Aroahenn only yielded subpar magic items and relics. Yet the Lady was pleased with the results overall.
After making sure that he''s outside of the elven woman''s area of awareness, he sees how Inoue-dono is standing up again. He bleeds from his nose and it looks like he''s enduring much pain. While his companions cheer for him, the princess looks at him silently. Correo knows exactly what she thinks: She wants him to give up but respects his determination and doesn''t want to belittle him by asking him to surrender.
This is illogical. She had a dozen chances to knock him out or to break a limb or two, yet she holds back. There is something about her... doubt. As a merchant, Correo knows how to read people and while the princess was an open book last time in that tavern, an example of openness and certainty, this time she''s obscured by doubt and conflict.
Momokawa Kyou is in pain, unable to connect to the selfishness that gave her security. Katsuragi Kenta is paranoid and second-guessing himself... Could it be that he overestimated them? Still, something feels wrong about that, it''s like Correo almost has figured out why he can''t truly appraise them.
Katsuragi Kenta looks at Correo for a second, yet the mantle makes him nigh invisible and every [Skill] a hero uses to detect him will be useless. In a sense, using [Skills] can even add to his concealment as heroes trust too much into them.
The princess and Inoue-dono enter another bout, Inoue-dono puts much effort into each attack and in the end, both kick each other at the same time, though the princess has much more weight in her attack. He''s sent to the ground, he comes back to his feet and takes his stance. This sums up the whole battle.
If Inoue-dono wasn''t a hero, his body would have already submitted. With each exchange, the number of bruises grow, every time he hits the princess, she deals more damage to him. He also doesn''t know that the princess has become a hero as well and therefore also doesn¡¯t realize that fighting until she''s exhausted is not an option. Yet every hit the princess takes, no matter how weak, will make it easier for Lent and Star to take her down.
This ends though. While Inoue-dono has a second weapon and therefore outnumbers the princess, it comes with demerits. The weight, the balance, the limited space. Princess Katarine initiated another bout, after the tenth parry her sword uses both of Inoue''s blades to bounce off and she thrusts through Inoue-dono''s armor into his right shoulder. His hand suddenly opens and lets go of his magic sword.
What follows is a barrage of elbow strikes and punches, face, torso, side, everything the princess could hit, while she disarms Inoue-dono from his nonmagical sword as well. Then she let go of her sword as well, kicking all weapons out of the boundary in the process.
She hooks both hands behind his head and jumps with a knee-kick into his face. Even from this distance, Correo could tell that blood sprinkles the red rocks of this canyon. The princess lets go of the hero and jumps back a bit to give him time to fall to the ground.
With nothing but pure willpower, Inoue-dono stays on his feet. He''s no longer surrounded by the magic light, yet he refuses to give up. ¡°[EXQUIP]!¡± He yells, most likely because that''s the only way he can communicate at this point. He may barely hear his own voice with all the pain he must feel. Yet two clubs appear into his hand and he takes another stance.
That is the second when it looks like Inoue-dono will claim the advantage. However, with two swift kicks, the princess sends the clubs also outside the ring, while she makes sure to add a third kick right into the face again.
Correo knows that the best he can hope at this point is that Princess Katarine will use up more and more stamina. While her body can move with the tiniest spark of it remaining, there is a limit. For the next few minutes, however, all he and the audience can see is how Inoue-dono is brutally beaten down again and again while the same keeps on standing up. He doesn''t even resist anymore, as if it takes all of his power and will to get back to his feet. Without a moment of hesitation, as if he would stay down for even two seconds, he would lose the duel.
¡°Masa, you can do it!¡±
¡°Keep going!
¡°Do your best!¡±
His friends cheer to him, even though Akiyama-dono is about to cry and the rest look grim and hurt.
¡°Masahiko, stop! Please, give up!¡± Only one single voice carries a different message. ¡°You will die at this rate! You have lost, come to your senses!¡± Momokawa Kyou yells to Inoue-dono to stop.
Her companions say nothing. Katsuragi gloats, more and more entranced by this. Correo has no idea what the elf is thinking.
Where are Lent and Star? They should be here by now...Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Lent and Star have successfully blocked the path by using brute force and magic to create a wall only the princess and the elf will be able to overcome quickly. They have also made a shortcut to come from the other side, so that their prey have no escape route.
With a final spell, Lent opens the rock before him and he''s back to the old path. Yet he sees a rather unusual sight here... a traveler. It''s an old man with white hair and beard and an old, worn poncho. The strangest thing is that that old man is sitting there, as if he was waiting. ¡°Yo.¡± He greets them with a smile.
Star steps between Lent and that man. ¡°Careful,¡± he says full in a cautious voice: ¡°This one is dangerous.¡± Since becoming a true hero and deleting his former self, Star has very honed instincts that warn him whenever something is endangering his life. It hasn''t kicked in when he faced the princess, yet with this geezer...
Lent trusts his partner, yet seeing this wreck of a human makes him wonder. ¡°Greetings, sir.¡± He says in his most elegant voice: ¡°This is a dangerous path, so I would recommend you to turn around and try another.¡±
¡°Too bad, I''m tired because I hurried along this route. Took a while and my bones are screaming. Let me tell you, being old sucks.¡±
¡°Sounds bad. Old man, do you have business with us?¡± This attitude also alarms Lent, there is something wrong with this geezer. If Lent would need to put a finger on it, it''d be the confidence that saturates all of his words.
¡°Depends. What is your business with Kenta and Masahiko?¡± Lent expected a lot, but not that.
¡°That is none of your business.¡±
¡°It became just now.¡± The old man stands up and takes off his poncho, revealing a muscular yet old body. It''s apparent that he used to be even more buff. ¡°You know, I grew to like those two. The same for Kyou, Ara, and Rine. So I ask you to leave them alone. You stink of danger and slime.¡±
What is wrong with this guy!? Lent sighs and lifts his hand: ¡°[Firebird]!¡± This is a potent fire spell that keeps attacking the target several times by imitating a bird. So far nothing survived the onslaught, yet even if it isn''t enough, it will buy time for a longer chant.
The [Firebird] flies towards the geezer, so fast that even blinking would be too long to see it coming. Yet the old man raises his fist.
*Crash*
With a single punch, he sends the spell into the ground which causes it to dissipate... ¡°Wait, it can''t be! You can''t punch fire!¡±
¡°You can''t?¡± The old man says mockingly: ¡°Sorry, I just did that because I didn''t know.¡±
¡°[Stalagmite Prison]!¡± A rock-dome encases the geezer and the stalagmites inside will stab him from all sides. If something as ephemeral as fire can be avoided, maybe something solid as rock is enough.
The [Stalagmite Prison] begins to show cracks and breaks down. ¡°Brittle.¡± The old man comments on that. This can''t be! Lent was able to trap Laharl, the general of the undead army, with this spell for some moments! This time, it just fell apart, as if it has met something even harder than itself!
Star begins screaming in anger. He has just changed to [Berserker], his muscles grow and grow, he seems three times larger than usual due to the sheer mass he brings. ¡°[Titan''s Blow]!¡± He swings his bladeclub at the old man with enough power to transform people into red dust.
For a second, the geezer lost his smile. Then he catches the weapon with one hand, the rocky ground below him cracks and basically explodes, yet he stays uninjured. ¡°Berserker?¡± He asks with a contemptuous smile. ¡°Seriously? Berserker? Let me teach you a lesson, youngster.¡± Star yells louder and louder as he puts all his strength and weight into his weapon to no effect. ¡°[Fury] is a weapon. You''re supposed to control it, not the other way around. Let me show you.¡± It''s like a wave that cuts through Lent. He was about to chant a spell, but for a moment he paused as he sensed something beyond anger coming from the old man. Then the bladeclub, a solid piece of metal, begins to bend under the grip of these wrinkled fingers.
With a minute movement, Star is hurled to the side, right into the hard walls of the nearby cliff. Half of his weapon is still in the grasp of the geezer.
Lent can''t help but to spit out: ¡°What are you!?¡±
¡°Just your run-of-the-mill barbarian. Oh, you don''t know us? Well, this is unexpected. Usually that''s the part where people shit their pants.¡±
¡°Don''t make me laugh. I''m a true hero, I won''t be afraid of you.¡±
¡°And here I thought it would be over quickly.¡± He turns his head to the hole in the wall as Star emerges from it, his cuts over all his body visibly healing. ¡°So you can regenerate as well. Feel really confident about that, right?¡±
¡°HYAAAARGH!¡± Even with half a weapon, Star channels his [Fury] to destroy that person before him.
¡°*Sigh*, already lost it.¡± Star swings at the old man who just raises his arm and blocks the blade with his skin alone! This has to be like Star''s [Ironskin]-skill! ¡°About every barbarian can regenerate, so of course we have ways to deal with it for when we fight each other.¡± The geezer ignores Star''s second hand, trying to rip off his face, raises his fist again, and punches Star''s torso so hard that even Lent is feeling the pain.
Star falls backwards and in his armor is a melted hole surrounded by metallic bubbles. The skin underneath glimmers orange-red as if it were burning. ¡°YOUUUU!¡± Yet Star isn''t even slightly impressed and stands up as if he was feeling nothing.
¡°So you can also turn off the pain? That''s a hero. Able to use many skills, enduring, and cocky.¡±
Lent has enough: ¡°[Wind Weasel]!¡± The magic wind-blade hits the geezer across his torso with no visible effect. ¡°[Crystal Torpedo]!¡± The crystal missile travels underground and hits the old man in the back, but he doesn''t even shirk!
Star attacks once again, yet all it took to interrupt this assault was another, single punch. This time, it gave an ugly sound of flesh grinding stone, as Star is burying a hole into the ground. ¡°This will take him a while,¡± the white haired monster says while looking at its work. ¡°I hope he''s tough enough to survive that.¡± Then it turns its head towards Lent. ¡°I believe you''re rather squishy, right?¡±
Lent starts running. He knows that he can''t beat this... this thing! All of his confidence has broken apart as he faced something that he lacks the means of even hurting. After his skirmishes with the undead army, he grew more and more confidence, yet he has seen a new summit to reach...
Something hits him in the back. It''s not a fist, it''s the rest of the bladeclub. Lent feels like he just evaded a shattered spine, yet the shock and force made him lose consciousness immediately.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I can''t stop smirking. Seeing Inoue getting beaten the crap out of him is just so refreshing. I know that I should stop paying attention to that, it''s distracting me. There is a series of strange noises coming from far behind, yet they have paused, which makes me worry even more.
Ara-san is also cautious, yet this may also be a lure. If we go away, it may also cause Inoue''s friends to interfere with the duel.
¡°Hff... hff...¡± Inoue stands up again, his face swollen and bloody, his broken arm black and blue, and his legs shaking. Bleeding from several wounds, he refuses to stay down. I have to admit that I underestimated him. I was sure that he would throw in the towel quickly, yet his pride causes him to just not admit when he''s beaten.
Other than to me at times, he can simply surrender and nothing bad will happen. What an idiot.
I was worried whether Rine would bring the mental strength, but just like always: The moment the battle begins she puts everything else aside. She may be not at her best, but she''s still focused.
¡°MASAHIKO-KUN, THIS IS ENOUGH!¡± Kyou-san still begs to him, yet I''m sure that he can''t even hear her anymore. Even if he could, he wouldn''t listen to her. ¡°RINE-CHAN, PLEASE END THIS!¡±
Rine silently nods. It seems that she accepts that the only way to end this is to put him out for good. She begins spinning for a heel-kick aimed at his temple.
Then something cuts through the space between them. A barrier made out of orange light! Rine foot hits it but is repelled. The barrier has cut the whole place into two areas. One for Rine, Ara-san, Kyou-san, and me, one for Fake and his posse!
For a second, I see a blur moving through the barrier, halting next to Fake. Correo! He blurs again and he and Inoue are gone! I try to get past the orange barrier, yet it also repels me. The shrimp tries the same, she also can''t move through it.
Then Correo is back. ¡°No hero can pass this light.¡± He says with a smirk to me before looking at Inoue''s followers. ¡°Sorry to interfere, heroes, but if you lose here, your lives are at risk.¡±
¡°KYOU-CHAN!¡± Despite the explanation just now, shrimp tries to overcome the barrier. Ponytail hurls a rock at it with magic, yet it also can''t pass.
¡°Kurosawa-dono, we need to go. The barrier won''t hold long enough and I can''t use my boots for short distances, so I can¡¯t help you and her.¡± He grabs shrimp and blurs away, carrying her along. I can only see him accelerating or decelerating thanks to [Focus]. This is what his boots do?
He comes back for each of Masahiko''s posse, one at a time.
¡°FUCK YOU, CORREO!¡± I scream in pure anger.
¡°Kenta-kun, I can circumvent the area with [Acrobat].¡± She makes the offer to jump over it, yet I know she''s not keen to do so on her own. She may take Rine along, but the last of them will be away before Kyo-san and I even get a chance to get there.
¡°Stay here.¡±
¡°KATSURAGI!¡± The dark one is the last one who is here. In untypical anger he yells at me: ¡°I''LL GET YOU!¡± Then he''s also picked up by Correo and vanishes.
Kyou-san looks terrified for a second, then resolve takes over. ¡°What do we do, Ken?¡±
¡°...we''ll wait.¡± A few seconds later, we''re rewarded with Correo, coming back on his own, behind the barrier only he can cross. ¡°This is the part when you fight all of us?¡±
¡°Don''t be silly, Katsuragi-dono. Today we lost again.¡±
¡°You don''t look unhappy with this.¡±
¡°Why should I? Lent extended the offer of the Lady towards you and you have declined it. I have no reason to pursue you for the time being.¡±
¡°What about Rine?¡±
¡°I don''t know yet. I have to return to the Lady and ask her what to do.¡±
¡°Are you mocking us!?¡± I spit these words out. Everything this man does makes no sense. ¡°Why are you even here then!?¡±
¡°To ask you to reconsider the offer. Especially you, Princess Katarine. You can be much more than you are right now.¡±
¡°I don''t like you,¡± Rine answers without batting an eye.
¡°Too bad. We have a lot to offer you. Relics, magic items, troops, everything a hero can wish for. With the help of the Lady and me, subduing the Demon King won''t be a pipe dream, if you want to keep that quest. I can even offer you experience crystals.¡± I read about them from my hero-manual that was in my backpack the moment I was summoned. Basically crystallized [Experience].
¡°Take your crystals and don''t bother us anymore, Correo-san!¡± Rine says without even thinking about the offer. ¡°We won''t serve a deity that uses methods like yours!¡± While I agree on the denying, I can''t help but want the crystals and other resources. I mean, how much easier would it be, if we had all of that!?
¡°Then it''s official. I will report to the Lady exactly that. She has the authority to decide how you... what are you doing, elf?¡± Correo asks Ara-san who has started to poke the orange barrier with her staff.
¡°To create a barrier specifically against heroes means that you used a relic. Something that creates a powder, which you have sprinkled in concert with your Seven Miles League Boots. Resourceful.¡±
Correo''s voice becomes audibly hostile, it seems like Ara-san hit some sour spot: ¡°So you know about my boots?¡±
¡°Were they supposed to be a secret?¡± She asks in her nonchalant manner. ¡°It doesn''t matter. To answer your prior question, I''m examining the barrier.¡± She moves alongside the barrier with the staff still on it or rather being repelled slightly with every step. Then she stands right in front of Correo, only the orange light separating them. ¡°I''m Ara''ainn the hero-sage, therefore learning how relics work is part of my job description. They interact with heroes in a way, most if not all use the status as a base. Therefore I have an interesting theory.¡±
¡°Which would be?¡±
I guess, only I notice. Notice how Ara-san changes her class. Alfr muscles don''t change much with a [Class-change], Ara-san theorized that alfr muscles are differently built than human muscles and can work better without becoming greater. In a sense, this logic may also apply to folkmen, who are half as tall, yet much stronger than humans.
Ara-san quickly moves her arm through the barrier and grabs into Correo''s pocket, only to change her class again, this time to [Acrobat]. Her arm is immediately repelled out of the barrier again. She makes a quick backflip and presents a pendulum as a trophy.
Correo looks as shocked as I am, as we just have established that neither heroes nor their attacks can pass the barrier. I, however, understand what happened: She changed to [Accountant], her base-class! This area doesn''t repel heroes, it repels their [Classes]! This must mean that I can pass the barrier as [Student]!
Wait, isn''t a base-class basically not another class with some special rules to it!? Well, let''s not overthink it at this moment and concentrate on what''s going on now!
The bearded man jumps back and stares daggers at Ara-san. It seems that he doesn''t know what happened, yet he doesn''t like the fact that we have that pendulum.
Ara-san touches me with it, then Rine and Kyou-san. ¡°I won.¡± She declared without any context known to me, but it infuriates Correo. Is there something going on between the two of them!?
The barrier starts to fade. ¡°You have.¡± He answers in cold anger. ¡°Keep the price.¡± He tips his head once, turns around, and he activates his Seven League Boots once more. He got away, but somehow I feel like we have won.
¡°I will explain everything on the way,¡± Ara-san says while her ears are moving up and down. She''s gloating! She''s more self-content than ever before!
Volume 07 - Chapter 7-3
Correo laughs at himself as he deactivates his boots. He can feel how his magic is almost fully depleted. He used his relics too often, even some of his hero-barrier powder, which has its magic imbued, yet is limited.
That the hero-barrier has a weakness... that the elf was able to figure it out... Elves really represent everything that can go wrong.
Where are Lent and Star? After observing Katsuragi, he knew that he heard something, something that told him that something is wrong.
With a sigh, Correo takes out another pendulum from an inside pocket. He had three of them in total, one to lend, one which he uses when he occasionally teams up with heroes and one that no hero shall touch so that he can always find them.
Seems like he skipped Lent and Star while under the effect of his boots. Seven League Boots are a rare item that allows the wearer to walk vast distances, yet it makes it impossible to notice much on the way. The magic of the boots allows them to follow paths, avoiding walls and other hindrances, yet it''s nigh impossible to use them for small distances.
There are some other restrictions as well, that''s why he usually only uses them inside the Deep Trails. He can also take things along as long as he can move them by himself, which is easy if he wears his belt which increases his physical strength.
Following his pendulum, he comes to a sight he wasn''t prepared for. This rather unremarkable site has turned into a battlefield with broken walls, a cracked ground, and a hole the size of a person. Lent is on the ground, unconscious. Star is nowhere to be seen. ¡°Lent?¡± Correo knees down next to him. It seems that he''s out for good.
Correo puts him into a more comfortable position, before he does a last leap with his boots, back to where he dropped Inoue-dono''s party.
Akiyama-dono takes care of Inoue-dono''s wound, who has lost consciousness. Kita-dono is repeatedly kicking a wall, Kurosawa-dono curses the sky and everything, while Yamauchi-dono has given in to exhaustion and sleeps.
¡°Sorry, I couldn''t save her.¡± He convinced them that he would return and try to grab Momokawa Kyou. ¡°I was right before her, but I couldn''t overcome them on my own. I also think she doesn''t want to be rescued.¡±
¡°Correo-san...¡± Akiyama-dono says in a broken voice. ¡°We lost badly, right? Where are Yoshimura-kun and Hoshibashi-kun?¡±
¡°I left Hoshibashi-dono with Yosimura-dono, who was ambushed by Katsuragi-san before. I can''t return for them for a while, I need to recover some magic before.¡± Recovering magic means waiting for a while until the mana in the atmosphere is transformed into magic by the body.
¡°What do we do?¡±
¡°I can bring you back to Feuerberg, if you want. There you can recover and continue to partake in the war.¡± This would be the smartest move for them at this point.
¡°...no.¡± As if Correo''s suggestion has woken him up, Inoue-dono refuses the offer. ¡°I agree, we need to recover. Yet we also need to become stronger. Correo-san, is there a way?¡±
¡°...yes, but it will be dangerous.¡±
¡°Tell us.¡±
¡°First, you need to recover. I know a village nearby that I frequent, nice people that will take care of you.¡±
¡°...you''re right. I''ll recover, I promise. But what comes after?¡±
¡°When I was a lad, I took a risk and entered an old cave. It turned out to be a dungeon, infested with monsters. I never went deeper than the first floor... yet, I found something. Do you know experience crystals?¡±
Correo is sure that he will have a use for a couple of heroes in the future. Especially, if he will face the princess and her party again, a likely outcome considering the personality of the Lady. Yet for now, he needs them to grow before they become useful. In the time they hone themselves, he can gather more resources and make a new plan.
Everything considered, this learning experience was a success. He has underestimated and overestimated the princess and her party at the same time. Underestimated their growth in power and overestimated their mental maturity. The only thing that''s left is to use the knowledge and make a plan that takes both into account.
Yet Correo needs time, and he learned of something in Feuerberg that would have spoiled a capture before long anyway. He also needs to tend to his other projects. The true delight of Seven League Boots is that he can scheme on much larger scales than any other person.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s evening. No further attacks. No one¡¯s following us. We just had to overcome a wall that may have been part of a trap to get us which hasn''t sprung. It concerns me that we didn''t meet Yoshimura and Hoshibashi again, but I won''t complain about it.Stolen novel; please report.
While I wish to keep traveling through the night, I''m sure that if we don''t make this break now, we''ll end up being [Worn out]. Especially after fighting our way through more monsters.
Ara-san uses the pendulum which trudges towards in the direction we''re coming from. Or maybe the Spirit Swamps? The movement is only minute. ¡°Fufufufu.¡± Her laughter gives me uneasiness, yet I know what''s going through her head: With a relic like this, she can easily find heroes to research.
¡°You know that Zethtrin comes first?¡± I better make sure that she keeps her priorities right.
¡°I''m positive that we will meet a lot of heroes in Zethtrin.¡± She answers. Yes, her priorities are straight, yet not the same as mine. Yet she''s also lazy, so she combines the thing we need to do with what she wants to do.
¡°Well, it''d be great to know if a hero is close before they can cause trouble. Stupid drama-effect.¡±
¡°Speaking of drama, maybe you should talk with Katarine-san and Momo?¡±
¡°...do I have to?¡±
¡°Both of them have been brooding since we separated from Correo. Also, Katarine-san hasn''t come back from fetching water and Momo is taking several minutes for the so-called ''quick look'' at our ingredients to see what she will serve us at dinner.¡±
¡°Why don''t you talk to them?¡±
¡°Because they have human problems.¡±
¡°What''s that supposed to mean!?¡±
¡°Let me rephrase it: It''s obvious even to me, that you''re the cause of their inner turmoils and it''s beyond what I can understand.¡±
She''s right and knows it. ¡°Phew... You know, I really, really suck at this.¡±
¡°Both of us. So have fun.¡±
Figures. ¡°Then keep an eye on Kyou-san, while I look for Rine.¡± We have already found a pond with potable water nearby, so I know where she went.
She sits there on her heels with our wooden buckets still empty next to her, glaring into the water. Seriously, I don''t know how to handle it. I sit down next to her and she turns her head to me. ¡°Kenta? Were you worried?¡±
¡°Somewhat. Trying to avoid the whole issue, honestly.¡± I look at her eyes, still the bright embers as always. ¡°Can you tell me what I can do to make you feel less shitty?¡±
She smiles at me while giggling. ¡°You''re bad at this.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
¡°I never really paid attention to it. Look at the water.¡±
I do as she says. It''s a small pond without any fish. It''s attracting animals and monsters, that''s why we don''t camp close to it. It takes around ten minutes from the camp. ¡°What about it?¡±
¡°It''s calm. No fish to disturb it, just mirroring the sky. It will soon become dark, yet at this moment, it shows us the beginning of dusk.¡±
¡°What do you want to tell me?¡±
¡°I don''t know... I tried to think of something smart or poetic to tell, maybe saying that you''re like the pond, but in the end, I can''t think why you should be.¡±
¡°Maybe because I''m muddy and nothing lives inside me?¡±
¡°I wouldn''t say that... I mean...¡± Rine has an expression I have never seen on her, a bit melancholic, yet somehow happy. ¡°You have touched my life.¡±
¡°For the worst, I think.¡±
¡°For the better. When I was fighting, I saw how much Inoue-dono struggled. Trying to overcome me. How can I say it... I pitied him. Then I saw myself in him, trying to overcome something much bigger than me. The [Wizard]-class, my own emotions, trying to learn how you and the others feel.¡± She grabs my sleeve. ¡°Now I have you.¡±
My heart throbs, this smile is so beautiful. If anyone would see her like that, they would fall in love with her immediately. ¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Thanks for having me fight Inoue-dono. I know, it wasn''t your intention, but I had a revelation. There are like two urges inside me: To do what is right and to do what I want to be right. Inoue-dono did what he wanted to be right, he wanted to fight you because of conviction. Yet you sent me... Did it feel good for you?¡±
¡°You, beating him up? Sure, I loved it.¡± No reason to be dishonest here, though Rine seems to have reached some sort of enlightenment and this may not be the best time for my bad personality traits.
¡°No, stupid. I mean, sending me into this duel.¡± I somewhat feel offended being called stupid by Rine!
Yet I scratch my head, as she doesn''t have any ill intention with her words. ¡°Phew... No. I mean, it made sense on all accords. But it''s not like I liked it or disliked it.¡±
¡°Kenta, you struggle with the same thing as me. Doing what is right and doing what you want to be right.¡±
¡°Eh? No?¡±
¡°You have some nasty streaks, yet inside you care. You just don''t want to. Let me say this to you: You''re a wonderful leader.¡±
This hit me. I didn''t even know that it was something I wanted to hear, yet here I am, almost breaking into tears. I turn away. ¡°What are you even talking about? Seriously.¡±
She knows better than me what bothered me... since I was named leader of the party, I saw one decision after another turning bad. I harbored doubts, self-hatred, and regrets. So many decisions, so much pressure, with almost no experience to boot. I mean, I know games. I can use very specific experiences to use it to my advantage in regards of the hero-system. I have also learned much about survival, but I was suddenly thrust into leading three other people.
Kyou-san, who talks back which irritates me to no end. Rine, who I work to death. Ara-san, who follows my lead whenever it''s convenient for her.
It''s not like I want everyone to blindly follow me, but somehow... because of the decisions I made, I put everyone into danger.
¡°Kenta,¡± Rine says while still holding my sleeve. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±
¡°...for what?¡±
¡°I''m the one who should lead us. I mean, that''s what I have learned, how to lead people. But you know... you''re my first real friends.¡±
No, I can''t do that. The self-loathe I feel is overcoming me. ¡°You know that Kyou-san and me were tricking you from the start.¡±
¡°Maybe. Yet here we all are.¡± Rine looks at the sky. ¡°Kenta, nobody thinks about details like you can. I want you to know that I respect that. Remember what I say about the struggle between what is right and what you want to be right? You''re greedy, you don''t want to give up anything. I''m the same. Yet unlike me, you already know that this is impossible. Still, I¡¯d like to keep trying for a while.¡± She turns back to me, with wet eyes. ¡°Please let me be a child for a while. I know, you think of all of this as trouble, but for me, they''re the most fun days of my life. Thank you, Kenta.¡±
Oh god, how is this girl able to break me apart like this? Unable to speak a single word without breaking into tears, I stand up. I wave at her without looking at her, while she waves back.
I thought she was the one who needed council, yet she has dissected sides of me even I didn''t know existed. I don''t even know whether she has figured out her own share of problems or not, yet if I speak to her more, I''ll start bawling like a child.
Speaking with Kyou-san in this state is impossible. So I decided to take a walk around the camp. Looking for tracks and such. This will calm me down.
You gain 2 WP.
Being honest with your wife is an art, yet you have taken an important step to know each other well.
Shut up, curse!
Volume 07 - Chapter 7-4
You gain 2 WP.
Your husband and your sister-wife have connected to each other. Make sure to do the same.
I look at the screen, yet I don''t really see it. This keeps up for ten or so minutes. My thoughts return to Masahiko-kun, Correo-san, Yoshimura-kun... I feel lost.
Something comes closer. There is that extra care of being a bit louder than usual. I push the notification away and look to the source which has just returned to camp. It''s Ken who scratches his head. His face is vulnerable again... just like when he was influenced by Lvo''tjos back then. ¡°Hey...¡± he starts lifelessly: ¡°Mind to take a walk?¡± He points at Arako who has started writing her notes. I guess he doesn''t want her to overhear us.
¡°Sure.¡± I want to avoid this conversation, yet I know that running away won''t help.
We walk into the almost-darkness, the moment when dusk seems darker than night. What exactly does he want to talk about? Arako already explained the disaster we had with Eri-chan and Daichi-kun. He knows everything about Yoshimura-kun. So it can only be about our fight or... will he try to convince me that all of my friends are jerks and deserved what came to them!?
¡°Phew...¡± I''m so used to this sigh that it somehow calms me down a bit. ¡°Erm... Does it hurt?¡± He points at my face.
I already healed it, so the bruises and scratches are gone. ¡°No.¡± This is the worst ice-breaker ever.
¡°I see... thank you.¡±
I need to blink several times. Did I hear right!? I mean: ¡°Did you just say ''Thank you''!?¡±
¡°...I can take it back, you know?¡±
¡°Just tell me for what.¡±
¡°Argh. You know... the whole fighting your friends and such.¡±
¡°...I didn''t do it for you, but because of you.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
¡°It was the worst.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
¡°I''m about to cry.¡±
¡°I know. Also... I''m sorry.¡±
¡°That''s unfair.¡± Why can he just say everything I wanted him to say with this meek, but honest voice? ¡°Why are you this way?¡±
¡°...because of what is right and what I want to be right.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°I don''t know. Yet I can''t get this out of my head.¡±
¡°So what do you want to be right?¡±
¡°That you hate me, that you''re the second-worst person I know. That everything you do and believe is wrong, and that you can be glad to have me.¡±
¡°...asshole. ...and what is right?¡±
¡°...I want you to be with me.¡±
Oh god, Ken! Bad choice of words! This sounds like a confession! My heart beats loudly, and I feel strange, enamored by the cursed ring I''m wearing. It''s like a hot chill that starts from my toes and works its way up to the top of my head. ¡°Wha- what do you mean?¡±
¡°Phew...¡± Scratching his head, he tries to find the right words. ¡°Remember, when we came back from Hei?quellen?¡± How could I forget? That was the shrine we needed to visit to break the curse. ¡°Back then, I thought: Hey, partying with her wasn''t that bad. I mean, I was kinda impressed when you saved me from the Voice. Also, you were surprisingly tough.¡±
¡°...I also thought that we could work it out after breaking the curse. Yet we couldn''t break it. And you attacked that priest.¡±
¡°...I''m sorry. I was blind with rage. I mean, we''d almost died because of that shitty pilgrimage.¡±
¡°...to be honest, if you hadn''t done it, I might.¡± I still remember vividly how all of the color drained from my face. My first reaction was pure shock, unable to even think. Who knows what I would have done afterward? ¡°I was really pissed at you though. I... kinda... well... depended on you.¡± Without him, I may have given up in the chasm. I hate myself for that.
¡°You were the one who kept me alive. I mean, I would have died without you casting [Stamina].¡±
¡°The monsters would have killed me.¡±
¡°Without you, I would have been killed by the red bear.¡±
¡°Hey, you only attacked it, because it was about to attack me. You could have avoided that.¡±
¡°What about the ss''rak? You killed the one I couldn''t.¡±
¡°OK, now things are getting strange. I mean, both of us trying to give the other credit!? Let us just agree that we needed each other back then, and since the episode in the temple, I was disappointed in you. Unjustifiably.¡±
¡°...had you any expectations towards me?¡±
¡°I don''t know why, but yes.¡±
¡°I see... Sorry, I had no expectations. I told myself that without you, everything would be better.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
¡°Well, you see... when we recently talked about what to do after we break the curse... I somewhat snapped. I... didn''t want you to go. That''s it, OK!? So Kyou-san, I''ll tell you just once! Phew... Kyou-san: I''ll trust you from now on. Don''t waste that!¡±
In a sense, it''s much more intimate than a confession. For Ken to say this... I feel like tearing up. When he said that he trusts Arako, I was jealous. Because I¡¯ve known him for much longer... because we¡¯ve worked together longer... Now he extends that trust towards me as well. Stupid curse that makes me feel that way!
¡°Ken,¡± so I use that trust right away. ¡°Please don''t say anything for a moment. I want to know what you saw with Lvo''tjos, but this isn''t about it... what I wanted to tell you the whole time is something else...¡±
¡°...say it.¡±
¡°I... I haven''t told you everything about my encounter with Mama Orana.¡±
¡°The witch?¡±
¡°Yes... she... she has told me that these,¡± I show him the ring on my hand, ¡°make me desire you... make everyone want you.¡±
¡°...that''s all?¡±
¡°... ¡ ¡ What?¡±
¡°I mean, I didn''t exactly know it, so it''s still news, but I suspected something like that.¡±
¡°You WHAT!?¡±
¡°I mean, look at Ara-san? I mean, changing her biology is one thing, but her physical cravings for me is something that would be easy to implement in others, right? I mean, I suspected as much since Rine was so much into me the moment she was cursed as well. I mean, why would she otherwise?¡±
¡°I want to hit you,¡± I blurt out my thoughts. ¡°I worry for weeks about it and you dismiss it as something you already suspected!?¡±
¡°Kyou-san, at this point you should know that I suspect everything and don''t take anything as a given.¡±
¡°Oh yes, I forgot. You''re the person who thinks it''s plausible that an army of fire-spitting demons is after us!¡±
¡°That was the worst possible case I could immediately think of at that moment.¡±
¡°Sometimes you''re crazy.¡± He just shrugs his shoulders as an answer, accepting my words as true. I smile a bit and start laughing. ¡°Hahaha. We''re both hopeless.¡±
He also gives a small smile. ¡°I don''t know whether it''s the ring or not, but it''s as I said: Kyou-san, while I feel bad about your friends, I''m glad that you''re still here.¡±
¡°...what do we do about them?¡±
¡°Nothing we can do there. Also, I still hate them.¡±
Oh, here we go again. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°I mean, I''m the last person who will say something about Inoue getting beat up. I hate that guy. Yet you were the only one who told him to give up, while they cheered him, told him to get up. I mean, I didn''t expect anything else from his goons, but didn''t they care at all about his life?¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°...while I disagree with you about my friends, I will overlook it this time.¡± I mean, somehow it''s flattering me. ¡°You and them have a bunch of misunderstandings about each other.¡± I''m also at fault for the nastiest ones. ¡°But what about Correo?¡±
¡°Like I said, nothing we can do. We will just make sure to be prepared. They were too good, we need to up our game. Even if Correo was truthful and he will first ask Ori-boss before chasing us any more, he can easily get us with his Seven League Boots at any time. I hope he hasn''t any other relics to find us, but to be honest... he has.¡±
¡°I know... he''s too shrewd to not have plenty of back-ups.¡±
¡°Well, he''s ahead in mobility. At least we know that. We can''t find him either, so he will choose how to face us... what a pain.¡±
¡°What has it to do with my friends?¡±
¡°They will find us as well... so like I said: We''ll prepare ourselves.¡± Ken starts stretching his arms. ¡°I hate this, but at least it makes it simpler.¡±
¡°In what regard?¡±
¡°We just need to keep pressing forward. We do we, and when he comes for us, we''ll make sure to kick his ass. For this, we have plenty of things to work on.¡± This is Ken how I know him.... I poke him into the side: ¡°Hey! What''s that for!?¡±
I smile cheekily at him: ¡°I still don''t feel any better about my friends, you know?¡±
¡°Don''t ask me to cheer you up.¡±
¡°You''re sure? I basically just said that I have the hots for you. Not trying to exploit it?¡±
¡°...¡± He looks at me with an expression of disbelief. ¡°Are you mocking me?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± I''m not looking for that kind of relationship right now. ¡°Yet we need to re-establish our relationship. We aren''t friends, right?¡±
¡°Heck no.¡±
¡°Back to partners? Or do you prefer enemies?¡±
¡°Aren''t we already husband and wife?¡± He sneers at his own little joke. I also laugh a bit. He used this once before, right the moment we were married by this curse. It''s not even funny, yet I remember how I fumed at that time and that''s amusing. I think we have turned back time a bit.
¡°Ken,¡± I take his hands in mine. ¡°Please don''t think that you have a chance with me yet.¡±
¡°Yet?¡± I let go of his hands and start walking back. ¡°What do you mean?¡± This will make him think for a while.
You gain 2 WP.
You have reconciled with your husband. Love can grow with every fight and this is a prime-example of it.
Don''t ruin that moment for me! ¡°Geez!¡± Here I thought I can merrily mess with Ken a bit, and then this message pops up.
To be honest, I still don''t know how I feel. However, it''s not important right now. Ken knows about that side-effect and he doesn''t care about it. We talked about some of our shortcomings, and while it was just the tip of the iceberg, it feels like we''re finally able to talk about the moments we were mad at each other.
Ken is willing to open up. I''m willing to be more honest. I have plenty of reasons to hate this day, and I''m sure that this will be one of the worst days of my whole life, yet something good came out of it as well.
Now I need to vent my spleen as well. I hope Rine-chan isn''t too busy with herself. I find her at the lake, but she isn''t alone there. Something inside me tells me to draw my knife and attack, but the way she speaks to them makes me hesitate and ask myself, if what I see is for real.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
This dinner is different. Katarine-san merrily takes seconds, while telling us a story from her childhood: ¡°Then I mounted the fryon and tried to ride it.¡± A fryon is a monster with a mane that it can set on fire. Some of them are tamed in Feuerberg.
¡°Why?¡± Kenta-kun can''t understand how someone can have the urge to ride something that can burn you.
¡°Because I thought it would be fun,¡± Katarine-san says while rubbing her behind.
¡°Seems like it was a bumpy ride.¡± Momo adds unnecessarily.
I feel a furried head on my lap. It''s a green cougar. These are our special guests here. It seems that Katarine-san befriended them before and they looked for us and came to her when she was with Momo at the lake. It seems like Katarine-san offered them a feast for their help or something like that.
Now we have something like a party. To be honest, I can go without the animals, yet it''s a nice change of pace. Usually, whenever we get somewhere, we make enemies. This time, I got to know some of the enemies we had before without increasing their numbers, in addition to meeting some new friends.
Like Katarine-san, I have the [Whisperer]-skill and can exchange simple ideas with them. ¡°You want more?¡± The cougar nods and I look at Momo, who has butchered some of the meat they brought. It seems that they don''t dislike to eschew the innards and bones in favor of the meat.
¡°Phew...¡± Kenta-kun grabs a bit and feeds the animal. ¡°Seriously.¡±
¡°This is the best opportunity for you to increase your rank in [Animal Ken], Kenta-kun.¡±
¡°I know, but...¡±
¡°Ah, Kenta! Do you dislike animals?¡±
¡°No comment.¡±
¡°Well, I''m happy that you take care of them as an apology.¡±
¡°Apology?¡± Momo asks. ¡°Is this why you act so strange? What did you do to them?¡±
¡°Let''s say that I didn¡¯t ask them for their help...¡± Kenta-kun''s face is distorted. I believe that he really dislikes what he does, yet he sticks to it nonetheless.
All things considered, this is much better than what we had before. My human friends seem all more... whatever it is. I think they would call it ''adult'', yet I''m positive that their and my definition of adulthood vastly differs. Especially, since I''m technically the only adult here... poor me.
At least they stopped moping and being overly emotional. Humans overcoming human problems. ¡°I''m glad that this is over.¡±
¡°What?¡± Momo asks.
¡°You being so human.¡±
¡°Excuse me, that''s what we are?¡±
¡°I forgive you.¡±
Momo throws another chunk of meat at me, yet I catch it effortlessly. Humans are bad at eye-hand coordination. Or following movements in general.
¡°Ara, you had your own share of trouble, right?¡± Katarine-san asks me with a voice full of concern.
¡°We met a lot of heroes and I learned almost nothing about them. This is frustrating. Why couldn''t you catch one or two?¡±
Katarine-san puts her hands together: ¡°Sorry, Ara. I had more important things to do.¡±
Momo cocks her head, this somehow feels entirely different from when Katarine-san does it: ¡°Are you serious?¡±
¡°Yes. I worked myself to death, let myself be captured to gather intelligence and none of you even tried to give me a hero as a present. I''m about to cry about how little you care about me.¡±
¡°Are you friggin serious?¡± Kenta-kun asks me with a straight face.
¡°I feel left out. All of you got something out of this and I got nothing. Kenta-kun also had a heartfelt talk with both of you. In the end, I''m not a wife but a meat-doll...¡±
¡°What about the relic?¡±
¡°It''s mine and I won''t give it to any of you. I earned it by besting Correo-kun.¡± When I was examining the hero-barrier, I noticed that the staff was stronger repelled when I was in my [Acrobat]-class. This made me think of the difference between [Druid] and [Acrobat] and I came to the conclusion that the big difference was that [Acrobat] has the [Quarterstaff]-ability. So I assumed that this played a part into the repelling effect and concluded that it would be the weakest with the class that has the least to do with being a hero.
It''s not like there was no resistance, yet for a moment, I could force my arm through it. It felt like moving underwater with a strong current I could only resist temporarily, yet Correo-kun doesn''t know that.
¡°Guys?¡± Katarine-san speaks to the cougars. ¡°Ara feels left out. I think she needs some smooching.¡±
¡°No, I don''t need that.¡± I explain them with my own [Whisperer]. I have a higher rank in the [Animal Ken]-ability, so I should be better.
The cougars look at the both of us alternating. Katarine-san then stands up. ¡°Then I''ll smooch you.¡±
...well played, Katarine-san.
In the end, it seems that everyone has pulled themselves together. I feel happy, as the friendship I have to these humans feels more genuine than ever.
Later that evening, I continue with my magic lesson. Momo has given up learning [Detect Mana] as this spell might not suit her. She tries to learn [Empower] instead by using different [Divine Magic]-spells on Kenta-kun while pushing more magic into it.
Katarine-san asked me to teach her again from the basics and even notes down what I say. ¡°I want to be a [Wizard], so I need to do it like one, right?¡± It''s not like she didn''t genuinely attempt to learn the class, but this time she''s doing it less like her... maybe it will work?
After that, Momo practices [Empathy] with Katarine-san. She activates the spell and then she begins to smile at the other girl. ¡°Rine-chan... you''re happy. Ah, too much, too much!¡± It feels like a fresh breeze has gone through the party that truly has blown away the stale feelings of the Spirit Swamps.
During that time, I sit next to Kenta-kun, who tends the fire. His spirit is currently pa''ar with a hint of anth. It doesn''t make sense compared to an alfr-spirit, yet I think it shows his relief. I write some more notes, trying to capture perfectly how the hero-barrier worked. ¡°Would you mind looking at this paragraph and explain if you felt the same?¡±
Kenta-kun looks at me: ¡°You know I can barely read this script?¡±
¡°Practice, practice, practice?¡±
¡°That''s rich, coming from you, Queen of Laziness.¡±
¡°Heed your queen.¡±
¡°Yes, yes... Ewe¡± He begins to read every letter in a soft voice, forming words that suddenly sound completely different the moment he puts the letters together: ¡°Like... aze... being...¡± He continues until he''s at the end. ¡°Rather than being pushed away, it''s like when you put your thumb on a tire pump. Something like hard air that presses against you.¡±
¡°I don''t know what a tire pump is, but I will add this impression.¡±
¡°Phew... Ara-san, we need to talk.¡±
¡°Have you finally given up and decided to ravage me tonight?¡±
¡°You know what? Yes. That''s obviously exactly what I want. The only way to avoid it is to answer a question of mine.¡± Ah, Kenta-kun. You''re finally playing along. This day, you have grown a bit more alfr.
¡°Then ask your question.¡±
Kenta-kun lowers his voice so that the other two can''t overhear us. ¡°Do you really feel left out?¡±
I think he speaks of what I said during dinner. ¡°Yes and no. Yes, because something inside me wants to be with all of you. No, because I actually don''t care how we interact. I like how things are between us for the moment.¡±
¡°Good. I was worried about a second.¡±
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°I learned from Kyou-san that the witch told her that the rings are changing our feelings. So everything you may feel for me and the others since being cursed may be a lie.¡±
¡°Then it''s good that we were friends before being spouses. Yet you think that my feelings of friendship towards the others, which surely started after the ring, may be the result of the curse changing my feelings to feel more favorable to my so-called sister-wives?¡±
¡°Possibly.¡±
¡°Then we will find out when we break the curse.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Kenta-kun nods and his spirit becomes a bit beik, which also makes no sense to me. ¡°We need to prepare for the worst case scenario.¡±
¡°The case when Katarine-san may come to the conclusion that we made her our slave the whole time, exploiting her changed feelings, and starts attacking us with fire?¡±
¡°I''d take her fire over her sword.¡±
¡°I have to agree.¡±
¡°Yet we also need to think how Kyou-san may feel.¡±
¡°You think she will influence the outcome?¡±
¡°Possibly. She always gets useful skills when she needs them. We also don''t know how breaking the curse will affect our [Inventories] or other stuff we bought from the WP-store.¡±
This is Kenta-kun. He learns information and thinks about how to interact with it. I feel honored that he occasionally crafts some worst-case scenarios with me and how to counter it. Thinking about it is fun in its own right and will prepare us for when it actually happens.
From that, our conversation runs to what skills the other heroes had, what kind of features Inoue-dono''s sword had, and whether Kenta-kun should put the effort to increase his rank in [Animal Ken] or not.
I really don''t need a heartfelt talk with Kenta-kun, as we are connected on an entirely other level. A level much better than an emotional level: Intellect.
He just needs to hone his joking and pranking skills, yet this is still a work in progress.
Volume 07 - Epilogue
Epilogue
Masahiko walks out of the canyon with his friends. Or rather, he''s carried on Daichi''s back, as he has broken his ankle, has black bruises that are climbing up his leg, has lost his sense of balance, and feels overall horrible. At his first encounter with Katsuragi-kun''s party, he was wounded mortally, now he was beaten so much that there is barely a spot on his body not covered in an injury. Even after the first aid, greatly improved due to his hero-body, he can''t move without feeling more pain.
It''s bitter. So bitter! He tried so hard and fell short yet again! Now he knew why he should only use [Caliburn] when he can see the path to victory his shishou spoke of. In his fight against Katarine-hime, Masahiko fully relied on the sword, which was only a tool in the end.
At some point, he thought it was his own power. He thought he would win, yet it was a false feeling of victory, something that led him to maybe even lose more badly than otherwise.
Now he knows it for sure: If he continues to rely on [Caliburn], it will only make him entirely dependent on it and he witnessed how easily it was taken from him.
The tears of bitterness have already been cried, but the feeling remains. Teruko walks next to him and she repeatedly kicks a stone before her while grunting angrily. She must feel the same as Masahiko. So close, but the distance they needed to bridge between them and Kyou was so vast.
¡°Teruko...¡±, he says in a pained voice: ¡°We''ll get her next time.¡±
She turns to him and hisses at him silently, before she turns back to the stone. After three or four kicks, she says in a quiet voice: ¡°...thanks, Masa-kun.¡±
Eri is in front, talking with Correo, who tries his best to explain the way to the village and the cave where they would become stronger. It seems like Yoshimura-kun and Hoshibashi-kun were still after Katsuragi-kun, and the merchant wants to join them as soon as possible.
Masahiko has realized that he has been sheltered since he was summoned into this world. Hoshibashi-kun, Yoshimura-kun, and Katsuragi-kun were all fully exposed to what the world had to offer, while Masahiko just went from one training to another. While he doesn''t doubt that to learn everything possible is the right way to do it, the other approach granted those three a head-start.
It isn''t the time to train now though. Masahiko wants to recover as fast as possible and is ready to use a shortcut to power if it''s necessary to be able to deal with Katsuragi-kun. Katsuragi-kun was smart and has been able to make most of the hero-system, collecting an arsenal of [Classes] that makes him hard to deal with, while also having the princess that''s power incarnated.
Ara''ainn had even warned him. Yet Katsuragi-kun stole her from Hoshibashi-kun and Yoshimura-kun and used his mind-control on her, using her and Kyou to attack the injured...
Masahiko failed. He failed so hard. Yet thanks to Correo-san, he survived. So he can try again.
He will be back in action soon. He will become a hero and save the day! He owes that to Kyou, to the princess, to Ara''ainn, and even to Katsuragi-kun. Masahiko doesn''t know why his former classmate would use such means to his end, but in the end, it may be because he believes that this is the only way to defeat the demon king.
Just wait for me and stop doing this, Katsuragi-kun. I will show you that there is another way.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Lent sits on a rock, his scratches fully healed by now. Correo asked them to stay here for the time being, until he delivers Inoue and his party to a village he knows. While Lent doesn''t feel like listening to the merchant, he''s keen on how Correo will explain himself.
As a [Wizard], Lent is capable of objectively thinking about the whole order of events. Correo brought Inoue''s party to make Lent, Star, and them work together. Lent asked to be in charge, but instead of officially transfer leadership to Lent, he just stopped being active. In a sense, Lent got what he wanted, but then it was a leadership-struggle with Inoue, which may have been bridged to some degree, but in the end, Lent was forced to compromise.
Did Correo use one of his manipulation-skills on Lent? What did he gain from it? Correo lacks the devotion Lent has, so he may have his own agenda.
¡°UAAAAAAAGH!¡± Unable to keep his anger inside, Lent''s partner Star starts to hit the walls, the rock pulverizes under his fists, but despite this showcase of power, he was bested by an old man. The same goes for Lent. Both of them were overwhelmed by a so-called barbarian.
This is a bitter experience. How, just how? Lent knows that he had a lot of room to grow, he''s still far away from Level 100, but to be reduced to this sorry state so easily... Who was that barbarian?
Correo finally returns with the familiar blur of his Seven League Boots. ¡°Inoue-dono has been taken into care.¡±
¡°I don''t care.¡±
The merchant shrugs his shoulders as an answer and looks at Star, who is still busy hitting the wall. ¡°Star, you might want to stop.¡±
¡°DON''T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!¡±
¡°I won''t, but you might want to listen.¡±
¡°Rggh.¡±
¡°You wanted to talk with me, Lent?¡±
¡°Yes. Explain yourself.¡±
¡°About what?¡±
¡°About everything! Why didn''t you do something?¡±
Correo set his hat straight and lifts two fingers. ¡°Two reasons. I''m not a hero or a warrior. I can fight to some degree, but I''m not crazy enough to charge straight into combat, and I wanted to keep Inoue-dono as an ally for the time being. You also didn''t come and I didn''t know why, so I rather retreated and found out what had happened to you.¡±
¡°I asked you to buy time, but you didn¡¯t! So you''re a weak coward. How will you solve this?¡±
¡°Take a step back, talk with the Lady once more, get enough resources and try again. This time went bad, but I''m wiser now.¡±
Star snapped. He grabs Correo by his collar and lifts him up, while speaking in a menacing voice: ¡°So this was just a test-run!? Are you messing with us!¡±
Correo holds his hat while dangling in the grip of the true hero: ¡°Failure is the pavement to success. What will you do? Will you stay with me?¡±
Star snorts and looks at Lent. The same thinks about it. Correo was weak, he was a coward. Whatever he touches will end in failure. What did that person ever accomplish? Nothing, all he has is failure. ¡°No,¡± Lent decides. ¡°Star, we''ll return to the Lady''s side. We¡¯ll show her that we''re worthier of her trust and we''ll subdue the Undead Army, increase our level in the meantime, learn their secrets and return with an actual army instead of a bunch of unreliable brats. I don''t even know why the Lady entrusted you with this mission in the first place, Correo, but you better hurry with it if you want to maintain a shred of dignity.¡±
¡°Splendid,¡± says Correo with a bold smile while still dangling from Star''s hand.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Correo looks at Star and Lent who hurry back to the Deep Trails to get closer to the necropolis. Lent''s [Merchant] had a skill that allowed him and others to move faster on routes he has marked, so they should be back soon.
This went better than expected, most likely because Lent is too proud to think that Correo had no means to influence him. It''s just subtle, but one of the most important skills of Correo is to make people not think about minor, but important details. It works on everyone, even Katsuragi had fallen victim to it before. Would it still work with his ranger-training? Correo isn''t sure about that.
Still, while the whole ordeal was a disaster, he lost little to nothing. This whole conflict was an accumulation of different factors... a barbarian who expressed favor towards Inoue-dono and Katsuragi''s party. Dangerous.
Barbarians are bad news. They raid villages and roadside inns, sometimes even mercenary companies. They are a plague in these lands. The only bright side of it is that they are few and they seldom work with each other, on the contrary, they have their own little wars going.
Meeting barbarians is bad luck, yet nothing strange. Except that Correo knows¡ªlike many merchants¡ªhow they usually move. The closest clan of them should be weeks to the north, moving southwards, yet halt before the canyon. Also, that barbarian was on his own and old... Correo knows little about their culture, as the only thing he did whenever he encountered them was to leave behind his goods and run away. Even the one time he tried to trade with them.
Barbarians move in clans. They don''t go off on their own. They may be strong warriors, each of them able to use more skills than any regular soldier, yet they need protection of other barbarians to not fall prey to those who would hunt them. There are bounties on barbarians after all and there are many strong people in this world.
Correo needs to keep that barbarian that appeared out of nowhere, in mind.
Another factor that was detrimental was the nature of heroes. They can fight, they can learn different occupations with ease, they endure hardships like no other person can do, they make other people believe in them. A hero like Lent or Inoue-dono can put a strong mental and social pressure on someone without even the use of a single skill. In this case, this may have made the barbarian move on their behalf...
Unseen factors are the bane of every plan. Correo had this happen to him several times, yet the only disaster was when the Bloody-Nosed Mercenary Company failed to capture the princess. Other than that, he can turn every setback into a win.
The Goldbrunn incident wasn''t planned at all, yet even that brought him another resource to use: Crusaders. He only needs to give them the word and they will hunt down Katsuragi. Sadly, Correo still doesn''t know why Katsuragi became a sinner, yet knowing this doesn''t change anything anyway.
Now this incident taught Correo that using more heroes may be more harm than good. All things that make heroes bad enemies also made all of them confused. He also underestimated the elf. Ara''ainn, the hero-sage. He will definitely put a high bounty on her. He will also ask the merchant league to distribute more posters on this side of the Ohl. This may slow them down enough to find out where they are heading and what he can do to stop them.
Inoue-dono''s party will train. He gave them a letter of recommendation that would allow them to contact him via the merchant league. The story of the dungeon was half of a lie, as he had it excavated long ago to trade some of these crystals, but he has resupplied it with monsters and crystals in case he needed to trick heroes. He would send a message to an underling of his to set it up properly.
Time to get back to Jeira. He needs to gather resources and learn how his schemes in D¨¦juma, Fallhellar, and the Temple of the Sky God are progressing. He can also visit the bank and let them write some money orders so that he can gain some liquidity again.
After that, he will visit the Lady and report to her what happened here. She''s an important business partner, after all, as she provides him with the Blood. She will most likely order him to get the princess once more... fine with him.
Yet there is one thing he has to do. He takes an urn from his backpack and opens it. It vomits something orange-brown that becomes red for a quick while, before taking the form of a small girl with red twin-tails and horns: His slave. Her sight is just pitiful, as her body shudders while she tries to form words: ¡°Ua-Shi-Ba-Toaaah...¡±
¡°Stand up, slave.¡±
She immediately jumps to her feet while wobbling and reeling. ¡°Yes, Mashta!¡±
¡°Now kneel down. Good.¡± Whenever she''s inside the urn for extended periods of time, she needs some time to adjust to the outside. It will take three minutes for her to move normally, three hours before she can spit fire, and three days before she can use her shapeshifting reliably.
¡°Mashta...¡± With her body barely under control, she begins to lower her head further and further, ready to lick Correo''s boots if he asks her to. He doesn''t even need the urn, this is all the result of Correo training her accordingly.
This is the end of her punishment, so Correo doesn''t need a proof of loyalty, but rather a sign of dominance, so he steps on her head. ¡°Will you follow my orders?¡±
¡°Yeash!¡±
¡°Will you start using your brain only when my orders can no longer be executed?¡±
¡°Yeash, your shtupid shlave will not shink at all.¡±
¡°Good. I may have a use for thinking servants, but from you I demand only following my instructions. That''s why you may be the only of my servants that I can trust.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°Too kind of you.¡±
¡°Slave, I will need to tend to some businesses. I will let you off close to Goldbrunn and you will collect your squirrel underlings. Then you''ll head to Uthredt with them, there you will get new orders.¡±
¡°What about Katakata?¡±
¡°I''ll make some preparations that will slow them down. I need to buy some time first and learn where they''re heading. If they follow the road, they will also arrive at Uthredt, though they also tend to go off-road...¡± In that direction, they may either head to Zethtrin, Armika, or even leave the Wildlands for the realms of the northwest. He will soon know.
Slowing them down will mean that the elite-team from Feuerberg will have a chance to catch up. If the rumors are true, then Gottfried is among them and Correo knows that it will be difficult at best to find someone who even dares to get in his way. Another unknown factor: How long will it take him to catch up? Is there a chance before winter comes?
For the time being, Correo will stay mindful of that possibility. This only means that the moment he will make an earnest attempt to capture her, he will have also accounted for that search-party. Even Gottfried will have his limits. If the knight gets her before Correo, the merchant has to think of another plan.
In the end, Correo is indifferent to the princess and her companions. Yet he knows that the Lady will ask for them and therefore he will deliver. Eventually. Until then, they are the bit of chaos he needs to keep everyone around him on their toes.
No, they can be tools as well... Correo begins to smile sadistically. The only question is, how often he can use them before he has to hand them to the Lady.
Correo decides to make a detour to an oracle and find out where they''re heading. Ara¡¯ainn said Zethtrin, and it appears to be true, but he doesn¡¯t know if his lie-detecting skills work properly against elves. Most oracles are expensive or seclusive, yet Correo has his connections. This way he will learn about Feuerberg''s search-party as well. After that, he can make the proper arrangements.
Correo looks at his slave under his foot. Subduing the princess and her companions didn''t work. Using their friends backfired. So he will make them work for him without them knowing for the time being.
If pushing doesn''t help, he will pull them instead, all the way to the Lady, and move everything he can along at the same time.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
King Heinrich von Stolzherz V sits in a dark chamber. The door opens, letting a beam of light into the room. ¡°There you are,¡± a man slightly younger than him says. His hair may be dark blonde, yet anybody could see that the two of them are family. It''s Ludolf von Stolzherz, brother to the king and one of the kingdom''s most valuable tacticians. ¡°Lorena told me you were in the Brooding Chamber.¡± Saying this with a hint of sarcasm, Ludolf stands before the king before falling to one knee: ¡°My king, I have returned.¡±
¡°How are things going in the south?¡± Ludolf has been entrusted to build a provisional fort in the Daemonicus, the demon realm.
¡°Bad. We struggle with provisions, there have also been sightings of more demons, so the demon king may have subdued another tribe. I have a portfolio made for you, it''s in your study room. We have the troops, but not the means to equip and feed them properly.¡±
¡°Have you found any fertile lands?¡±
¡°Nothing so far.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Most of the problems wouldn''t be there if they could start building a proper fortress within the realm that could grow its own food. ¡°What is your advice?¡±
¡°This is difficult. We want to strike down the demon king before he can get too powerful, yet we have no means to intervene. The land itself is poisonous and life-threatening for non-demons, therefore the scouts that return have little to offer, but where not to go. We don''t have any oracles here to divine the locations of their villages and cities, so everything we can do is to hold out and let them come to us. We''re very good at this with the help of the clergy, but I want to ask you: Has any of your heroes shown any talent at divination or other forms of advanced intelligence gathering? That is what we need the most.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°That face... you did something rash again?¡±
¡°I have set four heroes free to find Kati.¡±
¡°Oh, her.¡±
¡°Not this conversation again, Ludolf.¡±
¡°Ha, I know, I know. Eber is now the heir, I heard?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Barely better.¡±
Heinrich stands up, he''s larger and bigger than Ludolf. Both of them have ember-like eyes, yet the king''s eyes were basically growing: ¡°I value your opinion, brother, yet I won''t let any insult fly by. Eber is not only the crown-prince, but both of them are my children as well.¡±
¡°Brother,¡± Ludolf says as he stands up: ¡°I''m always the one who needs to pick up your slack. You may be the king and I have sworn loyalty to you, but I do it for the kingdom and our ancestry.¡± Heinrich wants to hit this brother of his in the face, yet this is an argument they had over and over.
¡°Tactician Ludolf, if this is all, you may go.¡±
¡°Actually, I do have something to tell you in regards to what you just said. You have sent heroes away!? To search for Kati? I''d rather have some of them with me instead of sending them to some goose-hunt!¡±
¡°I had a person that I somewhat trust, who told me her last whereabouts and provided a way to get to her fast.¡±
¡°Trust somewhat?¡±
¡°Yes. Correo from the Merchant League.¡±
¡°Ah, these secretmongers. Though I never heard of that merchant in particular. What about Rocinante?¡±
¡°She introduced me to him, as we have special needs right now. Look.¡± Heinrich shows his brother a special relic, an iron collar.
¡°Is this what I think it is?¡±
¡°Most likely.¡±
¡°Do you want to use it?¡±
¡°Do you?¡±
¡°Well... that decision isn''t mine.¡± Which means that Ludolf would use it without batting an eye. ¡°Though I can see the value of having some in cases of emergencies.¡±
This makes the decision easy. Heinrich has thought exactly the same thing. Flames spring from the hand holding the collar, turning it blazing red and then white, melting it and burning every drop of iron before it hits the stone floor. ¡°Hagen would be ashamed of us considering it.¡±
Hagen is the founder of the kingdom and the revered ancestor of Heinrich. He was also a hero who met a tragic fate after being summoned: Being enslaved by a collar like this. There are still more out there and Correo promised Heinrich to give him all he found, while looking for useful relics for the heroes of Feuerberg.
Magic items are rare and hard to make. Therefore each country buys them whenever there is an opportunity. Relics are harder to come by, as they only show their power in conjunction with heroes and therefore finding them is mostly up by chance. Correo made a living by finding and selling relics, which speaks for his ideas and capabilities.
When Inoue-dono asked Heinrich if he could accompany the merchant, Heinrich decided to put his trust into the hero, not Correo. Yet Correo has honored every deal so far and with him it will be easier to provide the heroes with proper equipment.
Ludolf looks expressionless at the remains of the melted collar, then he coughs slightly. ¡°I need better intel, if you want me to bring the war to the demons.¡±
¡°For now, I can give you Crusaders.¡±
¡°Then let''s hope that they can sniff out demons in the distance. Any backup?¡±
¡°Ambassador Cassandra will travel to Zethtrin for the games. She will take Eber with her.¡±
¡°Ah, I see. In Zethtrin we may get new allies and she will look for someone there capable of divination?¡±
¡°That''s the plan.¡±
¡°This is great. Now I need something that won''t take months.¡±
¡°I have more than the war to consider. I have a country to run.¡±
¡°Despite that, you seem to have plenty of time to do other things. Lorena told me. Seriously, Heini? Another?¡±
Heinrich begins to smile a bit stupidly as he''s rather proud of becoming a father once again.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The old barbarian continues his way. He was grinning the whole time as he''s currently on a streak. He''s able to avoid the follies of his youth and he actually did the right thing for once! This... he feels... somehow not that different from before, yet he still hopes that it goes into the right direction.
The fight with those two bearded youngsters has been taxing. While it seemed that he was dominating them, he''s not as young as he used to be and using so much power makes him sleepy. He had to be quick to deal with both of them, but manhandling the first to discourage the second worked well.
As the barbarian has battled all his life, he learned how to deal with most skills and situations. He also never gave a fuck about what others thought was possible or not. In a sense, he excelled at providing problems and solving them at the same time.
...wait, didn''t he give these bearded boys good advice while taunting them? Use attacks that keep doing damage when facing a regenerating foe as it will quickly exhaust them or that pinning down an opponent is often enough if they''re too tough. Yet seeing that berserker using [Fury] the wrong way pissed him off.
[Fury] is a power-source used by several people that are quickly called savages. It''s the power of primal rage which is within everyone, something that calls forth the beast within a person. It''s difficult to awake and easy to lose yourself into. Especially for youngsters, easily accessible power is tempting and much more likely to control them than the other way around. He never saw a young person using their power responsibly, after all, including himself.
At least he thought so until recently. There was Rine, whose power radiates from her and she seems like a nice girl. Then there is Masahiko, who shows kindness even to strangers with a soul as strong as a mountain. Finally Kenta, who may be a ranger despite his age, yet he still acts and thinks like he''s weak.
...he should have met with them. The old man''s instincts are sharp and he knows that he has played his part for now, that he should back off for now. Yet... He sighs as he hears the grating of rocks, a bunch of rocky-bears looking at him as he''s their prey.
For him, they''re a distraction at best.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
My liege,
my endeavors of collecting intelligence in these far realms has been met with an interesting encounter. I''m positive that I have met unexpectedly the lost princess who may or may not be on a secret mission for her country as you have surmised. However, she was accompanied by an elf and a ranger, which made me hesitate to extract information from her for the time being.
I beseech you to not underestimate the elves, as they seem to be clever and crafty as well as wrathful. If they enter the war as well, we may face worthy adversaries.
Sincerely,
I-14
The letter is folded and given to a small being, a dove with bony thorns growing out of its wings. The bird flies away to the east. The demon raises the corners of its mouth, thinking about what possibilities lie ahead.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Faster!¡± I get hit by Rine-chan''s fist, as I try to get her with my knife. She grabs my hand and punches it hard enough for my weapon to fly away. ¡°Overall... some improvement?¡± She gives me her impression.
I rub my nose. ¡°[Heal]!¡± Ken is still on his morning-scouting and soon we will continue our journey. The cougars will come with us until we reach the end of the canyon, which is some nice support we get. Maybe I should suggest to Ken that we join a caravan or another group heading to Zethtrin. Correo may have said that he will leave us for a while, yet we can''t count on it.
I have restarted my knife-training. There is still a lot of room for me to improve, but that''s why I need to push it. In combat situations, I went from dependent to halfway able to carry myself in battle, yet I want Ken to rely on me for more than just healing... I have a lot of unused potential to unlock, like more support spells, more [Knife]-skills, more [Herbal Weapons]. My [Classes] may be not combat-oriented, yet I want to do what I can. I may have improved in the Spirit Swamps, but I''m still lacking.
I will study the witch''s books as well while learning more [Arcana] from Arako as well. I''m highly motivated.
Arako is next up, ready to face Rine-chan now. For me it''s time to do some sit-ups.
Training time is over and Arako uses [Dry] to dry the sweat we have building up. Ken will come soon back, telling us if something is around.
Here he is... he has pondered again. I guess, he really can''t help but to think about every possibility. This is unhealthy, Ken. ¡°Something that looks like goats are close, as well as some monsters at the pond. Nothing to worry about.¡±
¡°Good job on scouting.¡± I say to him, trying to support our newly reformed relationship. Yet he looks at me baffled, unable to really reply to that.
¡°Phew... let''s go. Also, don your raincoats.¡± Every morning I use [Weather Forecast] to tell everyone the weather and it will rain again soon, so we take all preparations.
After we''re finished, I walk to Ken and take his hand, showing him that I want to earn that WP while walking while also talking to him. After we begin moving, Arako and Rine-chan start talking to the cougars. I envy them a bit for that.
Still, I have another, more important conversation to do. ¡°What''s on your mind?¡±
¡°Nothing changed... no, in a sense, things got worse. The Spirit Swamps did nothing, the only thing we learned is that Correo can find us most likely everywhere and can easily catch up, and he can easily distribute more bounty posters if he wants to, while we''re easy targets and are at his mercy.¡±
¡°I know what you mean, but I feel like we''re still doing better than before.¡±
¡°What about your friends?¡±
¡°I wish I could just text them, asking them if they''re OK. Being in a fantasy world is the worst! Yet you''re right, there is nothing we can do. You said it all yesterday, so why are you back to worrying?¡±
He says nothing, yet I think that he feels a bit better. I guess that he needs some encouragement here and there. So I say to him: ¡°Caring about others is hard, right?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°But you know... you can count on us.¡±
¡°...I may take that offer later.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°I''m going to ask Rine to spar with me, and I¡¯ll need you to fix me afterward.¡± The notion to become stronger started with the Spirit Swamps. Now we may have raised our level, we have obtained more [Skills], yet we saw how much we have to improve in other areas.
Ken said the only thing we can do against Correo or anyone else attacking us is preparing ourselves. We just step up to the next level. To defend ourselves against whatever may come.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Meldorn looks at the haunted swamps he only heard about. ¡°The tracks are going in there.¡± He says without batting an eye.
¡°Hm...¡± Gottfried looks into the swamps for a moment, then he turns away. ¡°I don''t doubt that we could cross them, but it may have consequences. What would you propose, Huntsman?¡±
¡°Circumventing it.¡± There is something inside these swamps, something that Meldorn can''t understand. He has trodden hundreds of swamps at this point, as there is often good quarry in them, but in this case, he would rather take a long way around it.
¡°Ohlbr¨¹cken would be the next stop then,¡± sighs the retired knight, most likely because they were so close to it before. Yet Meldorn assumed that their quarry would circumvent the river and therefore take a long hike, which would have granted them plenty of opportunities to change direction.
Meldorn was wrong, he never thought that they would actually try to cross the Spirit Swamps. He also fears that their quarry may be still inside, but that thought never occurred to his companions who can''t feel how threatening this landscape is.
¡°I have an idea,¡± comes unexpectedly from August von Rotfeld, a young yet powerful wizard that aims for an archwizard position. ¡°While you may have forgotten it, I''m capable of powerful spells.¡± He certainly had no opportunity to show it, as all monsters were dealt with by Gottfried in the blink of an eye. ¡°We need to cross the river, right? I can make a bridge.¡±
Gottfried looks surprised at Rotfeld: ¡°You are right, I forgot about that. Meldorn, please bring us to a spot where the boy-mage can do his thing. This certainly saves me and the people downstream a lot of trouble.¡±
Meldorn can only guess what that means, maybe Gottfried was thinking about destroying parts of the river to make his way through. Whatever it is, the retired knight looks actually relieved that he doesn''t need to do what he was just thinking about.
¡°...¡± The young wizard doesn''t like being called boy-mage, but after weeks of traveling as a group, he knew that the old man doesn''t care about what he says most of the time.
Meldorn is actually impressed, as he knows that it takes a lot of magic to create such a bridge and only a fraction of wizards are capable enough to create large bridges strong enough for people to cross. So Meldorn puts his hand on Rotfeld''s shoulder and nods respectfully to him.
The youngster begins to grin a little and is fully motivated.
¡°[Stamina]!¡± This comes from the last one of their group, the pontiff Reiner Kasse, who is maybe older than Gottfried, but definitely much less in shape. As he understood that they would travel even more, he replenished his stamina with a spell.
Meldorn didn''t expect how the route of the princess turned out. If they cross the Ohl, they''re close to that place.
Volume 07 - Extras - I hate wed in another kind of RPG-inspired! & Gottfried vs. Godspeed
krpg (Author): ¡°How was your team-building experience?¡±
KK (Katsuragi Kenta): ¡°Horrible.¡±
RN (Rine aka Katarine von Stolzherz): ¡°I thought it was fine.¡±
AA (Ara¡¯ainn): ¡°You monster! You gave me all these heroes, and I didn¡¯t learn anything about their statuses! Meanie! Wretch! Abomination!¡±
MK (Momokawa Kyou): ¡°We all know that he is. But to do that with my friends¡¡±
KK: ¡°Actually, that¡¯s the part I liked the best. I have to say, I did some fine work with musclehead and ponytail.¡±
MK: ¡°You know, that it will bite us later!?¡±
RN: ¡°Calm down, please. Remember what we learned in this volume!¡±
KK: ¡°That brute force is the way to solve your problems?¡±
RN: ¡°Erm¡ no.¡±
MK: ¡°To trust that at least one of us will mess everything up?¡±
RN: ¡°That¡¯s also not what I-¡±
AA: ¡°That I¡¯m awesome, and the world picks on me for that?¡±
RN: ¡°Come on, everyone! It¡¯s about the value of friendship! The heaviness of responsibility! That everything can be turned around by working with each other!¡±
KK: ¡°¡Rine, you¡¯re sure that we were in the same story? I mean, we demolished a bunch of friends, shrugged off any responsibility, and everyone of us did their own thing, basically.¡±
RN: ¡°You can¡¯t say tha- ¡oh. I think you might? Author, what is the lesson here?¡±
krpg: ¡°The lesson here is that there can be circumstances outside of your control, that can hinder you and your goals and dampen your motivations, and getting back on track can be very hard.¡±
KK: ¡°That¡¯s just your personal life¡¡±
krpg: ¡°Let¡¯s forget about it and start with the Extras. First, we have the non-canonical. Even though I planned to write a Queen Momo, it somehow clashes with another long planned one, because of the fairy tale style, so that¡¯s shelved for now.¡±
KK: ¡°Gladly.¡±
MK: ¡°Actually, I¡¯m fine with it. Because we can¡¯t trust this hamster to make me a decent queen.¡±
krpg: ¡°Therefore, I just put all of you into a world with gaming RPG-rules.¡±
MK: ¡°¡how is that different from usual!?¡±
KK: ¡°Kyou-san¡ I have a faint idea and I don¡¯t like it.¡±
RN: ¡°I¡¯m excited!¡±
AA: ¡°I mourn the lack of support for another instance of my knowledge by the reader-base¡¡±
krpg: ¡°Then we got our Gottfried Extra, where he takes on a decent challenge for a change. Then we have an Extra that rallies up the Color Rangers to find their own!¡±
RN: ¡°Oh, that¡¯s interesting!¡±
KK: ¡°Color Rangers? We¡¯re talking about shitty Super Senta- ouch! What was that for!?¡±
MK: ¡°Nothing special. I just want him to continue. Nevermind.¡±
KK: ¡°Hah!?¡±
krpg: ¡°Then we get to the aforementioned fairy tale, this is a legend of Feuerberg¡¯s founder Hagen von Stolzherz!¡±
RN: ¡°Cool!¡±
AA: ¡°Which iteration? I hope you got an adept narrator for this.¡±
krpg: ¡°The best! Lastly, we got an old section of the April Fool¡¯s Special that has now been transferred to the end.¡±
KK: ¡°Didn¡¯t a whole year have passed by now? Wouldn¡¯t there be a chance for another.¡±
krpg: ¡°Didn¡¯t enter, because of health-related issues.¡±
KK: ¡°At least nobody else got a chance to maim our story¡ ¡ ¡ Well?¡±
krpg: ¡°What?¡±
KK: ¡°This is the part, where you drop a tidbit of information about the next volume.¡±
krpg: ¡°Ah, Kenta wants to know how the story continues, even though he can¡¯t make use of it. How moving!¡±
KK: ¡°Shut up! Also, why are you looking at me like that!?¡±
krpg: ¡°Nevermind that. I just wanted to take a good look at you. Now about the next volume, we have everything. New heroes, old acquaintances, strange alliances, a hell lot of physical pain and mental anguish, a new city, Ara¡¯ainn at her best and worst, and some closure here and there, because it¡¯ll mark the end of the second arc, which would include volume 4 to 8.¡±
MK: ¡°Ken¡ stay strong.¡±
AA: ¡°At least I¡¯m shining, Kenta-kun.¡±
RN: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kenta. You¡¯re strong enough to live through it.¡±
KK: ¡°Why is the pain and anguish hidden in the midst of the sentence and everyone assumes it¡¯s me who will suffer it? No, don¡¯t say, I know, I know¡ Any bright side?¡±
krpg: ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see it in the next volume!¡±
KK: ¡°Answer my question, dammit!¡±
Extra 1 ¨C I hate being wed in another kind of RPG-inspired fantasy world!
One of my usual routines is to check my and the girls¡¯ statuses. I do it about eighty times per day. First, it was just to keep track of my level ups, then it was about learning how each activity and injury affect my HP and SP, then it became a comfort, and finally a habit.
Sometimes I also think that I will have a flash of genius and figure something out there. The problem with the hero-system is that there may be a lot of functions still hidden, but as functions like [Class-up]s are basically hidden behind knowing them, I lost all hope of suddenly finding a new kind of function or the like.
Well, today I¡¯m wondering whether I broke the hero-system instead, because it looks different. How different? To describe that, I¡¯d need to go into detail how the UI (user interface) of the usual hero-system is built, which would take too long.
So let¡¯s concentrate on the new one. I open it, and I see nothing but blackness and a single screen, split into several windows. A big one shows me and the girls and our level, HP, and MP, which is new. I mean, useful to not switch between interfaces, but it reminds me of old RPGs like Dragon Quest or Lufia.
Now I move a cursor with my mind, and there are options like [Items], [Status], and [Equipment], and also a grayed out [Save] and [Exit] option, which is the worst kind of joke ever, because I¡¯d love to exit this world or at least save before making any decisions.
With a quick glance at my [Status], I can see that the number of stats have also been reduced to just HP, MP, [Strength], [Dexterity], [Intelligence], and [Agility].
¡
I have a hunch here. ¡°Girls, check your status,¡± I say to them, while I notice that I can¡¯t use my [Pitch]-skill like I used to. ¡°Things are wrong here.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Rine makes another step, and suddenly, the whole environment begins to flash, and a monster begins to emerge from out of nowhere. It¡¯s a slime!
¡
I¡¯ve been in this fantasy world for a couple of months and only now I finally meet a slime!? Wait, is this even the same fantasy world!?
¡°Kenta, Kenta! I can¡¯t move!¡± While her feet are planted to the ground, Rine¡¯s body bobs around like she¡¯s doing exercises¡ that is, exercises that don¡¯t make sense with a sword in her hand.
¡°Interesting,¡± says Ara-san, who is in the same position. ¡°Also, somewhat annoying.¡± I can feel that, as Kyou-san and I are subjected to that same procedure. ¡°Momo, would you mind your breast? That shaking is very distracting!¡±
¡°I can¡¯t! And trust me, it¡¯s very uncomfortable, it almost hurts!¡±
Well, I can¡¯t say that I don¡¯t enjoy this sight, but I¡¯m also concerned that I suddenly have my spear in my hands, despite not drawing it. ¡°Calm down, I think I know what¡¯s going on.¡±
¡°THEN STOP IT!¡± Kyou-san screams. ¡°Ou, why are we shaking!?¡±
¡°It¡¯s an¡ idle animation or something.¡± At least, that¡¯s the closest that comes to mind, though I¡¯m sure I¡¯m using a wrong term here. Don¡¯t care right now. ¡°Did you notice that our HP and MP bars are in our lower sight? We¡¯re stuck in a new world, with another kind of RPG-system.¡±
Suddenly, next to Ara-san¡¯s name appears the word [Stun]. ¡ I guess, with this her hundred years of researching heroes has been made a total waste of time. Well, at least her shaking stopped, now she¡¯s on her knees with strange curls around her head. ¡°Ara!!!¡± At least Rine is concerned.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°OK, OK, I bite,¡± exclaims Kyou-san, who looks at Ara-san as if she had won a vacation in the lottery. Is that moving really so awful for her? ¡°What kind of RPG?¡±
¡°A turn-based one. So we can¡¯t proceed yet. Either the one whose turn it is has to decide what to do, or we all need to make commands, depending on the type.¡±
¡°And how do we do that?¡±
¡°¡maybe saying something? Erm¡ Escape!¡± This makes the most sense, as we don¡¯t know how to interact with this kind of system yet.
¡
¡ ¡
¡ ¡ ¡
That didn¡¯t work at all! ¡°Attack! ¡ Attack Slime! Come on, everyone! All say escape now!¡±
¡°Erm¡ escape?¡± Why do you make it a question, Kyou-san?
¡°¡¡± Ara-san is still stunned, so she won¡¯t be able to use commands, but in turn-based RPGs, you can run away, even if party-members should be immobile, so I just assume for now that it¡¯s the same.
¡°Attack!¡± Rine, why are you boycotting this!? ¡°You run away, and I¡¯ll defeat it!¡±
Gosh, this idiot! However, now that everyone used a command, we should¡ No, nothing is happening. So saying your turn out loud doesn¡¯t make you also take that turn.
So what else? There is no menu, there is no cursor on the enemies, so how does it work!? There isn¡¯t a turn bar either, so nothing that indicates whether we even can decide actions at the moment.
By the way, isn¡¯t having a turn-based RPG-like world like a really bad idea? I mean, aside from these idle animations that I¡¯m already sick of¡ªin several ways¡ª, taking away our freedom to move and do whatever is right at that moment to instead be in that artificial break where we have time to think about our moves, to coordinate our actions, to make most use of every set moment in combat, while each enemy can only attack whenever we pass the turn to them, I mean¡ isn¡¯t it much better than what we had before? I mean, by a mile!?
¡°Strike! Slash! Pummel! Obliterate! Eradicate!¡± Rine tries different words to finally get into attacking. ¡°Kenta, nothing works! Even though it says attack at the bottom of my view, I can¡¯t do it!¡±
¡ ¡°JUST USE THAT COMMAND LIKE THE HERO-SYSTEM, DAMMIT!¡± Seriously, I should have known. So the one whose turn it is can input a command and therefore continue the battle.
Rine jumps forward, swings her sword, and then the slime is here, and there, some parts of it are all the way over there, it was reduced into a slimy rain including several inner organs that I didn¡¯t expect from it¡ especially given that it was translucent and I should have seen those organs.
Now if I¡¯m right, we should get into a victory pose or so¡ not looking forward to it. ¡ Or not, I mean, we even skipped the tree, but at least the idle animations have stopped and suddenly, Ara-san begins to move again: ¡°What did I miss?¡±
¡°To sum it up, either the hero-system changed or we suddenly moved into another kind of fantasy world with different rules to it, and now we¡¯re in a turn-based combat RPG, though there is no rhyme or reason why we have idle animations, but no victory pose, and overall we- Rine, don¡¯t move! Damn you, random encounters!¡± I swear, as Rine took two steps only to trigger the next encounter, this time we¡¯re facing eight slimes.
So much randomness! Well, Rine quickly takes her turn, demolishing a slime, but then one of them attacks her. Well, she can easily do- ¡°Ouch!¡± ¡looks like Rine can¡¯t dodge it, because of her idle animation and because dodge is a very underrepresented stat in turn-based RPGs.
Why are slimes fast in the first place? Three are coming, I try to block it, but my body is too busy moving on its own. ¡°Ou, ou, ou!¡± It hurts! Even worse than in the other world, because I can¡¯t even brace myself!
¡°Oh, it¡¯s my turn.¡± Now in between is Ara-san, which shows some kind of randomizing of initiative order or enemy stats. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡ Hm¡ Ah¡ Well¡¡±
¡°Arako, just do something already!¡±
¡°Don¡¯t pressure me. Just now, my research for the last century has been made obsolete, but what is a century? Ah, I know. More time than you can imagine, silly me.¡± Oh god, she has snapped! ¡°You don¡¯t have to be alerted. I will just start anew. Let¡¯s conduct our first experiment that is, if there is a time restriction to make your turn.¡±
¡don¡¯t tell me¡
¡°ARAKO! STOP IT! OR I¡¯LL MURDER YOU, WHEN I¡¯M GETTING OUT OF IT!¡±
¡°You fail to see the beauty of it: If there is no time limit, you won¡¯t get out so easily. I guess, we have to wait until you have calmed down Momo.¡±
¡°Ara-san,¡± I try to bargain, ¡°let¡¯s not be hasty here and¡ DID YOU FALL ASLEEP!¡± I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m supposed to be impressed, that sloth Ara-san is able to take a nap even during an idle animation. Why doesn¡¯t she lay down and get the [Sleep]-condition? Don¡¯t tell me, that she¡¯s just daydreaming to keep her turn up!
¡°WAKE UP, ARA-SAN!¡±
¡°ARAKO! ARAKO!¡±
¡°Ara, I¡¯m about to get angry.¡±
Of course, nothing we yell at her makes her take her turn, as she¡¯s probably dead set on trying out how long she can stall. This screaming is exhausting and makes my throat dry though.
Also, it¡¯s starting to rain. It¡¯s getting cold.
Maybe that¡¯s why nobody even dared to imagine being summoned to an RPG-based world with a turn-based system¡ I sure hope that this world has no alfar or other trolls that would absolutely exploit this combat-style.
I hate this world even more than the old one.
Extra 2 ¨C Gottfried vs. Godspeed
They have barely passed the Ohl. Gottfried yawns inside a small city that is north to the swamps. Meldorn went to look for the track, an endeavor that may take days, but is still faster than any alternative.
Having the Huntsman act on his own and fetch them later was the sensible choice. It¡¯s not like any of them had anything to provide and Meldorn will be quicker alone. Therefore, recuperating at the city seems like the best option, even though Gottfried is treated like a calamity after he left his name at the gate. Rightfully so, but while it may have been flattering for the first few years after making a name, it grows old even faster than Gottfried himself.
They¡¯ve been here for three days already. Gottfried ends his morning jog, accompanied by one of the local militia, who could barely even carry a sword at his hip without hurting himself and insulting the blade. Other than the old man, the lad was huffing and puffing, even though they only went at a rabbits speed for an hour.
It¡¯s actually Gottfried that has a right to groan, as his knees feel like they¡¯re about to fall apart, his shoulders move like angular rods in a circular hole, and his back feeling like someone shoved a blazing hot bar into it. That¡¯s the reason why he retired as a knight in the first place.
Uttering silent self-recriminations for his mental weakness for a moment, he places the hand on the door of the inn they¡¯re staying in. A sudden jolt moves through his body, anticipation. His fighting instincts, honed by many decades detected an at least decent challenge.
He opens the door and looks for the only person who would pass his stern requirements on how to properly carry a weapon. There he is, a man in his mid-thirties, around the age of Meldorn. A good age. A sharp nose, an angular face that almost looks like a blade itself. Dark eyes, the hair has been shaved. A lanky body, but everything on his long bones is purposeful muscle.
The man looks at Gottfried and this is the first time the old man feels displeased. There was power in this stare, confidence, but the latter was also paired with some arrogance. However, this dissatisfaction stems from Gottfried¡¯s own experience, as he was looking like that in his youth as well.
Without saying a word, Gottfried points outside. The man nods gracefully and then both of them walk outside the city. The militiaman follows them, no one exchanging a single word. Gottfried and his new challenger both know what they want and what they¡¯ll do, so they have no need to talk, except for the usual pre-battle banter.
The militiaman stops at the gate, most likely knowing that this is not a place he should treat. The silent walk goes for half an hour, then they stop at a rocky plain. A lot of space, good footing, no peanut gallery.
¡°I¡¯m glad that I found you. I heard that you were here and ran through the night to meet you.¡±
¡°With legs as long as yours, it looks easy.¡±
¡°My alias is Godspeed, after all.¡± In the time of a blink, the man has distanced himself from Gottfried, too fast to follow. ¡°Is this distance alright?¡±
¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. Seems like I¡¯m not the one who does the running here.¡± Gottfried knows that he won¡¯t be able to keep up with this speed, so why bother?
¡°How do we give the signal?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll throw this coin in the air. While it¡¯s in the air, we take our stances, when it hits the ground, the duel starts.¡± Not very formal, also unfair as Gottfried would decide the time given between stance and start, but as there are no referees here, it has to do.
¡°Fine with me.¡±
Gottfried tosses the coin and his opponent begins to slightly jump on his toes, which isn¡¯t a battle stance and therefore a rude gesture before the battle, that¡¯s actually a violation of dueling rules.
Therefore, instead of taking his usual battle-stance, the retired knight draws the sword, makes a quick, low swing, and then relaxes his entire body in an instant. For this one, he has to be fluent like water.
The coin hits the ground.
Danger from left. While Gottfried lacks the speed, he has his instincts that lend him foresight of his opponents¡¯ move. With the single clash, Gottfried feels the thought of his opponent. I¡¯m faster than him. He¡¯s right.
Using the speed advantage, Godspeed disappears and reappears in some distance, then at the right, the left, to every direction around Gottfried while sending flying cuts at him, each of them with enough power to kill.
All of them will hit around the same time, it¡¯s like building a meat-grinder surrounding the retired knight. With a stomp, Gottfried creates a small shockwave around himself, strong enough to deflect all of the attacks, but the danger comes from behind, in the form of a flying thrust Gottfried parries with his sword. That¡¯s the reason the old man used the foot for defense before, but his opponent was now in his dead space, yet the former knight hits the flat of the opponent¡¯s blade with his fist without even looking at it, feeling his thoughts again: He can¡¯t keep up. Right again.
Godspeed falls back again, seemingly creating blurred copies of himself, though he¡¯s just looking for an angle to attack. As Gottfried stands his ground, he could use minute movements to discourage his opponent from an assault, but this is mentally very taxing.
¡°I admit,¡± Gottfried says half-laughing: ¡°You got me beat in speed. This is a great accomplishment, I doubt even at my prime I¡¯d be able to catch you in tag. Speed, endurance to keep it up, tactics that use it efficiently, you¡¯re the first decent challenge I had in a while.¡±
¡°Decent? Then I have to show more.¡±
¡°Gladly, because this grows boring.¡± Gottfried grips his sword harder and makes a single strike. For a moment, there was the cracking of air, and Godspeed began to walk slower and slower.
For his own surprise. ¡°Wha- what!? How!?¡±
Gottfried smiles. ¡°I cut your speed. Now show me your next trick.¡±
¡°Yo-You cut my speed!? How!?¡±
¡°Training, dedication, and breaking boundaries. If there are people faster than you, you better find ways to deal with that.¡±
To Gottfried¡¯s surprise, Godspeed charges at him, but every movement was at a more manageable pace. While the younger swordsman is definitely extremely fast, even in his current condition, his close-quarter skills still need improvement. While Godspeed appears to be calm, his blade tells his true feelings. Give it back!
¡°So only that one trick¡ you¡¯re just a one-trick pony, that got good at one thing and more or less muscled its way through everything using it. The world is big, Pony. You need more than one gimmick.¡± With this, Gottfried parried the incoming [Vibroblade] with a single swing, just by twirling the blade a bit on contact, that redirected that skill¡¯s power. While Godspeed could keep a hold of his blade, another twirl puts Gottfried¡¯s blade at his throat. ¡°You lost.¡±
¡°¡¡± Pony says nothing, but his stare says everything.
¡°If you¡¯re so confident that you¡¯d win at full speed, just wait a few more seconds and go to that spot. That¡¯s where you were when I cut your speed.¡±
Jumping at the chance to redeem himself, Pony does exactly that. The speed-drop subsides and this time, Pony seems to vanish. Gottfried jumps to the side, then comes the sound of flesh and bones hitting the ground at great speed.
Where Gottfried was just a moment before, there lies most of Pony, covered by bruises and his own blood, as he had suddenly hit the ground. Like mentioned, it was just most of him, as his legs were missing below the knees, they flew in random directions. ¡°¡how¡?¡±
¡°Let me tell you. Remember when you hopped while the coin was in the air? As this is already a violation of dueling rules, I made a small cut at the level of your knees during that time. It persisted. That¡¯s all.¡± Gottfried¡¯s words obviously crushed Pony¡¯s mind.
The faster something is, the more force it brings. If you¡¯re much faster than your opponent, you won¡¯t be hit and can¡¯t be parried. Putting all effort of building up and maintaining speed seems to be like a logical, overwhelming choice. The faster you are, the more time you have for everything.
¡°The world is big,¡± Gottfried repeats, ¡°and I had plenty of other ways to deal with you, Pony. You may have now lost your legs, but use it as an opportunity to improve. Your idea was misled, but there is actual potential in you. Don¡¯t waste it.¡±
Gottfried turns around, leaving the man, who needs a new alias, on his own. It¡¯s highly doubtful if the legs can be saved, but this is part of the risk of reaching the top of the world.
If Gottfried¡¯s opponent learns from that defeat, he may become capable. Crushing defeats are the best teachers, after all.
Volume 07 - Extras - Call for the Color Rangers! & Legend of Hagen
Extra 3 ¨C Call for the Color Rangers
Hrarks enters the Dead Horse Inn. He split from the Bloody-Nosed Mercenary Company to follow the message he received. Two spells were used [Spirit Beacon] and [Far Call] to deliver the following: {Message to all rangers in the vicinity. Gather at the direction I send you.}
Hrarks also goes by the name Hrarks¡¯naail, the Unseen. He got his moniker for his stealth-related aptitude. His alfr name references the supposed stench he gives off, according to his teacher. It¡¯s just one of the many things people have to endure when receiving ranger-training, and Hrarks can¡¯t take the claim seriously, as alfar have one of the weakest senses of smell from all the species.
Hrarks can¡¯t see and hear well while he has his hood on, it also dampens his sense of smell, but he still senses the people in the common room. None of them had the fluent spirit of an alfr, but there was the one that beaconed him here, it¡¯s coming from a small folksperson, apparently female. She also wears a hood over her face, the mark of a ranger.
Of course, everyone can wear a hood, but it¡¯s the special kind of hood alfar make to hinder the senses, which teaches non-alfar to rely on their spirit senses more, and many rangers keep wearing them, as they represent hard work and repeated humiliation. Hrarks keeps his to hone his spirit senses to a degree where he won¡¯t ever be messed with by an alfr again. Maybe most other non-alfr rangers feel the same.
Next to the folkswoman is a bearded human and an old human, both of them also have hoods donned. At the floor lies a saberthoothed wolf. Without exchanging a word, Hrarks sits down next to them.
¡°Welcome,¡± says the folkswoman while looking at the wolf. It has to be her companion, so she may check how it reacts to Hrarks, as animals have their own perception and may notice something that she missed. Pleased with the non-reaction, the folkwoman explains: ¡°You¡¯re the last one. Aside from us, there is just an alfr in another room.¡± She says these last words dryly and Hrarks can not only feel his own mood falling. ¡°He helped me to set this up, so¡ Nonetheless, thank you for answering the beacon.¡±
Yes, a [Spirit Beacon] has to be answered. After thinking about it, Hrarks decided to do so and got the location and message, and then explained things to the mercenary pack. The ranger pack needs him but they have other talented scouts and hunters to get by until Hrarks returns.
¡°Thank you for coming-. First off, I¡¯m Miax¡¯hau, the Beastmaster.¡± Hrarks met another folksperson with the hau-suffix, so maybe it means something simple as ¡®small¡¯.
¡°Tols¡¯vak, the Forestflight,¡± the bearded human introduces himself.
The human next to him speaks in the voice of an elderly woman: ¡°Ilva¡¯shein, the Fullhearted.¡±
¡°Hrarks¡¯naail, the Unseen.¡±
¡°My alfr name tells alfar that I¡¯m cute and cuddly.¡±
¡°Mine tells them that I¡¯m clumsy.¡±
¡°Mine about my chicken-like cackle.¡±
¡°Mine that I stink.¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°*sigh*¡±¡±¡±¡± Whenever rangers meet, they start talking about their mistreatment. While being a ranger is one of the highest honors of the Wildlands and bring several sets of useful skills, it also is tied to discrimination, humiliation, all kinds of abuse, and being victimized.
Though it takes only seconds for everyone to straighten up and look at the newcomer. It¡¯s an old alfr, his eyes are yellow-green, his hair was light green. ¡°Good,¡± he says in a serious tone, while mustering all of them. ¡°Seems like all of you have the basic awareness down.¡± Each of them have felt this alfr¡¯s spirit which changes with his mood, giving a whole array of emotions away. This one is currently disappointed, which makes Hrarks glad. ¡°I¡¯m Oro¡¯hekk.¡± He walks to Miax and starts petting her, like it¡¯s the most natural thing of the world: ¡°This kitty was at the door of Aroahenn, the nearby village and asked for help.¡±
Hrarks lifts his nose a bit. ¡°You¡¯re wounded.¡± The smell of herbs and closing wounds are surrounding this alfr.
¡°I¡¯m much better now. I may have jumped into a big club to defend a fellow alfr, which wasn¡¯t the best idea I ever had,¡± he answers nonchalantly before continuing what he began. ¡°As the flea-colony said, I¡¯m wounded and therefore more of an advisor. Kitty is the leader.¡±
Miax harrumphs, as all dignity as a leader she may have is destroyed by being treated like a pet by this alfr. ¡°Now that all are here, let me explain my plight. My husband, Keow, is also a ranger. He and I wander the world together, mostly acting as guides. Sadly, Crescent here got sick, and while I stayed behind, he joined a caravan, which was heading to D¨¦juma. I was waiting for him at the meeting place we agreed on and a week passed after the time I expected him back. I left him a message, I tried to come his way, I looked for our usual signs. I found some of his arrows, and I found tracks. He was picked up by a group of riders, and it seems like he was suddenly overwhelmed, as if they were talking to him and then made a surprise attack. I followed the tracks north, but more and more riders came, so I headed to the next place that could help me. Sadly, I ended up in Aroahenn.¡±
¡°You mean luckily,¡± Oro¡¯hekk corrects her while the other rangers could only agree to the ¡®sadly¡¯, as she will pay a hefty price for asking the alfar for help. ¡°As Aroahenn had something like a crisis and is still rebuilding, and we have only few warriors in the first place, our elder decided that I should tag along, as a form or rehabilitation, and as a reward for my deeds.¡± Hrarks feels his fur spread apart, as recuperation might mean to pranking all of them into submission. The humans look like they want to run away.
Miax continues her story: ¡°From their tracks, I rule out common bandits. Whoever took Keow are structured and able to ride in formation even for long times, and the remnants of their camp look like they¡¯re military. We need only to get Keow out, but I can¡¯t do it on my own without causing a massacre. So please help me.¡±
Hrarks lets out an affirmative growl. He¡¯s here to help his ranger pack anyway, it may be dangerous, but it¡¯s for the pack. The human also agree, showing the unity and camaraderie peculiarly to rangers.
The enemies are a large group of people with military precision, something nobody with some sanity would like to face without back-up. The goal is not to fight them, but to support Miax to find her husband, the fellow ranger Keow.
¡°Alright, then we¡¯re all on the same page,¡± the alfr Oro¡¯hekk says as he looks at the group. ¡°I decided that for building a team experience,¡± everyone shudders at this word spoken out by an alfr, ¡°we should all go by other monikers for this mission. Beardy,¡± he says to Tols, ¡°you will be the Yellow Ranger, as your facial hair spread like the rays of the sun. Silver-hair,¡± he continues while pointing at Ilva, ¡°to honor your almost alfr hair color, you¡¯re gonna be the White Ranger. Stinky,¡± it¡¯s Hrarks¡¯ turn now, ¡°as your fleas will leave many marks on our humans, you will become the Pink Ranger. Cuddelworth, you will be the Blue Ranger to tell how much I want to cuddle you right now. I will be the Green Ranger, and all of us will become the Color Rangers!¡±
The non-alfar sighs in unison, but years of training taught them to roll with minor punches, rather than arguing until the alfr decides to escalate the situation as you show to care about that issue. This particular alfr seems to be death-set to just give them a color code.
There is one big question though, a question asked by Tols, the newly announced Yellow Ranger: ¡°Why pink and not red?¡±
¡°Because the Red Ranger is a very special spot and there is only one who can fill it.¡± So someone Oro¡¯hekk has taught himself, someone who he adores and loves to torture.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Following the tracks was an easy task; the claws of horses, axeken and daiosars are easy to find for a group of rangers, even though they stuck to the roads as much as possible. However, at some point they strayed from the trade routes, and there were several groups coming and returning from a path that has been trampled by too many horses and feet.
Tols fold his arms, as he nods. ¡°They have a camp that way,¡± he speaks out what everyone already thought. There are several forests close by, enough to hunt game, this is also close to the Mauerfelsen, the mountain-range that borders the fertile lands of Feuerberg, so more farmsteads would be here.
Food is the basis of every army.
¡°What do you think? Mercenaries or a city-state?¡± Ilva¡¯s wrinkled face showed how much she despises both of them.
¡°You haven¡¯t been in a town for a while, I presume?¡±
¡°Can¡¯t stand them¡ ah, Crusaders, right? Seen their work, really noisy and brutal.¡±
Yes, recently the Crusader made a cleansing around the trade-route; which means they hunted down and chased off any monsters around them, so that it¡¯ll be much safer to travel there for a while. Hrarks tries to remember what the leader of his mercenary company, Bloody-Nosed Ikkslibit, said about them, as Hrarks really don¡¯t care much about other packs.
No, he has to ask. ¡°Crusaders?¡±
¡°A free army, you could say. They say they hunt the profane, and want to participate in the war between Feuerberg and the demons, and for rations and gear, they made a huge cleansing. Guess they also made it to train their new recruits.¡±
¡°These swines!¡± Miax says in anger, while Crescent growls at her side, mirroring her master¡¯s emotions: ¡°They took Keow!¡±
¡°Why though? If he was a profane-¡± Tols starts, which earned him an evil look from Miax, ¡°like I said, if he was a sinner or such, they would have killed him on the spot.¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, Yellow Ranger?¡± Oro¡¯hekk says proudly, which can¡¯t be seen on his face, though his ears and spirit are showing it more than clearly: ¡°They want a ranger for their group, because we do really good work with you, and they decided to ambush one, as the moment they ask one to join they could get refused.¡±
While the whole idea is based on an absurd thought, there is also some truth to it. Many armed groups seek out rangers, as there are only few people who are that much in touch with the wilderness, including most non-ranger alfar. They may use spirit magic very proficiently, as it¡¯s as natural for them as moving their arms, but many alfar never really learned how to survive in an untamed forest.
Hrarks had an alfr in his mercenary pack that tried to capture a human ranger. This incident ended with an arrow in her chest. It pains Hrarks to think back to that whole mess, which started with his mercenary pack not even knowing that they were hunting a ranger.
With Oro¡¯hekk¡¯s words still hanging in the air, Ilva gives her own thoughts: ¡°It¡¯s obvious that no ranger would voluntarily join the likes of the Crusaders. They¡¯re just like a military.¡± Yes, being in a mercenary band like Hrarks is rare enough, as rangers tend to be mavericks. Only especially desperate people or loners would choose to seek out the alfar for their training, and they usually do the rest to destroy any personality trait that would match rigid hierarchical systems. ¡°So let¡¯s think about why a military would like to capture a ranger. They do have their own kind of magic, right?¡±
¡°They call it something like crusade, hence the name,¡± Tols fills her in, ¡°it allows them to identify and damage the profane, individually and as a group.¡± Tols seems to know a lot about civilization, which is helpful, but strange for a ranger. ¡°Like I said, they would have killed him on the spot, if,¡± he puts much emphasis on this word, ¡°he was one. So my next best guess would be that your husband knows something he didn¡¯t want to share, Miax.¡±
¡°This would explain the sudden attack¡ first they asked Keow about it, he refused, then they attacked. Even if Keow was on alert due to their question, he wasn¡¯t prepared for the attack, and there are bound to be some capable people there¡¡± Miax grinds her knuckles against each other. ¡°So they will interrogate him. Torture him.¡±
Hrarks steps a bit back, as his instincts tells him to stay away from Miax right now, she smells like violence right now.
¡°Whatever he knows, he won¡¯t break if it¡¯s important,¡± Ilva says in a stern tone, ¡°after all, we¡¯re used to torture.¡±
¡°Why that?¡± asks Oro¡¯hekk poisonously sweet, full knowing that his kind are the reason for that. His spirit shows satisfaction, as every other ranger here trembled in fear and anger.
They follow the tracks further, this time slower. For most people, they would just stare at the group of five and yet don¡¯t think much of it, as they seem to be just simple blades of grass that are moving with the wind. This is the effect of the [Mask of Wildlife]-spell, which each of them has cast and is supported by Oro¡¯hekk, who somehow weaved all of their spirits together to make them even less remarkable. Hrarks has a similar spell, a more powerful one, but he still admires this skillful work, which is more natural and less straining.
This is more than enough to pass by the guard posts without them noticing. The rangers could see the tents from afar, which are built on a meadow with several trees. Banners showing a claw clutching a sword by its blade serve as borders, showing everyone who resides in this camp. The mark of the Crusaders.
¡°Going further may be dangerous,¡± Oro¡¯hekk explains calmly, ¡°they have trampled the grass to the ground, and there are too many people. This is time for the Pink Ranger to shine!¡±
Hrarks snarls, but he has to agree, that this means that it¡¯s time for [Mask of People], a spell he has developed and perfected by himself. As a mercenary, he had several run-ins with bandits and sometimes even other mercenaries or local armies, and being a ranger makes him a great scout. However, rangers are the best when surrounded by nature, which makes entering an enemy camp for intelligence gathering often a work better fitting for a spy.
Watching a spy¡¯s work, he has worked on a spell that mimics one of their common skills: To blend in with people. [Mask of People] works a lot like [Mask of Wildlife] as it meshes the spirit of the user to the spirit of their surrounding. However, where [Mask of Wildlife] does so with plants, [Mask of People] does so with other people or even monsters. The higher the complexity of a spirit, the more straining it becomes though. Especially when he tries to include other people into this spell..
Leading an assault group into monsters to strike from within? Not much of a problem. However, doing the same with bandits won¡¯t work.
There is an order of complexity of the spirit: Plants, beasts, and people, all with their own subcategories. A reptile¡¯s spirit is less complex than a mammal¡¯s, for example. Monsters, who show traits of several beasts, usually fall somewhere between their make-up, so a manticor is somewhere between the simple spirit of an insect and the much more complex spirit of a lion. A kobold is almost as complex as a person.
¡°I can bring two people with me.¡± This is a low estimation of Hrarks, as he may believe that the Crusaders don¡¯t have [Spirit Magic], given how easy they could pass the guard posts, but they¡¯re still people, which means that their spirits are complex and not as easy to trick.
¡°I will,¡± Miax says without hesitation. ¡°So one other¡ Crescent can¡¯t come with us as a bonus?¡±
¡°No.¡± This would make things even more complicated, as Crescent is a wolf and meshing a beast-like spirit with a people¡¯s would be much of a stretch.
¡°Me! Take me!¡± Oro¡¯hekk jumps on his feet, he seems to be willing and ready and his experience would be invaluable.
¡°Tols, would you mind?¡± Miax asks the bearded human instead, knowing that bringing an alfr into this camp might end up in a catastrophe.
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°Why not me¡¡± mourns Oro¡¯hekk this decision. ¡°I¡¯m much better suited for all kinds of situation, and I¡¯m not as hairy as Yellow Ranger!¡±
¡°You¡¯re our advisor, right? So we do the field missions,¡± Miax says without batting an eye. However, this calms down Oro¡¯hekk quite a bit. In a sense, handling an alfr is like handling a pup.
Hrarks feels relief, as now it seems like they won¡¯t have an alfr throwing a tantrum in the midst of the camp because of boredom or something. Or to make their lives even more miserable.
It will be hard enough as it is.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Hrarks¡¯nail, the Unseen,¡± compliments Tols. He, Miax, and Hrarks sneak between the tents, still using everything they got to remain hidden for safety. While the very complicated spell that Hrarks uses will make it hard for the Crusaders to recognize them as something other than the people they expect, there is no need to overly rely on it.
It¡¯s enough to bypass the guards though, which is plenty, as there are many magical wards here. Basically, every unused spot is warded with some kind of spell, while the main-paths of the camp are watched.
¡°I smell him,¡± Miax whispers, as she sniffs the air. Some rangers, especially those who have much contact with beasts, develop a sharp sense of smell. Tols didn¡¯t, but he certainly adopted some other beast-like traits. ¡°I also smell blood.¡± Her icy voice is so sharp, that Tols is worried for a second that this will somehow alert the Crusaders, but he doesn¡¯t feel any lingering glances. He can rely on that feeling, which is why even a ranger would have a hard time ambushing him.
The tent Miax is heading to has its own guard before it. That¡¯s why the three rangers go around it, Hrarks cuts the tent silently with a knife, which shows how good this hynoar in stealth is. No scratching, no ripping, not a single sound.
He takes a peek inside and then gives the sign to enter. It¡¯s an almost empty tent, just a maimed body is lying on the ground. A folksman, bound in thick metal chains that won¡¯t break by his immense strength. Though it¡¯s questionable if he would have been able to even try, as he has cuts and bruises all over his body.
¡he doesn¡¯t breath. Tols can tell that Keow is dead.
Tols¡¯ whole body becomes cold, while steaming hot anger wells behind his navel, but this is not the time.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Miax gently strokes her husband¡¯s face. ¡°Thank you,¡± she says with a broken voice.
He has been subjected to torture, and most likely the Crusaders didn¡¯t tend to his wounds enough. Most of them are human, and therefore overestimate what other species can endure. This wasn¡¯t the work of a professional, this was a bunch of dilettantes that basically think that cutting and hitting makes someone talk.
How many days has it been? Why is the tent still guarded? Did he die during interrogation and the one responsible for it wants to cover it up? Was it to lure other rangers into the camp?
It¡¯s not the time for that though. Miax takes the chain: ¡°Unseen, can you mute it?¡± The hynoar nods, and then the small woman tears the chain apart. It takes some effort, but this is the raw power of the Folk. ¡°Forestflight?¡±
Tols nods as he picks up the body. It¡¯s not colder than the air, but for the human it feels like it. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± It¡¯s as easy as this: Sneak into the camp, retrieve the body, leave without being seen. There will surely be an uproar when they find out that the corpse has vanished, but leaving it there isn¡¯t an option.
The three of them regroup with the other rangers. They catch on the moment they lay eyes on Keow¡¯s body, sparing Miax any questions.
Except Oro¡¯hekk: ¡°What do you want to do now?¡± he asks.
¡°Kill every single one of them.¡±
The alfr nods in response. Same as Tols and the rest.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It has been five days since the dead ranger disappeared, but Knight Vice-Captain Julio Bandersneid just assumed that one of the few who knew about it back then got rid of the body, so that the soldiers won¡¯t notice. By now, they have all learned of the demise, but not that it was Bandersneid himself who went too far, and now they think that the ranger took his own life.
In a sense, he did. He spat Bandersneid, a Lord Vice-Captain, in the face! Of course, Bandersneid was just promoted to one, but he still deserves the respect! Isn¡¯t it him who has been trusted with the task to rally and equip the last troops of the Crusaders that has been sent to Feuerberg? He even took it upon himself to find a ranger, after Knight Captain Alchenain asked him to, the son of Knight Commander Alchenain!
It¡¯s a shame that Bandersneid wasn¡¯t able to get the info, but now he has to concentrate on bringing a group of one hundred and forty-six soldiers over the Mauerfelsen-mountains. ¡°Why¡ why are there monsters still here!¡± He snaps at his adjutant, as he pulls his sword from a scaleetle, a bug-type with shark face. ¡°Haven¡¯t we cleansed them all?¡± He personally saw through it, as this was part of the deal the Knight Commander made with the city-states on the way.
¡°Sir, we did,¡± he says while cleaning his sword with a piece of cloth. ¡°We drove them back into the deepest forests and highest mountains.¡±
¡°Then why are they still here!? We have a schedule!¡± While his deal with Flammenkreis, a city which serves as a gate for the mountain path they will take, isn¡¯t time-bound, Bandersneid hates being late, as it¡¯s improper and impolite.
¡°Sir, I don¡¯t know.¡±
This wasn¡¯t the first attack either. Who was responsible for this area? Maybe Lieutenant Ulgenain? Yes, that bastard surely just skimped that! He would need to punish her for this, doing sloppy work and then report otherwise.
Why is there a grove here? The scouts didn¡¯t tell him about a grove, and as they haven¡¯t returned yet, they didn¡¯t think of this grove as unusual. Of course, Bandersneid has never been here before, as he only sent messengers to Flammenkreis so far, but he should know if the traveling route leads through a grove, because if his scouts would be working properly, they would have told him!
He notices how he is overreacting and takes long breaths to calm himself. He¡¯s Vice-Captain now, so he shouldn¡¯t be that small-minded. Bandersneid has to take things more composed. ¡°Twenty on each side,¡± he tells his adjutant, ¡°we need to be prepared for monster attacks.¡±
They enter the grove. The road may be older than it, maybe it started with planting some trees to tap the rain from the ground to make the street less muddy, and then it grew from there. Yes, the grove seems rather long, not wide, basically a grown avenue.
This may take some minutes, but nothing to be worried about. ¡°Greetings.¡± Who is that!? A blonde-bearded man steps from between the trees, he has a hood¡ a ranger!
What a lucky day. Bandersneid rides forward: ¡°I¡¯m Knight Vice-Captain Julio Bandersneid of the Crusaders. Who are you?¡±
¡°I¡¯m known as Tols¡¯vak, the Forestflight. A ranger.¡± Yes! Bandersneid has another one! He only needs to get closer!
¡°Are you here to give us guidance?¡± Several rangers help groups of people to pass treacherous terrain, so waiting for some to pass the mountains here seems to be logical.
¡°Don¡¯t come closer, Vice-Captain,¡± the ranger warns. ¡°Tell me, why did you take Keow?¡±
Keow¡ the name of the ranger they captured. So this ranger knows, which means that surprising him won¡¯t work. With the men under his command, it would be easy to capture him with violence, though. Crusaders are powerful, and at this distance, it would only need a second for Bandersneid himself to dismount and decapitate that ranger without breaking a sweat. Aside from him, there are four others under his command, who outweighs a hundred usual footsoldiers. Barto, the Red, who can level a building with a single strike. Tulia, the Quick, who can take down three men twice her side per second. Aswald, the Wild, whose mace can break open even the hardest shell. Jarod, the Brave, who uses magic to enhance himself and others to great heights. There is nothing to worry about with soldiers like those.
Therefore Bandersneid will just ask his questions and capture this ranger, if they¡¯re not satisfactorily answered. ¡°We¡¯re looking for someone. The Red Ranger, as he¡¯s called. He¡¯s a sinner, and we will kill him. Help us find him, for the world¡¯s sake.¡± There are the Divine Laws. Breaking them makes someone a sinner, and too many sinners will cause a calamity, which will eradicate the whole species of these numerous sinners.
Every sane person would see the need to kill every sinner the moment they¡¯re found. Some Crusaders are capable of magic that allows them to detect those sinners, as the claim comes from Knight Captain Alchenain, who has this spell, there is no doubt that the Red Ranger is one.
Yes, every sane person would help the Crusaders to find every sinner they know of. However, ¡°I see.¡± Bandersneid jumps from his horse, towards the ranger, yet something grabbed his cape from behind in the midst of the jump, causing him to fall. His horse? Why!?
At this moment, everything happens at the same time. Jarod¡¯s and Barto¡¯s head fall from their bodies, as suddenly a hooded hynoar appears between them, decapitating them the moment just before the horses and other mounts begin to rise up, throwing down their riders, many trampling and mauling them to death.
Tulia, the Quick jumps quickly from her horse to escape that fate, but the moment she¡¯s in the air, branches of the trees fly at her and bind her arms and body before tearing her apart. Her flesh, innards, and blood rains down on the small army, including Aswald, who just received the fifth arrow, all of them puncturing his armor like it¡¯s not there and aimed at his throat.
While the animals murder their riders, roots impale those who try to get away, and branches pick up those who try to fight back, while birds and other critters emerge to scratch and bite whatever they can reach.
Bandersneid quickly strikes down his own horse to free his cape from its jaws, but suddenly something takes his leg and throws him to the ground¡. someone from the Folk, donning a hood. She uses him like a thresher, continuously lifting him up and smacking him to the ground, while her grip bends the armor on his legs inward. Bandersneid quickly cuts the straps of his leg protector, and while he¡¯s flying away, he turns himself in the air, only to be pounced by a wolf. He can block it, cutting the beast¡¯s snout lightly, but now that he¡¯s back on the ground, he will show-
¡°Crescent? Attack!¡± The wolf suddenly growths, his fur becomes darker, thicker, and his animal features become more and more monster-like¡
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°These are the last three,¡± says Hrarks as he prods three simple footsoldiers, maybe new recruits even, with his spear. All of them are sickly pale and smell of fear, sweat and urine, as they witnessed the horrifying scene of having hundreds of their kinds, most likely some of them friends or targets of adoration, killed in effortless cruelty.
However, for the rangers, this was a big task. Hrarks spend most of the last few days within their camp, learning who of them were the biggest threats. Tols and Oro¡¯hekk have replanted several trees, while Miax and Ilva gathered and enchanted monsters and beasts. Hrarks also smuggled Miax into the camp every night to befriend the mounts for this strike.
This battle lasted five days, the Crusaders just didn¡¯t realize it. However, killing all of them would also kill the purpose of this slaughter.
¡°Good job, Pink Ranger,¡± says Oro¡¯hekk, who directs a tree to mulch another corpse. ¡°Blue Ranger, your turn!¡±
Miax turns around from the horse she has just calmed down, as the smell of blood and innards makes them nervous, even though they took part in that slaughter. The folkswoman builds herself up before the three captives. Despite her small stature, she¡¯s overflowing with malice: ¡°You survived because we need someone to deliver our message to whoever is in charge. Are we clear?¡± The three soldiers nod hastily, well knowing that this woman won¡¯t hesitate to kill whoever displeases her. ¡°Now listen well, I won¡¯t repeat it, and if a single word doesn¡¯t reach your commander¡
So wash out your ears: No ranger will ever sell out one of their own. I will spread the word to our brothers and sisters that for every single ranger you Crusader capture or kill, we will murder at least a hundred of you. Remember, to eradicate your battalion or whatever you call it, it took five of us. We can strike whenever, wherever, with whatever. We will send monsters, animals, and plants against you, and even if you barricade yourself in your fortresses, we will infiltrate them and begin our killing spree. There is no safe place.
You may believe that the Red Ranger is a sinner, and you may be right. But: We don¡¯t care! We will never tell you where he is. If you find him, be sure he¡¯s actually a sinner, so that the hundred we will kill in retaliation are worth it.
Understood?¡± Miax overshadows the three humans, who try to make them as small as possible, their fear-smell has intensified once again. ¡°Then scram.¡±
Two of them ran sobbingly, the last one silently. For Hrarks, it shows that they understood the point. He also is reminded of the ranger his mercenary pack tried to corner, and how many died doing so. As well as the boy himself. ¡°¡Oro¡¯hekk,¡± he snarls while turning to the alfr.
¡°It¡¯s Green Ranger, Pink.¡±
¡°Is the Red Ranger a human boy with black hair and red armor?¡±
¡°Oh, you know him?¡± It makes sense. Oro¡¯hekk seems to make a point of giving every one of them a color, so a ranger he has trained himself may actually get that moniker officially. At least as official as they are in the first place.
So the real question is: ¡°Is the Red Ranger a sinner?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. Will it make a difference?¡±
Hrarks¡¯ ears shake, as he already knows the answer to it, but can¡¯t help but be startled by the contradiction of his thoughts. Miax looks like she wants to vomit, while Tols and Ilva, both able to hear this conversation even from afar, grimace. ¡°No.¡±
The ranger pack is important. Yet having a sinner endangers the ranger pack as well. Killing a ranger is unforgivable, but selling one out or hunting one themselves are taboo.
Miax gives her thoughts: ¡°It was the Crusaders. They killed Keow, not because of your student, but because they¡¯re a bunch of brutal fools that grabbed onto the next possibility, involving and murdering my innocent husband. We did what we could to prevent more bloodshed. It¡¯s not our responsibility to judge any other ranger. We¡¯re siblings in spirit. Thank you for coming and helping, all of you. Return to where you came and do whatever you did before. I will lay Keow to rest and mourn.¡±
With this, the rangers decided to not look for their red-hooded brother and just to spread the word. Maybe the Crusaders will try to retaliate, maybe they will declare all rangers as sinners, and maybe people will believe them without further proof, but rangers tend to be loners by nature. If they want to waste their time, spreading out their forces to find and judge any one of the rangers by themselves, accompanied by the people they had coaxed with lies and their glory, so be it.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Two weeks later, Knight Captain Archibald Alchenein is called to his mother¡¯s, Knight Commander Tifferia Alchenain, provisional office in Esse. He lowers his head, as he doesn¡¯t know if she called him as a son or as a Crusader.
¡°Archibald,¡± she begins, showing that it¡¯s an informal talk. ¡°Have you heard about the ranger incident?¡±
¡°I¡¯m deeply sorrowed by this, Mother. I have given Bandersneid the order to find a ranger, yet I still find it hard to believe how this turned out. A handful of rangers, able to destroy one hundred of us?¡±
¡°Never underestimate rangers. While I knew of their prowess, I also underestimated their vengefulness. Trying to find a sinner is recommendable, but this has bitten us back.¡±
¡°So we should let a sinner escape!?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t be silly, of course we won¡¯t. Yet this isn¡¯t something we can do by brutal force, especially given how we¡¯re fighting the demons right now.¡± Her disgust of these unnatural beings is clear as day, Archibald also thinks of them as an affront to the real gods. ¡°With negotiations with Feuerberg at their final phase, we can¡¯t use our numbers, so we need to use our wit.¡±
¡°So send out a small force to judge the sinner?¡±
¡°Yes. And you will lead them.¡±
¡°I put a bounty on their heads, Mother. Let bounty hunters take care of them!¡± Archibald wants to earn glory and a name for himself on this battlefield!
¡°Because of your order and the man you promoted, we lost one hundred and forty-three Crusaders.¡±
¡°Most of them weren¡¯t even properly trained!¡±
¡°So you won¡¯t take responsibility, Captain?¡±
¡°I¡ª I will, Commander!¡± He has no choice.
¡°Good, use whatever is here and take any reasonable measure. Take or hire whoever you need, and do just deeds while on the mission. You will also deliver some messages on the way.¡± Her voice then becomes softer: ¡°This is a test, Archibald. In a war, you only need to show your power and your tactical understanding. However, now you can prove how much you can think outside the battlefield.¡±
While these words encourage Archibald, they can¡¯t dispel his worries about how difficult and long this task will be. He may know a lot more about Katsuragi Kenta now, how he¡¯s a hero, how his supposed sister isn¡¯t even related to him and another hero, how he kidnapped the princess and seemingly converted her to his side, and that they¡¯re traveling with an elf; but with the head-start they have, a Feuerbergian force on their heels, and the lack of proper pathfinders and seekers, he can¡¯t help think that he¡¯s way too late to the hunt.
To get him, he needs a bright idea, and he only knows that capturing a ranger will be detrimental at best.
Extra 4 ¨C Legend of Hagen
Once upon a time, when the sun was dark, and the lands were gray, there was a lad, who lived in a country that was broken while arrogantly holding its head high. The lad was neither a knight nor a sage, he was just a humble son of a farmer. Though sowing and plowing was supposed to occupy him, he rather took off in the noon to dream about a life of adventure, of defeating dragons, rescuing princesses, earning titles and deeds, and ruling his own kingdom.
Therefore the lad swung his hatched like a sword, cutting down branches like they were bandits, and in the evening he collected the branches and brought them to the farmstead so they could be dried as firewood.
However, one evening would change everything. A god spoke to him, promising the adventures the lad always dreamed about. The dull world faded away, only to be replaced with black stone, dry air, and a snap.
The lad grabbed a cold metal collar that had been put around neck, in wonder and in fear. Then there was a man, whose skin was colored in a way the lad had never seen before, with large rings of different metals around his ankles, wrists, and even through his earlobes. Then the eyes of the lad wandered around the room He heard sniveling and yelling, and he saw more people, some looked like the people the lad knew from home, the other looked as exotic as the man before, some clothes were as frilly and detailed as what the lad had dreamed of about royal courts, others were as plain as his. Though most of them had collars around their necks, just like the lad.
There were also more people like the ringed man before, the same faces, the same clothes, the same skin. They pushed down the people of different colors and forcefully put more of those metal colors around their necks.
The lad stood up, not out of wrath or despair, but out of righteousness. He had seen how people used violence and the threat of it to force people to do their bidding, no matter what they wanted nor deserved.
With a single word of the ringed man from before, three forms of pain assaulted the lad. The first pain was the tightening of the collar, which caused him to lose his breath. The second pain was the feeling of a barb running down his veins, uncounted scratches and cuts inside his body. The third pain was his heart, which was crushed by an invisible hand.
Being subjected to unbearable agony thrice, the lad lost his balance and fell to the ground, his breath rattling in his own ears. His voice failed to sound, though his strangled heart refused to give in, rushing his righteous blood through all of his veins.
The lad was a hero in name, yet he was enslaved and held in a cage like cattle. Despite that, his heart and mind was as free as when he was cutting wood with a hatchet.
Whenever the lad refused an order, the three pains assaulted his body, and while he fainted and cried in anguish, he never yielded.
He didn¡¯t yield to the order to fight his fellow heroes in an attempt to train them.
He didn¡¯t yield to the pain of a thousand whippings to make him call his captors master.
He didn¡¯t yield to the exhaustion of running a hundred laps around the city with balls of iron on his ankles.
He didn¡¯t yield to the humiliation of standing in the pillory, being thrown at with insults, fruits and stones by children and adults alike.
He didn¡¯t yield to the hunger of being denied food and drink for thirteen days.
He didn¡¯t yield to the despair of being locked in darkness for two months.
He didn¡¯t yield to the promise to make him stand above all other heroes in status, as long as he acknowledged his captors as his superiors.
After refusing to yield seven times, his captors were puzzled of what to do with the lad. They couldn¡¯t break his body, as he was supposed to fight on their behalf. They couldn¡¯t break his heart, despite all the attempts they made.
Therefore, he had to die. Killing him would be admitting defeat, so they sent him to the battlefield, being the hero with the weakest body, waiting for him to be cut down like a blade of grass. The captors made a mistake of sending him against their enemies, whose hearts were as black as theirs, alongside the fellow heroes he sought to protect.
After the first battle, he was stronger than every other hero.
After the second battle, he stood above most of the captor¡¯s forces.
During the third battle, the ringed man from before inflicted the three pains, but during the agony, the lad swung his sword five times, killing seven enemies with each attack.
The thirteen generals, proud and mighty, saw the lad and feared him. While they claimed to have him under control, they only could bestow him with pain. With his unbound power, they were greedy to use him, but dreaded him alike.
So they sent him with some other heroes to a far-away land, led by the ringed man, to claim the beads of the gods. On their way, disaster struck, the mountains spewed fire, and the earth was hungry. The lad was swallowed whole and went into the underworld.
There he wandered for a year, then he met four deities. The deities were impressed by the ideals in his head, the purity in his heart, the might in his arms, and the justice in his veins. They gave him three gifts: The freedom of shattering his collar, the ember to set the fire in his soul ablaze, and the way out of the underworld.
Judgment day had come.
The lad returned to the realm that has been his prison and looked upon its injustice with flaming eyes. He then brought the Fire of Freedom, which engulfed the realm and its capital.
A thousand soldiers faced him, but it only took three strikes to create a whirlwind to blow them away.
The thirteen generals faced him, yet he defeated seven of them with his fiery wrath while the rest fled into the blue.
Then the gods of the realm themselves faced him, but in the end, he cut each of them down so that their evil blood covered the ground and made the burning soil infertile.
The lad freed the slaves and heroes, and asked them to follow him to a bountiful land, which they would cultivate, so they would never need to hunger again. He asked them to help him build a kingdom, where even a mere farmer would be free and could afford justice, and many decided to follow him.
So the lad brought the new people to the land where he met the four gods. They first wanted to rule this kingdom, but the lad refused, saying that he had lived in two lands ruled by gods, and wanted to create a kingdom of men. If the gods wanted to stay, they would stand next to the ruler of these lands.
Seven years passed by, and the lad had grown to a man and a king. Envious eyes looked upon the once wild land, which was surprisingly fertile, and tried to claim it. The king single-handedly repelled three kingdoms, as he was a true ruler, on the same level as the gods.
Even more years passed by, and the king decided that to make a kingdom ruled by true men, he had to abdicate the throne. He put down his crown, his gown, and his sword, and dressed as the farmer he was born. He whispered something into the ear of his oldest son, before he stepped through the door and was never seen again.
His son was even a wiser ruler than his father, and the descendants of the once enslaved people grew stronger and freer than anyone.
And they all lived happily ever after.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Like I said before,¡± Ara-san continues, while I need a second to realize that it¡¯s still her, as the heavy, fairy tale like tone of her voice is replaced by her more light-hearted, aloof demeanor, ¡°this is only one version, there are several minor differences between them, like how Hagen prayed to make fire fall from the sky to burn seven generals to ashes, while six burrowed themselves into the ground to never reveal themselves, and such, but if I take every version, take the most common themes and events, and put them into a single narrative, then this is the version I obtain.¡±
¡°But he stomped on the ground three times, and then the earth melted, drowning their walls and buildings!¡± Rine objects, ignoring what Ara-san just explained.
¡°He also pet their snakes, which causes them to transform into fire snakes, I know,¡± the alfr sighs, most likely retelling another version.
¡°No, that¡¯s just silly.¡±
Ara-san¡¯s ears rotate a bit, maybe she¡¯s pissed to be told off by Rine.
Well, for me, it¡¯s clear as day. ¡°This is just a fairy tale, we have tons of them in my world as well, and there will always be some differences.¡± Not that I¡¯m much of an expert, I know some Japanese classic ones, like Momotaro, the Issun-boshi, or Urashima Taro, but never had an interest to read other versions or watch movies of them or something. Western ones I only know by name for the most part. If I recall correctly, most of them are solved by kissing a sleeping girl. Nonetheless, it¡¯s just a story and even if it happened in one way or another, it¡¯s exaggerated. I mean, one man taking down a despicable empire on his own, changing earth to magma, calling meteors, creating natural disasters, even in this fantasy world, it¡¯s too much. I mean, I¡¯ve been here for several months, and if there were people like that, I would know, right?
¡°However,¡± Ara-san speaks up, her voice carrying importance, while her body language is as unreadable as usual: ¡°There is one secret that isn¡¯t ever explained, and today marks the day, that I, Ara¡¯ainn, the hero sage, may find out the truth! Katarine-san!¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°At the end, Hagen whispers something into Heinrich¡¯s I ear. You, as their descendant, have to know these important words, that one of the most remarkable heroes to have ever existed bestowed to his child and heir! What did Hagen say?¡±
¡°He said: ¡®You¡¯re able to rule now, right? I¡¯m outta here.¡±
¡°¡¡± Ara-san froze, as the so-called remarkable hero turned out to be someone who ditched his duties the moment he could.
Well, he was too good to be true, after all.
Volume 07 - Extra – Assignment from the April Fools Serial Swap
Fake Volume 7 Prologue
I¡¯d like to introduce the story of a woman named Lysenthia:
Once, many age ago, an airship departed from a land known only as Glist. Most details are lost to time, because shortly afterwards the land fell to ruins, succumbing to invasion by some other land whose name has also been long ago forgotten. The reason we know anything at all is because of that airship.
It flew on a pilgrimage to the Sky Islands--another place that no longer exists. The people of Glist worshipped the sky and found the highest place they could find, a series of floating pieces of land that stayed in place above their biggest city, ever so slightly out of reach.
Scientists, mages, engineers, soothsayers all teamed up and worked together to create the technology needed to reach the Sky Islands. After centuries of failed attempts and wishful thinking, the elite in Glist knew they needed to reach the heavens and put their entire efforts into accomplishing it.
Then, after decades, their work was finally complete. They had created an airship, one so powerful it could reach those Sky Islands and climb even higher if it so wished. It was powered by the mana in the air field itself, so it could be powered indefinitely.
This technology was so advanced that the rest of the world could not have even conceived of such a thing. An airship from Glist could conquer the world.
But, for reasons that are now unknown, they never even tried.
Instead, the airship travelled to nearby lands, collecting goods, recruiting women and gathering books from various cultures. They cultivated plantlife and animals of all sorts, giving each part of the ecosystem its share
The lands around Glist, none of which survive to this day, each contributed symbols of themselves to the airship, creating an entire microcosmic world. With this assemblage of all the greatest elements of the world together, the airship would go to the Sky Islands, find whatever treasures or secrets were there, and create a temple to the sky.
So that airship departed on its first journey to those Sky Islands...
And it never returned.
Glist fell and faded from history. Its entire lore is known only to the most vested of scholars, or the annoyed friends of those most vested scholars in my case.
We don¡¯t know if the airship reached the Sky Islands, or what they may have found up there when they reached it. We do know, though, that those on the airship did not stay on the islands. That is because the islands fell, crashed down to the surface and destroyed the cities below them. That event, too, was many ages ago, but it was such an event that it is the most important piece of history in the current kingdom of Kin¡¯you.
The Sky Islands fell... but the airship did not.
For centuries afterwards, there were rumors and myths about the airship. Sightings of a ship in places that had hardly invented the wheel. Reports of a ship so massive it could block out the sun over an entire village. Tales of a ship that brought good luck and fortune wherever it went, or in some places served as a bad omen whose arrival would portend the end of nations.
The reason this is all so important is because this airship¡¯s existence has finally been confirmed. All along, these rumors proved true--a giant airship from ages past had survived afloat, sailing the skies and thriving as a city apart from the rest of the world.
It has finally landed outside the kingdom of Y-Vyl, a small and isolated kingdom itself, in the vast Ghebian Plains that separates it from the rest of civilization on its continent.
I learned all about this recently because of a traveller who spoke to me at the local pub and exclaimed in great detail all the wonders this ship had brought. He seemed crazed, almost idiotic. I almost declined to believe him until he showed me proof: a magical artifact with the insignia of Glist itself.
And what¡¯s more... he gave me a detail etched in my mind for every waking moment since then. A detail that is the exact reason why we are travelling to Y-Vyl today:
The ruler of the airship, Princess Lysenthia, is a very, very special woman. She seemed to be a hero, a hero who is known to use the hero-system like no one else by using her marriage, unlocking vast power beyond anything else the world has seen. Does she use WP as well? Does she also have the Lion¡¯s Wedding Rings, somehow?
If that¡¯s the case, she might also know how to end a marriage.
And she might know the secrets behind WP to begin with. Its entire origin.
I am going to meet Lysenthia and her eleven wives, and finally figure out how to go my own way.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨DStolen story; please report.
¡°Keeeeeeeentaaaaaaaa!¡±
I give a crooked smile to Kyou-san. ¡°You called me Kenta.¡±
¡°Yeeeeah I did!!!!¡±
¡°This is extremely strange and I do not like it.¡±
¡°My lovely Kenta.¡±
¡°Please stop, Kyou-san. It¡¯s scaring me.¡±
We are in a carriage heading out to the Ghebian Plains right now, and all three of my wives are acting very strange.
Ara-san is knitting a sweater. ¡°I have so many ideas about how to greet Lysenthia, but I don¡¯t have enough presents to give her!¡±
¡°Presents...¡± I can¡¯t believe what¡¯s going on right now.
Maybe I should have been less honest with them. I told them upfront that our marriages would be ending as soon as Lysenthia taught us the skills needed to break up. I thought lying to them would be useless and only cause hard feelings. Telling the truth was hard, but it made everything better....
Maybe...
Everyone is acting so weird right now that I can hardly stand it.
¡°Rine-chan, stop standing on your head.¡±
¡°I¡¯m practicing my balancing.¡±
¡°That¡¯s so adorrrraaaaable!¡± Kyou-san squeals and pierces my ear.
I think I lost some HP from that attack.
¡°How long until we arrive?¡± Ara-san asks.
¡°Yeah, Keeeeenta. How long?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. Ask the driver.¡±
¡°Hey driver!¡± Ara-san shouts. ¡°How long until we arrive?¡±
¡°Look out the window,¡± the driver says.
We look out the window.
Oh.
We¡¯re already here.
The airship is as massive as legend suggests. It¡¯s more gigantic than anything I¡¯ve ever seen in a flying object, and has a completely different design than any airship I¡¯ve ever encountered. In games, that is. I¡¯ve never seen a real fucking airship in my entire life!
It¡¯s made of stone. Not wood. And yet it floats anyway. How can this be? I want to know all about this ancient technology.
You see, after we entered the Spirit Swamp, everything in our lives went badly. We had that really long fight with Lvo''tjos, Rine-san and Kyou-san both had interesting breakdowns, and then we began our trip to Zethrin.
I wanted to fight the demon king, just like I have been wanting to do for so long.
But...
The promise that Lysenthia has given to me... It¡¯s too much.
I enjoy the presence of Kyou-san, Ara-san, and even Rine-san. They are my friends and I like them. But I do not want to be married to them anymore. We get WP for our actions, but we are bound too closely. They are burdened by the curse I have put on them and forced to join me on my journey.
We will end this curse and be on our way.
The carriage arrives in front of a group of soldiers and we get out together, all four of us holding hands.
You gain 2 WP.
Holding hands is a great way to make some happiness in this world. Being married is great, isn¡¯t it?
Wow, gee.
The soldiers gather in front of us and prepare to lead us to the airship.
For some reason, the soldiers look strangely at me... I somehow have the feeling that... I don¡¯t even know, but it feels weird. Not hostile, but... well... I can¡¯t describe it. The captain, however, takes the cake: ¡°Thank you, Red Ranger.¡± He bows to me!
Why is he bowing to me?
Oh well.
We enter the airship. My friends and me.
It is a grand hall filled with items from the ancient past. Plants grow freely on the floor and the entire thing has the beauty of ancient architecture, but with the wild element of nature. It¡¯s a sight to behold.
Ara-san and Kyou-san begin to cuddle up together. I am starting to wonder about those two...
If the two were not each married to me, maybe they would never have met. But now that they have, they are closer than any people I have seen before. It makes me happy, but almost a little bit jealous as well...
Finally, we reach Lysenthia, who sits at a throne atop a great many steps. All eleven of her wives are by her side.
¡°Welcome to the airship,¡± Lysenthia says. ¡°It is good to see another face stricken by the curse of Wife Points.¡±
¡°¡®Welcome to the airship...¡¯ Bah.¡± Ara-san has one of her ears laying on her head while she says in a slightly annoyed tone: ¡°I believe that ''The Pimp''s Crochet Society'' would be more appropriate.¡±
¡°Ara-san! That¡¯s so rude. Why are you even saying that?¡±
¡°Pay her no mind,¡± Lysenthia says. ¡°For soon you shall be rid of her.¡±
¡°And all three of them?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Forever?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And how do I accomplish that?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll tell you, but it¡¯s a secret. I¡¯ll have to whisper in your ear. So please come up the stairs to greet me.¡±
Kyou-san, who has been very silly up to this point, becomes quite serious. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t go.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°It¡¯s a trap.¡±
¡°A trap?¡±
¡°I mean, probably.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡±
¡°Lysenthia doesn¡¯t know how to break the curse. Why else would she have eleven wives?¡±
¡°Fair point...¡±
¡°I¡¯ll bet you a billion yen that if you get up there, some crazy stuff will happen and she¡¯ll end up marrying you. Then you¡¯ll be her twelfth wife and we¡¯ll just be bonus girls for her.¡±
¡°Twelfth wife? But I¡¯m a man????¡±
¡°No difference to a woman like Lysenthia.¡±
¡°If you thought all this, then why didn¡¯t you say anything????¡±
Kyou-san shrugs.
¡°If all that is true, it¡¯s too bad, but I will not deviate from my current course.¡±
¡°Oh well.¡±
¡°Yep.¡±
I step up the long stairs, tensing myself and bracing myself for everything Kyou-san told me. What if she¡¯s right? What if this is a trap?
Lysenthia seems nice though. And the other eleven women up there seem very pretty and attractive. I would look very silly in that group, so she probably won¡¯t do anything like that... right...?
But I need to figure out the secrets of WP. How long has it been in place? How many wives can someone have? How can I defeat the curse and get rid of these awful people forever? Though they are my friends and I love my friends who I am always friendly with, we need to be divorced. We need to go our separate ways.
I wonder if I can bake with WP...
I reach Lysenthia. She beckons me closer. I lean in. She puts a hand on my shoulder. Another around my waist.
She whispers in my ear:
¡°It¡¯s time for a dance-off.¡±
An unmistakable, yet unfamiliar energy surrounds us. She steps back. So do I.
We both know how this is gonna go down.
Earth, Wind, and Fire music began playing on the airship¡¯s sound speakers.
¡°I just have one thing to say to you.¡±
¡°What¡¯s that, Kenta-dono?¡±
We begin dancing to the disco beat of ¡°In the Stone.¡± It¡¯s a jam of epic proportions. Both our sets of wives are utterly captivated by the scene going on.
¡°In the stone, you¡¯ll find the meaning/You¡¯re not standing tall¡±
¡°I love this song,¡± Lysenthia says.
¡°And I love you,¡± I say.
¡°....You do??????¡±
¡°No,¡± I say. ¡°April fools.¡±
I collapse on the floor and lose all my HP at once.
I die.
Volume 07 - Afterword
Afterword
Hello, kentusrpg here. Seriously, this volume had serious problems in the making. Little time to write, usually on the way to and back to work, some work-related issues that tied me up more, writer¡¯s block, editing on volume 5.5 and 6, and more made it more of a swamp than volume 6 showcased.
Then the trouble in editing and especially in writing the Extras that stem from health and personal issues and then the whole mess is complete. Sorry about these huge delays. Hope, that I didn¡¯t lose all readers and that you remember what I¡¯m talking about now.
This volume pushes all hero-groups further and Correo a bit away. Correo is an interesting villain, as he¡¯s crafty, yet not afraid to take a loss to turn it into a win. He¡¯s a businessman after all, in this volume he did a lot of investments and market research and will put it to use after getting some more customer feedback (the Lady).
Speaking of the Lady, Orinaenielle¡¯s name is now known! Her name is based of basically every name that is supposed to sound as fantasy-like as possible without any regard to how the readers will be able to pronounce that. If you feel like your tongue turns into jam while speaking that name aloud, I did my job well. Her greater goals are still unclear, yet she has big things planned with Rine.
One of the themes of the volume is ¡°too many cooks¡±, which is apparent by adding so many heroes to the mix. Lent and Star are great adversaries as they¡¯re powerful, yet they¡¯re also arrogant and overestimating themselves. Of course this will lead to conflict with Masahiko¡¯s party and they could show why good plans aren¡¯t overly complicated as they fell prey to their own plans.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Another theme is ¡°chaos¡± as at some point nobody knows anything about what the others will do. This may have off-put some readers, but it clearly pushed me to my limits as an author and may put the question into your mind: When can you actually make a plan? What are the conditions?
The third theme would be ¡°bonds¡±, as they¡¯re all questioned and ultimately deepened here. They will be tested soon.
Each party has learned a valuable lesson. For Lent and Star, it¡¯s about learning their limits, not in terms of strength, but in terms of responsibilities. They overstepped them and therefore lost all control over the situation. For Masahiko¡¯s party, it¡¯s about sharing feelings and thoughts. For Kenta¡¯s family it¡¯s all about their relationships to each other and what they mean to them.
By the way, a duel between Rine and Masahiko was planned for volume 2, yet I dismissed that plan as it didn¡¯t fit the story there. It was a nice way to push Rine¡¯s character-arc though.
Next time, we push it even further, down a cliff! Hope to see you read that volume as well! To be honest, I don¡¯t know when it¡¯ll be finished. Usually, I¡¯m around a volume and a half ahead, but the combined problems caused me to run dry on things, and I¡¯m just almost finished with the alpha-draft (means the first writing) and there are usually some months between the finished alpha-draft and the release, as there is beta-drafting (often the part where I rewrite, add, and remove stuff to make the volume wholesome), the proofreading, and final touches.
So it may be still some months (making the gap between releases even huger) but my hope is to get back to writing, slowly increasing the amount of story I have in the back, and maybe getting back to where I was.
Until then, have a great time, even with a pandemic going on!
Volume 08 - Prologue
¡°Miles, it almost has us!¡± A pale man in his mid-thirties and red-blonde hair runs alongside his trusted companion. He wears robes and a staff and looks around, trying to find that which cannot be seen. Yet there is something in the shadows of the trees and rocks in the dusk.
¡°Shut up, Sven!¡± His companion is in his forties, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a proud beard. Clad in armor and wielding a sword, he sure gives the impression of a brazen warrior, though sweat and worry marks his face right now.
¡°It already got Anton and Keith! We¡¯re next!¡±
¡°Don¡¯t be stupid! We¡¯re heroes, after all! We will get away!¡±
¡°No, you won¡¯t.¡± An invisible, third voice says this in a cold, calm tone. While it sounds female, it¡¯s like a facade to hide the terrifying nature of this¡ this monster!
Miles, the [Warrior], looks to the origin of the voice and sees a rather small human-like creature, but there are several things that seem wrong about it. Its face shows no emotions, it has long pointy ears in constant movement, its skin seems off-color, its hair is white, but not old people white. It wears a green dress and it uses a strange branch as a staff, as if the thing is trying to mimic people with clothes and tools.
A true atrocity.
¡°Heroes,¡± it says dryly, as if Miles¡¯ and Sven¡¯s resistance is just delaying the inevitable. ¡°I¡¯m here for you.¡±
¡°[Quicksword]!¡± Unable to endure the chase anymore, Miles decides to attack, even if he should know it¡¯s futile.
The monster jumps in the direction of the attacking Miles, evading the sword, and thrusts her staff into his face. The [Warrior] groans in pain, as he sees stars and hits the ground mercilessly. ¡°Stay here,¡± the monster says to him. ¡°Sven, wasn¡¯t it? Surrender.¡±
Sven, the [Wizard], is about to shit his pants. Why? One moment they were having a drink at their camp, then suddenly this abomination appeared, asked them to show their status, and the moment Miles tried to shove her away, it screamed ¡°Rape!¡± and punched him. Then one thing led to another and they had to face the overwhelming power of this monster!
¡°HELP!¡± Sven screams. ¡°HEEEEEEEELP!¡±
¡°There is no one who can- correction, there is someone on his way to help you. Would you mind testifying that we had a good laugh and then a monster appeared and we fought together?¡±
¡°What!?¡± What is this creature saying!?
¡°Too late, Ara-san.¡±
¡°Hello Kenta-kun, what a coincidence.¡± Sven looks around and sees a man in red armor and a hood over his face. He seems rather small, but the presence he has is overwhelming.
His words, however, are harsh and his voice¡ young!? ¡°Coincidence the fuck! What made you disappear during a break without a word!?¡±
¡°If I had asked for permission, there would have been a chance that you would have said no.¡±
¡°Why did you even think that you could escape me!?¡±
¡°I could prove that I can fool you. Not sensing distance has caught you off guard.¡±
¡°Ara-san, just come with me.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Then I¡¯ll take away your toy.¡±
¡°Make me!¡±
Sven has no idea what exactly is going on between the two, but the cold monstrosity now sounds more like a rebellious teen, though her face is as unnaturally calm as ever.
The mood between the two of them is heavy and Sven is sure that both of them are going to fight any minute. The youth begins to rotate his shoulders and starts slowly walking towards the white-haired monster, each step fills the air with menace. Then his hand goes over his shoulder into his backpack and retrieves a spear¡ this backpack! Is it an [Inventory]? Does that mean that he¡¯s a hero? ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡±
One, two, three exchanges of weapons, Sven could hardly follow the movements. Then the monster is pushed to the ground, physically overwhelmed by the power of the hooded youngster. How can it be, four adult heroes failed to do anything against this creature and now someone who sounds like a kid is easily dealing with it. Could it be that Sven and his party are still too green?Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
¡°Seriously, Ara-san. That¡¯s when you try!?¡± The red one talks down to her in a literal and figurative sense. ¡°Give up and comply.¡±
¡°It¡¯s mine! I won¡¯t share it, I won¡¯t lend it, I won¡¯t give it away!¡± The monster, which seems more and more like a bullied elf-girl, dramatically stands up while declaring her determination. ¡°Until my last breath, I will defend it and even you won¡¯t be able to make me falter.¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡± Instead of answering with equal seriousness, the hero replies flippantly. ¡°Then I will have Rine handle it.¡±
The ears of the girl start to move quickly into all directions, moving in repulsive ways. ¡°Even for her, I won¡¯t falter. The words you have to remember me by would be ¡®She died as she lived: Lazy and irresponsible.¡¯¡±
¡°You heard her, Rine.¡±
¡°Moh, Ara!¡± Sven looks at the origin of the chime-like voice that sounds like music. He sees a young, but stunningly beautiful girl. Blonde hair, eyes like fire, a model-like body. Seeing her, makes him feel aroused but also guilty, as she¡¯s clearly underage. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you, but I would really like it if you could give up, before I hurt you.¡±
¡°Never.¡±
¡°Kenta!¡± The beauty says to the hooded person, with a bit of sadness in her voice. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt her.¡±
¡°Just cleanly knock her out with one hit. She has to understand that she can¡¯t do stunts like that.¡±
¡°¡yes¡¡± Suddenly, the girl is gone. Sven only blinked for a moment, but now she stands at the side of an unconscious elf-girl, holding her body up. ¡°I feel bad about it.¡±
¡°It¡¯s her own fault,¡± says the youngster, clearly annoyed. He looks at Miles, who still is trying to stand up, and then Sven: ¡°Now we need to figure out what to do with you.¡±
This spells problems.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Meldorn checks the dirt on a particular location in the Red Rock Canyon. For the common eye, dirt may be dirt, but his eyes are far from common. What he sees is like colorful dust, pale and faint. He would call it the ¡®essence of a track¡¯. They are everywhere, but the challenge is to keep detecting and following it. As there are numerous essences everywhere, it¡¯s like finding a needle in a haystack. What makes it more difficult is that many essences are similar and hard to differentiate, though this still isn¡¯t the biggest challenge. That would be that the same person will constantly leave behind a different essence, as if the essences change with the changes of the person.
Therefore, being able to see these essences is only the beginning, not the end of a skilled hunter, especially when it comes to hunting people, who have a less stable state of mind than animals.
Due to the changing essence, it also becomes difficult to find the newest one, that¡¯s why common tracking becomes valuable. A footprint stays the same until someone changes their footwear, the essence can change from one hour to another. That¡¯s also why it¡¯s much easier to follow a single essence, noticing every change at every moment and becoming familiar with it, instead of keeping track of multiple ones.
In this canyon, many people moved in different directions and following the essence seems counter-productive. He looks and highlights different tracks in his mind, this is like a puzzle. ¡°There was some fighting,¡± he finally says to his companions. ¡°Two against two first, then a duel. This was a short-term camp at some point, for a few hours at best and no one slept here. There is still a faint scent of disinfectant on these rocks, maybe one side treated their wounded before they were attacked by another party. Also, there are some strange footprint-remains here, and-¡±
¡°Meldorn,¡± says the leader of Meldorn¡¯s party, Sir Gottfried: ¡°you can tell us the rest on the way. When one party has assaulted the other, we need to know if the idiot won or lost and where she is now.¡±
¡°North. The newest tracks of hers give me the impression that she walked on her own. Yet there is a sense of hurry in there. In our tempo, we should catch up within the week, but the weather worries me. It¡¯s Deepdrop, after all.¡± This month brings heavy rain and storms.. While Meldorn may keep track of the essence, the tracks themselves are already faded and the next downpour may make them vanish completely.
¡°I wish we could pick up the pace,¡± Sir Gottfried laments while looking to their companions, Pontiff Reiner Kassus and the soon-to-be archwizard August von Rotfeld. Both of them have their uses, but in terms of traveling speed, they¡¯re just ballast. Currently, the pontiff is busy using magic to make their blisters on their feet disappear, even though it makes their feet numb for ten minutes, causing more unnecessary delays. ¡°We¡¯ll work with what we have,¡± Sir Gottfried concludes with his own thoughts.
Meldorn knows his role in this search party. He¡¯s here to point Sir Gottfried in the right direction, nothing more. As Meldorn is but a mere hunter¡ªwith a title much grander than the person himself¡ªhe¡¯s fine with this. Still, he wishes he weren¡¯t here, that¡¯s close, too close. He needs to concentrate on the mission, but whenever he has time to think about something else, his innards become hot and cold.
The role of the pontiff is also apparent. He¡¯s the one who handles incidents that Sir Gottfried may cause, heals the party if necessary, and handles the strange magical item the king gave them. He¡¯s also there for the unlikely case that the princess may be married and pregnant, though it escapes the understanding why this would call for a priest in their party, as if this case would need immediate counter-measures. Meldorn can only think of political reasons, something that has nothing to do with his life.
August von Rotfeld is here to earn the title archwizard, despite his young age. His magic is able to circumvent complicated problems, like quickly crossing a monster-infested river. Though Sir Gottfried claims he¡¯s able to do that as well, he also emphasizes that he shouldn¡¯t thoughtlessly use his power.
Power is exactly what Sir Gottfried provides. Monsters are cut down immediately, the same fate that awaits his challengers.
All four of them are looking for the runaway princess of Feuerberg, who was also tricked and practically kidnapped. Responsible for this is the hero, Katsuragi Kenta, who may have mind-controlling powers that he also used on his fellow hero Momokawa Kyou, and possibly others at this point.
The princess may be disinherited, but still dear to her father, so she is to be brought back alive. Momokawa Kyou and other victims are also to be freed if it doesn¡¯t interfere with their first objective. The fate of Katsuragi Kenta is up to them.
Meldorn knows that there are four of them, one of them has to be an elf. Also, Katsuragi Kenta is a capable survivalist and careful about every step. He knows that he¡¯s followed, but he may not be aware that they are also among his pursuers.
Every intelligence they gather in places they visit, like Goldbrunn, may be wrong. Even in that one city, there were dozens of stories about them that contradict each other, but thinking about it is not Meldorn¡¯s job. This is something for Sir Gottfried to worry about. Meldorn will just do what he¡¯s told.
Volume 08 - Chapter 1-1 - Come on!
Name: Katsuragi Kenta
Age: Sixteen years old
Occupation: Student
Likes: Gaming
Dislikes: Being summoned into a fantasy world. Being cursed and forcibly married to three girls. Being hunted by several parties for kidnapping this girl, mind-controlling that girl, other framed crimes, or just because.
That''s me. A summoned so-called hero that originates from Japan and knew shit about anything but school and games. Despite having the hero-system, which reminds the common moron of an RPG-system, this just sucks.
Especially as the system doesn''t follow game rules. While Ara-san¡ªone of my wives¡ªand I have found some regularities of the hero-system, it''s largely a mystery. Let''s sum up what we have.
First, each hero has three pools of points. [Health Points], [Stamina Points], and [Magic Points], or HP, SP, and MP. HP is used up when a hero receives damage, SP when a hero makes strenuous tasks or uses [Skills], and MP if the hero performs [Skills] that uses magic, and therefore also called [Spells].
Second, each hero has seven [Attributes]: [Strength], [Vitality], [Dexterity], [Agility], [Intelligence], [Persuasion], and [Luck]. The number values lack any unit and from what we can tell, each of them represents a potential a hero can use for specific tasks. So [Strength] 144 isn''t always 144, a hero may only use 50 until a situation arises that asks for more. Ara-san has dubbed the unit hero-sparkles for now, but I hate that term!
Third, a hero has [Abilities], each of them is a general term, like [Stealth]. Each [Ability] has a rank, though we don''t have any idea what those represent. However, each hero can learn [Skills] associated with the [Ability], if we stay at [Stealth], examples would be [Distraction], [Sneak], or [Camouflage]. Some of them are plain magic, others are at least supernatural, and even the most unnoticeable [Skills] are a huge benefit, like the [Hide]-skill from the [Armor]-ability that allows the user to wear hide-armor like it''s a set of common clothes, neither feeling the weight nor the movement impediment.
Fourth, each hero can learn [Classes], each [Class] changes the number-values of the [Attributes] and has another assortment of [Abilities]. There is a hard limit of four [Classes] and every hero has a starting [Class], something that represents their status in the former world. [Classes] can also be classed-up, this means it''s empowered and expanded. [Class-up] also increases the [Health], [Stamina], and [Magic] values and therefore HP, SP, and MP.
Finally, each hero has a level. Each level increases the [Attributes] and you need a minimum level for each [Class-up].
Other than these facts, we have thousands of ideas, but speculating won''t help, though as past-time activities in this almost medieval fantasy world sucks, thinking about the hero-system is one of the things I do a lot with Ara-san.
Ara-san is an alfr. What an alfr is? Take an elf, suck out all dignity, fill in with bad humor, love for pranks, and an attitude more juvenile than actual teenagers, then you have the basic idea. They''re the ''young folk'' not because of their longevity, which they also have in plenty, but because they''re mentally forever stuck in puberty. The lack of facial muscles makes it hard to read their mood and while the ears move a lot in comparison, don''t trust your instincts on what these movements mean, as whatever TV or cats may have taught you is not applicable here.
Thankfully, Ara-san may be the least alfr of all of them. Of course, she looks the part. Her snow-white hair is bound to a ponytail, the form of her nose and cheekbones seem off, her eyes have a double-iris, one dark-blue, the other dark-green, with a cat-like pupil. But personality-like, she''s held back by her laziness, causing her to only occasionally play pranks and seldomly on me or my other wives.
Yet there is one thing she''s ardent about. She calls herself the hero-sage, someone who studied heroes for a century. Sometimes I believe she has wasted her time, as she ''knows'' little, but on the other hand, she mostly studied the hero tales and the numbers given by her fellow alfr-heroes, which had a lot of data that doesn''t follow any discernible rule... I guess they wrote down whatever to prank Ara-san.
Well, but she always has several clues to how things will most likely work, she''s just sensible enough to not sell her educated guesses as scientific proof and doesn''t spread hypotheses without being asked.
Though I still think she was rather inefficient and most likely victim to the laziness she takes so much pride in, yet whenever heroes are involved, she becomes... more alfr. For example, she has stolen a hero-detecting pendant from one of our enemies, the merchant Correo, so the moment she found out about heroes nearby, she sneaked away and visited them, despite knowing that I will be able to follow her.
I''m connected with my wives via a curse, which is responsible for this forced marriage in the first place. It takes the form of the irremovable [Lion''s Wedding Ring], that created other cursed rings for my spouses, the [Lioness'' Wedding Rings]. As long as I stay close to my wives, the curse is dormant. If it activates, it will slowly kill me by making me lose more and more [Stamina]. If it hits 0, I guess I will either die or faint because I lift a finger, which also makes it impossible to live.
Also, after the curse reactivates, it will at some point also affect my wives. For some strange reason, the curse gives something in return, a power-boost when we''re close to each other and a system that accumulates [Wedding Points], also called WP, to gain other benefits. One of those benefits is the [Spouse Location], which tells my wives in which direction I am and I know the direction of every wife, but not who is who or the distance. No, these are extra purchases.
Of course, I used it to follow her and find her terrorizing four human heroes. All of them look westerner, all of them are oldish. Now I stand before the four of them and I have many questions, but... I don''t like people. I''m fine with being alone and something about these four weaklings makes me dislike them even more.
So I look at the first girl that fell victim to the cursed rings, Momokawa Kyou-san. My former classmate, now also a hero. She used to be the popular class-president back home, but after coming here she fell to the position of the useless hero. Now she''s also cursed and stuck with me. I guess we get along now, but in our own special way. As she''s actually scarily good with people, I leave it to her to talk to the four weaklings.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
She combs back her long, black hair and begins to speak in a gentle voice: ¡°Sorry for the inconvenience and the scare. My name is Momokawa Kyou, also a hero. You see, our companion is very eager about other heroes, and she has no idea how to socialize with people appropriately, so she has misjudged how to approach you. I apologize.¡± She bows perfectly to the people.
¡°Erm... I''m Keith Jonaway, the leader of our group.¡± He starts pointing at his members: ¡°Miles, Sven, and Anton. We''re the Red Stripes.¡±
¡°What an interesting party name. We''re the Lion''s Squad, because we have these.¡± She shows off her ring with a smile, but I''m sure, she''s boiling inside. Kyou-san is a two-faced person, who acts all nice to others, but in truth sports a personality that''s most likely worse than mine. ¡°How did you come to yours?¡±
¡°Well, Miles and I are from the USA, Anton and Sven from Canada, so we looked for a common ground. Red stripes, red borders, close enough.¡± Oh shit, Americans. While I know that you don''t need to believe in stereotypes¡ªand there are plenty of them about Americans, starting with their rudeness, ignorance, and greed¡ªI also know enough Americans from gaming chats. Whenever I mention that I''m Japanese, they start to strike a conversation with me about anime, manga, or cosplay. That''s totally racist, so they started first! I just like games, dammit! ¡°Long time since I saw gooks,¡± their leader adds unnecessarily. You see, totally racist.
Kyou-san shifts slightly between him and me, giving me a visual clue that I should not beat that asshole to a pulp. But this way of talking down and that nonchalant racism gets under my skin. So it''s good that Kyou-san speaks to them, as she''s better at keeping a facade. ¡°Aha. How long since you''ve been here?¡±
¡°Eighteen years.¡±
Something comes into my mind, so I ask carefully: ¡°Which year did you transfer?¡±
¡°1987.¡±
Kyou-san gasps, I switch to [Student] and calculate with my [Calculator]-skill. This is basically a calculator app installed into my mind. As long as I know how to calculate something, I can do it quickly without a fault.
The thing is that Kyou-san and I have been here for several months. But months in this world''s time. The calendar of this world differs from the Gregorian. A hundred seconds are a minute, a hundred minutes are an hour, twenty hours are a day, fifty days a month, ten month a year. A second in this world, however, is only roughly half a second in our world. I think this world''s minute was exactly one minute and forty-four seconds or so, something I learned from Kyou-san.
This means, if they have been here for eighteen years in this world, that should be... almost thirty years in ours. Therefore, time seems to be stable.
Kyou-san is about to lose her balance, so I slightly poke her into her side to wake her up from her shock. I can imagine what she has been thinking, but I need her to pull herself together. ¡°Don''t think about it for now.¡± I say to her, while facing the stupid Americans and taking over the conversation for this moment: ¡°Let me correct you, you''ve been here for thirty years. We''ve been here for some months and when we were transported, it was 2016. Well, at least now we know that the world doesn''t care about us and just continues to turn as always. But seriously, thirty years and you can''t even stop Ara-san?!¡± By the way, my alfr-wife is still unconscious and Rine is looking after her, so both of them are out of sight. For safety reasons. ¡°I mean, Ara-san may have a century as a hero under her belt, but she wasted most of the time. What is your excuse?¡±
¡°What!?¡±
¡°What is your level? How many [Class-ups] did you have? What about your [Skills]?¡±
¡°What the heck is a [Class-up]!?¡±
¡°...let me see your status.¡±
Suddenly, all of them are alarmed. I guess I demanded the same as Ara-san just now, but seriously, I need to see with my own eyes how they fucked it up! ¡°Here, take a look at mine, nothing bad.¡± I use the option to show them my status. Most of it is Japanese, but they know the layout and it still uses Arabic numerals.
¡°Phww....¡± That Miles-guy laughs. ¡°You''re acting like a boss, while you''re still level 61!? Let me show you a real hero.¡± He shows me his status, I can read it, because it''s in English, and... level 101? Serious!? Thirty years and only level 101!? His stats may be higher than mine, but...
Levels are bullshit. He may act high and mighty, but this only shows that a well-performing body is wasted. [Attributes] are only a potential and he uses almost none of it. But how is it possible!? I mean, level 101 should speak for more combat-experience than I have!
No, there is one way... ¡°Did you level up by beating weak monsters!?¡± Are they trying to grind to max level at the starting area!? It''s not like there is a distinctive starting area, but if you''re close to a town, for example, its soldiers usually drive away dangerous monsters, only leaving the weaklings that even a small number of caravan guards can defeat. As animals don''t grant any XP, this would be the safest choice.
¡°Of course! It may take longer, but a level is a level, after all, and there is almost no risk involved. One or two fights per day, if there are no suitable monsters left, we buy a ticket to another city.¡±
It''s not like I don''t see any logic in it, but it''s stupid. It''s astronomical stupid. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK!? ARE YOU CRAZY!?¡± I yell at them at the top of my lungs.
¡°What the heck! What''s wrong with you!? What''s crazy about that, shrimp? Do you want to die in this world?¡±
¡°DO YOU WANT TO LIVE HERE!?¡±
¡°KEN!¡± Kyou-san tries to drag me back, but I feel my every heartbeat inside my head. Seeing them reminds me that I may have ended up like them, if I had any less desire to get back home. It also makes me feel worse, because witnessing them being bullied by Ara-san power-wise makes me almost appreciate being put through several meat-grinders.
¡°Miles,¡± Keith says while also having that pitiful look at me: ¡°Stand down, he''s just a boy.¡±
¡°Keith, Miles,¡± says that Anton-guy, ¡°mind your language.¡±
¡°When I was young, the adults beat the shit out of teens that kicked out against them,¡± Miles says, showing his irritation.
¡°Fine with me. You guys,¡± I bark at the three other idiots: ¡°you better join him, otherwise it wouldn''t be much of a fight.¡±
That Anton-guys smiles politely while shaking his head. This causes the other two to stand down as well.
¡°Ken, you can''t just beat everyone up who disagrees with you,¡± Kyou-san says in a soft voice, most likely to not indirectly insult the four of them. She knows as well as me: Miles was bested by Ara-san, and Ara-san is weaker than me in a fight.
¡°Miles,¡± Sven tries to appeal to his companion, ¡°Just cool down.¡± It''s in vain.
Then another duo makes their entrance. ¡°...let me go!¡± It''s Ara-san, who tries to get to us.
Yet the alfr girl can''t move, as a blonde one is grabbing her wrist: ¡°Wait, Ara!¡± That girl is as much of a beauty as Kyou-san, maybe even more by westerner standards. Her eyes burn bright orange and yellow, just like a fire, and her body has a lot to offer. It''s my second wife, Katarine von Stolzherz, princess of the kingdom of Feuerberg, nicknamed Rine.
¡°Katarine-san, two heroes are fighting, I have to watch it!¡± I assume her superior hearing has heard that two heroes are about to fight despite her being unconscious, and then she just decided to wake up. She works differently than us.
Miles looks at Ara-san and becomes pale. I could see, as he turns to me, that he finally remembers my little skirmish with Ara-san before and how I beat her. ¡°Erm... let''s calm down, everyone.¡± That''s right, he''s a coward. I don''t mind cowards, I''m one as well, but somehow it feels like my cowardice is different from his, though I can''t tell why.
Maybe because I didn''t waste thirty years grinding with little more to show than a level I might hit in less than one, if I continue at this pace. Maybe because he forgot my prowess the moment I showed them my level and he acted all high and mighty, despite being proved wrong before. I guess, for a superficial jerk as him, seeing me as a [Student] did the rest for some false confidence.
¡°Phew.¡± This is a waste of time. ¡°Ara-san,¡± I say in a cold voice, trying to reign in my emotions: ¡°Learn what you can about them, then we''re on our way. Don''t expect much.¡± Then I turn around and walk away. I can do a lot of more constructive things than dealing with shitheads like them. Wait, there is one more thing. ¡°If I hear any of you say ''gook'' once more, I''ll rip out your tongues.¡±
Shit, why does every encounter with them make me hate Americans more!?
Volume 08 - Chapter 1-2
I look at Kenta¡¯s back and decide to follow him. I think Kyou is able to handle Ara¡¯s¡ questionable-behavior-at-times by herself, and I want to know more about Kenta. He acts odd and I don¡¯t know why.
It¡¯s strange, I used to think that Kenta was a perfect person, someone who is capable of dealing with every situation, but now¡ well, I still think that he¡¯s a wonderful person. He¡¯s just bad with people, I mean, really bad. He also doesn¡¯t seem to think highly of himself, and I have to agree that he can still grow to his full potential. This may make him very harsh on others and even more on himself, making him some sort of stinker at times.
What is so good about him? He¡¯s smart, he can quickly come to solutions to problems, can think on his feet, and has a vast range of knowledge. That makes him a good leader, though it may be the reason why he sometimes suffers from it. If he has time to think about his past actions, he sees so much room for improvement¡ But he¡¯s willing to make the hard choices and knows his limitations.
On the other hand, I¡¯m just someone who refuses to think too much about things. In a sense, Kenta and I are opposites, he¡¯s a wonderful person in the guise of stinker, while I¡¯m a selfish child that others seem to love and call kind.
I still need some time to grow up. I want to learn by watching Kenta, Kyou, and Ara. They¡¯re my first real friends, the first ones that actually looked at me, not my position as a princess, daughter, or sibling. That real me may be the reason why Kenta is often mad at me though.
Kenta retreats behind a tree and starts punching the air. ¡°Kenta?¡± He knows that I¡¯m following him, because he has good ears as a [Ranger]. Wait, he¡¯s still [Student], I can see it thanks to his chubbiness. It¡¯s rare that I see Kenta in this form.
¡°What, Rine?¡±
¡°Are you angry at them?¡± I don¡¯t know, because I looked after Ara while she was out and therefore missed most of their conversation.
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Phew¡¡± Kenta likes to make that sound. ¡°I guess I would abbreviate it as: Americans are stupid.¡±
¡°What is an American?¡±
¡°They¡¯re from another country of my world.¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡± I was surprised to see that there were human-heroes that look like locals, but I guess his world may be like mine and has a variety of human races that differ in looks depending on the region.
¡°You do?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°¡¡± I can see the subtle movements of his eyes and his face, telling me that he¡¯s currently thinking. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Hn?¡± I cock my head a little. ¡°Because they¡¯re from another country. I¡¯m always angry at Parlaarians as well, they¡¯re so strange and they tried several times to invade my country, and are responsible for thousands of deaths. Maybe something similar is between you and them?¡±
¡°Yes and no. It¡¯s complicated.¡±
¡°Explain it to me.¡±
¡°Phew¡¡± Kenta takes a deep breath in, most likely thinking about how to answer my inquiry. ¡°I¡¯m just bummed by their shitty attitude and how they have wasted their time.¡±
¡°How so?¡±
¡°They¡¯ve been here for thirty years. Thirty years as heroes and the four of them can¡¯t even fend off Ara-san. I mean, we¡¯re talking about Ara-san!¡±
¡°I think she has improved a lot in the past few months.¡±
¡°Seriously!?¡±
¡°Kyou and you as well, so maybe you didn¡¯t notice? But thirty years? They must have been very young then.¡±
Kenta suddenly widens his eyes slightly, as if he came to a realization. ¡°¡Rine, I¡¯m bad at guessing ages, especially with westerners. How old do they look to you?¡±
¡°In their thirties or forties.¡±
¡°¡OK, Rine. I may sound weird for a moment, but I try to make sure that the auto-translation-feature won¡¯t lose my intended content. Rine, you¡¯re fifteen years old, right?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°So that means, you had fifteen birthdays.¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°So fifteen summers, autumns, winters, and springs.¡±
¡°You forgot the rain season.¡±
¡°Rain season is a fifth season!? Also the name¡ wait, that¡¯s auto-translate, I believe. So, how often did you- erm, was your birthday celebrated?¡±
¡°Fifteen times, I believe. I can¡¯t remember when I was an infant though.¡±
¡°¡phew¡¡± Kenta massages his face, which means that he really realized something and that it amazes him. ¡°Is the flow of time different, after all!?¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Rine, for how long will you still be growing?¡±
¡°Not that much anymore, I fear.¡±
¡°Until your twenties?¡±
¡°I believe?¡±
¡°Around ten years or so?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t exactly know.¡±
¡°Is it possible?¡±
¡°Yes? Why are you asking?¡±
¡°Because if I take the time we¡¯ve both been alive and put it into my world¡¯s time, you should be twenty-five years old. If I take the time I¡¯ve been alive and put it into your time units, I would be ten years old.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t look like ten at all.¡±
¡°And I think even westerners look different from you in their mid-twenties.¡±
I¡¯m not sure what exactly Kenta is talking about, but I guess that he counts his age differently from me or something like that, and he was concerned whether his strange ¡®translator¡¯ may have tricked him somehow. I mean, my world only has one language, as it¡¯s a gift from the gods. ¡come to think of it, now I know how great of a gift it has to be. Sometimes Kenta, Ara, and Kyou speak words I don¡¯t know and that sound strange, maybe that¡¯s because my world¡¯s language doesn¡¯t have a viable word for it and therefore it stays in their native language? If I imagine that they would only use words that I don¡¯t know, it is frightening.
Feuerberg¡¯s name also derives from another language. Founder Hagen was also a hero, after all. While I know the meanings, it¡¯s mostly because I was taught them. There is a whole book Hagen wrote, the Book of Names, where he has names for places, weapons, titles, and such in his native language and this world¡¯s language so that his descendants can stay with the naming scheme. I used to be proud of that, but now that I think about it, doesn¡¯t that make it all unnecessarily complicated? Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just use our language instead?Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Ah, I should pay more attention to Kenta! We were talking about our age, right? ¡°So you¡¯re ten or I¡¯m twenty-five, right?¡± Wait¡ there is something odd here. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we age equally? I mean, it doesn¡¯t matter if we use this or that unit of time, right?¡±
¡°Exactly! I mean, if it were just those Americans, I would put it into the ¡®maybe it¡¯s a hero-thing¡¯-category, something like a decelerated aging progress. But you haven¡¯t been a hero until recently.¡±
¡°My ancestor was one, though.¡±
¡°So people besides your family grow slower? I like to believe that if this was the case, something would have given me a hint, like a rumor or such.¡±
¡°Ah, right.¡± It¡¯s not like everyone is a descendant from heroes, after all. Otherwise it wouldn¡¯t be such a big deal for some royal families.
¡°What else is possible¡ If we assume something like a universal flow of time, which causes aging, it¡¯d be easy to explain. This world works faster than the universal flow and therefore you can do more within the same aging process. Aging was, if I recall correctly, related to cell breakdown due to too many divisions. So maybe there is something in this world that slows the process¡¡± Kenta gives me a telling glare: ¡°Maybe even slowing down the mental development.¡±
¡°¡are you calling me stupid again!?¡± That¡¯s mean!
¡°Yes and no?¡±
¡°Why don¡¯t you know that!?¡±
¡°Because I know shit about child development.¡±
¡°What does it have to do with this?¡±
¡°Sorry, Rine. I¡¯m just onto something and by now I¡¯m too used to talking with Ara-san about my random thoughts.¡±
¡°Hehehe.¡± I can¡¯t help but giggle. If Kenta speaks to me like I¡¯m Ara, it makes me so happy that my heart wants to jump out of my chest. I know how much Kenta values her.
Kenta raises his eyebrows, then lets out a sigh: ¡°Phew¡ Wanna do some WP-grinding while waiting?¡±
I put my finger on my chin. I don¡¯t really know how I feel about that anymore. When we started, it was bliss. After my encounter with Lvo, an alfr hero who showed me who I really am, I felt guilty but did it out of obligation. Now¡ I don¡¯t know.
¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± The only way to learn how I really feel about it is to try it. I sit down on my knees and present Kenta my lap. ¡°Here you go.¡±
Kenta takes my hand and rests his head on my thighs. I look at his face, though it¡¯s difficult because of my bosom. His small eyes return my gaze. ¡°Hey,¡± he starts slowly, ¡°how much do you know?¡±
¡°Know about what?¡±
¡°The curse and such¡ I mean, did Kyou-san tell you?¡±
¡°About what?¡±
¡°¡Rine, what do you think of me?¡±
¡°You¡¯re very dear to me.¡± Ah, is Kenta blushing? At least his face looks funny, all wrinkled.
¡°You know how the curse treats Ara-san?¡±
¡°Buh, even I notice it if she talks about how she¡¯s sexually attracted to you repeatedly.¡±
¡°¡your feelings might be the same. Something the curse made up.¡±
¡°Ah, Kyou told me about that possibility.¡±
¡°So she did¡ What are your thoughts about that?¡±
¡°No matter the cause, I feel like I feel. You¡¯re dear to me and I think you¡¯re hard-working, smart, and the moment you make a decision, it has weight. I also think that you look cool.¡±
¡°¡one more word¡¡±
¡°You can accept the compliments.¡± I¡¯m serious, after all.
Kenta¡¯s face moves slowly, his narrow eyes show how he tries to think of an answer, but then he just sighs, as if giving up on that. ¡°Phew¡ after all this, you¡¯re still too gullible.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine for the moment, right? Because you are watching over me.¡± Ah, he blushes again!
¡°Shut up.¡±
¡°OK.¡± Maybe I said too much. I just stay silent and watch Kenta, as he¡¯s in deep thought again. Then he suddenly switches to [Ranger] again, his muscles begin to grow and his belly becomes slim. ¡°Something the matter?¡±
¡°I just forgot to switch back. Better to have my senses enhanced.¡± Kenta is always wary. I think that I¡¯ve never seen him fully relaxed before, so I¡¯m a bit concerned about his health. Even when reading he¡¯s-
Wait, he still has my book. ¡°Did you read the Tales of Miriam Leise?¡±
¡°Almost finished.¡±
¡°What do you think?¡±
¡°That both of them are idiots.¡±
What!? I feel angry about this comment, as Kenta has just insulted my favorite characters of all time, Miriam and Fabian Leise. ¡°Why do you think so?¡± This is strange, why does my anger sound so cold?
¡°¡¡± Kenta is thinking about something. ¡°Phew.¡± Now he has given up on whatever he was hesitant with. ¡°Miriam charges into danger without any plan, so without Fabian, she would have been killed a dozen times over. In the first part, Fabian tries his best to get her attention, but messes up, because he just can¡¯t say anything worthwhile, and even after she recognizes him and marries him, he¡¯s still in doubt at every corner. It¡¯s like the story is repeating the same stuff over and over again without getting anywhere and just changes what they face without changing what personal issues they have to overcome, it¡¯s like both of them never grow.¡±
¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. Miriam can be so bold because she trusts Fabian and her friends, while Fabian is in love with her, of course he¡¯s embarrassed at times and asks himself if he¡¯s worthy of her affection. He always wants what¡¯s best for Miriam. You can see it especially when he faces his rival, Lord Kurbeck!¡±
¡°You mean when Fabian almost left Miriam because Kurbeck was the better man?¡±
¡°Yes, he was ready to sacrifice his feelings for what he thought was better for Miriam.¡±
¡°That¡¯s bullshit.¡±
¡°WHAT!?¡±
Kenta turns his face directly at me and his resolute eyes make my heart skip a bit: ¡°If there would be someone I like, I would make myself a man that¡¯s capable of doing what¡¯s best for her on my own.¡±
¡that¡¯s why you¡¯re so cool! ¡°Still!¡± I say despite feeling my cheeks getting hot, ¡°It¡¯s romantic and what you said is exactly what Fabian does!¡±
¡°Pff¡¡± He snorts! Kenta snorts! Kenta is mean again! ¡°Ugh¡¡± I hit his torso to show him my displeasure. I know, it¡¯s not how it¡¯s supposed to work, but I¡¯m just so angry!
You gain 1 WP.
Having your husband on your lap is supposed to be a sign of closeness. Please don¡¯t use this time to hit him.
I know!
Kenta rolls from my lap and rubs his chest. He still holds hands with me, unwilling to break the action that will earn us WP. I think part of what makes me angry is this kind of impersonal dutifulness he shows. I mean, the whole point of the WP-actions is to make us become closer, right!?
What am I to you? A friend? A comrade? A nuisance? Something else? Maybe before I can learn who Kenta really is, I need to ascertain what kind of relationship we have. Is he so mean to me at times because he doesn¡¯t put any barriers between us? Is it because we¡¯re close enough or because he just doesn¡¯t like me?
He said he liked me better than before we met Lvo, so¡ wait, this may just mean that Kenta hates me less than before? No, if he hated me, then¡ ¡°Kenta!¡± I want to ask him what he thinks about me, but he already told me that I¡¯m a royal pain in his behind. ¡°Do you like me at least a bit?¡±
¡°Will you twist my arm again if I answer wrongly?¡±
¡°The truth is always right.¡±
¡°The truth also hurts.¡± Is he being philosophical? ¡°I don¡¯t know, alright!? Seriously! I mean, I¡¯m obviously attracted to you due to the curse despite everything, but that¡¯s not me, you understand!? So I don¡¯t fucking know if what I feel isn¡¯t just built on a shit-ton of lies!¡±
¡°I see¡¡± Of course, it makes me sad, and I¡¯m about to tear up. I tell myself that Kenta needs to think over and question everything, even himself and his feelings, so it¡¯s only natural that he holds doubts. Still, I wanted to hear that he thinks of me as a¡ªsomething.
The silence between us is awkward, but I can¡¯t think of something to say. Kenta scratches his head and then says: ¡°Let¡¯s just switch.¡± He sits down and offers me his lap with little to no love.
I¡¯m about to decline as I don¡¯t feel like it, but then I think about how every drop can help and that¡¯s a team-effort from all of us.
We end this lap-resting without any words and even the hand-holding, so it has been a while. Then I take out my current handcraft project. After attaining the [Tailor]-class, I became very good at making clothes. I still want to make that coat out of leaves of the Spirit Swamps, just like the ss¡¯rak wear them. They¡¯re water-repelling so they should be good for Deepdrop, but somehow the ss¡¯rak have processed the leaves in a way that makes them less brittle and I don¡¯t know how. Therefore I¡¯m now making a fur-coat for the upcoming winter instead. Horn-chaser pelt may not be that fluffy, but is thick enough to work.
Kenta swings his spear. Only basic exercises, but I can see his earnestness in every movement. There is something I¡¯m wondering about, but I wait until he has finished the set before asking him: ¡°Kenta? Who has taught you how to wield a spear?¡±
¡°Mostly [Pikeman]. I mean, the class. Though I learned the basics from a hunter before I got it.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
¡°Something you want to tell me about it?¡±
¡°Erm¡ well, you use very strong and large movements. That¡¯s for monster-hunting, right?¡±
¡°¡ ¡dammit, Rine!¡±
¡°What did I do?¡± I cock my head as I don¡¯t know why he would curse now.
¡°Phew¡ forget it¡¡± He scratches his head and then continues his exercise, though he¡¯s more mindful about each single motion. After a while he finishes and wipes the sweat from his face. ¡°Would you spar with me? Need to try some of it.¡±
¡°Sure.¡± Kenta is always someone who faces challenges head on. Begrudgingly, but head on.
Volume 08 - Chapter 1-3
I drag Arako behind me with her ear in my hand. Of course, my friend tries to plead: ¡°Momo, let me keep one! I promise to take care of it¡ except sexually, I leave that to one of you! I¡¯m also bad at feeding! Despite that, I want one! Please, please, please!¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°What about our big talk with everyone, about finding more people to travel safer? We can let them join us!¡±
Let¡¯s use her prejudices against her here: ¡°So you want to let four human men join us, that see you as a mere elf, some sort of sex doll?¡±
¡°¡I¡¯m stronger than them, so I¡¯m positive that they¡¯re too afraid to try something. Also, if you and Katarine-san swing your utters enough, you may be able to distract them enough.¡±
I slightly increase the power of my grip. Alfar have sensitive ears, therefore even a little more force is strong enough to make her squirm for a second. ¡°Arako? Let me be straight: You don¡¯t have a say in that.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s ask Kenta-kun then!¡±
¡°Alright.¡± I let go of her ear, because I know his answer anyway. Ken is the most trustless person I¡¯ve ever seen, so he will decline on principle. I also think that he actively hates the Red Stripes. I can¡¯t help but feel similar. They may be older and have more experience in some regards, but strangely enough, they feel even stranger to me than most people I¡¯ve met in this fantasy world so far. Maybe because they¡¯re from a whole other age. They¡¯re also rude and some looked at me and Rine-chan lewdly. Well, these kinds of people are everywhere, full of themselves and the moment it doesn¡¯t work out for them, they start whining¡
Why do I feel like this bill also fits Ken? Maybe it¡¯s a male-thing¡ Let¡¯s be honest, this fits every human, including myself. So it¡¯s a human thing.
I take another look at Arako, who now walks before me, and decide to expand this definition to all living beings. I¡¯m a very open-minded person, after all.
I peek at the copy Arako made from the manual of the Americans. I may have been too confident when I said that I could read it. I mean, I can read English, I just don¡¯t understand many words. Ken is good at English, his score is usually in the upper 90s, so he may¡ oh god, he will make fun of me for not being able to read it fluently. Well, it has to be a lot of unnecessary gamer-terms and maybe I can use the copies of their status screens to translate several terms.
I should have asked them to read the manuals to us, but I wanted to spend as little time as possible with them.
Our encounters with heroes so far have been unlucky. The first one was the patriarch of the ss¡¯rak, we realized it too late and Ken had to kill him. Second would be Lvo¡¯tjos already, who has fought us. Now those Red Stripes and they had little meaningful to say.
Actually, I should include Teru-chan, Masahiko, and the others also into this equation, though they know less than we know, but they¡¯re also unfortunate encounters. Including Wood-san and Star-san. We really meet too few people.
There they are. Ken lies on the ground, Rine has her hands on him, and from his face and the dirt on his clothes I can tell, he was beaten up once again and Rine used her [Heal] on him. The moment he notices us, he switches from [Pikeman] to [Ranger], losing some of his bulk, and stands up slowly in an attempt to appear somewhat dignified.
My former classmate, and now cursed husband, is still a mystery to me. At least I know now that he¡¯s one, as I used to assume that he¡¯s shallow.
He hates people in general and he trusts almost no-one. Despite that, he recently extended his trust towards me and we decided to restart an attempt to be something like comrades, though it feels weird.
Arako has always had a strange friendship with him and she¡¯s already speaking in an excited voice with him: ¡°Kenta-kun, we decided to let the Red Stripes join us!¡± Hey, that¡¯s not asking him!
¡°No,¡± he answers immediately. Then he looks at me, giving me a gaze saying: ¡®Is she serious?¡¯
I smooth back my hair: ¡°She wanted to ask for your opinion, there is nothing decided.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, listen to me. They¡¯re heroes.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°That¡¯s it.¡±
¡°You¡¯re finished with your interrogation?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Did you learn something new?¡±
¡°Yes, some of it is interesting, as only people with strategies like them can encounter them.¡±
¡°Tell me.¡±
¡°First, their ranks in their [Abilities] are only around twenty.¡± As far as I know, ranks tell how good you¡¯re in a specific set of skills and when it¡¯s high enough, you can learn special [Skills]. By the way, some of my [Abilities] have a rank of twenty and more, so it¡¯s rather low, taking into account how long they have been here. ¡°This is part of a greater theme which is put on the hero-system without our knowing.¡±
¡°That is?¡±
¡°Heroes have to challenge themselves and widen their horizons.¡±
¡°I figured it was something like that. You can only use your [Attributes] to their full potential due to practice and improvement, after all. There are also [Class-ups] to consider.¡±
¡°Not only that. Keith told me that they change location whenever the monsters are too strong or they don¡¯t yield any XP anymore.¡±
¡°¡good to know.¡± This is one of the moments they lose me. Ken and Arako think a lot alike, that¡¯s why sometimes they come to similar conclusions that they don¡¯t verbalize.
I only know what it means because I was with Arako, who asked Keith the following question: ¡®Does that mean that when you kill a specific kind of monster too often it doesn¡¯t grant you any XP or is it location based?¡¯
[Class-ups] are location-based, so there is already one system-mechanic that uses this limitation. In this case, however, it¡¯s monster-based. There is no transition, it doesn¡¯t become less XP at any point. It just stops.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Ken smirks, I don¡¯t think he¡¯s capable of a non-malevolent-looking smile. ¡°When I was still solo, I just wanted to level up quickly, and since then I¡¯ve traveled a lot, so I had no chance of learning that. Not tragic, though, as that¡¯s an easy-to-notice issue. Anything else?¡±
¡°They had one [Skill] I didn¡¯t know existed. It¡¯s in the [Recreation]-ability and is called [Dad Jokes].¡±
¡°¡we will never talk about it again.¡± I agree.
Rine-chan raises the question that neither Ken nor I want to answer: ¡°What is a dad joke?¡±
I try to explain it: ¡°They¡¯re jokes so bad that they hurt.¡±
¡°Can you tell one?¡±
¡°¡sorry, I lack the imagination to think of something so lame.¡±
¡°Ara-san,¡± Ken brings the conversation back to topic, ¡°something else you found out?¡±
¡°The Red Stripes have been summoned along with other people from over a large area in places called North America and Middle America and the thirty-seven people gathered were all doing the same activity.¡± In Ken¡¯s and my case, it was a classroom and everyone inside. In Arako¡¯s case, it was a hundred seemingly random people from all over the whole world. Yet there is something special in Keith-san¡¯s case.
¡°What kind of activity?¡±
¡°They went out to buy some so-called cigarettes.¡±
¡°¡¡± Ken opens his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then stops for a second and finally finishes with: ¡°OK, that may explain why repeated mass-kidnapping isn¡¯t that well-known at home. Different countries, different circumstances¡ well, the news should be all about Kyou-san and me, but a bunch of dudes that disappear while buying cigarettes¡ Phew, even if the governments would know, they can¡¯t do a thing. Let¡¯s assume that nobody made it back so far to tell the story.¡±
¡°There have been heroes that fulfilled their divine quest though,¡± Ara-san says while her ears are standing upright.
¡°Any human heroes?¡±
¡°None that I know about.¡±
¡°See? Well, let¡¯s go. The city should be nearby and I¡¯d like to get there soon to get some space back.¡± During our travels, we cut up monster carcasses. If their meat is edible, it goes to our provisions, but claws, teeth, and many other parts can be sold, which is a good way to earn some money while traveling for us, as we need to fight monsters anyway.
There are some hurdles with it, for example the selling price doesn¡¯t match a monster¡¯s power, the worth of their parts is determined by how useful they are for processing. Hornchaser fur is worth more than the stoneskin of a rocky bear, because hornchaser fur can be made into pelt mantles, while rocky bear skin is basically useless.
Ken has been a hunter for a while and Rine-chan knows a lot about trade, so both of them determine which parts we actually bother with, though both of them need to make many guesses. On the other hand, monster parts become more valuable the further you¡¯re selling them from that monster¡¯s habitat, most likely because of accessibility.
Over the course of time, however, not selling the parts became a problem: Even a magical pocket-dimension like a hero¡¯s [Inventory] has limited space and over the course of months it has filled plenty. We didn¡¯t sell much in Goldbrunn and since then we only collected, especially in the Spirit Swamps, because it harbors monsters that are unique to it and even Ken and Rine-chan could only guess what may be practical in most cases, so we brought more than we most likely need.
You can¡¯t also sell parts everywhere for the full price, and we didn¡¯t have the luck to find a trader for them on our travels. So we wanted to check out the next city. It may also be a chance to join a caravan to Zethtrin.
Ken still doesn¡¯t like the idea, but is more open about it than I expected. We know that Correo-san can track us and that he will decide when he will engage us, so looking for safety in numbers is a valid strategy. We just need to find a good one. One that is gullible, but strong enough to make Correo-san think thrice before bothering us.
Though I wish we had a way to deal with him long-term at some point.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The man called Correo walks into the League hall in Jeira. The servants notice him, but know better than to bother him, Correo has a rather particular reputation in the Merchant¡¯s League. Other than most other merchants, he travels on his own and doesn¡¯t let anyone he doesn¡¯t know take care of him. Still, he¡¯s well-liked because of his dashing personality. ¡°Hello Mariwell,¡± he says to the reception lady with a rakish smile: ¡°I would like to make another bounty, so would you please make an appointment in two hours?¡±
¡°Sure, sir.¡± Mariwell is good-looking, has a pleasant personality, and is good with people. That¡¯s why she has this job, but she can¡¯t help but sigh languidly and annoyed at the same time. Correo is someone who tugs at women in all kinds of ways. ¡°Please make sure to check your mails.¡±
¡°Of course, I will do so immediately.¡± Correo has an office in this hall, so he heads there and sees that his desk is full of papers and packages. Most of them are just reports of his ongoing efforts, in short how much profit he will make.
After writing some letters to his bookkeepers, delegates, and some business partners, Correo sits down on a couch and relaxes for a minute. Time to speak with the Lady, the deity called Orinaenielle. The merchant swallows a pinch salt-like midnight blue crystals before closing his eyes.
He falls into a semiconscious state, and it feels like his body is floating in a starry night sky, though the star constellations are different from the ones he saw before. He can¡¯t exactly ¡®see¡¯ in this state, but he still has an accurate picture of his surroundings.
?There you are, Correo. You seek an audience with Us?? The first thing Correo witnesses are two moons that open in the blackness, then the moons shrink until they¡¯re the size of pupils. With a single step, the deity steps out of the darkness, though the blackness she has instead of eyeballs remains. Other than that, she has midnight blue hair with a stellar-like glow, in addition to feathers instead of ears. The rest is eerily human, though this is a form she only adopted recently, as Correo knows. She looks like a queen, haughty and royal, but while Correo knows too well that kings and queens are also just people, this is something beyond mortality. A goddess.
He imagines himself falling to one knee. He can¡¯t speak, but he still can converse somehow: ¡°My Lady, I¡¯m honored by your visitation.¡±
?You are. We are curious, as it doesn¡¯t appear that you have secured Katarine von Stolzherz.?
¡°I made your offer, but she declined and I wasn¡¯t able to muster enough force to bring her with me against her will.¡±
?So you say that Our heroes weren¡¯t enough??
¡°Lent-dono and Star-dono were strong, yet they had an unfortunate encounter with a barbarian. I take full responsibility. Punish me as you deem right.¡±
?This is the second time you failed Us in this particular task.? The first one would be his failure with the Bloody-Nosed Mercenary Company. They almost got the princess and her companions, but then decided to not follow up because Katsuragi Kenta had become a ranger and their ranger companion didn¡¯t want to pursue a member of his brotherhood.
¡°I have no excuse.¡± Still, this was also Correo¡¯s failure, so he has to account for the fact.
?We still desire Katarine von Stolzherz,? the Lady says like in thoughts: ?If We don¡¯t get her, another deity might claim her which would be unfortunate. Therefore We expect you to take responsibility for your failure and capture her. If you bring her to Us, We will convince her. The means you use are secondary.?
¡°My Divinity, I require more blood to serve your needs.¡± The midnight-blue liquid has special properties that even magic can¡¯t reproduce. It can bridge space, it can create armies, it can enhance the power of an individual, and Correo is sure that there are even more applications.
?We will see to it.? It takes time to produce, but as long as Correo serves the Lady, he always can get his hands on some. The blood is invaluable, and not only for monetary reasons. ?We expect you to answer Our expectations, Correo.?
¡°Yes, my Lady.¡±
?Rough her up, if needed. Your only concern is to bring her to Us in a state she can recover from.?
¡°Even this will be difficult, but for my Lady, I will do everything.¡±
?We know.?
Correo has bought some time for now. There are many moving parts, as the princess is a person of interest for some. The gods know about her existence as a native-born hero, she¡¯s known as the Irregular. Then there are several bounties on her head, though considering the route she¡¯s taking, this will become less of an issue. The real problem is the team Feuerberg sent after her. He has to see an oracle for this.
The moment Correo¡¯s mind returns to his office, he will take care of every other business except the princess¡¯. This way, he can clear his mind to think this problem through.
Volume 08 - Chapter 1-4
¡°You may enter the city. Make sure to return to the gate and tell us which inn you''re staying in.¡± Finally done with the procedures at the gate. I was worried about staying in my red armor instead of donning my old one, but in the end, it seems that the bounty posters aren''t here yet, though some people watch me like I''m an animal in a zoo. Dammit, Kyou-san! I know you''re responsible for this!
After a disastrous encounter with Crusader''s in Goldbrunn, there have been rumors going on about me, the Red Ranger. This moniker is just something the alfar made up after I had my [Class-up] as a [Ranger], but because of Kyou-san and her skills [Glorification] and [Rumor Mill], some people see me as some kind of superhero.
While I¡¯d like to avoid it, our main concern is Correo. Yes, the bounties still worry me, but as there are bounties up for Rine and Kyou-san as well, posted by the Merchant League that somehow may be tied to Correo, it''s already much harder to avoid attention.
That''s why Kyou-san made a proposal: ¡°Instead of changing our appearance entirely, how about using the Red Ranger''s reputation?¡±
¡°You just don''t want me to grow my hair back and cut your own!¡±
¡°That''s part of it, yes. My long hair is beautiful, don''t you agree?¡±
¡°That doesn''t matter!¡±
¡°It does. How about you, Rine-chan? Is my hair beautiful?¡±
¡°Yes, you''re pretty, Kyou!¡±
¡°You see?¡±
Of course it''s reasonable to use a positive impression to counter a negative one instead of constantly going through great lengths to mask ourselves only to be revealed in one way or another. Having irremovable rings that show lions doesn''t help either. So in the end, we''re the Lion''s Squad again, another name that stuck to the Red Ranger.
That doesn''t mean, however, that these exchanges stopped making me grind my teeth. Especially as Kyou-san is the one insisting to cut my hair. Well, it''s another WP and I don''t particularly care about my looks. It''s just the small amount of hypocrisy that annoys me.
Back to the city. It''s called Vwranen, I guess we have passed the point of pronounceable city names now. It''s one of the city-states of the Wildlands.
The Wildlands are a region with much infertile soil, strong monsters, and almost no natural resources. In a sense, it''s land that nobody wants. The only upside is, that it connects to other countries and areas with many natural resources, therefore it established itself with many trade routes that avoid tolls and taxes.
In return, several city-states have been built. Most of them rely on trade, though there are some mining towns. Vwranen seems one of those, though it also helps that it connects the eastern and northern Wildlands.
Vwranen and many other city-states have low tolls for merchants to stay attractive. The Wildlands also have a flourishing mercenary business, because even the most secure trade routes can''t be called safe by other country''s standards.
Well, several routes have been cleared by the Crusaders, though it doesn''t seem to hurt smaller mercenary bands, as simply more traders take the risk now to travel through the Wildlands, just with less protection to save more money.
It''s crazy how much greed can spur people. I guess that will be the current business model for mercenaries until the monsters return. I would guess around spring.
How different this world would be if monsters would respawn like in games.
I look at the dirty city, it''s like every place I visit in this city is either filled with shit, crazy people, or both. There is a scent of dirt in the air that almost distracts me from the stench of feces that comes from the alleys, and the mounds of shit on the streets. I definitely know why horses are now little more than luxury in Japan these days.
In this city, they primarily use stone to build their houses, simple houses that remind more of stone huts. They''re ugly, and there is nothing about them to make them redeemable.
The worst part, however, are the people. There are several humans, the next biggest group would be folkmen¡ªsomething alike to halflings, they''re just strong enough to lift humans and hurl them several meters. I can also see several dwarves here, hairy, bearded, long arms and small legs.
No matter the species or sex, all of them have grease and muck on their faces and leathery clothes. While I''m sure that in the center will be some more refined people, this is the reality: A clean medieval world is just a fantasy.
I look at Ara-san, who looks with eyes that would sparkle, if she were human, at the folk. ¡°Look, Kenta-kun! They''re waddling! Can I keep them?¡±
¡°What''s wrong with you and keeping people as pets, lately!?¡± Folkmen look strange. Their fingers are too short for their stature and they have way too many teeth.
¡°If I can''t have pets, can I have one as a pillow?¡±
¡°Considering that we sleep next to each other... no! Phew... let''s look for an inn.¡±
¡°Let''s use this one.¡± She points at one directly next to the gate, most likely the dirtiest place of them all.
Kyou-san looks at me. ''No.''
''Agreed.''
With our eye-language, we have both denied that mudhole. ¡°Even if it means spending more, I want something better. I care about where I sleep at least a bit.¡± I hate camping, but it''s a necessary evil, and still cheaper and better than some of the inns I''ve visited. Stench, volume, and the constant cautiousness because of the people there makes it more tiring than sleeping outside.
We still have some funds, and even if I¡¯d like to save some for whatever a new decurse attempt in Zethtrin will cost, I also don''t see the harm of the luxury of a lower-middle class inn.
¡°Then finding an inn will be time-consuming and difficult,¡± Ara-san answers nonchalantly.
¡°...I get the ¡®time-consuming¡¯, but why difficult?¡±
¡°Because we''ve arrived in the more racist parts of the Wildlands.¡±
It doesn''t take me long to understand that. We''re in front of another inn, and there is a big sign on it. ¡°...no alfar.¡± The interesting part of the sign is, that under the current words, there are old words that say ¡°No elves¡±, which makes me believe that the alfar seeing that sign have thought ''Good that we''re not elves'', enter, and caused so much mayhem that the innkeeper made the correction.
I mean, knowing some alfar, I can guess where banning them is coming from. Alfar make for the worst guests, and that''s true for about every single one of them. Ara-san is the least alfr-like of them all and is still capable of driving the average human into insanity if she tries for a change... and recently she tries more often!
¡°How mean!¡± Rine comments after reading the sign.
Kyou-san and I exchange a look, as if we''re saying ''Not really.''
Ara-san''s left ear rises up while saying happily: ¡°They finally corrected that sign.¡±
...wait, Ara-san has been to Zethtrin before, and while we''re not exactly tracking her route so far, there are some places that she''s bound to revisit. ...does that mean, that the alfar that have wrecked this place were her and her companions back then!?
...don''t think about it. ¡°Let''s check out the next one. If we follow that road, we''re bound to find a marketplace, so I think there will be several roads there. We''re also looking for a monster-retailer.¡± There are two ways to sell monster-parts. One is to sell it to the artisans directly, one is to use a retailer. While selling it directly is better price-wise, it''s also a lot of a hassle, especially if you don''t know what your parts are good for, which describes most of what we collected in the Spirit Swamps.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Retailer are easier and they won''t ask any questions. We need money, but as long as the price-tag of the decurse is invisible, I don''t feel the pressure to save every single coin. If needed, we could either sell some of our other stuff or hunt some more monsters.
Well, money is managed by Ara-san and Kyou-san, so maybe I just lost touch of our actual wealth. Nonetheless, let''s check out some inns.
After a while, I comment to Ara-san: ¡°Just one of the ''more'' racist parts of the Wildlands?¡±
¡°Yes, because they still let poor me into the city in the first place.¡±
¡°Phew.¡± At this point, it''s easier to find inns by looking for ''No alfar''-signs. ¡°I guess they try to shoo alfar to the outskirts.¡± That would explain why the inn at the gate didn''t have the sign. It''s most likely that all the other outskirt-inns have comparable quality. I hate it.
We arrive at the marketplace and the smell of food greets us, almost making me forget that there is still an olfactory layer of shit in the air. The food also reeks of burned fat and grease, though it still makes me feel hungry.
Several stalls offer buns filled with meat and vegetables, skewers with the same, and some sort of iced bulb. Kyou-san and Rine also look with interest at the stalls. ¡°Let''s buy some,¡± the black-haired girl says.
¡°Agreed,¡± Rine says excitedly.
¡°Phew... fine.¡± I just like Kyou-san''s food more than what this world has had to offer so far.
¡°Please use [Edible] and [Meal Lore], Momo.¡± Ara-san''s digestion works differently from ours, so Kyou-san sometimes cooks something extra for Ara-san, because what we eat may be poisonous, and vice versa. ¡°Especially the human food, because I''m concerned if they mastu-¡±
¡°Stop! Not a single word more, I want to eat,¡± interrupts Kyou-san while putting her hand on Ara-san''s mouth. We all know what she was about to say and we all don''t want it to spoil the food.
Rine''s wryly smile turns into a genuine one, as she orders the most fat-dripping, most over-seasoned-looking skewer. Kyou-san also asks for a skewer without any spices and then puts some of her own stash onto it. Ara-san soon munches on a bulb that was heated instead of iced, as otherwise she may get problems with her digestion.
I slowly eat a vegetable-bun and lament that asking for a less greasy meat-bun would have taken too long. Well, the bun isn''t too bad in itself, it''s just a bit lacking. ¡°Phew... I see two retailers here. One seems to have a brand, the other one does not.¡± Monstrous'' Merits has on its sign not only a claw and a horn, but also the symbol of a golden scale with coins on one side and a cartwheel on the other side, so I guess it''s part of a greater brand.
Kyou-san looks at both and thinks. With her high [Persuasion]-attribute, she''s very convincing to non-heroes, so she''s usually the one who does those deals. She''s also manipulative and assertive, so she makes for the best haggler of all of us. Therefore I let her decide how she will do it. ¡°Let''s first look for an inn.¡± This smile of hers gives me the shivers. I''m sure she''s scheming something...
Why did I decide to trust her again? It''s obvious that she''s not trustworthy... well, I wouldn''t trust myself either, so... kettle and pot or something like that.
Nonetheless, we need to find an inn. ¡°Let''s look around then. First, north.¡± In the west are supposed to be the living quarters for the miners, if I recall correctly, so it''s unlikely to find any inns there. If I guess correctly, the marketplace should be in the center, and I use my [Shared Senses]-spell to confirm it by using the eyes of a pinkish-grey pigeon with too long claws.
Damn, are fantasy towns and cities small! I see some smallish mansions in the northeast and even I can see from the streets the ugly one that serves as the governmental building, right next to a small garrison.
It will take less than an hour to cross the entire city. Goldbrunn had at least some size... well, it also had Crusaders. It seems that there will be some stragglers here at best, which serves me well. They kinda look for me because I''ve broken a divine law and are technically married to multiple spouses. Divine laws are stupid and the cursed ring does things way too properly and officially!
Hey, this inn doesn''t have the ''no alfar''-sign! It''s only slightly better than what was at the gate, but rather small. Well, at least we can ask if they have room.
Kyou-san starts the negotiations. ¡°Hello. We''re looking for rooms. Ideally one for one person and one for three.¡± She smiles friendly, but gets directly to the point without pissing anyone off.
The clerk, an oldish human man, looks at us. ¡°A room for one is 300 Newgold, a room for three 750 Newgold. Also a 5,000 Newgold deposit for each el- alfr. I said alfr! We''re fine people that know that alfar aren''t elves!¡± Please stop with this close to tears face!
¡°A deposit,¡± Ara-san says with one ear high and the other low, while her voice promises danger. ¡°Why do alfar have that special rule?¡±
I save the clerk further troubles by answering the obvious: ¡°Because your people cause property damage.¡±
¡°Ah, that makes sense.¡± It''s kinda sad how easy it was to make her admit this truth.
Still, pricey. In Goldbrunn we paid 680 for all four of us, but I also don''t have the nerve to look for another inn.
¡°I don''t think it''s appropriate,¡± says Kyou-san despite my silent approval. ¡°We''re the Lion''s Squad.¡± She doesn''t say anything else, but suddenly, the clerk gasps. Oh god, not again...
Here it comes: ¡°I see the red armor! And a hood! Is it true!? You are the Red Ranger!¡± Please, stop! Seriously, this starts to physically hurt me! I don''t even know exactly why, maybe the cringe, maybe the stupidity, maybe the awkwardness, but I have enough of that! ¡°Tell me, Red Ranger, how did you defeat the Demon Princess of Chaos!?¡±
The what!? Seriously, what kind of crap are you talking about!? Does he mean the oni in Goldbrunn!? I didn''t defeat her, I actually banded together with her to escape from the Crusaders! Shit, Kyou-san may have convinced me to accept that fame for now just to torture me in moments like this one, as an indirect means of revenge.
Denying it, however, would make no sense after accepting her proposal before, so I just look for the least cringe-worthy and non-saying answer: ¡°She''s still out there.¡± So, that''s what you get!
¡°Ever watching, ever guarding, the Red Ranger doesn''t take anything as given and just does what''s best without a need of repayment.¡± Stop! Please stop!
¡°You know,¡± Kyou-san says while leaning on the counter: ¡°We need to report where we stay, then I''m sure that a lot of guards will come to get a drink here and this will increase your profits, right?¡±
¡°Erm... we don''t have a bar. Only a small kitchen.¡±
¡°Well...¡± Kyou-san says with a suspecting long pause, I guess she automatically assumed that each inn also has a common room. ¡°If people hear that the Red Ranger is staying here, they will more likely want a room here to see him and to be under his protection, right?¡±
¡°Ah, that''s right!¡± Oh god, I see how Kyou-san''s [Persuasion] starts to deteriorate that man''s mind. I''m so glad that [Persuasion] only works on non-heroes, otherwise I wouldn''t be able to relax around Kyou-san... well, I seldom relax in general and never before Kyou-san, so that''s not quite right, but I''m sure you get the idea. ¡°Then let''s do 900 for all of you.¡±
¡°I rather think 700.¡±
¡°800.¡±
¡°If you also waive the deposit. That alfr is a companion of the Red Ranger, after all, and therefore trustworthy.¡±
¡°Momo,¡± Ara-san says with a slightly offended voice: ¡°I''m always trustworthy.¡±
¡°Deal!¡± The clerk says while wiping the sweat from his face. Kyou-san also looks like this was a demanding task.
Well, I don''t blame her for haggling down every price we can see. Maybe she also did it to train a bit before she will do the real deal with the monster-retailers later.
While we climb the stairs up, I ask Kyou-san one question, however: ¡°Why didn''t you ask for a room of four?¡± I mean, we have the cover-story, that Kyou-san is supposed to be my sister and Rine my lover, while Ara-san is an alfr. With this setting, all of us sharing a room doesn''t seem too strange.
¡°I''m sure every room will be cramped. So if things aren''t working well space-wise, we have at least some alternatives.¡±
She''s right. Whenever we make our beddings, there are two things to consider. First, I sleep next to Kyou-san and Ara-san to gain 2 WP per night. While this may not be too important, there is another matter that decides between life and death... Rine''s murderous sleeping habits. Whenever something moves too close to her or poses a threat to her while she''s asleep, she will semi-dormantly kill it. She has no control over it, and we already had stays at inns when there wasn''t enough space to deal with it without enduring discomforts.
We open the room for three people and with one glance we see something that makes this very issue apparent... a triple sleeper! For those who don''t know what that is, imagine a bed. Then put a bed on top. Then a third one. ¡°Phew, as we don''t know at which heights or depths Rine''s habit kicks in... Rine, you get the solo-room.¡±
¡°Oww...¡± Rine is sad, but after she almost killed Ara-san in Goldbrunn, she finally understands how dire her condition is. Dire for others, that is.
¡°For the rest of us... you want to try to risk the WP and try whether a triple sleeper counts or should we sleep on the floor? With those mattresses or our usual bedding, that is.¡± Of course we could all try to fit into one bed, but even two people would be questionable, and I hate cuddling.
¡°¡°Sleeper.¡±¡± Kyou-san and Ara-san answer in unison. I also prefer that option.
¡°Then I¡¯ll sleep in the middle to increase the chance of gaining WP. You can figure out the rest.¡±
¡°Top.¡± ¡°Bottom.¡± Huh, that was fast. I guess Kyou-san doesn''t like sleeping high.
After a quick look into Rine''s room, which is basically a wardrobe with a bed, we talk about what to do next: ¡°We need to tell a guard-post where we''re staying. I''ll do that.¡± After all, this is a city and they want to keep taps about where armed mercenaries are for safety reasons. The Lion''s Squad¡ªour party¡ªis on paper a mercenary-band, after all. We even got a recommendation from the city of Goldbrunn, so we''re official, and I''m somehow the leader. ¡°Kyou-san and Rine, I suggest that you talk to the retailers in the meantime.¡± Kyou-san has the wits, Rine is the most knowledgeable about this world''s economics, despite her behavior. She''s a princess, after all, and her upbringing has prepared her for ruling a kingdom.
¡°Alright.¡± ¡°OK.¡±
¡°Ara-san you-¡± I want to say ''You can stay here'', but I''m more than concerned to leave her unsupervised in a city: ¡°well, you tag along with me. I also want to do some recon here.¡±
¡°Very well.¡± Ara-san''s ears are fluttering a bit, but she agrees.
You gain 1 WP.
You asked Ara''ainn out! You''re finally going on another date, so make sure to put on your best behavior. Show that you''ve improved! This date will also be rated!
Ah, come on!
Volume 08 - Chapter 2-1 - Give a break!
Ken is going on a date with Arako. It''s kinda funny, as any outing with those two can''t be remotely romantic, but it''s also strange, as now I''m the only one who hasn''t had a date with him from the cursed ring''s perspective.
Not that I particularly care, but that bit of like I have for him makes me feel uncomfortable about that. These feelings are there because the cursed ring tries to make me fall in love with him.
For Rine-chan, it seems even worse. She often sighs and I guess she''s a bit jealous, but she also is more careful about her behavior towards Ken. She used to be more overbearing and close, now she holds herself back. It''s better for everyone, but that doesn''t mean that I don''t feel sympathy for her.
Why does he want to look around anyway? I missed my opportunity to ask him, so I need to do so later.
We have changed into more comfortable, and even more important, cleaner attire, while also making sure that we show our weapons. Brandishing them is punished with a fine, but wearing them shows everyone that we''re not worth being robbed and will also underline the fact for the retailers that we kill monsters for a living.
The real question is whether we show that we''re heroes and therefore have our backpacks with their pocket-dimension in it or if we try to hide it and just take some of our monster-parts out of the backpacks, put them into sacks or such, and claim that they''re just a foretaste.
Yes, it''d be better to go that way. I''m sure that at some point, everyone will know that the Lion''s Squad are heroes, but I don''t need to accelerate the process. If I believe that it''d be better to reveal that fact, I can do it anytime.
I look in my steel mirror while combing my hair. There is no second chance for a first impression. I''ve already cleaned my hair clips until they shine again, I just wish I had one or two more accessories. A bracelet or something like that. As we''re usually traveling and fighting, wearing one would only have demerits, but for situations like that... No, I need to keep the finances of our party in mind. Saving money is important. Still...
I carefully apply some makeup. Not much, I have a pretty face and doing too much just distracts from it. Then I put my hair clips back and bring my bangs in order. This is the best I can do with the means I have.
¡°Here, Rine-chan.¡± I give her my makeup case, as Rine-chan didn''t pack one after running away, as she thought she wouldn''t need one, and she hadn''t been a hero back then and therefore had a much more limited storage. It''s kinda sad to see how little use even mine gets, but there were no opportunities to dress up before.
Rine-chan starts slow, but as her body remembers again how to move, she brushes her foundation quickly and soon she''s even cuter than before. She takes more make-up than I do, maybe because that''s the amount she used on banquets or whatever she did when she was still acting like a princess.
As far as I know, Rine-chan studied most of her time, things like dancing, magic, tactics, economics, history, and such. She told me how she often sneaked out of her classes to train with her instructor instead, as fighting is a hobby of hers.
¡°Rine-chan, you look cute,¡± I praise her makeup-skills.
¡°Thanks. You look beautiful, Kyou-san.¡± It''s strange how these compliments differ from those I used to give and receive. Rine-chan is so honest that each praise from her is just refreshing. It makes my heart warm. ¡°I noticed when we worked on Ara, you''re very good with makeup.¡±
¡°Okaa-san taught me,¡± I say with a hint of sadness. It''s strange, I miss my mother, but because I''m a hero, it feels so distant and mute that it''s unreal. ¡°I used to sneak into my parent''s room and practice when she was cooking. Now that I think about it, I''m sure she knew. I mean, how can''t she notice her makeup vanishing.¡±
¡°I was taught by my etiquette teacher. I didn''t like her much.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Hm...¡± Rine-chan''s forehead furrows for a second. ¡°I think she didn''t like me, and then I also didn''t like her. I never saw it that way before, but her smile seemed... well... put on, even though I wasn''t aware of it.¡± This shows how much Rine-chan matured since she''s traveling with us. I also hate to admit it, but I think this is the result of Ken being so ardent about her thinking for herself...
Still, it makes me feel bad for entirely other reasons... if she can remember plastic smiles, will she be able to remember when I used to trick her? Or was her teacher just so bad at hiding her disdain? Well, I want to distract her from following this logic: ¡°Do you miss your former life?¡±
¡°Sometimes. I miss mother and father, and my siblings. Also my instructor, though he was very strict. Studying not so much. Making appearances to the public was also very boring. I mean, I do nothing and should be content with my subjects being pleased with my presence when I could use that time to help them cultivate their fields for a day or listen to their worries and try to improve their lives on my end? Ah, but the balls were fun! I got into a fight with my mother, because I wanted to pick my own dress once, then she- ah, sorry.¡± She apologizes after a silent tear runs down her cheek, blurring her makeup a bit. She cleans and restores it quickly. ¡°Let''s go,¡± she says in an unnatural dry voice.
I may have hit a nerve there. Rine-chan may be a hero now, but she isn''t from another world. I don''t know if the anti-homesickness condition applies to her as well. ¡°Yes, let''s go,¡± I say with sympathy and take her hand. It''s time to face the retailers.
We may be the most beautiful and intimidating people on the street. Most men look our way, even if subtly, even some women. We''re armed with beauty and weapons, we mean business. This feels great and gives me another confidence boost. I¡¯ve had way too few for a while, but now we''re in a city with people around us. This is my turf!
¡°We have a simple objective: To sell our monster-parts for as much as possible,¡± I explain to Rine-chan to set her mind on task. ¡°We have many regular monster-parts from around here, some from around Aroahenn, and rare parts from the Spirit Swamps. What is the foremost problem with rare monster-parts?¡±
¡°As long as nobody knows what they do, it''s hard to find a buyer willing to pay a price that reflects their rarity.¡±
¡°Exactly! What can you do when you have to sell a ware that''s sketchy?¡±
¡°I don''t know.¡± ...I should have expected it, as Rine-chan''s mercantile knowledge is more on the buyer''s side.
¡°The answer is advertising. Make sure that what you have is presented in the most attractive way. We have two retailers, so let''s first sell to both of them.¡±
¡°Both of them?¡±
¡°Yes, the parts from the Red Rock Canyon. As it''s close, they will have a standard price.¡±
¡°So we won''t get tricked... but why both of them?¡±
¡°First, we''ll show them that we have quality with what they know. This suggests that we know what we''re doing. Then we ask for a proposal for our Aroahenn-goods. With this, we establish that we travel around and have parts that they would usually not even get. I think that established traders will either sell to craftsmen directly or will ask for a higher price, as they had to buy and transport those parts as well. Those retailers will want to either get money they wouldn''t usually get or in the other case, cut down one interim. We will deny both offers though, saying that we want to hear the other one first.¡±
¡°Then we ask both to the table?¡±
¡°Right. We let them know that it''s about the parts we showed and even more valuable ones. We need to hide what exactly those valuable parts are, otherwise they can prepare arguments to beat down the price. We need to be swift and lead the conversation, relying on our [Persuasion] to make them unable to talk back efficiently.¡±
¡°Kyou, this seems shrewd.¡±
¡°Rine-chan, this will be a battle in its own right. What did your instructor said about fairness in battle?¡±
¡°''You can give yourself a handicap for the sake of a challenge, but never be fair, Stupid Disciple.''¡±
¡°You see? We''re not doing a competition or a duel, this is a real economic battle, and if we lose, we will live in shame and poverty.¡± We may have plenty of funds, but we don''t know how much the decurse-attempt will cost and the journey is still long. We also have winter to consider, and therefore may need to spend funds for appropriate clothes.
However, Rine-chan doesn''t show any anxiety. On the contrary, she seems to be excited and focused. ¡°It''s time to show them how dreadful heroes can be.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°You have to visit Dinn''s Drinkyard! You can find the best ale in town there,¡± promises the guard to a sighing Kenta-kun. After reporting on which inn we''re staying, the guards told him the best places for food and beverage close to it.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Is the guard flirting with him? I mean, Kenta-kun may look appealing to me, but I''m cursed to be sexually attracted to him. What is this guard''s excuse? I mean, Kenta-kun doesn''t seem to be handsome by human standards, though Katarine-san sees potential with him, while Momo criticizes his facial expressions. I find them funny, they move a lot and I¡¯ve slowly started to be able to read his mood properly by looking his face.
It''s a strange mixture of movements of the eyebrows, nose, lips, cheeks, and jaw that gives humans such a variety of facial expressions, while their ears vehemently deny to move accordingly, and their spirit is plain strange. Their spirits are usually pa''ar. If an alfr spirit is pa''ar, it''s a sign of excitement and anxiety, but for humans, it''s the default state, though they belong to the species that changes that spirit the least due to battle or other sources of extreme emotional burden.
Let''s see if my hypothesis is right. Kenta-kun''s eyebrows are low, his mouth stretched, his nose flaring: ¡°Kenta-kun is happy, right?¡±
¡°Fuck no!¡± At least I got under his skin, so being wrong is not so bad. ¡°Phew... Let''s just scram.¡±
I nod as an answer, while the guards call out to him: ¡°See you later, Red Ranger.¡±
¡°...I hate it.¡± His words are so soft that a human couldn''t hear them, but it''s as easy for me as it¡¯s to listen to the argument of a wife with her husband inside that house over there because nobody cleaned the kitchen and they''re shifting the blame. I already know the ultimate solution: Nobody cleans the kitchen. Yet going there to suggest it would take effort, so I withhold my wisdom and let the humans handle this easily solvable problem.
I follow Kenta-kun, who looks at buildings carefully before deciding upon a direction. ¡°You said before that you want to do reconnaissance. For what purpose?¡±
¡°Remember Goldbrunn?¡±
¡°Which part?¡±
¡°The part of me being chased throughout the city.¡±
¡°Silly Kenta-kun, how can I remember things that I wasn''t part of? I just helped you solve your problem, remember?¡±
¡°...¡± This is a funny face, I think he¡¯s experiencing a so-called ''brainfart''. He just continues as if I''ve said ''Yes'' though: ¡°I didn''t know shit about the city and I decided to have at least some basic knowledge of this place in case something like this happens again.¡±
¡°I see. Poor me, you''ve given me hope of a proper date, and you''ve smashed it... you didn''t want to spend time with me at all.¡±
¡°Stop the artificial drama. You know why I asked you to tag along?¡±
¡°Because you weren''t sure whether I would just sleep until you''re all back or will socialize.¡±
¡°You know that your form of ''socializing'' has been very shitty recently?¡±
¡°I''m just a poor alfr girl that has been away from home for too long and yearning for some pranks. I''m very disappointed with you, because you just don''t deliver.¡±
¡°Fuck, why are all you girls hell-bent to make my life miserable!?¡±
¡°Because it''s fun- ouch!¡± Kenta-kun flicks my forehead with his unreasonable human brutality, cutting my sentence short.
¡°Phew... you know that the only reason why we even stopped here is because you''ve altered our course by jumping on the loser-heroes?¡±
¡°They were almost adorable, aside from their appearance, hygiene, and manners. I''m still disappointed that I couldn''t keep them.¡±
¡°...just what happened with the hero-sage I met in Aroahenn?¡±
¡°She got enough sleep, regular meals, baths, and she''s forced to do chores. If you want her back, convince Momo to let me do as I please.¡±
¡°...I''m tempted, but I don''t fight losing battles if I can help it. Also, I believe that being forced to live a somewhat regulated life is beneficial for all of us, including yourself,¡± Kenta-kun says with a serious voice. I also agree that there is fun in my current lifestyle for at least a decade or so, but it''s also a chore!
I decide to change the topic. ¡°Do you still want to stick to the route we planned with Oro''hekk?¡± Kenta-kun''s ranger-mentor and the leader of the guards of Aroahenn once went with me to Zethtrin, that''s why we made the new route. Even with this unexpected halt in Vwranen, we would have arrived at Krowhn only two days later.
¡°We can skip the next city, when we sell here... though there is still the whole joining-a-caravan business to consider.¡±
¡°You don''t like the idea?¡± I''m personally fond of it, as I could just sit in a wagon and let the draft animals pull me while I do some more research. I have new manuals to work through. Kenta-kun or Momo will translate them and I will make cross-references and try to unmantle more and more of the hero-system.
¡°I hate it. It''ll slow us down and, while we can make some money, protecting them is still an unneeded responsibility.¡±
¡°You can always ditch them, if things get worse.¡± That''s the logical way to do it. ¡°Also, as we wouldn''t be the only mercenaries in a large caravan, we can make it harder for Correo to gather enough forces to corner us.¡±
¡°If you hadn''t told him that we''re heading to Zethtrin, we could have given him more bases to cover!¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, Correo said he will leave us be for the time being.¡±
¡°You''re only speaking so fondly of him, because you stole that pendant from him!¡±
¡°Affirmative.¡± Of course, Correo only said that he needs to consult with the deity, who is most likely named Orinael. Even with my precise memory, I harbor doubt whether I memorized that name correctly or not. Nonetheless, depending on how long it takes him to consult her, he may be back very soon.
¡°... shit, he may just now have laid a trap in Zethtrin instead... dammit!¡± Kenta-kun has a valid point. ¡°Why did you told him?¡±
¡°For several reasons. First, Correo had a very strange position within the group. He didn''t belong to Lent-dono or Masahiko-dono, but as he''s supposed to be some kind of mastermind, I was wary and thought that he could discern the truth with skills like [Pryer''s Nose] or [Truth Detector] and may have access to other skills. As we have no basis to judge whether he''s a hero or not, so the variety of his arsenal is unknown. Yet he also manipulated at least Masahiko-dono''s group and even if Correo is a hero, he couldn''t just use [Persuasion] to convince them, as it works only on non-heroes. So I was faced with the decision to either divulge only lies and be subjected to whatever he has to force me to tell all truth or mix lies with some essential truths to make him second-guess everything with his [Abilities] and [Skills] that were able to manipulate the heroes.¡±
¡°Did it ever cross your mind that maybe he just used good lies and arguments without using a [Skill] at all?¡±
¡°...I''m the hero-sage.¡± Why should I ever consider that someone would use something such unhero-like means?
¡°Phew... let''s just hope that this won''t turn out even worse than before... I guess other reasons were to suck up to Inoue and his posse, and to spread confusion... I''ll let that slide, OK? Still, I have the right to say ''I''ve told you'' if it bites us.¡±
¡°Permission granted.¡± In times like these, I remember why I like Kenta-kun. He doesn''t dwell on things and dismisses everything that he can''t change. That''s much more reasonable than every other human I¡¯ve met so far.
I feel a throbbing between my legs, I think I''m horny again. Being cursed had severe biological effects on me. Aside from a monthly menstruation which differs greatly from the annual I had before, I feel some human-strong sexual impulses at strange moments and my vagina moisturizes uncontrollably.
Maybe I should ask Kenta-kun if I can get back to the inn to masturbate. That calms me down somewhat, though it was not possible to make it a routine. When I tried to do it recently in camp, Momo pulled my ears so strongly that I almost fell unconscious. Alfr ears are sensitive, so it''s important to treat them with care.
Another urge rises. I want to ear-plug with Kenta-kun. I did it once, and that feeling was dangerous, intoxicating, and very strange. Yet despite all of these urges, I''m the one who is in control and, while it may take a while, they will disappear
¡°Kenta-kun? I''m horny again, so would you mind if I get back to the inn to masturbate?¡±
¡°...you''re kidding, right?¡±
¡°No? I mean, you were the one who told me how to do it and I think you may be the only person I can be open about it.¡± Before Kenta-kun, I''ve never masturbated before, and while I''m in control of these feelings, it''s very distracting, so it makes sense to take care of it earlier rather than later.
Kenta-kun''s face distorts very humanly. I like that, it looks funny. ¡°Ara-san, do you expect me to say ''Go ahead, have fun''!?¡±
¡°I wouldn''t call it fun. To be honest, it''s a bit unsettling and I feel humiliated after the deed, especially as I keep thinking of wanting the real thing for a short while... by the way, Kenta-kun, this doesn''t mean that I consent to having sex with you.¡± The cursed ring makes me desire Kenta-kun''s body, but that''s it. It also makes him desire me, even if there should be no biological reason to do so.
¡°Why do you make it sound like I would jump on you the moment I get an opportunity?¡±
¡°So you want to say that I''m not attractive?¡±
¡°Not a bit¡± This isn''t what you''re supposed to say! This is a boring reaction! ¡°But be honest for a second... do you really think I would do that?¡±
Oh, is he bothered about what I think of him, after all? ¡°You''re human, Kenta-kun. Humans act upon emotions and urges, and while you have control over them most of the time, I know there are also times when you will fall into a more primitive state. It''s usually when you''re fighting, but that doesn''t mean that it can''t be triggered by other means. So while I trust you enough to let you sleep next to me, I''m careful enough to not let you lose yourself. Also, seeing how the ring affects me, I can only imagine what sexual frustrations you¡ªas a human¡ªhave to bear, and I respect how much you have that side of yours under control. When you fall, I might fall as well. If I fall, I may drag you with me. That''s why we need these borders. I''m your friend, Kenta-kun, and that''s what I want us to be.¡±
¡°...heck, you''re never that open.¡±
¡°I think I needed to remind myself of what I said as well. We only need to endure it until Zethtrin, then we should be able to break the curse.¡±
¡°...¡± Kenta-kun scratches his head, then he clenches his fist for a moment, until he relaxes again. ¡°Thanks, Ara-san. You''re the only one who I can talk to about stuff like that.¡±
¡°What about Momo and Katarine-san?¡±
¡°...phew... complicated. Let me say that: You''re my only friend in this place.¡±
¡°So you had friends in your world?¡±
¡°...honestly? I don''t know. There were people I got along with, but I guess my standards are screwed up because of you. Maybe surviving together does something like that. Or rather, if they''re friends, you and the others are companions to me.¡±
¡°Then I''m your best companion-friend across all dimensions, Ara''ainn, the hero-sage!¡±
¡°You''re the quirky weirdo that somehow grew close to me.¡±
¡°Almost the same.¡±
¡°No shit...¡± Kenta-kun scratches his head again, then he asks slowly: ¡°...still want to head back?¡±
...strange. My arousal has subsided at some point of that conversation. ¡°It seems to be fine. My underwear is still drenched, but I can bear with it. It''s worse when I sweat, so let''s continue our so-called date.¡±
I widen my eyes a bit, as I see something I haven''t seen ever before. The corner of Kenta-kun''s lips are rising ever-so-slightly, reminding me of a smile. I''m not sure if a human would even notice that. ¡°Yeah, let''s do that. Here.¡± He takes his hand in mine, and I feel how my heart-beat accelerates unreasonably. ¡°Let''s farm that one if we''re at it.¡±
Now I wonder if that is romance, a rather foreign topic for me. I read about it a lot in different tales and stories, as sex is a driving force for every human hero, but... could it be? Are sex and romance two different subjects? Could it be that common theme of heroes is not related to sex, after all?
I want to learn more about it. It''s about heroes, after all.
Volume 08 - Chapter 2-2
¡°Welcome.¡± An old woman greets Kyou and me as we enter the shop. Several signs with different prices are put on display, one corner has furs, scales, and skin, another claws, fangs, and teeth, and so on.
I look at the old woman for a moment. She wears a suit that would also have fitted a man and had only simple earrings and a bracelet as accessories, this is how people dress for business. The shop itself was the one with the scale on its sign, called ''Monstrous Merit''.
The old woman asks us: ¡°How can I help you, miladies?¡±
Kyou asked me to stay quiet at first and observe. I know the gist of what she wants to do, but I''m really excited to see it in action. ¡°Greetings. We''re delegates of the mercenary band Lion''s Squad and during our last mission, we were able to gather several parts and want to hear your offer. Here are some samples.¡± Kyou shows her the contents of her own sack.
¡°I take these furs for 75 Newgold each, these claws for 20 a piece. ¡ Oho. Seems like you were in the Red Rock Canyon and found yourselves a vilestinger nest.¡± Kyou nods in agreement. ¡°Good quality, I''d say 90 Newgold per stinger, 40 for each wing.¡± This isn''t that much.
¡°I see.¡± Kyou looks skeptical and seems to think about something.
¡°Well, they are good quality, so let''s say 100 Newgold per stinger, and 45 for each wing.¡± Why does the shopkeeper raise her offer?
¡°Deal.¡± Kyou and the woman touch each other''s shoulders, sealing the deal formally. ¡°For our newest acquisitions at least.¡±
¡°Newest?¡±
¡°We have traveled far and still have several parts from the Eastern Wildlands, almost Feuerberg, left.¡±
For a split-second, I saw the old woman''s tongue between her lips. ¡°Do you have samples?¡± She looks at the leafrunner pelts with great interest. ¡°200 Newgold per pelt.¡±
¡°I don''t know...¡± Kyou hesitantly says. ¡°They will be hard to come by for a while, especially with the Crusaders and everything.¡± Ah, that makes sense. With the Crusaders freeing the roads, it became easier to trade, but selling monster-parts may become harder, as the Crusaders surely sold the monsters they have slain for their own pockets, even if their primary goal was to drive monsters away.
¡°220.¡±
¡°Let''s say 240.¡±
¡°Deal.¡± Another fast deal that was made. It''s strange with how little care about the merchandise after an initial appraisal they negotiate. ¡°Do you have more?¡±
¡°From that region? Not that much.¡±
¡°From somewhere else, maybe?¡± Ah, that''s the point Kyou wanted to reach!
¡°We don''t have samples with us, as they''re very valuable. However, maybe we can meet in our inn and you could take a look at everything after your business hours?¡±
¡°What valuable parts do you sell?¡±
¡°It''ll be worth your while.¡±
¡°I won''t visit your inn for some empty promises.¡±
¡°We''re staying in the Three Trees Inn. Let''s say at the fifteenth hour,¡± says Kyou full of confidence before turning around.
What? This is all? ¡°Until next time,¡± I say politely to her before following my friend outside the shop. ¡°What just happened!?¡± I ask her in my confusion.
¡°If everything went well, we just made an appointment. *Sigh*, but I do feel exhausted. Even with [Persuasion], this was intense.¡±
If I recall correctly, [Persuasion] makes us heroes more persuasive with non-heroes. That''s why Kyou is counting on it in the negotiations, though I don''t really understand anything aside from that. ¡°Why didn''t you just ask her politely?¡±
¡°I thought that being fast is the key, before she can regain her composure. That''s a shrewd woman, so I must be even shrewder.¡±
¡°She didn''t do anything shrewd, though.¡±
¡°Because I didn''t let her. I''m sure that she will come up with a plan this evening, that''s why we''ll drag her out sooner.¡±
I really don''t understand what Kyou is talking about and at this point, I''m also a bit afraid to ask. She seems very eager, maybe too eager. But she''s also the one who knows best what to do in this situation, so I''ll stay quiet for now and look out for her overexerting herself.
Next up is the other shop. It''s called Jarws'' Monster Parts, a very self-explanatory name. Inside is a hynoar, his fur is almost black, but there are little white dots on his snout. His kilt is simple, the same as the shop, which has less in display than the Monstrous Merits. This rather looks like a storeroom and it smells a bit.
¡°Hello. Are you... Jaaw?¡±
¡°Jarw is right,¡± the hynoar corrects Kyou''s pronunciation. ¡°You want to sell or appraise?¡±
Kyou smiles, but I don''t feel any warmth in it. ¡°Both, if possible. Rine, if you would like?¡±
I open my sack and show the parts we have collected, first the regional ones. Jarw takes a fur into its clawed hands and smells it visibly. ¡°The fur for 80,¡± he comments, full of approval. That''s more than what the Monstrous Merits gave us!
He looks at our other merchandise and the regional ones fetch the same price, while the ones from further away seem to be less valuable for him. ¡°Strange, the Monstrous Merits bought the scaleetles scales for 20 each.¡±
¡°Then sell them there. They have more reach, after all.¡±
¡°More reach? So they''re part of a greater organization?¡±
¡°Merchant League.¡±
...wait, wasn''t the Merchant League somehow connected to Correo? Or is it just an assumption we made at some point, because of the bounties they put on our heads?
Kyou''s unwarm smile becomes cold, even though her voice stays as friendly as before: ¡°I see. So why are you paying more for the furs?¡±
¡°Winter is coming.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
Ah right, with the change of the season, the price of certain goods will rise. Furs can be used for clothing, though we also use them for bedding. Maybe commoners also use them instead of carpets? Or are there other uses for them as well, and that''s why the price rises even though I halfway expect that most people should be able to re-use their furs and winter clothes every winter?
I¡¯ll just ask Kyou later, but for now I''m supposed to stay quiet.
Kyou is negotiating, after all: ¡°So that means you''re not interested in Spirit Swamps parts either?¡±
Jarws''s flews moves strangely, before he asks: ¡°You know elves or rangers?¡±
¡°We have both in our band.¡±
The hynoar looks at Kyou for a moment, then he lowers his head slightly, before asking meekly: ¡°...what kind of parts?¡±
Kyou''s smile becomes slightly warm. ¡°So you have a buyer?¡±
¡°I won''t tell you the contact.¡±
¡°No need. We also have none of the parts with us, they''re rarities, after all, but,¡± she says with ever increasing friendliness: ¡°I can tell you that we have poisons, wings, antlers, teeth, claws, vines, and much more. We''re positive that looking at them will be worth your time.¡±Stolen story; please report.
¡°...show them.¡±
¡°Alright, we''ll be back soon.¡± Kyou leaves the shop. I follow her without even knowing why she suddenly changed the plan.
Well, I won''t know if I don''t ask her: ¡°I thought that you wanted to auction them between the two?¡±
¡°I still do, but I had wrong expectations. Two retailers so close means that both have found their niche. Merits has connections with the Merchant League and it seems that this means that it has more traders frequent them. Jarwl''s is a place for local hunters to come to sell their stuff, and have you looked at the shop? It wasn''t very business-like at all.¡±
¡°It wasn''t?¡±
¡°Starting with the smell. Merits had some censor in the air, while Jarwl''s hadn''t, it was the pure smell of monsters. Then Merits had clear sections and was cleaner overall, so I think Jarwl''s doesn''t buy and sell much outside his regulars. Therefore it makes little sense to stick to that plan. But it opens a new opportunity: He will give an offer, we will ''think about it'', while confronting the lady in merits with his offer, then we haggle the price.¡±
¡°So you want to sell the parts to Merits? Even though it may be connected with Correo?¡±
¡°We don''t know the real connection, but the more coins we can get out of them, the better. It''s like tricking them. And if it doesn''t work out well enough, we sell to Jarwl''s. Aside from the poison and pelts, we can''t process any of the parts anyway, and we don''t really need much of those either. We will make use of the fact that there is someone willing to buy off these parts from them, and push the price to its limits.¡±
¡°Somehow it feels wrong to sell our stuff to the Merchant''s League though.¡±
¡°Rine-chan, I told you: This is a battle. We use everything we can to give us an advantage and our enemy the least possible merit.¡±
This somehow makes sense, but at the same time it doesn''t. I wonder what Kenta and Ara are doing right now.
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I sit in an arrest cell with Ara-san. It''s maybe two tatamis (3.24 m2 or 35.6 square feet) in total, the only furniture are two benches at the walls. ¡°Phew...¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, are you sad? You don''t need to be, I''m quite an expert at being arrested at this point.¡±
¡°If you''re trying to console me: Don''t.¡± I''m not angry with her or anything, she didn''t do anything wrong, after all. It all went well, we were at the manor quarters and I was especially keen to look for hiding places there, like parks and gardens, then suddenly the city watch came and arrested us.
If anything, I''m angry with myself for not thinking about what would happen if an alfr and a human are looking at rich people''s houses like they''re looking for something. Now that I think about it, I should have known that someone would call the watch.
What annoys me, though, was how polite the watchpeople were initially. The only problem was, that... well, let''s relive this again.
''Excuse us'', said a small woman from the Folk. She didn''t reach my waist, but she had a insignia the other three people didn''t have, so she had to be the superior. ''Would you like to-''
''Look Kenta-kun! So cute!'' Ara-san didn''t care at all about the mood and walked up to the woman and started to stretch her cheeks. ''Adorable!''
...this may be the reason why we were arrested instead of just sent away for loitering around; so in all honesty: Yes, I''m a little pissed at Ara-san. She can be glad that she''s an [Acrobat], otherwise she would have been severely hurt after the folkswoman threw her. Instead she landed on her feet and pissed off the officer even more.
¡°Phew...¡± The guards said that it may take up to an hour until interrogation, and I''m never sure whether the hour refers to local time or my time, the hero-system doesn''t always translate this. I guess it''s dependent on the context and I also guess that it rounds whenever applicable.
Well, not that this applies this time. I hear someone unlocking a door, so either a new captive or someone who''s here for us. It''s a human woman in her... maybe forties? I''m still bad at guessing age with these westerner-looking people. ¡°Katsuragi Kenta-dono and Ara''ainn-dono, I presume?¡±
¡°...how do you know?¡± Ara-san asks in a serious manner, though I''m sure she''s just playing along.
¡°I just asked about the e- the alfr who entered our town at the gates.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Ara-san acts calm like always. I guess her claim of being an expert isn''t exaggerated. ¡°So what are the offenses?¡±
¡°Before we come to that, please let me ask you: Why were you in Wahiad?¡± I guess that''s the name of the rich neighborhood. Also, why are you asking me, isn''t Ara-san the one who talked to you before?
...yes, she''s an alfr, but seriously, this is becoming more racist by the minute. So I point to Ara-san to make that woman understand that she''s the one speaking here. The white-haired chaos-factor takes the hint and answers in my stead: ¡°We were sightseeing.¡±
¡°...no lie,¡± she sighs almost inaudibly, but for Ara-san and me it''s easily picked up. The woman continues in normal speaking volume: ¡°Well, if that is all, then there is no offense and you''re free to go. At least after both of you signed this.¡± She waves with a sheet of paper in front of us. ¡°This is a confirmation that you have heard the following: Don''t loiter in residential areas unless you want to visit someone, don''t act suspiciously, and don''t touch any people without their consent.¡± This makes sense. ¡°In addition, Katsuragi-dono, I ask you to also sign this.¡±
¡°...this is an empty piece of paper.¡±
¡°It''s for my son, he''s a fan.¡±
I need something to break open my head! Maybe if I hit my head hard enough against the bars, I might quench the desire to give myself lethal head injuries. ¡°Phew...¡± Inhale. Exhale. Try to stay calm.
I clumsily write my name on the official document in this world''s letters, to conceal my hero-status. Even if I''m bad at it, literacy isn''t too far spread outside the cities, so it won''t be too strange. But fuck: Fourteen letters instead of four kanji! Dammit! It''d be easy if it was like the Latin Alphabet, but I guess it''s a very phonetic alphabet, so I need to use two different kinds of A''s in my name.
Now I look at the empty paper like it''s a poisonous snake. I could give her an autograph and just walk away, but there is something inside me that really, really, really doesn''t want to do that. That''s why I give it back to the woman and just say: ¡°I don''t give autographs and never did anything that would call for one.¡±
¡°...fine... he will be very disappointed.¡±
Don''t guilt me into it! I turn around, take my stuff and leave the station with Ara-san. The alfr jumps in excitement: ¡°Maybe we need to change that. If you become famous, and I will be known as your sidekick, then maybe people will see alfar in another light. Let''s think about creating a public relations office. The people seem to be starved for idols.¡±
¡°Yeah, they even try to revere me. Me! Out of all the people!¡±
¡°Maybe this is the drama-effect at work? I''m curious.¡± The so-called drama-effect is a theory of hers which is about how some heroes are put on certain paths of danger and conflict, but maybe it also works for fame as well.
Which would mean that everything is leading up to something which I have no control over. At least if this vague idea of drama-effect is even remotely true. ¡°What a pain.¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, it''s not about what happens to you, but how we can use it.¡± It''s logical. If I have no influence on that Red-Ranger-thing, I should put my energy into using it, rather than denying it.
Yet this has nothing to do with logic! It irritates the heck out of me and I want it to stop!
¡°Phew... let''s change the topic.¡±
¡°Then how about joining a caravan?¡±
¡°That again... Why are you picking the topics that are important, sound, and totally against what I want to do!?¡±
¡°I''m curious about how you''re often talking about most unpleasant topics for you right away, but tend to evade some others.¡±
¡°Because I have more than two personality traits?¡±
¡°That''s why you make this so complicated. Let''s reduce your personality down to two of your choosing for a while.¡±
¡°Unwilling to play your games and pissed.¡±
¡°With these two, we can now scout the meet-ups for mercenaries and see if there is a guarding job. ...I suppose that this is how it works?¡±
¡°You suppose?¡±
¡°I was never a mercenary before, so I can only guess.¡±
¡°...erm yeah, how exactly can you get a job like that?¡±
¡°Well, we''re quite in a predicament. So my suggestion is to ask senior mercenaries in a tavern or such.¡±
I have never considered that. I mean, to get a job, someone needs to hire you. So usually, they should ask you, but I guess you can also ask someone to hire you... ¡°Phew.¡± This sounds too much like applying for an office job.
Getting a job is work in itself in any world, I guess.
I move my neck and shoulders to release some of the stiffness, take a deep breath and mentally prepare myself for what''s coming. ¡°First, let''s look for an alchemist, I want to replenish my bombs, and buy a new kind. After that, we''re going into a tavern and ask someone for the job. ...wait a minute, don''t most of them have ''no alfr''-signs?¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I stand in front of the Monstrous Merits, this time without Rine-chan. For the eightieth time, I think about changing to the [Herbalist]-class to get the [Empathy]-spell. [Herbalist] also has the highest [Persuasion]-value of my classes, but I went with [Priest] the first time, because I hope that the [Conversation]-ability somehow will work in my favor, the same as back in Goldbrunn. As the [Class-Change] also changes my body-build, I can''t freely switch between my classes without raising suspicion, so I have to stick to my choice. I''m also rather confident in my non-magical empathy, but it would be so much easier if I know exactly what she feels instead of educated guesses. Though to be honest, I can''t rely on [Empathy] yet anyway, I still need more training.
I collect my thoughts and enter the shop. I feel agitation welling up inside of me. I may be used to playing my parents, teachers, and similar adults, but this time I''m going against people that do that as a profession. Especially that old woman has to be an expert.
She looks at me, no wonder as I''m back despite telling her to come to me before. This has to be a surprise attack: ¡°Hello again. There has been a change,¡± I say calmly. I have to rely on my [Persuasion] to swing things my way. I have a plan, and I hope that it works.
¡°Ah, Katsuragi-dono.¡± Her calling me that means that, in the hour she had, she looked into us, as I officially go as Katsuragi Kyou as part of the Lion''s Squad, Ken''s younger sister. I still can hardly believe that they don''t notice that I''m the same age as him, but Ken argued that these people can''t tell Asians apart, seeing how all of them look like Westerners. ¡°What kind of change, if I may ask?¡± She''s calm. Unnaturally calm though.
¡°My partner is currently with Jarw, and she''s still negotiating. In fact, Jarw was very interested in our valuables and offered us a big bonus in case we sell them right away. Yet I wanted to give you the opportunity to make an offer on your own.¡± This is a half truth. Rine-chan is in fact with Jarw and she tells him about the parts and the monsters that had them, but he didn''t make such an offer.
¡°He did?¡± This lie hits the woman deep. Now that I think of it, I still don''t know her name, but at this point, it''d be impolite to ask. After the initial shock... well, more like ''mild surprise'', she calms down again, most likely knowing why Jarw would make such an offer.
I spent the time between our visit at Jarw''s and my returning here using my [Conversation]-skill [Rumor Mill], to spread some of the stories of the Spirit Swamps. Her prying into us is part of the plan, after all. She now knows that we were in the swamps and that we most likely want to sell the parts from the unique monsters in it.
There is no market price for them, which makes it difficult to appraise them correctly. Yet Jarw seems to know someone who would like to pay for it, most likely a researcher or something like that. He won''t tell, but this woman seems to know about it.
So the real question is: Which of the two believe they¡¯ll get more money out of that contact. With this simple lie, I shuffled the sides of this battle. Now it''s not her against me, but her against Jarw and that ominous buyer.
With this, I also invalidate her most powerful argument of getting the price down: The fact that, when nobody knows how to utilize the parts, nobody would be willing to pay much for it. Now, there is someone.
Now let''s see if I can get her to follow my pace. We both want to do the trade, but also know that we want to cheat each other. With [Rumor Mill], I''ve set credibility, with Jarw I''ve set a lower limit, and she should have an idea of the higher limit due to the ominous buyer. So we''re back to some kind of auction.
I open the bag I''ve filled with several samples of the Spirit Swamps. ¡°This is an antler from a monster that shoots water from them. It may be hollow, but the shots have enough force packed into it to throw me back a meter or two.¡± It''s a rather easy item to appraise, as it can be useful without processing and its sturdiness is easily proven.
Sadly, monster-parts aren''t items in a classical sense. As a hero, I''d usually only need to hold or equip an item to see its worth, but monster-parts are different. Without any processing, I can''t properly hold or equip them usually, but these antlers are one of the exceptions, showing that they''re already useful in their own right.
The hero-system states that this antler has a worth of 113 Newgold. I guess because you can use it as something like a hose or a container. Yet while I have a worth, it doesn''t mean that I''ll sell it for that amount. I don''t know exactly what that price represents, but for me, it shows what my approximate target number should be.
The shopkeeper takes a look. ¡°I''d say 115 Newgold.¡± Close. It''s already more than the hero-system suggests, but I still want to get more.
It''d also be strange later, if I don''t ask for a higher offer now. ¡°I think it''s closer to 150.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
The question I was afraid of, as I have now to give a good reason. I don''t know what exactly should raise the price of most of the stuff I''m going to sell, but I''ve prepared some general arguments beforehand. ¡°Aside from the rarity and the obvious use as a container or hose?¡± Maybe these questions are enough.
¡°It may be rare, but I can see nothing but a fancy drinking horn in this. At least, it may be fancy. So let''s say 125, as it''s less about the horn itself, and more about the prestige.¡±
This is bad. I may think about something, but I have no clear image and idea how it should work as an item, and when I don''t appear content and concrete, she may take advantage of my insecurity instead for the rest of the negotiations.
Suddenly, someone barges into the room. ¡°Kyou! Jarw wants to have the barbs for 150 Newgold the piece!¡± It''s Rine-chan with a beaming smile.
Wait, 150 Newgold for each barb? Those from the barbed frogs that have swallowed me... ¡ ...I want to kill something. It was scary! And disgusting! I''m sure, everyone in our party has numerous situations that they don''t want to relive again, and this one is on the top of my list.
But 150 Newgold for each!? How!? I mean, these are just barbs, so... I put on a smile that gives the impression that I knew exactly how this turned out. ¡°That''s very nice of him.¡± How did she do this? I mean, Rine-chan wouldn''t tell a lie, right?
¡°Yes! I just told Jarw about the frogs and how they can swallow people in one go, and he looked at the sample, then he made the offer. Also, the antlers go for 160 Newgold the piece! I just asked like you and he accepted.¡±
¡ah! Rine-chan has copied what I did before here and Jarw may be an easier target to high [Persuasion] than this old lady, so... ¡°I see.¡± It makes sense to sell to him in the first place. ¡°Can you make me a list of the different offers?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°Well, miss,¡± I say to the shopkeeper. ¡°It seems that we already have our buyer.¡±
¡°...please wait, Katsuragi-dono.¡± She sure sounds more polite now. ¡°I think we can come to an understanding about certain pieces.¡±
Unbeknownst to Rine-chan, she interrupted us at the perfect timing. Time to sell to both of them. We have won!
Volume 08 - Chapter 2-3
With new bombs in my backpack and belt pouch, I enter a tavern. This is one of the few places that didn''t have a ''no alfr''-sign and while Ara-san could have waited outside another tavern, I wouldn''t have been at ease with that. Not that I don''t trust her not causing any mischief, she knows when to hold back, but It was too easy picturing the city guard arresting her for being there on her own...
I hate this town!
The tavern is called Dinn''s Drinkyard, the shop the city guards have recommended to us. If what they told us is true and there are good drinks, I think that there is a chance that we¡¯ll find some mercenaries. This is a rather big building as well, most likely able to house a lot of people.
The moment the door opens, the smell of booze and salt enters my nostrils. Having [Perception] as an [Ability] enhances all of my senses, it even counters my nearsightedness, but in moments like this I hate this feature. I can smell the sweat, the burned ash from yesterday''s fire, several kinds of grease, dirt, vomit, and blood.
I guess this means we''re right. I look at Ara-san, who is lucky enough to have a weak sense of smell, but I notice how her two irises adjust to the lighting conditions within a second. In moments like these, she reminds me of a cat, just with more adjustable parts than her pupils.
Well, time to look at the interior myself. The taproom is large and there are a lot of tables. I guess around eighty people are inside, it''s so loud that even I can barely hear the musicians that try to play some merry music, which kinda sounds pitiful in here.
I notice that the whole taproom is separated into three groups of people: Ones that sit close to the stage and try to listen, those who mind their own business, and a large group of people that are chummy with each other. ¡°I guess, I found them,¡± I say to Ara-san while pointing at that particular group.
¡°The scars and weapons make them suspicious. Please be watchful, I see a lot of hungry looks on me. It''s like they''re raping me with their eyes.¡±
¡°It''s more like contempt. Phew.¡± It may have been too much to ask for a tavern that lacks a ''no alfr''-sign to be actually acceptable. If people would look at me that way, I''d definitely snub them at some point. Other than humans, though, Ara-san is an alfr and she''s always proud about how alfar acts upon logic, instead of emotions. Maybe a twisted logic, that makes them racist beyond belief, but logic nonetheless.
...how easy things would be, if alfar would be less... like themselves.
Nonetheless, we''re here for a reason. I feel some stares also on me, I hear someone asking his seatmate if I may be the Red Ranger. ...why!? Why do they even know who I am here!? I''m not even in armor! The guards at least asked for the ones accompanying the alfr!
¡°Hey,¡± says a middle-aged man, with half of a beard. The dark brown hair was similarly pitiful. ¡°An el- alfr? And a man with a face I''ve never seen... Are you the Red Ranger, boy?¡± Is this their leader? He has the presence of an unpacked chocolate bar on a pile of shit.
¡°Not by choice. You''re the boss of these ragtags?¡±
¡°Ragtags? Well, we''re mercenaries, of course people look down at us sometimes, but I expected better from you.¡± He laughs it off like it''s not a big deal and then looks straight into my eyes: ¡°I''m Gunsar, the Flamebane.¡± That name is actually not too bad. Now that he mentions it, the skin between his sorry excuse of hair seems odd, maybe burned and healed by magic?
¡°What does that name mean?¡± asks Ara-san curiously: ¡°Did you make your name by smoldering chimney fires? Or did you work your way up to campfires?¡± I seriously should shove a gag into her mouth sometimes.
¡°I''ve slain a hundred firemoths in a single subjugation. Y''know, the fire-breathing monsters that comes like a plague every few years to Sabwoth?¡± I have no idea where that is.
¡°Then the people of Sabwoth should move to another place.¡±
¡°Ara-san,¡± I ask her calmly to shut up. While she may have a point, it''s definitely neither the time nor the person to make this suggestion to.
¡°Oh,¡± she answers in disappointment, but stops speaking nonetheless.
¡°You have your alfr under control,¡± Flamebane praises me and I certainly don''t feel happy about that. ¡°As you were the one to come to us, let''s talk business. Also, drinks. My treat.¡± While he looks happy on the surface, I can feel how this is just a facade. That''s a calculating bastard. Serves me well, it''s easier to deal with them than with honest-to-goodness people.
While Ara-san and I sit down at the table, we don''t even touch our drinks. I wish I could talk to her with eye-contact only, basically what I do with Kyou-san, but that doesn''t work. Usually, I would just use a low whisper only she can hear with her good hearing, but for that I''d move my lips and give Flamebane a tell.
After taking a deep sip of his chalice, Flamebane asks us directly: ¡°What do you want from us? Looking for mercenaries?¡±
I guess, I¡¯ll do the talking, now that I hushed Ara-san. ¡°Looking for work. More precisely, a caravan.¡±
¡°Ah, guarding duty, I see. But work... you''re mercenaries as well? Which rank?¡±
¡°One.¡± Mercenaries don''t have a guild or something like that, so at some point a semi-official system of ranks was established. The more people recognize your work, the higher the rank, though only people in higher positions can grant ranks above 3. With our letter of recognition from Goldbrunn, we count at least as an official band.
¡°Ah, so still rather new, I presume? I mean, in terms of skill you would belong in a rank 3 or higher company, as you''re a ranger, after all.¡± He''s talking like a bigmouth, just acting like the senpais at my school that think that being older makes them automatically respectable. Newsflash, it doesn''t. ¡°So the four of you are the whole company? Or are there more?¡± So he even knows that? How? ¡°Small pointer when you become bigger: Have people at the gates that report who comes in and out. The reason why you''re asking me for possible employers is because you have no idea what''s going on in this city.¡± He takes another sip, even though I glare daggers at him.
That arrogant asshole!
¡°I see,¡± says Ara-san while suddenly having paper and a coal-pen in her hand. She notes it down quickly: ¡°So the key is to look for possible employers and approach them on your own?¡±
¡°That''s just a small part. You also have to know the power-groups of your location and the area. If they need mercenaries, they¡¯ll make it known, but then you''re in a competition. If you''re quick enough, you''ll get the job even before they ask publicly.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Ara-san replies while writing, without looking up.
¡°Eager to learn, huh? Unexpected from an alfr, I like you.¡° Can''t he just shut up!?
Ara-san''s ears lower a bit while she asks her next question. ¡°So why are you not working right now?¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
¡°Soon. We got a nice offer for caravan duty, just like what you want, right? It''s going to Zethtrin, for the games. A bit rushed, if you ask me, there''s still time, but the pay is good. Our employer wants to establish themselves there early enough, I guess. Where do you want to head?¡±
Ara-san looks at me blandly, and I sigh: ¡°Phew... also Zethtrin.¡± I really wish that I didn''t need to tell that, but if they''re heading towards Zethtrin, if they have an employer, this is a chance I can''t let slip by, even if I''m not really into this whole ''join a caravan''-idea to begin with.
¡°What a coincidence! Hahaha!¡± Flamebane takes another sip. ¡°So you want to finance the journey by staying with a caravan, right? I totally understand.¡± Then his joyful demeanor abruptly changes into a calm and calculating tone: ¡°So you want in?¡± He rests his hand on his fist while observing us.
I look at Ara-san, who seems to look at nothing. I''m sure she¡¯s checking my or her status right now. I guess she wants to observe what happens during negotiations. She clearly doesn''t care either way.
¡°Why should I?¡±
¡°Because it''s a chance right now. Even if I told you my employer, getting the job will be difficult. She hired my fifty men, after all, and we have a contract. Of course it would be fine, if I take you in as a sub-employee, as underlings. I mean, you are a ranger, right? You faced off with Crusaders, that''s impressive. Dangerous, but impressive. And the story about the demons? If even half of it is true, you alone would be a true asset.¡± So that''s his case. He wants us, no, me to join him. ¡°We can make it work. You can learn about the whole mercenary business under us Rank 4s, I''ll pay you like an officer and if your companions can do shit, I''ll pay them like regular members. We''ll even be able to deal with your alfr and any trouble that may arise.¡±
I look at Ara-san again, who remains calm despite that comment, though I see her ears move. Her decisions are led by logic, that''s an alfr trait. Despite their love for fun, they can easily decide to shut that impulse down whenever needed. That''s why she doesn''t complain or even comment on his words.
*SMACK*
That''s the sound of my fist, that buries itself into Flamebane''s face. Full force. I''m almost scared of myself, of how I can feel so much cold anger. I have to look like a psychopath right now. This asshole thinks he can talk like that about Ara-san, not once, not twice, but constantly!?
Of course, we''re surrounded by Flamebane''s underlings and they draw small daggers and chairs, ready to beat me up.
Despite my hit, Flamebane stays in his chair, but is immediately on his feet. He rubs his nose once with his fist, looking at his hand without seeing any blood. He gives a sign to his people to halt and says: ¡°Not bad. It actually hurts. Fast, sharp, strong, even though you barely stood up. Sorry, if I''ve rubbed you the wrong way.¡±
This attitude... does he think I''m a joke!? Also, it''s not about me! ¡°Fuck you.¡±
¡°...you better apologize,¡± he says in a low voice, now showing his true colors. ¡°You''re outnumbered and if you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. If you apologize, I¡¯ll take it as a slip and you can decide whether you want to take my offer or decline it without any consequences.¡±
That''s rich! Who does he think he''s anyway!? Me, apologize!? No way! ¡°Didn''t you hear? I¡¯ll say it again so that you can understand it: Fuck you!¡± How about that?
I move to the side to evade his punch, then I try to connect one myself, but he blocked it with his arm. ¡°Apologize,¡± Flamebane demands another time. The people around are standing up, trying to intimidate me.
Well, I''m not alone. I still have Ara-san, who sighs while cleanly folding her paper and putting it into her backpack. I mean, she''s not pretending to sleep at least! ¡°Why is it that whenever we meet mercenaries, we''re outnumbered?¡± This is a callback from when she saved my ass against some other mercenaries in Goldbrunn.
¡°Because we don''t get along with people.¡±
¡°I guess.¡± She changes into [Acrobat]. Unlike me, she can change her class without anyone noticing, because of her alfr body. While I''d love to use [Pikeman] for that tavern brawl, I''d rather be beaten up than giving them the slightest hint that I may be a hero.
¡°No weapons!¡± Flamebane yells while he tries to hit me again. This time, his punch is faster and heavier, but I have [Focus] and see the minute movements he does before he initiates the attack.
Ara-san jump-kicks the grunt closest to her, then she uses the table close to him, she puts her hand at the table, swings her leg while being in some sort of handstand. She hits hard with a strange sound there. ¡°Kenta-kun, I may have sprained my ankle. I''m not used to fighting without weapons, after all.¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?¡± I jump in to hit a grunt who is about to bean a chair on her. ¡°Do it properly!¡± I know she can still fight, she''s a hero, after all. It may hurt, but the body will continue moving like it''s nothing as long as she wants to.
This time, Flamebane connects an attack, a blow to my side. I want to crouch and hold it, it hurts badly, but instead I try to repay him. Shit, that guy is better than I thought.
I may argue that I don''t use any weapons, but he doesn''t either. It''s obvious that he may be used to brawling, but rather likes to work with whatever he has at hand. Nonetheless, his defense is good, he never misses an opportunity when I lower my guard to deal with one of his goons.
Ara-san jumps and flings through the room, using her mobility to the fullest. I try to dodge and block whatever I can and only hit someone when I think I can get away with that. Spectators are cheering, the proprietor is yelling, and I think I K.O.ed his bouncers at some point. I think less and less, as I just try to stay somewhat whole.
Suddenly, the mercenaries stop. I hear something aside from my strong heartbeat, then my blurry sight follows the eyes of Flamebane. The city-guard... shit!
This is the second time I get arrested today...
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°*Sigh*¡± Tired of the negotiations, I fall onto the bed. The moment I thought I had that hag, she blindsided me with little trouble. I''m starting to develop hatred towards taxes. Why are the sellers supposed to pay them anyway!? I mean, I didn''t need to in Goldbrunn or Esse, so why here?
According to Rine-chan, it''s true however. In most cases, the seller pays taxes and certain countries make exceptions. I was about to break off negotiations and sell it in the next city, but I was afraid to let that chance slip by only to learn that the next city has even higher taxes.
My head feels heavy and I want to sleep. Rine-chan is in the common room, most likely waiting for Arako and Ken to return.
¡
I lift my head a bit and open my status screen. Yes, my SP is down. I guess that I used my [Conversation]-ability too much. ¡no, I¡¯m already thinking like the two of them. I may be friends with Arako and like Ken a bit at least, but I don''t want to become like them!
What have they been doing for so long anyway? I mean, they were only supposed to look around a bit, right? They won''t really go on a date. I mean, they''re the most unromantic pair I''ve ever met. ...they didn''t cause any trouble, right?
¡what have I done!? Or rather, what didn''t I prevent!?
The last time Ken was in a city on his own, he was able to turn the whole city against him! Why did I think that he could keep Arako under control, if he''s a source of trouble on his own!? Maybe I thought they would cancel each other out, but logically speaking, they should-
¡°Kyou,¡± Rine-chan barges into the room, ¡°someone from the city guard is here and told me that they apprehended Kenta and Ara for causing a tavern brawl.¡±
I was right!
I stand up while touching the ring on my finger. It calms me down, though I feel hotness and coolness churning inside my stomach. ¡°I''m coming.¡±
It''s a short conversation, mostly only to inform us that by the law of the city, Ken and Arako will spend the night in a cell and there will be a fine of 4,000 Newgold...
¡°Kyou? Are you alright? You look pale. Don''t worry, we have earned more than that today. We can pay it easily.¡± Of course, Rine-chan doesn''t understand that I want to rip both of them apart! I just went through hell to get every Newgold I could and then they just lost 4,000 of it!? No, they wasted them!
What are you doing to me! They are lucky to be imprisoned, otherwise I would personally murder them... At least Arako! I know I can''t overcome Ken physically, but maybe I could yell and yell at him until his ears start to bleed?
You idiots! I''m also stupid, as I could have prevented it if I thought about what both of them are capable of together! Next time, I will send Rine-chan with them, then...
¡
¡°Kyou! You''re looking like Kenta. How was it called... double facepalm?¡±
¡°Please, Rine-chan... be quiet. Let me be in dismay for a minute.¡± Why am I the only person in this party that has common sense?
...maybe that''s why we never go into civilization? Because everyone except me is bad at it? I mean, Rine-chan is certainly adept, but I''m sure she would easily cause problems as well. On the other hand, she has the talent to make everything work out for her.
Also, why hasn''t the curse messaged us? Usually, it should say something if we were separated forcefully, so why didn''t it? Because it''s still in date-mode? When Ken went on a ''date'' with Rine-chan, it was also quiet until the date was over, so-
Your husband and sister-wife have been captured!
The date came to an unexpected end when both of them were taken into custody. This time it doesn''t look like they will be released for a while.
What does it mean, ''this time''? Do I even want to know? What does the rest say?
You and your other sister-wife have to rescue them. Think about it, a prison break for your loved ones! Use this opportunity to show them how much you love them.
Oh right, breaking into prison is the most sensible choice. Of course it is!
If you''re separated for too long, the curse will reactivate within Katsuragi Kenta again and slowly wander towards you and your sister-wives. You have to save them.
¡°*Sigh* I''m going to bed.¡±
¡°Kyou!? We have to save them!¡±
¡°Rine-chan, they''ll be released tomorrow anyway. So why bother? Geez, we even looked for an inn that is willing to rent a room to an alfr and paid for four people and now they even wasted that time and effort.¡±
¡°You''re angry?¡±
¡°Not really. I don''t care about it at all. It just showed how little they care about what we do for them.¡±
¡°I''m sure that there was a good reason for that.¡±
¡°...¡± A good reason... Ken said that he will trust me... ¡°Nonetheless, let them spend the night in a cell. That''s their punishment for breaking the law, so it''s only just, right?¡±
¡°Ah, you''re right. Though we may visit them, make sure that they''re alright and ask them how it happened.¡±
¡°Let''s be honest: If they were in danger, the ring would either tell us or they could easily break out whenever they want. We''ll keep an eye on their statuses and just fetch them tomorrow. How about a girl''s night out in the meantime?¡±
¡°...I don''t know.¡± I see it. She wants to have one. Of course she does, because she never had one before. To be honest, I haven''t either, as I''m just a highschool student and had to adhere to the curfew my parents set. Though I did pajama parties several times! Rine-chan continues: ¡°I think I would feel guilty about it.¡±
¡°Then let''s have a relaxed evening at the bar here, have some drinks, and other than the occasional look at their statuses, we forget about them just for this evening altogether.¡± I smile at her.
You gain 1 WP.
Even in a situation like this, your husband and sister-wife are jovial and can joke with each other.
No, it doesn''t matter. Let''s forget about those two for now, have a nice evening, and celebrate what the two of us have accomplished today.
I hope, for Ken and Arako¡¯s sakes, that they give us a good reason for everything tomorrow.
Volume 08 - Chapter 2-4
¡°It''s not even the same cell,¡± Ara-san complains about our current accommodation. ¡°I liked the one before better. We should ask if we can be transferred to the other station.¡±
¡°So you don''t like beds?¡± Well, more like strawmats on wooden benches, but the cell before didn''t even have those. This is a bigger station as well, I guess the one before didn''t have the means to hold prisoners for long.
¡°Also, where is Gunsar-kun? He was arrested as well and I want to poke fun at him.¡±
¡°I guess that''s the reason we got the whole cell for ourselves.¡±
¡°Yes, the people are really racist.¡±
¡°I won''t deny that. We weren''t even properly interrogated this time.¡± They just read the sentence and asked us to go into the cell. 4,000 Newgold and a night in jail.
¡°Kenta-kun, let''s break out.¡±
That''s sudden! ¡°...why?¡±
¡°Because we can.¡±
¡°...that''s stupid.¡±
¡°I agree. It sure is stupid that you and I are put into a cell. Aren''t they realizing that we can easily slip out? They''re sloppy, and we have the obligation to show that to them.¡±
¡°Hey, we let ourselves be caught so that we won''t have too much trouble. So let''s just sit that one out. I have no idea what consequences it may have, when we break out... maybe another bounty? I don''t need that.¡±
¡°I''ll be bored otherwise. They took my backpack and without it, I can''t do my research.¡±
¡°Heck, then do something else.¡±
¡°Just to be sure: I may be bored, but I won''t have sex with you.¡±
¡°#+!¡± That girl!
¡°Fufu, it becomes more and more difficult to get under your skin. Yet in all seriousness: I won''t mind if you masturbate to get your urges under control. I know, you need it, and I accept that.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I won''t entertain her by jumping at that topic. I just lie down on the bed, but before I can close my eyes for a nap, a window pops up.
The Date ends prematurely.
You gain 0 WP.
Seriously, how can you call this a date? Neither of you have prepared in any way, a date is a special occasion, but you have to make it special for it to work! Of course, spending time together is special in its own right, yet...
Also, these activities!? Reporting at the guard, making recon in case for emergencies, getting arrested¡ªtwice¡ªstarting a tavern brawl, what part of it is remotely romantic? Even the way you talk with each other... You love each other, right!?
You both have to work on it. Make each other feel important. Have heart-to-heart talks. Just don''t say whatever comes into your minds. Please, you have to do it better! In all areas!
Seriously!
Huh... this is rather short. When I had a ''date'' with Rine in Goldbrunn, it was more specific. In a way, it seems like the curse doesn''t even know where to begin.
Ara-san sounds happy and impressed, as she shares her thoughts: ¡°Kenta-kun, we made an important discovery!¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
¡°About the curse. We know something new.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°The curse is incapable of deducting WP, because our outing would have forced it to do so otherwise.¡±
¡
¡ ¡
¡°Pff.... hihi.... hahahahahahahaa!¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, you make a strange noise. It sounds like laughing.¡±
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¡°Hahahahahaha!¡± Yes, I laugh indeed. It''s rather soft, but definitely more than a chuckle. This is the first time since being kidnapped into this fantasy world that I laugh because something is funny.
Ara-san is right, whether the curse is just a program or has an actual personality, it has a very restrictive way of thinking. It can''t even understand what is between Ara-san and me for certain. It''s not the sappy kind of friendship TV or books are talking about and it''s as far removed from romance as humanly possible. We''re just two very odd people that somehow get along.
Ah, I needed that. It wasn''t even particularly funny at its core, but with everything happening, with all my suffering, not only with the curse, but in general, it hit a chord with me. Even after I stopped laughing, I still keep a grin, unable to wipe it from my face.
You gain 1 WP.
Even when in jail, the two of you can cheer up each other.
It''s also amusing that the curse doesn''t get the joke. ¡°Phew, being imprisoned may suck, but this made my day.¡±
¡°So you really laughed?¡±
¡°...what were you thinking?¡±
¡°As I''ve never heard that from you, I thought that you going through a seizure was a possibility.¡±
¡°...phew... yes, I laughed.¡±
¡°I see.¡± The ears are slowly waving... I guess that''s something like having a calm, but still tense face... something along the lines of looking forward to brag about something. I guess something with the other girls... did they make a bet on who can make me laugh? I don''t think so, otherwise Rine would have tried to tell jokes...
However, Ara-san is already on to her next thought: ¡°Kenta-kun, let''s pass the time by calling the guards repeatedly and asking them unreasonable things.¡±
¡°Hell no, I want to be released tomorrow morning!¡±
¡°Then I''ll go to sleep.¡± Without any further ado, Ara-san uses her ability to fall asleep whenever and wherever she wants. Half of it may be due to her [Rest Anywhere]-skill, which allows her to rest without any drawbacks on any ground, but the other half is an innate talent. Or just a century of experience in being a sloth.
Well, suits me fine. I lay down myself and try to get some rest. I think about how to explain the whole situation to Kyou-san and Rine tomorrow, then I get angry that I even feel the need to explain myself, then I fall into a fit of blaming Flamebane, and finally I leave it alone only to pick it up again five minutes later.
What a pain.
I spend an hour or two that way, while occasionally looking at Ara-san. Rather than asleep, she looks dead. Her breathing is hard to catch even for my hearing, her heartbeat sounds maybe once every three minutes, her skin is even paler than usual. Yet her ears move a lot. Maybe that''s how the primitive alfar adapted to their environment. If I recall correctly, humans haven''t genetically changed much since the stone age. Maybe alfar are the same.
I hear several footsteps approaching. Wait a minute, I know some of them!
The door gets unlocked and Kyou-san and Rine enter the cell, flanked by two guards. ¡°Don''t ask,¡± says the former in a bad mood, giving me a look as if had thrown a mudcake at her, while crawling into an empty bunk bed.
¡°Tehehe... we got into a tavern brawl,¡± explains Rine.
¡°Ah, we too. Why you?¡±
¡°Erm...¡± Rine becomes beet red and begins to fiddle with her fingers, while her eyes wander to that activity instead of looking at me. ¡°You know... there were some men, then I accidentally broke an arm, and...¡±
¡°Enough, Rine-chan.¡±
¡°But Kyou, you were rude.¡±
¡°It was his fault, not yours!¡±
¡°You already said that, but haven''t I-¡±
¡°Hmph!¡±
¡°Ah, I don''t understand!¡±
¡°...¡± I think I miss a bit of context, but I guess I don''t need to understand that. ¡°Aha.¡±
Rine calms down a bit, before she hits me with a counter-question: ¡°What about you?¡±
¡°Erm...¡±
Suddenly, Ara-san springs up. ¡°I''ll explain it to you.¡± I guess she''s proud to be an ''expert sleeper'', so unlike me she doesn''t even need a skill to wake up whenever she wants. I''m fine with her explaining it, Ara-san will just sum up the facts and- ¡°It''s Kenta-kun''s fault.¡± -and will put all the blame on me, because she''s afraid of Kyou-san pulling her ears again.
Though she''s still technically correct. ¡°Phew... I picked a fight with a mercenary.¡±
¡°Oh, who won?¡±
That''s what you''re concerned with, Rine!? Well... I guess, she''s the one who actually did the brawling, so we''re in the same boat somehow? ¡°Nobody.¡± Without any skills, weapons, and actual killing intent, it was rather balanced.
Ara-san says in a haughty tone: ¡°We were two against thirteen, so when in doubt, we are the winners indeed.¡± Is it that important to you?
Finally, Kyou-san also partakes in the conversation: ¡°Why did you even pick up the fight in the first place?¡±
I look at Ara-san, but all she gives me is a blank look. I guess I''m on my own. ¡°He acted like an asshole, so I punched him.¡±
Strangely enough, Ara-san is the one who asks more questions: ¡°When did he act like what you call an ''asshole''?¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Hm?¡±
¡°You... Ara-san, didn''t you realize that he spoke down to you?¡±
¡°So what?¡±
¡°So wha--- ¡ ¡¡± So everything was about something Ara-san doesn''t even care about!?
¡°Ken, next time you see that asshole, hit him again.¡± Why do I get back up from Kyou-san here!?
¡°Well, let''s make the most of the situation, tehehe,¡± Rine proposes as if this was a field trip.
¡°I agree,¡± Ara-san continues. ¡°Now that I think about it, we have rented the room.¡±
¡°Phew... because we''re paying the fine?¡±
¡°Exactly, Kenta-kun.¡±
¡°Isn''t it for us to get out?¡±
¡°No, that is a flawed logic. Usually, you pay people to let you stay in a room, not to get out.¡±
¡°Oh, that makes sense,¡± Rine says.
I hear a giggle, it''s Kyou-san. Am I the only one who takes this situation somewhat seriously?
Ah, fuck it. Not worth worrying about that. We''ll leave this shitty city tomorrow anyway.
You gain 2 WP.
This shows how a happy family can turn even the direst of situations into a valuable experience that enriches all.
Even though the curse annoys me once more, I let it slide this time. I don''t want to care right now, and just wait until tomorrow.
In a sense, it''s pure luxury that we don''t need to worry about anything serious at all.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Correo gives a heavy bag to an old, fat man in a luxurious room. It''s Oleau Garcon, the White Mare, once a knight, then a mercenary, who has now made it to the godfather of Winson. While someone else may hold the title of ruler, everyone knows that he controls this city and several more.
The Merchant''s League stays on his good side, as he also has taken over all the banditry of this area. Paying protection money is the only way to stay safe from him and his goons. ¡°Business as usual,¡± Correo says with a smile.
The man, who was once considered the most handsome man of Parvaar, weighs the money in his grip. ¡°You seem to need a lot.¡±
¡°Make them as expendable as possible.¡±
¡°There is enough. What I find questionable is that you''re paying coins in exchange for the lives of my subordinates.¡±
¡°You''re the one who put a price tag on their lives in the first place.¡±
¡°Fair enough. So what are they supposed to do?¡±
¡°There are four people they need to attack. If they''re victorious, it''ll be perfect. But I''m honest, I expect a small delay at most. We''re talking about unreasonable people, after all.¡±
¡°So why don''t you ask for specialists?¡±
¡°Because I only need to buy some more time.¡±
¡°Tell me what I need to know.¡±
Correo has made the detour to the oracle and he learned what he needed to do. Divination may be not the most accurate way to obtain information, but it has its perks. Knowing even a piece of the future can be very helpful, though interfering with fate comes with restrictions.
Hiring Garcon''s scum may not be enough, however. Correo still considers calling his servant to him, but she''s on her way to Uthredt. While he can summon her to him instantly by using the urn, he also wants her to keep her squirrel underlings available for later. They may be the only weapon he has against the alfr magic, after all.
If worse comes to worst, he may need to use the midnight-blue liquid he got from the Lady after all.
Volume 08 - Chapter 3-1 - Hold it!
Chapter 3 ¨C Hold it!
OK, this is the real deal. I take deep breaths as I try to find the best grip on my spear, a futile attempt, as my body knows exactly where to grip it for several situations. It was always that way as [Pikeman] and nowadays, with all my experience, even as a [Student] or [Ranger] I instinctively feel whenever I hold the spear wrong.
My knees are shaking, but I can''t stand down. This is a fight I have to do. My stomach is ice-cold and I''m sure that the only reason why I''m not running away is because I''m currently in the [Pikeman]-class and it braces my mind. A pikeman stands at the front and doesn''t falter, even if facing the charging cavalry, after all.
I narrow my eyes, being short-sighted really is a disadvantage. But fighting with my glasses on is even worse, they''re not meant to be worn while fighting and losing or breaking them would be bad. I can still see my opponent fine enough, only a bit out of focus at this distance.
Breathe in, breathe out. I''m only delaying the inevitable.
¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I propel myself with the skill, as a good offense is the best defense. Though I may severely lack in offense, as the moment I get close, my opponent makes a quick sidestep. I abort my [Skill], but still feel a sharp pain in my face. At least I took away most of my momentum, but I feel something at the back of my head.
...this will hurt!
I try to brace myself, but my stance is off due to canceling [Speedthrust], so it''s easy to slam my face to the ground.
My opponent stops her attack, but I feel cold steel at my neck. ¡°Kenta, are you alright?¡±
¡°Brmlmlml-¡±
¡°Let''s take a break, OK?¡± Rine sheaths her sword and offers me her hand.
I slowly stand up without taking it. ¡°Dammit!¡±
¡°You''re doing great!¡±
¡°Stop lying!¡± I mean, whatever I do, it''s over in a few seconds. I stay still, she attacks from three directions at once, using her sword, feet, and fist. I attack, she counterattacks. I feint, she gets a hit in during the feint. I attack, abort the skill, and she does that superhuman shit that makes her first jumpkicks my face and then use the same foot to hook behind my head and slam me to the ground in one swift motion!
When I asked Rine to become my sparring partner after the Red Canyon incident, I knew that I would get beaten to a pulp about every day. But not improving at all makes it so frustrating! ¡°What am I doing wrong!? I mean, except fighting you in the first place!?¡±
¡°You''re too slow?¡±
¡°Then how can I become faster!?¡±
¡°Hm... your body seems fine, though I would like it if you join my morning training. It feels weird that you have all the muscles without doing basic training.¡±
¡°I''m a hero, after all.¡±
¡°Yes, but still... other than that... maybe it''s your mindset?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°How can I explain... you expect to lose, so you lose.¡± That... makes sense. When my expectation is to lose, then my body will harden up and try to protect itself, making me less mental and physically flexible. Still, me ending up being hurt is just a realistic assumption!
...could it be that Rine''s secret is that she can switch off her brain whenever she feels like it? ¡ ¡I seriously can''t dismiss this possibility.
If we can trust what the Luuto-disaster brought us, when I snapped against him, then I should have the potential to be as fast and powerful as Rine. I may have found a way to access some of this power willingly, but it has several hard limits. I can use it around three times, then I get a torturous headache, and I can only use it as a [Pikeman] in conjunction with my spear.
Heck, this may be an entirely different power-up from what I know and I only believe it''s the same I had with Luuto! I think even Ara-san begins to see this as the more likely option.
¡°Kenta, keep thinking about it. You''re going to figure it out, and I''ll help you however I can. Let''s look at how lunch is doing. It''s going to rain again soon.¡± She''s right, Kyou-san''s [Weather Forecast] predicted heavy rain with short breaks in-between.
Therefore we even have set up a tarp for lunch. Kyou-san is still handling her pan on the fire, though I can see how she¡¯s also heating up some bulbs on a stone close to it. ¡°How was it?¡± She asks while not hiding her smile.
The first few days of sparring with Rine were very humiliating. Kyou-san and Ara-san have been watching us the whole time, the former grinning, the latter making notes. Yet it became so one-sided and predictable, that both of them decided to do something else with their time.
I feel someone climbing my back: ¡°Kenta-ku~un. Let''s do it.¡± It''s Ara-san.
¡°Phew... I guess.¡± She makes sure that I can''t run away, though that thought didn''t even cross my mind. She''s holding a paper in my face. ¡°Let''s see... we left off there, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± It''s the copy she made of the American heroes'' manuals. I always try to translate some of their English into Japanese, which is then translated into whatever the people speak here when it comes out of my mouth, only to be finally translated into Alfr Speech in Ara-san''s mind.
Super complicated. Especially, as this world language doesn''t even seem to have a name. Rine just calls it ''language'', the same as she calls this planet just ''world''. Well, that may also be just a product of the translation-work of the hero-system.
¡°Let''s see...¡± So far, we only covered some of the bases and while it''s written differently, the content seems to be the same. ¡°Next paragraph has the title ''[Abilities] and [Skills]''. Hm... [Abilities] increase your ability in a certain field. Then it describes how some [Abilities] may be supernatural... no, rather: Supernatural for you...¡±
¡°So it does mean that there are no supernatural [Abilities] in the first place?¡±
¡°Maybe it''s like [Spirit Magic]? For you, it''s totally natural and has science behind it, while for me it''s some magical bullshit.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
¡°Which would mean, that for every [Ability], there may be someone who naturally has access to it.¡±
¡°So how does things like [Stealth] count? Everyone can be sneaky, but [Skills] like [Camouflage]?¡±
¡°Translate further!¡±
¡°Erm... something about the [Rank]. Amassing... what? Experience? Knowledge? What the fuck does pro-fee, no, pro-fi-shen-shii mean? From the context I can say, your [Rank] increases by practicing the [Ability].¡±
¡°We should head back and make those heroes talk, even if it kills them.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°But Kenta-kun!¡±
¡°NO!¡±
¡°Bummer. Continue.¡±
As I continue, I realize that this section is actually more detailed than what I knew. Ara-san and I get three details from the [Abilities] and [Skills] that we couldn''t find in either of our own manuals:
First, heroes amass potential to learn [Skills]. Those [Skills] reflect the needs, experiences, aptitude, and personality of the hero. We may have suspected this already, but this now seals the deal. Which may mean that I''ll never learn that [Perforate]-skill! Dammit!
Second, each [Skill] becomes stronger with better [Attributes]. However, how much and in which way a [Skill] profits from each [Attribute] is dependent on the individual [Skill]. Healing spells become more powerful the higher the [Persuasion] of the hero is, while a charge attack will use [Agility] for closing the distance and [Strength] for its power. This is kinda new info, especially with the example. Who would have known that healing spells are actually tied to the mind-alternating [Attribute]?
Third, and this is the hot stuff: At some point, heroes will learn more [Abilities]. Yet they can have at most 8 slots, so whenever they learn a new [Ability], they have to replace an old one. It''s possible to relearn it, but replacing it resets their [Rank] to 0 and they will be unable to use their [Skills] until it''s increased again. Though this [Rank]-reset won''t happen if you still have that [Ability] on one of your other classes.
¡°So the ''at some point''-portion is most likely the [Class-up], right?¡± I share my thoughts about it.
¡°It seems so. When we attained a [Class-up], we learned three new [Abilities]. Maybe there are other dormant ones we can even exchange now?¡±
¡°Would be great! Then I can get rid of [Animal Ken] and get something useful instead!¡±
¡°Or maybe each [Class-up] grants you three new [Abilities] and you have to choose later? You also need to unlock all your [Abilities] to even be able to [Class-up]... Now we need to find the instructions on how to exchange [Abilities]! It has to be here somewhere, in my manual there were instructions on how to initiate a [Class-up] on the hero-system, after all.¡± So we continue to explore that manual.
Exchanging [Abilities]... The gamer inside me feels excited, as this is a new way to customize my build. However, this also gives me some headache, as regaining [Ranks] to retrain an [Ability] seems to be a huge waste of time, so I better know right away what I want. This also makes me wonder if I should put effort into things that aren''t obviously useful. I may be missing something.
Though the clause of keeping the [Ranks] as long as one of your other classes have that [Ability]... is the hero-system trying to make heroes diverse or rather take similar classes and just shift the focus? Or are both intended strategies?
This is the typical problem. Usually, a game-system has an intentional use, basically which strategy it supports best. Like a knight-class in an MMORPG, it will most likely support sword and board and therefore increases its power by using shields. While there are usually exploits to use and unintentional powerful combos, they''re found out by accident or reading a game''s code, so outside of what the designers expect.
The hero-system isn''t telling us much. Don''t get me wrong, I don''t see it as a game-system despite its similarities, but still: There should be an intentional way. So far, everything points that heroes gain more by moving from place to place, but for what purpose is it?
I mean, I''m supposed to slay a Demon King who was just in a country next to the one I was summoned to, so why should I go on travels if this is my end-goal? It doesn''t make sense.
¡°Then let us try to confirm our hypothesis,¡± Ara-san says, interrupting my thought process. ¡°Katarine-san, would you listen?¡±
¡°Hn?¡± Rine is helping Kyou-san by watching the sizzling bulbs, while also having a conversation with her. ¡°What did you say, Ara?¡±
¡°Kenta-kun and I have found something new in the other heroes'' manual. You can switch [Abilities] ''at a certain point of your hero career'', and Kenta-kun and I have a hypothesis that it means when you have multiple [Class-ups]. So open your menu as [Princess-knight] and try to concentrate on an [Ability] you don''t need. Like [Shield], you don''t have one and you don''t have a [Skill] for that [Ability].¡±
¡°But I want [Shield]! I was starting to learn how to use it, just before I paused my training with my instructor. It''s like his ultimate form and I want to learn that!¡±
¡°Your knowledge should not be tied to the [Ability]. I also don''t think that you automatically switch it, it''ll be like with [Class-ups]. I''ve tried, but wasn''t able to open any sort of submenu, so it falls onto you, Princess Katarine von Stolzherz, to do that experiment.¡±
¡°Ooooooh!¡± Of course, relying on her like that excites her. She has this child-like sparkle in her eyes.
Kyou-san¡ªwho has listened to that exchange as it interrupted her own conversation¡ªand I exchange quick glances. Ara-san is tricking Rine again, but in the end, we both are also curious.
Rine''s [Princess-knight] is special in several ways. First, it''s her first class, while the rest of us have weak first classes like [Student] and [Accountant]. [Princess-knight] is bonkers, and Ara-san thinks it falls somewhere between a first and a second [Class-up], even though Rine''s level is too low for a second [Class-up]. She''s just level 58, while a second [Class-up] has a level requirement of 100.
It''s as special as Rine, who shouldn''t be a hero in the first place. Ara-san''s educated guess is that the moment Rine hits level 100, she may get access to even more stuff.
Rine still needs her hand to navigate the hero-system. At least she''s getting faster and faster with this, but unlike me, who can quickly access everything within a moment, she needs around one second per screen. ¡°Ah, I see something... [Academics], [Etiquette], [Conversation]... No, nothing of interest there.¡±
¡°You''re mistaken, it''s very interesting. Are these three [Abilities] all you can choose?¡±
¡°Yes, but I don''t want to learn any of them... I mean, they''re super-boring!¡± Rine shows again how most of what she learned as a princess was so boring to her, that she decided she¡¯d rather learn how to be a murder machine, go out, hunt bandits, and be more heroic than the actual heroes...
Well, given that Ara-san has some [Academics]-skills and most are semi-useless, and Kyou-san''s [Conversation]-skills are very manipulative in nature, I know why Rine doesn''t see any worth in them. And seriously: Who needs [Etiquette]? Does it make your back all straight and stiff, unable to let books fall from your head and raise your pinky while drinking tea?
Ara-san doesn''t seem to mind that someone calls an [Ability] she has some mastery in boring. ¡°It''s more about the fact that you could learn it than the [Abilities] themselves.¡±
I have to agree. The option to customize will be great for the future... the far future. It will take forever to get to level 100, and then we need the whole learning from a mentor thing again for another [Class-up], which means looking for a place, looking for the right people, and having the vision to choose smart [Class-ups].
Though this will only work out if we get to Zethtrin first, and with Correo still in hiding and using other heroes as his pawns, this may be much harder than I can even imagine.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Correo looks at the monsters he has gathered and put into trance, using a censer. The incense was a mixture of a tranquilizer and some of the midnight-blue liquid he received from the Lady, giving it some special traits. In a sense, the monsters were now possessed, only waiting for him to blow the whistle and mindlessly following the sound, destroying everything in their way, until they pass or die out of exhaustion.
He checks his pendulum, one of his hero-locators. The princess and her companions are still traveling, which makes it more complicated to use this monster nest at the right time. The incense will work for around three days, given that he had to prepare several of those monster armies...
The midnight-blue liquid¡ªalso called ''Blood of Midnight''¡ªis very valuable and using it so much hurts Correo''s sense of wealth. Yet he needs it. Not only to make sure that these monsters stay as they are, but also to create monster clones that can be easily deployed if needed.
Correo knows exactly that this won''t be enough to overcome his targets. This makes his monetary regrets only worse. Nonetheless, he decided that he should change his plans for now and make another detour. His Seven-League Boots allows him to overcome great distances, yet using them so much to go back and forth becomes increasingly exhausting.
This isn''t the time to be frugal though. He needs to give everything he can to accomplish his goal: The blood, his money, his connections, and his health.
Volume 08 - Chapter 3-2
It has been a few days since we left Racist City. I use the small blade on the other side of my spear to hit away a small monster that has the shape of caterpillar, but was more like a tortoise. Basically, a bunch of shells on the caterpillar-like, though still reptile, body.
¡°[Itching Breath]!¡± Kyou-san sends a magically infused powder towards another of the minions. Yes, minions.
We are basically fighting a group of eight caterpillars that are larger than horses and have smaller ones under their back shells. The big ones have shell armor at more places, like the reptilian legs and tails, and they''re currently rolling around us.
Rine kicks one of the minions in the way of the bigger ones, and with an ugly sound, it''s crushed. However, it made the big one go into a bad spin, which caused it to open up a bit. Rine suddenly is above it and pierces through the gap, not deeply enough to kill it, but it''s just a matter of time.
¡°[Fountain Gun]! [Fountain Gun]!¡± Ara-san and Kyou-san take care of the minions. While Ara-san''s spell itself isn''t very effective, it shoots them away.
Seriously, it''s not a difficult fight. With all their rolling and shells, it''s just annoying and there are little opportunities to deal real damage.
One of the big ones changes course, it begins to glow while I can hear how the air currents intensify. Its target is Kyou-san. No you won''t! ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± Countering its air current with my own, my upwards spear attack doesn''t do any visible damage against the shell, but lifts the monster into the air.
It opens up and tries to rend me with two of its six legs, but I block both with my spear pole and the moment my feet touch the ground, I brace myself.
Gross! Its slobber runs down from my spear to my arms. ¡°I got this!¡± I say aloud, so that the rest can do whatever. I only need to push it back a bit, then I''ll kill it with [Armor Piercer].
Or so I thought. A sudden pain runs through my leg, and it yields to the pressure of the monster. While my arms hold firm, I fall backwards to the ground and now the caterpillar-form proves to be dangerous, as it can now use all of its legs, instead of just two.
Its claws cut into my arm and only my armor protects me from serious injuries. ¡°[Rising Point]!¡± Using one of my sudden power-ups per day, I lift it again with a new air-current and hit it in the eye. Its skull has eyes too small for me to get to the brain with my spear-blade, but it¡¯s just a matter of seconds. ¡°[Armor Piercer]!¡± A rather weak attack, that however pierces much better through hard materials, like shells, and bones. Even on one leg, it''s enough to finish that monster off.
Now that the immediate danger is over, I take a look at my leg, which feels rather strange. This felt like... no, not only felt like. There is an arrow in my leg! I change to [Ranger] and use [Farsight], trying to find-
I jump aside, as I just heard another arrow from a very different direction coming. I roll on the ground to get back to my feet immediately, but this was a bad idea. ¡°Ahhhhhhh...¡± While my leg does listen to me, as I''m a hero, it also makes clear that it doesn''t like listening to me. Also, no matter how robust a hero-body is, it''s a fact that some of my muscles have been damaged and aren''t able to perform at their absolute peak.
Another one! ¡°[Watershield]!¡± Ara-san, who has even better senses than me, noticed the arrows as well and put a sheet of water around me and her. She then catches the arrow that lost at least some speed after piercing the water-spell. ¡°Kenta-kun, we need to get closer to the rest.¡± She cancels her spell, but if someone is sniping at us from afar, we need to include at least Kyou-san in the shield.
I have absolute certainty that any arrow aimed at Rine will incidentally be deflected by her into one of the monsters. She has great instincts, feels danger when she shouldn''t, and deflecting any sort of missiles is just what she does.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
¡°Kyou-san, come here!¡± As every step hurts, I call out to her. She follows my order without question.
¡°Stay close to me,¡± Ara-san is untypically reliable, while also changing to [Acrobat], most likely trusting that she can catch arrows that way without any spells.
Kyou-san finally notices the arrow in my leg and changes to [Priest]. ¡°[Heal]! I need to leave that in for now.¡±
The spell makes the scratches at my arm close, while I can feel how the flesh around the arrow starts to contract around it. ¡°Sure.¡± She can''t give me full medical treatment, there are still monsters... well, five in total, one big one and four minions, as Rine has taken out most of them by now.
For the remainder of the combat, however, there were no more arrows. Ara-san stays on guard, while Rine and Kyou-san treat me. ¡°I''m ready, Kyou.¡± Rine has one hand on a poultice, one above the wound.
¡°Alright.¡± Then Kyou-san pushes the arrow out of my leg. I endure the pain as good as possible, but I can''t help but groan while it takes like forever for the arrow to leave my body.
¡°[Heal]!¡± Using her spell, Rine immediately alleviates me from the pain while starting to apply the poultice. Kyou-san quickly then bandages it around my leg.
¡°Better,¡± I say while slowly standing up. Using bandages, poultices and such has a great effect on heroes. The wound still hurts, but I can already tell that it has closed and will heal in time.
I use [Farsight] again. We''re in one of the more open sections of our route, I can only see a forest some kilometers away... has the sniper hid itself back there?
...most likely, though not necessarily. When you have skills like [Camouflage], you start to accept that there will be people hard to find if they don''t want to be. I also have a [Skill] like [Seeker], that makes the arrow change course to a small degree, so... the sniper could be everywhere and aiming at every angle.
Most likely, it rather ran away than hide though. I pick up the arrow. ¡°We need to move fast.¡± While we could get to the forest, it''ll take a while and it''d be a detour. So I just hope that the sniper won''t follow us, now that their position will be most likely compromised without any monsters that can serve as distraction.
Searching the whole perimeter for any clue may be just a waste of time. Maybe it was just a scout, after all, who saw an opportunity.
¡°Phew... it has to be Correo again,¡± I share my thoughts. ¡°Probably with other mercenaries.¡± He may use Inoue, that fake, again, but they only had one archer and that one couldn''t hide as far as I know. Also, this doesn''t seem to be their mode of action. They''re much dumber and more direct.
¡°Unless you made Flamebane hate you much more than we know,¡± answers Ara-san, at least providing that other possibility.
¡°Unlikely... he was a jerk, but he had a mission with that trader, so unless something happened, it shouldn''t have made him aggro us so much.¡±
¡°Erm... I have to confess something,¡± says Kyou-san a bit hesitantly. ¡°Do you remember when I said that I needed to take care of some business before we left the city? I... may have used [Rumor Mill] to discredit him and his mercenaries.¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡°WHY!?¡±
¡°The way you talked about them, how they treated Arako... I don''t really expect that it''s them, though. I mean, [Rumor Mill] takes a while to take full effect, and I was careful. I''m just saying it now, in case it''s them.¡±
¡°Pheeeeeew... well, I also don''t expect them. Also, I''m not against pissing them off... so... no harm done?¡±
¡°Probably.¡±
¡°Kyou!¡± While I''m strangely OK with it, Rine wasn''t. ¡°You shouldn''t talk bad about anyone... especially if you want to harm them.¡± What''s that logic?
¡°I see this differently,¡± I can already see that Kyou-san will bring some arguments that will at least sound right.
¡°Back to topic,¡± I interrupt, as we''re still in danger. I let my eyes wander around the landscape while talking and walking. ¡°Why are they aiming at me?¡±
Rine has an answer for that: ¡°Because you''re strong and our leader.¡±
¡°More like, expendable... Also, wouldn''t it make more sense to deal with our healer first?¡±
¡°Hey!¡±
¡°I''m just saying! Also, didn''t Correo have more beef with Ara-san than with me!?¡±
¡°He knows that it won''t work?¡±
¡°Also... why stop there? Or are we running into a trap?¡± I use [Farsight] to look around once more, but unless Correo uses his strange magic to appear with an army, something that seems very unlikely seeing how he had to fetch everyone from the fake-heroes one-by-one to save their asses... Just what is happening here!?
I take another look at the arrow. ¡that arrow-head is used to hunt monsters, made to easier pierce thick skins and pelts. The last time I saw one of those was when I was learning under the hunters right after being summoned into this world. While it may be good enough for hide armor, there should be a better option, right?
Who the fuck was that?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Meldorn watches them from the forest and witnesses how, instead of investigating, they decided to leave as fast as possible... Seems like he doesn''t need to use the traps, after all.
Time to return. He was just scouting ahead and saw an opportunity to slow them down. Meldorn leaves the forest deep in thought, yet fully aware of his surroundings. He mounts his new horse that he bound to a tree on the other side of the forest.
It will most likely take a while to meet up with the others. Meldorn was on his own for some days, mostly to assess the situation while the rest were following at a moderate pace to keep themselves in top shape. And to keep their bruises at a minimum, as Sir Gottfried is the only one who has experience in riding, and healing them constantly would be a waste of the pontiff''s magic.
Meldorn sure hopes that they were able to follow his signs. He went through every one of the signs he will use with them, but having companions so poorly trained in any survival-skills, Sir Gottfried included, made Meldorn wonder.
Still, aside from assessing the situation, there were other reasons why Meldorn went ahead. Even on a mount, he can travel faster alone and now that he has declared the princess his [Quarry], he will know where she is, no matter where she goes. He feels her presence in his mind.
She can''t escape anymore. Though having an elf and a ranger will complicate things even more. Especially if said ranger is able to control minds and is rather fleeing instead of going after Meldorn, who would have just lured him into a trap. Either it''s insight, fear, or instinct.
A ranger. A hero. Katsuragi Kenta.
Volume 08 - Chapter 3-3
Several hours have passed since Ken was shot, but there are no signs of any other attacks, which makes him even more irritated. ¡°Relax,¡± I tell him. ¡°Maybe it was really a hunter, who was actually aiming at the monster?¡± This was one of the many possibilities he came up with, but even I¡¯m doubting it. What I don¡¯t doubt, however, is that Ken is getting more worked up about it than it¡¯s good for him.
Seriously, he always thinks about multiple possibilities and doubts each of them so much, that he¡¯s driving himself crazy. Though it¡¯s even more crazy, this meticulous doubting is one of his more redeeming qualities, as it shows that he cares.
¡°A hunter?¡± He says scoffingly. ¡°Maybe for the first arrow, but what about the rest?¡±
¡°A group that was actually hunting, then they saw you, knew about your bounty and wanted to take you out? Or maybe because of how you¡¯re a sinner?¡± The curse we¡¯re suffering from has some technicalities. One of them is marrying us girls with Ken, which makes Ken a boy who¡¯s married to multiple spouses. This however, is forbidden by another set of rules, the Divine Laws.
The Divine Laws are one of the strangest and somehow most ludicrous things in this world. If you break one, you¡¯re considered a sinner by the world. Not only in the form of recognition of its inhabitants when they learn about it, but also by spells and such. It¡¯s also the firm believe of the people here that having too many sinners within a species will cause genocide. Therefore, the people weed out sinners whenever possible.
¡°There weren¡¯t any bounty posters on this side of the Ohl so far¡ well, we may have lost some time, so maybe some bounty hunters that knew of it¡ or Crusaders? I mean, they should have scouts and hunters, and hunting monsters is what they also do¡¡± Let¡¯s just say that none of us had good experiences with Crusaders, though Rine-chan thinks rather positively of them in general.
But oh my god, is Ken irritating right now! His anxiety is making me mad. If he were a girl, I would take his hands, tell him that everything will be alright, that whatever comes, he will be able to handle it, and that I will help him along the way.
Too bad he¡¯s a boy. While we genuinely try our best to improve how we act towards each other, this would give all the wrong signals. While I could rely on Rine-chan to calm him down a bit¡ªsomehow she can say cheesy lines cool and full of confidence¡ªI want to try it this time.
Appealing to his head won¡¯t work. In a sense, it¡¯s the source of the problem. So how do I appeal to his heart? Maybe through his body? ¡°Ken, stop for a moment.¡± He looks at me for a second, then sighs, and does as I say. This also causes Rine-chan and Arako, who are some steps behind us, to halt.
Now I step behind him and put my hands on his shoulders. They¡¯re full of stuff, his armor, his hood, the straps of his backpack, it shows how much he burdens himself with. Then I start putting some force into my grip to give him a massage.
¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡±
¡°You¡¯re way too stiff¡ seriously, your muscles are like rocks there.¡± Being in his [Ranger]-form doesn¡¯t help either. ¡°Can you switch to [Student] for a while?¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because it¡¯ll be hard to massage you otherwise. You have too many muscles.¡± Not that I generally mind. If you look at Ken¡¯s body, it¡¯s firm and I like how his back looks. Quite pleasing, and I know that he¡¯s ogling me sometimes as well, so it¡¯s only fair that I sometimes take a look as well.
¡°Why would you massage me? Do you even know what you¡¯re doing?¡±
¡°I have quite some experience. Tou-chan always praised me!¡±
¡°*pff* Tou-chan¡¡±
I¡¯m glad that I¡¯m standing behind him, as I feel my cheeks blush. That was a blunder. I¡¯m somewhat of a daddy-child, and while I have no problem admitting to it, calling him Tou-chan out loud is kinda embarrassing.
I calm myself within a second and just ask calmly, and as if it¡¯s totally normal for a girl to call her father Tou-chan at this age: ¡°Will you change now?¡±
I feel a jolt in Ken¡¯s shoulders. I¡¯m sure he was about to say something, but then his muscles become a bit softer. ¡°Phew¡ fine.¡± His muscles recede and I feel fat between my fingers and his back bloat. Not even that much, but noticeable.
Well, he¡¯s just a bit chubby, mostly around the stomach. It¡¯s just that his [Ranger] basically gets rid of the fat entirely and replaces it with muscles. I can work with this much buffer, no problem.
It¡¯d be better, if he would lie down or at least sit, but this is just supposed to calm him down. So I knead his back and neck area, the shoulders and down the spine. I can tell from his initial movements that he doesn¡¯t like that, but he slowly becomes more relaxed.
Is his initial resistance because of the contact or because he has to surrender himself to me for the effect?
¡°Oh, Kyou! This seems to feel good.¡± Rine-chan admires what I do, I guess I never massaged her before.
¡°When we camp, I can knead you through as well, if you like.¡±
¡°Gladly.¡±
¡°What about you, Arako?¡±
¡°I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯d break poor, frail me.¡±
¡°Nonsense. I¡¯ll show you later. What about you?¡± I ask Ken while getting rid of some of his tension. ¡°Wanna do it for real later?¡±
¡°¡¡± He¡¯s considering it! That alone is a win. ¡°Phew¡ maybe. Let¡¯s get going now. ¡ ¡thanks.¡±
You gain 1 WP.
Giving your husband a massage to calm him down shows your love and thoughtfulness.
Ah, right. Ken hated the idea to get massages for WP¡ Wait, calm down. This is the curse that makes me feel a bit love-struck just now, but it¡¯s no problem. I know about it, he knows about it, we can stay factual about it and just act like companions that try to trust each other.
¡°OK,¡± Ken says with regained composure: ¡°We know that something will hit us soon, so we need to decide how to go about it. For now, I¡¯d like to get to the wayside inn, so we can buy some more food, so we don¡¯t need to hunt for a while. Then we change the route, using the cliffs and woods to discourage mounts and increase our speed. The good thing about the mercenaries before Goldbrunn was that we learned our limits. So we need to pace ourselves to not come too close to it, so we maintain some power for fights, but we should be able to get to a point where we dishearten any non-hero to keep that pace up. If I recall correctly, there is a huge forest just a few days ahead. If we get there, we rest and prepare. There we can make use of our whole potential while limiting theirs.¡±
As always, Ken¡¯s strategy isn¡¯t flawless, but very solid. ¡°So you want to engage them?¡±
¡°The past shows that we have never outrun anything so far. Maybe this time it¡¯s different, and they will stop before we get there, but great forests have another perk: The monster-cleansing never goes into them.¡±
¡°Monster-cleansing?¡± I¡¯m sure I heard about it somewhere before.
¡°To ensure the safety of the streets and cities, the rulers will send out soldiers to decimate the monsters there. This causes only monsters of low danger to remain. That¡¯s why hunters often take days for a hunting trip, as they have to travel to less developed areas to find monsters with valuable materials but of moderate danger.¡±
¡°So you want to use monsters?¡±
¡°We know our way in the woods, when there is a bigger group, we can wait until they alert the monsters and take out their leaders. It¡¯s one strategy. Though honestly, I want to know who they are first, but with so much open space, I see no sensible way to do it.¡±
I would rather run away, to be honest. Yet I have to agree with Ken: It never worked out for us. ¡°Then let¡¯s pick up the pace.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It¡¯s dark and tight. A red bunny crouches in a box, unable to move because of how stuffed the box was. There were other animals, white squirrels with black fur on their eyes, legs, and behind. All of them are waiting in silence while eating some nuts.
The bunny looks at the squirrels. It wants to eat them. It wants to kill them. Kill¡ kill¡ kill! How long has it been since it destroyed something? It hurts, it hurts, its body screams. It has already made some holes into the box, but it¡¯s about to break.
Maybe it could just break the box, kill the cabman, take over the carriage, drive it itself, until it- Ouch! Ouch, ouch, ouch! The order is hurting! It has to get to her destination as fast as possible, and sending itself as a parcel was the best option.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The bunny wants to change its form. It loves bunnies, but it was a scary oni! Yes, she would wreck the place and everything, so she can¡¯t take the form of her true self. She wants to destroy. She wants to hurt. It¡¯s unbearable how boring this method of travel is!
Suddenly, the carriage stops. Something opens the back of the carriage and the box the animals are in. The bunny looks up and sees its master, with the hat pushed back. The squirrels are looking with a blank face at the human, the bunny cowers, as it feels how agitated its master is. Will it be punished?
¡°Tell your subordinates to stay calm. I have work for you. If those squirrels want, they can participate, but otherwise, they can go ahead.¡±
The bunny jumps out of the box, and its red fur changes into tanned skin as she takes the form of a young girl, the form she takes on most around her master. Her dark twintails wave as she shakes the body that has been too still for too long. ¡°It¡¯s about Katakata?¡± Katakata is fun. She¡¯s a bit jumpy, but she knows how to mutilate. That¡¯s something the girl-oni can get behind. Actually, that¡¯s exactly why she likes her.
¡°Yes. Don¡¯t try to understand my orders, just execute them.¡± Her master was right, the oni knows at this point that she¡¯s too stupid to understand what her master is thinking, and frankly, she doesn¡¯t care either. She just has to obey and then she will soon wreck enough havoc to satisfy her wants and needs.
Because master is the best!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Wayside inns are common around trade routes, and often enough only a day apart on foot. While they were often in hamlets and villages between cities, we¡¯re in the Wildlands, which means that there are barely any small settlements unless there is a big city nearby. The problem is the amount of fertile land, and I guess the inns can only survive by having merchants passing by regularly.
It hurts a bit that we have to return to the trade route, but this was the best course of action I could think of in this case. What makes me feel uncomfortable about this inn is the amount of people around it¡ a lot of mounts, a lot of weapons, mercenaries?
One of them throws a fruit at me, I calmly evade it, but before it could hit Rine, she draws her sword, picks it up mid-air, and then returns it to the sender. The sound of rupturing fruit and the scream of disbelief, surprise, and anger is music to my ears. But why did that asshole throw something at me in the first place?
I look at the banner of the mercenaries and see a flame that is chopped by an axe¡ don¡¯t tell me¡
¡°PISS OFF, RED RANGER!¡±
¡°FUCK YOU!¡±
¡°DROP DEAD!¡±
This scorn, these insults, this hatred, all directed at me: It¡¯s school all over again.
¡°Phew¡ guess that¡¯s Flamebane¡¯s posse.¡±
¡°Shouldn¡¯t they be behind us?¡± Kyou-san asks dryly.
¡°Apparently not, though I have several ideas about what has happened.¡±
¡°¡we¡¯ll see.¡± She knows what I was thinking and that I could blame her for that. However, they haven¡¯t openly attacked us and the fact that we ran into them made it less likely that they were involved in the recent arrow attack, which¡ actually worries me more. If teaching them a lesson would solve the whole thing, I¡¯d be glad to do so.
¡°STOP IT, MAGGOTS!¡± Flamebane¡¯s voice echoes through their makeshift camp around the inn. Then the man himself appears, mustering me and the girls in a second. ¡°I apologize for the misconduct of my men.¡± He may apologize, but he¡¯s certainly not sorry.
An awkward pause comes, as Kyou-san and I exchange glances, following us looking at Rine, who lifts her hands defensively, then the three of us turn to Ara-san, who suddenly is reading a book. All of us understand: None of us wants to talk with this guy.
Even Flamebande notices this, he clears his throat in offense and then turns to me: ¡°You must be asking yourself why we¡¯re here, right?¡±
I pay him minimal attention, as I try to gently push Kyou-san towards him, hoping that it makes her take over the conversation. She looks at me, sighs and then openly takes two steps back to show how much she refuses. ¡°Phew¡ not really,¡± I answer in defeat.
¡°Would you mind looking at me, when you talk to me! Your disrespect is sickening me!¡±
Hey, if you want respect, earn it first. I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, when suddenly Kyou-san steps forwards again and says in a sweet voice: ¡°We¡¯re sorry, mister. We had a troubling day and are very exhausted. I apologize for being rude.¡± Finally someone takes over.
¡°The little sister, right?¡±
¡°Right. You may have noticed that my big brother is a man of few words, and those are seldom nice.¡± I like that description. Seriously. It sums up what other people have to expect from me. ¡°So while my brother has his times to shine, he¡¯s not the best person to talk to. I¡¯ve only heard about you, Flamebane-san, you¡¯re a great mercenary from what I heard?¡±
¡°He is?¡± Rine bursts out, maybe not sure how to categorize him. She also seems wary and shows her dislike of the man, one of the few times she actually harbors ill feelings towards someone. I guess, the story about how he treated Ara-san is affecting her impression a lot.
¡°You can call me Gunsar. And while I¡¯m confident about me and my troupe, I¡¯d see myself as experienced rather than great. Though our reputation has hit rock bottom in a single day.¡± He looks at me with a mixture of scorn and disbelief: ¡°Our squabble in Vwranen made people hate us, which cost us the contract, and while we got the termination fee, we basically can only try to outrun the bad rumors.¡± His forehead furrows in wonder. While I¡¯m sure that he wanted to tell us how we¡¯re to blame for his canceled deal, I guess Kyou-san¡¯s [Persuasion]-attribute made him talk more about the facts than he intended.
¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that,¡± says the single person responsible for their upcoming hardship which surely has no remorse over that, unless she has to suffer any backlash: ¡°The people around here love their rangers, and while my brother may be insufferable at times, he still earned this title.¡± By the way, she¡¯s responsible for having Flamebane trying to hire me as well, as she¡¯s the one who has spread the great deeds of the Red Ranger in the first place¡
Basically, Kyou-san is the one responsible for all of Flamebane¡¯s current suffering! Well, in addition to Flamebane being a jerk, that is.
¡°You may be right. He certainly seems like someone who can be insufferable.¡± Hey, she may call me that with me grudgingly agreeing to it, but you don¡¯t have the right, asshole.
¡°I hope that you don¡¯t have hard feelings about it,¡± Kyou-san quickly throws in before I can tell him off again.
¡°Well, there is still one thing.¡± He pauses a moment before turning to me. ¡°Apologize.¡±
¡°¡for what?¡±
¡°For hitting me. Also, for your disrespect.¡±
Anger wells up inside me. ¡°You-¡±
Interestingly enough, it¡¯s Rine who steps forward and stares Flamebane right into his eyes: ¡°You apologize first.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve heard from Kenta how you treated my friend. Apologize for your slander.¡±
Flamebane draws himself up to his full height, towering above Rine. ¡°You¡¯re his lover, right?¡±
¡°That¡¯s none of your concern. Apologize to Ara.¡± I can almost see sparks coming out from Rine¡¯s eyes, that would be the moment when fear would crawl upon me if I were in Flamebane¡¯s shoes.
The mercenary, however, doesn¡¯t budge. ¡°Then I guess nobody apologizes to anyone today. I¡¯m not bored enough to pick up another fight. Just stay out of my sight.¡±
¡°Rine-chan, Ken¡ let¡¯s go.¡± As the voice of reason this time around, Kyou-san nudges us towards the entrance of the inn. She¡¯s right. We just want to get some food and then move on.
¡it would make sense to ask Flamebane for some mounts, but then I had to apologize. I¡¯m sure now, that his band wasn¡¯t responsible for the arrows, so this would be the lesser evil¡
¡°¡phew¡¡± I turn around. ¡°¡¡± I open my mouth, and I force myself for every single sound: ¡°I¡¯m sorry for hitting you, and for my disrespect¡ senpai.¡± I feel dirty, I feel ashamed. Still, this is a small price to pay.
Flamebane¡¯s face is absolutely calm. ¡°You don¡¯t mean it. What are you after?¡±
¡°We want to buy mounts.¡±
¡°Eighty thousand each.¡±
For four, it would be 320,000 Newgold. More than what I paid for the decurse attempt so many months ago, which was already enough to buy a small house.
I¡¯m about to charge at Flamebane. I see myself hitting him over and over, then stealing the mounts while laughing scornfully. Kyou-san puts her hand on my arm, making sure to grab me if I really snap. Ara-san is still reading her book, but I see her ears moving slowly in every direction, most likely seeking who to take out first.
¡°You were right, Flamebane-san,¡± says Rine in a condemning tone: ¡°You may be experienced, but you¡¯re certainly not great.¡± ¡I didn¡¯t expect Rine to come up with such a genius insult. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside, everyone.¡±
She¡¯s right. Flamebane isn¡¯t important. We may cross paths again, if he sticks to his former plan and travels to Zethtrin, but he¡¯s just a little piece of shit, while we¡¯re facing a whole shitstorm made out of Feuerberg, demons, Correo, and the like. Wasting our time with him won¡¯t do us any good.
We just get enough food to get by for two weeks, turn around, and leave all of those unimportant nobodies in the dust. They boo at us, they throw things roughly in our direction, and leave no doubts about how unwelcomed we are.
¡°That went well,¡± says Ara-san lightheartedly, after we leave the place.
¡°What part of it?¡± I mean, I know she¡¯s an alfr and therefore has a totally different world-view and emotional life. If she means that we were the bigger people to not pick up a fight, I don¡¯t really feel that way. I feel like a loser, who couldn¡¯t open his mouth or ¡®solve¡¯ the problem, whatever it means. Maybe some senseless violence would have been better.
¡°I mean of course spoiling their provisions by putting some laxative into their crates.¡±
¡ ¡°When and how?¡±
¡°When you were talking and a combination of grass and [Spirit Magic]. Nobody was paying attention to me or their provisions. Did I do well?¡±
Kyou-san begins to laugh out loud, even I give a smirk. Rine cocks her head, most likely not entirely understanding what just happened.
Things like that may not help with our reputation or that of alfrkind, but small revenges like that makes it easier to digest the whole shit.
Now it dawns to Rine: ¡°Ara, did you poison them?¡±
¡°That¡¯s technically correct.¡±
¡°Why would you do something like that?¡±
¡°Because I didn¡¯t want them to get away with their insults without punishment. I care about you, after all.¡± That¡¯s one of the few things Ara-san has understood about her relationship between herself and the rest of us.
¡°I care about you as well, but I don¡¯t like these underhanded means?¡±
¡°So you would have resorted to senseless violence instead? I thought you were going out of your way to avoid it this time.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t want to fight them, but it would have been better.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°It¡¯s more honest, more direct.¡±
¡°Katarine-san, while I agree with it being honest and direct, I disagree with your underlying notion of it being remotely just. If you¡¯re physically superior to your opponent, it¡¯s nothing more than bullying the weak: Rather unfair and only one side has a chance. With my method, I give them a chance at least to discover that someone has messed with their food. This is more than they¡¯d have had if you decided to attack them and subjugate them with force.¡±
¡°Kyou, say something,¡± Rine asks for support.
¡°Rine-chan, it¡¯s fine. They acted like douchebags, they¡¯ll get to pay the bill. I agree that we should avoid doing this often, but doing bad things to bad guys isn¡¯t too bad, right?¡±
¡°You think so? What about you, Kenta?¡±
¡°Hey, I was on Ara-san¡¯s side all along.¡±
Ara-san puts her hand on my chest: ¡°That¡¯s because we¡¯re accomplices.¡±
¡°You mean, friends?¡±
¡°That as well.¡±
In a sense, Rine¡¯s the only one in our party that has the faintest thing close to a moral code, though it¡¯s absolutely colored in her self-centered world-view. Still, she has an idea about justice.
The rest of us don¡¯t. Ara-san is a slacker, Kyou-san is a manipulator, and I¡¯m a bit of an asshole. All of us accepted these parts of us that made us bad people, and we¡¯re going with it.
While Rine realized what a brat she was up to now, she still struggles with her morality, or rather: If what she thinks is right is actually right or just a result of her selfish desires.
I guess that part of her will eventually concede, as she will run out of excuses. Strange, I think I will feel a bit sad about it. ¡ ¡what the heck is that emotion? It feels like a throbbing pain in my heart, and it feels also heavy and cloudy¡
I don¡¯t know what it is and I don¡¯t think I like it.
Volume 08 - Chapter 3-4
Hm... Kenta once told me that he''s a bad person. This was when I was broken by Lvo, who showed me my real, selfish self. I have watched Kenta since then and I have put some thought into past actions, trying to unravel what is right and what I want to be right.
How Ara treated the mercenaries is one of the many times I find myself wondering what exactly is wrong... no, wrong isn''t the right word... maybe odd? In times like this, I like to ask Ara for the right word, but somehow she''s the source of the problem. Asking Kyou maybe? She always has great insight into situations.
Kyou is cooking dinner though, as we make our camp. Ara is away fetching water, while I unpack the chests with the ropes, wedges, and ground nails so that Kenta can build the tents. He has that skill that allows him to be much quicker at it, or rather: It''s like he instinctively knows the best way to arrange everything and each of his movements is fluent.
Two tents, one tarp that connects them and acts as a common room. One tent for Kyou and Kenta, one for me, while Ara sleeps by the fire whenever Kenta does nightwatch, as she can just rest everywhere.
Everything stands now and Kenta and I put the furs for our bedding ready. ¡°Rine-chan, would you help, please?¡± Kyou asks me while holding a crisp yellow gaspier. ¡°We need to eat them fast.¡±
¡°Sure.¡± I pick up a fruit knife and start peeling them. I''m getting better at it! ¡°...¡± I think for a second about how to start the conservation, but then come to the conclusion that I should just do it as always and say directly what is occupying me: ¡°I''m still feeling bad about Gunsar Flamebane.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Kyou-san has the wonderful ability to ask things dear to me without questioning it, if this description makes sense. It''s something about the way she asks that makes it so easy to delve into it.
¡°...it feels unresolved and more like we... how did mother called it... ah, escalated things.¡± Mother was always the one who has taught me about diplomacy and negotiations, and I start to regret skipping her classes to do some more sword-training.
¡°Escalate?¡±
¡°Mother told me, that you can either keep the tension, escalate it, or deescalate it. While all of them are valid sometimes, it''s important to know when to do what...¡±
¡°Hm... so you''re not hung up about what Arako did anymore?¡±
¡°I dislike it, but you made clear that I''m the only one who does. I''d rather put an end to it by a duel or such.¡±
¡°It sounds easy... one fight, then there is a pecking order, everything is clear. But would have that deescalated this? By the way, I like that word,¡± she adds while quickly removing the seeds of the gaspier.
¡°Hm... I don''t know. Somehow, Gunsar Flamebane felt like a...¡±
¡°Like a huge jerk?¡±
¡°Ha...hahaha...¡± I can''t help but laugh dryly at this description, that is everything I want to call him, even though it sounds very rude. ¡°He''s not a good person.¡±
¡°Should he?¡±
¡°Everyone should. He''s a mercenary, so someone who has power, and those who have power should use it for the good of people. For justice, against monsters.¡±
¡°We don''t do that either, right?¡±
¡°We helped people in the past! Like the alfar, when the demons attacked. Or... or against Lvo! Also, the Crusaders have misused their power as well, chasing Kenta for--- for... for... being a sinner...¡± I still feel very uncomfortable with that, I''m a bit afraid. Sinners are bad people, because they could have chosen to not break the Divine Laws, but Kenta was cursed, and I still feel happy about him being my husband... ¡°Kenta said that things aren''t either right and wrong... but I feel like it should be that way?¡±
¡°What way?¡±
¡°If there is something wrong, someone has to make it right. Maybe there are several kinds of wrong, some more urgent than others, but... Yes, we did wrong with Gunsar Flamebane. It was a mistake. It''s fine to make mistakes, I do them all the time. Even back at the bar.¡± I accidentally broke a man''s arm. He was so close to me, I suddenly had the feeling of danger. I grabbed the hand that was closing on to me and then I twisted it before I realized what I was doing, and went overboard.
¡°I have my own idea about that, Rine-chan, but I can''t prove it. If I''m right, you have nothing to feel guilty about.¡± The pile of peeled and deseeded gaspiers is already bigger than the bowl. ¡°We need to bake them now. Put them onto skewers.¡±
I do as she asks while pondering about what I just said. There may be three states, after all: Right, wrong, and mistake. You can make a mistake right by making amends or learning from it, but how can you make a wrong right?
I pierce another piece of gaspier on a skewer... force. That''s how all kingdoms work, right? If someone does wrong and doesn''t want to make amends or learn from it, then they send their forces. Soldiers, officers, militia, all other kinds of law enforcers. They have power, they can force people to submit...
Might makes right? Does it come down to it? I don''t want to believe it, but currently, most of my beliefs have been questioned and I don''t have the strength to defend my values as vehemently anymore.
Is kindness something you can only show after becoming strong enough? Is justice something that only the powerful decide?
...no. Founder Hagen said he wanted to live in a kingdom of justice, in which the needs of a simple farmer are as important as that of a lord. A nation where the nobles are the servants, in a sense. ...but Founder Hagen was incredibly strong. So even his justice could only be upheld by force?
...have I''ve been enforcing my will because I''m stronger than Kenta, Kyou, and Ara, and just called it justice?
Au.
I keep thinking in circles and before I know it, dinner has already ended and it''s time to do some magic training. Ara gives her best, always coming with new ideas about what to do. The problem is that it seems like I have little affinity for any element aside from fire and that''s an element she lacks affinity for herself.
¡°Today we¡¯ll try to make an attack spell. Release your magic from your palm, hit the heat in the air with it.¡±
I point my palm where Ara points to, make sure to use the magic that''s stored within my spleen, trying to imagine it moving through my hand. At this point I can make a small flame, but I wanted to shoot the flame like a dragon would spit fire. ¡°How can I make it shoot?¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°Put more magic into it.¡±
I do what she says, but only the size of the flame increases, not its heat or power. ¡°It''s not working.¡±
¡°Hm... maybe you need to create a path for the flame, using the minute disturbances the mana causes and make the fire jump from one to another.¡± Mana is the power of the planet that seeps out. When it touches people, it becomes magic, but it touches everything and creates small ripples. [Elemental Magic] uses this phenomenon for its spells.
¡°I have no idea how to start?¡±
¡°Then let''s go with the version that makes me go back some steps, as it may blow up in your face. Try to build up magic in your hand and push all of it out at once.¡±
¡°I will!¡± Yes, inside my hand is power. A powerful flame that needs to be tamed, a fire that can burn everything in its path. A flame that will enforce its will onto others. Heed to it or burn... my flame suddenly vanishes. ¡°...sorry...¡±
¡°...¡± Ara''s ears are waving a little, then her left one twitches once before it puts itself on her head. ¡°I''m sure that there is something going on with your emotions and I have no idea why. Do you want to share?¡±
¡°...no.¡± For starters, it''s somewhat Ara''s fault that I''m reconsidering my stance about justice and power in the first place. I also don''t feel like sharing my thoughts right now.
¡°Then I will look at how Momo is faring with her [Empower], while you can either take a break or try some [Arcana]-training yourself.¡±
Ara can teach me two things a wizard knows: [Arcana], the ability that alters magic itself, and [Elemental Magic]. While I make good progress with the latter, even with Ara often guessing how to proceed with fire magic, I hate the former. It''s just so boring!
I think it''s super useful, but it''s certainly not for me. It''s for smarter people like Ara and Kyou.
¡°I DID IT!¡± Speaking of her, she''s laughing and hugs Ara. ¡°You see! It''s there!¡±
¡°...would you mind keeping your blubber from my face?¡± Ara says while being squeezed into Kyou''s bosom.
¡°RINE-CHAN!¡± Kyou lets go of Ara and jumps into my arms. ¡°I''ve learned it! Now I can [Empower]! With this, I may be able to mend even broken arms! Would you mind breaking Ken''s for a trial?¡±
What? ¡°EY!¡± Comes from Kenta, who has somewhat glossy skin, most likely a result of being healed by Kyou over and over again for her practice.
¡°Just a joke,¡± Kyou chuckles. ¡°I only need to wait and it will happen soon enough.¡±
¡°...I hate how right that sounds. Phew... I guess I need to take a tank-class, after all.¡± Kenta often laments how we lack the so-called tank, someone who is able to attract enemies and take their hits easily, so that the rest can concentrate on killing important enemies.
I don''t really understand that, as evading hits is the better strategy in my opinion and that just killing every enemy one at the time is fast enough. I''m sure Kenta can get to this point if he trains enough.
Uh, somehow this seems to tie in with my own worries. Evade and kill what can harm you... is this all I''m good for?
I look at Kyou, who is excited about her accomplishment and even Kenta and Ara look like they''re happy for her... in their own way, at least.
I can use [Divine Magic] as well...
Is all I can do just make a swift entrance and kill everything? No, I can do more. I can heal. I...
If I become a [Wizard], then... why do I want to become a [Wizard] again? Because I wanted to be smarter, because I wanted to understand Kenta... wait, Kenta is smart... so has he deemed me as useless aside from my swordfighting?
...what is there to me... No, we''re friends! No, we''re cursed. He''s my husband! Because he has to...
...where have the colors gone? Why is everything so pale? I... what is wrong? Am I wrong?
I''m Princess Katarine von Stolzherz, crown-princess of Feuerberg... who has left her country.
I''m Rine, the wife of Katsuragi Kenta... whose marriage is based on a curse, based on a sin.
I''m part of the Lion''s Squad, a mercenary band that never worked as mercenaries. It''s a farce.
¡°Rine?¡± I hear Kenta''s voice close to me. Did he come to me? No, I was standing over there a moment ago, so... did I wander to him?
Oh, I''ve grabbed his sleeve. It''s crimson. It has color.
Kyou has her violet clothes, and her red scarf around her neck.
Ara''s dress is green.
Colors. I need to grab them. ¡°Whoah!¡± ¡°Rine-chan!?¡± ¡°...¡± I''m sorry, but I need that, I''m about to cry.
I know nothing, but I know that you''re the best. You''re my friends, maybe even more. I need you. Please, help me get through this difficult time.
I want to stay with you. Forever.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Alright, Meldorn,¡± Gottfried says after listening to the report of the huntsman. ¡°That Katsuragi-brat seems to be cautious. It may be unrealistic to ambush them and they won''t let themselves be lured into a trap. Seems like the best we can do is quickly catch up and deal with them.¡±
¡°You make it sound easy,¡± answers August von Rotfeld, a young man with a lot of potential, but little experience.
¡°It will be. Now that we have found them, the rest will become rather boring. The only thing we need to be aware of is Katsuragi''s mind-control, and for that we have that.¡± He points at the pontiff, or rather an item at his hip: A lantern. In the end, the pontiff was the best person to carry that special object.
¡°I could use my magic from afar, weakening them.¡±
¡°And take away the last shred of fun I may have?¡±
¡°Correct me if I''m wrong, but our mission is to retrieve the princess, to retrieve the hero Momokawa Kyou if possible, and maybe even capture the hero Katsuragi Kenta, right?¡±
¡°Right.¡±
¡°Therefore, your fun doesn''t matter Go-, Sir Gottfried, right?¡±
¡°You know, brat-magician, I''m getting old. I have retired, my back hurts every day, I''m out of breath after just two hours of running, my daily life is boring, and it''s been a while since I was really challenged. Then comes Heinrich and gives a bounty for my stupid disciple #1. How much?¡±
¡°500,000 Newgold. Double if unharmed.¡±
¡°Exactly, double unharmed. Means, that Heinrich actually thinks it''ll be that hard to bring her back to him unharmed.¡±
¡°Don''t tell me...¡±
¡°Leave Kati to me, and don''t do anything that may harm her. At least not with anything that will leave a mark. I think I should beat her up once or twice for good old times.¡±
¡°Beat her--- she''s the princess!¡±
¡°After you''ve pummeled several nobles of all ranks from different countries, titles stop being special.¡± This shows in how he even calls the king by his first name.
¡°Sir Gottfried,¡± Pontiff Reiner Kassus interrupts carefully: ¡°We should still talk it out first. Give them a chance to surrender.¡±
¡°What if one of us gets mind-controlled? This is an actual concern.¡±
¡°What is your plan, Sire? Striking them down from afar? Asking me to use that lantern?¡±
¡°Something along the line. Overwhelming them before they can even think of resisting.¡±
¡°It''d be wiser to not rush it. Especially in case the mind-control is used on you. None of us could stop you. Let me talk to them first. Give them a chance to peacefully surrender. They''re young.¡±
¡°Pontiff, you''re not a soldier, not even a fighter. You won''t be able to defend yourself or flee. I can''t allow you to do that.¡±
¡°...let me do it,¡± Meldorn offers. ¡°I can defend myself, I can retreat if necessary.¡±
¡°No. Too risky to have you do it.¡±
¡°What about me?¡± Rotfeld asks.
¡°You''re still a brat.¡±
¡°Me, a brat? What about them!? They''re what? Eighteen?¡±
¡°Kati is fifteen, the others around her age.¡±
¡°So way younger than me. I''ll do it.¡±
¡°Gifting them a wizard? No. None of you will go to them early. I guess, I can understand that you''re keen to fight though.¡± Gottfried caresses the hilt of his sword while saying it. ¡°I can separate them easily. Then we each pick an opponent and we''re done.¡±
The pontiff shows his disapproval: ¡°That''s not the point.¡±
¡°I know, none of you have ever been part of the military. That''s why I''m lenient about the insubordination this time. Yet I want to remind you, that none of you ever actually fought for real, save Meldorn. Don''t get cocky. We may not have the surprise, but we still can decide when to engage. Don''t risk yourselves for something stupid like being nice and formal. From what we know, Katsuragi Kenta will try to obtain you and is also willing to kill if necessary. My confidence comes from years of experience on different battle-fields, facing things I never believed possible before. It''s fine if you leave everything to me, though I would really appreciate it if you use the lantern, Pontiff. Heinrich gave it to us for a reason. Rotfeld, if you want to prove yourself on the battlefield, stay back, watch and seize a good opportunity, but always heed my orders. Do you understand that?¡±
¡°Yes...¡± Rotfeld says grudgingly. This is enough for Gottfried.
Meldorn, on the other hand...
Volume 08 - Chapter 4-1 - Stay back!
Chapter 4 ¨C Stay back!
I''m currently away from the girls on one of my scouting missions.
¡°Phew...¡± I look at the tracks that were left behind recently. Looks like monsters, some kind of canine, pack hunters if I look at the number. Though they are the first tracks of their kind I''ve found today, they are like all the others: Moving northwest. This is the direction we''re heading as well.
Are they running towards something? Or running away? Hard to discern, as they were moving at a pace that''s the equivalent of human¡¯s slow running.
OK, let''s remember some bad stuff: Correo had used monsters before to send towards us, so he''s the culprit, most likely. With his Seven-League Boots, he can walk past us easily. Actually, the boots make him so fast that he can walk vast distances easier than small ones, according to Ara-san and my own observations.
If we assume it''s him, he''s gathering monsters for a reason, and I believe the reason is to send them against us, either to wear us down or for some scheme. Can I do something about it? At best, we could return to the trade route, stick close to some mercenaries and... well, walk into the hands of some mercenaries on his payroll.
Seriously, the fact that our enemy has money may be one of the most frightening aspects of him. I mean, he has paid a big mercenary company before, so why not another? Wealth and gadgets, maybe the most overpowered combination of them all.
Stealth is still the best option. We''re a small group, these hills and small forests won''t restrict our movements, we just need to get to the woodlands and then Correo has nothing on us... I hope. I just guess that we have mercenaries behind us, we will have monsters in front of us, some danger on our flanks, but as long as we keep moving...
I return to the girls and report my findings and even my thoughts. ¡°What if it''s someone else?¡± Kyou-san asks her arms akimbo.
¡°Then I can''t predict anything anyway. Why do you doubt it¡¯s him?¡±
¡°It''s not that I doubt it, but how can I say... intuition?¡± Oh yeah, female intuition, the most accurate radar of the world... I''m being sarcastic. She returns my look with one as if I made her a bento consisting of a sole, whole bell pepper. ¡°Don''t look at me like that. There is something off and I can''t name it.¡±
¡°Phew... what about you?¡± I ask Rine and Ara-san in hope to get some more input.
Ara-san lowers her ears slightly, while stating dryly: ¡°I actually doubt that it''s Correo-san.¡±
¡°Why so?¡±
¡°Two reasons. First, he said he''d leave us alone for a while. I know that you won''t trust his words, but he''s human.¡± Ah, I see. Because humans are highly illogical in her eyes, she thinks it''s absolutely plausible that Correo will follow his words. ¡°The second reason is that there is nothing here. Correo had set up something similar before when we left Aroahenn and he failed, besides better apparent preparation with... them.¡± She''s talking about the squirrels.
To sum the whole story of the squirrels up: Ara-san had brokered a deal with squirrels that moved into her house. It seems that she was somehow traumatized by them and decided to let them have the kitchen. Then Rine killed some of the squirrels, which ended into some kind of blood-feud... at least from the squirrels'' standpoint, which means that the traumatized Ara-san is now in constant fear of the retribution that will befall her.
It may sound odd, but those squirrels are definitely strange and kinda dangerous.
After catching her breath again, Ara-san continues: ¡°I think Correo-san is smarter than doing the same things but worse.¡±
¡°That''s actually a good point.¡± I mean, we could only flee because of external help from another ranger, but it''s not like we will make the same mistakes again. So would he use the same tactics in similar circumstances? ¡°Rine?¡±
¡°Huh? Erm... sorry, I haven''t listened. What are we talking about again?¡±
¡°About whether Correo is involved or not.¡±
¡°Does it matter?¡± I hate to admit it, but she has a point. In the end, it won''t matter who or what we''re facing, the current objectives stay the same.
¡°Phew... let''s go. Also, Kyou-san?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Knowing what I mean, Kyou-san offers me her hand and I take it. WP-grind.
She and I lead while Ara-san and Rine are some steps behind us. After a while, they start a conversation about some hero-stories. As a native, Rine has for most stories her own version, which was passed down her culture or maybe even family.
¡°Ken,¡± Kyou-san says, most likely using this opportunity where at least Rine can''t follow two conversations to bicker at me. ¡°I thought that she''s better.¡±
¡°Better in what way?¡±
¡°Haven''t you noticed that she''s off again, more in thoughts?¡±
¡°I did, but it''s not like we can choose when she''s working on her own internal issues.¡±
¡°Don''t you believe that all of this is stressing her?¡±
¡°Sure, but she won''t burn out.¡±
¡°What makes you think that?¡±
¡°Hero-system. I mean, every normal person would lie around in a fetal position, trying their best to die, if they had lived through what I have since coming into this shitty world.¡± Being stabbed, being mauled, being punched around through the air, being crushed, being hunted, having my soul burned, by now I have a lot of things that most people would never need to suffer. I''m seriously worried sometimes that the moment I return home and cease being a hero, I''ll break down and suffer from PTSD or something.
¡°Good thing that you weren''t exactly normal to begin with, but yes, I think you have a point. But Rine-chan is different, right?¡±
¡°You mean, because she was made a hero by the curse, right? Also, the only reason I''m not ''normal'' is because everyone else is a two-faced moron.¡±
Of course, Kyou-san just ignores the last part: ¡°When we were called, there was some sort of god or goddess involved... what if that makes a huge difference? I mean, do you remember Lvo''tjos?¡±
¡°That''s... a good point.¡± Rine was unable to fight, while I may have had an episode, but was totally able to fight, even beyond my normal capacities. So maybe it''s the difference between an otherworldly hero and a native hero? ¡°But what exactly would make her crack? Ara-san''s payback alone wouldn''t be enough, we already did worse.¡± At least from my standpoint. ¡°...what happened in Racist City? Why did you get into a tavern brawl?¡± I actually never heard exactly what happened with Rine there.
¡°It has no relation.¡± Kyou-san''s absolutely convinced about this. ¡°It''s also hard to talk about.¡± She''s also really pissed and looks like a monster from a horror movie suddenly proclaimed it¡¯ll crash on her couch for a few days.
OK, what''s up with that!? I mean, Kyou-san has several very picturesque looks, but that one just makes me want to know what happened now more than ever. Though I imagine that probing would make her shut up really tight. So it seems to be smarter to calm down myself and try to convince her.
Too bad that I know how bad I''m with convincing people. ¡°Fess up.¡±
¡°Why do you need to know that?¡±
Good question, she says it has no relation, and I trust Kyou-san on that. ¡°I don''t know.¡± I scratch my head, trying to unravel these yarns of emotions. ¡°I guess curiosity?¡±
Kyou-san''s face first becomes suspecting, then she slowly softens up. ¡°When we got the message that you were imprisoned, Rine-chan wanted to make a rescue attempt. I calmed her down and talked her into a girl''s night out in a tavern. We had a drink, listened to the musician, then two men came towards us. It was obvious that they were hitting on us.¡± You rather sound proud, but I guess for Kyou-san it''s absolutely normal that guys are hitting on her. Well, she is a beauty, after all. Still, I don''t like it. ¡°Then one of them... I heard a bone breaking and one of the men had his arm broken, Rine-chan was still holding the wrist. She didn''t even know what she was doing until it was too late and she feels bad about it, but I know what happened: That man wanted to feel her up.¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
I blink, as I come back after being mentally overwhelmed for a moment. Kyou-san looks at me, maybe worrying? Or afraid? I guess, I''m looking pretty scary right now, as I just had the urge to return back to Racist City to commit murder.
This comes right out of nowhere, and I''m not sure if it''s me or the curse that gives me that indescribable mixture of hatred and rage.
Kyou-san starts shifting the conversation back to the actual topic. ¡°I wish I could bring her to talk to me, telling me what''s going on, but she blocks me off, always saying that she''s alright and needs time to think. Seeing her so much in thought makes me worried¡±
¡°At least we know that it barely affects her fighting capabilities, so I see no reason to interfere.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°That''s it? As long as she can fight, we leave her alone!? Is that all you think of her?¡±
¡°Heck, of course I have some more thoughts, but first we need to get through the current stuff and if I''m honest, I have little to no capacity to concentrate on anything else right now. Even now I''m still using [Pitch] in the hope that I can hear the next arrow in time before it hits me.¡± [Pitch] allows me to discern several overlapping sounds, which means I can still hear the wind rustling through the grass even though there are two conversations going on.
¡°Ken... the next time we see Correo, let''s kill him.¡±
¡°No kidding.¡± We both are sick of that merchant and what he can do. Heck, everything is because of Rine. If she had just decided to play along all these months ago, then we would have no curse and no trouble.
Whelp, we couldn''t force her back then, we couldn''t force her right now, and I somewhat lost my will to do so. While it may be because of how the curse messes with my mind, I don''t want to hand Rine to anyone.
¡°You look fierce,¡± Kyou-san comments, and I''m not sure how she means it. Her voice has some mixture of fear, admiration, observation, and resolution. ¡°Do you have a plan?¡±
¡°How could I? I just reaffirmed my priorities. It doesn''t matter if it''s Correo, bounty hunters, avengers, or whatever else may come after us. I''ll deal with them for good and all.¡±
¡°Fine with me.¡± Kyou-san lifts a hand to her mouth while letting out a soft giggle, I never heard that sound from her before. ¡°Now for another matter... what would you like for dinner?¡±
¡°¡hah?¡±
¡°Food. With the new rations, I thought about either sandwiches, as long as we have fresh vegetables, or we could make some salad and eat it with bread.¡±
¡°I know that you mean food, but why are you asking me!?¡±
¡°It''s not the first time I ask you, is it not?¡±
¡°No, but... heck, we have the whole situation around us and-¡±
¡°Ken, you''re tensing up again. We don''t know when they''ll strike and if we want to get to the woodlands, we need strength, right? Means, dinner. While I''m the one who keeps the nutritional value in mind, eating something you like is also good for you.¡±
Seriously, leave it to Kyou-san to totally derange a conversation and make it sound reasonable... well, Ara-san is also a master of this technique. ¡°Phew... sandwiches, I guess.¡± I don''t like salad, as it just feels like it¡¯s not a real meal. Somehow, putting it between two slices of bread makes it better, though I guess we will have some cheese in there as well which will promote the meal to something adequate.
¡°Great. We could also put some meat in there, we should use up what we can.¡± While we can store pots full of meat in our [Inventory], it doesn''t stop spoiling. While Kyou-san can conserve it to a certain degree, we can''t do so indefinitely.
Too bad that Ara-san''s [Freeze] spell doesn''t work well with meat or any other kind of meal. Also, putting something frozen into the [Inventory] will thaw over the course of a day, so using it as a refrigerator or a freezer isn''t really possible. We tried, but keeping the temperature requires much more work than it''s worth. So pickling, smoking, and salting it is, or whatever Kyou-san''s [Preservation]-skill tells her to do.
In terms of meat, we usually don''t carry that much around with us, as we get constant supply by hunting whatever animal or monster we come across that is edible. Though bleeding the meat out is always a hassle. Maybe there is a [Skill] to make it faster...
That''s a fantasy world for you: One moment you worry about how to escape unseen attackers, then you speak about sexual assault, then we worry about food. It''s the big things as much as the small things that make this world suck so much.
In addition to my own inner turmoil which I can''t understand at all.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
You gain 1 WP.
Having a nice conversation with your husband while holding his hand is sure to soothe and excite your heart at the same time.
I wouldn''t say ''excite'', though I know that my heart rate is a little quicker than usual. That''s just the effect of the curse, Ken''s almost non-hostile behavior towards me, and that he was kinda cool when he spoke about resolve and something, all of these working together. Men are just more attractive when they strike that certain balance of burden and resolve. Add the curse and how it makes me feel about Ken and I should be rather proud to keep a calm mind.
¡°Time for camp,¡± Arako exclaims. The curse messages are the best clock we have, so we usually make short breaks after a hand-holding session.
Ken lets go of my now sweaty hand, though the air moisture is surely another reason for that disgusting feeling. Coldness also creeps onto it, now that it''s empty.
I use [Weather Forecast]. ¡°No rain for today.¡± We''re going into winter and the rain becomes more sparse, though everything tends to be wet and moist these days, as there is too little sun and warmth to dry the ground. This also caused light mist often, like today.
¡°Phew... I wished it would rain more.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Rine-chan asks while helping setting up the stools from our [Inventory].
¡°Because it would mask our tracks. This is great weather for following someone, the moist ground leaves behind tracks more easily but you can still see far enough.¡±
¡°Oh, that seems right. You really know a lot, Kenta.¡± Come to think of it, Ken really became something of a survival-specialist. I mean, he was a gamer back in Japan, so I''m sure he started off with less knowledge in this particular area than I.
¡°Nah, just some stuff I was taught.¡±
¡°Who taught you?¡± I ask, strangely curious about it. Now that I think about it, it''s not that strange. After we were summoned into this world, Ken went off for two months and then returned as an expert about the wild and local monsters.
¡°Erm, didn''t I tell you already?¡± He scratches his head and after a second: ¡°Ah, I guess you''re the only one I didn''t tell.¡±
So he told Arako and Rine-chan? Before me? ...this makes sense. He has most likely told Arako his whole journey for her research and Rine-chan will have just asked him at a point, the same way she asked me several things out of nowhere. ¡°Then tell me,¡± I say in the most nonchalant voice I can muster.
¡°Nothing big. Right after I left the castle-¡±
¡°Left? More like, ran away?¡±
¡°Nah, I just left.¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t even write a note.¡±
¡°Was there anyone who cared?¡±
¡°...fair point. Continue.¡±
¡°Well, after I left the castle, I joined a group of hunters. I figured that I needed survival skills and wanted to attain the [Hunter]-class, though I got [Scout] instead.¡± Ken looks less displeased than usual, almost like he thinks of better times. ¡°They taught me how to handle a spear, how to sneak, how to find game, how to make a campfire...¡± Suddenly, his face hardens, ¡°and they made fun of me, being unable to do all that basic stuff... of course, nothing can beat alfar in that regard.¡±
¡°Ahem.¡± Arako, don''t be proud of that.
¡°After I got [Scout], I said my goodbyes and the rest is just a series of trial and error while power-leveling.¡± Ken''s regime of doing all day little less than finding and fighting monsters, looting their caves, and regaining his power with potions whenever necessary.
¡°You joined other people? With your distrust?¡±
¡°It''s not like I let them know that I''m a hero, and I needed to learn stuff. I wanted to survive on my own and ironically, I needed to learn to do that from others. I mean, why would I stay in the castle? At best, I''d be forced into some team that doesn''t want to have me anyways and are then pushed around by people, who may still not understand this shitty reality we''re in.¡±
¡°I can''t disagree with that. I mean, since I''m with you, I''m well aware how dangerous all of this is.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, Kyou, Kenta. We''re doing fine,¡± Rine-chan chimes in. ¡°You''re plenty strong enough for now and for everyone you can''t beat, I''ll do it. At least I can fight well.¡±
¡°We''re relying on you, Rine-chan.¡±
¡°Tehehe.¡± For a moment, I have the feeling that Rine-chan''s mind is drifting away again. ¡°Yes, everyone plays their part. I''m the one who fights best, Ara offers knowledge and magic, Kenta leads and helps us survive in the wilderness, and Kyou takes care of everyone.¡±
Ken gives me a glance. ''Have you any idea where that comes from?''
I answer with my eyes. ''No, but leave it to me.'' I''m sure it has something to do with what she had been working through. ¡°You can do more than just fight, Rine-chan. You mend our clothes, and even make coats. Ah, how about you make the rest of our winter outfits as well? We have enough fur and cloth, and it would make more sense for you to make it, not only to save money, but also to take into account your and Ken''s armor.¡± Arako and I wear highly durable alfr cloth, though we still have plenty of that from Aroahenn, so protective winter-clothes shouldn''t be an issue.
¡°Sure! I have some ideas for that.¡±
¡°Just make sure to include some frills for Ken.¡±
¡°Hey.¡±
¡°*giggle* No, Kenta needs to keep his current look. Maybe I should pad his hood? Let me think...¡± Rine-chan looks at Kenta from head to toe, then blushes a bit. ¡°I''m worried if it will downgrade your coolness.¡±
¡°Hah!?¡± Ken really just can''t take a compliment.
Time to mess with him a bit. ¡°I have to agree, clothes make the person. As long as you look aloof and don''t make one of your disgusted faces, you certainly can look cool.¡±
Instead of saying something, he looks in pure disbelief at Rine-chan and me, which certainly doesn''t give him that aura, but makes him look more his age. Very satisfying. Ken lets himself drop on his stool. ¡°Phew...¡±
¡°Rine-chan, let''s get the lap-sitting out of the way now.¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°Do you mind, Ken?¡±
¡°Do what you want.¡± He spreads his legs a bit further apart. Rine-chan and I sit down on one of his tights, though we make sure not to lean on him. Ah, that movement in his trousers. I''m sure he popped a boner, and thinks nobody has noticed.
Well, I am pretty, after all, same as Rine-chan. So it would be stranger if Ken had no reaction at all, and I may have accidentally sit closer to him than usual, so he may be aroused by my behind, which is also high-tier.
If we take the curse into account, everything is absolutely understandable and I will just take it as a compliment and don''t mention it. It will also help me mask the fact that I feel the urge to rub myself on him, as the curse also makes me feel certain emotions.
Rine-chan certainly feels the same way, as the way she sways has more to do to calm her calves than any balancing issues. Oh god, this sounds like we''re all just one step away from jumping at each other.
A cautious look at Arako tells me that she''s currently writing something. Maybe she''s writing down things she noticed after speaking with Rine-chan about legends and such. I don''t know much about her structure¡ªor any facet of her research at all¡ªbut I know that concerning legends and fables of this world, she asks mostly whether the people included are heroes or not.
Sometimes she even asks me about stories and fairy tales of my world, and while I have a rough knowledge about Japanese ones, I know maybe eight in total about western fairy tales... let''s see... Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, the Nutcracker, King Arthur (very roughly), Robin Hood, and something about Atlantis.
She suspects that maybe some of the native legends are actually fairy tales the heroes brought with them when they returned from this world. I suspect she wants to narrow down her research to actual hero stories.
¡°Kenta, what is your favorite color?¡± Rine-chan asks out of nowhere... wait, she was thinking about the winter garments, I think?
¡°I don''t have any... maybe black? Nah, just a convenient color. Favorite... well, in games I often use white and blue as the main colors for my characters. Though I won''t call it my favorite.¡±
¡°Oh, you can color your characters?¡± While I don''t think that Rine-chan really knows what Ken is talking about, she has amassed enough conversations to at least keep track of them by now.
¡°Sometimes. Depends on the game. I really wish there were more MMORPGs that let you choose a color scheme and just adjust the gear towards it.¡±
¡°So would you wear white and blue? Maybe I could try dying your armor.¡±
¡°Hell no! I don''t care what color my clothes have, as long as they''re functional.¡±
¡°OK, I like your crimson more anyway. It gives me the feeling of your fierce personality.¡±
¡°My what personality!?¡±
I can quickly put my hand over my mouth before starting laughing out loud. ''Fierce'' personality! Rine-chan may be the only one who would call Ken fierce and think of it as a compliment.
Though I also have to admit that I grew to like Ken''s current look. Even though nobody would think of crimson red as the color of a survivalist, he somehow learned how to wear it. It may also have to do with how red is my favorite color to see on a man.
Of course, Ken is looking at me angrily, as I couldn''t hide my amusement, but it''s fine. After a second to get myself under control again, I look at him with a sweet smile, which annoys him even more. Mission accomplished.
Rine-chan cocks her head for a second, then she pets Ken''s knee to tell him that everything is alright. He looks like he wants to grumble, but just accepts the gesture.
You gain 2 WP.
Sitting on the lap of your beloved husband with your sister-wife makes you more daring, teasing your husband a bit to get closer to him.
¡°Heh.¡± I don''t know what message Ken had, but it makes him smirk at me. How can some innocent fun just be misunderstood that much!
Rine-chan and I stand up, we should still have some minutes before we have to continue our journey. I sit down on my own stool and while I know that I should save my power, I want to do something and can''t relax.
I guess I¡¯ll continue with my knitting. I still have one sock to do, after all.
Suddenly, Ken jumps on his feet, Arako calmly puts her papers into her portfolio, while Rine-chan draws her sword just a second later. I look around, as it seems I''m the only one who doesn''t know what is going on.
Ken swings his spear and its blade only stops a few centimeters in front of a man, who doesn''t even flinch, as if he knew that Ken would stop his weapon.
The clothes of the man have the color of earth... in addition to several layers of dirt. A hunting bow inside a quiver which is at his waist, a simple spear in his hand. He turns around and puts two fingers above his heart and then waves them towards Rine-chan. That''s a formal greeting of Feuerberg! ¡°Your Highness,¡± then he repeats this towards me and Ara-san: ¡°Hero-dono. Alfr-dono.¡±
The tip of Ken''s spear begins to tremble, as he slowly lowers it. He''s pale, as if he has seen a ghost.
The stranger turns his gaze towards him and greets him without the gesture: ¡°Bob.¡±
...Bob!?
Volume 08 - Chapter 4-2
A piercing pain runs through my heart, it''s guilt. No, this is childish, I knew that I''d used him, that I lied to him, but hearing this name out of nowhere... ¡°Meldorn...¡± He appeared suddenly, not because I didn''t sense his spirit, but because I somehow didn''t mind.
¡°Good to see you''re well... I didn''t recognize you before.¡±
I look at his bow, his arrows... he uses the same kind as always... the same kind that shot me. ¡°Why are you here!¡±
He doesn''t answer me, instead he turns to Rine, who suddenly snaps out of her confusion, sheaths her sword, and returns that strange greeting. ¡°Well met, Huntsman.¡± Why does it sound more important than it should be!?
¡°Your Highness, I''m part of a convoy that is tasked with returning you to your father. I''m speaking on behalf of the group''s leader, Sir Gottfried.¡±
¡°Instructor is here!?¡± Wait, isn''t that the person that is supposedly a hundred times stronger than Rine!? ¡°I apologize for my uncouth behavior. So Sir Gottfried is leading the convoy. While I welcome his concerns, I will have to decline your escort.¡± Why is she speaking that overly polite!? I mean, she may be a princess and it makes sense on this occasion, but it''s absolutely unlike her!
¡°Sir Gottfried isn''t asking about your opinion on the matter, but rather if you surrender yourself voluntarily.¡± Hearing Meldorn talk politely is also out of character, but he seems much more rough than Rine. ...also, they will force us to fight if they need to...
¡°I would prefer to discuss this matter with my party, Huntsman. I welcome you to wait until we reach a conclusion.¡± She moves her open hand like an eight, most likely another thing of the highborn. Meldorn lowers his head for a second, then he turns around and walks a few meters... If his hearing is half as good as mine, he will hear every word we''ll speak. ¡°Kenta, we have a problem!¡±
No kidding. If what Rine told me is true, her instructor is on Luuto-level, so above what we could usually tackle. Maybe if we work all together, but... While I don''t want Meldorn to listen to our conversation, I also hesitate to talk to him. So I just try to do it indirectly: ¡°He''ll most likely hear every word we say, so mind what you share. Why is he staying so close anyway!?¡±
¡°First, ¡° Kyou-san interrupts: ¡°Why Bob!?¡±
¡°Could we talk about that bit later?¡±
¡°Kenta, the Huntsman is a messenger, so he will wait until he has a message to deliver,¡± Rine answers my original question. ¡°So what do we do!?¡± She''s panicking a bit.
¡°Do you want to return?¡±
¡°No! I like being with you.¡±
¡°We also have the curse to consider, so parting with you would be dangerous.¡±
¡°What about,¡± Ara-san begins to speak with reason: ¡°just surrendering to them and return to Feuerberg? Our objective is to lift the curse, and from what we heard before, Feuerberg has the means to do so.¡±
This sounds logical, though this would mean that our work the past few months would be for naught, which somewhat annoys me. Also, there is still the whole supposed kidnapping-thing. What about Correo? There are a thousand things that make me think of it as a risk I don''t want to take.
On the other hand... I exchange a glance with Kyou-san. ¡°You''re right. It makes most sense to give up.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± the black-haired girl supports. ¡°This might be the chance to lift the misunderstanding.¡±
¡°Huh!?¡± Rine looks baffled, Ara-san just moves her ears away from her head.
¡°Rine, trust me. This is the best way. Though we have to be careful,¡± I assure her. Next to me, Kyou-san''s eyes move slightly to the ground, I send my own answer.
¡°This might be a trap though,¡± Kyou-san adds, apparently deep in thought. ¡°We''ll meet up with your instructor here, so we can see him from afar and determine if this messenger is telling the truth.¡±
¡°Nah, let''s rather use the raising there,¡± I point at something that could be called a hill with a lot of optimism, that rises above the land some kilometers away. ¡°We can see further there.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± Kyou-san turns to Meldorn: ¡°Huntsman-san, we decided to wait on that hill, then we will negotiate the terms.¡±
Meldorn nods once before turning around and leaving. I take Rine''s hand and drag her behind me, while Kyou-san does the same with Ara-san.
Once I felt myself far away enough not to be overheard, I say: ¡°Make yourselves ready for our trackless-strategy.¡± Means, I''ll take Rine piggyback, Ara-san takes Kyou-san, then we use my [Trackless]-skill and Ara-san''s natural ability as an alfr to leave no tracks on vegetation to get away. ¡°I don''t know how they found us, but I guess we left enough tracks for Meldorn to puzzle things together. Add in the times we were stationary and they may have just caught up, so we should be able to lose them if we''re careful. Make sure to have some SP-pots on you to feed Ara-san with, Kyou-san.¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
Rine''s face is pure disbelief: ¡°So you lied!?¡±
¡°Of course. You don''t want to return, I see no reason to trust them, and while I won''t underestimate your instructor nor Meldorn, I''m confident in what we have to escape.¡± They won''t use lethal force, as long as they want to return us to Feuerberg, so I like my chances. Even if he has taught Rine, even if he''s as strong as Luuto, if worse comes to worst, we will somehow handle it. Other than Luuto, this Gottfried-guy is not a hero, so he lacks the abundance of stamina, the resilience that allows us heroes to push our bodies beyond usual limits if we set our mind on it, and the variety of [Skills] that makes heroes unpredictable.
It''s not a fight we need to do. We can avoid it. We also have bought some time, as we won''t even go to that hill in the first place.
I turn around and use [Farsight]. I can see Meldorn''s back that begins to blur away from the light mist. After I lost him, I say: ¡°Get on my back, Rine, and get some SP-pots ready. Course correction that way. We use the most direct way towards that greater forest. If we hustle, they won''t be able to keep up anyway. Especially if we go through this high grass.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
¡°I hate you!¡±, says Ara-san in an almost teary voice, which reminds me of a little child, as I not only make her carry Kyou-san for long distances, but she also realizes that I will use the least passable paths I can find to discourage the use of any mount, if they have any.
¡°Sorry, but not sorry.¡± I can''t help but to make it sound as nasty as possible. ¡°Rine, tell me everything you know about your mentor again.¡± She has made some remarks, and it made him sound like a monster, but on the other hand, she has been smacked by him since she''s a child, so of course her perception of him may differ from reality.
¡°First,¡± Kyou-san speaks up before Rine can, ¡°tell me: Why Bob!?¡± Why does she have to insist on ''that'' detail!?
¡°I approached strangers and everyone looked like a westerner. Hoping that there were no Asian-looking people in this world and that they will most likely think of me as just strange, I needed a local name, something that sounds westerner.¡±
¡°And you came up with Bob?¡±
¡°That''s the first and only name I could come up with at the moment! Just name three western names in three seconds!¡±
¡°Easy! ¡ ¡Brad... Tom...¡±
¡°Time''s up!¡±
¡°Alright, spontaneously coming up with a name is hard, I''ll give you that. However... Does Brad sound like a proper name to you, Rine-chan?¡±
¡°No, it sounds strange.¡±
¡°What about Bob?¡±
¡°Likewise.¡± Dammit!
¡°For me, every single of your names sounds odd,¡± Ara-san adds while trying to find a good position for Kyou-san on her back. ¡°Poor me, Kenta-kun does his best to break me.¡±
¡°Better I than them, right?¡± Meldorn is just a hunter, in the end. He will need his tracks, he can''t follow the scent, he can''t ask plants, he can''t look from above, he shouldn''t be able to see as far as me. Though I still don''t know why he is part of this group... maybe because of me? Did he figure out that Bob is Katsuragi Kenta before meeting me here?
Does he want to repay me for my lies? For how I exploited him and the other hunters? It''s not like I need to feel guilty, I''m doing whatever I can to return home. There is nothing- well, there are some things that can stop me, like back when I couldn''t return Rine to her father for the bounty. However, this doesn''t mean that I won¡¯t find other ways if necessary.
Yes, even though I appreciate what Meldorn has done for me, I will stick to it: It was the fastest way, so I had to do it.
I just hope that I don''t need to face that Gottfried-guy. While I''m sure that there are ways to defeat him, that he has plenty of reasons to hold back, if I can avoid him I will... If it doesn''t work, we''ll talk. Adults are always quick to accept any half-assed apology because they like peaceful solutions.
I mean, this is the one who trained Rine. I can''t imagine that there is a particularly bright mind behind it. Powerful and dangerous, but most likely as easy to trick, otherwise Rine would be much sharper just by hanging around that guy.
Well, time for a slow run. Having Rine on my back had three effects: First, I feel her softness through her armored parts, though my arms are holding her legs that are quite firm. Second, she''s about as tall as me, carrying her just seems super off, it''s like there is no comfortable position... I guess Ara-san has it worse, as Kyou-san is taller than her. Third, I think she''s kinda enjoying it!? I mean, the way she moves, how the tension is... is she thinking of me as a horse!?
Nevermind, I need to concentrate on what''s going on. ¡°Now back to topic: Your instructor. How strong is he?¡±
¡°I don''t know.¡±
¡°You don''t know? How?¡±
¡°How can I describe it... While we had some sparring, it''s not like we ever fought...¡±
¡°Can you beat him?¡±
¡°I never did before.¡±
¡°Anything about his feats? Can he use flying sword slashes? Cut through iron? Did he ever destroy an army on his own?¡±
¡°Yes, yes, and for the last one... I think? I mean, it happened long before I was born, so it''s just one of the many stories about him.¡±
¡°Like what?¡±
¡°Like when he swings his sword at full power, he creates storms.¡±
OK, this must be an exaggeration. I mean, Feuerberg summoned heroes to help them in the war, so if they had someone who could do that, wouldn''t it be easier to wreck their country by storms? It''s not like I underestimate him, he may very well be able to take everyone of us out, but this vagueness of Rine''s description... Yes, I¡¯ll just put him on the same level as Luuto in my mind for now. Dexterous, making everything look easy, able to cut you before you realize what he''s doing, impossibly strong. ¡°Other examples?¡±
¡°Yes, everyone knows the stories. Like how he decapitated an enemy''s general from five miles away. Or how he disrupted the Parlaar forces by walking by, as the monsters all left their hiding places to run away from him, and they decided that breaking through their army was still safer than the tiniest risk of meeting him. When he was young, he threw some rocks towards the sky, that''s why the moon has craters. He is one of the three major powers of Feuerberg, next to royalty and the church. Whenever he goes by a grocery shop, his presence causes all of the vegetables to cut themselves. When he needs juice, he takes a tree and presses it whole. When Hagen founded the kingdom, instructor came to him by cutting a path to the past and they drank beer together. When people dies, they see the Reaper, when the Reaper dies, he''ll see instructor.¡±
...OK, that seems just over-hyped.
¡°You''ve forgotten some, Katarine-san.¡± Why is Ara-san now acting like an expert!? ¡°Whenever he needs to calculate the decimal of a fraction, Gottfried says the numerator out loud while cutting before his face as many times as the denominator says, which transforms his words into the result.¡± After seeing at Rine''s blank face, she tries to explain. ¡°Let''s say Gottfried needs to calculate what the decimal of five-seventh is. Then he says five, while cutting the air seven times, and then it sounds like 0.714285-¡±
¡°Oh! I need to learn that!¡± Don''t take her seriously!
¡°Phew... did you just invent that?¡±
¡°Yes, but I''ve tried to learn as much about Gottfried as I could at some point, as some of his deeds sounded like he could be a hero.¡±
¡°For example?¡±
¡°You remember how Katarine-san mentioned that he can unleash storms? If we put it on a more basic level, it means he''s able to create wind-currents with his sword-fighting. This sounds much like a [Skill], it''s probably one as well, but I came to the conclusion that he''s just a capable non-hero that has been a big factor for many wars over the course of decades, and Katarine-san has confirmed my conclusion.¡± That''s kind of a relief, as it would be a huge pain if he was a secret hero.
So he''s basically Luuto with probably no skills outside of combat. Means, as long as we can avoid combat, everything should be fine.
There is something on my mind though: ¡°You called Meldorn Huntsman, Rine?¡± It''s just another way to say hunter, but I learned a long time ago that whenever a profession comes up, it may be more specific in this world than in mine. For example, the difference between a shaman, a druid, and a witch. Shamans are just people that use [Spirit Magic] and act as spiritual guides for people, druids are shamans with great education that dabble in divination and manipulating natural forces, and witches are shamans that also use dark magic for curses and such. Therefore there is the base-class [Shaman], and the class-ups [Druid] and [Witch].
¡°Yes, I was a child, when he received the title from father. That ceremony was boring.¡±
¡°What is a huntsman in your world?¡±
¡°It''s a title given to the best hunter in a kingdom. When there is a difficult to track monster that causes big trouble, it''s up to the huntsman to find and kill it.¡± That... makes me worry. Dammit, we should have attacked Meldorn and overwhelmed him... Why didn''t I think of it before? Can he follow us even without tracks?
If he can, there must be a trick. A [Skill], most likely. Non-heroes usually learn less than ten skills, according to Ara-san, so if we say Meldorn and Gottfried have around twenty, most of them in things they won''t even realize themselves, like [Stepping], [Camping], and such...
Don''t worry, me. We have faced Correo''s schemes, we have survived Luuto, we have escaped Hoshibashi and Yoshimura, we have beaten up Inoue and his posse, we should be able to handle this as well. Just one of the many things that oppose us and may stop us in our tracks for a moment, but then somehow will be solved.
The next time I see Meldorn, I''ll take him out for good. Maybe breaking his legs, so he can''t walk anymore and transporting him would be a slow process. Yes, then he can recover over the course of two months, and then we''re already in Zethtrin and have broken the curse.
Just please, don''t find us!
Volume 08 - Chapter 4-3
Meldorn looks at the sky, or as much as possible, given the mist. He has marked the princess and now knows the direction she¡¯s in, and a rough estimation of the distance. It doesn¡¯t seem like they intended to move to the meeting place at all.
The hunter already had a feeling about the hooded man, a hunch, and then he proves to be in fact the boy he came to know as Bob. The distance, the hood, the short hair, the muscles, all that masked his true identity from Meldorn enough to doubt it for a while.
The boy he taught turned out to be a hero. A ranger even now, which is quite an accomplishment. They even added an alfr to their party. It doesn¡¯t seem like there is any mind control in place, seeing how all of them act together.
Will that change anything?
Gottfried will be infuriated that Meldorn has decided to split from the group to offer those young adults a last chance to surrender, or to at least try to negotiate. Instead, they have decided to run.
This doesn¡¯t make Meldorn angry, it just disappoints him. They¡¯re still young, so they still have a lot of room to grow.
For a moment, he remembers Bo- Katsuragi Kenta, when he held a spear, for the first time¡ ¡°Why a spear? Isn¡¯t a bow better for hunting?¡±
¡°You¡¯re not ready yet. Learn from the basics.¡±
¡°Phew¡ alright.¡±
Has he understood by now?
Meldorn waves, as he sees the rest of his party, riding on their horses with Meldorn¡¯s in tow. Young Rotfeld sighs in relief, while the pontiff seems to be more wary, looking at the leader of the group cautiously.
Sir Gottfried¡¯s shoulders are slightly more tense than usual, his face like stone, which shows his discontent with the fact that Meldorn just left last night, when he was on watch even. ¡°You have ignored my orders,¡± the retired knight says coldly.
¡°Yes.¡± No need to deny it.
¡°This will have consequences, though I have some questions first: Have you accomplished anything you set your mind on?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Will you tell me what happened?¡±
Instead of answering it, Meldorn opens his arms, showing that there is nothing to hide, but also nothing to offer. In the hunter¡¯s mind, telling Sir Gottfried anything won¡¯t change their course of action.
The retired knight understands that, but asks the one question that might make a difference: ¡°Is the princess tricked, controlled, or just plain stupid?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t witness mind control. Katsuragi-dono asked for her opinions, came to a conclusion, and while he told me that he wants to meet, the princess is currently moving away at a much higher pace than before.¡±
¡°That¡¯s one of the many reasons why I didn¡¯t want anyone to meet up with them¡ Will they escape us?¡±
¡°Not with me here,¡± the hunter proclaims while mounting his horse. The princess is his quarry right now, and whenever he follows his quarry, he will capture it quickly. It¡¯s like he and those who follow him are able to move at higher speed and only Meldorn needs to endure more exhaustion than usual.
¡°Alright. For the strategy, I have something in mind. Youngster, Pontiff, you¡¯ll take down Katsuragi Kenta.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°OK, quick break,¡± I say after chucking another SP-potion. We made good time, crossed some small woods, went up a hillside, made the path as treacherous as possible while leaving next to no tracks.
Actually, I want to put even more space between me and Meldorn, but as I have explained before: Even heroes have their limits, and I need to keep in mind that Ara-san will hit them earlier than me. It seems like her alfr physiology depletes her stamina quicker. Or in her words: Humans are ridiculously enduring.
One of the reasons why I chose this place for the rest is that there are ruins. It seems like some kind of farmstead that was abandoned years ago. On the fields are still three erratic boulders, this is the main reason. While I¡¯d love to check the abandoned and half-destroyed buildings, I would need to use [Trackless] all the time to leave no clues, which would contradict the whole reason for a break.
The boulders, however, serve as a perfect spot to get off Kyou-san and Rine without them leaving obvious tracks. I doubt that Meldorn would check some abandoned fields to find a clue, as whatever grew there was long overtaken by other vegetation.
Though it makes me very concerned. ¡°Did you notice? There are no monsters around. They should thrive here, it¡¯s away from the roads, it is fertile enough that at some point people decided to make a farmstead here. There are even animals around here!¡± Mostly rodents and birds of prey, but I saw some wild bulls and cows with pig snouts here as well.
Kyou-san looks at me as if I called out for murder night like it was gaming night. ¡°You already said it before¡ so you suspect Correo is behind this?¡±
¡°Yeah, the timing would be perfect¡ yet it still makes no sense. The monsters before were heading northwest, on the other hand, we go more or less straight north. I could look around for tracks, but¡ No, no buts. I need to be sure.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t waste your time and energy,¡± Kyou-san says to me as a reminder, not to stop me.
¡°Yeah.¡± After a quick look with [Track], I could find a lot of highlighted monster tracks that tell me the same story. ¡°They¡¯re going westwards¡ is it some kind of beacon effect?¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Basically that Correo is calling the monsters to one place. Dammit, how can the timing be that perfect but the direction that off?¡±
¡°Kenta-kun,¡± Ara-san steps in while lying on a boulder and lifting her feet into the air, which is kinda arousing until I remember that it¡¯s wrong to think that, ¡°deal with the problems as they come. You¡¯re acting human again and worrying about the future, while you should be concerned about the present. Don¡¯t misunderstand, I agree with thinking about the future, but not with worrying about it.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
So basically, don¡¯t get riled up about things you have no control over. That¡¯s some solid advice, though I also know that Ara-san tends to be rather carefree. How can I say it¡ it¡¯s not the optimism Rine shows, but rather the attitude that she¡¯s too lazy to get worked up.
¡well, she¡¯s always true to herself, so I guess it¡¯s a good sign?
So what can I do ¡®now¡¯? Be careful, diligent, and just try my best to predict what¡¯s to come? So basically what I¡¯m doing the whole time, and just try to not get worked up that much? ¡°Phew¡¡± Yet we did everything that I could think of: Masking our tracks, increasing the pace, looking for a hard to traverse route, continuing towards the great forest that is our ultimate home advantage.
Yet we¡¯re facing Meldorn, who has taught me, and Gottfried, who¡¯s Rine¡¯s instructor. So I can¡¯t help but to be riled up, as I can¡¯t help but think of them as our superiors. Meldorn as the best hunter of Feuerberg, Gottfried as the best warrior¡ at least before his retirement.
I sit down on a boulder myself and rub my face with my hands. I may ignore the tiredness, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I don¡¯t experience it. I¡¯m feeling a tad worn, mostly mentally.
¡°Kenta,¡± Rine suddenly starts to speak: ¡°Do you want a massage?¡±
¡°No, thank you.¡± I guess she¡¯s trying to mimic what Kyou-san did before. ¡°Just let me close my eyes for some minutes.¡± I need to empty my head.
¡°Kenta. Thank you.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°For doing that for me. You too, Kyou and Ara. I know I¡¯m selfish, but I¡ I really appreciate what you¡¯re doing for me.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t get all worked up, Rine,¡± I say obviously annoyed: ¡°It¡¯s not all about you.¡± In fact, most of our current troubles are about her, but I can make my own decisions, thank you! ¡°I¡¯m doing it, because I want to and if you want to thank me, think about how to repay me, once we¡¯re done with all the shit raining on us. Your debts keep on increasing, after all.¡±
I can totally read Kyou-san¡¯s look: ¡®Seriously?¡¯
¡®Shut up!¡¯
¡°This won¡¯t bode well.¡± It¡¯s Ara-san, who speaks so softly that only I may be able to hear it. I¡¯m not sure whether she means my words or what we¡¯re trying here.
¡°I will do my best! Though I don¡¯t have much other than my sword and an arm to swing it right now. Ah, I could ask father to- ah, right. I can¡¯t ask him. That¡¯s troublesome¡¡±
¡°We¡¯re breaking the curse, then just make sure that you¡¯re ready to follow me when I storm the demon king¡¯s place. After some more leveling, that is.¡±
¡°Sure!¡±
In the end, everything is supposed to lead up to killing the demon king and returning home. I guess I¡¯d better get to Luuto¡¯s level of strength myself before attempting it¡ wouldn¡¯t that take a hundred years!?
¡°Phew¡¡± Let¡¯s push that thought back into the ¡®Way back later¡¯-file. I check the surroundings, the mist is almost the same, maybe a tad more obscuring, so using a bird with [Share Senses] wouldn¡¯t help much. ¡°Break¡¯s over, we¡¯re conti- Wait!¡± Something feels wrong¡ ¡°The ground!¡± I say that, as I jump from the boulder.
Ara-san leaps while dragging Kyou-san by her shoulders, and Rine follows, which marks exactly the moment the three boulders begin to float despite their weight.
Magic!
They¡¯re rotating and start to orbit around us, as if they were looking for a target. Then all of them shoot at me.
I should have known that.
I step back, as one boulder after another pierces the grass where I was standing a moment ago. One, two, three! Wait, they¡¯re still moving, dragging themselves out of the ground again. What a pain!
Rine cuts a boulder cleanly in half, which only changes the number of stones I need to keep track of: ¡°Kenta, it won¡¯t stop!¡±
I look around to find the caster of the spell. ¡°Kenta-kun, there!¡± Ara-san points at the mist, and while she can¡¯t see what is there, she can definitely hear.
I use [Pitch] to filter all sounds around me, and in that direction is something running. Two four-legged creatures. The native clawed horses?
With some more sidesteps, I evade the erratic boulders while announcing the strategy: ¡°Ara-san, use [Quagmire] to hinder them. Rine, team up with Ara-san and be ready to face them. Kyou-san give me a [Protect]!¡± I need to find that caster, it¡¯s unlikely that he can use such a spell without seeing the target.
Ara-san and Kyou-san cast their spells, and I feel the ward on my skin. It¡¯s Kyou-san¡¯s empowered version; by using her new [Arcana]-skill, she can increase the effect of the buff, which makes it much more useful. Before, it felt like being hit through a pillow, after experimenting with the empowered version, it¡¯s like bundling three or four of them. Much more SP-intensive, but absolutely worth it.
The boulders stop moving and suddenly: ¡°[Defog]!¡± A male voice says and everything around us becomes clear. There are two horses caught in Ara-san¡¯s [Quagmire], which is especially effective on earthy ground like here. One ridden by an old man in priest robes, with a thick gray and white mustache, as if he needed to compensate that sorry excuse of hair with that. By his side is a man maybe ten years older than me, who certainly fell into the [Quagmire]. He taps his staff on his shoulder: ¡°[Clean]!¡±, and the mud falls off as if it was never there in the first place. His brown hair had a reddish tone, and he reminds me of a wizard, so most likely the caster.
Just a bit more to the right is a single man, who walks elegantly and quietly, despite wearing a full plate. His broadsword is drawn and its tip is just a few millimeters above the ground. He has a helmet on, but it has an open visor and shows the face of an old man. An old man who doesn¡¯t give a fuck about what we¡¯ll do.
I thought that the moment I face Gottfried my legs would crumble or something like that, instead it¡¯s just slightly creepy.
Where is Meldorn? Maybe he won¡¯t interfere, as he¡¯s just the tracker? How did he find us, in the first place?
All these questions have to wait, as Gottfried walks directly towards Rine, and the princess jumps at him. ¡°Hello, Instructor Gottfried!¡± Then it¡¯s all just flashes. *Clank, clank, clank,clank,clank-clank-clank-clankclankclank-clanclanclaclaclaclclclccccc-clank-clank-clanclan-clank, clank* The sound of metal on metal in different pitches, lengths, and variety.
Rine¡¯s assault is quick and decisive, each blow would be the end of a monster, but every time, her sword gets blocked easily. She tries to use the momentum of her attack to make an overhead kick while her blade keeps him busy, but he takes a single step and leans his body back to evade it. I can hardly follow despite my enhanced eyesight as a [Ranger].
OK, that¡¯s still within expectations. Rine will keep him busy, we take out the rest and support her. Gottfried is still only defending, so I was right: He¡¯s holding back because he wants Rine to stay alive.
I take my bow, notch four arrows, and aim at the horses: ¡°[Quadruple Shot]!¡± We first need to make it, so that they won¡¯t be able to follow us anymore. I see another horse some meters away, most likely Gottfried¡¯s: ¡°[Seeker]!¡±
¡°[Heal]!¡± The priest touches the horse that tries to throw him off, as there are two arrows inside its flank. The healing doesn¡¯t help, he is thrown off and may break his neck!
¡°[Levitation]!¡± The wizard points his staff at the priest, who begins to float in place. ¡°[Gust]!¡± The wind carries the priest outside the [Quagmire].
¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± Too bad for you, wizard, that helping your comrades left you open. Ara-san uses the opportunity to send the wizard flying deeper into the mud, as she aimed from above by switching her class from [Acrobat] to [Druid] in midair. She deflects an arrow that is shot at her.
Where is it coming from? There! Maybe three hundred meters away (984 feet) is Meldorn, who is also next to a horse. He¡¯s using the ruins as cover.
¡°[Seeker]!¡± Again, I aim at the horse first and my arrow curves a bit to bypass the cover. This is one merciful death, three are still struggling. ¡°Kyou-san, onto the priest!¡±
¡°Erm¡ yes!¡± She draws her knife a bit slowly, maybe overwhelmed at what is happening around her.
Rine is still struggling to even land a hit, even though she dances around the old man like she always does, her sword so fast that I see more flashes than metal. ¡°Is that all, Stupid Disciple #1?¡± Gottfried asks at the border of bored and annoyed. So he¡¯s testing her? Well, as long as it keeps him from our backs for a little while longer¡
I shoot some more arrows to make sure to kill every single of their horses, while also keeping the wizard in line, who may have stupid ideas. Ara-san supports me in that regard, while Kyou-san approaches the priest.
¡°No you won¡¯t,¡± says Gottfried while kicking a small pebble into the air and then towards Kyou-san.
¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± Ara-san¡¯s reaction speed is impressive as always, as she shoots the pebble away while dodging another arrow.
As I thought, the priest is their healer, so they will protect him. ¡°Ara-san, Kyou-san, keep the pressure up!¡±
I still have some seconds of [Protect] left. If they think I¡¯ll attack the priest, then I¡¯ll instead take down their boss!
Volume 08 - Chapter 4-4
At this distance, keeping track of the arrows is easy enough. ¡°[Icicle Knives]!¡± I throw some of my ice shards at the old human, some at the new ones. Kenta-kun wants me to keep up the pressure and I have no idea what he meant, so I just keep on pressuring both.
I''m positive that the young human wants to chant a spell, maybe he''ll be able to turn around the whole situation with it, but currently he''s busy enough to evade the attacks while reaching dry land. It''s like an ant that can''t leave a sill because you keep on blocking its way with your hand.
¡°Damn you, elf!¡±
Alright, let''s stop playing with him. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± From the morass rises the grass that captures him. He struggles slightly, not knowing that it''s in the end only grass and he may just break it by putting some more force into it. Then I change into [Acrobat] and jump overhead above him for a second, only to bash him with my staff.
He cries out in pain, but it''s his own fault: He started it!
Meanwhile, the old human is running away from Momo while huffing and puffing. ¡°[Stamina]!¡± He uses [Divine Magic] to keep himself running. I guess I would do the same, if Momo runs at me with her big knife drawn?
Kenta-kun stares at Katarine-san and Gottfried-kun, obviously sizing up the perfect moment. He seems to have found it, as he suddenly leaps forward: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡±
Then something broken falls next to the two swordfighters.
Let''s recount the last moment. It happened at a speed that may be impossible to keep track of if you''re a sight-impaired species like humans.
Kenta-kun used a moment where Gottfried-kun stemmed himself against Katarine-san, as they locked blades. Katarine-san made another attempt at a punch and a kick at the same time, so Gottfried-kun moved according to Kenta-kun''s guess, as his [Speedthrust] has been aimed at that specific spot.
Gottfried-kun didn''t even look at Kenta, but he caught the tip with two fingers and guided it away from him. The hand let go of the tip and the arm elbowed Kenta-kun into his chest-piece, then the hand propelled upwards to backfist Kenta-kun''s face. The arm then stretched out and levered Kenta-kun behind, supported by a swift knee kick into his back, which was instantly met with an elbow from above. Then a hard hit with the open hand at Kenta-kun''s spear to make it fly away, then the same hand grabbed his arm, and then he was smashed in a wide arc to one side of the ground, then the other, then the first one again, and before Gottfried-kun could keep up these very painful looking moves, he let go of Kenta-kun¡ªwho was midair at that moment¡ªto block another attack of Katarine-san, who cried out in pain and anger and doubled her efforts to end her instructor''s life. ¡°KENTA!¡±
While the sight is as dreadful as amazing, it gets topped by Kenta-kun still moving after hitting the ground. ¡°U-a-ag-agh.¡± I nod in approval, as I''m confident that this is only possible because Momo cast an empowered [Protect] on him.
¡°KEN!¡± His life-saver however, can''t admire her handiwork and turns to Kenta-kun in panic: ¡°[Heal]!¡± Then comes another one. ¡°[HEAL]!¡± Crying out the name of a spell doesn''t make it more powerful. I can also see from her SP, that she empowered both of them, so Kenta-kun''s HP springs up quickly.
Momo drags Kenta-kun back on his feet, so it''s on me to take care of three-quarter of our opponents, which is highly unfair. The old, non-overpowered human is resting his hands on his knees while breathing heavily in and out, while the young human burns away the restraining grass with [Searing Beams], though he''s bleeding from his head and therefore it should be easy to give him the rest.
Why keeps that archer pestering me? The distance to him is too far for one of my quicker spells, and as long as I need to evade his attacks, I can''t chant a [Tidal Wave]. This isn''t the worst part, though, he has the nerve to make casual attacks instead of using any [Skills], which makes me wonder whether he is taking me seriously or not.
I think it''s rude, though it certainly helps buying time for his companions.
Oh, the young man starts waving his staff again and this time, boulders are following me. I can''t help but curve my ears a bit, as at least one of the opponents takes me for a fool, sadly it''s the ignorant duman that doesn''t even know how to properly call my species.
If he can break the rules of etiquette, then I can break the rules of common sense. Using my [Acrobat]-class to its fullest, I jump on one of the hovering boulders. Now, what do you think of that, duman?
Wait, these boulders are falling, so he has tricked me! The moment I made my move, he started to cast three other spells in quick succession: [Watershield], [Earthshield], and [Freeze]. Inside his small ball of frozen mud, I hear his voice chanting. This will become a big spell, and I lack the means to break through this fortress for the moment.
[Root Lances] would be perfect, but the roots around here are too weak to be useful. [Icicle Knives] and [Fountain Gun] aren''t capable of breaking walls and even if [Tidal Wave] could break that ball, I need time to chant it, which won''t be given to me, as I''m reminded again by another arrow I evade.
Then let''s not waste time on that and make a move against the weak old man, who lifts a lantern that I saw at his hip before. It''s the kind which can be darkened immediately due to a clap on one side. He aims it at Momo and Kenta-kun.
Being quite aware for a human, Kenta-kun roughly pushes Momo away, as the old man opens the clap. For a second, I see a dark light, with some light-yellow rays mixed into it, though they quickly turn into a dark orange.
This orange cone of light engulfs Kenta-kun for a moment, then the lantern goes out, and I see that the light-source is a black and yellow crystal. Kenta-kun loses his balance and falls, I''m not sure if it''s because of the light or because he lost Momo''s support.
...there is something strange going on. It''s at the border of my view, in the status. I look at it and immediately noticed what is wrong. Since I was cursed, there have been some small symbols added to my status, representing the statuses of Kenta-kun, Momo, and Katarine-san. Kenta-kun''s symbol is now blurred, what does this mean?
For starters, this means that the lamp has to be a relic and therefore I''m its rightful owner. It also means that I''m incapable of looking at Kenta-kun''s status, which is concerning, as it hints that at least a portion of the hero-system is currently malfunctioning.
Maybe this is the source of Kenta-kun''s grunts of anguish. Or maybe it''s because he was seriously hurt before and fell on one of his giant soon-to-be bruises.
¡°KEN! [HEAL]!¡± Momo sounds very concerned, while I share that feeling, there is no room for emotion now.
Katarine-san, who was fully immersed in her futile offense, finally noticed that something else happened to Kenta-kun. She glares at her instructor, who softly sighs as she screams at him. ¡°YOU! YOU!¡± Katarine-san''s speed increases, maybe she''s in a mental state that draws some of her unused hero-powers? However, Gottfried-kun seems to be as relaxed as before.
¡°I can read your blade,¡± the old man says as if he is reminding Katarine-san of something. An inside comment that only the two of them know.
¡°WHY DID YOU HAVE TO COME! LEAVE ME! I DON''T WANT TO GO HOOOOOOOOME!¡± Katarine-san becomes more and more lost in her emotions, which may be the cause of the increase of the intensity of her voice and attacks.
>
However, Gottfried-kun finally moves his second arm¡ªwhich was until now reserved to beat Kenta-kun into a pulp¡ªand slightly thrusts two fingers against Katarine-san''s forehead, which makes her lose her balance.
Of course that only means that she will use that backward momentum for an overhead jump kick, that would usually break the back of her opponent''s head, but this one never found its target, as Gottfried-kun made two quick side-steps. At least the princess still lands on her feet. ¡°You lost some of your edge. Playing with heroes made you weaker.¡±
¡°OH YEAH!¡± In this moment, I see a striking resemblance between Katarine-san and Kenta-kun. ¡°TAKE THAT! [CRESCENT MOON]!¡±
I''m sure that humans wouldn''t even notice, but Gottfried-kun''s eyes widened minutely. The flying sword slash hits him across the armor and he falls back on his ground, not moving... No, I hear a small tremble in his armor.
This is bad.
Maybe worse than what is about to come, as the young human ended his chant and now proclaims his spell: ¡°[Elemental Vortex]!¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
I heard of that spell, though I never saw it before. It''s supposed to be a very difficult spell that requires advanced knowledge of all four elements of [Elemental Magic] and it''s in a sense one of its pinnacles, while being its worst enemy at the same time.
As expected, the shield around the human is the first victim. It crumbles and begins to spin inside an invisible vortex, creating a maelstrom of water and earth. The young human has his hand lifted over his head, the spell is almost a whole kuooaf above him. It eats away the mud as well, searching for [Elemental Magic]-spells first.
[Elemental Vortex] devours air, fire, water, and earth first and then unleashes them with highly destructive force at the user''s will. The earth around him flies into the vortex, the boulders, even the heat in the air.
I hope that human knows what he''s doing. If he doesn''t, he will end up killing someone. In that case, I hope he has the decency to be that person. Though humans with decency may be a rare breed.
¡°Momo, Katarine-san, Kenta-kun, how about we take our leave?¡± I suggest while my friends are staring at the ever-growing spell. Yes, in terms of magic it''s quite some handiwork, but as I know by now, the human heroes of Feuerberg have dark hair and eyes, so that one is just a wizard or something like that. Impressive in its own right, sure, but not remotely interesting for me, as he''s no hero.
¡°No you won''t!¡± Yes, this human has no decency at all. The vortex begins to change its spin and a wave of earth, wind, heat, and water is directed at me.
¡°ARA!¡±
¡°Buargh!¡± The attack is redirected as the human lost his aim the moment the freed-up Katarine-san planted her foot into his side. This also caused the spell to misfire, which will be made into a taunt in a few seconds. The result, however, is a bit terrifying, as the wave eats its way through the hill, which is the best way to describe this process. Fusing and devouring the soil, the air, the heat, and the moisture, there is a broad line of chaotic destruction that will be seen from far away, and when these craters cool down, they will most likely crystallize.
However, there are more important things to do at this moment: ¡°Oh, you released early?¡± I have waited two seconds for that! ¡°To think that with all that vigor, you''re a quickshot, I''m very sorry. You can''t even aim properly... does that transfer to your sex skills as well?¡±
¡°Wait you-¡± *crack* ¡°aaaaaahhh!¡±
¡°Don''t use magic like that against my friends, meanie!¡± With the flat of her blade and a quick motion, the human''s arm goes into a very painful looking direction. ¡°Ara, Kyou, lend Kenta your shoulders! Go!¡± Katarine-san takes charge of our retreat.
I don''t mind that.
Gottfried-kun still trembles in his armor, and he''s breathing sharply in and out. I think this is a sign that he''s masturbating.
I help Kenta-kun up. He''s so heavy... Kenta-kun, Momo, Katarine-san, you may be my friends, but I have to insist that all of you go on a diet! My feeble body can''t take much more!
Though Kenta-kun surprises me, he weakly shoves me and Momo away, while murmuring something. He then begins to run on his own.
Nobody follows us for now. The old human is running towards the young one, after a short look at Gottfried-san, and there are no more arrows. Even without twisting the facts, this counts as a win.
We enter the mist once more, following Kenta-kun, who seems to have a plan. Or at least a direction, which is more than I have.
After half an hour of running, all of us aside from Katarine-san break down. ¡°...Kenta*hah*-k-¡± I want to complain, but I rather feel like reeling.
¡°[Stamina]! [Stamina]! [Stamina]! [Stamina]!¡± Momo uses one spell per person, starting with herself. She''s already back on her feet, as she''s a senselessly untiring human who hasn''t carried additional blubber for half the day and didn''t work as hard as me in the battle. ¡°Also, take a drink, Arako.¡±
¡°No---no...¡± No more SP-potions! I''m full! I''ll vomit them!
¡°Ken, what about you?¡±
¡¸...ha!?¡¹
¡°Something strange?¡±
¡¸M¨ichido?¡¹ What is that?
¡°I asked you, whether you want to drink something or not.¡±
He stares at her for a second, then he grabs his backpack. Maybe he came to the same conclusion as me. As there would be one explanation for this occurrence.
¡°Both of you, look at Kenta-kun''s status.¡±
¡°Ah!¡± It seems like Momo already had the same experience as me.
¡°It looks like stained glass, I can''t read it at all.¡±
¡°The old human had a lantern that he pointed at Kenta-kun. It seems like it disturbed his hero-system, in this case the language. He speaks... Japanese, was it? Momo can understand him, but we can''t.¡±
Kenta-kun has taken paper and a coal pen from the backpack and is mumbling words. Maybe he tries to write something in this world¡¯s language, but can''t, because his understanding of it doesn''t work properly. In the end, he sighs and writes something in the strange signs of his mother tongue, and gives it to Kyou-san.
¡°''I don''t understand a thing you say,''¡± she reads aloud: ¡°''Seems like I can only speak Japanese right now. Parts of my status doesn''t work either.''¡±
This may become an issue.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
August von Rotfeld looks at the arm that has been broken. The pain caused him to lose the spell, the spell that would have won the battle. However, he wasn''t able to react in time, the princess was suddenly right next to him. ¡°Thanks, Pontiff Kassus.¡±
The priest is out of breath, not only because of the fight, but also because of the toll the treatment of Rotfeld''s arm cost him. ¡°Just be careful with your magic, Wizard Rotfeld. I haven''t seen anything this destructive in a long time.¡±
¡°I apologize. This spell may be too dangerous for the field right now. Maybe with enough distance, but,¡± he may have killed someone of his own party with it, ¡°I better stick with control spells for now. I haven''t studied [Alteration] for amusement, after all,¡± he adds in a defeated tone. [Alteration]-spells change properties of objects and creatures. A simple [Paralyze], for example, can hold a person or monster against its will. It may be safer, though it''s a much more complex magic and therefore harder to apply.
Meldorn is going around the battlefield and checks whether his shot arrows are still usable or not. The first thing he said was: ¡°Leave him for a while,¡± pointing at Sir Gottfried, who seems to be fuming on the inside.
Suddenly, their leader yells: ¡°STUPID DISCIPLE!? MORE LIKE, HUGE MORON! I know that you have just two brain-cells, and that both are working against each other, but... YOU COULD HAVE BEEN GREAT! ARGH!¡± Then Sir Gottfried jumps on his feet, and finally sheaths his blade.
¡°Sir Gottfried,¡± asks Pontiff Kassus, ¡°are you wounded?¡±
¡°No, I deflected that attack with my chin. No harm done.¡±
¡°W-with your chin!?¡± Rotfeld has seen some of the things Sir Gottfried could do, feats of strengths that have to be borderline magic, but deflecting a flying sword slash, which is one of those pseudo-magic things, with ''his chin''!?
¡°Sir Gottfried,¡± Pontiff Kassus asks cautiously: ¡°You seem to be upset.¡±
¡°I am, but I''ve cooled my head enough. Still, what a shame.¡±
¡°I don''t understand?¡± Rotfeld neither, especially as Sir Gottfried speaks with a hint of melancholy in his voice. What makes him sad? Or rather, what is he mourning?
¡°Pontiff, you as a magic-user may not know it, but when you learn fighting, there are several rules to adhere to, one more important than most others. You may know a lot of the feats you''d call superhuman,¡± or rather monstrous, Rotfeld silently adds, ¡°and most of them are because of the so-called skills. It''s said that heroes were the first ones to use them, and then non-heroes copied them.¡±
¡°Yes, it seems like magic sometimes,¡± Rotfeld adds.
¡°Boy wizard, when did you learn your first spell?¡±
¡°The first proper spell? When I was eight years old.¡±
¡°Not too shabby. Yet there is a big difference between spells and skills. How do you learn a spell?¡±
¡°By learning its concept, imagining the steps, and practicing the process.¡±
¡°Yes, because you use magic, a power that ultimately comes from outside of your body. Skills, however, use the power of your body. A weakling will never use a skill, no matter how much they put effort into it and mimic every move. You have to drill it into your body and for that, you need a strong one.¡±
¡°Well, a strong body helps with magic as well!¡±
¡°It''s not a pissing contest about spells vs. skills. I may have never figured magic out, but it''s not like I disrespect magic. I just think that most wizards are boast swaggers.¡± Is that directed at Rotfeld? ¡°Like I said, the body is the central part for using a skill.¡±
¡°So what does it have to do with your anger? Is it because Princess Katarine used a skill against you, and you''re butt-hurt because she''s grown without your help?¡±
¡°Careful, boy. If Huge Moron had become stronger, I would have been more than happy. I was actually looking forward to it, only to-¡± He breathes in sharply, Rotfeld suspects he¡¯s fighting down whatever emotions he''s feeling.
Surprisingly, Meldorn speaks up: ¡°Using skills is very stressful. Only a fully grown body is supposed to use them, no matter how much talent is there. Otherwise, the stress will take its toll.¡±
¡°Its toll?¡±
¡°Don''t tell me,¡± Pontiff Kassus connects the dots, ¡°that a growing body using skills will be-¡±
¡°There are consequences...¡± Meldorn''s dry voice hurts in Rotfeld''s ears.
¡°Usually,¡± Sir Gottfried continues, looking at the mental pictures of his past, ¡°their bones grow warped, their organs begin to age much faster, and such. The worst part is, that even with [Divine Magic], it''s impossible to revert the damage done.¡±
¡°Why?¡± utters Rotfeld confused, turning to the pontiff: ¡°Isn''t [Divine Magic] supposed to heal everything but death?¡±
It''s the pontiff who gives the answer. ¡°Wizard Rotfeld... if it grows that way, it can''t be healed. It becomes natural to that body, otherwise every healing spell would rejuvenate the patient. [Divine Magic] was created by the gods, and they want to upkeep the natural order. We servants may be granted the power to protect from death, but only within boundaries.¡±
¡°So Princess Katarine will become deformed!? Is that so, Gottfried!¡±
¡°Sir Gottfried, brat!¡± Even in this situation he insists on the title he worked hard for: ¡°In some way, most likely. At the very least, she will never be able to draw upon her full potential. She had so much talent, but she had to copy those heroes!¡±
¡°Ah, heroes! All of Feuerberg''s heroes are still growing, so-¡±
¡°Heroes are different! Their bodies work entirely differently than ours. ...let''s get over it quickly. I wanted to test her out, see what she learned from her journeys, but now that will be a waste of time.¡± He''s severely disappointed. ¡°You struck the boy with the lantern, right?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Then they won''t come far.¡± Rotfeld knows little about the relic, just that it weakens human heroes and should never be used against heroes of other species, as its effect on them is unpredictable.
¡°Let me take care of the elf,¡± the young wizard demands. ¡°My head still hurts because of her, and we can''t let it look like she bested me.¡±
¡°Fine. What is it, Meldorn?¡±
¡°...I''ll take down Katsuragi Kenta.¡±
¡°Sure, I don''t care about him. So that leaves Momokawa Kyou to the Pontiff.¡±
¡°Honestly, don''t drag me into another fight. I''m a peaceful man, and too old for that!¡±
¡°Oh well. Our goal is to bring Huge Moron and Momokawa Kyou back. Huge Moron unharmed, Momokawa Kyou if possible. The rest, whatever. If there were any mind-controlling tricks they could have pulled off, they would have tried that just now. So either it''s just an exaggerated rumor, because nobody¡ªat least those who never met Huge Moron personally¡ªcan believe that she would join them of her own accord, or their trick has too many conditions to be useful in combat.¡±
Rotfeld looks at Sir Gottfried, who is now looking at the mist-laden sky. He looks like a man who looked for the greatest pleasure, was thwarted and now just does his best with the cards he''s given.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Finally, Correo can relax a bit. He heeded the oracle''s advice, did everything he could think of, and now everything is in place. The die has been cast.
Volume 08 - Chapter 5-1 - Get away!
I''m listening to Ken''s explanation.¡¸They had their mounts, after all, which would make them take another route, instead of blindly following us. I think Meldorn has put something like a tracker on us.¡¹
¡°Ken suspects that Meldorn has a way to know where we are.¡± While I should repeat word for word, I try to shorten it up, as it feels stupid to just parrot whatever I hear.
¡°So we can''t escape?¡± Rine-chan asks, half-determined.
¡°In the long run, no. We have run so far, though, that they will have problems catching up. What do you think, Ken?¡±
¡¸Hah!?¡¹
¡°Sorry. Wh-at_doooo_youuuuuu_thiii-nnnn-k?¡±
¡¸I still don''t understand.¡¹
¡°Mou,¡± I write it down and show it to him. For him to have a chance to understand my words, I have to speak one syllable of the sentence at a time and only concentrate on that syllable while blending out the sentence and word as much as possible, which creates awful long pauses.
¡¸If we want to escape, we need to find the road as fast as possible and get to the next town, fetch some mounts, and just outrun them while we''re ahead. Maybe the tracker is distance-dependent. If we want to confront them, we should head towards the forest though that spell they threw may level it, given enough time.¡¹
¡°Erm...¡± I try to summarize it. ¡°The question is, whether we head to the town to get horses and ride away, hoping that their tracking spell or skill will lose us, or whether we confront them in the great forest we were heading to. Personally, I think running away is the best choice.¡±
Rine-chan puts her hand on her sword. ¡°I heard that the Huntsman once followed a years-old track, so he won''t lose us. I say we should fight!¡±
¡°I can see the logic in that,¡± Arako adds, though her voice isn''t as supportive as her words. ¡°The question is, how can we fight them? The wizard seems to be capable, but he needs time to prepare and a less frail arm. The priest seems to be unfit for combat. The Huntsman avoided getting close, so I assume that he doesn''t want to get into close-quarters with a hero. Gottfried-kun is too much for us, at least when he''s at his peak. So we need ways to tire him out and to trick him, circumvent him. He''s a native, overwhelming in fighting, but that only means we have to defeat him otherwise.¡±
¡°Sounds solid.¡±
¡¸What did she say?¡¹ Ah, this is super-annoying!
I show Ken my status-screen, there is an option to make it visible to others. This shows him that I want to check his, as I can''t do it via the WP-system right now. He has a particular condition, which has overwritten his usual screens:
[Suppressed Heroism]
Your hero-system is suffering from several malfunctions and is currently fixing them. Please refrain of dangerous actions until the issues are solved, as the full amount of damage is still to be determined.
Known issues:
? Recovery of HP, SP, and MP by items, spells and natural means is lower than it should be
? Using language activation for [Skills] doesn''t work
? [Class-Change] doesn''t work
? Several menus are corrupted and unable to be called upon
? Your [Inventory] is currently closed
Estimated time until recovery: 3 hours, 12 minutes, 6 seconds
The recovery of his SP is apparent, as he breathes heavily even after resting for a bit. I''m sure though, that he will just stubbornly insist on getting another hour of running done.
I write him a message. ''We will keep going to the forest. We may not be able to flee them, after all.''
¡¸It''s simple... we need to take out Meldorn. Without him, they won''t be able to follow us at all. Break his legs. He was just too far away to shoot at him, and the horse was more important. Yes, the forest is good. I will have recovered by then and the moment we are in the forest, I''ll sneak up behind him and take him out!¡¹
¡°Are you sure you want to do that, Ken? Isn''t he your mentor?¡±
¡¸Japanese, please!¡¹
¡°ARGH!¡± This is grating on my nerves!
¡°What did he say, Kyou?¡± Rine-chan, let me have my outrages in peace! I''m sick of being the translator! Seriously!
After ranting and then sharing some thoughts, we decided to hustle a bit again. It will take another day to get to the forest at this pace, but it''s the best plan we have and we only need to take out one person for it to function.
I''m still concerned. I know that Ken is willing to do whatever needs to be done, but there are several doubts I have. Is Ken physically capable of overwhelming Meldorn, or are his injuries so severe that even when his hero-system fully reactivates he will need to have a break? How far can we travel at this pace before the dreaded [Worn out]-condition kicks in? We did more before, but this time, Arako and Ken burdened themselves especially with carrying us over great distances. Also, is Ken maybe planning to even kill Meldorn, his own mentor? He would certainly be crazy enough for that, just lying about the disabling to make us worry less.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
¡¸Hhhh-haaaa--- What are you looking at!?¡¹
¡°[Stamina]!¡±
¡¸...meh.¡¹ He''s clearly irritated, and this makes me think that he''s about to do something stupid. He''s also short on breath. How long have we walked without a break? The terrain may not have changed¡ªstill hills, high grass, some boulders, bushes, and trees¡ªbut it must have been at least two hours, maybe even close to a third? I can only take the sun for a hint, and while I may ask Ken to show me his status again, it''s obvious that walking is already painful for him.
Even though he''s stuck in his [Pikeman]-class and therefore should have more [Vitality], which may or not play into his endurance. I may need to check my manual for that...
¡¸...u-ahu.¡¹ With a very painful sounding breath, Ken holds his chest. ¡¸Uh.¡¹
¡°What''s wrong!¡± I basically run the two steps to him, already using [Check-up]. This shows me the medical condition of a patient, in this case it''s the best thing I can do without reading his status.
¡¸...pain. I...¡¹ His eyes look glassy, then he falls over.
¡°Kenta!¡± Rine-chan catches him before he hits his head, which I''m very thankful for. ¡°Kyou, what to do!?¡±
¡°Lay him down. He''s suffocating, but I can''t determine why yet.¡± I see a window that shows me what is wrong with him. It lists his bruises, his external wounds, his malnutrition... wait, malnutrition? Also, he''s suffering from intoxication? It''s a type of blood poisoning, which spreads towards his organs. ¡°Something is wrong with his blood.¡±
¡°As long as Gottfried-san doesn''t know skills that somehow turns his unarmed attacks into toxic weapons, it has to be the relic,¡± says Arako eerily quiet and calm.
I use [Medication] and [Detoxification], two [Skills] I seldom use, to determine what the best course of action might be. The answer is: ¡°We need to provide him with more oxygen!¡±
¡°Oxygen?¡±
¡¸----h---h---¡¹ Ken''s whole body cramps up, pain and terror flashes his face, he''s suffocating right before our eyes!
¡°KENTA! STAY WITH US! WHAT''S OXYGEN!? WHERE IS IT!¡±
I... I don''t have any oxygen-tanks or flasks. Ken... Ken will die! No... no, no, no! ¡°Ken! Breathe! Breathe, Ken!¡± I try to massage under his chest, where his diaphragm should be, which is already cramping up badly. His lips are turning blue.
Suddenly, I''m pushed away. ¡°Let me handle this.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Far away in Feuerberg lies the village of Funkenpflug. In this village resides the research facility of the heroes of Feuerberg that decided to not participate directly in the war against the demons, the so-called non-combat group, or research group.
Saegusa Mamiko is the former homeroom teacher of the highschool students that were summoned to be heroes and something like the head of the research group, which has suffered greatly in numbers.
After the arrival of Harada-kun and the others, things have changed. There used to be eight students in the research group, four of them have left, while three of the remaining ones are silently considering whether to join Harada-kun and his party of zealous fanatics or to stay in Funkenpflug, where the research is rather slow and nothing like what they hoped it would be, which is understandable, as things even as simple as a battery made out of iron, copper, and dead frog, basically something like a voltaic pile, won''t work at all. The last one, however, made a career as a chef in this country.
Using modern science in a fantasy world may appear like a good idea, but Saegusa has grown smarter. Not only by the level-ups in her occasional hunting group, but also because she had a realization. She started to perform the most basic experiments to discern whether her hypothesis is right or not.
Matsuzawa Hideko-san, her only remaining assistant, holds a paper and a pen for the protocol. She draws the specially made flask with the iron powder inside. The flask has a second opening at the upper side, which is connected to a tube that rises slightly and has a funnel-like end.
Saegusa puts a bigger flask upside down on a stand, so that it''s directly over the first opening. Then she takes a final flask, one with hydrochlorid, and pours its content into the funnel-like end of the tube.
This is an easy way to create hydrogen. A base metal with hydrochlorid will create a reduction, which will cause the separation of the hydrogen from the hydrochlorid, which will rise and fill the upside down flask.
Too bad that she couldn''t get zinc that easily. However, iron is good enough in this case.
The bubbles are forming as the acid meets the metal, and Saegusa hopes that this part works as intended, as she really wants that hydrogen.
After the bubbles recede, she takes a pair of pliers. ¡°Hideko-san?¡± Her assistant takes a match and ignites it, then Saegusa takes the burning match with the pliers and puts it into the upside down flask...
Almost no sound, but it''s not a test tube, so maybe its body of sound doesn''t work the same. There were some small flames though. Saegusa quickly plugs the opening and then waits. Burning hydrogen should create water.
After several minutes of cooling down, there is a liquid inside. ¡°I dictate: The liquid that has formed is clear with a slightly blue-to-violet tint. It''s inviscid and when moving, it leaves small drops that cling to the wall of the flask.¡± She opens the flask again and proceeds with the odor test before closing it again: ¡°It has an acrid smell. In conclusion, it''s possible that inside the water is another component. Next, we will vaporize that liquid to see whether it leaves any remains or not.¡±
¡°So impurities in the metal, the acid, or the flask again,¡± concludes Hideko-san with the knowledge of chemistry that she has accumulated in middle school and high school.
¡°Possibly, though like with the failed experiment of iron wool combustion in mind, I have another source for the impurities in mind. The air.¡±
¡°The air?¡±
¡°Yes. I had this suspicion for a while, now with twenty basic experiments as a reference, I dare to say that it''s almost certain, and I believe it without a doubt. I made the mistake before to take usual environmental conditions into account, instead of questioning it. In our world, the air is composed of roughly 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases, including carbon dioxide and argon, though the accurate numbers vary by study. This may not be the case here.¡±
¡°So the composition is different?¡±
¡°This for once, and there is even the possibility that there are gases in the air we don''t even know of in our world. I suspect that with every combustion, at least one other gas also reacts, hence why the ferrous oxide we tried to synthesize didn''t look or react like one, as in fact, it was another compound.¡± This news, however, doesn''t excite Saegusa.
And neither Hideko-san: ¡°Oh great! So everything we know about science is wrong!¡±
¡°No. We just need to be actual researchers, instead of relying on our knowledge. And for that, we need to learn what we can about this world and its... let''s call it pseudo-science.¡± Which would mean that Saegusa actually has to learn alchemy, and learning this hoax science isn''t really something she''s looking forward to. ¡°Hideko-san, let''s conduct some more experiments to be 100% sure about this pet theory of mine. Then... then something might change.¡± They''ve been stuck for a while in their so-called research and Saegusa still remembers vividly the letters of the chancellor, who is expecting results. Maybe it will give them time and more resources, if she can prove to him that, while her scientific knowledge has much less value than anticipated, the scientific way and the methods she has learned will be valuable.
However, the student is trembling a bit, pale by a thought that crossed her mind: ¡°So we''re breathing air that has unknown and possibly toxic gas in it!?¡±
¡°It shouldn''t be dangerous. We did it for months with no detriment.¡± Saegusa doesn''t even waste a second on that thought, as she''s filled with determination and focused on the next task. She''s finally at the starting line!
Volume 08 - Chapter 5-2
I can''t see anymore. It''s black, but somehow not. It''s like big black pixels have started to overcome my sight, and it feels like my whole sense of self has retreated into my head. My head feels lukewarm, it''s like I''m floating deep inside the earth stuck by stalagmites, if it makes sense.
Then I feel life pouring into my mouth. Greedily, I take a deep breath in. Something moves, the only thing that exists besides me in this place, maybe it struggles, but I grab- hey, I have an arm! Whatever it is, it feels good, it feels right, it feels necessary!
Moist. Hey, that''s something else I can feel! Thoughts start creeping back into my head, as I feel my sense of self spreading slowly from my head back to my limbs, then flowing back, occupying my body evenly.
I slowly open my eyes... I can''t see a thing, something hairy is in the way. No, it''s too smooth to be hair. It seems to be bright, though having so much in my eyes is making it hard to figure out its actual color...
No, this definitely is a head in my hands, including very smooth hair, there is also something like teeth on my l-
WHY THE FUCK DO I HAVE ARA-SAN AS A BREATHING MACHINE! It''s not even mouth-to-mouth respiration, it''s me clinging to her like she''s a tool that supports me with air, while she struggles as I hold her head with all my might, as little as it may currently be!
I slowly let go of her head and try to get her hair out of my face. She stays as she is, her mouth on mine. I hear her taking deep breaths via her nose, and she pumps her air into my body, but that air tastes great! Or at least, it feels right.
Also, stop making these erotic voices! Seriously, it sounds like you have an orgasm, and your ears are trembling, and it¡¯s giving me a boner right now! Also, are you eating my lips now so that I let you go!?
Dammit, I want to- No! Keep cal- but between her noises and lip movements, this feels more and more like a kiss... that also includes pumping air into me, which makes me breathe out my nose... what is this insane situation!?
Suddenly, a window pops up, while I also see a change at the symbols at the borders of my sight. The window says:
You gain 20 WP.
Love conquers it all! Your wife knows how to combine the necessary with the romantic, not only giving you the breath of life, but also giving you a hot kiss!
With a smacking sound, Ara-san separates herself from me, rubbing her lips with a finger: ¡°What is this! Is human spit a drug!? Is that why you do something unsanitary like kissing!? Why are my lips that sensitive? Also, I''m horny like a human, and I believe my bodily fluids are running down my thighs!¡±
¡°Too much info, Arako,¡± says Kyou-san, annoyed, yet she looks pale. Wait, I can understand them again!
¡°Kenta, are you alright?¡± Rine bows over me, her whole face trembling.
¡°I guess?¡± I check my status, the [Suppressed Heroism]-condition has been lifted. ¡°I feel better.¡±
Suddenly, I''m inside a vise. Or at least it feels like it, as a crying Rine embraces me: ¡°WAAAAAAHAAAAA! KENTAAAAAAAAA! YOU''RE ALLIIIVEEE! UHH,UHHH,UHHHHHH!¡± Stop! You''re killing me! I need air!
You gain 1 WP.
A heartfelt hug conveys the feeling of your wife to you, filling you with joy as you know how important you''re to her and how much she thinks of you!
She doesn''t think at all, or she wouldn''t suffocate me!
Kyou-san, help! ¡°Oh---sorry.¡± Kyou-san lost her balance and fell on her butt. ¡°My legs...¡± She seems out of breath herself.
Ara-san! Wait, are you feeling yourself up!?
¡°KEEENTA! KEEEENTAAAA! Uh, you can''t- you can''t do something like that!¡± Finally, Rine''s grip softens and now she falls to my chest, her hands weakly on my shoulders. ¡°You can''t!¡± She cries.
I try to recollect what exactly happened, as all of them¡ªwell, Kyou-san and Rine at least¡ªare acting like I was a goner.
...wait, I think I suddenly lost consciousness. Or rather, it was like I was still somehow there, but just unable to do anything, not even see or hear. Before that, I had great pain in my chest for a while, which I ignored, until I couldn''t. ¡°Do you know what happened?¡±
¡°Uhh-uhhhhhh-uhhhhhhhhh.¡± Rine embraces my upper body now, burying her head into my solar plexus, which kinda hurts, but she puts barely any force into it. It makes me feel rather uncomfortable, though it also makes me feel- *wumm* ¡°Ah! Kenta! Sorry! Kenta, don''t die!¡±
¡°Aggh!¡± The moment I got slightly aroused, she suddenly slammed her fist onto my nose. ¡°Dammit, Rine!¡±
¡°Sorry, sorry, sorry! [Heal]!¡±
Damn you, Ara-san! Because of your overly sensual behavior... ¡°Ara-san! What are you doing!?¡±
¡°It itches between my legs, so I need to masturbate to calm it down again, and I don''t know about you, but I prefer to do it without underwear, therefore-¡±
¡°Stop it! Right now! Kyou-san, say something!¡±
¡°Ah---yes. Arako, don''t do it here.¡± Why are you speaking like you''re not here yourself!?
¡°Then I will go over there, do the deed, and then return afterward, I suppose?¡±
¡°ARRRGH!¡±
After all of us have taken a moment of silence to calm our nerves¡ªand in Ara-san''s case her horniness¡ªKyou-san explains what happened. ¡°Then Arako pushed me aside and respired you. It also worked, for some reason.¡±
I try to connect the dots... ¡°Ara-san... do alfar breathe out large amounts of oxygen?¡±
¡°Affirmative. I didn''t know that humans need that for breathing... which brings us to the very interesting and somewhat frightening thought, that the hero-system may change how our breathing works, or at least how much of what we need to survive. My decision may have been flawed, as I may have pushed toxic gases into your lungs, especially considering that I don''t know how my breathing has been changed by the hero-system, but it was the best I could come up with at the time.¡±
¡°At least I survived long enough for the hero-system to reactivate again. Thanks.¡± This is however really scary. The relic-lantern has deactivated parts of my hero-system, which affected my breathing. Let''s assume it was changed back to how it works in my homeworld, so it would mean that there is less oxygen in the air, which is tolerable for a while, but would have eventually killed me... ¡°So basically, we need the hero-system to survive in this world...¡±
¡°You and Momo at least. Katarine-san is a native, so she is adapted to these conditions, and we don''t have data on what happens if an alfr uses their normal breathing, though it should be neutral at best? Unlikely that it would have been changed if there was a benefit in it.¡±
Yeah, gods want strong heroes, so if their usual breathing mechanism would make them stronger, the gods won''t touch that, logically speaking. ¡°Phew.¡±
¡°What''s wrong?¡±
¡°Aside from the fact that the moment I stop being a hero, I will just die slowly?¡± Before, I had seen the hero-system as kind of a plus, but now it''s a necessity. I have to rely on it, which I don''t really like.
Ara-san touches her lips with her fingers, maybe even subconsciously. Well, now I''m conscious of it, as while she saved me, this was much more than a treatment... She also felt it, and I feel strange about it, and I don''t like it, and I want to forget it, but I still----
Concentrate!
Heck, who would have thought that something basic like oxygen may be a problem here!? ¡°Dammit, I don''t know how long that incident took, but it''s getting dark. I should-¡± I try to stand up, but the moment I stand, I feel weak. I can stand, but my whole body is burning, while my legs are shaking. I guess the damage to my organs is still there, even though the air isn''t toxic for them anymore.
¡°[Heal]! [Stamina]! Also, sit down, Ken. I''ll make medicine for you, that should help.¡±
¡°We don''t have time! We have to-¡± Something sweeps my feet away, it''s Rine who effortlessly catches the falling me and gently puts me to the ground. ¡°Hey!¡±
¡°You will stay still,¡± the princess demands in a tone she has never spoken to me before. ¡°We''ll take the time.¡±Stolen novel; please report.
¡°Don''t be ridiculous, I- hey, get off me!¡± Now she''s sitting on my chest, and I don''t have the power to stand up... though even if I had, she would easily wrestle me down.
She waives Ara-san to her: ¡°Pin down his legs.¡±
¡°Sorry, Kenta-kun,¡± the alfr girl says in an absolutely monotone and unsorry way: ¡°She will hurt me, if I don''t do as she says.¡± No, she won''t... most likely!
I wail around helplessly, trying to use the little wriggle room I have: ¡°Get off, don''t, fu-¡±
Suddenly, Rine''s fist pushes me roughly to the ground, while she bows down to me and looks at me with moist, deadly serious eyes: ¡°You will stop! I have had enough! You will rest, you will recuperate, you will drink Kyou''s medicine, and you will cease any resistance!¡± Tears start to fall, first small ones, then big ones. Despite her snot, she still looks somehow beautiful: ¡°Stop, Kenta! Don''t do this to us!¡±
I relax my body. I want to say something, but it''s like something is stuck inside my throat. I feel ashamed, somehow. I want to- I¡¯d like to- I-I-I-
What am I feeling right now? I don''t know, I''m overwhelmed.
Realizing that I won''t resist anymore, Rine wipes away her tears and stands up, then Ara-san does the same. I just keep lying where I am, trying to beat down those unnecessary emotions I can''t even unwind. ¡°Dammit, I''m fine. Don''t treat me like I''m sick!¡± However, I decide to stay down and only resist with words.
¡°You almost died! Only because of Ara''s quick thinking and things I can''t understand you''re still living! You haven''t seen yourself, you were in pain, you--- I--- Don''t do that anymore! Now... now... now shut up and let us take care of you!¡± You know that Rine is pissed when she uses the same words that I''d do.
What the heck is she thinking!? Every minute may count! ¡°Dammit!¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, you''re being human. Right now, you''re holding us back, so waiting a quarter of an hour for you to not drag your feet for half an hour is a worthy time-investment. You may force your hero-body to keep up, but the moment you get [Worn out], you''ll be only a liability.¡±
I hate how sound the logic is. I hate it! I should have killed Meldorn with my bow, shooting the horse instead was a bad decision, most likely led by my subconscious. I''m kinda thankful towards Meldorn, as he taught me a lot.
Now he''s an enemy... dammit! DAMMIT! I hate it! I HATE IT! You won''t succeed in a hunt by rushing. Make the quarry feel safe or let it exhaust itself while conserving energy. ...even my memories tell me to take it easy for now.
Rine and Ara-san are still watching me, as if I''d do something stupid at any moment. Kyou-san is grinding her herbs to make me a medicine. I may not be able to calm down, but at least I can stay still.
After a while, Rine sits down on her kneels next to me: ¡°I''m sorry, Kenta. I didn''t want to lose my temper, it''s just that I''m worried about you.¡±
¡°Hah, worried...¡±
Her hand moves to my head, and I brush it off semi-gently. ¡°I''m waiting, fine? Phew... just give me a break, alright?¡±
¡°Sorry...¡±
Don''t apologize when it''s obviously me who''s wrong! ¡°Phew...¡± Ara-san is touching her lips again, which makes me remember the whole rather sensual experience I had, though this also reminds me how far I may have gone, if it weren''t for her... ¡°Ara-san. Thank you for saving me.¡±
¡°Now your life is mine and you will serve me as a lab rat for the rest of your short life.¡± I can tell that she''s just joking.
¡°I guess in this case you have to negotiate with Rine and Kyou first, as they also saved my life before, and we need to make a tally list to see how often I''ve saved your butt.¡±
¡°Katarine-san, how about shared ownership over Kenta-kun?¡±
¡°Huh? I mean, he''s a free person, so-¡±
¡°So you wave any ownership over him. Therefore, I only need to discuss this with Momo.¡±
¡°That''s not what I meant!¡± Once again, Rine is falling victim to another alfr joke.
¡°Phew... Ara-san is just kidding.¡±
¡°She is? I mean, I can imagine that, but on the other hand...¡±
¡°Katarine-san, this hurts me. Also Kenta-kun, let me have my fun.¡±
¡°Would you mind shutting up!¡± comes from Kyou-san. ¡°Also, Ken: Drink.¡± She passes me a bowl with a green concoction she hasn''t even cooked.
Well, here goes nothing. I pinch my nose and I still taste bitter grass. However, a property of a hero-body kicks in: Instant effect of healing items. I can feel the weakness leaving my body, and the ache is almost gone. ¡°Phew... thanks. Now let''s keep moving, we have only little time to wast-¡± I inhale sharply, as I suddenly stop feeling my legs. Once again someone catches me before falling to the ground, this time it''s Kyou-san, who does that as if she was expecting that... ¡°You... bitch...¡± Then I fall asleep against my will.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I''m having the final watch, Kenta is still asleep. I''m still not very satisfied with how this came to be, but I don''t know how Kyou could have done it better... other than talking to Kenta. She explained the reason why she put a sleeping agent into Kenta''s medicine: So that Kenta will actually rest and not decide to do all nightwatches or ''wrack his brain until his last cells say goodbye''.
Yes, Kenta is a hardworker, even when Kyou calls it ''being a massive moron''. While I agree with the result, the method is... well, at this point, I should have expected this? No, rather than expected, it''s more like... being not surprised.
I look to the other tent, where Kyou and Ara are currently sleeping. I try my best to stay awake while doing nothing, usually I''d train my magic by playing with the campfire, which was canceled to not convey our position, as Meldorn may be able to follow us without a cinch, but there may be more enemies out there. The raindrops on the tarps have something soothing, and I''d like to shower under the rain to wash away my thoughts, but I shouldn''t and therefore my head is full of them.
Maybe I should lure them away, after all? If they''re looking for me- ¡°That may be exactly what Correo-san is planning.¡± You may be right, Kyou, but he told us that he will leave us alone, so...
I don''t want to surrender to Instructor Gottfried. When I do, something will end, something precious to me. I know this is selfish, but if I do surrender, I¡¯ll go back to the boring life as a crown-princess, not able to do any fighting and be just a representative for the kingdom. This time just with someone watching me. I''d rather die than do that!
Kenta listens to me. He helps me. As long as Kenta is with me, I can do anything.
Pain! My heart hurts. Kenta almost died today. Watching it, being unable to do anything, not even knowing what is wrong... I was helpless and I hated it. It''s because I wasn''t able to defeat Instructor Gottfried...
I go through every movement. Why didn''t he fight back? Is it to not harm me? Is he thinking so little of me?
He''s right... I couldn''t even graze him, before that last attempt... no, even my [Crescent Moon] didn''t connect, he somehow still blocked it. There is still a big power-gap between me and my instructor...
I need to overcome it! Ara once said that I may not even be using the hero-system for real, so next time, I have to give it all. No holding back! I just need to figure out how to do so, but I will! Next time, I''ll overcome him!
You gain 2 WP.
Your husband has slept well between two of his wives. Make sure that you also partake into that as soon as possible.
Ah, Kenta is awake! ¡°...fuck...¡± The tent-entrance of the other tent opens and I see him holding his head as if it''s hurting.
I smile at him. ¡°You have slept well.¡± That''s what the message said.
¡°Are you mocking me!?¡±
¡°No, I''m glad. You still look exhausted, though. Did you get enough air?¡±
¡°Of course I did! Phew... what watch is it?¡±
¡°Final one. I think around an hour or so left?¡±
¡°I''ll check the surroundings.¡±
¡°No. You''re going to rest!¡±
¡±What if I don''t!?¡±
¡°Please, Kenta. We''re all worried about you!¡±
¡°I didn''t ask you to be. Also, using drugs on me!? Seriously!?¡±
¡°Don''t be so loud, they-¡±
¡°Ju-mphf!¡± Not knowing how to stop him otherwise, I jump into his tent and press my hand above his mouth. He struggles, but I quickly put him into an armlock. ¡°Hwwww!¡±
¡°Let''s sit down.¡± I try to be as calm as possible as I go on my knees slowly so that Kenta can follow. ¡°Breathe slowly and calm down. I''m sure you''re really angry at us, but please understand that we don''t want to harm you.¡±
After some seconds, Kenta relaxes his body and becomes quiet. Maybe he has his feelings under control again? I release him and then he reaches for the waterskin, drinking a lot. ¡°Phew... I needed that.¡±
¡°Kenta... I''m so sorry. You''re overworking yourself because of my selfishness.¡± However, I just can''t act against my feelings. I want our days to continue, and I know that we''ll win, as long as we work together. But I''m also afraid that all of you will end up hating me because of it...
¡°Rine, let''s be honest: Every human on any world is a selfish piece of shit. Everyone acts upon their self-interest and may use terms like ''for the greater good'' or so to distract themselves from the fact that they just want admiration and leave a mark on the world. You don''t want to return home? Fine with me, at least you''re honest and don''t pull off something like a crappy sacrifice, martyring yourself to relieve yourself from the guilt that you''ll put us through hell, while also bathing in the self-satisfaction that you''re such a good person that you are offering yourself and your happiness for the rest of us. That would make me puke! Let me be clear here: I knew that attacking Gottfried was a risk, was willing to take it, and I lost. That''s on me. To beat that one, I''ll need to be smarter. To be honest, I may have lost my edge, because having you in the party makes most battles too easy. I already have some ideas on how to handle Gottfried, especially as we only need to stall him long enough to get Meldorn and then retreat.¡±
Wow, Kenta already has concrete ideas on how to handle the situation. ¡°Kenta? Can you explain to me how to use a power surge again?¡± That''s what Kenta calls his sudden increases in power for certain attacks. He has three and then he''s assaulted by a severe headache.
¡°Phew...¡± He takes some time to think about it. ¡°I guess I didn''t nail down that explanation well before.¡±
¡°You said, you really want to have power and put your feelings into your attack, right?¡±
¡°No, but I guess that''s what stuck with you... Let''s say, I don''t ''want'' power, but more like I''m ''desperate'' for it. And for the feelings... It''s like using some animal-like instincts or maybe emotions, pouring it into my thoughts and intentions, bleeding into my attack. Do you plan to try to use power surges against Gottfried?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°Forget it.¡±
¡°Huh!?¡±
For a second, it seems like Kenta wants to say something, but his face darkens and he looks sad... no, sad is not the best word... more like, vulnerable. Then he suddenly hardens up and continues: ¡°I just don''t believe you can access that unless you sink low enough. You do just yourself. Just fight like you always do, don''t try to impress anyone, outgrow yourself, or shit like that. Basically, don''t care at all about the result, because that''s when you''re the best.¡±
¡°But what if it''s not good enough?¡± What if I''m not good enough?
I look up to Kenta, hoping that he will give me salvation. ¡°Then we will get beaten and dragged back to Feuerberg, making all the work we put into this whole ordeal since Aroahenn worthless.¡± However, he delivers the truth.
Kenta doesn''t lie to me. He doesn''t mince his words. Oh, I have taken his sleeve, I didn''t notice. ¡°Tehehehe...¡± However, it feels somehow relieving. ¡°Then we just have to make it work, right?¡±
¡°...right...¡± He sounds a bit hesitant, but agrees nonetheless.
As long as I''m with Kenta, nothing can beat us. He didn''t ask me to give up, he said that he wants me to fight until the end. That''s at least what I''ve understood. Sir Gottfried may be my instructor, he may have taught me most of what I''ve known about fighting, but since then, I''ve learned on my own.
Soon, we''ll wake Kyou and Ara, and then we¡¯ll go our way. The plan seems solid, tire them out if they hurry, get rest and prepare if they don''t, concentrate on the objective and then get away.
I just need to be myself and everything will work out fine.
Volume 08 - Chapter 5-3
Meldorn follows the feeling in his mind, which draws him to his quarry, which is currently Princess Katarine. The loss of the mounts has turned this to a forced march in rain, however, as they''re following Meldorn''s quarry, all of them move faster and show more stamina than usual.
They already found their last camp earlier, which means that they aren''t acting like cornered animals and that there will be another confrontation today.
Sir Gottfried seems to be resolved and while he''s usually hard to talk to, he now emits an aura of no-nonsense, which makes it impossible to strike a conversation with him. He''s focused on the task and his target.
Young Rotfeld looks like he wants to be the same, but even though he has presence and sharpness, being next to Sir Gottfried makes him look rather pitiful. He also seems to be much more tense.
The pontiff is just walking, letting his snot and moans out freely. For him, this is just a task he wants to be over with, and Meldorn believes that Pontiff Kassus is just thinking about the warm room with a glass of wine he will enjoy later.
However, this may need to wait. Meldorn takes his bow, as he has just noticed that they''re about to be attacked. By kobolds, no less.
Kobolds are canine humanoid monsters, blessed with the tiniest spark of intelligence, but with no empathy. They''re ruthless and cunning, and as they can''t craft anything but the simplest of structures and tools, they''re usually found in caves and ruins, often taking weapons from battlefields or farms.
Like many monsters, there is no reason for them to attack people, but they do so nonetheless. They also don''t speak, so for natives like Meldorn, who don''t even understand the concept of having multiple languages, there is no room for doubt that kobolds are monsters in the truest sense.
Strange though. It would have made sense for the kobolds to use their small frame and the high grass to ambush them, but instead they''re running through it, lifting their bone and wooden clubs, farming tools, and rusty weapons above them.
Kobolds are usually smarter than that.
Meldorn holds three arrows between his fingers and shoots each in quick succession, three shots, three dead kobolds. Others in his view are also shot, but not by arrow or magic, but bloody white fragments, as Sir Gottfried is not only dismembering them, but shattering their bones and using them as projectiles. It''s apparent that he wants to be over with this quickly.
This skirmish takes less than a minute, and Meldorn picks up the few arrows he had a chance to shoot. All of them are still usable, so he quickly wipes the blood before returning them into his quiver.
¡°Beware!¡± Young Rotfeld shouts, as he swings his staff several times, unleashing air blades at airborne monsters, yellow-furred puffballs. Acopps are mostly made out of air, but they can release acid rain when they get over their prey. Their glands are valuable, same as the skin under the fur.
Them being here makes sense, Acopps usually attack when their target is distracted by other monsters, yet the numbers are too big, as they usually hunt in packs of three to eight. These are two dozen at least, yet Rotfeld''s magical wind tears through them easily enough, and their acid drops far away from Meldorn''s group.
These are far from the only attacks that the pursuit party will suffer today.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s afternoon and time for a snack and short break, which become more and more important as we have picked up the pace more and more. I turn to the girl next to me: ¡°Rine, would you taste-test please?¡±
Kyou-san moans in displeasure: ¡°Come on, I didn''t poison that! I''m sorry, alright!¡±
¡°I trusted you!¡± I''ve cooled down a bit since this morning, but I want her to know how betrayed I feel! I may forgive her in a few days, but until then, I will use every opportunity to drive it home!
¡°Momo, Kenta-kun, could you calm down?¡± Ara-san nibbles on a jellied twig. It''s an alfr snack called zuckie, tastes sweet and nice, though I like them best after leaving them in the sun for a while, though in this rainy weather it''s impossible.
I break something off my own twig and give it to Rine, who looks at me sadly, but then eats it. ¡°It''s OK, Kenta. Now could you please reconcile with Kyou again?¡±
¡°Meh.¡± I take a bite off myself and the sweetness makes me feel a bit better.
¡°Kenta,¡± Rine suddenly takes the top of my head, and I feel her fingers digging into my hood and hair, as she forcefully turns my head around to Kyou-san: ¡°We have to work together and Kyou said that she''s sorry, so now you accept the apology and if you don''t-¡±
I''m 100% sure that Rine has no idea what she will do if I don''t, but I also have the feeling that I don''t want to risk her trying to figure it out, especially given that my body still hurts about everywhere.
Rine used to have a short fuse whenever Kyou-san and I fought in the past, it just got paused recently. So maybe it''s back? Is it a sign that she''s growing or has she made a step back to deal with the current stress? How was it called... retardation?
¡°Phew... sorry for--- for what exactly?¡± I ask my blackmailer, as I don''t really know what she wants me to say.
¡°For being rude and blaming Kyou for poisoning your food.¡±
¡°For being rude and blaming you for poisoning my food,¡± I speak as dryly as possible to Kyou-san, then I try to look back at Rine, who still holds my head much too tight: ¡°Something else?¡±
¡°Yes, you want to make up with her.¡±
¡°I want to make up with you.¡±
¡°Now put some heart into it.¡±
¡°Phew... listen Kyou-san, I''m absolutely pissed about what you did, but I''ll eventually get over it in time. So I won''t speak about it anymore, and you tell Rine to let me go.¡±
Kyou-san looks at me, as if I were a puppy that finally learned to react to its name. ¡°That''s the most sincere apology I can expect from you, Ken. And as I said, I''m also sorry, but I will do it again, if you''re that reckless again.¡± Well, at least she''s honest about it? ¡°Let him go, Rine-chan. It''s alright.¡±
While Rine''s fingers have released my head, I can still feel them painfully on my skull. However, now Rine stands up and gets closer to Kyou, and even I feel how much weight each step has: ¡°You will do it again? Did I hear correctly? You dare to take away all his choices, rendering him helpless, instead of putting time and effort to convince him?¡± Rine then takes Kyou''s hand before she has time to pull it back.
This is a rare sight. Kyou-san gulps audibly, as she''s most likely picturing herself being put into a handhold for a change. ¡°Rine-chan, don''t be hasty, let me expla-¡±
¡°No. This is not how we''re supposed to act towards each other. I can imagine that you thought that this was the best course of action, but!¡± She suddenly barks while fixating Kyou-san with her eyes so much that the skin of the Asian girl becomes pale-white: ¡°I will not stand by these actions anymore. Understood?¡±
Usually, Kyou-san is able to avert Rine''s anger, mostly by finding some excuses, but this time she can only meekly nod. ¡°Yes, Rine-chan. Ken, I''m sorry. I--- I shouldn''t have done it at all.¡± She gives me a small bow.
Then Rine pulls her hand, Kyou-san shuts her eyes close, clearly expecting pain, but then Rine takes my hand as well and leads it and Kyou-san''s into each other, so that we have something like a handshake.
Kyou-san slowly opens her eyes and looks me in the face. She doesn''t say anything, she isn''t looking away, she just looks at me.
...awkward. I slowly shake her hand until Rine nods and sits down again.
You gain 1 WP.
The wonderful aspect of having several wives is that when you''re fighting with one, another can act as a mediator.
Mediator? More like a blackmailer. Well, I guess I somehow made up with Kyou-san, that''s at least how it feels, though it''s rather strange.
I look at Ara-san, the only wife who isn''t involved in it and I see how she licks her lips, but not like she''s licking up jelly stuck there, it was more... well, not sensual, rather exploring. ¡°Ara-san, is something wrong with your lip?¡± She has repeatedly touched it since... well, ''that''.
¡°I¡¯d like to know myself,¡± Rine adds curiously. Yep, it was so plain as day that even our dumb princess noticed.
¡°When I respired you, we interlocked our lips. Mine became very sensitive, and I think it felt good? I try to stimulate them, but I tend to believe that this is similar to when we ear-plugged earlier, when your ears also became an erogenous zone. What is different, however, is that our spirits didn''t mesh, maybe because this kissing is a human behavior?¡±
OK, I asked, so I got an answer. I just don''t like it. Rine, however: ¡°Kissing is an expression of love.¡±
¡°While what Kenta-kun and I did should not be considered kissing, I can now believe why you humans are so eager to exchange germs: It''s rather addicting.¡±
¡°So your lips aren''t that sensitive anymore?¡±
¡°No. I believe that the curse may have laid the groundwork for Kenta-kun and me to indulge ourselves in sexual intercourse, and it has changed how my menstruation works, but maybe smaller changes are dormant until a need arises. It would make sense, as if Kenta-kun and I had the sensitive spots of two species, we may be unable to lead a controlled life. Kenta-kun would pop a boner at the tiniest stimulation, while I couldn''t even eat--- how can you humans even eat anyway, if your lips are that sensitive?¡±
I look at Kyou-san, and she gives me a glance. ''Now we''re back to our stupid days.''
''Yep.'' It''s like they don''t even care about Gottfried anymore, but maybe that''s a good thing?
Suddenly, Ara-san takes her staff and it grows its branches to catch an arrow that almost hit me in the shoulder. Without a shred of hesitation, I jump up and look at the direction where the arrow was shot with my [Farsight].
Meldorn! Next to him the mage and the priest, but where is Gottfried!? And how could they follow us that quickly? Some sort of travel magic? Or a [Skill]? ¡°Wizard is chanting!¡± I realize how little [Farsight] does to detect dangers, especially as I can imagine that the wizard''s spell will soon complete.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
I hate being right.
He unleashes a ball of air, clearly visible by the rain it pushed aside, and as the ball flies, it grows more and more into a long twister, directly heading towards us.
Well, we have our own kind of magic. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± Rine''s flying slash is much bigger than usual, most likely because of the danger of that twister. It rends through it, and while it reforms, it also changes its course, missing us by a big margin.
¡°[Watershield]!¡± For some reason, Ara-san engulfs us all with her shield, but then I see why... there is something in the rain, something blurry and hard to notice.
It lifts a sword and drops of rain are hurled at Ara-san''s spell, which may be great against these kinds of attacks in theory, but the sheer force blasts it and us away. Luckily, I can break my fall into a roll and get back on my feet immediately, while Ara-san, who isn''t in [Acrobat] right now, and Kyou-san both lie in the mud.
On the other hand, Rine never even left her feet, instead she slides through the mud on them, then swiftly uses [Swiftstride] to close the gap between her and Gottfried, who became clearly visible again. If not for Ara-san''s keen senses, we may have been doomed!
*Clank, clank, clank, clank-clank-clank-clankclankclankclanclanclaclacla* Again, this speed of attacks, low, high, from every angle imaginable, though I can see that Rine''s speed has improved since last time. Still, this is clearly a standstill at best, I guess the flurry of attacks is just to keep Gottfried in the defense for a while
With Meldorn so far away, I won''t hit him with my bow, it''s way too easy to dodge. Guess it''s Gottfried, after all. ¡°Ara-san, chant! Kyou-san, buff!¡± With short and sharp instructions, I grab into my belt pouch.
Like I said Rine before, I have some ideas on how to deal with Gottfried or at least keep him busy enough for us to escape or surmount a counter-attack on Meldorn. I reach for my belt pouch and take out some smoke bombs.
In this rain, the smoke won''t billow as much, but it should be enough to create a smokescreen between us and Gottfried''s party, so that they won''t do any reckless attacks. Then Ara-san will flush Gottfried and Rine, and even if Gottfried somehow can deal with the massive water from [Tidal Wave] in a way that leaves him unharmed, this will create a window for Rine and me to deal some damage to him.
¡°[Protect]!¡± I feel how Kyou-san''s empowered buff cushions me, as I create the smokescreen.
This- ¡°Argh....¡± After a second of shock, I realize that I got hit with a drop of water, which Gottfried has launched from his blade. It was an attack that pierced [Protect] and my armor and I''m not sure if it hit my lung or not...
¡°KENTA! STOP, INSTRUCTOR! I''M YOUR OPPONENT?¡±
¡°You''re flattering yourself, Hu¡ªStupid Disciple #1.¡± With the tip of his foot, Gottfried sweeps Rine''s leg, but the princess uses this momentum to her advantage and launches a somersault attack, but the old man just catches her arm before it can swing and with a swift yank, he throws her into the mud. ¡°Give up.¡±
¡°NEVER!¡± Rine jumps back to her feet, but then jumps back.
Ara-san has finished her rain-accelerated chanting: ¡°[Tidal Wave]!¡±
¡°Wa-wrrrr!¡± Sadly, it didn''t hit Gottfried, who somehow deflected the whole spell towards Kyou-san, who has no way to defend herself against that and is just flushed away.
¡°KYOU!¡± Rine tries to [Swishstride] to her, but she lands on her face, as Gottfried trips her up effortlessly. ¡°Srraaa---¡±
¡°[Entangle]!¡± Ara-san uses the large grass to grasp Gottfried''s legs, but that geezer is too swift, dancing between the strands easily. This looks exactly like Rine, so I guess we made him actually put a little bit of work into it?
...shit... SHIT!
I throw a smokebomb directly at Gottfried, and he deflects it back at me. YES! The smokebomb hits the [Protect]-cushion, engulfing me with smoke, but with held breath and closed eyes, I charge towards Gottfried. I can still feel him with [Wild Eyes]!
If he can''t predict my movements, I may land that- AH! My teeth! I just got kneed under my chin, why would that bastard even do that!? How can he still bend his old knees that much! Shit! I didn''t account that Rine can also react to dangers she can''t see!
No, take your hand from my head! I can already picture in my head what will happen, only going by that motion I feel on my skin: He will drag my head lower, make a backflip kick into my stomach and use that circular movement to smash me into the ground.
Then it happens. ¡°Uhhhh...¡± I hear a clank above me, a sign that Rine has just intercepted the finishing blow with her own weapon.
I roll to the side, out of the smoke. ¡°[Heal]!¡± A chunk of my HP is restored, as Kyou-san throws her heal even before standing up, that''s what a healer is supposed to do! Commit to make the party survive, even if it''s inconvenient!
OK, we can''t flush Gottfried, and even if we take his sight, it won''t make him drop his guard in any way. If we can''t flush him, we won''t not be able to drown him, and we have no trees here for actual powerful plant-based attacks, which I assume would be even more useless.
The smokescreen is about to cease, so I throw some more smoke bombs and switch to fire bombs. Rine''s armor is resistant to fire, and the hero-system seems to extend that to Rine, as according to Kyou-san, she doesn''t even faze when coming close to a specific pipsqueak''s [Oni Fire].
I throw one at Rine, who instinctively deflects it to her enemy, Gottfried, who then returns it back, and then Rine... god, what is that? We''re not in Zelda! I thought this may startle Gottfried, seeing a bomb deflected at him, but oh well, this is also good. With both of them in a tennis match, there is enough space for me to throw more fire bombs close to Gottfried, though not exactly at him, to not cause more deflects.
The flames may not hit him, and he''s certainly not paying them any heed, but maybe the heat and the flashing lights may do something.
YES! The ''ball'' of the match ignited as well and now burst open, the burning liquid is... SHIT!
Like with the water before, Gottfried somehow deflected the burning liquid, this time his target is me! ¡°[Watershield]!¡± Ara-san, thank you! This was scary! ¡°Any bright ideas, Kenta-kun?¡±
Rine immediately charges in once more, her speed increases again and this time, she and her mentor are more like a whirlwind of blades and Gottfried even blocks her unarmed strikes with his own limbs, clearly a sign that we''re cornering him!
We can win this!
Time to use a power surge! I only have three, so I have to put each of them to good use. I change to [Pikeman]. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I charge at Gottfried, who is currently on one leg, as he blocked a kick of Rine''s with his armored shin. The speed and power of my attack is incomparable to what I mustered before, I feel like I''m about to break the wall of sound!
If I''m at sonic speed, Gottfried is at lightning speed. I see him suddenly disappearing, no, he jumped up and spun around his own axis, just so suddenly that I couldn''t follow, only to use that spin to hit the behind of my back with his heel. I hit the ground, and it feels like my head is splitting.
...he will come for another: ¡°[Rising Point!]!¡± Combined with my second power surge, I create a strong wind-current around me, which catapults me at where I guess Gottfried is. YES! This will hit him!
Unless he just hits the side of my spear with his sword, deflecting my weapon to the side. Why is my upper body so... ah, that''s why. Seriously, I never thought that blood would gush out of me so movie-like. My armor has been cut at two points, the shoulder and the side, as Gottfried parry was at the same time also a flying slash.
I have to have my armor repaired. Why do I think of something so random? Oh, our stools are still there, together with a tarp.
Absolutely non-related thoughts flood my mind, as I see how the actual metal of his sword is about to cut me into two.
Ah, that''s Rine''s sword. She tries to parry Gottfried''s deathbringer, but he just twists the blade slightly, to bounce hers off. It''s like everything is in slow-motion, but she and Gottfried are still moving way too fast for me to do anything...
I can see Rine''s face, how she cries out, trying her best to protect me. Seriously, you''re always trying too hard for me.
No, what the fuck are you doing, you idiot! Are you seriously trying to punch that sword away!? At best, it will slice your hand in half!
*Zzrrrrrrinng*
Instead of that, the sword glides with a strange sound alongside Rine''s hand, and is deflected, while Rine''s fist is moving towards Gottfried''s face, whose expression tells how unexpected that outcome was for him.
Not that Rine''s punch connected, he blocks it with his palm, but the force behind it lets Gottfried¡ªwho is still as airborne as Rine and I¡ªfly back a bit, though he will nimbly land on his feet.
¡°[Quagmire]!¡± Right into a bog Ara-san decided to just place there, which makes Gottfried sink into the mud to his knees.
Well, one thing to do. I throw a special bomb. I usually only use three kinds of bombs: Fire, smoke, and stink. Each of those bombs are affordable and easy enough to use. There are tons of other bombs, that either are too expensive or too complicated to work with for my liking.
One of those bombs used to be the flash bomb. It''s a bright flash that blinds someone, which sounds like a great thing. The problem is, that it even dazzles you when you close your eyes during impact, and that I, who has the [Perception]-ability and hence enhanced senses, even suffer more from it.
This has changed. Since my last visit at an alchemist, I got the [Penetrate Light]-skill, and recently I learned how it actually works: Whenever there is light that''s too bright for my eyes, the [Skill] activates, drains some SP, but makes me see through that light as if it were not there with a bit more violet in all colors during that duration. So I bought one for emergencies in racist city.
There are still a bunch of problems with flash bombs, like how my [Skill] does nothing for my party-members, but in this moment, if I''m able to blind Gottfried for some minutes... The bomb detonates close to him, while I change to [Ranger] to actually have access to my [Skill] and grab Rine''s hand...
! So that''s how she did it! How she deflected Gottfried''s blade! She has the cursed ring on her left hand, and uses the sword in her right! His sword hit the ring, which we couldn''t even scratch before, and even now it looks as always: Copper-like and picturing a lioness, no scratch, still at the same place on her finger as always.
Well, while I''m fine with just some purple in my eyes, my small fortune explodes into a blinding flash of light. Rine and Gottfried have covered their eyes, damn these instincts, but both of them are also groaning. Guess this is enough.
Kyou-san is definitely the worst off, as she holds her eyes while crying out in pain. Strangely enough, Ara-san squeezes her eyes, but quickly runs to Kyou-san and pulls her by her hand. ¡°Kenta-kun, what to do?¡± These alfr-eyes are way too good in most ways!
The smokescreen may have been still too thick, and it may be too far for Meldorn and the other two, who are most likely still far away, to be subjected to the flash. Therefore, mounting an attack would be a poor choice, given that at least Rine and Kyou-san are blind as well... Yet this may be our best chance.
Then I see something that chooses for me. There is a horde of monsters coming at us from the side. Let''s call them needlesheep, as they look like sheep with deer faces and needles instead of wool. They''re running at us like mad, so I guess their strategy is too just run through their prey with numbers and meatgrind them.
I guess that''s bad or good timing, depending on what you want to accomplish, but they will act as the perfect distraction. ¡°Retreat.¡±
Ara-san''s ears move quickly, most likely catching where I''m running, and follows me. I guess with her superior hearing and spirit senses, she can basically overcome any visual impairment.
We just have to run! Even if they have a [Spell] to follow us quickly enough, we need to get to the forest. There we have home advantage, there we can ambush them. It''s close enough!
¡°Ken, you bastard! Give a warning next time! It hurts!¡± Kyou-san complains, so she''s alright.
¡°If I did, he would have also been warned! I also don''t plan to use them often. Why are they even produced!?¡± They''re way too strong!
¡°They''re used by hunters for specific monsters, and for mercenaries for retreats,¡± explains Rine, who has a surplus of actually interesting knowledge she just never shares, because she thinks it''s common knowledge!
¡°Kenta-kun, what is happening behind us?¡±
¡°Monsters are attacking Gottfried, and I guess he''s dismantling them.¡±
¡°Do you think Correo has sent them?¡±
¡°The timing would have been very inconvenient, if we didn''t immobilize Gottfried just then.¡± Even if it may only hinder him for some seconds, I guess Rine''s [Luck]-stat is showing its worth here, as often convenient things happen around her. ¡°So maybe. [Share Senses]! Careful, we''re going up a hill, but if we''re over it, we come to a small wood. Ara-san, I need some [Quagmires] behind us!¡±
¡°This will drain my MP quite a bit.¡±
¡°Let''s be honest, you can''t do anything to Gottfried in the first place, when he can even deflect your [Tidal Wave]!¡±
¡°That''s an unfair claim, and I feel offended by it!¡±
¡°Be that tomorrow!¡±
¡°Fair enough.¡± Alfr can just shut down their emotions whenever they need to, so they can be led by logic alone. That''s something I want to do as well, as I''m basically pissing my pants now.
Ah, it''s just the blood running down my calves. I''m so pumped with adrenaline that I can''t even feel the pain right now. ¡°Kyou-san, can you throw a heal?¡±
¡°Maybe if you touch me somewhere, I can''t see you!¡± Well, I have my spear in one hand, Rine in the other, so I stick my weapon between my head and shoulder, which is really awkward with a spear, and put my hand on Kyou-san''s shoulder, so she can aim her spell at it and in extension to me. ¡°[Heal]!¡±
The wound is closing, stopping the bleeding. Not sure how deep that cut went, most likely not too much though, as otherwise my armor would be only trash right now... the armor I have made from the red bear''s fur...
While I bemoan the damage to a piece of equipment that''s supposed to be damaged instead of me, Ara-san makes quick work to temporarily change the terrain behind us. However, we''re in the rain, so [Quagmire], a spell whose duration and power largely depends on environmental conditions, may hold long enough to make them following us really nasty.
I really wish I could take the time to trap them as well, but we need every second.
Over the hill, into the woods. The girls are slowly regaining their eyesight, and Ara-san comes closer to me. The plants around her warp away, another alfr trait I''d love to have. ¡°Have you noticed?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± There are people hidden here. Not too shabbily hidden, but with [Wild Eyes] I can clearly see the strong spirits of people contrasting the weak spirits of the animals and even weaker spirits of the plants. Well, no need to act like we don''t know that they''re here. ¡°Are you bandits?¡±
After a small pause, I hear a man calling: ¡°GO AWAY, RANGER! WE DON''T MEDDLE WITH YOUR KIND!¡±
¡°Sure, we''re just passing through.¡± Have we just entered a wood that contains bandit winter camp!? Well, seems like the hood has proven useful this time, I''ll absolutely take it.
I feel a strange tinge inside me... If Gottfried comes after us, and these bandits get into his way, he will definitely kill all of them in a matter of seconds, as they don''t have the luxury to be taken alive. So I should warn them...
Wait, they''re clearly bandits, so how does a bandit come by in these lands? By raiding farmsteads and villages, that are barely holding their own against monsters. Yep, my moral conflict is overcome, no guilt whatsoever, let these assholes reap what they sowed.
Volume 08 - Chapter 5-4
Nessy looks at her somewhat lover, Raques, who clearly is relieved that the ranger just passes by as he said. She was also glad that this wasn''t the group of four they were supposed to attack. The White Mare told their boss, Wrecker Ianos, that there will be a group of four passing by this forests and they will carry an important insignia, something for a political struggle.
The Wreckers are a semi-successful bandit-group, though their number has been bolstered a lot during the last few weeks. Mostly because of the barbarians that are much, much worse than even the hardiest and vilest of bandits and now several people that fled the farmsteads and deserting soldiers have joined.
Raques takes her hand, maybe to calm himself down, maybe for her. Nessy doesn''t know, but that simple fellow has a similarly simple mind, a warm bed, and while they''re in some sort of relationship, he doesn''t mind it too much, if she sleeps with other men, as he does the same. Of course, it''s mostly outside their group, as enforcing her will on those muscular but then power-stripped farmers is a thrilling power-rush.
Nessy grew up on a farm as well, which was attacked by bandits and went through the whole program herself when she was fourteen or so. She recovered, was married off, and during the first night, things went bloody for her husband, when he tried to be the forceful one.
The one who dominates wins, even if a knife is needed. She fled, and was picked up by the Wreckers, joined them, trained with them, exploring her potential and now she''s a new officer, with all the new people joining.
Raques served in the D¨¦juma army and deserted when the barbarians came. He''s a new recruit, but an able fighter. Not under her, at least in the chain of command, though definitely during sex.
Nessy loses herself in her thoughts, as she thinks about how to fuck the brains out of Raques later, the cry of a sparrow sounds through the ranks. The sign of the scouts that their prey is here. Two noblemen, one an heir, the other the family''s priest, the personal hunter, and the aged bodyguard. A small group travelling away from the trading routes to not be ambushed by their enemies. Tough luck they knew about this and hired the White Mare, which led to the Wreckers.
The Wreckers will ambush them and they''re free to kill them, though if one of them is hot, Nessy would like to keep them, especially given that they could use some slaves for the winter.
Nessy looks over the bush to take a look... no, none of them were particularly hot. The bodyguard was old enough to be her great grandfather, the old priest the same, the hunter is very non-descriptive, and the young noble was just so-so.
¡°Seriously?¡± Says the bodyguard, as the maulers, their big guys, came from their hiding. ¡°What is this?¡±
¡°This is an ambush, gramps.¡±
¡°How many of you are there?¡±
¡°Fifty-two,¡± says the hunter, which makes Nessy feel a chill, as this is exactly their number.
¡°I''m seriously not in the mood for this, so all fifty-two of you: Pack your things, scram, and don''t waste my time.¡± He isn''t angry, he rather sounds... annoyed?
Well, that new mauler¡ªwas it Paun?¡ªjust swings his mace, which is about to hit that oldtimer. Then Paun explodes, as the geezer has stabbed him with his strangely vibrating sword in a blink.
Nessy becomes pale, as now all of the maulers are on the ground, several with separated limbs, crying in pain and terror, as several bones and armor pieces have torn through them.
¡°Eight.¡± However, the vibrating blade of the geezer isn''t finished, as he kicks up limbs and people and thrusts his blade through them, creating deadly shrapnel shots that transform bandits into corpses at best, and whining, limbless pictures of misery at worst. ¡°Nineteen.¡±
Boss Ianos is shouting something, but then his head falls off, as the bodyguard continues his count and uses the head as another projectile. Pieces of skulls pierces through Raques'' torso next to Nessy. However, he still stands and shouts. ¡°Run!¡±
Nessy does exactly that, but then she feels how Raques enters and leaves her body, or at least his armor and bones did. She falls, has lost a leg and an arm, she painfully tries to quiet her crying, hoping that they''d think that she died right here and now.
¡°Fifty-one,¡± says that monster while picking up a stick and throwing it like a dart between the trees. ¡°Fifty-two.¡± He swings his sword once, removing all the blood with that motion, and then he sheathes it. After that, he shakes his arm. ¡°I can feel it up to my spine.¡±
¡°I''ll use my magic, Sir Gottfried. [Heal]!¡± ...Gottfried... GOTTFRIED!? Nessy used to hear stories about a legendary warrior with that name, who dwells in the far Kingdom of Feuerberg! Able to cut a mountain into two, split the sky, and who has single-handedly ended four wars!
Unable to hold it in, quiet whimpering comes from her, but the four seem to be too occupied to notice. ¡°A bit better. Enough for Stupid Disciple #1, though she''s almost back to her form.¡±
¡°What are you planning, Sir?¡±, asks the nobleman. ¡°If you like, I can separate them next time.¡±
¡°Leave that to me, Mageling. Keep your eyes open for more surprises, we had far too many today. Give me a second to straighten my back, then we continue.¡± Ah, they''re leaving. Nessy is so glad. She will survive, she will- ¡°First though... Twenty-one are still alive. Time to end their misery.¡±
She won''t survive.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Now that wood!¡± They may be small, but the woods keep on coming, a sign that we will soon be at the great forest, which will give us enough space and time to kill Meldorn! I use the sight of a bird again, scanning our surrounding, though these stupid birds just don''t fly the way I want! ¡°Shit! They''re coming!¡± Their movements may be like a usual march, but somehow they cover much more distance than us in our jog. ¡°Ara-san, bog that wood after we get into it!¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Ara-san chugs another MP-pot. ¡°My stomach hurts again.¡± She''s really looking kinda blueish.
¡°Rine, cast [Delay Poison] on her, maybe it works against overeating.¡± It may be somehow poisonous?
¡°Yes. [Delay Poison]!¡±
¡°It doesn''t help.¡±
¡°Just bear with it then!¡±
¡°Arako, take this pill.¡±
¡°Thanks, Momo.¡± In cases like these, having medicine is a lifesaver, especially as it works immediately on heroes. Though it will only calm down her stomach, not the fact that she has drunk way too much liquid.
We enter the woods and adjust the course slightly. I don''t know how it looks on the other side, as the stupid bird hasn''t look that way, but if the map Oro''hekk made for us is correct, we should be close to our destination. Maybe half an hour?
Following us will be messy, as Ara-san makes the terrain marshy, while circumventing the wood will make them lose time. Every minute counts!
Ara-san begins to slow down without any apparent reason. ¡°We have been set up,¡± she says in a dry tone. ¡°Kenta-kun, make use of your right.¡±
My right? Ah... ¡°I told you so.¡±
Of course Kyou-san doesn''t know what we mean: ¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Correo?¡± I ask Ara-san.
¡°Worse...¡± She points in a direction which showcases a squirrel... a squirrel with a panda-pattern. While her face remains almost the same, the trembling in her ears shows that she''s about to panic.
¡°It''s like before, just a scout. So let''s ---prepare for a fight. I hear a stupid voice.¡± Shit, shit, shit! I hate it!
Sounds of breaking branches accompanies our foes. The laughing grates at my ears, as one of my most unreliable one-time allies comes through the forest. The white hair in twintails, red skin, big body, a whole lot of muscles, and a big club in her hand. ¡°Katakata! Bro! Sis! Lynxy! You''re all here.¡± It''s Correo''s oni.
Without hesitation, Rine and I charge at her, and she smiles while swinging her club. We both jump to the side to evade it and its stupid air-current that accompanies it, however: ¡°[Exorcise]!¡± Kyou-san shoots her cone of light.
¡°Oh,¡± the oni says, just before she begins to yell in agony, as white flames engulf her body. ¡°Uaaaah! No, I''m over it, it doesn''t hurt, so-¡±
She should have better begged. ¡°[Exorcise]!¡±
¡°UUUUUUHHHHH! DEMONS!¡±
Suddenly, several demons spring out of the bushes... strange, I didn''t notice them, and even Ara-san hasn''t. These demons have different forms, some canine, some humanoid, some insect-like, but all of them with fangs, horns, spikes, and other demonic traits.
¡°[Exorcise]!¡± The light shines on some of those demons and- does nothing!? ¡°Why!¡± Even the caster is complaining about it!
Rine cuts through some of those demons, making them dissipate in midnight blue smoke. I feel some questions coming up, but also the dread of what''s behind us.
However, the oni has recovered from the spells, she''s tough and dangerous, and she swings at me, but I hide behind a tree, which she just cleaves through with her metal bat. Yup, definitely stupidly strong.
¡°Monster pass!¡± I shout out, only seeing confusion at my party-members. ¡°Monster train! Heck, just make them fight him!¡± I admit that this isn''t what we usually do, but we also seldom have the opportunity to do so. ¡°[Whirlwind]!¡± My [Skill] pushes the demons away from Kyou-san, then I press my spear into her hand. Then I grab her at the back and knee pits and lift her up: ¡°Retreat!¡±
Rine jumps onto a branch, Ara-san changes to [Acrobat] to do the same, while I¡ªtoo heavy with Kyou-san on my arms¡ªjust desperately run through the demons, though I immediately found a gap in their formation, or whatever that is what they have.
¡°HEY! IGNORING ME!? [ONI FIRE]!¡± Good thing she aims at Rine, who is too fast to be hit by that at this distance, as I would definitely not be able to evade that. ¡°COME BACK! I WILL----AH!¡± The oni is about to follow us and then she turns around. I can see Gottfried, who stares her down. ¡°You look strong! Oh, I can feel your stare on me! Stay still, OK?¡± She swings her club, but Gottfried evades it, only his eyebrows are slightly moved by the wind that attack creates.
Well, pass successful, I guess. The oni is a match for Rine, so she may buy five minutes or so, maybe even longer, as she regenerates from attacks and brings some serious power into the mix. Though Gottfried''s party has a priest, so maybe the oni will be exorcised instead?
I just have to be thankful that the oni will most definitely die here, which finally puts one of my enemies to rest. I guess next will be Yoshimura and Hoshibashi, as I haven''t seen them since the Red Rock Canyon, so they most likely regrouped to make an attempt here...
We leave the wood and then something strange happens. Red, yellow, green, blue, and violet light shines from behind, creating large shadows of trees over us.
...this isn''t good. ¡°What''s that?!¡± I ask while putting Kyou-san back to her feet, she can now walk on her own, after all.
¡°This is the [Prism Strike],¡± Rine says in awe.
¡°...does that mean, Gottfried can cut light!?¡± I mean, a prism breaks light into its spectrum, so a prism strike would be...
¡°Maybe? Though it''s weaker than before. The last time I saw it, it had seven colors.¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
Ah. Ah. Ah.
My mind was just blown away, and from what I can see in Kyou-san, it''s the same for her. I feel Ara-san tugging my sleeve: ¡°We need to move on.¡±
¡°Yes...¡± I take my spear back from Kyou and start running. Fast. The girls follow me, we need to get to that forest.
Suddenly, I see the ground between me and the girls opening up, then a violent wind follows, wallowing up the dirt. A flying sword-slash? Why is the air around the created fissure so strange? It''s somehow flickering.
¡°Careful, Kenta!¡± Rine warns me. ¡°The air still remembers the slash, so everything that touches it, will be cut! With this, Instructor can even divide the sea!¡±
What the- To prove her claim, I pick up a twig and throw it into the air. The twig instantly is cut several times... Which means that I better not try to jump over that fissure... So I won''t be able to get to the girls, I''m on my own for now.
Breathe in. Breathe out. ¡°Run as fast as possible. We''ll meet up in the forest, it has to be right beyond that hill!¡± This is more wishful thinking than anything else, but that''s all that''s left. I run with all my might.
I haven''t underestimated Gottfried. That would mean that I could have estimated him at all. I was just an idiot, assuming stuff that I didn''t even understand. As strong as Luuto? No, this guy would mob the floor with the hundred-years old alfr hero with ease.
Even now I can''t even imagine the gap between me and Gottfried. Heck, even Rine can''t imagine it, she has claimed so before, and we just jumped into conclusions.
Suddenly, all of this shitty fantasy world seems to have changed... if Feuerberg has a Gottfried, and still summoned heroes to defeat the demon king... how strong is he? How much must I grow? When I started and got my first few levels, I thought that level 100 would be enough, but I''m level 61 and I don''t even come remotely close to Gottfried...
Will 500 do it?
Wait, if one country has a Gottfried, does it mean other countries have their own? If Gottfried is Feuerberg''s finest, what about the second strongest? How strong?
Why do they even need heroes!?
Suddenly, my mindset shifts from existential crisis to business. Guess the hero-system has intervened, as it also changes our mind, basically bringing us to a state where we can continue, despite the odds.
I don''t know whether this is a blessing or a curse, at this point.
Volume 08 - Chapter 5-5
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Ah, sweet pain, though somewhat dissatisfying, as she couldn''t inflict any as well. The bloodlust of that warrior has made her tingle, although now she feels nothing of it; most likely because she''s accidentally hidden under trunks and dirt.
The oni has reverted to its shameful, dirty form of a young girl with red hair and horns, as her youki is too busy to keep her alive, so it can''t sustain her true form.
She can barely breathe, and she has trouble staying conscious, but her master''s orders were clear: Delay that person as much as possible. She just had hoped that she could kill Katakata and torture Bro a bit first.
¡°Hm... this felt odd, as if only the red demon had a will,¡± the oni hears the warrior saying.
¡°Wha---what was that?¡± It''s the voice of a young male.
¡°Wannabe-archwizard, I don''t have time to explain that. Let''s see...¡± The warrior swings his sword and one giant cloud of dirt comes, as he unleashes a massive attack that would have easily cut the oni into pieces. ¡°I missed him... well, at least I''ve separated Katsuragi from the rest. Ugh...¡±
¡°Sir Gottfried, your arm. [Heal]!¡±
¡°I may have overexerted myself, I''m clearly not in my prime anymore. However, someone has to take care of the boy. Meldorn, I leave it to you. The rest comes with me. Boy-wizard, do you have magic that can trap them?¡±
¡°Not at that distance, especially with them running.¡±
¡°But you have a spell that increases our speed, right?¡±
¡°Yes, but it has its backlash.¡±
¡°Use it anyway.¡±
The oni feels an urge, she has to delay them. This is the order her master has given, it''s bound to her essence, she has to do something. ¡°...hey...I...still...¡±
The warrior looks at the trunks she''s buried under. ¡°Unexpected. I really lost my touch during retirement.¡± Can he see her, in her weak, puny form, which only exists with one arm and above the stomach? ¡°Let''s ignore her, we''re almost there.¡±
¡°...fight...me...¡± The young man starts chanting a spell. ¡°...I...kill...you...¡± One man starts running, following Bro most likely. ¡°...kill...kiiiiiilllll...¡±
Then the chanting stops: ¡°[Accelerate]!¡± Three men start running and are away in a blink, while the last one heads towards a different direction.
Left behind lies the oni, shamed and physically broken.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Kenta may be separated from us, but we have to go on. Kyou and Ara are still here, so we''ll be fine. Kenta has a plan, when we''re in the forest, he can put it into action.
Suddenly, we are overtaken by three people. It''s the wizard, the priest, and Instructor, all of them out of breath. The priest looks like he''s about to faint, I hope he''ll be alright?
¡°Would-be, encase all of us,¡± Instructor says while drawing his weapon. I have never seen Instructor that annoyed or angry before. The wizard begins to chant, but I can''t interrupt him, as Instructor confronts me with ragged breaths: ¡°This is enough, Stupid Disciple #1. I will bring you home.¡±
Why does he keep calling me #1? Nevermind, I draw Friedensbote, my trusty sword. It will clash with Nebelschnitter once again, a sword so sharp that it cuts through mist. If you look closely, even the rain is repelled by the sharpness of the blade. He''s still not using his buckler, so he''s not taking me seriously.
¡°[Fountain Gun]!¡± Ara shoots her spell at the wizard, but Instructor deflects it back to her, therefore she''s thrown back. ¡°Ouch.¡±
I need to keep Instructor busy, then Ara and Kyou can come up with a plan! I jump into action: ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± I use it to approach, and while Instructor is parrying this one, I''ll use my next skill: ¡°[Sweep]!¡±
Why am I the one upside down? I swing my legs to correct that. Danger from the front, I parry and bring my body out of the way to avoid that thrust. He actually attacked me! Finally! ¡°Stupid Disciple #1,¡± he groans as if I''m a great disappointment: ¡°Stop using those attacks. They''re bad for you. Also, you''re thinking about your attacks? Since when? I''ve put so much effort for you to move without using your meager brain before. Your sword tells me everything!¡±
Ah, Instructor once told me that a good swordsman is able to read the thoughts of his opponents from their weapon, which puts him one step ahead of everyone. ''It''ll be hard for anyone to blend their thoughts out, to live only in that moment, but you, Stupid Disciple, are almost there. I''ve never seen a child with a head as empty as yours.'' So I underwent his special training.
Wait a minute, that wasn''t a compliment! ¡°Oh, angry?¡± Instructor says as I swing my sword at him. He looks tired, but every move of him is as sharp as ever. ¡°I call you stupid, because you are!¡±
I may not be the brightest, but calling me stupid... it''s not like that! Kenta told me that''s because I never used my head because¡ because everyone always goes out of their way for me, because... because of people like you! ¡°YOU WERE MY INSTRUCTOR! WHY DID YOU LET ME BECOME THAT WAY!¡± I mount another attack.
He just avoids it. ¡°I''m not your parent, idiot, and wasn''t it you who skipped out her studies to train more?¡±
One more! ¡°YOU LET ME!¡±
He clashes his blade with mine and my fingers become numb. ¡°Because you''re as stubborn as me, and aren''t fit for studies in the first place.¡± He then picks up some dirt with his sword and hurls it at Kyou and Ara, who tried to sneak past us to the wizard.
Ara can evade, showing again how well she can manage with projectiles, while Kyou is hit at the side, whimpers once, and then falls down, holding her side in pain, as the speed of that dirt transformed it into a hard projectile.
¡°[Icicle Kn-]¡± Ara creates ice shards, but lets them drop, as Instructor is already between her and the wizard.
[Swishstride]! I''m mounting another attack from an angle, hoping this gives Ara the opportunity to get pass Instructor, but instead he back kicks my blade from the side. The impact makes his foot and Friedensbote bounce from each other, now he will kick me again, while I still need to get my arm back, I lift my arm for a block, but... the attack never comes.
Because Instructor makes sure to keep Ara in check, so that the wizard can finish his spell: ¡°[Earth Wall]!¡± Suddenly, the earth begins to move, dirt is rising, and we''re trapped in a wide ring of high and thick walls made of dirt. There is no escape now.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
This means I have to win. With Instructor not really making many offensive attempts, it means I only need to break through his defense. When I can land a hit, we can somehow make it work out.
Thrust, swing, hit, kick, jump-kick, sweep, swing, thrust! I just have to do it like Kenta said and be like always! Yes, confidence is coming to me, I can do it!
¡°You can''t.¡± My body freezes, as suddenly Instructor Gottfried punches where I was supposed to go to cut my movement, then he spins around me, trying to get his elbow on my head. He''s attacking now! This only means that I have driven him into a corner! ¡°You? I''m just tired of this farce. Though there is something I have noticed.¡± He takes a step back, swings Nebelschnitter through the ground and a wave of wet dirt is about to bury me, I can also only jump back.
¡°Urgh-¡± What? I look in the direction of the sound and see how Kyou is lifted into the air by Instructors foot, then he slams her to the ground, only to kick her so hard that she flies at the earthen wall and falls to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Anger wells inside me, as he has hurt her again! ¡°Leave! Us! ALONE!¡± If it weren''t for you... Kenta, Kyou, Ara! Why do you keep hurting them if it''s me that you want!
My body feels lighter than usual, as I start my next attack. Swing from above, yet also a kick from the side, he may dodge it, but with a somersault I can connect with a kick with my other foot! Blocked! Then use the recoil to get some distance.
I start running, then I fall into a sudden [Swishstride] to increase my speed, but that''s not all, I somehow realize, that I can do sidesteps without losing speed, so sidestep, [Swishstride], sidestep, in one second I am before Instructor, now behind him *Clank* ¡°[Swee-]¡± He trips me again, and I''m too fast! No, I''ll make a roll and jump back for another attack!
Oh, Instructor won''t let me! Instead, he''s about to kick me, but I only need to push myself from the ground at the right angle, and now I can swing my sword¡ªanother parry, but this is enough to get back on my feet.
I will take you on! I will beat you! You''ll see! Kyou and Ara will fight your companions, and Kenta will figure out how to break that wall.
As long as we''re all working together, nothing can stop us!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
My body hurts. Every step becomes torture. I can clearly feel the flesh where Gottfried cut me before, I can feel my bones screaming, all the pain I could ignore before comes back at me, so close to the finish line, which is the great forest.
There is someone behind me... Meldorn. I clench my spear, while I notice that he only has a bow. Finally some luck. No Gottfried in sight, now I just have to kill him and get away. Then they won''t follow, then we have won!
Kill him... kill him... ¡°Each thrust has to count. If you falter, the game gets away.¡± No, I can''t hesitate. I pull my hood deeper, steeling myself.
He looks at me. Without blame, without sorrow. He''s not hurt by my betrayal, it''s just as it is, and he will deal with it. He''s always in the moment, something I always admired.
Meldorn unleashes a barrage of arrows, and I bring my screaming body to circle around him, evading his attacks. I also use this to get closer to him, he has no spear with him, so as long as I get close, I win!
Wait, why is he running as well!? Why does he keep shooting!!! He also picks up the arrows he has shot and reuses them! This... mobile archery!? He gets closer! I try to hit away some arrows, as running alone won''t let me evade all, but two burrow into my body, one in my right arm, one in my right calf.
I need to get more distance, his rate of fire is way too high, I need to make him use up most arrows. He has two quivers, one of them already half empty. He doesn''t attack right now, most likely observing what I do while conserving arrows.
With my [Focus] on him, I can see clearly all of his movements, basically predicting each of them, though he really wastes no movements, which gives me the least possible time to react. However, I have my win-condition in this skirmish: I get into melee range when he''s out of ammo.
With this in mind, I start to move sideways, as if I''m looking for an attack angle, but in reality I move to the cluster of arrows from when I circled him before, and I step on them, making them break.
Meldorn shoots three arrows within a second, all of them with a curve their way to me. It reminds me of my [Seeker], though what he does is more like course alteration of the arc instead of a correction. So Meldorn really has [Skills].
I can''t [Focus] all three of those arrows, so let''s shake him up: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± My [Skill] propels me forward, and Meldorn lets another arrow lose, but I cancel my attack, deflect the arrow with my spear, and as I was about to chain another, the ground begins to shake, which made me look at the other side of the fissure for a moment.
Shit! There is a giant circular wall of earth there and I''m sure that the girls, Gottfried, and the rest of the party are inside... ...nothing I can do, concentrate on what''s in front of me: Meldorn. It feels like I''m about to piss myself and my whole body hurts, and there are still arrows stuck in it, but I have to work with what I have.
Back to destroying his arrows. He shoots at me again, but as long I have my [Focus], these straight shots will be blocked. *Stab* I feel a sharp pain in my arm. Did my block miss? No, he aimed at my arm in the first place... did he read my motion!? ¡°Monsters and animals adopt habits. Observe those, use those. When they''re under stress, they will always fall back on them, as those habits have helped them survive so far.¡±
The arrow is stuck through my left triceps, but I can still muster all my strength. Most likely because I''m a hero, but every movement hurts. He''s putting me on a timer here, I may not have the luxury of waiting!
Only one power surge left. If I use it, the pain it causes will incapacitate me, which means I will need some minutes to do anything other than staggering and crying out in agony. Even if I''m able to use that power surge to beat Meldorn, I can''t help anyone afterward.
Therefore, I have to deal with him without relying on that. Shit, I won''t say that I wasted my other two on Gottfried, but it''s bitter that they didn''t even make him comment on them, so short they fell.
Going on the offense now would be foolish. Meldorn has the larger reach, so he can attack me when I bridge the gap, it will also be increasingly difficult to avoid his arrows, and he already showed that he can run without losing his accuracy, and switching to bow myself would not only leave me open for a while, but also make me compete with him in an area where he''s much better than me.
What are the alternatives, though? Only an idiot would charge in just to become a pin cushion.
Call me an idiot.
Going [Pikeman], my muscles grow and contract around the three arrows that are stuck into my body, but I need the power and endurance. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± I''m either stupid or super-smart, predicting eight moves in advance, shocking Meldorn by doing exactly what shouldn''t be done.
One, two, three, four, five arrows. One in my right shoulder, two in my right side, one in my left side, and I even got a second into my right calf. However, I can shrug it off, don''t underestimate my [Pikeman]''s resilience! Meldorn retreats back without missing a beat, but I press forward, this time moving slightly to let an arrow bounce off the armguard of my left arm.
Here I am, my attack misses Meldorn, but I swing my spear, and I barely avoid another shot, as the shaft of my weapon hits him across the body, throwing him to the ground. Time for the finish blow! ¡°When you go for the killing blow, don''t doubt, don''t hesitate.¡±
My arms won''t move... Shit! MOVE! This is the chance! No, this isn''t the time to think how much I owe him! SHIT!
Meldorn jumps up and uses his bare hand to thrust an arrow to my face. I get a cut right on my forehead, as I barely dodge, and then he notches that arrow on his bow and- *BLAM* The shoulder part of my armor shatters, as I instinctively move to the side, and I''m thrown several meters backwards. As I land, I feel the prior arrows burying themselves deeper into my body...
I can''t. I can''t win this. Meldorn has outdone me in everything. Despite my efforts to mask the tracks, he tracked us. He''s a better archer, and bested me in melee combat. And even after I made my desperate attempt, and brought him to the point where I could make the kill, I hesitated, while he''s merciless.
If I can''t win a fight, I have to run. The great forest has to be behind the next hill. There I may hide myself, use the time to recover with pots and Kyou-san''s poultices, and then I can figure out what to do next.
I stand up, and even that doesn''t seem to faze Meldorn, even though I''m more of a bloody mess than a human right now. I run backwards, towards the hill, which makes Meldorn hesitate before he collects some of his arrows instead of chasing me immediately.
Almost at the hilltop, behind will be the forest, there I have a chance! Almost, almost!
Another arrow hits me, this time my left shin. It''s still stuck, but the moment I''m at the forest, I can use [Entangle] to hinder him, [Mask of Wildlife] to hide, I can-
Arriving on the hilltop, I see a great forest, still lush and carrying leaves in green, red, orange, and yellow. A perfect depiction of an autumn forest. However, what I believed to be a hilltop is actually a cliff and the forest is maybe thirty meters (almost 100 feet) below.
So I either jump or fight.
Fight it is.
I''m cornered and out of options. Even if I botch it, I won''t stop! If I stop now, everything I worked for so long will be for naught. All the effort, all the pain, all of it would become worthless.
I turn around, looking into Meldorn''s eyes, who still seems not to harbor any feelings towards me. I take my stance and deflect another arrow with my spear. I guess I¡¯ve become more and more like Rine, huh?
Suddenly, my foot breaks through the earth beneath, and my other leg gives in to the pain for a moment, causing me to lose balance. Another arrow hits me, and I''m thrown back a bit... I''m falling down the cliff... unable to move... sticking out boulder incoming.
*Gnraksh*
Oh. Red. It got into my eyes.
*Brrk, bk, srrrkkkrrc, rumble*
Volume 08 - Chapter 5-6
I can barely stand. That one attack was enough to make me almost faint. Rine-chan is fighting against Gottfried-san, and Arako watches the wizard, who in return observes us. Is there any way for us to break through?
Arako makes her move, she leaps at the wall, using it to make an even higher jump, as if she wants to prove that this wall wouldn''t be a hindrance, if she really wants to escape. The wizard hurls [Dirt Sling]s at her, but his aim is bad. ¡°Try practicing with moving targets,¡± Arako taunts him, while she begins to shoot her [Fountain Gun] midair at him, making the wizard jump back in shock. While he dodges the spell itself, the ground it hits shoots up in mud, dirtying his robes.
¡°[Stamina]!¡± I use my spell on Rine-chan, who rapidly loses her SP, as she pushes herself further than ever before. I can''t even follow the movements of her and Gottfried-san, they both appear as blurry blobs that flash occasionally, so I can only cast at Rine-chan when she''s distancing herself from him to start a new assault.
Arako uses her spells'' propulsion to jump back and forth, using her aerial angle to rain down spell after spell at the wizard, who is now hiding inside his [Watershield], though suddenly it begins to boil: ¡°[Steam Jet]!¡± Of course it doesn''t hit Arako, but the deadly looking steam jet begins to fan: ¡°[Cold Cranes]!¡± It transforms into a swarm of icy birds that assault Arako from different sides!
¡°[Stingfall]!¡± She just escapes by shooting at the wizard with her staff first. The birds crash into each other, breaking and creating an icy mist!
¡°[Earth Shield]!¡± He blocks the attack with another spell!
¡°Have fun!¡± Arako says as she turns around and attacks Gottfried-san out of all things! She thrusts her staff into the blurry blob, and it suddenly turns into three people, as Rine-chan and Arako are pushed back, though both fall on their feet. ¡°Katarine-san, I can provide you with support.¡±
¡°Together, we will do it!¡±
¡°Don''t ignore me! [Stone Bullet]!¡± The wizard opens his shield to attack with parts of it, but Arako doesn''t even move and the spell hits nothing.
¡°Your magic is impressive, your aiming not so much,¡± she says to him flippantly.
¡°Wannabe,¡± Gottfried-san now comments on this: ¡°Let them. Stay on alert until we know whether Meldorn got the boy or not.¡±
...so Ken is facing Meldorn? I look at his status. When we separated, he already had several injuries that only got some first aid, but I can see how he has several bleeding statuses, and his [Stamina] and [Health]-values have decreased.
Suddenly, his bar changes. At first it looks like he has regained HP, from below half to little more than half, but I quickly notice that his maximum [Health] has decreased greatly. It takes another hit, this time he''s also below a quarter, despite the ever decreasing max. [Condition] after [Condition] are added, causing my field of view to be overwhelmed by the number of [Conditions] that start to clutter it, as they need time to order themselves.
The few words I can read make my face lose all its warmth. [Cracked Skull], [Broken Limb: Left Leg], [Broken Limb: Right Leg], [Inner Bleeding: Severe], [Ruptured Organ: Liver]... what... ¡°No... no! NO!¡± This can''t be! HP-bar, go up! No, no, no, no! Don''t drop to zero! [Health], which is the maximal value shows 3. His [Health Points] are just 1. The bar may say he has a third of his HP, but this is a lie!
A new [Condition] takes up my screen... [Dying]. He''s bleeding out! Ken... help! HELP!
Arako and Rine-chan haven''t noticed, as they haven''t made their status screens grow, so Ken''s bar is only the tiniest speck of color at the border of their fields of vision. ¡°RINE-CHAN! KEN... Ken is...¡± My voice breaks, as I can''t put the terror I feel into words.
Arako reacts immediately, she jumps to the wall, trying to escape that wall, but Gottfried-san makes his move... the same cut that has separated Ken from us is now acting as a slanted ceiling of this prison, the one that creates a barrier of sharpness. The alfr let herself fall down to the ground, knowing that the only way to circumvent it would either be to break through the thick earthen walls or by passing Gottfried-san.
¡°UAAAH!¡± Rine-chan makes an attack, but Gottfried-san jumps feet-first and catches her sword between them, then he spins in the air to yank at the weapon and disarm Rine-chan, who just lets go of her weapon, looking like she wants to kill Gottfried-san with her bare hands.
¡°Tch.¡± Gottfried-san uses his free hand to push himself from the ground and makes a sword strike from below, aiming at Rine-chan''s ring. The attack is so powerful that it pushes Rine-chan back. ¡°You lost your focus.¡±
¡°LET US OUT!¡± She cries in anger and despair: ¡°KENTA NEEDS US!¡±
¡°Does he?¡± Gottfried-san asks, his words even sharper than his blade, ¡°I assume that you somehow know that Meldorn got him. Why is he in this position in the first place? Has he decided to kidnap the princess or was it an idiot that didn''t know her place that stuck around?¡±
¡°Tha-that''s not-¡±
¡°Do you claim to have been brainwashed by him? Do you really think I could cross swords with you without learning that there is not a hint of mental alteration? Anger, yes. A tint of guilt as well.¡±
Tears are welling up in Rine-chan''s eyes, but she jumps forward, even without a weapon, she won''t give up, and Arako stays behind her, ready to do whatever. Gottfried-san makes a sidestep though, evading Rine-chan''s strike by letting her pass by, and hits Arako in the face. ¡°Uff!¡±
¡°STOP!¡± Rine-chan turns around to elbow her instructor, but he hits it with the grip of his sword, right into her crazy bone, which makes her squeak in pain while stumbling back.
Gottfried-san then sweeps Arako from her feet and hits her in the stomach... no, Arako! ¡°[Protect]!¡± Thanks to this spell combined with [Empower], Ken was able to endure--- Ken! His status hasn''t changed, but it gives me grim and horrifying pictures.
¡°STOP HURTING HER!¡± Rine-chan jumps at her teacher, yet she suddenly flies through the air, as Gottfried-san continues to kick my friend, who is on the ground. I wish I could be angry, but I feel only an icy cold.
I realized. Gottfried-san will make Arako and me suffer. He will make us suffer, as this will hurt Rine-chan more than anything else. This man wants her to give up, to make her cease all resistance, by breaking her resolve, her desires, and everything she can still lose.
The moment I step in, Gottfried-san will also attack me, hurting me, which will make Rine-chan feel even more anguish. So I can only act from afar: ¡°[He-aargh...¡± I don''t even know what hit me, but I slam into the earthen wall, intense pain runs through my entire body, my back feels like the skin there swells thrice as thick, and while I gasp for air, I feel my tears running down my dirty face.
¡°KYOU! [SWE-!¡± Rine-chan flies through the air again, landing on her feet like it''s nothing, but I feel a shadow above me. I''m scared! He will hurt me, and he will do so again and again, not even injuring me lethally, as I''m just a means to an end.
¡°Hyaaaargh...¡± A cold pain runs through my shoulder, as warm blood gushes forth. He... he stabbed me! No, this blood, don''t leave me! I can hardly breathe, as every motion hurts, and the terror and shock makes my breath ragged.
Suddenly, my head clears up again, though I''m still scared. Is this my survival instinct? Or the hero-system? I need to heal myself, but as long as Gottfried-san is here- ¡°This is enough, Kati,¡± Gottfried-san says, his sword still inside my shoulder. He sounds tired, and he even uses Rine-chan''s nickname, trying to talk to her on a more emotional level. ¡°Give up.¡±
¡°NO!¡± Rine-chan is still enraged and is about to attack again, but Gottfried-san twists his blade... don''t cry, don''t cry me! I won''t give him that satisfaction! Yet it''s enough to make Rine-chan falter.
Then suddenly, Gottfried-san retracts the blade from me and something drips on my face... I see barefooted feet, nice laces there... blood...
No... NO! Horror makes me forget the pain I underwent just a few moments ago, as I recognize the dangling feet of Arako, stabbed through the stomach, her bright red blood flooding out, covering my face.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Hiaaa. Aaaah... U... Hyak... Jk... Uaaaaaa...... ...ierrrr... shee... Unable to form a coherent thought, at the bottom of a cliff between the trees there lies something that does just barely resemble a human in shape and mind. Warped by circumstances, it lies there, tortured by pain, and if it could think, it would go mad.
A red line marks the path the creature took downwards, covering the rocks on the cliff''s wall in big red splashes, while the creature itself lies in a pool of it, and if it could feel anything beyond agony, it would feel coldness, underlined with even more pain.
Hk-hk-a-a... How does it breathe? How does it wince? Looking at the inhuman creature some may ask these questions. Could it move? Could it see? The answer is no, though a morbid curiosity may want to put it to the test
Yet the creature doesn''t care, as it couldn''t care about anything, not even its own sorry existence. In this moment, in this beautiful moment, the creature was a being that just is, with no needs, no wants, no desires. Someone could steal from it, and it wouldn''t mind. Someone may hurt it, and yet it won''t feel any more pain. Someone would kill it, and it would say thank you.
Because if it could speak, it would ask for mercy of death.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨DA case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Anger is welling up, I charge Sir Gottfried once more, he may be my instructor, but right now, he''s also my enemy. Not an opponent anymore, an enemy!
Ara must have attacked him, because she couldn''t see him torturing Kyou anymore, and while he speaks like he''s tired of this, like this has been a game that went for far too long, his actions show how merciless he will become if he sees the need. Like impaling my friend.
This is not a game! This is something Kenta would--- I fight back my tears, as I need to concentrate on the thing at hand, but my thoughts wander back to Kenta, who seems to be really, really hurt. He''s dying and I can''t help him!
However, I can help Ara! My courageous friend surprises me by clutching the blade that goes through her stomach out of her back, as if she''s claiming it. She...
Without a shred of hesitation anymore, I use [Swishstride] for a new attack angle. She''s doing it to limit Gottfried''s actions, so I need to make it work! I have no sword, so I will kick him!
¡°Stop it,¡± says the supposed knight to me, not to Ara. He pushes up the blade a bit¡ªalfr included¡ªand my friend begins to wince in pain, as her arms begin to loosen and all of her limbs are threshing around like the limbs of a doll in the hand of a small child. I have never heard this heart-rending sound from her before.
This is wrong. This shouldn''t happen. Sir Gottfried may be rude, but he was kind. ¡°A---A---A---¡± The strength in my legs weaken, and tears run down my face, unable to say the name of my friend, who suddenly tries to grab the old man''s face, only to be thrust away once again, so much that her body runs alongside the blade a bit. What is her plan? It''s Ara, she has to have a plan.
She doesn''t. She''s desperate. She let go of her staff when she was stabbed, and now just uses her bare hands, because she has no other choice.
Sir Gottfried sighs, as she makes a next attempt, then he punches her face from the side, more blood splashes from her torso and her unusually high cheekbone is where it shouldn''t be, as her pupils roll upwards and she loses consciousness.
¡°You see?¡± Sir Gottfried looks like a giant to me, a giant with a tiny Ara on his sword. A giant who looks down on me, like I was just a child.
At this moment, I have a revelation. Something clicks. Kenta was right all along, people are complicated and can have many motives for their actions. The intent is as important as the action itself.
Sir Gottfried was rude, he was kind, but he was also merciless, when he''s on a battlefield. We talked hours about what mindset I should have in battle, and he embodies all of it. Why did I never consider that he would push all his kindness aside, even though this was like lesson three?
Ara is smart, but she''s also lazy at times. She knows how to put effort, but does it only for her own interests. She also feels a kinship to us that is foreign to her, though she complained about how she starts to rush into battle because of these feelings, which made her end up like this. She may be in control most of the time, in her own unique way, but she hasn''t learned how to control this new side of her.
Father may be a just ruler, but he''s also a kind father. However, when he gets angry, he''s really scary, and when he sets his mind on something, then he becomes stubborn, and only a few can bring him down and so he can be open-minded again.
I learned how selfish I really am. I learned how people are not always as they say or seem. I knew that I put everyone in danger. Yet while I knew it in my head, my heart didn''t accept it, it was as stubborn as Father.
Kenta, Kyou, and Ara. All of them are suffering because of me. This is all my fault.
All the strength in my legs falter, and I land on my butt, as tears are flooding nonstop out of my eyes. Hot guilt pierces me through the heart, sending icy cold waves from my heart to the rest of my body.
¡°Stb, pws stb!¡± I beg him to stop. While I may be the one responsible for this, only he can end it. Because I''m still a child, because I could never stand on my own.
It''s time to become an adult. Accept my duties and forfeit any fun I had. And what fun I had, every day was a bliss. Side by side with friends I never had before, being a girl in love, experiencing great battles and adventures.
But I''m a princess. The moment I was born, I had some freedoms nobody had, but I also had my duties. Today marks the day where I stop playing games.
It hurts. It hurts so much, but this pain is nothing compared to what Ara is feeling. Or what Kenta is experiencing, and their pain hurts me more. I just have to give up my daydreams to save them, it''s a small price to pay.
If my friendship and selfishness is the cause of all that suffering, I don''t need it. As long as they''re safe, I don''t need to be happy ever again.
Sir Gottfried hears my plea, and his answer is as short and direct as it can be. ¡°Give up, and I let her go. Your selfishness has been going on for too long.¡±
Thank you.
In relief, my sobbing intensifies. I''m so happy I can only nod in agreement, smiling from eye to eye: ¡°Un...un...un...¡±
¡°Alright,¡± Gottfried looks at Ara, who still lies unconscious on his arm. ¡°I should have avoided all her inner organs... though thinking of it, I don''t know elven anatomy. Nonetheless, it''s something that the pontiff can fix.¡± With a sudden movement, Arako flies from his sword, landing in the sand, like a puppet with cut strings. ¡°Wannabe-archwizard, you open your walls, pontiff, take care of the elf.¡±
While he may have handled her very rough, I''m thankful. The pontiff kneels down and puts both of her hands on Ara. ¡°[Heal]!¡± Her outer wounds close, and the pontiff seems to be impressed how much this spell alone did. Yet he''s not finished with his treatment. ¡°[Rejuvenate]!¡± He emits an aura of light, which was transferred to Ara, but then bounces back into the human, again and again, until my friend lies there, pale with her skin slightly bluish, but I can see through her bloody dress that the wounds not just closed, but there is new skin as well. This seems to be a very powerful healing spell. However, the priest is out of breath, sweaty from head to toe and wobbly on his knees.
Thank you.
¡°You there,¡± he says to Kyou, who is still down and looks pale, clutching her shoulder wound: ¡°You come with us as well. Understood?¡±
¡°...yes.¡± Kyou accepts this calmly.
I want to object, Kyou should be left alone. ¡°Wo, plb-¡±
¡°You be quiet now, Kati.¡± With a single order, I''m reminded of how thankful I am. Who am I to question his decisions anyway, as I never did a decent one in my life?
The earthen walls, our prison, begin to sink back into the earth and I see the huntsman waiting. He just nods to Gottfried-san, but the old knight asks: ¡°Is he still alive?¡± Is he talking about Kenta?
¡°Barely. He fell down the cliff and is currently bleeding out. I couldn''t find a path to him within the time-frame.¡±
¡°I see. Well, we have what we want, and killing him was just a bonus.¡± So will they leave Kenta alone?
¡°P-p-¡± I need to ask the pontiff to get to Kenta as well, to heal him! He has to be saved, and a person like me shouldn''t even try it.
¡°Stupid Disciple #1, stop your wailing and stand up.¡±
¡°Un.¡± He''s right. Kenta is better off when we leave him alone... I''m standing up, doing as I''m told is so easy.
¡°You as well, girl,¡± he says to Kyou, who also follows the order, though it seems like standing is really painful. ¡°Pontiff, take care of her as well.¡± Yay, he''s kind!
¡°What about her?¡± The wizard asks while pointing at Ara, who still needs to regain consciousness.
¡°We leave her here. There is no reward, and I don''t care about her.¡±
This is for the better. Ara will take care of Kenta. They''re much more capable than me, and without me, they won''t be in trouble anymore. They can go to Zethtrin and remove the curse-
You''ve been separated from your husband.
You and your sister-wife Momokawa Kyou have been kidnapped. You must escape from your captures and reunite with your husband. He will be worried sick. If you don''t, the curse will first inflict your husband again and then fall back to you and your sister-wives as well! Hurry!
No, curse. You got several things wrong. I''m not kidnapped, I''m just returning home. Kenta isn''t worried about me, he will be glad that I''m gone. No more Correro, no more oni, no more other heroes, he will have no enemies anymore.
If they''re fast, they may get to Zethtrin in time and get the curse removed. Now that I think of it, we have a pontiff here, so maybe he knows how to remove or at least delay the curse?
This is for the better. Kyou, Ara, Kenta... I''m sorry. Because of me, all of you suffered. Kyou, I''m sorry that I''ll continue to make you suffer for a while. Soon, all of you will be happy again.
Because you were able to make even someone like me truly happy for the first time in her life, a happiness that surpassed any fun, any joy I had before, just by being with you.
Thank you.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
...shit. Here I am, at the bottom of a cliff, lying in my own blood, vomit, and feces, broken, in great pain, and alone. This may be the third time, but this is the first time it was literally.
Those who may believe that physical pain may be bad, but nothing can beat the torture and agony of mental and/or emotional pain, I¡¯d like them to break both their legs. Right now. I suffer that and much more, and the only reason why I''m still even conscious is because my body knows that the moment I lose consciousness, I''ll die.
For better or worse, the torturous pain I feel makes me stay awake, though it''s scary how numbing this burning, ice-cold sensation of having every bone, every nerve of your body choked by barbed wire is. I may only feel the tip of the iceberg, and every other second I''m driven back into insanity for a moment, unable to even form a coherent thought, becoming something less than human.
Whenever I''m aware, I try to figure out the current state.
One of my eyes won''t open, the other one feels like someone put acid into it, but even through the veil of tears and blood, I can see how my right arm is in front of me and makes some way-too-sharp turns, and has too much bone to offer.
Unlike my mouth. I can only guess how many teeth I have left, I may have lost part of my tongue, and moving the jaws sends me into another hell of pain. I would like to check my torso, seeing how much my sides cave in right now, but I can''t move, and staying awake becomes more and more of a chore.
How did I come into this situation? I mean, the irony is hard, though the rocks I hit were much harder. How much brain-damage did I suffer?
I hear sirens in my head, I can''t help it, I start to see that face, start to remember everything, and if I die, I''ll do so while thinking about it. I don''t want that.
Yes, this is it, a bit of resistance, this will help me. Let''s see... I guess my left arm is somewhat functional, at least it moves when I tell it to, though it feels like ants are eating up my flesh, while someone pushes hot wires into my nerves.
Ahhhhh! There it is... Through the veil I see a thing that''s most likely my hand. Something shimmers on it. Ouch! Blinking hurts! Tears are flowing, not sure if it''s because of the pain or dust though. Well, this arm is all I have, so I guess I need to work through the pain. Why bother though? I mean, I''ve done it, so I can rest now, right?
For two seconds, my eyesight becomes a tad less blurry, and I look at the shimmer. It''s a ring.
¡
How do I open my status again? Looking straight while concentrating on the bits at the border of my field of vision.
Open. Open! ¡°Phwwwwww!!¡± It''s almost inaudible, but my sighs let me shudder in pain, which makes everything ache even more!
Why does something I usually do without a thought have to be so difficult this time? Probably because I''m less whole than a hundred-year old rag.
Something else pops up though.
You''ve been separated from your wives.
Momokawa Kyou and Katarine von Stolzherz have been taken away from you! You need to rescue them! If you don''t, the curse will reactivate in increments, until it''s back to its full power.
Well, at least they''re still alive, and probably better off than me. What about Ara-san? As I can feel the directions of where the girls are, I guess the single one would be her, while the two in the same direction are Kyou-san and Rine.
Yep, they got Rine, and it seems Kyou-san is with her as well. That was unavoidable, I knew that resisting would only bring harm, but couldn''t help it, and now everything goes how it''s supposed to be, just worse.
How stupid of me. Even more stupid than Rine''s expectation and optimism, that we would be somehow able to get away, or that she can win, if she puts her mind into it. Ha, she smiled as stupid as always, without a hint of doubt.
...shit.
Guess, I need to do it after all. I just wish I could switch off the pain, though I think my brain did the best it could do. Tears are still falling from my eye, blood is leaving my body, and I feel thirsty, despite the feeling that blood is running down my throat.
Well, I have an arm left. Let''s aim for one centimeter (less than half an inch) first. My finger moves, trying to grab the hard ground. Oh, it''s grass on top of it.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Alright, now let''s slowly grab the grass.
HYYYAAAAAAAAK!
Not too shabby. Now be a bit greedy and try to pull the body that one centimeter.
WUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHHH!
...too greedy. Let''s aim for a millimeter next. Oh, what is this? My spear. Hey spear, you''re less than a meter away from my hand, the pole is also broken at two points so that only some fiber is holding it together, but would you mind jumping into my hand right now?
¡
Guess, I need to make the detour as well... First, one millimeter.
Volume 08 - Chapter 6-1 – Stand Up!
¡°Mirianne! Hitch up another wagon!¡± The eighteen-year old girl with light brown braids and freckles walks to the stables to get the draft donkeys, Daylight and Moonshine. Both of them are reddish brown, like usual donkeys, but Moonshine has a pale pink spot on his muzzle.
¡°Here you go.¡± She puts the harness on both of them and ties it to the wagon, which will be used to transport the sheaves from the field to the barn today. For a farming girl, this should be the most exciting time of the year, but Mirianne can''t help but grimace, as she tightens all the buckles and belts. ¡°Are you fine, you two?¡± Not that the donkeys would answer her, instead their long tongues lick around their tusks, that have been shortened and smoothed for safety long ago. ¡°Yes, yes, I know.¡± Mirianne takes a brush and puts a syrupy coating on the tusks that contains salt and sugar, which will take a while to be licked off. ¡°Happy?¡± Again, no answer.
She leads the donkeys and therefore the wagon to the front of the main house of the farmstead, where her family members are waiting. Her grandfather, her mother, and some of her older siblings and their spouses, as the others are busy otherwise. Her mother, who is the matriarch of her family, makes a check at the harness, which makes Mirianne angry. She''s eighteen and does her work properly, no matter how much she may despise it sometimes! ¡°Seems alright. Everyone, let''s go!¡±
They''re going to the field to harvest as much as possible, as this year, the plants grew only slowly, and therefore mother decided to wait as long as possible. They already got the grain, now it''s the vegetable fields. They need to remove the fences that kept critters and smaller monsters away, and harvest everything in one go, which may take the whole sunlight they had today.
Mirianne doesn''t like that thought.
She also doesn''t notice her mother, who is now walking next to her, until she speaks up: ¡°Mirianne, about your husband...¡±
Not again! Mirianne is unmarried, which is really scandalous for a girl of her age and occupation, most of her older siblings have married between thirteen and fifteen, but so far, Mirianne could avoid that fate. However, her mother speaks about ''her husband'' as if it''s an established fact that she will eventually marry! ¡°Mom, this isn''t the time-¡±
¡°You avoid me whenever possible, so this is the only time. What about Morik?¡± This is one of the assistants.
¡°He''s a drunkyard.¡±
¡°Fauno?¡± This is the heir of another farmstead.
¡°He''s much older than me, and a cheapskate.¡±
¡°Bravio?¡±
¡°He''s only twelve!¡±
¡°Girl, you waited for so long that you don''t have many options left.¡±
¡°I already told you, I want to move to the city anyway!¡±
¡°With whose money?¡±
¡°I can somehow manage.¡±
¡°As a harlot you may. No, you stay with us, the honest people, the real workers. You think you can become an artisan''s apprentice at your age?¡± She doesn''t mention that the reason why Mirianne didn''t become one when she was thirteen was that her mother never let her go to the city since she was eleven, keeping her on the farmstead on purpose, while traveling alone was dangerous.
With monsters to contend with and a five days trip to the next city, it is very dangerous for anyone to go alone. If Mirianne was allowed to accompany her siblings to a trip to the city, she would have been able to find apprenticeship, she was sure.
However, instead of arguing with her mother she goes silent.
It''s not like Mirianne isn''t interested in men, on the contrary, she''s very curious about them. Yet she doesn''t feel that yearning for farming boys. They may be honest, but they''re also bland. They may be strong, but also rough. They can be smart, but they''re very pragmatic.
The guys she''s looking for are more... adventurous. Because the life she''s looking for is greater than the farmstead. Her mother won''t even let her into the city for the wedding and makes her wait for the annual visit of the wandering priests for the ceremony, just like her siblings.
Nonetheless, today is vegetable harvesting day and they will also get more of the sheaves later.
Being unable to take her own life in her hands, Mirianne sometimes dreams about a prince visiting her farmstead, and carrying her away.
This dream sustains her in times like these, as she lifts the turnips by their leaves and uses her sickle to separate the bulb from the lower roots. At least the ground is softened by the rain.
The fields are close to a large forest, which makes them more fertile than other pieces of land around here. Her ancestor has supposedly burned parts of the forest down to make those fields, but this also means that there are always monsters to be aware of. Most of the men, and some of the women, here are able to wield a spear right, so they can defend themselves and the harvest, but some years there are stronger monsters going around. For this, the posts on top of the cliff, which is the natural border to the forest, are important. Like on the donkey-tusks, there is a syrup smeared on them, but it gives off a smell that the forest monsters can''t stand.
As she looks at one of the posts, she notices something. It''s a glimmer. What is this? It''s red... a hand? She comes closer, trying to see details.
¡°Mirianne, what''s wrong?¡±, asks her sister-in-law, Lurise, who carries a barrel full of vegetables over her shoulder.
¡°There! There is a person!¡± Mirianne points at the arm, which is now dangling over the cliff. Is it trying to pull a body? ¡°Come, Nee-san!¡±
¡°Wait!¡± Lurise puts down the heavy barrel and hurries after Mirianne, who is already going up the narrow path up the cliff.
The braided girl runs until she arrives at the person. Three out of four limbs seem to be broken, it bleeds from several wounds, and there are pieces of wood sticking into it. It also wears armor and a hood... a hood? A ranger? A real ranger!? ¡°Are you alright!?¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°...e...e...¡± Mirianne can''t tell whether these sounds are an attempt to answer or just occur randomly, however, even though looking at it makes Mirianne''s stomach turn, she also realizes that every second counts.
¡°Mirianne,¡± Lurise also arrives and behind her, several other workers are also approaching, curious about what is happening here. ¡°Wha-¡± Her sister-in-law is at a loss for words.
For Mirianne, there is no time to hesitate though. She tears at her dress, but doesn''t have the strength to rip it. She then realizes that she still has her sickle, cuts pieces of her sleeves and skirt, and starts bandaging the wounds, though she doesn''t really know where to start. ¡°We need splints!¡± She looks for branches on the ground.
¡°Stop it.¡± Lurise says sadly, ¡°Look at it. It''s just dying.¡±
¡°No! Look, it''s a ranger, it must have fought a dangerous monster, it''s here to warn us!¡± Mirianne doesn''t even know if she''s speaking aloud a conclusion or parts of her daydreams. She has a branch as a splint, she has her skirt as a bandage, but her fingers tremble, as they close in to the broken arm, knowing that they have to set the bones straight.
¡°Let me,¡± says Uncle Bemjan, who is more or less the medical expert in the family. ¡°If the treatment doesn''t kill it... him,¡± he corrects himself, as he takes a closer look, ¡°he may at least live. Somehow.¡± With a swift motion, he stretches the arm.
¡°.a.a.a.a¡± The ranger doesn''t moan, he also doesn''t cry out. It seems like he wants to, but is so damaged that using his voice for longer than a fraction of a moment is impossible.
Uncle Bemjan then pushes back the bones into the body, it doesn''t seem professional in any way, and was hopefully less painful as it looks, but Mirianne presses the branch on the arm, while Uncle Bemjan bandages it.
Mirianne notices something strange. ¡°His arm moves strangely! Uncle!¡±
¡°This... his bone is setting up correctly on its own!?¡± Not only that, but with every bandage, the injuries grow less severe before their eyes! It''s like the ranger magically makes the treatment easier and faster! ¡°We may have a hero on our hands,¡± Uncle Benjam explains to the family.
A ranger and a hero? Mirianne''s heart palpates so fast, that she can feel it jumping in her throat.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°We''ll rest here,¡± Gottfried-san affirms Meldorn-san''s suggestion. We have walked the rest of the day and now it''s time for a camp. He then proceeds to sit down on the ground, waving the pontiff beside him.
The other old man starts to touch Gottfried-san''s neck and shoulder, but I can feel [Divine Magic] at work. ¡°You have overdone it, Sir Knight. Your back seems to be especially hurt.¡±
¡°Of course, it''s the pillar of my body.¡± I use [Check-up] to look at Gottfried-san''s medical condition, and it seems that he has strained muscles and hurting nerves all over his body. This has to be the result of doing all these inhuman deeds at his age. ...so he would have been fine if he was a decade younger!?
I feel someone approaching me, it''s Meldorn, who gestures to me to move aside. Then the wizard waves his hands while chanting, and a slab out of hardened earth protrudes from the ground, serving as a slanted wall. He then starts to make another, creating something like crude buildings.
In fact, most of our captor¡¯s supplies are with their dead horses, that''s why we''re heading back to that abandoned farmstead first. This means that this camp will be much worse than what they''re used to, while I''m considering whether we should take out our tents from our [Inventory] or not.
I look at Rine-chan, who still remains silent, not saying a single word since Gottfried-san told her to stay quiet. The fire in her eyes seems to be out, while the color is the same, it''s just hollow. Something must have broken inside her, and I''m worried.
I sigh, as I take one of our tents from my backpack. ¡°Wha-¡± The wizard seems to be shocked, as I pulled a large flysheet from my backpack, followed by the poles and boards that will make the frame. ¡°Is this magic? I never have seen that... has to be [Alteration]... Ah, I see, some sort of shrinking spell,¡± he quickly overplays his surprise. He sounds like an arrogant prick.
That''s why I love to pop that balloon: ¡°It''s a hero''s backpack. Most likely some sort of so-called [God Magic], but no mere [Alteration].¡± [Alteration] is one of the magics of a wizard, a magic that somehow alters the traits of objects and people. ¡°That you don''t even recognize that, despite being so good at [Alteration]...¡±
He just lifts an eyebrow, snorts, and then he turns around. I guess that he just sees me as a brat, even though he''s in his twenties at best, not that much older. Let''s leave him be for a while, he seems to be the lowest ranking member here.
¡°Rine-chan, help me with the tent, please,¡± I ask her while arranging the boards. This may be a good opportunity to speak with her without anyone listening in.
However, she doesn''t move a muscle, and instead Meldorn-san comes close: ¡°How can I help?¡±
I smile at him, but I feel the urge to draw my knife and thrust it into his throat. Because of him... because of him! Ken seems to be stable, thankfully, but I know exactly that this man has almost killed him. Because of Meldorn, Gottfried-san could find us in the first place!
No, I have to stay rational. Ken has survived, which means he will come for us. He has plenty of reasons to do so, therefore the question is how will I bide my time in the meanwhile, and sucking up to people is an easy way to learn about them, to manipulate them. Yet I''m their prisoner, so I answer grumpily. ¡°Thank you. Carry the pole there, and that chest? There are tackles in there.¡± Being too polite would be suspicious, given the circumstances.
While building up the tent, I''m considering how to start a small talk. He doesn''t seem like a guy who will fall victim to some compliments, or that will feel important by teaching someone, so how do I go around that? I like to aim at his personal life directly, but at this point, I shouldn''t show too much interest, as we''re still enemies.
When I look at this man, I can''t help but feel resentment, which makes it hard to think about something other than ways to end his life, though I''m sure that putting them into practice would end the moment I initialize it. Not only because of Gottfried-san, but Meldorn-san himself was able to beat Ken close to death.
¡°He fell.¡±
I need a second to realize what the hunter is saying. Yes, he told Gottfried-san that Ken fell down a cliff, which surely explains how he could be this... He will come! He may just need a while to heal his broken legs... Maybe a month? His [Stamina] might be high enough to resist the curse that long, but as the injuries also reduced that... ¡°Because of you.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± I feel a hint of sadness in his posture: ¡°I couldn''t find a way to him.¡± Why does it sound like he''s insecure whether to put an end to his misery or to help him.
¡°He''s alive,¡± I say with full confidence before I can hold myself back. He gives me that look full of sympathy, which makes me infuriated! ¡°He''s alive for real!¡± Maybe I shouldn''t tell him, no, I certainly shouldn''t, but that''s the one thing I can''t lie about: ¡°He will return, after he has recovered enough.¡±
Suddenly, Meldorn-san seems to be minutely relieved, as if he trusts my words... oh, I have forgotten: Meldorn isn''t a hero. So my [Persuasion] works on him, so he is more likely to believe me. I also have the feeling that he can see right through me, which is rather concerning, but it underlines my words as well.
¡°Interesting,¡± I hear Gottfried-san''s voice behind me. I shriek a bit, I haven''t noticed him at all, so he has startled me. He''s also half-naked, and despite his age, his body looks very muscular. Not bloated brawny, more like the muscles of a dancer... or fighter? I guess like Bruce Lee? ¡°So, why do you know so well, girl?¡±
¡°I''m Momokawa Kyou.¡±
¡°Become someone whose name I can bother to remember, and then I may call you that. Nice tent though. Are you sharing with Kati?¡±
¡°Aren''t you afraid that we could plot our escape?¡±
¡°No, you both know better. However, it''s time for a talk. There are some things that I''ve heard that you have to explain, and some other questions on my mind.¡±
Volume 08 - Chapter 6-2
In a panicked heat, I stand up by pressing my hands against the ground, jumping back on my feet, as only a true [Acrobat] can do. My ears move as I try to locate the spirit I just felt, that dreaded kind that makes my nails curl. Squirrels!
Yes, I recognize them. This is bad, they will get me, they will take me, no, I have to get away from them! With this single thought on my mind, I try my best to slowly retreat so that I won''t fall into their hands again.
Given, the first time they took me while I was asleep, but- Oh, I didn''t notice this window.
Your sister-wives have been kidnapped.
Momokawa Kyou and Katarine von Stolzherz have been taken away! Regroup with your husband, make a plan to rescue them, and then do it. If you don''t, the curse will be back, first on your husband and then spread to the rest of you.
Right, there was a reason why I was asleep, and the irony doesn''t escape me that the last time I read that message it was me and Kenta who were supposedly taken away.
I look down at my dress, only to see bloodstains and a gaping hole in it, though the skin seems to be fine. However, I remember the quite painful experience of being stabbed, as I behaved like a human, put everything logical behind me, acted out of emotion, and got the just desert, with blood loss and organ failing on top.
I move my ears, trying to sense the spirit of Katarine-san and Momo, but I can neither see, hear, nor feel them. How long was I out? I also feel quite unstable on my legs, and this is bad, as the fact that I woke up was because a dreaded squirrel was at the border of my spirit sense.
There it is... no, it''s another one. No, two. Both of them move over the broad, circular heap of earth, which marks the former border of the fight. Or to be more precise, how we one-sidedly flailed around meaninglessly.
The squirrels are approaching and even if I can run away, I won''t be able to escape. I may need to converse with these critters, as they may prove to be a valuable source of information regarding what happened when I was out.
Everything hints that Katarine-san and Momo has been captured, especially that status-message, it also seems like I was healed beyond Momo''s capacity, so they may have made a deal: Katarine-san and Momo cease the resistance and Gottfried-kun''s side would heal me.
Yet I don''t know the direction they went in, and if it''s the same that Kenta-kun is in, which is conferred to me by the curse of the [Lioness'' Wedding Ring].
I have truly acted a lot like a human recently. I may even become more like one on an emotional level. I had the doubtful optimism that Gottfried-kun let his guard down enough before attacking, based on nothing but a few successes in seeing through and dodging his attacks.
This isn''t good. I''m an alfr after all, I need to act upon fun and logic, and the latter demands of me to set my fears aside and converse with the squirrels to learn more about the situation, even if I want to run away and hide.
¡°Greetings,¡± I start, knowing that my spirit and my [Whisperer] will give them the general idea of what I''m saying: ¡°I know, that our relationship may be strained,¡± especially considering that Katarine-san killed half of them as she reclaimed my kitchen, or rather claimed it in the name of Kenta-kun: ¡°Yet I want to ask you some questions.¡± With [Whisperer], I also get an idea of what they want to confer: They ask for help themselves. ¡°With what?¡± Their boss got shredded and while she''s healing, they''re looking for food for her, but she doesn''t seem to like the nuts they brought.
The boss has to be the oni who had shown up, and the shredding was done by Gottfried-kun, which shows either how durable she is, or how little he cared about her. I also suspect that the squirrels can''t really understand the oni and are sticking to her as she may be the only person with the will and skill to kill Katarine-san.
Though now Katarine-san is with Gottfried-kun and it''d be foolish to follow them, even if I knew where they were exactly.
¡°I know exactly what she needs,¡± I proclaim without anything to back that up, although a killing blow may be appropriate. ¡°I can give it to you, and then you can put it on her wounds, and she will have the time of her life.¡± I''m speaking of the itching powder, of course. She will never forget it.
Like so many times before, the squirrels and I sit down and begin negotiations. They want their boss to be healed and after I explain to them that Katarine-san won''t be executed by Gottfried-kun, they also demand the princess'' demise.
Someone like Momo would have used this, told them she will help them to get their intel, but will ultimately betray them. I''m a much simpler woman: ¡°This is something I won''t help you with. However, I do have the special medicine for your leader, so let us concentrate on this.¡±
Uh-oh, they reminded me of what they did to me last time. I... really don''t want to relive that, but I won''t be able to kill all of them instantaneously, so that the rest of their rout won''t be warned by escapees or by their spiritual link. Maybe this is the time to escape.
I still have options, and I should regroup with Kenta-kun, who is at least still alive, though reading through his conditions confirms how senselessly durable humans are. Especially combined with the hero-status.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
However, this is a chance that would slip by if I don''t take it. As Kenta-kun''s status isn''t visibly worsening, I can assume that it doesn''t matter when I meet up with him, at least as long as it''s within a week or two. Therefore I proceed, just with caution.
Following the squirrels, I look for possible escape routes. We''re entering the same forest where we may have used the oni as a distraction for Gottfried-kun, almost the same spot even. The ground, the trees, the brushes, the branches on the floor, the moss, the mushrooms, even every single grass blade has been cut in one way or another.
This spot is eerie. There is still life in the plants. They have only been cut, but their spirits themselves seem to be maimed. They seem to be fine, given their physical condition, yet plant spirits are simple, maybe simple enough to just roll with this condition.
The [Prism Strike]. I can''t imagine how a more complex being would be maimed by this attack. Luckily, I don''t need to imagine it, as I see half of a torso with an arm, and a head attached to it that serves as an example. It looks like it has burrowed itself out of a hole. ¡°LYNXY!¡± She makes faces as funny as a human. Overall, what I can see from her seems rather human, except small horns on her nose, the beast-like eyes, and the horns on her head. The only thing that reminds of her giant-form are her twintails. ¡°I''ll tear you apart, eat your essence, and-¡±
I don''t have time for threats: ¡°Tear me apart? I think you need another hand for that?¡± I ''do'' have time to make fun of her though. I really should have made up some torn-apart puns on my way here, now I have to improvise. ¡°I could lend you a shoulder though, you''re missing one.¡±
¡°[Oni Fire]!¡± She spits a pitiful amount of fire at me, I just step aside.
¡°More like [Oni Ember], though I''m surprised that you can spit any fire in the first place. Though with that hole on your lung--- do you even have a lung? I mean, when you''re not cut up?¡± She grabs a branch to throw at me, but she doesn''t even aim right. ¡°Out of balance? I mean-ah, be merciful!¡± I cower as I feel squirrel claws on my ankles. ¡°I was just poking fun at her, no reason to maim me as well!¡± These squirrels are about to bite off my toes!
¡°Yes, hold her still, so I can devour her!¡±
¡°Wait, I''m not here to fight. I''m here to negotiate.¡±
¡°Nego-what?¡±
¡°To speak with you.¡±
¡°I want to eat you though.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because then I may purify my youki enough to regenerate.¡±
¡°If I recall correctly, you were able to use your youki again after drinking one of Kenta-kun''s potions, right?¡± He told me of this encounter in detail, planning his moves if he ever comes to exchange blows with her again.
She grinds her teeth, her very sharp teeth that are still less terrifying than the squirrel teeth that are far too close to me. ¡°But eating you sounds better...¡±
This is the problem with demons, they really like to hurt and kill other people, even each other if nothing else is close. ¡°You can''t even digest me. You have no stomach.¡±
¡°Ah, that''s right!¡± Indeed, she''s a simpleton. Unlike Katarine-san, who is educated and just a very direct person, this individual is lacking severely in the mental department. ¡°How will the potion work then?¡±
¡°Oh, good point. Then I will just look for your stomach first, if we come to an agreement which includes not devouring me.¡±
¡°Don''t you dare to trick me, Lynxy.¡±
¡°Why are you calling me that in the first place?¡±
¡°Because you move your ears like a lynx.¡± Simpleton indeed.
¡°Do you feel your toes?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Have you ever been cut apart before? If yes, do you feel your separated parts? What was the tiniest bit? Do the singular parts even grow together again or are new parts forming from the piece with the head?¡±
¡°I have never been reduced to this! Because I''m a scary oni!¡±
¡°Who is now reduced to this.¡± I was just hoping for some help to look for her parts, as it seems like it will take some effort, given how the forest collapsed around here, which is the best way to describe the scenery. Looking for the rest of her body seems to take a while.
¡°...for my payment: I want to know why you''re here, where Correro-kun is, and where Katarine-san is heading.¡±
¡°I will never tell you!¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡± This makes it easier, as then I don''t need to bother. There are more important things to do. I turn around and start walking, very aware of the squirrels that are still watching my every step.
¡°Hey, wait! It''s not like that! I''m sorry, I just wanted to gloat! But I really can''t tell you, I know nothing.¡±
Then why are you wasting my time? However, her act makes the squirrel move... There are only two ways it can go down. First, I can be a coward and give in, and provide any help needed to the oni. Or I can finally face my fear, overcome it, fight against the squirrels, end the oni for good, and come out of this encounter as a stronger alfr, woman, and hero.
Being a coward it is! ¡°Let''s re-negotiate.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°H. ¡ ¡. E.¡±
¡°It''s alright,¡± Mirianne says to the unconscious ranger while she wipes the sweat and tears from his face. Even though he probably couldn''t hear her, he calms down again. This is the fifth time it''s happening, some abrupt sounds, some tears, some jerks through his body, which then squirms in pain, which brings more sweat and tears, but never a hint of consciousness.
Mirianne looks at the man before her. After disrobing him, Uncle Benjam came to the conclusion that this is a human, though his skin color is one she never saw before. Where did he come from? D¨¦juma maybe? He has black hair, after all. She never saw someone with black hair before.
His face is now bandaged, and even if he was conscious, he wouldn''t be able to speak, as his jaw is broken and is currently fixated. How will he eat later? Of course, she will feed him, but how? Maybe pushing a spoon into the gaps between his teeth?
What did he do to become like this? While the older members of her family are arguing about it and deciding whether they should send someone to find out, Mirianne can only imagine it. It had to be a giant, like the one from her stories. Or maybe he fought against an especially nasty monster? Did he kill it? For sure, he may let himself be hurt to deal a killing blow to some eight-armed bear-lion monster, keeping four of its arms busy to go for its heart. That''s what a ranger does, after all.
Maybe he was around her age, after all? Mirianne squints her eyes, trying to guess his age once more. His injuries make it hard, but he is much smaller than the young men on this farmstead, so maybe younger than her? Thirteen maybe? Five years apart?
At this age a ranger already? But also maybe a hero... Stories told about the resilience of heroes, how they recover fast. Even if he may be a bit young, he''s definitely more worthy than all the men around a boring farmstead like this.
Her hand gently strokes his face. ¡°You fought well.¡± Mirianne is sure that he likes it.
Volume 08 - Chapter 6-3
¡°Stop for a moment. Let me first sum up what you just said,¡± requests Gottfried-san, as I laid down a lot of our current circumstances. ¡°These rings are the result of a curse. This curse binds and marries you to Katsuragi Kenta, and while it may affect both of you mentally to some degree, it''s not like Katsuragi controls you directly, as he''s a victim as well... Pontiff, would you mind?¡± The old man asks the possibly even older man for something. If it weren''t for the wizard, I''d presume that Feuerberg sent only their veterans, even if some are beyond their expiration date.
The pontiff, even if he''s on the fat side, is certainly looking like he shouldn''t step outside his house when possible. Yet he takes my hand carefully and looks at the ring. ¡°*Gasp* Hrr... *Cough*¡± Please don''t sound like that. ¡°This is intertwined with her very soul! Certainly outside of what I can remove, we need to get them to Pontiff Glanznacht for this. Marriage and curse, what an abomination.¡±
¡°Are they still married?¡±
¡°From what I can tell, yes.¡±
¡°I see. So the boy still lives.¡±
¡°Maybe it''s for the better, because I don''t know if there will be a backlash... to be honest, I can''t tell anything, this curse... It''s like tangled skeins, I can''t make out anything yet. I will keep looking at it during our travels, but won''t take any risks.¡±
¡°So you won''t divorce them then either?¡±
¡°If we were in the church, sure. There we''d have the knowledge and people to work on it. On my own, I would rather only interfere if there is no other choice.¡±
Time to make a move. ¡°I don''t believe you have much choice. The curse is dormant, if we all are close to Ken, but now it will awake again and Ken will lose his SP,¡± ah, terms they don''t know... is that how Ken feels when explaining!? ¡°He will become weaker and in his current state, he won''t survive for long.¡± Therefore, we have to turn around and save Ken.
¡°How do you know about his current state?¡±
¡°The ring tells me.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Wait, is he ignoring me!? ¡°Pontiff, would you please check Stupid Disciple #1 as well?¡±
The pontiff looks at Rine-chan''s ring as well. After a while, ¡°Excuse me,¡± he also touches her stomach. ¡°Also cursed. Not pregnant, though,¡± he sighs in great relief.
¡°Married, but it is only a curse. No child,¡± Gottfried-san sighs as well. The wizard looks as confused as me about that.
¡°Why is that so important?¡± I ask, as this makes me somehow angry: ¡°Wait, is this because of that dated ''Have to be virgin''-stick to be married off!?¡± Maybe because this absolutely ignores Rine-chan''s wishes? She won''t defend herself, currently, so I have to do it in her place!
¡°Quiet, girl!¡± Gottfried-san lashes out, while the pontiff, who also seems to know about the reason, is a lot more helpful: ¡°Not for this reason, but we can''t tell you why.¡±
With a disgruntled voice, Gottfried-san continues: ¡°Now go on with the explaining. So you can look at the condition of Katsuragi from afar, what else does this curse do?¡±
I need to hold on, the more they know, the better it may be. ¡°We can amass points by doing stuff like holding hands, more or less everything lovers would do, and then spend those points on other benefits. Like connecting our [Inventories]. You know, the specific backpacks with the pocket dimension that heroes have. Let me show you. Rine-chan, put this into your backpack.¡± I tell her, while giving her my ss''rak knife.
She puts it into her backpack and I show them mine, which is seemingly empty. I put my hand inside and choose the knife from the [Inventory] and retrieve it.
The older men seem to be impressed, though I don''t like Gottfried-san''s look at all. Yet the wizard asks in wonder: ¡°How can that work? I mean, Princess Katarine is not a hero, so therefore she shouldn''t have such a backpack and hers looks different from yours.¡±
¡°Oh, I forgot!¡± For me, this is a small detail, for them it''ll be breaking news: ¡°The curse also turned Rine-chan into a hero.¡±
Suddenly, everything moved. Rine-chan jumps back and draws her sword while sweating, the pontiff falls on his ass and shivers, Meldorn suddenly vanishes, and the wizard lifts his arms to guard his face. I feel my trembling hand on my dagger, as I had the feeling that I almost died.
The source of it is Gottfried-san, who only raised his eyebrow, but for a fraction of a second I''m sure he wanted to kill me, and I also know that if he intended to, I could have done nothing to stop it. "This was unbecoming of me," the old knight admits, "I apologize."
This is the second greatest fear I ever felt, only beaten by when I faced off Muaotef, a dragon whose whole existence seems to be fear and terror. In this short moment, Gottfried-san wasn''t a human, but a natural disaster.
"W-w-w-w-what d-d-d-do w-w-w-we d-d-d-d-do?" The still shivering pontiff asks Gottfried-san, who is the source of this panic attack.
"This is not a decision I can make. We have to report this to the king. Everything just changed... We go to bed and rise early, we need to get to Esse as fast as possible. I''ll rest now, I have spent a lot of energy."
"Wait!" I demand of Gottfried-san: "What was this about?"
"Sigh... The problem is not whether Kati is a virgin or not." The thing about earlier? What does it have to do with this? "It''s about mixing heroes and Feuerberg¡¯s royal blood." He then goes into his earthen tent-replacement, sits down and closes his eyes.
The problem wasn''t about Rine-chan being a virgin... it was about whether she carries the child of a hero or not. Given this surge of deadly intent, I''m sure he would have made her lose that child. This was what he expected...
What he didn''t expect was that Rine-chan would be a hero herself, and how he would have almost killed her in an instant.
I look at my friend, who is still on her guard. ¡°Rine-chan,¡± I mumble, ¡°what will happen to you?¡±
Yet this quietness also opens up the possibility to change the pace. ¡°How about dinner? We have enough ingredients to share, and while we were fighting each other, it''s not like we are mortal enemies, right?¡± Befriending them will be helpful. Not only when Ken will come to create a better position to bargain, but also to learn what I can from them.
The wizard seems baffled, but Meldorn nods, while the pontiff answers: ¡°I humbly accept that offer.¡±
¡°Let''s do some stew. It will take a while, but after some preparations we can just leave it cooking. This is exactly what I need after today, and we can reheat some for breakfast tomorrow.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
¡°I''ll help,¡± offers the pontiff without hesitation: ¡°You too, young Rotfeld.¡±
¡°Wait, I''m-¡±
¡°Oh, so your name is Rotfeld-san? I''m Momokawa Kyou.¡±
While cutting the vegetables, I learn a little about two of our captors. Pontiff Reiner Kassus, a priest in retirement, who has stayed at the church in Esse half his life, healing the sick and wounded. August von Rotfeld-san comes from low nobility, but is a genius at magic, that''s why he''s about to become an archwizard.
I don''t know why, but I expected more complicated backgrounds, those two are basically cardboard cutouts of what you''d expect. I''m sure that they''re complex people, but for a first impression...
Pontiff Kassus seems to be a kind man, though he''s definitely not the kind who would stand up when something is wrong. He would condemn it, maybe feel sorry for those on the wrong end of the stick, but he''s certainly no man of action.
Rotfeld-san seems like someone who ''wants'' to do something, but is easily overwhelmed and out of his league. A talker, but hesitant whenever it''s about doing something, which divests him from any chance to contribute outside what others ask of him. Yet there is a big amount of dissatisfaction buried here.
Overall, there is enough to exploit here. Just look at them, how they seem to be easily swayed by a good meal. I can basically see them softening up while observing the stew brewing, which certainly only takes some basic knowledge to make. I can practically see their mouths watering, and I can understand that, as my cooking is that good, even if I don''t put much effort into it.
Meldorn checks his arrows, I have no idea why he culls some of them and removes their arrowheads and sometimes even fletching. Somehow, he has an aura around him which makes me very cautious to approach him during this. No wonder Ken has some respect for that man, he may be an expert loner.
Gottfried-san is still napping, and Rine-chan does practically nothing. I hope she''s just that deep in thought and not out of place. ¡°Rine-chan?¡±
She turns to me, I don''t like her eyes, they seem hollow, her face is pale, and she misses the radiance that she usually musters: ¡°I''m fine. Sorry for worrying you.¡±
¡°You sure don''t seem fine.¡±
¡°How can I say... It was inevitable, and I feel bad for making you go through it, but there is nothing I can do about it. Yet if we just follow, everything will be fine.¡±
I have my doubts. ¡°I''m going to ask the pontiff to teach me that healing-spell he used on Arako. Maybe you should use the opportunity to ask Rotfeld-san to teach you magic.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because he''s an expert and we have nothing better to do until Ken comes, so we should prepare ourselves.¡±
¡°Kenta... He should just head straight to Zethtrin. Without me, he can travel much safer. Kenta is smart, so he will know that-¡±
¡°Rine-chan, sorry to interrupt you; Ken may be a lot, but is not really smart. I give him some cunning, maybe even some intelligence, but he will come, because he''s unreasonable and stubborn.¡±
¡°Then... then I will tell him myself! I mean, look what I''ve brought him. I... I...¡± She''s about to burst into tears.
However, this is where I disagree, Rine-chan. He brought this upon himself, and we all helped. I can''t imagine him being actually mad at Rine-chan, he will certainly complain and whine, but Ken will see it as his own fault.
I''m about to tell her that, but I can stop myself from doing so, as this may trigger Rine-chan''s stubbornness, which would complicate things unnecessarily. ¡°Maybe it will help.¡± In the best case, Ken may agree to accompany us to Feuerberg and to have the curse let be removed by experts with the backing of the king, who has much interest to see his daughter being freed from it. Though one of the ways may actually be to kill Ken, who is the source of said curse. ¡°Nonetheless, it seems like we have some boring evenings before us, and if I can improve, I''ll take that opportunity.¡± With these words, I head towards the pontiff, who is still ogling the pot.
When he notices me, he tears his eyes away and smiles guiltily: ¡°My apologies, it just smells that good, and I may have become weak with age. Momokawa-dono, you want to talk with me?¡±
¡°I want to learn the [Rejuvenate] spell.¡±
¡°Oh. Erm, this may not be possible. Don''t misunderstand me, but it''s a rather particular spell.¡±
¡°I''m a hero, so I should be able to learn it.¡± I just ignore the fact that Arako is sure that a [Skill] or [Spell] has to be fitting for a hero.
¡°This may certainly help. Which spells do you already know?¡±
¡°In [Divine Magic], it''s [Heal], [Stamina], [Torch], [Protect], and [Exorcise].¡±
¡°Oh, [Exorcise]? I have never learned that one myself. However... none of your spells comes close to [Rejuvenate] in its function.¡±
¡°Please teach me.¡± He''s just making me more curious.
¡°I think I can try. It''s always good to have more people in this world capable of healing grave injuries. Especially given the burden you''ve been entrusted with.¡± This man became just more likable. ¡°Let''s sit down by the fire. Good, now how to begin...¡±
I can''t help but feel distracted by Rotfeld-san''s attention. Can''t he just go away? I mean, he doesn''t say anything, but...
¡°Hm... For your spells, you send a prayer into the Vastness and receive the understanding on how to manipulate your magic in the ways the gods taught us in addition to the power itself, which intertwines with your own magic to cast the spell. That''s the core of [Divine Magic]. In [Rejuvenate], however, you first touch your patient and with your prayer, you also send something else... Each body has a plan to grow. Every baby grows into an adult, it follows that inner plan. You send this plan to the Vastness with your prayer to restore the body to its original form.¡±
Wait, wait, what does it all mean!? The Vastness was the place between this world and the world of the gods, even though there seems to be gods who are also walking the world. Well, nevermind that.
A usual spell would take power from the Vastness, form it into a spell, and throw it at the target. For that, you have first to send a prayer into it.
[Rejuvenate] however, needs not only a prayer, but what I guess is the DNA-information of the target as well.
Seems like I got it. ¡°This isn''t all though?¡±
¡°A usual [Heal] is a gift from the gods. Additional power directed to cure small wounds quickly or at least bring them into a state that makes them heal quickly. On the other hand, [Rejuvenate] is a subjugation of your patient''s body, forcing it to rebuild itself. This means that the [Divine Magic] has to be infused into every bit of their body, which, depending on the state of the patient, can drain all of its power, leading to a death by exhaustion.¡±
¡°So you can ''kill'' someone with this spell?¡± Wouldn''t that make it a weapon as well?
¡°Only if the damage they have is dire enough, and the rebound would also usually kill the caster. When someone channels so much power this is to be expected. Maybe death is the more merciful end for the greed of wanting to return those to life who are about to die.¡±
I feel my throat drying as I imagine it. Casting the spell on someone, only to kill the person with it and yourself as well. ¡°Is this why the light returned to you again and again? The rebound?¡±
¡°Actually, it''s the opposite. Instead of just flooding your patient with [Divine Magic], you take what is needed, close yourself off the Vastness, and then concentrate it on the patient for some time, take it back into your own body so that the patient is relieved from that power, and then you push it back. In a perfect spell, you cycle the power through your patient and yourself, sharing the stress, and allowing you to stop before you accidentally kill the one you sought to heal by using a [Stamina]-spell on yourself. Though even after that, you''ll still feel weak.¡±
¡°So let me repeat it... First, I send my prayer and information about the target''s body into the Vastness. Second, I receive the power to use the spell. Then I shut myself off from the Vastness, and then push and pull the power in and out of their body?¡±
¡°That''s how it''s done. The amount of power is tied to how much the body alters from their targeted growth, so healing a cut and repairing some organs is taxing, but to make a limb regrow is something I wouldn''t recommend. If you''re lucky and it''s cut cleanly, then you can just put it onto the stump, merge the skin and muscles superficially with the [Heal]-spell and use [Rejuvenate] to do the rest.¡± Why do his eyes look so dead right now!? How many times has he had to do it already?
Also, this spell sounds scary. In a sense, it''s the ultimate healing, as it basically restores the body to its intended form. However, it may kill you, if you want to heal too much. ¡°What happens, if you cast it on someone who has been missing a limb for years, but you only want to heal a stomach wound?¡±
¡°This is when your expertise with magic is required, it''s your knowledge about arcana.¡± So the [Arcana]-ability? A specific [Skill]? ¡°If you can control the power you take from the Vastness and can channel it only through the stomach, you can heal that specific part. If not, then you will take everything you need to heal everything.¡± Which can potentially kill the patient and myself in the process, because depending on their condition, it may be too much for me to handle.
There is still another question looming in my mind: ¡°Do many [Divine Magic]-users know [Rejuvenate]?¡±
¡°In Feuerberg, several know it, as that country has its share of wars. I expect other countries to be the same, but most wandering and local priests won''t.¡± I can see its use for soldiers, that''s also why I want to learn it, but this certainly doesn''t sound like a spell that can or should be used in battle.
However, this seems to be the best spell I may ever learn. ¡°How do we begin?¡±
Volume 08 - Chapter 6-4
I''m sitting with the oni, who''s still not fully herself, you could say that she''s torn, unable to pull herself together, doing everything piece by piece. I have a lot more thoughts I want the world to hear, but sadly, I have to keep my witty comments to myself, as I have two squirrels set on my shoulders that watch my every step.
At least I''m walking on my own two feet. ¡°Go, Lynxy!¡± After she drank some Aeolferelda-tea to cleanse her so-called youki¡ªa waste, if you ask me, though it shows that she either still has her stomach or that it isn''t a requirement¡ªthe oni decided to make me carry her. Luckily, she has lost some weight, though I would have preferred that her gaping holes hadn''t been covered up by new flesh for the time being. It would be a win-win, she would be easier and easier to carry, and eventually die from blood loss. Two wins for me.
¡°Go where?¡±
¡°Erm... there!¡± She points with her only hand at a heap of sawdust, wood, and leaves, most likely a former cluster of trees. ¡°Let''s start there.¡±
¡°As you wish.¡± I walk to that heap, ready to drop her, but the small spirits of the squirrels make me reconsider it, as there is that spike of onoth in them, which shows that they''re still wary of me. ¡°Here we are.¡±
¡°Now dig!¡±
¡°Dear oni, I''m nothing but a frail alfr, so you may reconsider the viability of this task.¡±
¡°Hah!?¡±
¡°Let me try to rephrase it: You have a small army of forest critters known for burying their winter stock, while you''re a powerful oni in contrast to me, who is so weak.¡±
¡°Hehe! Yes, I am plenty strong.¡±
¡°You can certainly lift more with one arm than me with my entire body.¡±
¡°You are right!¡±
¡°There you have it. You have one arm, so it''d be more- I mean, that''s why you are better than me.¡± I feel like I''m losing intelligence while speaking with this rather simple-minded individual.
¡°Well, you are right. Minions, start digging! I''ll just throw the trunks out of the way!¡± Another victory to the Queen of Laziness. I really need to patent this title.
As I observe how the critters and their boss are playing with the dirt, I try to formulate a strategy. Neither the squirrels nor the oni even have an average intellect, however, they''re much crueler and eviler than I can imagine.
The oni is also still quite powerful, she effortlessly lifts whole trees, even in this splintered stage and while I may outrun her, I won''t be able to do the same with the squirrels. Whoever decided to grant their ancestors this spark of intelligence should come here right away and clean up their mess. It was mostly based around a prank, but this one has gone horribly wrong
With their interconnected spirit, I can''t win with [Spirit Magic], and now one is nibbling at my ear, as it read my spirit and therefore concluded that I''m trying to beat them. ¡°I would appreciate it if you wouldn''t do this, these ears are very sensitive.¡±
This is certainly a situation where I get nothing but my safety out of it, and while I appreciate my safety, originally I decided to tag along with the squirrels to gather intelligence. As the oni seems to be a simpleton, I don''t expect her to know much about the greater things going on, but on the other hand, she may be easy to interrogate.
I change my spirit as good as possible. As humans can change their facial expressions to convey different feelings they aren''t feeling, alfar can do the same with their spirits if needed. This may be enough to trick the squirrels, though I''m not an actor. ¡°May I ask a question?¡±
¡°What is it? Stupid wood! Get away! [Oni Fire]! Argh! I''m still too weak!¡± This certainly is a much stronger blast than before, but not enough to incinerate all the cut trees at once.
¡°Why are you even here? Specifically. I mean, Correro-kun told us that he will leave us alone for a while.¡±
¡°I don''t know! I only know that I''m supposed to be here and delay an old warrior as much as possible. Now I''m free from the order, and it''s time to look for Katakata!¡±
Delay an old warrior... Gottfried-kun? So Correro-kun knew about Gottfried-kun and decided to send the oni. ¡°How did Correro-kun know?¡±
¡°Here! Burrow here, minions!¡± She instructs the squirrels after cleaning up a spot. ¡°I don''t know, I don''t care! I just know what I''m supposed to do.¡±
Let''s assume that Correro-kun had a scheme. The interesting part is, that the oni should only ''delay'' Gottfried-kun, not fight him or even defeat him. This has been fulfilled it seems, so his scheme is working out.
The delay was short, so even these minutes were enough for her to be freed from this task, which seems to be enforced by some kind of pact, which also has to be the reason why she can be summoned away in the first place, according to Kenta-kun''s report of Goldbrunn.
So something changed with her intervention that now benefits Correro-kun. If he knew Gottfried-kun is coming to get Katarine-san, that means he should also know that it''d be impossible to get her back with force after she was captured by the knight. At least, nothing Correro-kun ever did gave me the impression that he could overcome Gottfried-kun that way.
What do I know of Correro-kun? He''s acting for the so-called Lady, Orinael¡ªI''m sure that was her name. He has monetary resources. He''s fine with taking his time and using as little effort as necessary. Also, he likes to act through others...
I see. That''s what it is about. The only question is if I can trust Correro-kun''s scheming abilities, as he actually does not have a good track record as far as I know. On the other hand, how often did he try? Aroahenn? Basically a win for him, the oni got away with the relics. Not much of a victory, as we just had junk left, but still. The mercenaries? Worked well, just a stroke of fate helped us, most likely a hero''s drama effect. Goldbrunn? Not sure what his goal was there. Redrock Canyon? Actually, he only made an offer...
Ah, I see. Correro-kun is a lazy bum, the same as me. That''s also why I won against him, because he had to succumb to my superior laziness and intellect. Yet competing with someone like me doesn''t make him worse.
Let''s count on him for now. This means I have to get away. This needs a clever scheme, a defiant ruse, a masterful manipulation: ¡°Ah, my alfr senses tell me that there is something in this direction. It seems that the attack has been strong enough to literally blow away the rest of you.¡±
¡°There is? Carry me there, minion!¡±
I pick her up and carry her with me. I follow the direction of the [Spouse Location], it only takes a short while over some hillside until we get to a big cliff with a forest down below. ¡°I think it''s down there.¡±
¡°Where? I can''t see! Get me closer!¡±
¡°Your wish is my command.¡± With her consent, I drop the oni off the cliff. Immediately afterwards, I take both squirrels off my shoulders and throw them right after her.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
I notice how the other squirrels are jumping at me, but I''m well prepared. I''m already [Acrobat] and jump off the cliff myself, as this will turn their chase into suicide, while being an [Acrobat] means I''ll deal well with large falls.
Yet I underestimated the critters. Several of them seriously jump at me from above, willing to die if it means murdering me in the process. I swing my staff, which I previously tucked into the crook of my arm while carrying the oni, and hit one, two away, but three to five land on me, while six and seven miss me entirely.
I change to [Druid] to take a page out of Kenta-kun''s repertoire. Just before I hit the trees at the bottom of the cliff: ¡°[Entangle]!¡± A branch catches me, I immediately switch back to [Acrobat] to wiggle myself free and jump to the next tree, while I still have squirrels on myself, which now get a lot of spiritual power passed by their brethren, which will turn into quite a situation, if they get the chance to cast a spell.
Like now. Branches are whipping in my direction, brown and red leaves are thrown like knives, I evade each of them with my spatial awareness as an alfr and flexibility as an [Acrobat]. Then I let two treetops crush into me.
Pain assaults me, and I can''t see a thing because of the rest of the foliage. However, I don''t need to see. This is much more of a demerit for the squirrels, as I can still sense their empowered spirits clearly. I take out a knife from my backpack and use the same movements Katarine-san taught me, cutting these critters down.
I won.
However, I better not stay here, as I expect that otherwise the squirrels will get me and now they have a personal grudge against me. I regret this, I soooooo regret this! Now I''m the squirrels public enemy #2.
I also wish that I could look for the oni once more and finish her off, but any delay may cost too much. Therefore I head into a random direction, as I first need to lose those squirrels for good, so that I won''t lead the trouble towards Kenta-kun.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s late in the evening, and Mirianne sits at the bedside of the ranger, her arms around her pulled-up knees: ¡°No dinner...¡± She''s more than a bit upset about it, but this is what she gets for insisting to stay at the ranger''s side. ¡°She said ''If you want to eat, come to the dining room.'' and ''Someone else can look after him.'' I mean, that''s just mean.¡± She doesn''t know why, but talking to the ranger calms her down. ¡°I mean, for them you''re just a burden.¡± While she doesn''t really believe it, the thought crossed her mind that her family might want to get rid of him.
Mirianne stands up and looks at his armor, which lies on the table. It looks exotic. It''s made out of red fur from a beast she has never seen. Maybe a special red wolf? It''s very durable, maybe even magical? This would make sense. Rangers are the disciples of elves, creatures as feared as mysterious.
When she was little, Mirianne listened to her mother''s story about the elves, how they would kidnap her if she misbehaves. Now that she''s older, she doesn''t believe it anymore, especially given how rangers are these valiant warriors that protect the people. They must have learned this from the elves.
With a grin, she opens the pouch that was on the ranger''s belt. Glass shards and some strange skins. They''re ripped and some strange powders are in them. ¡°Most likely some sort of medicine that has been broken, right?¡± She asks the ranger without expecting an answer.
His spear doesn''t look good, made out of wood and bones it''s snapped at two points, rendering it useless. The wood itself seems to be strange as well. If her mother would have let her be an artisan, she could probably fix it, replacing the staff, but she isn''t one and can therefore only dream about it.
Oh, there is a distinct smell. She has smelled it a lot with her younger siblings, did he- ¡°Oh boy,¡± she can''t help but smile a bit, waving her brown pigtails as she turns around and uncovers his blanket. Even down there, he''s been bandaged, she only needs to replace them. This has to be why Uncle Benjam used one only for this section. She takes it off and feels her stomach revolting, as her eyes lay on the still black and blue skin underneath.
Just think of it as changing diapers. Of course, she has some experience with her younger siblings.
This task has been taken care of, but Mirianne strikes another idea: ¡°Maybe you''re thirsty now?¡± Using an old feeding cup, she slowly puts some water in his mouth, though finding a good spot with the spout is quite a challenge. ¡°Good. Now swallow it.¡± Of course he doesn''t, therefore Mirianne just hopes that the water will run down his throat on its own.
This would be so much better if he would respond. She doesn''t even know his name, so how should she call him? Another look at his armor gives her an idea... Red. That''s what she will call him for now. If he doesn''t like it, he can wake up and tell her that.
¡°So Red... do you feel comfortable? At least considering your current state? I know, the pillows and the mattress are hard, and maybe it smells a bit too much like hay, but that''s because mom is so stingy. I heard that in the city they use several kinds of wool, feathers, and hair for their mattresses, and even though we have chicken, goats, and sheep, we always sell those. Ah, I guess you''re used to sleeping on the ground or on a tree. I can imagine that the fresh air feels good though. Also, sitting at a campfire is romantic, just imagine it. You and me, a dark night, and the warm flames, and--- Ah, forget that, this sounds silly. I mean, I would try it, if you show me though. I mean, living in the wilderness. It has to be better than being a farm girl, after all. Mom wants to marry me off, can you imagine it? It''s not like I don''t want to marry, but I--- how can I say... it sounds strange, but there is something beyond the farms, and I want to see it, I want to witness it. It has to be great. Visiting new places, meeting all kinds of people, witnessing all that¡¯s happening in the world.¡±
Mirianne continues her babbling about her worries, her plights, her wishes. She tells Red all the things she can''t tell her family. First her dreams, then her thoughts, and finally even some of her secrets. She imagines how Red listens to all of it and accepts it, how he magically heals over night and smiles mildly at her, with his wonderful face, which combines hardiness and gentleness.
She only left his side for a short moment to get a washing basin and some soap to clean the accident he made in his lower bandage. Usually, she hates washing anything, but it''s just a small inconvenience when it''s for Red.
The cry of the roosters makes her realize that it''s already morning. Uncle Bemjan visits Red and brings something to eat for Mirianne, reminding her to call him the moment Red wakes up. Of course he doesn''t call him Red, that''s the secret nickname between Mirianne and Red, something only these two know about.
It''s noon now, Mirianne still fumes about how her mom tried to drag her to work, despite having Red here, who needs someone at his side when he awakes. Otherwise, he''d be confused and possibly scared, and it''s just natural that Mirianne is the first one to greet him, as she took care of him throughout the night and even though she''s tired, the bond between Red and her is so strong, that she can go on endlessly.
¡°She just doesn''t understand. She never tried to understand. It''s all about her having her way, but she''s not as important as she may think. She''s in charge, I admit, but only of this farmstead. There is a whole world out there, and now with you, Red, that world is coming to us, and she''s not that important anymore! ¡did you hear that, Red?¡±
Mirianne strains her ears. Yes, that''s her nephew Obert, who''s screaming. [small]¡°MOM! I''M SORRY. I WILL BEHAVE, PLEASE!!!¡±[/small] What is he talking about? Is Lurise putting him over her knee?
Wait, there is more. Rald, her older brother, is yelling something, is that a warning? Is there an attacker? ¡°Bandits!?¡± Mirianne shrieks, as she quickly looks around, trying to form a strategy. She has to take Red and run, but she''s not as strong as Lurise. Dragging him around will be impossible. Should she ready a cart and Moonshine?
Suddenly, Mirianne hears her mother''s voice echoing through the hallway: ¡°Wait, you can''t-¡± Then Red abruptly opens his eyes, breathing out sharply, just before the door to the room opens violently, and a cold wind breezes through the room and down Mirianne''s spine.
White hair, green dress, long ears. Eyes of two colors in a strange face, which has several scratches on it. ¡°There you are. I''m here to pick you up,¡± a feminine voice sounds, while her inhuman eyes are looking at Red. ¡°Oh?¡± Despite her calm face, her voice is full of wonder and admiration.
Mirianne stands up and throws herself at the intruder with her full body-weight, throwing both of them down to the ground.
She knows instinctively that this intruder is bad news. She''s an elf, so as Red is a ranger, she may be his companion, his comrade. Yet elves are evil, and she was looking for him, which makes her suspicious.
Yes, elves take away people to make them rangers, so she''s here to get Red back. It makes all sense now, he has escaped the elves... what are elves doing here anyway? There can be only one explanation: They''re here to kidnap children.
Yes, and Red has fought them off, of course! Red is a hero, after all, of course he would help innocent children, saving them from the elves. Oh yes, and he has most likely slain most of them, but he was injured badly, and still went out of his way to their fields, trying to warn Mirianne''s family.
Oh, it all makes sense now.
As Red has escaped, they send their scouts out everywhere, and one of those elves is now here and the only way to save Red and her family is to kill her, to buy time, to intimidate the other elves.
Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill!
Volume 08 - Chapter 6-5
There are three words that describe my current mood perfectly: Pain, confusion, and annoyance.
The pain stems from an experience that I had never had before and I wish I would have avoided it. I hear my bones scraping on each other and a strange smacking sound which makes me think about how lumps of flesh grating on one another due to the blood flow. I feel a torturous throbbing at several places of my body, though it has to be the worst in my mouth. My right arm feels like rivers of coldness are running through the bones, my toes feel like burning clumps that are merely attached to my feet instead of growing out of them, and the list goes on. To summarize it: My body is a whole new world of pain, more colorful and diverse than I would have been able to imagine before.
The confusion comes from the fact that I have no idea where I am, barely an idea what has happened before I passed out... or the last few days for that matter, and that I have the feeling that shit is going on that I''m supposed to know, but somehow nothing really clicks. Which is especially strange, considering the two people that are fighting on the ground.
Who are also the sources of my annoyance, as the noise this makes is very distracting for someone who is still busy puzzling stuff together. Like my name, occupation, and why my whole body hurts and feels broken.
¡°YOU WON''T TAKE RED!¡±
¡°You told me that before. So get off me! HELP, THIS MAN IS RAPING ME!¡±
¡°I''M A GIRL!¡±
¡°Oh right, you have breasts. HELP, THIS GIRL IS RAPING ME!¡±
¡°MIRIANNE!¡± ¡°WHERE IS THE ELF!?¡± ¡°WHY DID SHE DO THAT!?¡±
¡°Phrrrrwwww¡± I can''t even sigh right, as my jaw is tied shut. I try to sit up, it''s clumsy, hurtful, and probably not good for my health, but even if it''s jarring, I seem to be able to move my body somewhat. I tear at the bandage that holds my jaw to loosen it a bit, a sharp pain assaults my head, and after a second of wincing, I feel a bit more room to move my mouth. I open it, but don''t know what to say. Also, I feel incredibly exhausted after so little.
However, my work is rewarded, as both girls are looking my way. The white-haired one is pulling the brown hair of the other one... Yes, the one who looks like an elf is my friend Ara-san. The other... I don''t know. Did I forget about her? Probably, but let''s first assume that she''s a stranger I don''t trust. Especially given that she has her forearm against Ara-san''s throat, willing to strangle her to death. Is she also the one, who messed her that badly up?
I mean, Ara-san has scratches all over her visible skin, her dress is in tatters, and she''s clearly exhausted and there is a lingering fear around her and--- strange, that I know that. ¡°Ara-san?¡± While the words feel so very wrong when I form them into my mouth, as my front teeth are either missing or broken, and part of my tongue is also gone, they come out clearly: ¡°Stop playing around.¡±
¡°Don''t be like that,¡± she says, as she swiftly takes the thumb of the brown-haired girl into her hand, somewhat twists it, causing her to cry out in pain, loosening her grip. Then Ara-san slips out of the strangle with little to no effort, suddenly standing above the other girl.
However, with eyes full of frightening madness, the human girl tries to grab the legs of the alfr, who jumps at the ceiling and grabs one of the beams and swings her legs upwards, so that she''s basically sitting on the beam upside down. ¡°GET DOWN!¡± the girl ear-piercingly screams, which gives me new kinds of headaches over my old ones.
Seriously, what is her deal!?
¡°No.¡± Ara-san is having her fun, but she also realizes immediately that she has more pressing matters to attend: ¡°Kenta-kun, things are looking bad.¡±
Pictures slam into my mind, all of them horrifying, like a giant shockwave cutting through the air and ground, or some sort of colorful display. Shit, I think she''s right, though my mind has trouble keeping up, maybe I hit my head too much. Nah, ¡®definitely¡¯. No ''maybe'' here, and I have to extend it to ''my everything'' as well.
Usually, I''d just brush off the crazy girl and leave, but the only reason I know my legs are there is because of the pain they give me, not because I get any other sort of feedback. I try to move them, but regret it immediately, as it feels like poisonous centipedes eating through my flesh. Or at least, I''m sure how this should feel. ¡°Uggh.¡± Even repressing my cry of pain just increases the agony. I''m breaking out in a new layer of sweat, and my thoughts are overwritten by the intense feelings I experience. ¡°Painkillers!¡± I need some, or I''ll go crazy!
Suddenly, I feel a warm hand on my face. Unable to see through the curtain of tears and pain, I accept whatever is given to me. Thanks to how a hero''s body functions, the painkillers start to work immediately and now I may only feel like half myself, but also only half the pain. ¡°Are you alright, Red?¡± The one giving me medicine is the girl, Ara-san is next to her.
I think I just missed a moment, as they no longer attack each other. I also feel tired, I only need to rest my eyes a bit...
When I open them up again, I see the two girls from before at my bedside. ¡°He''s awake,¡± says Ara-san with a bored voice, though she seems to be relieved. ¡°I apologize, Kenta-kun, but Mirianne-san is unreasonable.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°I don''t trust you,¡± the girl in question comments.
¡°Could you tell her that we''re allies?¡±
...so this brown-haired girl is trying to protect me from Ara-san, why--- ah, alfr. Makes sense. Even I, who knows how they really are, would hesitate to allow any of them close to an injured person: ¡°She''s my friend,¡± I say as clearly as possible. It still feels weird, I shouldn''t be able to speak so clearly, I definitely felt my tongue slipping off my... how is that part in front of the gum even called!?
¡°You see?¡±
¡°Alright, Re-- I mean... Kenta-san,¡± the unknown girl says begrudgingly, ¡°I''ll trust you on that.¡±
¡°Mirianne, don''t act like you''re the one making the decisions,¡± an older woman I didn''t notice before scolds the younger girl. Now that I look at it, I see several adult men here with farming tools in their hands, most of them watching Ara-san''s every step. ¡°Now we can all relax a bit, right? Ara''ainn-dono, come with us, I think Kenta-dono needs more rest.¡±
I do feel exhausted, but to be honest, I don''t think that rest will help here. ¡°I''m at a farm, right? Sell us a cart and a draft animal, and we''re on our way.¡±
¡°You need rest, and we need every-¡±
Gosh, this reminds me of school: ¡°Pay her, Ara-san.¡±
¡°Certainly.¡± Ara-san grabs into her backpack and takes one of the bags of coins we have. ¡°50,000 Newgold,¡± she says: ¡°Do I need to smack you in the face with it for you to measure?¡± It''s a large sum, I can see the shock in everyone''s face. We have saved a lot by now and while it''s still a large sum, I don''t care right now.
¡°I-I-I---¡± The middle-aged woman stutters, as she takes the bag, which is much heavier than she expected and looks at its contents. She has most likely never even seen the larger 10,000 Newgold coins. ¡°This is too much and-¡±
Something like a conscience, huh? ¡°Then take it as a guarantee. We''ll be back with the cart, and if not, keep it. We don''t have much time to waste.¡± Either we can return or we won''t need that money, it''s as simple as that. I noticed that I somewhat recovered most of what happened and I know what I have to do.
This offer makes the woman falter: ¡°Erm... very well, let''s do that...¡± Guess Ara-san won''t need to smack her with the bag.
¡°Where is my gear?¡±
¡°Here it is, Red!¡± The braided girl shows me a heap on a table. There is my armor, and my spear, and whatever is left of my clothes.
¡°Backpack.¡± While my whole body is covered by bandages, I want a new set of clothes. The girl gives it to me, and I put it next to me, so that I can use my left hand, the only one I can move, to take out a shirt and underwear. ¡°...I can''t dress myself...¡± Every movement hurts and what I can move is very little!
¡°Let me help, Red! Everyone, out!¡±
¡°I certainly won''t let you be alone with Kenta-kun, Mirianne-san. He won''t be able to resist when you jump on him.¡±
¡°I--- I won''t do that, it''s just-¡±
¡°Would you both scram!? Aa------ah¡± Pain! Cramping up also makes it hurt more.
After maybe ten minutes of some uncle carefully dressing me, I''m ready to put on my armor. Which is in impeccable condition. Strange... I check my status, and I immediately see what happened. It seems like I just learned some new [Skills]. Ara-san believes that sometimes a hero accumulates AP (Ability Points) and would be able to learn a [Skill], but this is put on hold until there is a need.
My new [Armor]-skill is [Auto-Repair], seems like a passive one, that drains some SP to semi-magically repair my armor. ...I really could have used it much earlier, because maintenance is a pain! Well, maybe it''s tied to the condition of falling down a cliff after being punctured by several arrows? I''m being sarcastic.
I think it''s a good sign. With the help of the uncle, I''m back in armor and he even helped to reduce the number of splints so that I can move at least a bit. ¡°It''s a miracle,¡± he says, as he watches how I stand up on my broken, though still splinted legs.
¡°I''d call it torture,¡± I mumble between pressed tee- gums. This feels so weird.
I guess the only reason I''m even conscious is the passive bonuses the curse gives me to all stats due to being close to one of my wives. I''m sure that the moment Ara-san is too far away, I''ll collapse. Couple these bonuses to how a hero-body works, being able to keep moving no matter how beaten, and it''s not that far fetched that I can even move under these circumstances.
Whether it''s smart is an entirely other question, though. ¡°Ara-san, come in.¡±
The other girl also enters the room, what is her deal anyway? ¡°Wow, Red! I mean, Kenta-san! You look great!¡± I guess covering most of my head with the hood was the right call, I did it mostly to have as little air movement as possible on my skin, as it burns like being whipped with nettles.
¡°Cast [Regrow].¡± I hold my spear towards Ara-san, which is broken at two points.
¡°Kenta-kun, you may have forgotten, but [Regrow] only works on li-¡± Yup, she''s surprised, as I infuse the wood of my weapon with my own spirit, giving it a pseudo-life. A new [Spirit Magic] of mine called [Inspirit]. ¡°Oh, I have never seen something like this before! [Regrow]!¡± This spell repairs living plants, therefore my spear repairs in my hand. ¡°Interesting! This shouldn''t work, but it does. Is it because of a lack of understanding of [Spirit Magic] even in modern society, specific traits of this world, or maybe because you''re not an alfr?¡±
¡°I have no idea, and neither the energy nor time to muse on it.¡± I take a small step, and I can feel the pain crawling¡ªwho am I kidding? Crawling? It''s dashing in record pace from my heel to my head, pays then a visit to both my arms, makes a quick nap inside my stomach, only to leave from my navel to spread throughout my skin, which brings tears out of my eyes, and makes me lose balance.
Ara-san catches me, though the other girl suddenly takes my arm over her shoulder as well, which irritates Ara-san, as she seems to be offended by this action. I guess, having someone trying to take over despite her succeeding in the task rubs her off the wrong way.
Well, she certainly doesn''t like this girl, but given how the two met...
I''m carried to a cart, which isn''t even long enough for me to stretch my legs, but it''s sufficient. ¡°I need some cushion. Ara-san, would you mind?¡±
¡°Poor me, switching from one form of slavery to another.¡± She''s certainly having fun, I guess she likes being dependent upon for a change? She takes parts of our bedding from the [Inventory], furs and some cushions, and spreads them on the bed. ¡°Wait, does that mean-¡±
I turn to the farmers and point at Ara-san: ¡°Tell her how to get to the next inn from here. Good night.¡± With this, I fall upon this improvised bed and get some sleep.
Volume 08 - Chapter 7-1 – Return
Chapter 7 ¨C Return!
Correo holds up an urn as he tries to read the flow of its power. This is a special magic item, capable of enslaving specific kinds of people¡ªlike demons or aljinni¡ªby binding their essence into it. The essence of his servant oni is bound to this urn and while he can just call for his servant at any time needed, he doesn''t know the exact situation.
After finding her trace, he uses his Seven-League Boots to cross a large distance at once, looking at a cliff. Then he uses his boots again to circumvent the cliff and stop at the base of the forest. While his boots can make him travel vast distances, there are several limitations to them, so he has to walk the rest on foot.
Of course, a pathless forest isn''t much of a trouble for someone, who has seen many places no other merchant ever dared to approach.
The trees around him are moving unnaturally, and for a second, he expected the elf to attack, but instead he saw the spotted squirrels who are the henchmen of his servant, though they don''t show any servitude towards him.
Correo is wary of them, but they seem to accept him as someone who has the right to go past them. He hears the grunting voice of a girl close by and he walks towards it, only to see her sorry remains. ¡°Stupid Lynxy! Ah, Master!¡± Her almost-human smile betrays her wickedness and brutality. As she''s already lying on the floor, she just presses her face in the dirt. ¡°I''ve done as you told me!¡±
¡°Apparently.¡± He speaks the chant to summon his servant now, and as her essence is bound by the urn, she begins to contract and disappear, only to jump out of the urn as a liquid to turn into her wholesome form.
She skips on her feet while cackling like a madwoman, spitting fire into the air, and changing her form into a bunny for a second, then into her giant form, and finally to her least offensive form, where she takes the same complexion as Correo. ¡°Finally whole again! I will tear your enemies apart, Master! Show them to me! Kakakakaka!¡±
¡°Report,¡± he immediately orders.
¡°I tried my best to slow down that group with the old men, but was quickly dismembered. Then Lynxy¡ªerm, I mean the elf¡ªcame and I thought I''d subdued her, but she dropped me down the cliff.¡±
Aside from the last bit, everything seems to be moving as he wanted. Asking an oracle was the right choice after all. Delaying Sir Gottfried as much as possible, as this is the only chance for Princess Katarine to not return home. While Correo doesn''t know what is the endgoal of the delays he set up¡ªthe monster attacks, the bandits, and even his trusted slave¡ªhe has some ideas. Like how it was necessary for the elf to get to this particular forest.
However, he also knows that this comes with a price. Several even, and that pursuing the princess too much would only waste more and more of it. Time to return some favors: ¡°I promised your services to the White Mare. I''ll drop you off there and will remain a while in D¨¦juma, attending some businesses.¡± Of course he will also see some of his side-projects through, but if his slave needs to contact him for whatever reason, this will be the best address. ¡°He may ask you some questions about the operation here. Tell him whatever you want.¡±
¡°So I''ll lie to him?¡± she wonders.
¡°You''re a terrible liar. If you want to share, just share. I have no secrets. If not, don''t.¡± Correo is sure that Oleau Garcon is thinking about whether he wants to capture the princess or try his best to keep her away from him. If the White Mare decides to claim her, Correo will make use of it. That crafty bastard is certainly one of the factors Correo wants to be gone in the long run, though in the short term he''s incredibly useful.
Then there are the two groups of heroes, the one led by Inoue Masahiko and the one led by Lent Wood. Both factors he wishes to groom, one manipulable by their emotions and gullibility, the other by their mistrust and his connection to the Lady.
Too bad that asking the oracle once again won''t work for a while, as Correo has already intervened with the fate within his reach, and therefore even the best diviners can''t read what lies ahead of the merchant until it has stabilized again.
However, Correo knows that he has put too much time and effort into the princess and it¡¯d threaten his other endeavors if he keeps doing so. Of course, the Lady asked for her, but he needs some time for other affairs and to rethink how to best capture her.
Until then, he will watch how this all will work out from afar.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Good, Momokawa-dono. Now let it flow like a wave, going back and forth...¡± I''ve never felt like this before. I feel power rushing through me, and this so-called ''wave'' is about to flush me away with it: It''s a gruesome experience. I''m like a grain of sand that''s trying not to be swept away by the ocean of a mysterious power that I took for granted until now. This is entirely different from the [Heal]-spell, especially as I learned that one with the hero-system and therefore don''t even need to think about what I''m doing with it, contrary to this experience, where I have to do everything basically blind.
By the way, I treat the pontiff''s sore feet.
¡°That''s enough. Now let it move back.¡± I try to imagine myself opening to that spiritual space called the Vastness and eject all of this power back to it. This leaves me exhausted and out of breath. ¡°Take a break.¡±
¡°Hfff... yes...¡± I''m not even sweating, this is not the strain of exercise, this exhaustion feels cold and impersonal. This [Rejuvenate]-spell sure takes its toll from the caster.
On the other hand, the pontiff seems to be fine. ¡°Hm... I still feel them stinging, but this was a good first try. You''re talented.¡± I have to say that it makes me somewhat happy that he compliments me. Even a bit proud. Even though his blisters only look minimally better.
This is usually something [Heal] can fix well enough, but Pontiff Kassus thinks it''s better to start with small injuries first, as the risk is neglectable.
What I still need to get my head around is how to judge how hurt someone is to use that spell on them. The weaker the patient, the riskier for them and myself, though maybe my other [Skills] may tell me when I can use this spell as treatment. It''s very potent, I saw how this spell closed a hole in Arako''s chest, but that was the only real injury she had... Remembering Gottfried-san almost gutting her makes me want to hurl.
Speaking of Gottfried-san and [Rejuvenate], this spell is also cast on his back by the pontiff. My [Check-up]-skill told me that Gottfried-san had severe backpain due to too much exercise, however, this isn''t something he shows so easily. While [Rejuvenate] healed the injury, his back still seems to be in a strained condition.
Which spawns a new question: ¡°The spell is called [Rejuvenate]. So does it make the skin and flesh younger again? I''m asking because of Gottfried-san...¡±
Pontiff Kassus smiles while shaking his head: ¡°Yes and no. It sure has a rejuvenating effect, as skin, flesh, and everything else is restored from anew, but every person has limited time in this world. It can''t combat old age for long. The gods decided to not artificially extend anyone''s youth when they made [Divine Magic]. Even valiant warriors like Sir Gottfried will find their flesh withering.¡±
¡°It''s not like I planned to live so long, it''s just that nobody was capable enough to snuff out my life,¡± groans Gottfried-san, who used the break so far to consult with Meldorn-san about the route. ¡°Seems like we have to face some more monsters if we want to retrieve our goods. Any plans to partake, girl?¡±
¡°Oh, am I not your prisoner? Why should I help you with your battles?¡± I use a sickeningly sweet voice to underline my contempt and rebelliousness.
¡°Heh, fair enough. What about you, Stupid Disciple #1?¡± He turns to Rine-chan, who silently sits by herself.
¡°I have a question.¡±
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Why #1?¡± This is a good question, and while I have a hunch, I have nothing to back it up.
¡°Because I took another disciple. He sucks even harder than you, but giving him a bit of a polish wasn''t a total waste of time. I actually hoped to pitch the two of you against each other, but then he ran off for even more training.¡±
¡°Oh...¡± She sounds hurt. While I want to use [Empathy] to know what exactly she feels, I''m rather mindful of it, as I still have not mastered this spell enough to keep strong emotions under control. If I suddenly feel the same as Rine-chan right now, who knows what will happen with me, and how it will affect my goal here.
¡°Rine-chan,¡± I take her hand with both of mine, pressing it to confer sincerity and comfort: ¡°Maybe you should go with your instructor. Maybe reconnect a bit with him.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
¡°I-¡±
¡°You heard her,¡± Gottfried-san says as insensitive as a certain someone I know: ¡°Now that I learned that you didn''t ruin your body with skills after all, I can at least shape you up again, so that I won''t feel the urge to vomit whenever I¡¯m watching you fight. You''ve seriously been slacking off, and calling you my disciple hurts my pride right now.¡± This is neither quirky nor cranky, but just plain abusive.
¡°Yes, sir!¡± Rine-chan stands straight and waits for the knight to lead the way.
This went well. Now I need to work on another. After some observations and conversations, I have more or less figured their party dynamic out. Not that it was difficult, as it''s as plain as day.
''Sir'' Gottfried-san is the undisputed leader of the group. He knows it, they know it. He''s the strongest individual I''ve ever had the misfortune to meet, and he''s basically a jerk who is strong enough to back up that behavior. Not even particularly ill-meaning, but the way he talks, the way he treats others, all of it gives the ''I can do whatever I want''-attitude. He has probably some good traits as well, but I''m only looking at the potential for conflicts.
Meldorn-san and Pontiff Reiner Kassus fall into the same category: Both are fine with how this party works and if they''re discontent, they do a good job of not showing it. The only thing they provide are their services and advice, while Gottfried-san decides based on them.
Entering Wizard August von Rotfeld, just the way he looked at Gottfried-san now speaks volumes, and I know why he''s that upset: Gottfried-san asked me and Rine-chan to accompany him, not Rotfeld-san. This is of course, because I transformed this rather open offer to an instructor-disciple activity, but he doesn''t know I did it deliberately.
Rotfeld-san is an achiever. The kind of person that identifies himself by the results he brings. He''s capable, he''s a genius, but it doesn''t seem like he has earned Gottfried-san''s trust or even acknowledgement. He doesn''t contribute nearly enough for his own standards in this party, and the fact that he messed up with the [Elemental Vortex] before feeds into it. So if there is a crack to rip open, he''s the one.
This will take some delicacy though. I''m confident in that, and they don''t know my greatest weapon yet: [Persusasion]. This [Attribute] allows me to be more persuasive whenever non-heroes are concerned. My word carries a bit more weight, that bit of weight that will convince Gottfried-san to head to the monsters only with Rine-chan. That bit of weight, that will feed the dissatisfaction of a certain wizard.
¡°Rotfeld-san? I have a question about [Arcana].¡± Yes, this strokes your ego. A young, beautiful girl asking you for advice on the one thing you excel at more than anyone else. ¡°I''m trying to figure out a way to redirect the feedback [Rejuvenate] will put on my body, and I have the feeling, that maybe you may find a way to do it?¡± Give a competent person an actual problem, and see how they will wreck their brain, trying to show off their merits.
¡°I''m not that well-versed in [Divine Magic], as the church doesn''t research it like we wizards do with other kinds of magic...¡± Despite his not-so-subtle accusation of the church and in extension the pontiff, the old man just gives a small smile, as if he''s used to something like that, ¡°I assume that the usual rules of magic apply and therefore linking spellcasters won''t work.¡±
¡°Linking?¡±
¡°I''ve heard of specific kinds of magic that allow multiple spellcasters to cast the same spell. While you may usually overlay spells, you can''t a---¡± He stops for a second, as he notices that he''s about to lose me: ¡°Erm, I mean: Imagine, I cast a spell that creates fire. Then someone else casts a spell that creates a gust of air. If my fire is strong enough, it will be fanned by the spell, we call this an overlay. While you can''t directly merge your spell with that of another, you can put two spells with some synergy onto each other to create bigger effects. This is different from simulcasting, but--- Wait, I''m getting carried away. Linking means empowering a spell by including more spellcasters, and it can also lessen the load. However, I have never seen any priests doing it before, that''s why I assume that [Divine Magic] isn''t linkable.¡±
This is certainly a Ken/Arako-type, who prefers a wholesome explanation instead of an essential one. So there are different ways to combine spells from different users, and some are only possible by specific types of magic. Which absolutely doesn''t answer my question at all, which is why I keep smiling and just repeat my question with a bit more emphasis: ¡°So how ''can'' I lessen the burden? Is there an [Arcana]-application?¡±
¡°None that comes to mind. Maybe if you use [Rune Magic] or some advanced applications of [Alteration] you may be able to do so. Maybe even [Black Magic], if it''s possible to make the cost a curse instead, though... There are several angles to this particular problem, but give me some days to think about it, and I may be able to figure it out.¡±
¡°Oh, thank you!¡± I put some extra fake-gratitude into it. Rotfeld-san blushes slightly. It''s like these people totally forgot by now that I''m their prisoner and in some capacity enemy. ¡°There is another matter I¡¯d like to ask you about... you see, Rine-chan has started to learn [Elemental Magic] and I think that maybe you could teach her a bit, to distract her from the whole situation? Sorry, I know I''m asking for much, but Rine-chan had so much fun, and Arako¡ªour alfr companion¡ªcalled her a genius, and I think when she''s just training with Gottfried-san, all that magical potential is going to waste.¡±
First, Arako never called Rine-chan a genius, yet it was clear as day that Arako wasn''t able to teach her properly in fire magic, as Rine-chan is much more gifted in this element than her.
Second, while Rine-chan may have declined my proposal yesterday, it would really be a waste to not use that time we have with these capable, knowledgeable people.
Third, this gives Rotfeld-san a battlefield to compete with Gottfried-san in a non-violent, seemingly harmless manner. I can see how he is now imagining it, teaching Rine-chan to show off to Gottfried-san how gifted that student is in magic, and how well Rotfeld-san has taught her.
Gosh, why am I the one who has to do all this work anyway!?
¡°Well,¡± Rotfeld-san says while in thought: ¡°I guess, I could do that much.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
One, two, three steps back, turn, kick, use it to jump off the shoulder, and make a spin with my outstretched sword. It''s just a usual routine, nothing special, yet I feel how Instructor is watching me, and he sighs.
I also want to sigh, I''m really not in the mood. I mean, I used to like the thrill of battle, to see what I can do and to test myself on every second, but today everything feels off and while I should feel grateful to Instructor for looking at my performance, I feel just sad.
That''s because I''m still a child. I need to grow up quickly.
¡°You''re lacking explosive power. Look,¡± Instructor says as he repeats the same steps as I, but I can see how he''s building up power with each step, concentrating it, and the moment he jumps and spins, his cut doesn''t just cleaves the monster in half like mine, but also gives him enough momentum to jump off its corpse, carrying the power of this attack into a brutal charge that chops another monster into half. While I can also do it, I would need to give up kicking the former monster¡¯s halves into other monsters, which Instructor does easily and even uses the second monster''s remains as projectiles. ¡°You''ve picked up a bad habit of thinking during a fight. Those are fractions of seconds you could and should chip off in a fight.¡±
¡°...sorry, Sir.¡± I say while beheading the last monster without even looking at it.
¡°I expected worse, and considering that you stopped with your lessons because of your idealistic yet idiotic idea of supporting Feuerberg in time of war... You have a gift, Kati. If you want to realize it, I''ll help you. At least we''ll have more time now, considering that you don''t have all that crown-princess nonsense.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± What is he talking about?
¡°Oh, you didn''t know? You''ve been disowned.¡± As Instructor goes on, I can''t hear a single word, all is muted by a cloud of void in my head.
I''m not the crown-princess anymore?
It makes sense, I just vanished and left the country. I have several able siblings to take over, and as long as I''m the heir, I''d also be a liability.
Yes, it makes sense.
In a sense, I should be grateful. I mean, I always disliked all the lectures, and now I can just join the military, just like my uncle. Sir Gottfried may train me to become Feuerberg''s champion, his successor, as while we have several able combatants, Instructor still stands above them. I may take that spot one day, putting all of our enemies and neighboring countries on their toes just because I exist.
It makes sense.
Yes, that''s something even someone like me can do. Isn''t helping my country all I wanted? Wasn''t I just selfish before? Yes, Kenta showed me. No, Lvo showed me, and Kenta explained it to me. He asked me to think for myself.
This is what I want. To be useful for Feuerberg, to uphold the proud name of my forefather Hagen. To protect even the poorest person in the kingdom. To fight against the unjust. Yes, I want that. ¡°Please take care of me once again.¡± I put my fingers on my forehead and over my heart.
¡°Just make it worth my time,¡± he snorts, probably to motivate me to reach the heights he expects me to climb.
We return to the camp and then go to the farmstead where the provisions lie. Some of them have been ransacked by monsters, but most of them are still usable. Kyou suggests saving the almost expired rations by preserving them, so we extend our break.
Kyou asks me to make a fire, so she can cure some meat later. I''m staring at the flames, as it makes me feel calm. I also hum a melody, which makes the fire burn brighter. This is something Ara taught me. Remembering her makes me feel sad, but no, that''s wrong, I should be happy that I was able to call her my friend.
¡°Fire, of course,¡± Wizard Rotfeld murmurs, as he comes closer to me. Then he takes some of the flames from the fire, as if they are solid. ¡°Hold.¡± He puts them into my hand.
I feel the heat, and instinctively put some of my magic into it, which causes it to burn brighter and become much warmer. ¡°Why-¡±
¡°It''ll die out if you just push magic into it. Fire needs something to burn, and it can''t burn magic. The mana from the planet hits fire particles in the air, you can burn those. Use your magic to guide the flame and to gather the particles.¡±
While his words seem familiar, I don''t know exactly what he means, yet I somehow manage to keep the flame on a more stable level. There was something about gathering, this helped. ¡°I did it.¡±
¡°You certainly did. Most beginners with fire just expels their magic with no sense, but magic is the energy for the fire, not its fuel. Though you can gather it, and then you have all you need: Fuel, energy, air.¡±
¡°I have no idea what you''re talking about.¡±
¡°I see. I can work with it. You just collected, right? To extinguish this flame, just scatter and stop the magic altogether afterward.¡±
Instead of collapsing, the flame extinguishes by spreading thin. ¡°Ooohh.¡± This feels somehow more elegant than just letting the fire die. ¡°That''s amazing.¡±
¡°This is nothing. Just some basics for [Control Fire]. Look.¡± He points at the fire, and the flames begin to change their shape, it looks like a bird soaring upwards. ¡°Just a small change of shape, but if you can shape, you can reshape, you can repurpose. [Ember Arrows]!¡° The bird becomes several smaller ones, no, not birds, rather arrows, that shoot into the sky. ¡°That''s where you want to be.¡±
I can''t help but applaud, as Wizard Rotfeld effortlessly uses magic like it''s natural to him. His expertise is real, it''s just that before against Ara¡ª No, she''s fine. She''s been healed, and she and Kenta will do the right thing. As I''ll stay in Feuerberg, they can just visit me after they break the curse.
Because both of them are smart.
Volume 08 - Chapter 7-2
¡°Wake up.¡± Something prods me with a staff, and it hurts. Well, everything hurts. I feel a lot of emotions welling up, but at this point, I''m rather good at clubbing them for as long as it takes to ban them into the depths of my subconscious. Is it healthy? Probably not. Will it do for now? Absolutely. ¡°I can''t lift my body.¡± Too bad I can''t do the same with the pain, and even if I could, it wouldn''t change my physical condition.
Ara-san slowly touches my body all over, she''s gentle, but it hurts! Yet she seems to find a spot where she can try to lift me up with the least amount of pain. ¡°Here we go. Now the legs over the rim... can you even stand?¡±
¡°Probably. The splints keep everything together. Just hurts like hell.¡± I wiggle my ass forward until I''m over the edge of the cart. Yes, it hurts, tears are welling up, as it feels like lightning runs through my bones. ¡°Hfff.... hfff....¡±
¡°Breathe,¡± hearing her voice somewhat helps. ¡°We''re now here at the inn. What is your plan?¡±
¡°Asking for help.¡±
¡°...this is unusual.¡± She doesn''t comment on it further, which I''m thankful for, as each word hurts in my throat and on my lips. ¡°Did you hope they will be here?¡± She points at a camp next to the building. It shows the banner of an axe hacking into a flame.
¡°...¡± This certainly crossed my mind. It only made sense that they''d be here, as they traveled on the road, while we cut across the country. I can''t see much activity though, so I turn to the inn instead. It''s old, but looks clean and well. ¡°Let''s head in.¡± I open the door, limp through the short corridor into the common room. There a bunch of mercenaries are drinking and laughing, most likely trying to get over the misfortunes that befell them recently.
The boss of the mercenaries¡ªGunsar, the Flamebane¡ªis inside, seemingly enjoying a meal. Of course, he doesn''t miss us. ¡°Oh, if it isn''t the Red Ranger and his alfr bitch! Where are your other women? ...hey, you don''t look good.¡± While he started with malice, his last words were genuine wonder. ¡°Did you get your ass kicked?¡±
Flamebane. How fitting, if I consider that my opponent originates from a land that''s associated with fire. ¡°Yes. I need your help. We can pay.¡±
¡°Oh? You need our help now? I offered you a hand in friendship, you answered with a fist. Because of you, we lost our contract and our reputation. You insulted us, and I didn''t hear an apology until now, and while I can''t prove that you''re responsible for this, after our last encounter several of our provisions were poisoned, causing even more damage. I think this is not your place to ask for help.¡±
So it comes down to this. This man won''t rest until I grovel before his feet, until I humiliate myself. ¡°Help me, Ara-san.¡± So be it. Ara-san supports me, so I can fall on my knees. It hurts, the burning sensation of sickles running through flesh and bones makes me stop for a moment, as I need to remember what I''m even doing, but finally I''m on my knees. Then I bow down, hitting my forehead on the floor. ¡°I apologize. Please forgive me. Forgive me for insulting you, forgive me for attacking you, forgive me for all the bad things that have happened to you since you met me.¡±
Something inside me hurts, but to be honest, my legs hurt much, much more. If it gets their help, a large sum and my pride are a small price to pay. Basically a bargain.
Next to me, Ara-san mimics me, seemingly just to make it all much quicker.
Flamebane looks down on us, I can feel his triumph searing from him. He then takes his cup and empties it on me: ¡°No.¡±
If I were in any other mood, I''d explode. I''d feel ashamed and rejected, but as the wine is running down my hood and armor, I just accept it as it is and I don''t want to waste my time with this jerk anymore. ¡°ANYONE!¡± I scream, each syllable tremors painfully through my body: ¡°I NEED HELP! THEY GOT RINE AND KYOU! THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO! PLEASE!¡± My words echo through the common room. I see traders and their bodyguards. ¡°400,000 NEWGOLD!¡± This would be basically everything we earned and then some, but we can sell stuff to make the difference up. ¡°I''LL WORK FOR FREE FOR A YEAR! WHATEVER YOU WANT! JUST HELP ME!¡±
The only thing that follows is silence. Of course, whatever can put me¡ªa ranger¡ªinto this state has to be especially dangerous, and telling them about Gottfried would just scare them more. I''m the prime example of a loser, and it wouldn''t surprise me if some of them are thinking about just robbing me, after they heard the sum.
In the end, my plea doesn''t change anything. I''m not better or worse off than before. I just have to deal with what I have. Nobody here will help me.
*pat* I feel a warm hand on my shoulder, slowly lifting me up so I can look into an old face, surrounded by gray and white hair, and much of it hidden behind a beard. ¡°Let me help you.¡± The dirty poncho and the nasty smell is familiar. This is the old man I first met at Goldbrunn and then later at another inn, just before the Redrock Canyon. ¡°Stand up, Red Ranger. The ground is no place for a man.¡±
With a surprisingly firm grip, he lifts me back to my feet. I look at his blue eyes and it''s like something has let go of my heart. ¡°Thanks.¡± This warm swell of gratitude for even an elderly man is about to make me break into tears again.
¡°Fill me in on the way. Let''s go.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± I slowly turn around, and this makes me want to vomit. I''m already at the limit again. I step out of the inn and point at the cart with the fantasy donkey pulling it. ¡°This one.¡± I heave myself on the bedding again, and my eyelids feel so heavy. ¡°I... there...¡± I point in the direction I feel two of my wives. ¡°Give me a moment. Hff... hf...¡±
While the old man holds the reins and Ara-san sits by my side, I catch my breath again. It almost feels like my skin is crumbling, as if I barely hold together. ¡°Kenta-kun, drink this.¡± It''s just an HP-potion and a painkiller, but I guess it''s better than nothing.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
I let her feed me, as the shivering of my healthy hand just won''t stop. As the painkiller immediately takes effect, I can breathe halfway normally again. ¡°Phew... Thanks. Geezer... I appreciate the offer, but I want to warn you... if things don''t work out, we''re all going to die.¡±
¡°Like always, no? What needs to be done?¡±
¡°Just get me to Rine... the blonde girl.¡± Between Gottfried, Meldorn, and the other two, it¡¯d be much better to have an army on my side, but if the only additional help I get is from one person, I have to go with the insane plan.
¡°Ah, isn''t she a darling? A youngster, doing everything for his beloved one. Can''t say I hate that.¡±
¡°We''re not like that. We''re not together, that was just a big lie. Basically, she kidnapped herself and put the blame on me.¡±
¡°Kekeke! Seriously!? What is she, a noble?¡±
¡°Worse. Royalty.¡±
¡°Oho? Not bad. Which country?¡±
¡°Feuerberg.¡±
¡°Ah, I was there once. Not worth the trouble. So if we spin this story further... someone from her country picked her up, and put you in this state. Will you fight?¡±
¡°Not if I can avoid it.¡±
¡°Do you have a plan?¡±
¡°Something like that.¡± Ara-san seems to be pleased about this. Ah, we haven''t had a proper talk so far, so of course she may have been a bit concerned about what to do. ¡°Just get me to them and I¡¯ll do the rest. *Yawn* Let me rest a bit...¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Kenta-kun is asleep once more. I sure hope he doesn''t stay like this, because it''s rather boring, and falling asleep unreasonably is my identifying trait in this party. I don''t want him to steal it.
However, it''s easier to watch him sleep, than to watch him awake. While his spirit has bloomed in ways I couldn''t even imagine, I don''t like what I feel, how basically his spirit is dominated by pain. Of course, even after this awakening, I may not be able to read his spirit appropriately, given that he''s a human.
I¡¯d really like to know how he could develop his spirit in this short amount of time, though. Maybe it''s the limitations of his body that forced him to evolve? Maybe he used the plants to move him close to the farmstead? There are still mysteries to solve, and I want to know about Kenta-kun and how much of it is about him being a hero.
However, I need to concentrate on something else: The bearded human. I kinda like him for a human, he seems to be free-spirited and to have some humor. ¡°You still didn''t tell me your name.¡±
¡°Oh, you''re right. The name is Grekk.¡±
¡°That Grekk?¡±
¡°The same, I guess.¡±
¡°Oh, that''s assuring.¡±
¡°Strange, usually that''s the part where you should cry out in terror and try to protect the boy.¡±
¡°There are more important things to know. Are you a hero?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Alright, you immediately lost my interest.¡±
¡°...¡± Ah, this is the human expression for being baffled. I won. ¡°Ka-Kahahaha! Delightful! You''re something else.¡±
I point at my ears: ¡°I know, human eyes become worse with age, but if you''re that shortsighted already, then I should take my words back, as you may be unable to tell friend from foe in battle, Grekkun.¡±
¡°Grekkun? Did you just gave me a nickname?¡±
¡°Momo told me once that nicknames are useful to close the distance between people. As we will work with each other, I may as well skip the tiring get-to-know phase and get right to the comradeship part, but don''t take it as an invitation to make a move on me.¡±
¡°Oh, how tragic. I was about to fall in love with you.¡± This is the right reaction, making a joke about it. This shows that if humans are old enough, they will eventually learn how to deal with sex jokes. Though it''s rather disappointing, as now I need to look for another kind of joke to trigger him. ¡°Would you mind filling me in while the lad is sleeping?¡±
¡°Sure.¡± Kenta-kun has been a bad conversation partner lately, and Grekkun should know the gist of the situation.
Speaking of which, I should also inform the others.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Finally, after three days, there is a letter. I was worried that Ken and Arako are so deep into things, that they don''t even have the time to put a message into the [Inventory], and while I would have liked to write one as well, I don''t want to become suspicious the moment my kidnappers believe I''m now on their side to a degree.
Which makes it hard to take out and read said letter, as Meldorn-san seems to notice everything happening in 2 km (1.24 miles) around him. Be it some herbs I can use as spices, be it a rare snake which he plans to skin later, or even the wind changing.
I have no privacy here at all, and it makes sense, as I''m a prisoner. Sorry, Arako, Ken, I can''t read your message right now.
I suspect it''s just a status report, anyway. They know the direction we are going, they don''t know the exact situation, so why should they send me instructions? I''m already doing the best I can, and they will just have to make up a plan themselves, I mean, they act like they''re the smartest in the party all the time.
¡°Oh?¡± Rine-chan takes out the letter from her backpack. I didn''t consider it, of course she would take out the letter out of pure curiosity, and even if she remembered that we''re under watch, she''s still thinking that she''s supposed to return to Feuerberg!
Meldorn-san nudges Gottfried-san, who immediately takes the letter from Rine-chan''s hand. ¡°What do we have here... ''By reading this, you''re agreeing to--'' to what!?¡± He seems to be very upset... Don''t tell me, they send a letter ''knowing'' that Gottfried-san will read it and put as many insults into it as possible. ¡°Brave. They are indeed brave.¡± He folds the paper and puts it into a pocket. ¡°Meldorn, you were right. The elf is also with him.¡± So Meldorn-san ''knew'' Ken is on his way? How!? ¡°Would you please?¡±
The huntsman nods and heads back down the road. Will he confront Ken and Arako on his own? Why? Because Gottfried-san is the only one capable of fighting back Rine-chan, if she decides to resist?
¡°What is happening?¡± A really annoyed Rotfeld-san says. ¡°Would you mind telling the rest of us, Sir Gottfried?¡±
¡°Ah, yes. Meldorn told me that the boy is catching up with us, and I decided to let him handle it, if they really intend to engage us again. They sent a... let''s call it a challenge.¡±
¡°And you didn''t tell us before?¡±
¡°We''re working on a need-to-know basis here. I don''t see the need to tell you about everything. We need to stray from the road again, in case Meldorn is not able to stop them, and I-¡±
¡°That''s not part of the deal!¡± Rine-chan suddenly flares up, as she stares at her instructor: ¡°I came with you to ''stop'' the fighting!¡±
¡°Quiet, Kati.¡±
¡°Now you''re sending the huntsman!?¡±
Gottfried-san stays calm as he repeats: ¡°I said quiet. I''ll uphold my word as well as I can. If Meldorn can''t stop them without killing them, none of us can.¡±
¡°We can talk! Let me talk to Kenta and Ara!¡±
¡°Then what? They''re crazy. They are actually heading back for you, despite me being here. Do you believe people like that have any reasoning? Any sound judgment? Any common sense even?¡±
¡°DON''T TALK ABO-¡±
However, her yell is cut by a cold: ¡°Don''t talk to me like that, Stupid Disciple #1.¡±
¡°...¡± Rine-chan immediately falls silent, as she starts to look down, submitting to her instructor that she admires and fears at the same time.
¡°For now, we will leave the road and look for a good place to fight in case they miraculously are able to overcome Meldorn. Because on the off chance that they have a decent plan, I want to lower the risk of damaging the trading routes as much as possible.¡± This is bad. It sounds like Gottfried-san is ready to reshape another piece of landscape if needed.
I wish I would have been able to read the letter, as I don''t know how much they''ve pissed off Gottfried-san and for what reason. Maybe there was a hidden message in case I see it. Yet for now, I can only hope that Ken and Arako have a great plan to deal with Meldorn-san and even Gottfried-san.
We''re doomed, aren''t we?
Volume 08 - Chapter 7-3
The days of journey so far have been rather uneventful. Well, to be honest, I feel like I slept most of the time and I think maybe a day or two have passed since then, I''m not sure at this point.
What is concerning is the fact that the curse has reactivated and I''m back to [Student], which drops my [Endurance] even more, which also lowers my pain tolerance, and I''m basically under constant pain killers to somehow get by for now.
We got closer to the girls, maybe because they were slowed down or because they didn''t see the hurry, but I can feel how they have changed direction recently and while I may not know the distance of each wife, I always know the direction. The quicker it changes, the closer we are.
¡°Unless the road curves, they''re leaving it,¡± I say while making a sound between a groan and a yawn.
¡°Maybe to prepare for us,¡± Ara-san says while being strangely amused.
¡°...what did you do?¡±
¡°I may have sent a letter.¡±
¡°To Kyou-san and Rine?¡±
¡°To Gottfried-kun.¡±
¡°...¡± Why? Why did you do it? And from your¡ªwhatever¡ªI can tell, that it''s most likely something absolutely moronic. ¡°What did you write?¡±
¡°This and that. We worked together,¡± she chuckles, as she pats the geezer on his shoulder.
¡°It was fun, though I can''t read.¡± Please don''t tell me that he''s an alfr in human disguise.
¡°Phew...¡± Let''s not look at the disadvantages for now, but what good may come from it. Knowing that we are coming means they can prepare. This is not good, but if we find a flaw... How would they prepare? How much?
What do we have here... Ara-san, knowledgeable but alfr. Failed before, combat power decent, yet more of a ranged attacker overall. Good match for the wizard and the priest, bad match for Meldorn and Gottfried, as the former is too quick and the latter too ridiculous.
We have me. If I push myself to my current limit, the most I can hope for is to make a toddler cry, possibly breaking its spirit and winning the fight. However, if it reacts with an anger tantrum, it''d probably kill me instead. Good match for inanimate objects and corpses, bad match for everything that can actively resist.
Then finally the geezer. Who is old, but has at least been able to somehow survive the road so far, so he''s already infinitely stronger than I. Other than that, no intel. ¡°Hey Geezer. Do you have any helpful talents in a fight?¡±
¡°Don''t worry about me, I¡¯ll get you past-¡± He suddenly catches an arrow that was about to hit his shoulder. He moved like out of reflex. ¡°-past him, I guess.¡±
From the side of the road, I see a single man standing. Meldorn. He lifts his bow to shoot another arrow at the distance, this time it''s much quicker and aimed at the donkey, but Ara-san takes her staff and hits it away. ¡°How do you plan to do it, Grekkun?¡± she asks.
Grekkun? I guess that''s his name. I didn''t use [Dormurnal] while sleeping when I still had access to [Ranger], mostly because I''m concerned how much it would cut into my current recovery rate. I barely exchanged two sentences with him since he joined us. I guess I''ll just stick with Geezer, Grekkun seems like a mouthful to say for a Japanese person.
¡°Hm...¡± The old man tightens the reign and whips them to spur the donkey, which began to run at its full, yet rather pitiful, speed. Its goal was directly at Meldorn. ¡°Just keep these arrows away from the animal.¡±
Carts aren''t made for this ground! It shakes and I have to hold tight onto the rim to not fall off, which becomes more and more difficult, as each impact sets off a hundred pain explosions in my body. Black spots cover my sight like ink, as I just hope during every moment for it to end... and there are way too many moments of this.
As we approach, Meldorn takes a few more shots at the donkey and the geezer. Ara-san deflects the former, while the geezer just catches every arrow pointed at him, even if they curve or do whatever. He''s not even that fast while doing so, it''s like he knows where they will try to hurt him.
The moment of truth comes, Meldorn evades the donkey, but has four arrows on his bow, he shoots them all at once, but the geezer jumps from the cart in front of the hunter who just unleashed his [Quadruple Shot]. All four arrows hit the poncho-clad torso of the geezer from point-blank distance, yet all of them... bounce off! ¡°Go ahead.¡±
Ara-san takes the reins and I look back at the geezer, who is gyrating his head, as if he''s doing a warming up.
I ban the geezer and Meldorn entirely from my mind, as I see this as covered and don''t have the time, energy, or thought to waste on them right now. This means that we''re going to face Gottfried and I need every resource I can get for it.
It takes a while, Ara-san and I are on edge, but when they finally come into sight, it seems anti-climactic. No attack from afar, no arena, just an open patch of uneven land. In a sense, it''s the worst, as there is little to nothing to fall back. This is a place as neutral as possible, a place where you need to have your own power. And the one who has it most of all is standing in front of the rest of the group.
He''s still far away, but I can''t help but see him as a giant. Gottfried from Feuerberg, the one who crushed any sense of power scaling I had thus far with ease. The one who could kill me even at this distance without breaking a sweat. The wall I need to somehow overcome.
¡°Let''s keep the cart here.¡± We only borrowed it, so I¡¯d like to keep it whole. I pull down my hood, as I want to hide my loser''s face. Panic and despair are about to crush my heart, but after all that physical pain, the mental anguish really doesn''t hold a candle. I will collapse and break down after this anyway, so let''s keep pushing a bit.
I feel power in my legs, as I jump from the cart, most likely drawing from the reserves I''ve built up by sleeping over the last few days, in addition to whatever my hero body does.
Ara-san walks next to me, and I beat down the feelings of jealousy and envy that I hold against her, as each step of mine is accompanied by pain that makes me grit my gums. I feel wounds reopen, burning ruptures throughout my body.
Gottfried steps forward, he yells at his companions to stay where they are. ¡°What is the strategy, Kenta-kun?¡± Ara-san asks in a nonchalant manner, as if this isn''t anything more than some sort of friendly PvP-event in a game.
¡°Get me pass him,¡± I ask her in a ragged voice, as walking surely takes its toll.
¡°Sure.¡± How can she be so calm? I''m about to piss my pants, despite how much I''ve cleared my head. ¡°Just keep walking.¡± It''s reassuring to have Ara-san act so reliably for a change.
We''re now close, Gottfried still hasn''t drawn his sword: ¡°You are here to surrender?¡± The way he phrases this question shows that he doesn''t believe it. However, I just keep on walking, trying to pass him, not even giving him so much as a word: ¡°I''m talking to-¡± He''s about to grab me, but draws his hand back, as Ara-san thrusts her staff at his hand.
She builds up in front of him, looking down on him despite being a head smaller than him: ¡°Sir Gottfried-kun, I believe you read my letter?¡±
He turns to her, his hand on the grip of his sword: ¡°I did.¡± However, I know he''s still watching me, making sure to let me know that if I take another step, I''ll immediately die.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
¡°So you didn''t understand it? Was my writing of too high a standard?¡± Is she starting to troll him?
¡°Better not mock me, elf.¡±
¡°Alfr.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Do you want to know why Aroahenn hasn''t allied itself with Feuerberg so far? Aside from past transgressions that your short-lived species most likely even forgot, you never even bothered to learn how we refer to ourselves. You lack any respect for our culture, desires, and morality. The only person in your whole kingdom in more than a whole century that even bothered to learn our proper name is Katarine von Stolzherz. And you? While you may be the strongest individual I¡¯ve witnessed thus far, as a representative of your country, you''re severely lacking, and by extension you''re a terrible knight.¡±
Wow, what a burn! Gottfried seems to be taken aback for a second, I don''t know whether he isn''t used to being insulted that directly or because it actually hit him. Yet he collects himself quickly afterwards, and then replies: ¡°So, alfr-¡±
¡°Ara''ainn. It''s rude to refer to someone by their species.¡± ARA-SAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? Ah, pain! Getting excited hurts!
¡°So, ''Ara''ainn''. Is that all you have to say?¡± He sure knows that he''s at an absolute advantage.
¡°Now that we have the basis of courtesy reviewed, let''s go back to the topic. My challenge still stands.¡± Is this about the letter?
¡°...I will accept it.¡± For whatever reason an ugly grin runs up his face, as he steps aside. ¡°Go ahead, boy.¡±
I have not the slightest idea what is going on, but I start walking again, or more like stumbling forward. Each step I feel the bones in my feet move, I don''t even know if I''m just that more conscious of it or if stuff is moving there in ways they shouldn''t.
However, I do one step at a time, my eyes fixated on Rine. Unable to hold herself, she runs to me, while the wizard lifts his staff, probably trying to stop her, yet Kyou-san steps into his way, while the old priest looks like he wants to be anywhere but here.
Now the blonde, beautiful princess of a shitty country stands before me. This is the moment of truth.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
While he wears the armor and the hood, I can barely recognize Kenta. Bandages are over his limbs, one eye is dyed deeply red, the nostrils ruptured, the little skin I can see is feverish and sweaty.
This is all my fault. Still, Kenta is here. Why? He claims to be a bad person, but he''s still here for me. That''s so unfair! Why are you doing this!? Why do you keep pushing!? How can you be so kind to someone like me?
Seeing you like this breaks my heart. How can you be a Fabian right now? In the stories, being hurt and wounded always doesn''t seem so bad, but in reality, it''s so much worse. He''s now in front of me, and I take the rims of his hood and reveal his head. It looks rugged and most of it should be covered by bandages, yet for some reason, he decided to keep most of it revealed. I can clearly see his frayed and missing teeth, and there is only one question in my mind, while tears run down my cheeks: ¡°Why... why are you trying to save me?¡±
¡ªI have given you nothing but trouble and sorrow.
¡°I''m selfish, I don''t take others into account.¡±
¡ªIt was my big adventurous journey with companions I could treat like I care about them.
¡°Whenever something doesn''t go my way, I use physical or emotional force.¡±
¡ªThey were scared of me, and I used it to its fullest, even if I didn''t realize it back then.
¡°I''m nothing. I''m stupid! I''m ignorant! I''m not even the strongest! I''m just good at bullying the much weaker, and whenever a challenge comes, I can''t seal the deal!¡±
¡ªI let the oni escape and get the better of me. I couldn''t defeat Lvo. I couldn''t defeat Instructor. The one defining trait, the one task in our party, I failed spectacularly times and again.
¡°I''m not even the crown princess anymore!¡±
¡ªI''ve rejected my family and in return, my family has rejected me. I''ve never known how much it was just a part of me to be the heir to the throne, how much I took it for granted, until it was taken away for absolutely valid reasons.
With every word, I break down more and more, until I feel so miserable, that my heart aches. ¡°I''m so sorry. This is all my fault.¡±
¡ªBecause of me, they fought. Because I decided to resist, Kyou and Ara got hurt, while Kenta is barely recognizable anymore.
¡°Stop! Stop, please!¡±
¡ªSo much happiness is flowing into me, and I feel so guilty about it. I just wish that he would be like that to someone more worthy than me, someone who actually deserves this.
¡°Stop trying to save meeeeee.... *sob, sob, sob*¡± My voice breaks and the shame and overwhelming surge of emotions makes me lower my face and hold myself, as tears are running non-stop to the ground.
Kenta listens to my words and then he does something unexpected: ¡°Save you!?¡± He sounds like I said something ludicrous. ¡°Are you out of your mind!?¡±
This baffles me so much that my tears suddenly stop flowing. ¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Fuck! The moment I leave you alone for a day or three, you''re right back at where you were! What am I to you, some sort of idiotic protagonist of a smut that''s saving you and the day despite all odds!? Look at me, Rine! LOOK AT ME!¡±
I raise my head, and I see Kenta tensing up because of pain, blood running down the corner of his mouth, as his gums started to bleed. It is a nightmare.
¡°Yeah, take a good look. Do I look like someone who can save anyone? I can barely stand straight! Do you expect me to take my shitty spear, wave it around, beat the two over there with a single hit, then have something like an epic fight against the monstrosity behind me and then say crap like ''Rine''s with us now. Don''t bother her again!?'' Rine, every breath hurts! It hurts so much! I''m about to pass out, and the only reason I''m here is to bring you down from your high horse! Shit, what do you think you are!? A damsel in distress?¡±
¡°Erm, but, I-¡± I have no idea how to answer it, so I want to point at the obvious: ¡°But because of me-¡±
¡°BECAUSE OF YOU!? Oh, you''re so important! By the way, that''s sarcasm! When the fuck did I allow you to be responsible for my actions, my decisions? I may have asked you if you want to surrender or try to flee, but I made the choice to put my life on the line. It was me who misjudged the situation and didn''t consider giving up earlier! This,¡± and he points at his body, ¡°is the result of my own choices and don''t you dare to take credit for it! I''m the one who decides what to do with my life, and I''m the one who''s responsible for the consequences, and I won''t let anyone take that from me! So don''t say it''s your fault. It''s not! Get that stupid, self-serving thought out of your head immediately!¡±
...I''m so confused. He doesn''t want to save me, but it also doesn''t seem like he wants to blame me. ¡°Why are you even here then!?¡±
¡°Didn''t I just tell you? Because of my choices. Why are you here?¡±
¡°Erm... because of my choices as well?¡±
¡°Wrong.¡±
¡°But isn''t it what you just said?¡±
¡°If you tell me here and now that you want to return home, then I''ll accept that. Easy as that.¡±
¡°I''ve agreed.¡±
¡°Wrong.¡±
¡°Huh!? Didn''t I just-¡±
¡°I didn''t ask whether you agreed to it or not! I asked you if you ''want'' to return home.¡±
It''s just a single word. It could be so easy. I just need to say ''I want to return home'' and then everything is done. Kenta would leave me alone, would stop hurting himself.
But I can''t.
Tears roll down my cheeks once again, as I realize once more what a terrible liar I am. I can''t tell a lie. At best I speak the untruth after convincing myself of a fact. Like how I fell for Kenta. If Kenta is my husband, that means I love him.
Yet at this moment, I can''t convince myself. ¡°I can''t say it. But what I want can''t be.¡±
¡°Rine, I can''t save you. You''re the only one who can save yourself.¡±
¡°I can''t. I can''t, I can''t, I can''t! I''m not strong enough!¡± Insecurity and fear are about to crush me, it feels like chains are wrapped around my whole body. I''m barely able to breathe.
¡°That''s rich, coming from someone who never had to make an actual effort for their wants and needs before.¡± He nudges a bit closer, almost losing his balance. ¡°Like I said, I can''t save you. I can only offer some support.¡± He puts his hand on my cheek, slowly lifting my face to look into his eyes. ¡°Sorry, but I''m going to become the biggest kind of jerk.¡±
¡
His lips are gentle. In that one moment, my anxiety, my fears, my self-loath, all of these painful emotions are washed away by warmth I never knew I wanted so badly.
Kenta is kissing me...
Kenta and I are kissing.
Kenta...
I feel like I''m falling into a blackness deep inside myself. It''s a warm place. It feels like I''m seeing flames, no, people shaped out of flames, almost like the bird Wizard Rotfeld made before, but instead of shaped fire, it''s fire that comes in shape.
It''s like I''m flying through the blackness, passing the first person, who I feel like it''s very important, several others that stand in groups, again and again. I feel like I''ve seen many of them before, and the last few ones seem strangely familiar.
At the end of the last so familiar group, are eight sparks floating around, and the biggest of them start to grow. It grows more and more, it grows a head, a body, and limbs, and I know that this is me.
I fly through the flaming picture of myself, and I feel a new heat inside me. A heat that effortlessly burns the chains around my heart. A heat that runs through my blood and out of my skin. I hear Kenta coughing, one step away from me now.
I touch my lips. While the heat is intense, it doesn''t dispel the warmth I still feel from the kiss.
I will do it! Because Kenta gave me strength.
¡°Don''t worry¡± I say, as I step towards Instructor. ¡°I got it.¡±
Then every doubt, every feeling, every moment starts to fade. Only one thought exists in my head anymore. Kenta. Kenta. KentaKentaKentaKentaKentaKenta.
Volume 08 - Chapter 7-4
Rine is on fire.
Literally, she''s burning! It''s like she''s sweating flames out of her whole body, radiating an intense heat that makes even breathing close to her painful. Or in my case, just a lot more painful. As the flames protrude out of her body, the dirt on her armor burns away, and even her headband turns into a crisp, though her hair flows softly upwards as if it''s a blonde flame in itself.
I hear the priest mumbling something: ¡°At her age...¡± So this was to be expected at some point!?
I check Rine''s status, but I see no new [Condition], no new [Skill] or [Spell], nothing that would explain it.
I mean, I kissed her well knowing that she''s confused and needed to latch onto something, and I''m a huge jerk to use the feelings she has for me due to the curse for it, but I didn''t know how I could give her that little shove otherwise.
Still, I didn''t expect her to literally flare up! That''s not a shove, that''s equipping her with a rocket booster!
You gain 20 WP.
You have finally shared a first kiss with Katarine von Stolzherz, giving her the strength to overcome her own doubts. What a beautiful moment.
This kinda comes late, though it drives home exactly how I kinda exploited her most-likely-artificial feelings for me.
Yet I have no chance to think about it, as Rine suddenly charges at Gottfried. Every step she takes leaves a black scorch mark under her feet. As Ara-san distances herself from the old knight, who turns to Rine, smiles, and draws his sword. Suddenly he makes a sidestep, as Rine draws her weapon as well and swings it, which creates a massive wave of fire that barely misses her instructor. ¡°To be honest, I didn''t expect that,¡± he says with a grin. ¡°This will be a handful.¡± Is he enjoying it!?
Ara-san dashes towards me, as Rine is about to unleash her second attack. While Gottfried parries it, a huge squall meets another flameburst, as if parrying her attacks alone wasn''t enough anymore to save him from harm. The dispersed flames roll through the sky and the ground and leave the earth black and smoking.
As the wizard and the priest are about to make their moves, Gottfried yells at them: ¡°Don''t interfere! Leave this to me. Just throw me my shield.¡± So he''s taking it seriously enough to actually use his whole equipment!?
The priest makes a pitiful throw with a shield that can be strapped on the forearm and only covers as much, but Gottfried dashes torwards it, picks it up with his blade, and then equips it swiftly. ¡°Now back off a little.¡±
Even Ara-san and I take his advice. As Rine jumps forward, the flames surrounding her body grow and intensify so much that even several meters away I can still feel the heat.
¡°Do you have any idea what that is, Ara-san!?¡± Gottfried¡¯s moves are very different from before, taking much more effort and movement to evade and parry the attacks Rine throws at him. He seems to know exactly what he''s facing!
¡°I have a hunch. Remember, when I told you the story of Hagen von Stolzherz?¡±
¡°The founder-guy? What about him?¡±
¡°The stories always mention the Flames of Freedom and how Hagen wields them. In several of those stories, he clads himself in them. When researching Hagen, I found out that there are stories about how prominent figures of the royal family also surround themselves in flames during a fight, but these reports were from unreliable sources. Also, I expected that it would be just a [Spell] they learned and didn''t disclose to the public.¡±
¡°It''s not a [Spell]?¡±
¡°I don''t think so. If it were a spell, it would drain Katarine-san''s MP.¡± She''s right, Rine''s MP is stable at full. ¡°Also, we should have some indicator of it in her status, which leads to a rather surprising preliminary conclusion.¡±
¡°That is?¡±
¡°That it has nothing to do with the hero-system at all.¡±
¡wait. I mean, each [Spell] is somehow noted down on the [Status] and when things aren''t, it''s because it''s either not a proper spell or something that the individual was able to do before becoming a hero. However, Rine is a native hero, so maybe her status is incomplete by nature. I mean, it would make absolutely sense and we just can''t see it, because she''s a literal bug in the system.
However, considering Ara-san''s explanation and what I heard from the priest before, this... Well, I can''t come up with something else.
As the two fighters become quicker and quicker, the only thing I can see is how the uneven plain becomes more and more of a scorched battlefield, but I also see something on Gottfried''s face I''ve never seen before: His sweat.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Meldorn faces off against the old man, or rather: He shoots arrows at him that just bounce off his skin, no matter what angle or distance. This seems to be a formidable foe, and now that Bob and the girl are out of reach, he should finally declare this person his quarry.
Releasing Bob from the marking, Meldorn puts it on the man in his maybe-eighties. He''s definitely older than Sir Gottfried and as the retired knight already struggles with old age, this has to be true for this one as well.
[Quarry] is a skill that allows the hunter to pin-point a creature''s location and use several other skills with it, making the target more vulnerable, finding the weak spots, protecting against attacks, and such. If a hunter can follow it through, only a large margin in power can make up that difference, that''s one of the main-reasons why Meldorn was able to deal with Bob so well, who turned out to have grown a lot.
However, Meldorn faces a problem with this old man. Quarry doesn''t work on him. Meldorn never had this happen to him, but he immediately knows what it means. That in no way this person is a quarry for the likes of Meldorn. It''s like a beetle declaring a mammoth as a quarry.
This means Meldorn can''t win. Yet this may also mean that this man will make a huge difference when facing Sir Gottfried. That''s why Meldorn decides to at least stall him. ¡°Don''t,¡± says the old man, most likely sensing the change of mind in Meldorn. ¡°Don''t waste your time. You know you can''t win, and I won''t be able to win without killing you.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Indeed, Meldorn was thinking about laying his life down for this, but this doesn''t have to be necessary. ¡°What do you suggest?¡±
¡°Let''s sit down and wait. We''re the same, men of regret.¡± Despite his obvious superior strength, the old man sits down cross-legged and yawns. ¡°Not like two dudes duking it out will decide this. Kehehe.¡±
Meldorn feels no imminent danger coming from this man, but he feels like they''re at some kind of stalemate here which is only based on the whim of the other person. Therefore, he follows the old warrior and sits down as well. ¡°So you won''t interfere?¡±
¡°Only if I need to, but the lad¡¯s got a plan, right? Maybe I may even escalate things, so keeping you away has to be enough for now.¡±
Something changes in the air, and Meldorn looks into the distance. Because of the uneven land, he can''t see that far, especially from a sitting position, but he smells something burning in the wind. ¡°It has begun.¡±
¡°Is that so? I wish I had some booze, then we could drink some together.¡± This man seems to be hellbent on doing small talk, something Meldorn doesn''t enjoy at all. ¡°You have family?¡±
This question hits Meldorn deeply. ¡°Not anymore.¡±
¡°Did they die?¡± The hunter shakes his head slowly. ¡°Well, I''m certainly not the person to give family advice. You could say that I messed up big time my whole life in that regard, and I started to regret it much too late. I''m old and there are things I can''t fix anymore and I''m on a journey because of the sheer hope to right one of the many wrongs I did. Too many to count, too many to forget.¡± He scratches his beard, obviously unsure how to continue his speech: ¡°Well, I''ll do my best until then, and you know what? I''m able to help someone right now for a change!¡± His grin seems to be too youthful for a man his age.
¡°...¡± Meldorn nods, not to the old man, but to himself. He survived another day. Maybe that can change something.
It''s strange... since then, Meldorn has taught many youths how to survive in the wilderness. Not asking any questions, not doing anything special. Yet now he is being lectured for a change.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Gottfried deflects another fireblast, this time by using a [Shockblock] with a diameter of eight meters (~26 feet). Using the shield for it is much less draining than trying to blow away or even cut the flames. If he doesn''t disperse the attacks in full, their collateral challenge would be devastating.
This fight is welcomingly difficult. It would still be easy to kill Kati immediately, but that''s exactly what he tries to avoid. Just hurting her is difficult, as the moment he tries to hit her without a weapon, her flame will burn the used limb instantly. The flames around her also act as a shield, which will intensify and incinerate any attack from a non-magical weapon. Dirt? Air? Pure pressure? All of them weakened or nullified the moment they get close because of Kati''s battle sense and instincts, all things he personally drilled into her. While her body may not keep up with his attacks, her flames do so easily.
Also the heat. He has to hold his breath when he''s close to her, as otherwise the hot air would cook his lungs and boil his blood, and if he stays too long in close-quarters, even his clothes would catch fire. That''s exactly the reason why she got the armor made out of fryon leather, because of its fire resistant nature. Otherwise, she would fight him naked by now.
However, being able to use [Korona] at her age... Her father Heini was only able to use it when he was ten years older, and he''s rather talented, but this shows just how much of a genius Kati is. How much potential she has. Will she begin to use more and more of her bloodline in the future? Gottfried is almost euphoric, as he imagines himself repeating this battle in three, maybe four years. Maybe he will be able to keep his form for another decade, if he can look forward to something this tasteful.
However, something makes him feel extremely sour. He would have been able to overcome her by now, if he could read her blade like before. To be precise, he can still read her blade, but it doesn''t help if all he can read is KentaKentaKentaKentaKentaKenta every time they clash swords.
Usually, he would commend her for finding a way to overcome this weakness of hers, but Gottfried did his best so that this girl won''t think about boys all the time! Couldn''t she think about swords instead!?
With her aggressiveness, this creates a fine fight overall. He can''t keep close to her, but she follows him as quickly as she can, and she can be absolutely quick, causing him to move around without taking a breath for a minute. Her [Korona] protects her from cheap shots and quick brawling, so she only needs to keep track of his blade, as even hitting her with his buckler may cost him the arm. He can''t read her intentions to make an opportunity for him to overcome her quickly, he can''t kill her, and her attacks are so massive that he takes the environmental damage into account and does much more work than needed to make sure that this landscape will be able to recover in a decade.
However, that''s exactly why he will win. Kati just evoked [Korona] for the first time, the flames are unstable and unnecessarily strong, there is no focus at all. It''s a strong skill, but she literally burns up all her energy and her body won''t be able to take this output much longer. Even if her father can''t match her in raw talent, currently he''s much stronger and has a much cleaner, less consuming [Korona] and he can upkeep it for at best ten minutes while fighting.
Kati will run out of stamina soon enough, and then everything will be over. While Gottfried''s back hurts and his bones creak, he''s still confident that he could manhandle Heini at this point, so what chance does his daughter, his current inferior in all ways, stand?
¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± She swings her sword once more, combining her flames with the skill, creating an abomination of a technique, but Gottfried hits it aside with his buckler. Yet she''s jump-kicking at him, and this is his cue to quickly evade and take some distance.
¡°Huuufff.¡± He exhales and inhales again, while looking at the crater she left. Not the most beautiful he has seen, but the flame pillar that comes out of it now is certainly the most impressive thing he saw since leaving Esse.
Around five minutes since they started. By this point, she should start to feel the strain of [Korona]. She charges at him once again, another bout. Then the next. And again. While he''s able to deflect her attacks, he feels no change in her inner Kenta-chant, the same with the sharpness and the power of her strikes or flames.
Does that mean... that she isn''t getting tired? This is not like someone pushing herself, as then her attacks wouldn''t feel so fluid and much more pointy at the end, and her blade would tell him something like ''I can do it! Keep it up!'' This is also not someone not recognizing how exhausted they are, as each attack has substance. Neither is it someone saving power, as each attack comes with her full weight.
This is just someone keeping performing at their peak. This is just... just like a hero.
In this moment, something dawns Gottfried. The prophecy that warned the royal family of Feuerberg, which brought a responsibility on them.
Listen to me, as I speak of the future that may come.
Fire lives in your veins, as the blood of a hero.
Yet if heroism and your blood are mixed once again,
then devastation will engulf the world soon thereafter.
Flames will swallow up heaven and earth, burning them to the ground.
The world will die and the people will cry for their gods.
The gods themselves will be eaten by the fire, and the rage of who holds both.
Your blood and the hero''s blessing may never cross, unless the world is to be destroyed and reshaped by the whims of the child.
Only the death of that kin can prevent it before it can start.
Listen to me, as I speak of the future that may come.
Carry these words throughout history and never forget them, unless you want to doom the world.
Only the royal family, the higher-ups of the church, and some selected individuals know of this prophecy. Up till now, everyone just thought that as long as the royal family doesn''t have descendants with heroes, this will never come to pass.
That''s the reason why Feuerberg never summoned heroes before as well. Yet Heini let the church talk him into it, most likely led by the Four of Feuerberg, who have little contact with the mortals. It was a calculated risk.
Yet back then, nobody would have imagined a child of the royal family becoming a hero. Kati may be the reason why the world will be destroyed, and it was the responsibility of the royal family to not let that happen. As their knight, it was Gottfried''s responsibility.
Now that he''s seeing how the bloodline and the heroism interact, it becomes clear what he has to do. He has to kill her, just for the off-chance that she may be the one.
Volume 08 - Chapter 7-5
The wizard August von Rotfeld looks at the fight or rather, at something he can''t observe. It''s too fast, it''s too bright. He catches glimpses of the impossible, the princess surrounded by fire magic without taking any damage. Unless she suddenly became a pyromancer, she shouldn''t be able to withstand that heat, and even pyromancers are smart enough to leave some space between their skin and the flames.
He has taught the princess some basics, and she understood everything immediately, if he skipped the complicated explanation and went right to an allegory. She certainly was talented, but he didn''t expect her to beat even his expertise in fire magic suddenly. While it''s very rough around the edges, her power and that fluidity is unlike anything he could make on the fly. Why doesn''t she need a chant!? This certainly looks like a spell that needs to be built up properly beforehand.
Though another emotion tugs at him. Inadequacy. He''s just a bystander once more, and it eats him alive. This would be over, if Rotfeld just interfered, but their so-called leader just decided to take her on his own, and he''s now hesitating.
The elf and the boy are still free, both of them talking about something. Is it Rotfeld, or did they move closer when he didn''t look? Ah, they will take the distraction Princess Katarine offers them to free Kyou-dono.
Are they mocking him as well? What about her? Did she just use him, because she thinks that he''s a weakling, a joke?
Isn''t the whole world mocking him by now? Sent on a journey to retrieve the princess, as part of his exam to become an archmage, only to do almost nothing in it, be beaten by an elf in magic, and be belittled by a warrior in retirement!?
No! He''s August von Rotfeld. He''s the future of magic! All of this would be easy if he would just use a spell. Yes, just end this farce. The most limiting factor is the princess, and while even Sir Gottfried''s sword may be unable to capture her unharmed, it''s an easy feat using his magic!
A simple [Hold] will do. [Alteration] can''t be affected by physical means! He starts his chant, aiming at the princess. She''s agile, and fast, but the chant begins to form around these traits of her, forming chains. He will override her speed and make it zero. This way, she can''t attack Sir Gottfried anymore, and he will have time to also incapacitate the other two heroes without harming them too much.
It''s time to end this farce. This joy-ride of the battlemaniac, whose egoism cost them so much time and nerves. ¡°[Hold]!¡± However, something didn''t work as it should.
Magic itself can''t be burned, only the fire-charged particles in the air. This is a basic principle of fire magic. Yet as the allegory chains are about to capture Princess Katarine, or rather, the moment they touch her, something around her begins to burn, and the flames begin to spread towards Rotfeld, burning the magic he just wove as if it was oil.
August von Rotfeld is a genius, but also a fool. He has enough knowledge to explain many things of the world, but lacks the humility to accept how little he actually knows. He has read a lot of books, but he never took time to listen to and read stories.
That''s why he thought that the Flames of Freedom were simply mastery of fire magic.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Fool!¡± A quick, harsh shout and flames wandering through the air is everything I witness, but as the flames jump onto the wizard, I realize that something has gone terribly wrong for the man, who cries in pain and agony, as he''s burning alive.
I''m really glad I''m not him, as even if my whole body hurts, I may still be better off than him.
Gottfried suddenly jumps forward to the flaming line connecting Rine and the wizard. He grips his sword especially firm and then with a shattering sound, he cuts the flames. It seems to have taken him some toll, and Rine¡ªnot even waiting for a moment¡ªunleashes another fireblast at him. This one hits for a change, but maybe because he raised his shield in time, he seems to be mostly unharmed, though he''s steaming. His sweat may have evaporated, and there are several pink spots on his skin, showing where it boiled.
The flames die on the burning wizard though. He seems badly burned and therefore I decide on the most sensible course of action. ¡°You take the priest.¡± Showing that she understood me, Ara-san dashes forwards to place her foot into the face of the priest, as I do my best to limp to the wizard, who is barely conscious. I fall next to him, barely avoiding plunging into the ground directly by sacrificing one of my knees. ¡°Aaaaaaahhhh---¡± This pain! It feels like something broke all the way from my knee up to my shoulder!
¡°[Heal]!¡± Kyou-san immediately throws her magic at me, and I get the addictive sweetness of not living in a hell of pain for a fraction of a moment, until my body remembers how broken it is.
However, I''m here for a reason. Able to pull myself together, I draw my knife and hold it on the wizard''s throat: ¡°Hey Gottfried!¡±
The old fart of a knight turns his head slightly, only to see his allies in threatening positions. Ara-san has the priest from behind, her staff across his neck. I''m kneeling at the wizard¡¯s side with a blade at his throat. The old knight hisses ever so slightly, yet it doesn''t escape me.
Time to make it or break it: ¡°We got your allies. I''m sure you can kill me even at that range, maybe even before I can seal the deal, but that''s when Rine gets you from behind.¡±
¡°... ¡ What are your terms?¡± Ah, I''m finally getting under his skin. It''s just a scrap of comfort, but after all I''ve experienced, I''ll gladly take it.
¡°Let us go. You return to Feuerberg. Report whatever makes them stop chasing us. In return, all of your allies will live through this day.¡±
¡°Unacceptable,¡± he says and I feel how he''s aiming his killing intent first at me, but then at Rine- shit!
¡°Ah-ah-ah! If you attack her, we''ll kill them.¡± Then he will kill Ara-san and me, maybe Kyou-san for good riddance and then he has won. I really haven''t thought this through.
¡°Sir Gottfried-san,¡± Kyou-san picks up the ball: ¡°You said, you need to get in contact with Feuerberg anyway! Just leave us alone until you have done so, and Wizard von Rotfeld has recovered. Maybe Rine-chan doesn''t have to die.¡±
This makes Gottfried hesitate for a second. Then he sighs and sheaths his sword. ¡°I accept.¡± This is the power of [Persuasion] and insider-knowledge!
¡°YES!¡± This comes from Rine, whose facial expressions shift from ''I''ll burn down everything in my way'' to pure euphoria in a heartbeat. She runs towards us, but I see a big problem...
She''s still on fire: ¡°Rine, you''re still burning!¡±
¡°Oh, I am?¡±
¡°Kyou-san, just grab your stuff and we''re leaving immediately.¡± While I have no idea how long it takes for them to send a message to Feuerberg, I know for a fact that I want to get away from Gottfried as fast as possible.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°What about the relic, Kenta-kun?¡± Ara-san asks while pillaging the priest¡¯s pockets.
While I¡¯m tempted, I¡¯m already relying on luck too much, especially seeing how pissed Gottfried is. ¡°If you want to stay here to look for it, do it on your own!¡±
¡°I can never keep what I want!¡± she cries out, but ultimately complies.
With this, we''re on our way, Kyou-san supports my left side, while Ara-san is on my right. Rine, still on fire, turns to her instructor: ¡°I''m not kidnapped, I''m just going on a trip with my friends, and after we take care of the curse, we''re going back to Feuerberg anyway, as there is a demon king to slay. So I want you to stop chasing us, explain what I said to Father, and just wait until we''re done.¡±
¡°Kch... just go.¡±
¡°Thank you for the recent lessons, Instructor. Next time, I hope there is more I can appreciate. Wizard von Rotfeld, if you can hear me, thank you for your lessons as well. Pontiff, please take care of him.¡±
Then she runs after us, smoke and the smell of burned grass accompanies her. ¡°Katarine-san, you''re still on fire,¡± Ara-san thankfully reminds her, as I have the feeling that she almost hugged us.
¡°Oh? How do I turn it off?¡± She asks while she taps her arms, as if she wants to quench it that way.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°I don''t know, but my guess would be that it will stop with time. Ah, there is our ride.¡±
She''s right, the geezer leads the donkey and cart by hand, and I''m so thankful for it, as it means I can lie down again. I''m dead tired.
Meldorn is by his side, but now distances himself. He gives me a nod and then heads towards his companions. Kyou-san and Ara-san put me on the load space, where still the bedding is, and then sit down by my side, both of them groaning. I guess it was hard for everyone.
¡°Let''s go,¡± Geezer said.
¡°Wait, I also want to ride the cart.¡±
¡°You are still on fire!¡±
¡°Au... Can you give me a change of undergarments then?¡±
I check her equipment, and in fact, while her armor may have covered it up, basically everything that''s not armor has vanished, probably being burned to ashes by her flame aura. The fact that she has this highly fire resistant protective gear in the first place shows that this is something her family had to know would happen sooner or later.
Good thing Kyou-san has her backpack, as I''m not sure whether it will withstand it or not. Yet there is some obvious truth here, and Ara-san is the one who puts it into words: ¡°Even if we get you new undergarment, it''ll burn up when you touch it anyway.¡±
¡°Mou!!!¡°
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Will he survive?¡± Gottfried inquires of the priest, as he looks down on the young fool, who couldn''t listen to him to just not do anything. Trying to capture someone literally surrounded by flames that fight against subjugation is beyond stupid.
Not that Gottfried can blame him, as he has also fed these flames by oppressing his disciple time and time again, and now it blew in his face. However, he can''t help but be glad that he could avoid the difficult decision he had to make. Now he can pass it to the king, who may be as much of a fool as his daughter, but is also surrounded by people who know better.
¡°Thankfully, you were quick enough, Sir Gottfried. To treat him fully, it will take time though, as these are severe burns. Months maybe, depending on his self-healing powers. There will be scars though.¡±
¡°Scars are good for your personality. As some shameful defeats.¡± Gottfried looks at the scorched battlefield, imagining how it would have looked if he didn''t put the extra effort in keeping the damage at a minimum. This is always the problem with high-tier fights: They have large environmental effects.
Then he looks to his stupid disciple, who runs next to a cart, led by¡ªwho is this? Gottfried sees an old man, but his silhouette is overshadowed by a much younger man from back when Gottfried was young and invincible, at least in his narrow mind. The old man turns his head slightly to laugh at the princess, and it''s the same face.
Gottfried has the firm belief that great power comes with the same amount of arrogance, and the only medicine to it is a crushing defeat. This stems from a crushing defeat he had in his mid-twenties, when he effortlessly became the strongest warrior of the entire kingdom. After he was old enough to learn skills, his improvement was as steep as a vertical wall.
Then the barbarians came, led by Grekk, the undefeated legend. Being younger and being so talented, Gottfried thought he could bring this legend down. After a split sky and a change of landscape, Gottfried found himself inside a big crater, broken and defeated. While it was enough to fight the barbarians off, who were only there for plunder, he himself couldn''t land a single injury on the one person he set out to defeat.
After recovering from that sorry state, Gottfried did things he never did before. He put actual effort in his training. He challenged himself every day. He put some humility in his act.
When did he lose it?
Ah, he knows. After years of preparations, years of waiting for Grekk to return, he didn''t. Of course he ravaged the lands left and right, but he never set a foot across the border of Feuerberg. Meanwhile, Gottfried made a name for himself, making entire countries shudder with fear. Then Grekk stopped appearing altogether...
Now, much older, Gottfried knows exactly why. It becomes so hard to stay strong. Even cutting the Flames of Freedom put his arm into so much stress that it''s half numb, half singeing. But back then, he grew frustrated.
He''s old now, past his prime, and it''ll take a long time to get back to any acceptable form. Yet seeing Grekk after all these years gives him back something he felt he had lost.
It may take months for the youngster to recover? This will be plenty of time to get back in shape.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Hold still!¡±
¡°Ouch! Then sta¡ªargh!!¡±
¡°Don''t be such a baby!¡±
¡°It''s fucking broken! How mu¡ªaaaaaaaaahhhhh!¡±
¡°[Heal]! Alright, much better,¡± Kyou-san approves of her work on my newly bandaged, splintered, and treated arm. ¡°Not that I complain, as any halfway decent treatment is better than none, but I really wished you had an expert for this. Well, we''re done now. In a few days, we can try the spell.¡±
She''s been adamant about a spell she learned and how it may even fix up my missing tongue tip, which I''m really keen about. This [Rejuvenate]-spell is so welcome, considering how often I get wrecked, yet it seems to be very taxing, so the best way to do it seems to be to fix up my body as much as possible and then use the spell to do the rest.
¡°You''re very rough, Momo,¡± Ara-san says seemingly shocked, though she''s definitely having fun: ¡°Are you that happy to violate him? Will he be crying when you''re done with him? Poor Kenta-kun, but at least you''ll be conscious. Unlike me, who was thrusted into so brutally that I started to bleed excessively, then I was smacked until I lost consciousness, and finally, they did whatever they liked with me and just left me in the dirt.¡±
¡°Arako!¡±
¡°Kahahahaha!¡± Comes from the front of the cart, the geezer is laughing so hard about the exchange, that he''s shedding tears.
¡°Oh, be quiet! Why are you here anyway!? What happened!¡±
¡°I¡¯d also like to know,¡± says Rine with a cocking head, as she walks some meters away from us, as she''s still burning.
¡°Ah right, you don''t know,¡± Ara-san recalls as she flicks her ears. ¡°I woke up, found Kenta-kun at a farmstead, where he was treated horribly. In a medical sense, that is. We borrowed a cart, went to the next inn to get some help, and Grekkun decided to join. Then we headed towards you, Grekkun distracted Meldorn-kun, and the rest you know.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± Rine is visibly impressed by it: ¡°You have to be plenty strong... Grekkun?¡±
¡°It''s actually Grekk.¡±
Rine cocks her head once again: ¡°I can swear I know that name from somewhere. Named after a hero, maybe?¡±
¡°Maybe, never thought about it. I''m certainly none, and I''m sure most people don''t like me.¡±
OK, something is foul, Ara-san is basically lau¡ªhow do I know!? I mean, her face is as unmoving as ever, and only her left ear gyrates a bit, so why can I keep track of her mood!? ¡°Phew...¡± That''s a topic for another time. ¡°You saved our hide there, Gure... Gura... Jii-san.¡± This is one of these horrid westerner names, that just don''t want to roll down the tongue properly, I just call him Jii-san (old man) and that has to be enough. ¡°About your reward--¡±
He interrupts me before I can offer him anything: ¡°Keep your riches, I want your services, lad. Remember when I asked you if you wanted to travel to Zethtrin together? That''s what I want.¡±
¡
¡°¡why!? I mean, you want company?¡± I mean, he''s obviously strong enough to block Meldorn, so that''s the only reason I can think of.
¡°Listen, lad. I used to be good at fighting, but old age is an asshole, and I can''t fight as much anymore. I''m pretty sturdy, but after dishing out three or four attacks, my whole body hurts, and I need days to recover... never thought about why I was hanging around in Goldbrunn? Or the inn? I mean, I welcome the company as well, I genuinely like you guys, but in all honesty: I need someone to take the brunt of combat!¡± He scratches his beard, as he looks away, apparently embarrassed by this confession.
Well, after seeing Gottfried in action, it may be hard to imagine that other people just get weaker with age and have trouble keeping up for long. I want to discuss it with the girls, but somehow I feel like there is nothing to discuss: Without him, we wouldn''t have been able to get past Meldorn at all. He saved our asses, he gets his reward...
I turn to each girl, all of them nodding. Ara-san is expressionless, yet I feel strong agreement with her. Kyou-san doubting, but well-knowing that we have to do it. Rine friendly, eager and on fire.
Seriously, when will it stop!?
However, ¡°Phew... welcome to the party, I guess?¡±
Rine moves closer, opening her arms, clearly intending to give the old man a hug: ¡°Welco-¡±
¡°Woah! Stop!¡± Jii-san warns her, as this hug would incinerate him: ¡°Lass, you may want to wait with that.¡±
¡°Gosh!¡± Small fireballs jump from her flames, as she grows frustrated. ¡°When does it stop anyway?¡±
¡°As it''s very impractical to refer to this ability by pronouns,¡± Ara-san thinks aloud, ¡°we should give it an interim name. Like Flame Shroud!¡±
¡°Ah, it''s called [Korona],¡± Rine answers immediately.
¡°How do you know?¡± I ask her.
¡°...I think someone told me earlier, but I can''t remember... huh?¡±
¡°Kenta-kun, this will be an intense evening. I won''t let you sleep tonight.¡± Even though Ara-san talks like this, she means that we''re going to discuss and theorize all night long.
¡°That''s enough,¡± Kyou-san says while pinching Ara-san''s ear lightly to quiet her. ¡°This derailed quicky.¡± She then taps Jii-san''s shoulder: ¡°Welcome, Grekk-san,¡± OK, why can she pronounce the name!? ¡°The first task is to fix your hair. It looks horrible. We also need to see whether you can get some proper clothes. You look like a tramp.¡± What is it with Kyou-san and wanting to ''fix'' everyone''s hair!? Or is she just offended by men having longish hair!?
¡°I usually wear less clothes,¡± Jii-san answers, a bit hurt. ¡°I mean, maybe we can fix the pants somewhat, maybe wash the poncho, but I like it.¡±
¡°Well, we''ll figure it out when we make a stop. But let me get my tools, and I will take care of the mess on your head.¡±
Some minutes later, Jii-san is wearing a top-knot. He touches it and smiles: ¡°I like it! Somehow it doesn''t feel like me at all!¡±
Kyou-san says, satisfied: ¡°That''s the whole point.¡±
¡°Looks great, Grekk!¡± Rine commends it, but then starts to stumble. ¡°Oh...¡± The flames around her finally die, and she falls to the ground: ¡°Tired...¡± In fact, she suddenly loses almost all of her SP in one go.
¡°[Stamina]! Are you alright, Rine-chan?¡± Kyou-san says, as I try to straighten myself a bit more to be able to look at Rine, who is sweating like crazy.
¡°Yeah... just really exhausted.¡± She has exactly that [Condition] as well. Strange, there was no incremental SP-reduction and until that exact moment, she and her status seemed fine. This [Korona]-thing is really something different.
Ara-san, who took over the reins from Jii-san before, stops the cart and Kyou-san helps Rine on it, next to me. The blonde girl smiles at me shyly, and I can tell that she doesn¡¯t exactly know what to say, now that she is facing me directly again. She''s even blushing a bit, touching her lips and suddenly, she squirms and makes strange noises, as if she''s trying to suppress a surge of joy.
Well, no good reason to delay it, I guess. I made up my mind before, and while I may not have been thinking straight there, it doesn''t mean that I can ignore it.
I don''t want to deceive Rine, but I was manipulating her. That''s the last thing I wanted to do, but this was the only way I saw to help her to make up her mind. That''s why I''m scum.
¡°Pheeeeeew...¡± Trying to get rid of all these emotions inside me, or at least vent everything that''s overflowing, I exhale deeply, and then take a deep breath. The feeling of guilt and a whole lot of other reasons form a sentence that will change everything: ¡°Rine. Go out with me.¡±
Volume 08 - Epilogue
¡°Ah...¡± August von Rotfeld''s voice groans inside the large room, as Pontiff Reiner Kassus checks his skin. Most of it has to be replaced by new one, which will take at least two months, even considering his young age.
Even with his expertise, the pontiff won''t be able to avoid leaving scars and other remnants. Young Rotfeld will have to live with the signs of his folly.
[Korona], one of the skills of the royal bloodline. Born out of the Flames of Freedom, which were gifted to the first king by the Four of Feuerberg and hence inherited by his descendants. Flames that will burn everything that tries to bind their wielder or those they seek to protect. They burned the old southern empire to the ground, they fought back the invaders lusting for the new-found kingdom of Feuerberg, and they have kept it safe to this day.
As only the royal family is able to wield the flames, the pontiff never dreamed of seeing them in person. As with most royal bloodlines, they are kept a secret as much as possible to prevent enemies from learning too much about them. While other kingdoms may know that some warriors of Feuerberg clad themselves with flames, they can only suspect that it''s the royal bloodline and how much it extends. However, their ideas are clouded by deliberately spread rumors and by the theories of wizards and pyromancers of what true fire mastery may be able to accomplish.
As a pontiff, Kassus listened to many stories, but he''s sure that nobody within the church aside from the Four actually knows about what this bloodline is really capable of. Maybe even the royal family doesn''t know their own potential.
However, seeing their destructive powers is something else. To cut them, Sir Gottfried has suffered several fissure fractures in the bones of his arm, shoulder, and even his leg. Young Rotfeld didn''t suffer mere burns on his skin, they went through his body, damaging everything all the way to the milt, just stopping short of it. As the milt is where magic is stored, Sir Gottfried saved the wizard in the nick of time, as he may have been burned from within otherwise.
Even Pontiff Kassus can only guess what long-term consequences there may be.
Sir Gottfried lies in a bed in the other room, after admitting that training right now would be counter-productive. A fire has lit within him to ''get back in shape, but for now he has to rest. Especially since Pontiff Kassus didn¡¯t have the physical energy to cast [Rejuvenate] on the knight yet to mend the fissures, after the initial treatment of Young Rotfeld.
The mansion will serve well though. The lord mayor of Dukknwas is very hospitable, though housing Sir Gottfried and other envoys of Feuerberg will certainly be beneficial for him.
Meldorn has been gone for a while. He asked for some time to deal with a personal issue. Pontiff Kassus has noticed the pain of the man growing with each day of the chase since they crossed the Ohl, yet the Huntsman isn''t one to share his feelings and thoughts freely.
For the time being, living in the mansion will suffice, but what will they do after that? The princess is still out there and she may be the one who will bring destruction to the whole world. While the pontiff doesn''t agree with killing her in cold blood, he''s just worried whether letting her free for a while is right or wrong.
The letters Sir Gottfried sent to Esse may give some insight. If the pontiff could just meditate anywhere to converse with the Four...
There is also the curse to consider. Seeing Momokawa-dono''s and Princess Katarine''s souls plagued with that abomination hurts the pontiff. He¡¯s never seen anything like it, and while it seems that Pontiff Glanznacht wasn''t concerned when he first investigated it, Pontiff Kassus doubts that what the other pontiff saw is the same as what it has become. At least breaking this curse is what the princess'' party is after.
To be honest, the pontiff would rather travel back to Esse than to continue to pursue the matter. Because it''s clear as day that whatever the future will bring, it will only spell trouble.
On the other hand, Feuerberg is at war once again, and this time, the enemy may not stop it even when they start losing.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
"[Boomeraxe]!" Harada Reiji throws his giant axe like it''s nothing, cutting monsters apart like they''re nothing. These newt-like monsters with fingers and some kind of mossy afro on their head are rare enough in Feuerberg, and their fangs and horns aren''t meant to be there. These are so-called demon infested monsters, monsters that are treated by demons to adapt demon-like traits, though the details of the process are largely unknown.
Aside from their physical changes, these monsters also become more vile and aggressive. While the poisonous mossy newts are amphibious monsters that lurk in poisonous waters¡ªwhich makes them reside in the demon realm for the most part¡ªthe demon infestation led them over the border to Feuerberg, attacking whatever is in sight.
As the villages here have been evacuated, this only leaves scouts, patrols and forts to attack.
Harada''s party are now specifically assigned to find demon-infested monsters and to kill them to raise their levels as much as possible, though Harada knows that this will only be for a short time.
Harada catches his returning axe and calls out to his companion: "Shigeru-kun, cover my right."
"Yes, Kaichou (President)!" Kuga Shigeru, the [Pyromancer] shouts, as he cuts the air with his staff: "[Fireslash]!" A long stream of flames comes from his staff, which "[Firewall]!" then becomes more persistent.
With his right side blocked by the flames, Harada throws himself at the next two newts. He has to become as strong as possible and the more he kills, the better he will become. This is not for some petty lust for power, but for his divine calling.
It was Nobuo, who told him in his dying breath: ''Reiji... please... protect humans... kill demons...'' Nobuo was better than any of them. Kinder. Stronger. Smarter. To save them, he sacrificed himself, knowing that even though he may be the best, he''s just a single man. Therefore, Harada and the rest have to improve themselves, so that instead of one best man, there will be many strong heroes. Not only his party, but all of them.
"Kaichou!" [Sharpshooter] Toriyama Chidori-fukukaichou (Vice-President) says aloud: "The Heinous are there."
Harada looks at where she''s aiming her bow, and in fact, two demons are crawling from behind the boulders dispersed at the foot of the mountains. Blueish chitin, vaguely humanoid anatomy other than two additional insect-like arms and a stinger.
The Heinous are the kind of demons that killed Nobuo. Righteous fury and fervor builds up in Harada''s mind, as he remembers this. Since then, he has become stronger. Not only him, Shigeru-kun, Yukino-kun, and Chidori-fukukaichou as well.
With a sudden and far leap, both Heinous jump into the fray, and Harada faces them immediately. "Yukino-kun, Shigeru-kun, the monsters first." Yukino-kun is a [Masterthief], which uses daggers and therefore won''t be able to penetrate the Heinous'' chitin armor. As long as there are monsters here, finding the weak spots may be difficult. Yet if she works with Shigeru-kun, the monsters will be dealt with quickly.
"How sweet~!" One of the Heinous says, as it thrusts its stinger at Harada, who narrowly escapes being impaled by it. It''s quick and fast, one mistake will be fatal. These are demons even the more experienced soldiers find difficult to fight.
"[Swallarrows]!" Shooting two quick arrows that aren''t bound by their trajectory, Chidori-fukukaichou hits the second one, who stumbles backwards, holding his cracked chitin breastplate.
"[Headsplitter]!" With an overhead attack, Harada cuts the Heinous before him, not as deep as he wanted, but still showing that now they''re strong enough to face these demons.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
They will win! Yet suddenly, something unexpected happens: "[Heal]!" The wound of the one Harada just attacked closes. "[Heal]!" The cracks of the other one disappears. "Impressive, though." The malice in the unknown voice makes Harada feel shivers.
The one who spoke up is also a scorpion-demon, yet much different. His chitin is reddish, and most of his head is covered by a chitin plate with many holes that shows a multitude of small eyes. While its main-body is covered by armor, heavy chitin plates are on the two legs, two arms, and its tail, which moves like there are no joints at all. On top of it, are multiple hooked spikes, as if one stinger isn''t enough.
"Hi," it laughs with a male voice. "You seem oddly young for soldiers... ah, are you the heroes I''ve heard about? I''m Airon, a demon priest!" He suddenly leaps forward, and with a single punch, Harada is sent away flying, barely holding onto his consciousness. "Weak. Disappointing. Come on, let''s play. Attack me all at once, then I kill you one after another, no?"
A demon priest... a priest who uses [Divine Magic]? These aberrations have their gods as well? No, they only fulfill the desires of their fake gods. Yet Harada knows that this will become very dangerous, though retreat doesn''t seem like an option. "Shigeru-kun, the signal. Then retreat!"
"Yes!" Shigeru-kun fires rainbow-colored flames into the sky.
Using this small distraction, Harada jumps back on his feet. Even though he feels wonky, his hero-body easily accepts that and moves well regardless of his probable concussion. The others also begin to run, while Shigeru-kun uses wind, water and fire magic to cover their retreat.
It''s enough for the monsters and the two Heinous, yet the demon priest seems to be tougher. He walks through walls of flames, he lifts his arms to block blades of wind, and plants his feet to endure the pushing water.
He hits Chidori-fukukaichou''s arrows aside with his tail, yet while retreating, Harada and Yukino-kun also shoot their crossbows whenever they can. After only a few minutes, the demon priest clicks his tongue and retreats, as the reinforcements come in the form of cavalry led by Lady Susanne Sch?n herself.
Harada blames himself for his lack of faith. If he would have known that Lady Sch?n is close, he would have tried to draw out the battle instead, so that they could hinder the retreat of the demon priest.
No, this is a sign. A first encounter with this special Heinous. Is he stronger than the Heinous that killed Nobuo? Maybe. This is all part of the divine plan. Before, he was just guessing what he has to overcome, but now he has a clear sight of what has to be done. They have also been chosen to be the first to witness how the demons change tactics in this war.
Yes, this is divine providence.
He has to tell this to those who still doubt whether they should start to fight with their own hands or not, those who still consider themselves researchers even though it''s not Nobuo''s will¡ªnot the divine will¡ªfor heroes to be passive.
Harada also needs to gather whatever is left of the combat groups. They weren''t summoned to fight separately. Though it seems like most of them have gone astray.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Masahiko steps back, the crystal arm-blade from the giant mantis monster misses him by a small margin, then he steps forward, using his blades to basically climb alongside the arm, keeping it in control and building up momentum at the same time.
With enough speed picked up, he uses [Steel Slicer] to chop off the blade right at a more fleshy point than the chitin covered arms. He pushes the power of his attack into his [Drillkick] that buries itself into the body, causing the monster to hunch. ¡°Daichi!¡±
¡°Ossu!¡± With the head now in reach and a clean swing of his axe, Masahiko''s tall friend decapitates the monster.
¡°Great!¡± Masahiko praises this clean combo, which shows how much they have improved since their latest crushing defeat. It also helps that Masahiko learns more and more to move like his shishou taught him in real battle: In a fight, his whole body needs to be a weapon, one move should be able to connect with a new one, without forcing a sequence.
Teruko breezes through in his line of sight, using her small frame and her long weapon to keep in range while also staying hard to hit. She''s regretting how little she could do in the last conflict and it seems that she''s trying to find her own fighting style. It has worked well, so far.
Daichi has recovered fully from his lethal wound, a sign of how sturdy he is and how quickly a hero recovers. While he did a lot in the last battle, he still mourns his lack of offense, which is why for a change, Masahiko prepares the enemies. Not only so that Daichi can take the XP for the kills, but to give him more opportunities to try different approaches.
Their backrow, Katsuo and Eri, are mostly refining their aim and timing.
Overall, this dungeon proves to be a good training ground. Not the artificial kind, but the one where the opponents aren''t so difficult that they can''t try different approaches and strategies, especially the ones they learned before in Feuerberg and Kraggwas. They should have done some practical experience much sooner.
The best part is that they know from Correo-san that deep inside are experience crystals, crystals that let heroes absorb their power and gain XP that way. This means that after refining their techniques and tactics, they will even get a power boost out of it.
However, they don''t know too well how deep it goes and how difficult it will become. From Masahiko''s experience with dungeons in games, they tend to get more challenging the deeper you go. Yet, unlike games, whenever they clear a room the monster stays dead, so they always have the option to retreat and start where they left off after they have recovered.
Soon, Kyou. Please Katsuragi-kun, don''t do anything bad until I''m there. Also, don''t get yourself killed.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Smoke and fire rise from the farmstead that the Northwind Clan attacked. Some were able to flee, yet it doesn''t concern Chieftain Brumm much. For the rest, he has some clear plans, which he explains to the man he''s holding up by the scalp, the supposedly patriarch: ¡°We can all be friends. You will host us for a while, then we move on. No need for unnecessary killing. By the way, sorry about your daughter.¡± He broke her neck when she attacked him from behind with a shovel. It wasn''t necessary, but he thought she was a man and now one of the babymakers is gone.
Brumm took over leadership from his father this year. The Northwind Clan is a barbarian clan that uses a particular tactic: They attack a farmstead or village, take only a fifth of their food and wealth, and then move on. Doing this makes it possible for regular raid intervals, as these farmers seriously just rebuild every time, and after some years, they basically forgot about the barbarians. That''s why leaving women and children alive is so necessary!
¡°Yes...¡± The man in Brumm''s hand pleads: ¡°...whatever you want.¡±
¡°Great,¡± the barbarian drops the man, who may have been in charge until now, but now knows better. Brumm then turns to his people, who were ready to rip off some heads: ¡°Lead them to the barn for starters. Gunnar and Morkk, you two guard it until we have a system.¡±
¡°What about the survivors?¡±
¡°The best they can do is warn their fellow farmsteads. I mean, unless the cities here have suddenly grown a backbone, they won''t send their... soldier-playing children to this place, and before Winson can send their troops, we''ll already be gone.¡± His grandpa Brimm told him about the White Mare, a former knight of a kingdom from far away, that now resides in Winson like a big slug. Yet he may actually be dangerous.
So with help far away and their military only capable of repelling monsters, what can the cities do for their farmsteads? Nothing, that''s the beauty of it. There is nothing there that can even hope to put up a fight against barbarians.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Meldorn has arrived. This is the place he feared and was looking forward to most at the same time. Since crossing the Ohl, much of the thoughts he has had when not focusing on the mission have been spent here.
It''s nothing but a small village in the Wildlands. Protected by a close city state, it''s one of the few somewhat fertile places and they make their living selling fruits from the orchards. While there is a military unit stationed here, they''re more concerned with protecting the last harvest efforts than to notice a single man slipping through.
People are going around doing their businesses. Meldorn silently slips by them like a ghost using their houses, and the trees that stand in the village and the gardens they put so much pride in, so that nobody can talk about a stranger afterwards.
There it is. While it''s a big house, several small families live in it, sharing just the washroom and kitchen. All of them are artisans that share their living space with their workshops. Below lives a tailor and a cobbler. At the exterior is a narrow staircase that leads to a woman that makes trinkets, toys, and tokens out of animal parts.
A small voice comes from the garden, it''s a boy playing with a doll. He''s twelve years old and should soon pick his apprenticeship and until then help his mother with her store. Yet here he is, playing with a doll.
Meldorn silently climbs up a tree and while he observes the boy, memories flash into his mind.
¨C¡°It''s about focus. There is a power inside you, and if you can focus it, then you will be able to use it. I was already an adult when I learned it, but you''re a much quicker learner than I. Wait, keep your head down, or it will notice us. Now, try to focus on your eyes.¡±
¨C¡°Dad! I got it! I finally got it! I can see every strand of hair!¡±
¨C¡°What''s wrong?¡± - ¡°I don''t know, somehow my eyes are fuzzy.¡±
¨C¡°Even magic can''t heal it. I''m sorry.¡± - ¡°There has to be something! Please, I¡¯ll do anything!¡± - ¡°I''m sorry.¡±
¨C¡°What have you done to our son!¡± - ¡°I will save him!¡± - ¡°Haven''t you done enough!?¡± - ¡°I... I didn''t know... Maybe in the capital, we can-¡±
¨C¡°There is nothing any of us can do to heal him, but we can prevent him from going completely blind.¡± - ¡°...tell me what to do.¡±
¨C¡°I''m divorcing you... I''m moving with my sister. Don''t you dare to come close to us.¡±
Meldorn is the perfect hunter. That''s why he can break down in tears and sob without making a sound.
Volume 08 - Extras - Love is Gold Episode 4, Gottfried vs. Grekk & Led Astray
KK (Katsuragi Kenta): ¡°Wait, we weren¡¯t in the Epilogue? So the answer is postponed to the next volume!?¡±
AA (Ara¡¯ainn): ¡°Seems so.¡±
KK: ¡°WHAT THE FUCK! I say something like that and I don¡¯t get an answer!? That¡¯s inhuman.¡±
krpg (Author): ¡°Well, I¡¯m a hamster, after all.¡±
AA: ¡°You were sitting on that joke for a while, suppressing the desire to put it into the author¡¯s note, right?`I can respect that.¡±
RN (Rine aka Katarine von Stolzherz): ¡°Ah! I can¡¯t wait for the answer! What could it be!?¡±
KK: ¡°You¡®re the one who is supposed to give it!¡±
RN: ¡°Ah, right!¡±
GK (Grekk): ¡°Kakakaka!¡±
KK: ¡°Shut up, J¨C what are you doing here!?¡±
krpg: ¡°Of course he¡¯s here, as he¡¯s a party member for now.¡±
GK: ¡°Glad to be part of¡ whatever this is.¡±
RN: ¡°We¡¯re just having some conversation in this room¡ is it me or did it stop being cramped?`¡±
krpg: ¡°Yeah, I moved. So I got a bigger one for this, will help in the future.¡±
KK: ¡°No.¡±
RN: ¡°What no?¡±
KK: ¡°No, no, no! No one more, I¡¯m done, I¡¯m sick of it! This has to stop! I¡¯m finally used to have these three annoyances around-¡±
RN: ¡°But Kenta¡ you were just-¡±
KK: ¡°Ah, stop! Too much, just leave me alone!¡±
AA: ¡°Kenta-kun was just using us and now he wants to get rid of us¡¡±
RN: ¡°Kenta, that¡¯s mean!¡±
GK: ¡°Was it a lie when you said you loved me!¡±
KK: ¡°I was never saying anything like that and you all know what I mean, so just¡ª¡°
MK (Momokawa Kyou): ¡°Hamster, we should move on to the extras, before Ken starts smashing his head against a wall.¡±
KK: ¡°You know, that¡¯s a good idea: Smashing my head against a wall. That¡¯s still less painful than falling down a fucking cliff!¡±
RN: ¡°Ah, I haven¡¯t noticed! Kenta is healthy again!¡±
KK: ¡°No, I¡¯m not! Only four-wall breaking allows me to not suffer every single fraction of every second I live.¡±
krpg: ¡°Come on, what would an injury be without a consequence. Even Rine¡¯s broken arm took a while to heal.¡±
KK: ¡°¡I¡¯m gonna murder you!¡±
MK: ¡°Guys, the extras. I want this to be over with.¡±
GK: ¡°But I couldn¡¯t even properly introduce myself!¡±
krpg: ¡°No problem, that¡¯s what the first extra is for: Love is gold episode 4!¡±
KK: ¡°You gotta be shitting me! WHY!? We are not married! I don¡¯t care about guys!¡±
GK: ¡°Lad, be a bit open-minded. I will be gentle.¡±
AA: ¡°Momo, Kenta-kun needs some medicine for his behind soon.¡±
MK: *ignores Ara¡¯ainn* ¡°What is the next extra?¡±
AA: ¡°Momo is bullying me!¡±
krpg: ¡°The next extra is the final installment of Gottfried vs. for a while, as this will be replaced by a similar series starting next volume. Details will be announced then!¡±
KK: ¡°Does anyone even care?¡±
RN: ¡°I do.¡±
krpg: ¡°Thank you, Rine. Then we finally get a small continuation some of Kenta¡¯s and Kyou¡¯s classmates, the girl party, which we haven¡¯t seen for a while. Remember, they were picked up by Wiho, the Bandit King.¡±
KK: ¡°Does anyone even care?¡±
RN: ¡°I do.¡±
krpg: ¡°I won¡¯t act like it¡¯s super important, but after looking into what I already included in the Epilogue¡ªwhich covers the important stuff to know about how the war of Feuerberg plays out while our main characters are away¡ªand what may not be important but plays into it, I decided that this would be the best place to visit this time.¡±
KK: ¡°Again: Does anyone even care?¡±
RN: ¡°I do.¡±
MM: ¡°You sound like broken records. Let¡¯s hope that this is worth the while.¡±
GK: ¡°I¡¯m so excited, my first outing in the world of¡ what are they called again?¡±
krpg: ¡°Extras.¡±
KK: ¡°Stands for: extra unnecessary.¡±
AA: ¡°Does the author even care?¡±
Extra 1 ¨C Love is Gold Episode 4
Announcer (A): ¡°Welcome to ¡®Love is Gold¡¯, the show which shows the true colors of each relationship. Today we¡¯re welcoming a young¡ wait, one of them is rather old. And the other is¡ Oh god, please not again! Hey director, didn¡¯t we¡ªcome on! Well, time to be professional about it. Well¡ Today we have once again Katsuragi Kenta, even though I¡¯m positive that he got banned from the studio. He¡¯s together with Grekk¡ no surname. Let¡¯s welcome them.¡±
GK: ¡°We¡¯re here lad.¡±
KK: ¡°Why am I sitting way over here?¡±
A: ¡°Because of the restraining order. Please remain there so that the minimal distance of twenty meters can be guaranteed.¡±
KK: ¡°Fuck you!¡±
A: ¡°I would tell you to mind your language or you¡¯d be otherwise asked to leave the studio, but since we both know that you would then try your best to get banned once more, I refrain from that and tell you that, if you keep your curses to a minimum, we both can finish this quickly.¡±
KK: ¡°Phew, if you hate your job, just quit it.¡±
A: ¡°Grekk, you are what to Kenta? A boyfriend? You know that he¡¯s married to three girls already?¡±
GK: ¡°Oh, his boyfriend? You¡¯re making me blush! I wish I was in this position-¡±
KK: ¡°Fuck, it¡¯s Ara-san all over again!¡±
GK: ¡°What do you mean?¡±
KK: ¡°You were about to say, that you¡¯re just a mere sex toy or the like.¡±
GK: ¡°¡I have another regret in life. I should have aimed for that.¡±
KK: ¡°What were you-¡±
A: ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say that the two of you have a very special relationship, which we will now explore with our next few questions! How did you meet?¡±
GK: ¡°It was in the slums of Goldbrunn, Kenta-kun was asking for a whore, and I had some time.¡±
KK: ¡°That¡¯s the worst way of putting it, and omits some very important details!¡±
GK: ¡°And here I thought you like it, when Ara-kun does that.¡±
KK: ¡°No way!¡±
GK: ¡°Oh well, trying something else then. We still haven¡¯t been with each other for long, after all.¡±
KK: ¡°Could you stop sounding like we¡¯re a thing?¡±
GK: ¡°But¡ but back then at the inn, you asked me to be with you, and-¡±
KK: ¡°STOP THAT! I have enough of that with Ara-san, please, for fuck¡¯s sake!¡±
GK: ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. I¡¯m overstepping my boundaries here, she would be pissed if she finds out, and that¡¯s also something I can go without. Hm¡ so I¡¯m not your boyfriend, I¡¯m not your sex toy, so¡ are we friends?¡±
KK: ¡°No. We¡¯re just freaking temporary party members.¡±
GK: ¡°And you don¡¯t like me at least a bit?¡±
KK: ¡°I got no fucking clue.¡±
A: ¡°Erm¡ that would be already the next question, so let¡¯s delve deeper into that. Kenta, is there anything that you like about Grekk?¡±
KK: ¡°I barely know him!¡±
A: ¡°At least something he did?¡±
KK: ¡°Well¡ yeah, he helped me when I was desperate and I think he may be kinda strong, which is also helpful?¡±
GK: ¡°Aw, you do care!¡±
KK: ¡°Phew¡ whatever.¡±
A: ¡°What¡¯s with you, Grekk? Anything you like about Kenta?¡±
GK: ¡°For sure. He got an attitude and despite appearing a bit shitty outside, he certainly has some actual character strength if you look deeper.¡±
A: ¡°Oh? Is Kenta blushing here?¡±
KK: ¡°Shut up!¡±
GK: ¡°Also, he reminds me of myself when I was younger. Just smaller. Less muscular. Also with darker hair, eyes, and somewhat skin? Well, less pink skin at least. In a sense, you really do look strange.¡±
KK: ¡°That¡¯s just how we Japanese look like!¡±
GK: ¡°Haha. Jappanies. That sounds funny.¡±
KK: ¡°Shut up!¡±
A: ¡°¡ah, well¡ let¡¯s just say that you have a lot to sort of, which is why we should come to something even you may be able to answer. What is your favorite activity as a couple?¡±
KK: ¡°¡we never did anything together.¡±
GK: ¡°We did have drinks.¡±
KK: ¡°You just invited yourself.¡±
GK: ¡°We also went into battle. It may have been two different battles, but the same conflict.¡±
A: ¡°Ah, so a warrior spirit you two share? What kind of battle was it?¡±
GK: ¡°I was shot with arrows.¡±
A: ¡°Eh¡¡±
KK: ¡°There were a lot of swords involved. Fire as well.¡±
A: ¡°What are-¡±
GK: ¡°I saw some of it. Also, the blades clashing were so loud.¡±
KK: ¡°You must have been there to believe it.¡±
GK: ¡°Nah, I saw a lot of battles in my life. So I can imagine.¡±
A: ¡°Erm¡ you mean, actual battle? Violence and such? I get the worst kinds of flashback¡ but I guess, if you two enjoy it, then we can wish you the best of luck, just do it somewhere else. What a wonderful couple you could be a couple of miles away!¡±
KK: ¡°Phew¡ as annoying as ever.¡±
GK: ¡°I like him. Had bad experiences with him?¡±
KK: ¡°Every fucking time.¡±
GK: ¡°Then let¡¯s do this: You grab your spear, I take this chair, then we go on a rampage here, so that there will be nothing left. I used to impale my enemies¡ and many other people. I may not feel like it anymore, but I can show you how.¡±
A: ¡°Imp-¡±
GK: ¡°Another good way to make sure that they stop bothering you is to burn their houses. I have a flint, there is a lot of metal here, we just need some oil and then we can get things going.¡±
A: ¡°Burn!?¡±
KK: ¡°You know what, Jii-san? I may actually like that.¡±
A: ¡°EVACUATE!¡±
Extra 2 ¨C Gottfried vs. Grekk
This story is several decades old, and even the ones involved would usually need some time to count the exact number of years that passed by then.
The place is the kingdom of Feuerberg. It¡¯s in a time of another war with Parlaar, a neighboring country. As in most wars between these two countries, it¡¯s once again the Parlaarians trying to conquer some of the very fertile lands of the country the country Founder Hagen has cultivated himself after sundering the Empire to the south.
Feuerberg is surrounded by mountains, making conquering it a rather tedious task, but with the farmlands in the center and the minerals in the mountains it has been always considered wealthy and desirable.
Why Parlaar didn¡¯t claim this land before Hagen is unknown, but historians thought that he has slain several powerful monsters that inhabited it, a feat so great that only a god-slaying hero was able to perform it. He then ground the monster corpses to fertilizer, making a land once uninhabitable into the fertile ground of today.
This idea holds some merit. Western to Feuerberg are the Wildlands, a large landscape with only little fertile land in between, and one of the southern borders harbors the Demon Realm, a land so wasted that only demons could survive there, who had no need for food or drink and were immune to most poisons. Therefore, it stands to reason that also this landscape used to be infertile.
Gottfried is a young knight, who worked up his ways through the ranks from soldier to leader. He is seen as a very gifted individual, especially since becoming old enough to graduate from basic physical training to skills.
Battle after battle he proved himself and Parlaar already set a bounty on his head, promising the soldier who would take him down a plot of land and a peerage. This of course was enough to strike the ego of a young, accomplishing man.
Which will lead to the moment which will stay with him for the rest of his life.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It¡¯s noon and Gottfried looks down from the watchpost. Next to him was his friend, Meinold. He¡¯s a lesser noble, those kinds that need to plow the fields next to their subjects during harvest season. Trying to make a name for himself, he entered the army as inheriting his house is out of the question as the fifth child. ¡°They are quiet,¡± Meinold says as he looks at the Parlaarian camp in the far distance.
Building a camp is a very finicky process as there is a lot to consider. As long as i¡¯ss at the horizon, a well-trained sharpshooter can hit the watchposts, having too many fortifications would make it a deathtrap against battle-proven wizards¡ªespecially with Feuerberg as the enemy and their pyrocasters. The less combustible materials are used the better, but fortifying too heavily brought its own concerns.
However, the great distance makes launching an attack a rather tedious attempt for both sides and the leaders make sure to never show themselves, so it¡¯s basically a waiting game. One that Feuerberg will ultimately win, because it¡¯s their home turf and it would be easy to crush that force the moment reinforcement arrives.
Not that Gottfried cared: ¡°Seriously, either launch an attack or retreat.¡±
¡°Do you mean us?¡±
¡°Them, because there is no way we would leave a single speck of land to them without a fight.¡±
Meinold nods to Gottfried¡¯s words, well-knowing that this is how their country thinks. ¡°I guess, they are satisfied to keep you in check.¡±
Gottfried rolls his eyes, as he heard this before. Yes, he was tremendously strong, fake humbleness would shame his accomplishments, but fighting as an individual and fighting in an army are very different.
In their mid-twenties, soldiers begin to learn skills, something which has been passed down from the Age of Heroes. However, most people can only learn one to three, so every single one counts. With footsoldiers, they learn skills which become stronger the more of them are in a formation.
Which means, that Gottfried would be fine with fighting ten, maybe twenty at the same time, but with thirty well-trained¡ªthough unremarkable¡ªsoldiers, there will come some struggle, which in returns leaves him open for other attacks.
It¡¯s Meinold who knows more about strategy between the two of them, but even Gottfried was schooled thoroughly for knighthood. He knows attacking their fort would be a risk, as they only have minimal forces required here so that the rest can be put at other fronts.
It¡¯s just boring. ¡°Meinold, tell me something fun.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t bother me, I¡¯m looking what they¡¯re doing.¡± So he uses [Farsight] of the sharpshooters. When Gottfried asked why he bothered with that skill, Meinold answered that it would be useful even when he has to return home.
Thoughts of returning are for losers. There is just the way ahead and to walk it needs strength in mind and body. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be the same as always? A huge pile of nothing?¡±
¡°If we start thinking it, it would be their time to strike. Also, usually someone would stare back at me¡ the watchposts are looking in our direction, but nobody seems to use [Farsight], which means that they either want to conserve strength or they¡¯re losing focus.¡±
¡°So they either want to attack or become lazy?¡±
¡°Attacking would make no sense, unless they know there are reinforcements on the way and even then, we¡¯re in a good spot as long as we let them come to us. My next best guess would be that Parlaar is facing some trouble elsewhere and now they¡¯re waiting for orders to retreat and join their main force.¡±
¡°Then we could attack them from behind.¡±
¡°Unless they get reinforcements for the retreat, which would make little sense. Well, maybe it¡¯s something else entirely, it¡¯s just my educated guess. The scouts will be able to tell more, and it¡¯s not our decision to make.¡±
¡°Yeah, let¡¯s make the old ones make the calls. I¡¯ll just enjoy the fights for now. If they ever come.¡± In the end, he¡¯s just a youngster who lacks the experience to make solid decisions in something as grand as a war, though it doesn¡¯t mean that he can¡¯t complain at times about what their superiors do.
¡°Sir Gottfried?¡± A recruit just old enough to join the army approaches the two knights. ¡°Sir Meinold? Sir Herbert is calling for all knights.¡± It seems like there are some new orders on the way.
Meinold and Gottfried look at each other, as this comes unexpected and the recruit sweats profusely. To be fair, recruits sweat a lot due to their lack of experience. Like when a grand offensive is starting. Or an enemy scout has been detected.
Yet calling all knights? This has to be because some new orders and the recruit may have picked up that these aren¡¯t because of good news.
Gottfried nods to the recruit, it¡¯s easier to ask Sir Herbert directly than to squeeze whatever that messenger knows out of him.
Quickly after that, all of the knights of the camp have gathered around the seasoned Sir Herbert of Wulfenstein, whose career has been to take over the leftovers in any stratagem which is exactly why they were stationed here. Yet this doesn¡¯t mean that Sir Herbert is a bad knight, just someone who never earned glory yet proved himself by his flexibility and diligence.
Over the time, he adapted a dry and nonchalant demeanor which made his words hit even harder: ¡°Bad news for everyone: Barbarians are coming. They cleaved their way through Parlaar, that¡¯s why they asked for a ceasefire and Feuerberg accepted. Bad news to us, they¡¯re heading our way and we were ordered to guard the village of Sommerfeld.¡±
Sommerfeld is a big village that serves as the center of several farming communities, one of the main reasons this company is here in the first place. Yet while staying in front of it in a good distance made a lot of sense against an army, they would need to fall back to the village itself for those raiders.
An army wants to seize and occupy. Barbarians want to plunder.
They are a plague. Each of them is individually strong, which makes them very different from civilized armies. The best way to deal with them is to gather people and goods at one point, station soldiers there and wait them out, as barbarians are great at skirmishes and surprise attacks, but will fall flat in terms of sieges and dealing with whole military units.
They are roughly two hundred combatants here, half of them are phalanxers¡ªan offhand term for those who uses teamwork skills. Combined with knights like Gottfried and the wizards and pyromancers, this should be enough to repel these savages. The Parlaarians were simply too occupied with their futile invasion attempts to do so themselves.
In a sense, Gottfried is almost disappointed despite heading to battle, as he won¡¯t be the deciding factor in this one.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
After that, the company retreated to Sommerfeld, helped the farmers to evacuate themselves and their goods to the village, built a small palisade there to serve for the wizards and their magic for easier safekeeping and sent their scouts out to look for the savages.
Being surrounded by mountains is very handy if you look for large forces. Just send scouts to the mountain-tops accompanied by a knight for protection against the monsters and then let them just look over wide distances.
Maybe it¡¯s more complicated, but Gottfried doesn¡¯t really care.
What he cares about is that the barbarians are about to arrive. His order is easy: Attack their first attackers. Gottfried has never fought barbarians himself, but he learned that they adapted to the use of phalanxers and therefore tend to send formation breakers first¡ªa job usually reserved to magic-users. Lacking those, barbarians just use skills for that task, meaning that they will send their strongest ones ahead to break the formations and therefore a counter-attack is the most sensible choice.
Therefore Gottfried stands among the footsoldiers, using them to hide in plain sight so he can ambush their formation breakers. Some may call it cowardly, but that¡¯s how real combat works. Duels are supposed to be fancy, but honor in war is earned by surviving while killing as many enemies as possible.
There is a faint sound of drum-beats. No, not drums. People hitting their shields with their weapons. Barbarians want to be noticed, after all.
First arrows fly from Feuerberg¡¯s side, as the sharpshooters can hit their targets even if they are as small as ants on the horizon. Not that this will be enough to stop the savages, if it damages them even in the first place at this range.
It would make sense to target their young ones first though, as they may be hardy, but shouldn¡¯t have learned skills yet.
The savages hurl things back, but lack the precision. The few spears and stones that would hit the houses are bounced off by the wizards, while the phalanxers deflect the ones that would hit them with their shields.
The drumming picks up and a small cloud of dirt appears at the horizon as the barbarians pick up the pace. Yup, as fast as horses, for people that attack, plunder, and run this is to be expected. Another salve of arrows flies over the frontline, but Gottfried sees the arrows bouncing from naked chests without any effect.
So barbarians really are half-naked all the time. Even most women, though some of them do have their bust bound, probably because they are swaying too much otherwise.
Here they are! People start running even quicker, picking up the pace so fast, that only skills could explain this. Are these their formation-breakers or just some very stupid savages that underestimate the composure of actual solders?
A particular powerful arrow tries to bury itself in the barbarian that¡¯s closest to Gottfried, but the man doesn¡¯t even flinch, showing that this one knows what he¡¯s doing.
Gottfried uses a skill himself, rushing towards that man who notices it and swings an axe, creating a flying cut that would break an unattended castle wall.
Seriously?
With a flick of his blade, Gottfried cuts through this attack, the barbarian laughs as he hardens his muscles, but it¡¯s not like the knight intended to bludgeon the man to death, it just needs a proper cut.
The one-head-shorter barbarian is kicked back into his people, Gottfried makes another step forward, concentrating his thoughts into his next skill. It¡¯s [Crescent Moon], which is enough to cut deep into their first line and shallow into the next one, but instead of following through it, Gottfried dashes back behind the phalanxers, as he¡¯s exposed like this from the sides.
Also, he will be needed elsewhere, as the barbarians were able to break one part of the formation. That¡¯s where individual strength will matter the most now!
He steps light-footedly through the mass of his landsmen without being slowed at all, another useful skill to have. It¡¯s like he can change direction without a pause or delay, his balance fluid and swift. He joins the left wing, where the phalanxers try their best to get back to formation, but the ground there is brittle and crumbling, probably due to a barbarian¡¯s skill.
One swing, one dead. Two swings, three dead. Gottfried notices that most of those he cuts down has the talent to be frightening combatants, but against him such talent stands no chance.
The task is simple: Kill every barbarian until the phalanxers are back in formation, even though the barbarians seem to concentrate their attacks there now.
Then Gottfried finds something he couldn¡¯t cut immediately. While most barbarians tried to harden their skins enough to deflect his sword, most were still too soft. This one seemed to be tougher, grins at the young knight, who just raises his eyebrow before kicking the bastard so hard, that he flies above the battlefield.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
That¡¯s not enough to cause real damage, but this should delay him for some seconds, enough to cleave some heads before taking him seriously.
Or not. The airborne barbarians throws his weapon, a club, at Gottfried, if this would hit the ground, it would be terrifying. However, Gottfried jumps at the club, spins around while picking up the club with his blade and then he deflects it back to its owner.
He catches it with both hands, but it¡¯s still full of its original power, so he¡¯s pushed back by it. Not enough to kill him though¡ too bad, he¡¯s kinda capable but all of that is just wasting Gottfried¡¯s time without giving him a proper fight!
While it¡¯s risky, Gottfried jumps in the air. He concentrates his power and will into his blade, which begins to radiate, then he unleashes everything into several cuts, a moment of mental void, and a dismembered body falling to the ground, accompanied by rain.
¡°Ard!¡± Some of the barbarians seem to be shocked, some others unleashes their flying cuts and blows at Gottfried, who instinctively reacts to every single one of them, cutting through some, evading others while shifting his center of gravity midair, it looks like he¡¯s dancing a deadly waltz through the air.
A sharp whistle sounds off from further away and the barbarians start to retreat. Gottfried frees his sword from blood with a quick flick of his sword while considering whether to chase them and cut down a dozen more for good measure, but decides to stay, as the formation is up again and there aren¡¯t too many actual casualties of the barbarians aside the ones he caused himself.
A bit of respect for these savages rises up inside the knight, as they actually put a dent into the kingdom¡¯s finest, but this should teach them to not underestimate them.
Wait, why is that barbarian standing there as his tribesmen pass him? It¡¯s a large one, wild light-brown hair and a beard, maybe in his forties, the body full of body-paint. Gottfried instantly takes a stance, as he makes eye-contact with this one and feels an immense pressure.
That smile¡ a sign of respect and hunger, the look someone gives to the one they hope to kill themselves. Yet instead of charging, the man funnels his hands and shouts through them: ¡°ARE YOU READY?¡±
What happens next would be talked about even decades later. The man kicks the ground, the earth beneath his foot waves up higher and higher, creating a massive earthslide that breaks open the ground under it to feet itself while eating its way towards the defensive lines.
Gottfried puts all his power into a single cut, a skill he currently hones by trying to cut the ocean. It works¡ somewhat. While the knight¡¯s skill is able to create a path in the barbarian¡¯s skill, the formation is obliterated, as most of the phalanxers are swallowed by the earthslide, buried under the earth, maybe even crushed by the sheer weight.
Yet this is just the start. Gottfried has no time to listen to the groans of pain, to cough because of the dust and dirt in the air, to feel the unsteadiness of the ground as it¡¯s about to crumble away, as a clear killing intend is approaching.
The barbarian kicks the ground to use his unreasonable strength to propel himself forward, but Gottfried instinctively knows the line of attack and parries the fist, intending to cut it along the way at first, but the moment his blade touches the skin, he instantly realized that he won¡¯t be able to damage it with such an halfheartedly attempt, so he redirects the attack to the side, and as the forces of weapon and fist are unleashed they create an air blast which was akin to an explosion, dispersing dust, earth, and people.
Gottfried knows who he¡¯s facing, as he heard the stories years ago about the living legend, of someone who reached the pinnacle of strength which could only be surpassed by the strongest of heroes: Grekk, the Barbarian.
Without missing a beat, Gottfried launches his counter, using the opening he created by deflecting the attack. The edge hits directly on Grekk¡¯s upper chest, almost at his neck. This attack¡ªwhich would slice through thick steel without even slowing down¡ªis absolutely absorbed by the muscles that only dents a bit as if Gottfried was using a toysword.
Danger from below.
Gottfried steps aside and behind Grekk, as the barbarian lifts his foot and as he kicks the air. The air is hurled into every direction, which forces the knight to step back more to not be caught up in the attack, losing his advantage in position in the process.
This will be hard. While the young knight doesn¡¯t allow any doubt of his victory slow down his movements, he acknowledges the amount of work it will need.
At least Grekk¡¯s also acknowledges that Gottfried won¡¯t be an easy opponent, as he throws himself to the side to pick up a sword from the ground. He throws it with brutal might, but no matter how much power it packs, as long as it¡¯s a projectile, Gottfried can easily deflect it back.
As the blade flies back to its thrower, Gottfried swiftly follow it so he can use it to start another attack series. He already sees how the barbarian would need a defensive skill to deal with his own unreasonable power, therefore the knight can seize an opportunity to find a weakness in the defense.
Danger from the front. As Grekk claps his hands together, unleashing a skill that¡¯s based on wind pressure and sound, Gottfried quickly uses [Half Moon] to cut it and protect himself, while the still airborne sword is first bent then shattered by the clap.
Using offense as a defense, how fitting for a savage!
Without missing a beat, Grekk steps forward to throw a straight at Gottfried, but that means entering the young knight¡¯s reach. A lesser fighter would have decided to attack the barbarian before he could throw his punch, but Gottfried acted on instinct which proved to have better judgment.
Nebelschnitter is a magic weapon which can cut through everything, but barbarians are renowned for their toughness and self-healing capabilities, meaning that death by a thousand cuts would be inefficient, and any attack without full force will be reduced to a mere shallow cut by the strongest barbarian that has ever lived.
Therefore the strategy is not to land every possible attack, but to land the one that will kill. Gottfried isn¡¯t that analytical, his keen instinct just has figured it out for him and moved his body, it¡¯s as if the weapon he wields has a will of its own.
*TK*
Before Grekk could finish his straight punch, Nebelschnitter¡¯s tip thrusts against the fist, Grekk hardened his skin in time to avoid losing a finger, but the power in his arm disperses before it all connected to an attack and as someone who never needed to worry about his defense, he ends up very vulnerable the moment his attack is disrupted.
Gottfried spins his wrist to slice open Grekk¡¯s throat, but sadly the barbarian also has incredible instincts and has already turned his body enough to meet the blade with his neck muscles. As blood spills, the attack from the wrist lacks the power to cut through those immensely strong fibers that hardened not due to a skill but sheer, brutal force and will.
Instead of putting even more strength into it, Gottfried backs off before his weapon is caught in the muscles or he receives a counter. Quickness and finesse can land the killing blow under the right circumstances and this means that the best of Feuerberg has more tools than he originally thought.
The cut on Grekk¡¯s neck heals almost instantaneously, only the fresh blood remains witness of the wound. ¡°Impressive,¡± that force of nature says with a wide grin. ¡°Too bad that I don¡¯t like fair fights.¡± He lifts his hand and catches a big axe that has been thrown from the midst of the barbarians. That crude axe had a single blade with a thorn on the other side. It¡¯s a single thick and robust piece of metal, almost reminding of an orc weapon, but as it Grekk holds it, runes flicker on it which is a dari craft.
However, runes are tied to magic, so unless Grekk is also a magic-user, this has to be a magic weapon and the aura of grudge and hatred oozing from the axe underlines that notion. Gottfried has never felt something like this from a weapon before. He also never heard from a magic axe like this one.
Not that not knowing what it can do will make Gottfried hesitate, as he already knows what to do: Kill that one man.
A groan of pain makes the knight aware of the people around him, his fellow soldiers who were first buried only to huddle in small formations in hope to withstand the shockwaves of Grekk¡¯s missing attacks.
No, killing that one man is not enough. Gottfried has to kill him and make sure that neither the village nor its inhabitants and protectors falls.
So far, Gottfried has held his offense back, as he aimed for a single killing blow while not wasting his stamina, something he probably has less of than his opponent, but now is the time for an assault!
With his first skill is a rushing attack, which the barbarian easily blocks by turning his axe upside down, but that¡¯s within Gottfried¡¯s expectations, which is why he leans his upper body forward to dive under the axeblade while turning to his left side, smashing his shield arm against the ground to get even more force into an upside down kick against Grekk¡¯s groin.
While the legendary warrior could even harden that¡ªthough his grunt betrays his annoyance¡ªthe primary focus is not inflicting pain, but to lift the bastard, as this way Gottfried only needed to work against gravity.
Grekk soars to the sky with dirt and dust between his toes, as he himself loosened the earth up enough to make it impossible to him to find even the resemblance of hold on it, Gottfried unleashes a [Crescent Moon], then he wind up his body for a [Reverse Falcon], a cut which is like a nosedive from ground to sky, following his flying cut.
Grekk swings his axe, creating enough pressure to send a flying cut on his own, much stronger than Gottfried¡¯s [Crescent Moon], powerful enough to even cut through the incoming swordmaster, but¡ªtaking a page out of Grekk¡¯s book¡ªGottfried answers that with canceling his skill to meet it with more offense.
A deep breath in focuses the mind to a single thought, no, it forged it into less than a thought, as it melded with the body for the next attack, an attack that would take it all to overcome and destroy the barbarian. As the tip of the blade moves forward¡ªnot much of a thrust in its explosive power, but much firmer in its calmness and concentration¡ªthe [Full Moon] is unleashed.
It¡¯s like a sphere on the tip, a sphere of the essence of cutting. It doesn¡¯t care how strong Grekk¡¯s attack is, as it lacks the sharpness, and the [Full Moon] barely loses any strength, as it closes in on the barbarian.
A fist meets the sphere, but it seems that the aging man is only acting on instinct, an instinct to save himself. A ripping sound of air echoes, as it¡¯s bursting, and the barbarian¡¯s own attack pushes him back, followed by a trail of bloody mist that comes from his arm which has wounds so deep, that it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise to see the bones of it under the ribbons of flesh.
Sadly, the flesh already start growing back. Gottfried focus loosens a bit, his [Full Moon] runs its course, but he affirms his chances anew, as he could even cut through the barbarian¡¯s hardening skill as long as he puts his everything into it.
Next time, he will aim for the head.
The moment Gottfried¡¯s feet touches the ground, he starts to dash after his target, who swings his axe recklessly, not caring who he will hit with his extended cuts while running backwards. While Grekk¡¯s own power lives up to the legends, it looks like his handling with weapons isn¡¯t up to par. The axe doesn¡¯t make him weaker, but he can¡¯t leverage the advantage of a weapon and ends up relying on his body more.
Gottfried pushes his shield forward, a small one that¡¯s on his forearm, as he blocks only the attack that would throw his own people into chaos, chasing down Grekk who seems to retreat.
Not that Gottfried believed that for a second.
Here it comes. Another attempt to use the earth itself as a weapon. Another dirt avalanche, Gottfried cuts through it once more, and as the cloud isn¡¯t able to even emerge due to it, he notices that Grekk has vanished.
Danger from below, Gottfried jumps back, as the barbarian¡¯s axe breaks through the ground, and the moment the head follows, its mouth spits out a stone with enough power to break through trees, yet for Gottfried it means only another projectile to deflect back, so¨C
While Gottfried¡¯s instinct tell him about the danger from the front, him picking up the stone with his blade catches him in a very compromising position, as Grekk punches the air to cause another burst, big enough to make it hard to evade in the knight¡¯s current stance.
Aborting the deflection of the stone, Gottfried brings his shield to make a [Shockblock]. This way, he avoids injuries, but his hurled back nonetheless and then Grekk kicks the ground again, causing the next avalanche.
Reacting without wasting the time on a thought, Gottfried just barely touches the ground to jump into the wave of dirt and stone to let it carry him above it, as the moment he¡¯d be trapped in the ground would be his end.
However, it only delayed that fate. Riding his own wave, Grekk jumps above the propelled Gottfried and swings his axe. Gottfried could only opt for damage control, he blocks the weapon with his own, but the sheer force shoots him downwards, as he hears his arm and several rips shatter. As he uses his [Shockblock] to soften the impact, it¡¯s just enough to not break his skull and he ends up lying in a crater.
It took just one attack that he couldn¡¯t properly block. While he may have been close, the difference between the two just showed in less than a second.
Gottfried steels his mind as he doesn¡¯t intend to give that savage his life without fighting until his final moments¡
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I¡¯m standing at the edge of the crater and wipe my sweat from my forehead, as it¡¯s been a while since I had to work so hard for a win. I notice the fresh blood that now runs down my face, as I totally forgot that it¡¯s still not fully healed.
Oh well, it was enough, after all. Time to go for the kill.
No, I have a bad feeling about it. I¡¯m not really smart, but I know that I can trust my instincts, and they tell me to leave him alone now. Maybe a cornered beast can be dangerous, after all? Would he be able to lop off an arm or leg?
Uh, that would sting. I don¡¯t really feel pain, but imagining to live my life without one of those is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
Overall, this has been a whole mess. It¡¯s not even like these kingdomers were even prepared, but here I am, wounded after fighting a knight that happened to be there. Even if he¡¯s the strongest of their whole kingdom, having more almost as strong people around¡
I shoulder my axe and move back to my tribe. Ah, they¡¯re also being repelled, seems like the kingdomers were led by someone who brought back the whole formation and now it¡¯s time to retreat for now, considering whether we will change course or try again.
Seriously, this might not be worth it. A barbarian may like to fight, but why pick up battles that we may not win? That¡¯s not the way.
Parlaar wasn¡¯t a problem, but Feuerberg may be too much for comfort. I surely hope to never face that knight again. What was his name? Oh well, as long as his spine isn¡¯t broken, it¡¯s bound to echo throughout the lands as the people will ask themselves if he could defeat me.
Today, he wasn¡¯t able to, and I don¡¯t intend to give him another chance. After all, being undefeated does sound like a great accomplishment.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
In the end, the barbarians retreated and Gottfried lies in a bed, the treatment for his bones left him weak, and it pains him so much. Not only the bones, which need several sessions to properly mend, but his pride. ¡°Argh!¡±
¡°You were pulverized. Demolished.¡± Of course, Meinold doesn¡¯t hesitate to rub this defeat into Gottfried¡¯s face. ¡°At least you weren¡¯t even worth the kill.¡±
¡°Quiet!¡± That¡¯s exactly the feeling Gottfried now has, he was ready to face death and it never came! He wasn¡¯t even worth the effort! ¡°Why are you even here!¡±
¡°Because I¡¯m tired of being celebrated.¡± Indeed, Meinold jumped in to take over the command of the troops after Grekk¡¯s avalanche, which may have saved all of them. This will surely give him a medal. ¡°Also, you did the heavy lifting. Are you happy now?¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Weren¡¯t you dissatisfied with being on border guard? Wasting your talents?¡±
¡°Hah, that came back, didn¡¯t it?¡± Gottfried thinks about it for a moment: ¡°Yes, I¡¯m happy. I¡¯m also keen to get out of the bed and start training. As long as he¡¯s out there, I have a goal to reach. Next time, I¡¯ll be so strong that he has to take me seriously, and then the fight will only last a second!¡±
¡°You¡¯re that confident?¡±
¡°No, just realistic. If I get as strong as him and he brings out his full power, whatever one of us will do will probably end the other one in a moment. For now, I need to develop a skill that will allow me to cut through him even if he hardens his muscles and skin to be stronger than steel. Something that can cut everything, even if it¡¯s not even able to be cut at all!¡±
¡°You make no sense.¡±
This is not the end, only a start, for both of them. Yet Gottfried doesn¡¯t know that the rematch will take decades and Meinold doesn¡¯t know that his future granddaughter would join forces with Grekk.
Extra 3 ¨C Led Astray
Alhein from the Crusaders stares at the rocky slopes around him. He did it a lot since they entered the Mauerfelsen with their supply carts. These mountains were a natural wall that protects the kingdom of Feuerberg. There were only few ways to pass them with a larger group, there were many monsters, and it was one of the spots bandits liked to hide, but these days he had also to worry about demons using them to ambush any participants of the war.
But so far nothing happened and he¡¯s glad to be out of the Wildlands, where a company was eradicated by the evil, vengeful rangers. As it was supposed to bring supplies to the war efforts against the demons and now Alhein¡¯s platoon took over that mission, he was very concerned whether they would face the rangers themselves or not, but in the end, there were no ambushes or accidents.
However, these slopes sure look ideal for an attack. Being surrounded by mountains like these was an unfair militaristic advantage for the kingdom of Feuerberg and probably the reason why it never lost a war as far as Alhein knows. Yet this war would be different from everything that secluded country ever faced.
Demons are different, as a Crusader it was just natural for Alhein to know everything needed to face those wicked creatures¡ªfighting demons and other profane beings was the whole backbone of the Crusaders¡¯ mission.
Aside from the demon¡¯s exterior, which was full of natural weapons like claws, horns, and spikes there were three major traits they had, which made them not only dangerous, but also terrifying for everyone who isn¡¯t as brave and just as a Crusader.
First, their whole existence. They don¡¯t eat. They don¡¯t sleep. While they do rest sometimes, it¡¯s erratic and follow no rule, they just defy every bit of common sense, they are an affront to the natural order.
Second, their thirst for violence. Demons always need to destroy, if they don¡¯t destroy well-mannered and innocent people, they even turn against each other. A demon not able to destroy anything begins to wither and die, it¡¯s like what they don¡¯t need in food, they need in violence, and objects alone won¡¯t suffice for long, which makes taking demons prisoner almost nonsensical, as they only have little time until they die.
Third, their infectious nature. Monsters are different from demons, but demons somehow can infect monsters with their unhallow powers, making the monsters take on traits of them and their destructive nature. For a Crusader, a monster was usually more of a nuisance, and most won¡¯t even know the difference between a feral and powerful beast and a monster, but the moment the demons infect the monsters, those become much harder to deal with, as spells designed to kill demons only work partly on these spawns.
As the Daemonicus, the Demon Realm, was inhabitable and demons didn¡¯t need food and revel in violence, this wasn¡¯t a usual war and the armies of the light couldn¡¯t just do it defensively. In fact, these blighted creatures would just fester more and more until they would endlessly spread out, just like any demon community of the past that was just left alone.
That¡¯s why there was a need for a crusade, and the prudent Feuerberg were the ones that called it out, even though they would use such a banal word like ¡®war¡¯ for it. And wherever a crusade is, the Crusaders would come to support it.
Yet it needs supplies to work, and while the Crusaders would eventually be supplied by Feuerberg, a supply chain for almost a thousand soldiers isn¡¯t established within a week, so they had to do with their own gear and provisions for the time being.
Alhein only saw a glimmer, but he instinctively reacted, same as the rest of the Crusaders: ¡°¡°¡°[Resistance]!¡±¡±¡± A wave of freezing cold shoots through the platoon, but they shrug it off, though their carts started freezing to the ground.
Several demons with metallic skin appeared, their horns, teeth, and claws were like ice shards, and their bodies resembled wolves, even though they were bipedal and hunched over. Canine ice devils! ¡°To arms!¡± Alhein yelled as he quickly decided to go with his hammer, as their skin is hard yet would eventually break.
It wasn¡¯t much of a battle, as half of the platoon could use [Exorcise] to make the eighteen devils cower in pain so that the rest would be able to take them down. It just took some time and effort, but Crusaders are an elite force, after all.
However, demons attacking supply lines¡ the appearance of the demon king certainly is dangerous. Only a strong demon could hope to gather other demons for a common goal, as their chaotic nature just made it hard for them to work with each other, and only those who were smart and strong would be able to use demons strategically.
It also made sense to send ice devils to attack the allies of Feuerberg, as Feuerberg holds fire magic in high regard, which renders ice demons nigh useless. It may have not be enough to stop the Crusaders, but the demons had to be stopped before they would figure out how to use their resources best.
Alhein looks back at his men: ¡°Let¡¯s resu-¡± Then he suddenly had to stop, as he saw something. Or rather nothing. Nothing on the carts¡
The supply crates have been stolen!
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Ha! They didn¡¯t notice at all!¡± Shinohara Mari carries two crates of weapons¡ªone on each shoulder¡ªwith ease, but that makes it not easy to look behind her.
¡°Nope,¡± Hannes laughed, as he held a stack of eight crates in his arms, he certainly had a skill that allowed him to do that. ¡°That¡¯s why the Crusaders are among the strongest good-for-nothings: They may excel at fighting, but never ask them to take care of your stuff!¡±
¡°Don¡¯t be so loud,¡± Yuri¡ªKumagai Yuria¡ªloudly whispers, as she¡¯s still afraid that the Crusaders can hear them. She¡¯s also carrying two crates.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry,¡± Nao¡ªEndou Naomi¡ªsmiles as she¡¯s hauling two crates herself. Other than the bandits though, the three Japanese girls made it work with a [Phalanx]-skill called [Supply Carrier], which increases how much they can lift while also making it much easier to move around while carrying heavy burdens. Most likely to lessen the burden of forced marshes with supplies, as the [Phalanx]-ability was all about working better together as an army.
Aside from these four, there were five other members in their raiding party, all of them carrying more of the crates they stole from the Crusaders while they were distracted. Of course, these demons were part of the whole haul, as the leader of the Resistance made a deal with them.
Mari isn¡¯t sure whether these demons were just willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause or genuinely thought they would stand a chance. Don¡¯t get her wrong, she has little empathy as the little she saw from demons so far was creepy and unnatural. It¡¯s just strange to see anything walk into certain death so willingly.
Ah, it doesn¡¯t matter, right? The enemy of their enemy may be an ally for a time, but certainly not a friend. This way, they could weaken the tyrants of Feuerberg more, while also getting some gear of hopefully high quality. Looking at how heavily armored the Crusaders were, maybe there is even something for Mari, who really starts to think to gear up much heavier by now.
It seems like Hannes was right, the Crusaders don¡¯t follow them, they probably have no skills to follow them through this rocky terrain. They seriously lack in the survival-department, which may be fine and dandy on a battlefield, but Mari seriously questions if the Crusader aren¡¯t just a bunch of weirdos that can¡¯t do anything but brute force.
Mari and her party don¡¯t stop until they came back to the camp of the Resistance. It¡¯s a group of people that may come across as bandits, but there is more to them.
The leader was Wiho, the one who is called the Bandit King and he started to wear that name like a gown. He¡¯s basically an Ishikawa Goemon, a noble thief who would steal from the rich and give it to the poor, someone who resisted the tyranny of the noble family of Feuerberg, who has no qualms of kidnapping innocent high school girls to make them fight their battles.
Wiho-oyabun saved Mari, Yuri, and Nao from a dangerous monster and brought them in, showed them how vile and deceptive the kingdom of Feuerberg truly was, and offered them a place in the Resistance. To return that favor, the three of them worked hard to become stronger, as they are heroes and therefore training will always yield results.
Needless to say that their resolve of fighting and winning against the demon king has deteriorated completely by this point, as they had lost hope to return home and just want to make most of the situation. Unbeknownst to them, this form of coping is just another facet of the hero-system, which strengthen their mental fortitude so that they won¡¯t fall into despair.
So what to do, when your lost the one purpose you had for a while? Look for another one. After getting rid of that mental load, there is a boundless freedom to choose the next set of goals and ethics. Like working with the demons who are supposedly the enemy.
¡°We¡¯re back,¡± Mari says to the guards, who nod at her with a mixture of tenseness and friendliness, but she doesn¡¯t think much of it, as they don¡¯t interact much with each other. Aside from Hannes and Wiho-oyabun, there is only Gretchen, Monika, and Hilde. The heroes don¡¯t have much contact with the other resistance-fighters as they¡¯re usually away to increase their level to prepare for the time to act against the evil kingdom.
There will be no action before the next spring though, as the Resistance needs to prepare for the winter, as it¡¯s already late Deepstorm and the number of rainy days make it too dangerous to wander around the mountains already.
After Deepstorm comes Icenight, after that Vale and then the next year will begin. There is a whole myth how a year is playing out, which leads to the birth of a new star, and Mari is looking forward the festivities.
¡°Ah, welcome back!¡± It¡¯s Gretchen, who is like a mother to the highschool girls. She¡¯s a woman in her forties with thick arms and a broad back, she looks like she could lift a man with a single arm, though her shoulder-long blonde curls almost give her an innocent look: ¡°I knew you could do it!¡± She puts her hands on Yuri¡¯s shoulder, throws a smile at Nao, and then pats Mari on the head.
Hannes makes his presence known by wiggling with his head: ¡°Could you be quick? These are heavy.¡±
¡°Yes, yes, yes. Just drop them before the armory.¡±
The camp is a combination of tents and caves, with many of the provisions being inside caves that are guarded. Gretchen accompanies them and right before the arsenal, the Bandit King himself waited for them already: ¡°There you are. Just drop them here.¡± He quickly opens the first of the crates, taking a sword out from within: ¡°Quality blades! Well, this one already saw its use, look at the handle, but the blade is immaculate.¡±
His excitement jumps over to Mari: ¡°The Crusaders weren¡¯t paying attention at all! It was really easy, oyabun (boss)!¡±
¡°Of course they weren¡¯t. That¡¯s why we worked with the demons, after all. Speaking of them, Lord Ramma will pay us a visit later, so rest a bit and be on standby please. I¡¯ll call for you, when we got everything of these goods sorted out, so we can give you the best picks. You are our future, after all.¡±
¡°Yes, oyabun!¡± Mari tries something like a salute, while Yuri makes a small bow. Nao gives a seductive wink while eyeing the crates, probably thinking about what gear she may waste next.
¡°Let¡¯s go, girls,¡± Gretchen says with a motherly tone, pushing the three heroes gently towards their tent, as she throws Wiho-oyabun a meaningful look over her shoulder.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Wiho¡ªthe Bandit King¡ªsighs as he sees the heroes off, his smile slowly devolving into a grimace, as putting on the act becomes increasingly tiring. He turns to Hannes: ¡°They still didn¡¯t caught on so far?¡±
¡°No. They¡¯re really dense. But powerful.¡± That¡¯s the number one reason why Wiho took care of the three girls that fell from the sky in the first place: They are heroes, and therefore have an unlimited potential, which is very useful in these times.
The Bandit King was the boss of a large bandit group, which more or less walked a very tight rope by hiding in the mountains that separates the Wildlands and Feuerberg. While the kingdom is very wealthy and rich in harvest, it also got the scariest military Wiho ever heard of, so the key was to only seldom do a raid on them directly and only when one of their many enemies would surface.
A sudden shudder runs through Wiho, as he remembers how a few months ago several bandit camps were raided, their denizens either caught or killed, and the trackers all agreed that it was the work of a single person, probably female, who was about to easily end banditry once again in these lands, despite a war going on in the southeast.
On the other hand, the Wildlands were poor in resources, but attractive for traveling traders. So Wiho decided to attack them, but again in moderation, as otherwise Feuerberg would send out people again so that their trading routes become save once again.
Yeah, it was a bit shitty here, but the war was supposed to be a big, fat chance to make it as a bandit. Not that there was much to make in this career, but before Wiho arrived here, he was quite successful. Smart, able to use several [Skills], and with a lot of people to boot.
In a sense, he¡¯s still successful. His dirty hands opens the next crate, his eyes look at the armor pieces inside there. This is a dream, with equipment like these, he could bring his whole band to another level. He just needs to recruit several deserters, which will show up soon enough, as the more battles are there, the more people would want to flee from them. That will bring some capable militarymen into his band, which would make his band the strongest bandits of the world, with him as a leader!
He was strong, after all. Maybe not a Gottfried, but he doesn¡¯t need to shy away from most opponents. ¡°We gonna need to train up these girls more.¡± While it doesn¡¯t please him to make them stronger than himself, he knows that he won¡¯t have much of a choice if he wants to ride the waves into the future.
¡°Maybe it¡¯s better to get rid of them now. It¡¯s scary how much they have improved already.¡± Hannes has more contact with them than Wiho at this point, so his opinion means a lot.
The self-proclaimed Bandit King takes a moment to consider it: ¡°Stronger than you?¡±
¡°Not yet. Give them a year, and then they may get there. Another year, and then they may challenge you.¡± That¡¯s indeed a frightening growth-rate, especially considering their youth, and how easily they learn [Skills], which will also give them a lot of options in a fight.
¡°Hm¡ we may have picked up some trouble. Should have thought this thorough, but now they¡¯re here and it would be a waste to not use them. Let¡¯s put them up for more work.¡±
¡°If you use them to raid a farmstead, then they will realize that you¡¯re tricking them.¡±
¡°Ah yes¡We should attack one soon though, we need more food. Hm¡ ah, if they ask where we got the goods, it¡¯s from our ¡®supporters¡¯, which will explain away that one. But how to use them¡ Let¡¯s stick to the original plan: We keep them around in case someone attacks us. We should ask Lord Ramma if he wants to attack a fort as well, this way we could send them as support against the evil, evil soldiers of Feuerberg, who are about to sacrifice some of their children to their dark gods to bring them fortune in their war.¡±
¡°Boss, even they aren¡¯t so dumb to believe that.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Mari, Yuri, and Nao sits around a fire, while they eat some soup which is more or less just leftover cooked in a pot. Even after several months in this world, Mari¡¯s palate resist to adept to food like this, which is bland and feels unpleasant in her mouth.
Well, it¡¯s not like the food in the castle was so much better. It was greasy and over-spiced, which may be better than this soup, but only slightly. Mari wouldn¡¯t admit it openly, but she missed good food more than her family, and she feels kinda bad for it. She still hasn¡¯t realized how the hero-system shuns down homesickness, leaving the regret for the food situation bigger than the otherwise soul-crushing longing for the people she cares for.
As she also doesn¡¯t discuss her deepest worries and emotions with her friends, she could only come to the conclusion that she¡¯s not right in the head. Otherwise, she may have learned that Yuri and Nao feel similar and therefore there had to be something else at work here.
Instead, she just banters: ¡°What was that, Nao? Are you into Oyabun?¡± She refers to the wink she gave when saying goodbye.
¡°He¡¯s kinda cute, isn¡¯t he?¡± Nao isn¡¯t even embarrassed, which makes Mari feel that way instead. ¡°Definitely the best guy here.¡±
Mari does respect Oyabun, but seeing him as a man? ¡°He¡¯s way too old for you.¡±
¡°What does it matter? I pick him over the guys of our class any day!¡±
¡°What about Inoue-kun.¡±
¡°Except Inoue-kun. He¡¯s special.¡± Mari nods in agreement, as like most girls in the class, she has a crush on Inoue-kun. He¡¯s just handsome, kind, athletic, charismatic, and everything else a girl looks in a man.
¡°Do you remember when we ranked the boys?¡±
¡°Hihi, that was fun. Wanna do it again with the guys here?¡±
Mari thinks about it for a second, but considering how hard it has been to rank the sixteen boys of her class beyond ¡®great¡¯, ¡®good enough¡¯, ¡®miserable¡¯, and ¡®Katsuragi Kenta¡¯, she¡¯s rather reluctant to do the same with the many, many men in this camp: ¡°Won¡¯t it be far too many?¡±
¡°It will be fun!¡± As always, Nao is rather free-spirited and not really thinking things through, which does rub off Mari the wrong way time and time again.
As her emotions rile up a bit, she¡¯s held back by Gretchen, who listened to their conversation silently until now: ¡°That¡¯s a boring ranking.¡±
¡°Oh, what are you suggesting, Nee-san?¡± Nao¡¯s excitement shines through her whole face. Is she that bored?
Yet Gretchen delivers even more than Nao could account for: ¡°Of course, who¡¯s the best in bed.¡±
Mari chokes on her soup, Nao laughs agitated, and Yuri blushes as she tries to hide her face behind the bowl. This just has become adult!
Of course, these reactions make Gretchen come to the right conclusion: ¡°Wait¡ you are still virgins at your age?¡± Why is she fixating Mari with her eyes?
The highschool girl can¡¯t help but giggle nervously, which earns her a somewhat disgusted look from Gretchen, so she quickly adds: ¡°At home, it¡¯s normal¡¡± Maybe¡ probably!
¡°Ah right, heroes and other worlds¡ Still strange.¡± To be fair, the girls never told Gretchen much about Japan, so this amount of ignorance is just part of the course. Or was it Mari who was ignorant in this case? ¡°Oh well, let¡¯s rather talk about who of them would be fit to deflower you. I can say, that most of them know only hard, so not that pleasant unless you¡¯re used to it.¡±
Starting from there, Gretchen talks about her escapades within the Resistance. She¡¯s very open, almost as open as the eyes and ears of Mari, Nao, and Yuri, who take all the information in with curiosity, though Mari and Yuri are rather uncomfortable at the same time.
It seems that all the women here are rather free with their sexuality, which may come from the fact that there are so few of them and they get to pick who to be with at any given time, and the men seem to be OK with it. Even oyabun!
Mari reconsiders her standing more and more, as this reality check gives her the impression, that being a virgin at sixteen may work in Japan, but appears to be abnormal in this world and she definitely doesn¡¯t want to be abnormal.
After a long time of listening, some shouts announce the arrival of Ramma, one of the demon lords of the demon realm, someone whose authority within the demons is only surpassed by the demon king. This is also a sign, that Mari and the other heroes should hurry to Oyabun, to make sure that everything will be peaceful.
Lord Ramma is more of a beast than anything else. Four arms and six legs grow from his grotesque body, which also doubles as his head, as the eyes and two fanged mouths are where the chest would be on any other being, though the eyes were under the mouths. The arms look somewhat human, but the legs come from different animals: Insect, lion, and bird.
However, there was something like a scar wandering from the top of its body right into its upper mouth.
Wiho-oyabun steps up to that creature, whose presence alone is enough for Mari to make sure to have her shield between it and her: ¡°Welcome!¡±
Both mouths speak at the same time: ¡°¡°Were you able to secure their supplies?¡±¡±
¡°Yes, it was easy. If you ever catch wind of another convoy, we could be interested again.¡±
¡°¡°You may be eager to serve.¡±¡±
¡°We¡¯re free by nature. But we can help each other again.¡± Oyabun and Ramma stare at each other, and while it was clear that the leader of the Resistance does feel nervous, he sticks to his guns.
After a suspenseful minute: ¡°¡°You aren¡¯t worth the effort to subdue, after all.¡±¡±
¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°¡°The ice devils died?¡±¡±
¡°Yes, as you expected.¡± Just why would the demon sacrifice its own people?
¡°¡°Good. I want your knowledge of these mountains in return.¡±¡±
¡°Let¡¯s talk about that in privacy. Because I think I just got the people to help you in your endeavors.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Guehehehe¡¡± Why are horns growing out of that one¡¯s mouth?
¡°Papapapa,¡± Is that slobber toxic? It almost smells like almond!
¡°Why are we here, anyway?¡± Yuri speaks out Mari¡¯s exact thought, as they walk among demons which can be described, but lacks any distinguished features, most of them vaguely resembling a human-beast hybrid with an abundance of spikes, fangs, and horns, even if the places they grow them aren¡¯t visually pleasing nor logical. That one has another maw at its elbow!
¡°Hi, I¡¯m Endo Naomi.¡± Nao takes the initiative and speaks to one of them, which has the face of a ferret, reptilian legs. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± That girl always tended to be careless, but she¡¯s aiming for new heights!
¡°Newborn #2660.¡±
¡°Then you¡¯re Nirokumaru!¡± Nao, don¡¯t give them nicknames, especially based on their numbers!
¡°Kikiki, wanna hold still? I really feel like breaking your spine.¡± It swings its arm, Nao jumps back, but barely in time. ¡°Come to me, Nao!¡±
Nao reaches to her belt to draw her sword, but before she¡¯s able to fight back, an shadow appears behind the demon and with a tearing sound, it convulses and drops to the ground, a big hole in its back and Mari can see the broken parts of its spine¡
The one responsible for it is another demon, this one is purple has a lot of metallic needles sprouting from its back and elbows, while several tentacles growths on its head, each of them ending into a small cluster of claws: ¡°These aren¡¯t for fun.¡±
¡°Ahhhhhh¡¡± The broken-spine demon sighs as if it¡¯s in ecstasy. What is wrong with it?
¡°Continue,¡± shouts the demon to the others and the marsh continues: ¡°Get your urges under control, until we arrive at the fort, or I will hurt you in all the wrong ways.¡± It turns to the heroes: ¡°Take over the lead already. That¡¯s what you are here for!¡±
Oyabun, just what is your plan in this!?
It made some sense for Mari, but there was a clear difference between working together with demons and being in the midst of them! However, aiding them with the destruction of a watchtower seems to be the next step of their training and an important task to complete before winter comes, as rebuilding it would be nigh impossible the moment it starts to snow, which would open a blind spot¡ for what exactly again? Mari wasn¡¯t a tactical genius which could make much sense of what Oyabun told them!
In the end, it was all a matter of trust. Was Mari brave enough to trust Oyabun¡¯s judgment?
The answer was¡ maybe?
Volume 08 - Afterword
Hello, kentusrpg here.
Well, this is an awkward Afterword, as it¡¯s one I redid quite recently. Usually, they come after writing the alpha-draft of the volume, but there has been some developments, that I thought to address here. In addition of the old Afterword vanishing with some other stuff. I could recover most, luckily.
Alright, let¡¯s start talking about this volume. I hope that Gottfried could live up to the hype I tried to build up so far. Stronger than anything we witnessed so far and close to the peak I like to establish, though we still haven¡¯t seen his full power yet. This puts all the effort of the family so far in perspective.
This also concludes the second saga of the story, which includes volumes 4 to 8. While the first one was about assembling the cast, this one is about knitting them together. Or if we look at Kenta, first to get to people to be close to and then actually befriending them. Of course the wives also have their arcs, but they don¡¯t fit as neatly in the saga-structure.
Kyou went from someone who wants to control the party to someone who wants to provide. Rine learned the value of power and the struggle of growing up. Ara¡¯ainn learned that sex and romance might be different things¡ Well, she had already more than a century to learn stuff, so let¡¯s settle on that. I¡¯m sure that avid readers can point out a lot of different things the characters learned, be sure to comment!
There will be more to learn in the future as well. Maybe some will pick up Kenta¡¯s next big step at the end of the next volume, which is coming out soon. Thank you for being my PR for this one again, Antsago!If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Now thank you to the readers. I try to not apologize here, which is actually hard, but be thankful for everyone who is still willing to return to this story. I¡¯m blessed with you and I¡¯m always happy to see you comment and theorize. This makes me feel noticed and glad that I can make people think about what I write, which in return means that I somewhat move them.
Finally to MioChin. This is your last volume as an artist chum, and I¡¯m really sorry to present that picture you drew so late, but several health issues and ongoing therapy made it hard to re-enter the world of writing fiction. Thank you for your effort so far, and that you put up with my endless nitpicking and desire of consistency. I hope our collaboration so far will continue to be a benefit for your life as a whole, so that I¡¯ll be a part of your bright future! I know you are to mine!
Good bye, MioChin! I hope you will enjoy the story as a reader!
Volume 09 - Prologue
Prologue
Almost a year ago.
I open my eyes and look at the tarpaulin above me. While the bed is warm, the freezing cold runs into my face, invading the flesh and bones of the rest of my body piece by piece. The brittle bones grate on one another, causing small pains that are the constant companions of my life by now.
I don''t sleep often, but when I do, I always regret it. I look at the woman next to me, she''s much younger than I, and I notice that something is different from usual. Normally, I get a sense of victory and accomplishment whenever I make my bed warm for the night, but somehow I feel a strange strain from my shoulders to my cheeks, and something alike to pain just behind my forehead. It doesn''t feel good.
Maybe I''m sick. This would be something new, I was never sick before. I don''t know how old I am exactly, but my skin is shriveled, my hair is gray, and my muscles are waning. I''ve become much older than I''d ever expected, so maybe my health has deteriorated enough for me to catch a cold or something.
I slip out of the sheets and look for the trousers that I carelessly threw away yesterday in the act. I grit my teeth to fight back against the chill, but I won''t complain about minor discomforts like freezing temperatures.
With trousers on, I leave the tent. The grass under my naked feet is covered in rime, and I can see heaps of snow around the camp, serving as a cover against the wind. There are several men and women wrestling with each other on an open space that serves as a playground.
Someone greets me from within this cluster of tents. ¡°Good morning, father.¡± This is my daughter. Or is it the cohabitant of one of my sons? She also wears only trousers. Some of the women of our tribe like to at least use a piece of cloth to make their breasts not sway around, but in this case, there is barely anything to work with. ¡°I''ll fill you a bowl.¡±
¡°Sure.¡± What is her name again? While she looks like a Sveta, it may have been the name of her mother. I''m sure I had a partner called Sveta at some point. Remembering all of them and which one had a child with me is difficult, due to how many there were over the course of decades.
I really have to be sick. My heart hurts a bit. Maybe the ''exercise'' yesterday was too much.
With the bowl in my hand, I go to my fire and chair. I drink and eat and think about the days my brothers-in-arms used to drop by, back when we were younger and any of them lived. Olvert was the last one, the tribe laid him to rest last summer, and since then, I have spent my meals mostly alone. Aside from the greetings, that is.
Everyone who passes me greets me. This is to be expected for a well-known warrior such as me, someone who lifted this clan out of the dirt to one of the greatest ever known... Somehow, thinking that used to impress me more.
I can''t put my finger on it, but something is different today. I watch my offspring eating at the same fire, some of the younger ones even fighting about who feeds the baby. That''s probably not mine, so either a grandchild or a great-grandchild. They call it Tor. A former chieftain of the clan was called Torvald, so maybe that''s the real name and Tor is just a nickname? Has to be a boy then.
Taking care of babies is a chore. I always left this to my mates. When I was younger, I used to play with and teach the children after some years, at least when they were old enough to hold weapons. At some point, I even stopped doing that.
Fir, Freyn, Olwald, Svetson, then... I don''t know. Hilda, Gunri, Jevska... I certainly have more children, but I forgot most of their names.
What do they have to do with me anyway? What is that? This mushy feeling in my head, in my chest.
I need to stop sleeping entirely. It may be nice after exhausting yourself, but that¡¯s not worth feeling this strange like today. . It has to be an illness.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The current day.
The sun greets the new morning, and I stretch my arms. These old bones creak, reminding me of their frailty. Like every single day. ¡°Urgh---¡±
¡°Is something wrong, Grekk?¡± asks a young blonde girl. Her name is Katarine, and she''s royalty. The oldest princess of a kingdom two or three months to the southeast, a kingdom that has a respectable military might and while it has very fertile lands, my clan only bothered with it once during my lifetime.
Good lands often bring strong people with it. Maybe it''s the good food that makes people that powerful.
¡°Only age, Rine-kun.¡± This is her nickname here, though Kati would make more sense to me. Well, as we both are the only people from this world within this group, I shouldn''t wonder about different naming senses.
Rine-kun has blonde hair that barely touches her shoulders, rose-colored skin, and stunningly bright eyes that show the fire that lives within this very cheerful girl. She''s also a real beauty. If I were back in my twenties or thirties, I''d totally try to bang her.
She''s also the strongest in this group. Agile, skilled with the sword, and a honed battle-instinct. Also a hero despite not being from another world. It has something to do with the ring on her finger, but I don''t really get it.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
Rine-kun and I did the second nightshift. Or rather, I just didn''t sleep. Since learning how to deal without, I don''t indulge in it often. Especially since last year, when waking up became a repeating experience of soberness, additional pain, and regret.
Though not needing sleep doesn''t mean not needing rest, which has become especially clear now that I''m old. So we had a nice conversation for a while, while sitting at the fire to warm ourselves up. Winter is coming, and I find myself thinking of whether asking for a blanket is already too much. I used to run through the winter topless, but now look at me: Wearing a poncho above my bare skin because I feel so cold lately.
¡°The sun is up, time to wake the others,¡± Rine-kun says with excitement as she jumps straight from her ass to her feet. She goes to the tent that stands next to a cart, then she stops and seems to think about something for a second, then she goes on her tiptoes.
¡°Phew... What are you doing?¡± The sharp male voice from the tent sounds half yawning.
Rine-kun sways her head slightly while blushing. ¡°I want to give you a wake-up kiss.¡±
A third voice chimes in, it sounds distant and intellectual: ¡°Would you mind not indulging in your mating rituals in the tent I''m sleeping in?¡±
¡°Ara! Good morning!¡±
¡°Good morning, Katarine-san. Also, good morning, Momo.¡±
Now another voice joins the conversation: ¡°Good morning, everyone. Rine-chan, please remember to keep some distance.¡±
¡°That''s unfair, Kyou!¡±
¡°You broke two ribs yesterday and if Ken and I weren''t heroes, I would have spent hours trying to rearrange every bone fragment!¡±
¡°To be precise, Momo, Kenta-kun''s ribs were already broken and she just displaced the fragments.¡±
¡°I''m sorry, alright!¡±
¡°Rine-chan, I like you, and while you may be more physical than I deem necessary, I don''t want to talk you into that. Unless it causes harm to my patient.¡±
¡°But you can''t just-¡±
Rine-kun gets interrupted by the intellectual voice. ¡°Katarine-san, Momo? I think Kenta-kun has to say something.¡±
With a hoarse voice, the only male in this conversation speaks up the moment the other two went silent: ¡°Too noisy! My head is splitting!¡±
¡°Ah, sorry Kenta.¡±
¡°...let''s give you some painkillers and then I make breakfast. Let''s talk things out after that.¡±
¡°Sure! Anything I can do to help?¡±
¡°Would you start peeling some vegetables? Arako, make some water for washing.¡±
¡°You want to wash Kenta-kun!?¡±
¡°I want to wash myself. About him... *sniff* Still doable for a day.¡±
¡°Stop sniffing me!¡±
This makes me laugh. ¡°Kahahaha!¡± This is legitimately funny! Time for me to come in, I stand up and go to the tent, moving the tarp inside. ¡°Lad, should I wash you?¡±
The boy I''m speaking to is Katsuragi Kenta. He''s rather short and most of his black hair is covered by bandages, same as his body. What is visible from his skin is covered in black and brown-yellow bruises. ¡°Heck no!¡± Even though it visibly hurts him, he still screams at me.
¡°Ken, don''t get worked up too much. Also Grekk-san, would you mind not upsetting him?¡± The lass next to him looks like she could be his beautiful sister, long black hair, dark eyes, and a body which is almost as exciting as Rine-kun''s. Her name is Momokawa Kyou, also a hero.
¡°Momo, you''ve not been fun since yesterday. Are you so jealous of Katarine-san?¡± The other lass inside the tent has long white hair in a wild ponytail, and long, pointy ears. As she speaks, her face barely moves, while her ears seem to never stop, which paired with her blue-green double iris, high cheek-bones, and long nasal bone makes her look alien. Well, she''s an alfr after all. She insists on not being called an elf.
¡°This has nothing to do with it! You know that even if it did, it would be an easy fix! If you had [Check-up] in addition to being able to look at his status, you would vomit! *Inhale* Now we all calm down, being overly excited will only be bad for Ken. Ken, is there anything we can do for you?¡±
¡°...¡± He silently nods into my direction, and I know what he means. Then he turns to Kyou-kun and then asks: ¡°Would you help me up?¡±
¡°Why would- oh. Sure.¡± She seems to also understand, maybe because she can determine his physical condition with a glance?
¡°Why? Why? Why?¡± Ara-kun begins to inquire in a tone that maximizes the annoyance.
¡°Please stop, Arako. You also know.¡±
¡°I want you to say it. Because I don''t have the [Check-up]-skill, as you kindly reminded me, and therefore can only make educated guesses. Does Kenta-kun want your help to masturbate? Or is it just defecation?¡±
I really like the alfr-lass, but when she''s pissed, she''s relentless. ¡°Come on, lad,¡± I say and grab Ken-kun by his shoulder, lifting him up with little problem. Though it''s apparent that he''s feeling an intense pain.
This causes Kyou-kun to quickly give him some herbs to swallow, and ease washes over his face.
¡°What are you doing?¡± Ara-kun asks me in an act of curiosity.
¡°Just a dick-measuring contest,¡± I answer in a chuckle, which makes her satisfied enough. Kyou-kun and Ken-kun certainly cringe from that, though it''s actually not that far away from the truth, as the lad has to take a piss, and has problems to do so without someone supporting his body-weight.
As the only other man here, it falls on me to help him. ¡°Phew...¡± he sighs, lamenting his sorry fate. I must say, for someone who can''t harden up his body, it''s a miracle that he even survived that fall from the cliff. Being a hero seems to have its benefits. ¡°This is becoming worse...¡± he mumbles.
¡°The pain or the girls?¡± I try my best to not chuckle, to sound wiser than I really am. I''m the oldest here, after all.
¡°The latter.¡±
¡°I think they may be butt-hurt.¡±
¡°Hah?¡±
¡°I mean, your confession and such. You''re popular, Red Ranger!¡±
¡°...shit.¡± He must remember how his confession yesterday went and how it was not entirely what he expected. ¡°This is enough, just keep me standing.¡± He grabs his improvised diaper that he had to wear while sleeping and pulls it down, then takes his junk, whose colorfulness makes even a former hardened warrior like me cringe, and lets it out as well as he can.
Most of it falls into the diaper as I witness seconds of pure agony, despite the pain killing herbs in his system. ¡°Phew...¡± After he''s done he sighs in relief and looks at the accident. ¡°...I need help.¡± He certainly feels pathetic right now.
I can feel this, I was the same a long time ago. In a sense, I''m also afraid to eventually turn into that. Yet somehow helping him makes me feel good. ¡°Time to get you into your armor,¡± I say joyfully. ¡°Then let''s grab a bite.¡±
Volume 09 - Chapter 1-1 – My confession went weird
Chapter 1 ¨C My confession went weird
Hi, I¡¯m Katsuragi Kenta, an invalid former highschooler, now hero, from Japan. I¡¯m still probably 16 years old, and my whole life is a multitude of messes and holes that I and other people keep digging.
Where do I begin to explain? Let¡¯s start with back when something in my life went somehow right. I used to be a gamer, basically doing the minimum for school¡ªand still getting rather good grades¡ªand spending my whole time gaming. A bit round, rather unpopular in class, but to be honest, as basically everyone in my class was a jerk, not being talked to was more of a plus.
Then suddenly my whole class¡ªincluding the two teachers¡ªwas summoned into a fantasy world during homeroom. This summoning process also made us into heroes, which changed greatly how our minds and bodies function.
Heroes are insanely sturdy. I can basically force my body to do as I like, even if it¡¯s hurt or exhausted, as long as it¡¯s physically possible. It also heals much faster, medicines, drugs, and such work immediately, and while there is a limit, it¡¯s far beyond anything that most people can imagine.
In addition to that, we have game-like stats, such as [Levels], [Attributes], and [Abilities]. We can have up to four [Classes] that even alter our bodies to match them, like when I¡¯m in [Pikeman] I get an increase in muscle mass and lose basically all of my body-fat. Each [Class] also changes the [Attributes] and the [Abilities] we have access to.
This also influences our minds. As a [Pikeman] I can endure pain much more easily and are more confident taking danger head on, while my [Ranger]-class makes me think like a hunter, looking for weaknesses and propels me to avoid danger rather than to face it.
Other general mind-alterations encompass me not being able to feel homesick and that even my mental fortitude is much greater than I assume should be the case. Heroes just keep going.
So being a hero isn¡¯t half-bad, and as a gamer I can get some mileage out of it, though there are still many secrets to the hero-system and some things just don¡¯t work like they would in a game. For example, double [Strength] doesn¡¯t give me double the lifting capacity. I also still definitely feel pain. In addition, the world itself doesn¡¯t seem to work on game-logic at all.
This leads us to the real shitty part: This world! As you can imagine, the native people just call it the world, and it doesn¡¯t seem to have a proper name. There are monsters, strange animals, several human-like species, and strange human-like people that are literal monsters! There is magic, there are gods, there are so many ways to get killed, and as it¡¯s medieval, there are no games at all, nor electricity, compasses don¡¯t work like they should, and if I weren¡¯t a hero, I¡¯d die within hours because the air lacks the necessary oxygen to survive, and I was able to learn that first-hand! I hate this world!
Also, while I love RPGs with fantasy settings, I loathe being the one who lives in them. I just realized how little I know about stuff like power-scaling in this world, and the only way to return home I know is to fulfill the quest that we got when we were summoned: To kill the demon king!
Which is super far away from the top of my priorities at the moment, because of the next shitty thing that happened to me! While I was leveling for myself, I used a rather reckless method to increase my level, which was only possible by looking for and selling treasures and valuable monster parts.
While the hero-system can identify items and see their worth, the rule is: When you can equip it, you also have to equip it to identify it. This led me to the first magic item I¡¯ve ever seen that happened to be in a rather unremarkable cave, and while it seemed well crafted, it still appeared to be just made out of copper. It¡¯s a cursed ring that looks like a lion and it¡¯s still on my ring finger to this day, and if the curse is active, it slowly kills me by decreasing my Max SP (Stamina Points).
Later I found out that this cursed ring has another side: It marries me to other people if certain conditions are met. By being close to my wives the curse-part doesn¡¯t only go dormant, but also grants us certain benefits, like a whole new system that uses WP (Wedding Points) that can be farmed by holding hands, feeding each other, stuff like that, which then can be spent to power us up in new ways.
Yet the ring also fucks with our minds by giving us feelings for each other. That makes it super hard to discern which feelings are genuine and which are produced by the ring.
I have three wives. The first one is the former president of my class, Momokawa Kyou. A beautiful, yet two-faced girl who used to manipulate everyone in school to look good, make herself popular, and treat people like me as trash. Since we¡¯re stuck together in this fantasy world though, I¡¯ve also started to think of her as my worst enemy and yet a very reliable ally. One that may tackle problems in a totally different way than me, but for now I try my best to trust her.
My second wife is Katarine von Stolzherz, also known as Rine. She¡¯s the former crown-princess of Feuerberg, the kingdom that summoned us to fight against the demons that they¡¯re at war with. She¡¯s very genuine, not the sharpest tool in the shed, and overly emotional. She¡¯s also a massacre machine, though her instructor is much worse.
My final wife isn¡¯t even human. It¡¯s an alfr-girl called Ara¡¯ainn. She may be the most human alfr in existence, yet it still means that she¡¯s basically forever stuck in puberty, often immature, and loves to get on our nerves and play pranks on others. She¡¯s also intelligent, well-versed, and lazy as hell. Additionally, she¡¯s the only friend I have in this world. We just get along, though the curse also fucks us up physically by giving us sexual attraction to each other. It gives her a human-like menstrual cycle, and if we touch each other in certain ways, we get the erogenous zones of the other species for a limited time.
To lift the curse, we want to get to Zethtrin, a big city with a big church and even some people able to use the curse-heavy [Black Magic]. As the former attempt in Feuerberg failed miserably, and with Rine being a runaway princess, it didn¡¯t seem like a good option to try there for some time.
Yesterday, I had the chance to surrender to her instructor, who came to take her back, and get another decurse-attempt there and in an action that makes half of me agonize in pure regret I decided to let Rine make her decision¡ Let¡¯s say that we came to an understanding.
Before that fateful decision and the duel that followed it, which awakened powers within Rine only the enemy side suspected and knew about, I fell down a cliff, and got severely hurt. I was kinda treated on a farmstead until Ara-san fetched me and we recruited someone new to our party for our rescue attempt: Grekk-jiisan.
We met Jii-san two times before, and he¡¯s also heading to Zethtrin, though I don¡¯t know why. I suspect it¡¯s about the so-called ¡®games¡¯ that will be held there. Even though he¡¯s a gray-haired old man, he seems to be a somewhat capable warrior as he was able to totally block out Meldorn¡ªmy own mentor that accompanied Rine¡¯s¡ªwhile I lost mercilessly to him.
To be honest, the last few days I spent mostly sleeping, so I guess Ara-san knows a lot more than I do about Jii-san. I don¡¯t trust him, but he helped us and only asked us to accompany him until Zethtrin. He confessed earlier that he may be strong, but age makes it hard for him to fight continuously.
Yay, another glass cannon like Rine. Exactly what we needed! I¡¯m being sarcastic here.
Yet it currently helps to have another male in the party, as my body is in grave shape. My only unbroken limb is my left arm, my body is a single bruise, and I may even have some permanent brain-damage. Kyou-san, who is our healer, learned a new spell that may patch me up, but it seems to be dangerous, so she wants to wait until I¡¯m better. Otherwise, it may kill me and her by extension¡
Is there something else? Well, one thing¡
Since yesterday, my weird relationship with the girls got a whole lot weirder.
Because of all the stuff yesterday and Rine, who has been full of doubt, I bet on her still lingering feelings for me¡ªthe fake feelings the curse gave her¡ªand kissed her. I feel really bad about it, as this represents something I don¡¯t want to do with people: Using them and their positive feelings for me.
Aside from that, this may have also closed the path of self-awareness Rine was actually treading. The many conflicting feelings I have and had are building up, making me remember the exact moment yesterday and how things got weird¡
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Rine. Go out with me.¡± The moment I speak these words, I feel how the entirety of my inner emotions ties itself to a knot. There is a lot going on, and while I doubt that I¡¯m ready for it, I also know that it¡¯s the right¡ªor rather least wrong¡ªthing to do.
She¡¯s sitting right in front of me in the cart we have borrowed from the farmstead that took care of me for maybe a day. She¡¯s absolutely exhausted by her earlier feat, her battle with Gottfried, while I just can¡¯t walk extended periods of time.
My words cause her to turn her eyes into the upper left corners first, as if she¡¯s wondering what I mean, then suddenly she gapes and blushes, then she blinks, then she closes her eyes for a moment, and finally, her blush vanishes and she looks firmly into my eyes: ¡°Do you love me?¡±
I avoid her stare for a moment, trying to not get pinned down on an answer without giving it any thought. Of course, the whole party stopped whatever they were doing to watch and listen. Kyou-san looks at Rine and me as if we¡¯ve just decided to start a cult to worship Uncle Jam, the creator of Anpanman, as our true lord and savior. While Ara-san¡¯s physical reaction is just a light twitch of her ears, I can tell that she¡¯s asking herself what she has missed that led to this situation. Jii-san claps his hands, swooning like a maiden in love, which irritates me immensely! Well, of course they¡¯re interested! Dammit!This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Back to Rine¡¯s question. I decide to answer truthfully: ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±
¡°So you ask me, because you kissed me?¡± Her face reddens again, but she¡¯s often honest to a fault and not embarrassed to show affection. I guess just remembering it now makes her blush.
I guess remembering it also makes me blush. I can definitely feel my face heating up. Weird, though it also may be just a side-effect of me scraping at the border of being broken which definitely makes me feel a lot of weird feelings all over my body now and then.
Rine continues, as I hesitate with my answer: ¡°Kenta, if you ask me out because you¡¯re feeling guilty, then I don¡¯t want to have any of that.¡±
¡°¡it¡¯s not just that. How can I say¡¡± I try my best to unknot my inner turmoil. Fragments of thoughts I had here and there assault my mind, and while some of them sound good, I don¡¯t know if they truly are: ¡°Rine, I¡¯m really bad with love stuff.¡±
While I may not look at Kyou-san, I still notice the ¡®No kidding¡¯ in her eyes, drilling into the side of my head.
On the other hand, Rine smiles: ¡°It¡¯s not complicated, Kenta.¡±
¡°It is.¡±
¡°Come on. You can hear love in songs and stories. You can see love by watching your parents. The love they gave you, the love you feel for your siblings, all these wonderful feelings. It¡¯s as easy as that, Kenta.¡±
¡°It isn¡¯t. I have no siblings, and my parents? Rine, my parents met through a matchmaker and I haven¡¯t seen them even having something remotely called a conversation with each other for years! My parents don¡¯t love me, they were just expected to be married and have a child.¡± It¡¯s not like I blame them¡ª well, I do so secretly, I guess. ¡°I mean, they both have different bedrooms, and I thought it was normal for a married couple for a long time! I don¡¯t proclaim that they dislike each other, but¡ love is not what I would call it.¡±
¡°You told me they get along!¡±
¡°Not exactly, I said I get along with my parents. I mean, they also do get along with each other, it¡¯s convenient and such, but would you say ¡®get along¡¯ to describe people loving each other?¡±
¡°Ah¡¡± She bows forward, still visibly exhausted, and reaches out for my hand, only to stop, seeing how my right hand is basically a blob barely holding shape, while I need my other arm to keep myself upright. So she gently puts her hand on my knee. ¡°You never told me¡¡±
Of course I didn¡¯t. I¡¯m not a whiner who makes a big deal of my own problems. I mean, there are so many people worse off than me. ¡°Let¡¯s say for now, that I¡¯m an absolute noob with something like romance.¡± For a moment, I feel an urge to vomit, I cough violently which sets up explosions of pain inside my body and mind.
¡°¡°[Heal]!¡±¡± Rine and Kyou-san cast their spell at the same time, and the pain eases a bit, allowing me to regain my breathing, but I feel ravaged.
¡°Th-thanks¡¡± I return while holding in more coughs. ¡°Phew¡ Rine, it doesn¡¯t mean that I don¡¯t love you¡ªI just don¡¯t know. When I look at you, I have all these strange emotions I can¡¯t name. What I more or less figured out is that I find you attractive. That while you drive me nuts at times, I somehow end up thinking fondly of it, and that I don¡¯t want you to go away.¡±
¡°So you love me, after all?¡±
OK, what do I want? Fall sideways because I use my left arm or squirm in pain because I use my right one? Whichever it will be, I need to do a facepalm! I mean, I just explained that!
Ara-san comes to the rescue by taking over my part: ¡°He doesn¡¯t know. Taking the curse into account and how it influences his feelings, Kenta-kun is very confused.¡± Don¡¯t remind me of that crap.
¡°Then why is he asking Rine-chan out?¡± Kyou-san brings up the next way-too-good-but-inconvenient question.
¡°Sometimes you need to be with someone to learn if you love that person.¡± Jii-san, I¡¯m surprised! That¡¯s actually a very good point.
¡°Ken,¡± Kyou-san shoves the life-experience Jii-san showed aside like an annoying fly: ¡°If it¡¯s about the curse, then it¡¯s easy, no? Just compare your feelings towards us to Rine-chan¡¯s and if they¡¯re different, then it¡¯s not just the curse.¡±
Don¡¯t make me do that. ¡°Phew¡ then why don¡¯t you use [Empathy] and figure it out yourself, if you¡¯re such an expert in love.¡±
For a second, Kyou-san may have taken my invitation¡ªone I didn¡¯t think thoroughly about. ¡°You know that I can¡¯t filter it yet. I would most likely only feel your pain.¡± I also didn¡¯t think of that, but I have little problem letting her believe that I did.
¡°Kenta,¡± Rine speaks up as if she¡¯s about to give her final verdict: ¡°You¡¯re thinking too much again. So I have an idea¡ Kenta, I love you.¡±
I feel a stabbing pain, which has nothing to do with my physical condition. Then comes sadness, and a chill running over my whole body, and while my limbs begin to surrender to the numbing cold, a scorching heat rises from my chest.
Nodding to my reaction, Rine declares: ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go out with you.¡± I blink, as I didn¡¯t expect that answer at this point, ¡°Under some conditions, that is.¡±
¡what!?
I mean, first I expected that Rine would cheer in joy, start deteriorating her mind again, and become an absolutely clingy girlfriend. When she started questioning me, I expected her to decline and that it¡¯d take weeks to make it less awkward. Now she accepts, but only with conditions?
Seriously, I¡¯ll never get this girl.
¡°First,¡± Rine starts by lifting her index finger, ¡°Kenta, I love you. That¡¯s true, be it because of the curse or not. So if we break it and we find out that we don¡¯t feel like it anymore, we will break up. Even if the curse makes us love each other, it doesn¡¯t change that these feelings are true at this moment. If it ends, it will end, and there will be nothing to blame, and it will become just a fond memory of past love. Understood?¡±
¡no?!
I mean, if the curse gives us these feelings, then they¡¯re obviously fake, right? I mean, it¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t prepared to somewhat deceive her to at least make her believe to be happy for a while, but¡ I mean¡ What exactly is she even trying to accomplish!? ¡°But if the curse-¡±
OK, I¡¯m utterly confused. Whether it¡¯s Rine¡¯s usually happy-go-lucky attitude or a profound wisdom that I lack, she attained it while I wasn¡¯t watching. Yet thinking about it, it makes the kind of strange sense only reality can have. ¡°¡phew¡ fine. What¡¯s the next condition?¡±
¡°Second,¡± she lifts her middle finger as well, ¡°we will do our best to be a couple, yet we also won¡¯t loiter around more than necessary to break the curse. I¡¯m sure we may falter on our own, but we need to remind each other. That¡¯s also what a couple is supposed to do.¡±
¡°¡alright.¡± The hesitation doesn¡¯t stem from the motion to extend the relationship as much as possible, but because of the couple-part. ¡°Just don¡¯t expect too much. Like I said, I suck at love.¡±
¡°Un. That¡¯s fine, we¡¯ll find our balance. I may get a bit overboard, as I can only copy the people around me. So while I¡¯d like it if you indulge me a bit, I also want you to voice your opinion when it¡¯s too much.¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°Now to the most important one: Third!¡± The emphasis she puts into this and the force with which she pulls up her ring finger makes me almost flinch, but the bracing only makes me squirm in pain: ¡°If Kyou or Ara asks you out, please put some real consideration into it.¡±
¡°¡°¡°What!?¡±¡±¡± Kyou-san, Ara-san, and I shout in disbelief, and while I recover from another pain-attack, which is quickly [Heal]ed, Jii-san laughs at the spectacle.
Kyou-san looks at Rine as if she had just suggested her to join a polygamous relationship¡ which she basically had: ¡°Rine-chan, what makes you-¡± A single glance from Rine¡¯s fire-eyes show how earnest she is about this request, which silences Kyou-san.
¡°Katarine-san, you may have noticed that he¡¯s a human, and I-¡± Same goes for Ara-san, whose eyes are widened a little bit, which shows how perplexed she is.
¡°Kyou, Ara. I love you too. I held back these feelings for Kenta only for a while, and it hurt so much. I don¡¯t want that for you. Same goes for Kenta. If Kenta wants to go out with any of you, please think about it. Don¡¯t use me as an excuse to not face your own feelings and dilemmas. We¡¯re all wed to Kenta anyway, and I never had a problem with the thought of the two of you being in love with him. On the contrary, I would feel bad if you hold back these feelings, because they¡¯re wonderful and I want you to be happy. Just because Kenta asked me out first, it doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m the winner or something of the sort. I also think that with all of us together, it¡¯d be fun. With the two of you, it¡¯d be not sharing happiness, but multiplying it.¡± I feel like I heard these words before¡ or at least something similar. ¡°But that¡¯s me and I want to respect your choice there too. However,¡± she turns to me again, ¡°I ask Kenta to be open about it, if possible. Do you dislike those two?¡±
¡°Great! Then you accept, right?¡± I¡¯m pretty used to seeing happy, yet terrifying smiles on Kyou-san, but the fact that Rine¡¯s smile right now doesn¡¯t have any ill intent behind somehow makes it even more threatening.
¡°I¡ guess?¡± For a traitorous second I remember several dreams and fantasies I had with the three of them, which were absolutely R-rated, but logically speaking¡ªnevermind, logic isn¡¯t applicable here in any way.
¡°What about me?¡± Jii-san suddenly asks Rine.
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°What if I develop feelings for Ken-kun?¡± Why is he calling me like that!? And why this strange question which gives me goosebumps!?
¡°Hm¡ sorry, Grekk. Currently, I¡¯d have problems with someone I don¡¯t know well being with Kenta, too. But¡ I guess, if Kenta and you really feel like that towards each other, it¡¯d be selfish to not allow that love to bloom.¡±
¡°Great!¡±
¡°Do¡ªargh!!!¡± I wanted to say: ¡®Don¡¯t just assume shit like that!¡¯ but like always, tensing up even a bit causes horrible pain. After some moments of agony, I calm myself down to press a ¡°Rine, he and I are men, for fuck¡¯s sake!¡± through my tooth spaces.
¡°But if two people love each other, I don¡¯t think that matters? I mean, maybe Grekk just likes men?¡±
Jii-san himself smiles: ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. I mean, I was my whole life with women, got kids, and such. Yet maybe it¡¯s time to try something new.¡±
¡°Fufufu¡¡± Ara-san laughs out loud, and I hope she¡¯s with her assumption of him just joking around.
Kyou-san sighs and I can hear her mumble: ¡°Why did we accept him again?¡± Because he¡¯s somewhat strong, helped us in a tight spot, and it¡¯s only until Zethtrin. But I can feel you, Kyou-san, I think he and Ara-san together might crush my sanity eventually¡
Time to get back on track. ¡°Phew¡ now that¡¯s all done-¡±
¡°It¡¯s not.¡± Rine immediately interrupts me and I notice that she still has three of her fingers lifted. ¡°There is one condition left.¡±
Ugh! With what came before, what strange thoughts from Rine¡¯s mind will now emerge? How weird can it still become?
The fearful composure I feel is accompanied by a strange squelching noise coming from my neck, just before Rine lifts her pinky: ¡°Fourth and final condition!¡± Here it comes! ¡°I want a kiss right now!¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
Brainfart. Once again, all my expectations are blown away, not only by the condition itself¡ªwhich is something between adorable and mind bogglingly stupid¡ªbut also how serious Rine¡¯s facial expression is.
I mean, the second condition was to actually try to be lovers, so¡ I guess that¡¯s what I¡¯d have expected more or less anyway? I mean, even with us being serious lovers now, it won¡¯t change that I don¡¯t feel comfortable with people getting too chummy with me, but I have to learn to deal with it in regards to Rine in some capacity.
Also, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want to kiss her, so¡ ¡°Yeah?¡±
¡°Take good care of me, Dear. I¡¯ll do the same.¡± With a radiant smile which makes my heart beat like crazy¡ªthough its throbs radiate into my ribs, which aren¡¯t happy about being shaken¡ªRine clumsily goes on her knees, carefully avoiding my legs. She puts her hands around my shoulders, the weight gives me another sharp ache, yet I only feel it subconsciously, as I¡¯m enthralled by Rine¡¯s eyes and her smell, and her lips.
*Smooch*
This is the first consensual kiss I have. It feels different from being suddenly kissed or being the one to smack their lips on someone else.
I immediately feel two urges. One is to break free, as someone is invading my personal space. Yet it¡¯s not that strong, maybe because of months of her continuously entering it, for lap pillows, for linking arms, for feeding me the first bite during breakfast.
The second urge is to embrace her and press her body to mine. Rine and me kissing feels right, even though it may be because of the curse. So I want to have her all.
I feel her arms getting lower, as if to hug my whole body and with a sudden yank, I feel like my side just caved in, while she backs off at the same time, looking at me wide-eyed, as shock of what she just did dawns on her.
I¡¯m in shock as well, and I bemoan the fact that this surprise will last only for a short while. Because after one or at most two seconds of shock, the pain will come¡
Volume 09 - Chapter 1-2
So yes, I¡¯m in a relationship now. My girlfriend/wife is Katarine von Stolzherz, and while I usually don¡¯t find western women attractive, she¡¯s definitely an exception. I¡¯m supposed to be happy, and I think there is a lot of me which wants to be happy, but unlike Rine, I can¡¯t switch off my brain for certain matters.
¡°Dear, aaahn~¡± I guess, I agreed to try though. Second condition.
This spoon full of vegetable-squish appears almost like a poisonous snake. I mean, I let her feed me before, but I also demanded to make it as casual as possible. Now she¡¯s playing the wife/girlfriend-part again, and I despise myself for enjoying and hating it at the same time, especially because I would have just hated it before. I guess, the acceptance of the relationship allows other feelings to surface now.
Instead of answering with an ¡®ahn¡¯, I just open my mouth. I need help with eating anyway, as I lack mobility in my torso. I can do some basic movements under pain, but neither of my arms are able to reach my mouth.
I lick the spoon inside my mouth, guiding the squish to my throat, so that it won¡¯t get stuck in one of the holes my missing teeth left in my gums. Aside from the burning pain, getting it out of the hole would be a long-term task.
You gain 1 WP.
Having your wife feed you while being injured shows how much she cares about you and how much work she¡¯s willing to do to ensure your well-being.
Sometimes I wonder if the curse is capable of using sarcasm or irony. Well, I guess calling me ¡®injured¡¯ is it being allusive as fuck. I¡¯m currently a wreck, absolutely dependent on others.
Let¡¯s just get over this meal. With me and Rine on the cart and the others next to it, this breakfast feels off enough. I¡¯m already tired again, I wish I¡¯d know if it¡¯s because of the severity of my injuries and the exhaustion that comes with it, or because my hero-body decided to keep me healing up by forcing me to sleep whenever possible. Maybe a mix of both.
Rine seems to grow flowers out of her hair, that¡¯s how happy she is, and that makes me feel kinda uneasy, as I can¡¯t really deal with someone showing so overt affection for me. I mean, we¡¯re now together, but that doesn¡¯t change my personality or something.
Overall, nothing really changed despite us going out. Maybe if she just said ¡®yes¡¯ instead of the weirdness of her demands, it¡¯d be different, but¡ nah, probably even then. It¡¯s not like I suddenly became a whole new person because of having a girlfriend.
Let¡¯s concentrate on the ¡®being whole¡¯ part though: Eat, rest, and get well enough so that Kyou-san can cast [Rejuvenate] on me.
¡°Whoops.¡± Rine catches some mush that falls out my mouth with the spoon and puts it back. I can feel a part deep inside of me cringe due to embarrassment, but the overwhelming majority of my consciousness just doesn¡¯t care about how little I can do right now.
¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just make a straw?¡± Ara-san wonders.
¡°Doesn¡¯t he enjoy it though?¡± Jii-san adds with the kind of grin that makes me wish to have a functional arm again, so that I can knock out his teeth. The second I have that thought, I immediately regret it, as I now know too well how it is to miss some teeth. Still, I can have that urge, right?
¡°I thought about the straw, but we don¡¯t have anything we could use to make one,¡± Kyou-san responds in a flat tone, sounding like her considerations were all for naught: ¡°Also, can any of you carve? How do we do the tube? We don¡¯t have a drill or something similar.¡± I can guess that she misses the modern-world convenience of just buying plastic straws in a store.
I hate this world.
¡°Well, then Ken-kun just needs to endure being fed by his beautiful wife. That has to be ¡®real¡¯ hard.¡±
OK, his amused sarcasm aside, I need to ask an important question: ¡°Why do you call me Ken-kun!?¡± This world¡¯s language and the hero-system¡¯s translation brings up a lot of strange linguistic details, especially in terms of suffixes and prefixes. The only thing I know is that the hero-system decided to translate whatever Jii-san calls me to ¡®Ken-kun¡¯, and I take some offense with that!
¡°Because she told me that she has a palate for calling you ¡®Kenta-kun¡¯, so I asked for permission for this one.¡±
¡°Not palate, Grekkun, a ¡®patent¡¯. That¡¯s something entirely different,¡± comes from Ara-san, who once again did a minor¡ªyet absolutely annoying and unnecessary¡ªact to make my life worse.
Seeing how playing pranks seems to be how alfar socialize, I should feel honored, but I really don¡¯t. ¡°Stop doing crap like that, Ara-san!¡±
She¡¯s holding back her laughter and¡ªwhy do I know that!? It¡¯s so strange, I somehow can tell how Ara-san feels just by¡ªby what exactly!? It¡¯s not like her face shows that she¡¯s glad to be able to get under my skin!
While Ara-san doesn¡¯t seem to be remorseful at all, Jii-san utters his thoughts: ¡°Well lad, when I call you directly, I just stick with lad, alright?¡±
¡°Phew¡ that also seems wrong.¡±
¡°Then tell me, what should I call you?¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
That¡¯s a hard one. ¡°I guess Katsuragi or maybe, just maybe, Katsuragi-kun.¡± He¡¯s older than me, after all.
¡°Meh, too much trouble. I also refer to the girls by first name, right Rine-kun? Kyou-kun?¡±
¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Well, using -kun with a girl strikes the spot of being more neutral than -chan, without being formal. Just how does he call them in his native language?
¡°Phew¡ fine, fine.¡± I guess, while it¡¯s much more invading than I like it to be, I can overlook it, if all the girls get a -kun as well. ¡°Ara-san, he¡¯ll use ¡®Kenta-kun¡¯ now.¡±
¡°But it¡¯s my right!¡±
¡°No, it isn¡¯t.¡± Why is she so vehemently defending this? Just ignore her. ¡°Jii-san, I¡¯m thankful for your help, but we¡¯re not that close yet. So stick to ¡®Kenta-kun¡¯ and it¡¯s fine. Come on, Ara-san, why are you so pissed!?¡±
While she¡¯s speaking calmly and collected, I really get an angry vibe from her. ¡°I¡¯m the first one, who called you Kenta-kun. That¡¯s not fair.¡±
¡°And I¡¯m telling you-¡±
¡°SHUT UP!¡± It¡¯s Kyou-san who interrupts us. Sorry Ara-san, but she¡¯s clearly more pissed than the both of us put together: ¡°Seriously, why don¡¯t you just take the ¡®Ken-kun¡¯ then, I mean, you¡¯re supposed to be his friend, so he won¡¯t mind, right?¡± She glances at me, expecting an answer.
¡°¡right¡¡± In a sense, it¡¯s weird that Kyou-san is the only one referring to me by nickname, despite being the girl I have the least close relationship with, as she¡¯s a companion, while Ara-san is my friend, and Rine my girlfriend.
¡°Hm¡¡± Her ears are twitching, she¡¯s thinking about the suggestion. ¡°Me, calling Kenta-kun now Ken-kun? It seems to be too much of an effort to change my habits.¡± Here she is, the Queen of Laziness.
¡°You know,¡± Kyou-san says nonchalantly while taking another slice of vegetable: ¡°Each time you use ¡®Ken-kun¡¯, you would save the effort of saying another syllable, which will quickly add up.¡±
¡°¡I never considered that¡ You won, Momo,¡± the alfr accepts readily, as the other girl quickly outmaneuvered her in this debate, using Ara-san¡¯s personality traits against her, namely: Her sloth and her focus on statistics.
Yup, Momokawa Kyou used to be the manipulative class president back in Japan, and now she¡¯s doing the same here.
¡°So¡¡± Rine now chimes in, as she probably doesn¡¯t know what exactly happened. ¡°How about we repeat what we call everyone. I say who, and the person I point at says how they refer to them. First is Dear.¡±
She points at Kyou: ¡°Ken.¡± Then Ara-san: ¡°Ken-kun.¡± Then Jii-san. ¡°Kenta-kun.¡± Then finally herself: ¡°Dear.¡±
Yes, I¡¯ll let her call me that, but I really don¡¯t feel comfortable with it.
¡°Next is Kyou.¡± Why are you pointing at me? Seriously, don¡¯t do that. ¡°Come on, Dear! What do you call Kyou?¡± I stay silent. ¡°Dear, to us, for us.¡±
¡°¡for us?¡±
¡°Yes, for me, because it¡¯d make me happy if you played along. For you, because¡ Tehehe.¡± Why do I get the vibe that you¡¯ll seriously hurt me, if I don¡¯t comply!? I mean, Rine wouldn¡¯t do it. She never did use violence to force me to do what she wants, except¡ªa lot.
¡°Erm¡ Kyou-san.¡± I have enough broken bones, and even if Kyou-san can fix them¡ªif she¡¯s willing after I brought this upon myself, that is¡ªI can absolutely go without the pain.
¡°Great. Now¡¡± She points to herself: ¡°Kyou.¡±
Then her finger wanders over to Ara-san, and Jii-san: ¡°Momo.¡± ¡°Kyou-kun.¡±
¡°Now Ara. Ah, I realize, I don¡¯t need to say what I call her, don¡¯t I? Tehehe.¡±
She then points first to me, then the old order. ¡°Ara-san.¡± ¡°Arako.¡± ¡°Ara-kun.¡±
¡°Now we have Grekk.¡±
¡°Jii-san.¡± ¡°Grekk-san.¡± ¡°Grekkun.¡±
¡°And finally me.¡±
¡°Rine.¡± ¡°Rine-chan.¡± ¡°Katarine-san.¡± ¡°Rine-kun.¡±
¡°Alright!¡± Rine claps in her hand, as if we have just played a game, instead of doing a whole unnecessary routine that nobody needed. ¡°Great work, everyone.¡±
She¡¯s really a simple and stupidly cheerful girl. Just because she¡¯s cute and innocent, she gets away with a lot, because it¡¯s so easy to like her, despite her major flaws which can mostly be written off as adorable.
That¡¯s my girlfriend in a nutshell.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I open my eyes after another nap. Do severely injured people always sleep so much? Are these the painkillers, or the hero-system? I don¡¯t really know, but I guess I should start to use [Dormurnal] again, a skill that allows me to stay semi-conscious while being asleep. ¡°Ara-san, when will we be back?¡± Given the fact that we strayed from the road and are on a trail now, I guess we¡¯re close to the farmstead.
¡°I estimate another three hours,¡± she replies while yawning. I guess driving a cart isn¡¯t very exciting, she¡¯s just loosely holding the reins in her hands, after all.
¡°OK.¡± I turn my head slightly to Kyou-san, who is also sitting in the cart, most likely to keep an eye on me. ¡°Water please.¡±
¡°Careful,¡± she remarks as she puts a waterskin on my lips, slowly squeezing it so that I won¡¯t choke on it, which is especially true with all the shaking going on. Suspension on this cart would be great, but maybe the people here haven¡¯t even figured out springs yet.
Not that I will blame them too much for it. I just recently found out that this world has a different air composition and who knows what else is different here. Maybe even gravity? What natural laws still apply here and what is basically held up by magic? This world and its lack of science and technology makes much more sense now, because I can¡¯t expect that a basic combustion even works the same way as home, so that may be the reason why there are no steam engines or guns here. As far as I know, at least.
What I know is that a relic caused errors in the hero-system in my body and I almost suffocated because there is less oxygen in the air than at home. I guess, the hero-system just adjusts everything that would endanger my health. I mean, seeing how much it already changes our bodies it only seems logical.
¡°You done?¡± Kyou-san notices that I stopped drinking and I nod. She stows the waterskin again and looks at me, most likely using [Check-up] to look how I do. ¡°Do you need another painkiller?¡±
I guess she¡¯s referring to the pain I feel at every moment, but it¡¯s still too weak to bother. ¡°Nah.¡± I feel an urge to move my limbs, to stand up, and do something. All this sleeping and laying around with nothing to do makes me anxious. ¡°Just bored.¡±
¡°You could read that book.¡± Of course she talks about that one book I borrowed from Rine weeks ago and I¡¯m more or less crawling through. It¡¯s more of a reading exercise at this point, as while being summoned here made me understand the language, it didn¡¯t grant me the knowledge of how to read the letters. It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t read this language, I just need some more practice to do so fluently, especially given how I read a word that doesn¡¯t match the Japanese counterpart only to get it translated a moment later.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°¡not really keen on it.¡± Concentrating on letters and reading and such seem to be a hassle in my current condition. However, this doesn¡¯t make me feel any less anxious, and while I really know that I should rest, my whole body begins to tingle, which is almost as agonizing as breathing. ¡°In times like these, I miss TV.¡± While I barely watched any, as that would be time I would have been better spent on gaming, being able to stare absentmindedly at a screen without the need to do anything would be a blessing right now.
¡°Not only you. I¡¯m missing so many episodes by now¡¡± I guess for someone like her, it¡¯s even worse. I guess she has something like a teenage drama show or such she used to watch. I can relate to that, I missed some game releases I was looking forward to, after all. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about Rine-chan.¡± Well, that¡¯s a sudden jump in conversation.
However, having one member of the party go out with another changes the whole dynamic, I guess. She¡¯s also something like a friend for Rine, though I harbor some doubts how much of it is genuine, how much is manipulation, and how much she hasn¡¯t really figured out herself. ¡°You know that Ara-san can listen?¡± I hope that will dishearten Kyou-san enough to dismiss this topic for now.
¡°You know that I don¡¯t care?¡± She waves at Ara-san at the front of the cart and the same waves back. I¡¯ve been set up!
¡°Phew¡¡± I feel an urge to ask for some painkillers and just take another nap, but I guess avoiding this conversation won¡¯t do any good in the moment or in the future. ¡°Keep it short.¡±
¡°What were you thinking?¡±
¡°Particularly?¡±
¡°About asking her out. Also, the kiss.¡±
¡°Phew¡ Rine believed she loved me, and despite all the effort, it never really stopped. She wanted to fight Gottfried, and the only thing I could do was to motivate her. Afterwards, it was all down to whether I act like I was tricking her or to take responsibility for my actions and ask her out.¡±
¡°How is that taking responsibility, if you don¡¯t like her!?¡±
¡°I like her. Maybe not entirely romantically, this may be the ring¡¯s fault, but I mean, even if she drives me insane sometimes, it¡¯s not like she¡¯s absolutely unlikable. I mean, I would never become her friend under normal circumstances, but if being summoned into a shitty fantasy world isn¡¯t abnormal, what else could be?¡±
¡°You¡¯ll hurt her.¡±
¡°Probably. But didn¡¯t you listen to her yesterday? I think she knows the risk, maybe even better than I do.¡± I mean, maybe I fell for her a long time ago and it¡¯ll be me, who will be hurt, when she loses all interest in me when the curse is lifted.
¡°What about sex?¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡°Why are you jumping to that!?¡±
¡°It¡¯s important!¡±
¡°Also very private, don¡¯t you think?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t want you to hurt Rine-chan more than absolutely necessary. I don¡¯t want you to hurt her feelings, I don¡¯t want you to exploit her or the circumstances, I don¡¯t want any of that.¡±
¡°Oh, because you have that ¡®glorious¡¯ friendship with her, right?¡±
¡°Ken, I¡¯m serious.¡±
Seriously, what do you expect me to do? I mean, if Rine wants to have sex with me, how could I decline? I mean, she wants to do things that lovers do, she¡¯s really attractive, and the mere thought of sleeping with her makes me pop a boner! ¡°¡aaa¡aaa¡¡± My widely open eyes and gaping, drooling mouth are the result of how some arousal made my sorry son want to rise, only to remind it that it belongs in a hospital. Did something tear there? It certainly feels like it!
This may be worse than getting a kick on it! And I know too well how that feels!
Kyou-san¡¯s hardened eyes soften after a moment, after she realizes that I¡¯m under some actual pain, then she casts a [Heal], before declaring: ¡°We¡¯ll continue that later.¡± She jumps from the wagon and joins Jii-san and Rine, who are walking in front of the cart.
¡°Ken-kun, you penisbreaker.¡±
¡°Hah!?¡±
¡°I know exactly what happened. The moment Momo mentioned sex, you popped a boner, the broken bone in your penis then moved, and caused you immense pain.¡±
I facepalm, and the pain in my right arm made me gag a moment, before I try my best to exhale all the rupturing and twitching pain I feel: ¡°Didn¡¯t I explain it be- wait, that wasn¡¯t you. Ara-san, just to make sure: You know, that there is no bone in a human penis?¡±
¡°You¡¯re the expert, not me. While some heroes have a rather active sex life, nothing I learned would give me the impression that there were any changes in their genitals by becoming heroes. Or do you have some to report?¡±
¡°Hell no!¡±
¡°So congratulations, Ken-kun: You¡¯re an expert for the human male genital, and I have no intention to challenge that title. Would you mind telling me what you meant with ¡®It wasn¡¯t you¡¯ though?¡±
¡°Luuto thought there was a bone inside.¡±
¡°Your penis?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Well, stories about the raping humans tell about their hardened, club-like genitals.¡±
¡°Phew.¡± Here we go again. It seems that alfar in Ara-san¡¯s homeworld have stories about humans, like my world has stories about elves. Let¡¯s say that the human stories of the alfar tend to make us sound like a violent, greedy bunch of rapists.
¡°So there is no bone inside,¡± she mumbles deep in thought. ¡°Ken-kun, show me your penis.¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡
¡°No?¡± What the fuck is she aiming at!?
¡°Ken-kun, considering Katarine-san¡¯s genitals, which I saw while bathing before, and I mean, this was a sight to behold-¡± Her words make me imagine Rine naked for a second, which causes the natural reaction, which then caused another assaulting pain ¡°-I mean, she has blonde hair around it, and it was pink and-¡±
¡°¡ªaa¡ª¡° Trapped between arousal and nerve-wrenching pain, I feel my body spasm, unable to say a word and form a coherent thought for a moment.
¡°Oh,¡± she exclaims with a tinge of regret, before calling out to Kyou-san: ¡°Momo, I think I may have overdone it and accidentally broke Ken-kun!¡±
After some emergency treatment and some painkillers, Ara-san seems to be apologetic: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ken-kun. I underestimated the pain this causes you.¡± Underestimated? So she did it on purpose! Dammit, alfr traits! ¡°We will continue this conversation when you¡¯re better.¡±
¡°You¡¯re not reflecting at all!¡±
¡°I truly am. While I was alright to give you some minor physical pain, this was too much. So I will give up on the physical part of it entirely, and settle on pure mental and emotional teasing later.¡±
¡°Just forget it entirely!¡±
¡°But Ken-kun,¡± she cries¡ Well, not really, her voice has a crying undertone, while her face looks aloof as always, and her ears are rotating slightly: ¡°now that you¡¯ll be having sex with Katarine-san, you¡¯ll end up spending much less evenings with me. I want our friendship to work.¡±
¡°That¡¯s why you want to tease me more!? You know that human friendships don¡¯t work that way.¡±
¡°But I¡¯m an alfr, respect my culture!¡±
¡°Sure I do, whenever it¡¯s not stupid!¡±
¡°Alright,¡± she suddenly switches her mood, and acts like nothing happened. I guess she¡¯s done with getting things out of her system, and she doesn¡¯t linger much on anything. ¡°You seem surprised?¡±
¡°Well¡ something has been strange recently. How can I say it¡¡±
¡°Using words help?¡±
¡°Something has been different since I woke up in the farmstead. It¡¯s like I somehow know how you feel or something. It¡¯s much easier to track your mood.¡±
¡°Ah, that¡¯s because of your spirit. How can I explain it¡ something odd has happened to it, I¡¯d call it ¡®tuning¡¯ for lack of a better word.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Ken-kun, the spirits of people outside of alfar are strange. If I sense the spirit of an animal, I know its mood. Plants are the same, though their array of emotions is even more limited. If I feel the spirit of another alfr, it¡¯s the same. However, a human spirit is like it¡¯s limited to two or three expressions, and that¡¯s still more than what I get from someone of the Folk.¡±
¡°I remember that. Basically, like I can read emotions from a human¡¯s face, you can do something similar by reading the spirit of another alfr, right?¡±
¡°Basically. Ken-kun, your spirit now has around twenty different expressions, it¡¯s much more nuanced than it used to be. I don¡¯t know what the trigger was, but you¡¯re the most expressive human I¡¯ve ever met.¡±
¡°More than other [Rangers]?¡±
¡°Yes. It¡¯s not a matter of mastery of [Spirit Magic], and I have never seen something like that before. I¡¯m sure that every alfar will notice it right away, so whenever one tries to take you home, remember to tell them that you belong to Ara¡¯ainn, the hero-sage.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t own me!¡±
¡°Technicalities. What I want to say is that, with an extended array of expressions, you may have a better handle at reading my spirit as well, and draw conclusions from it. Let¡¯s put it to a test.¡±
Nothing changes. She doesn¡¯t change her facial expression, she doesn¡¯t move her ears, even her two irises don¡¯t change in width. Yet something about her seems different. ¡°Angry.¡±
¡°Yes. Next?¡±
¡°Happy?¡±
¡°Good. Now?¡±
¡°Sad.¡±
After some more tries, I feel like a nursery school kid, who needs to explain emotions by pictures, looking at smiles, furrowed eyebrows and such. I can¡¯t even say how I can tell, but I draw a conclusion about it: ¡°So alfar can fake it, like I could fake a smile.¡±
¡°Yes. Otherwise it would be hard to prank other alfar.¡±
¡°So whatever I have won¡¯t even help me to defend myself better from alfar pranks, and has no bearing whatsoever with any other intelligent species.¡±
¡°Unless said alfr is careless and doesn¡¯t notice your¡ªfor humans¡ªunusual spirit.¡±
¡°So I got an absolutely useless skill?¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t say absolutely. At least I can now read some basic emotions from you and don¡¯t need to learn your facial expressions anymore.¡±
¡°You knew 90% of what I was feeling at any given time!¡±
¡°Now we¡¯re at 93%.¡±
OK, why is she my friend again? While I ponder that question, I notice her awareness, and after a quick eavesdropping, I also notice the sound coming from behind a hill, almost like a galloping. ¡°Probably monsters.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± She calls out to Kyou-san again: ¡°Momo?¡±
¡°What did you do this time!?¡± The same snaps back, seemingly pissed.
¡°I¡¯m hearing some monsters, but if you think it¡¯s bad to notice them and relay my knowledge, I can detain such actions in the future.¡± I can basically hear that rubbing into Kyou-san¡¯s face.
¡°Don¡¯t act like a child, Arako.¡± I guess Kyou-san¡¯s face is made out of iron.
¡°Bummer.¡± Yep, she genuinely just dismisses her anticipation for Kyou-san¡¯s reaction and switches her mental gears on the drop of a hat. She always proclaims that alfar aren¡¯t primarily led by emotions and even with my better spirit reading, I can¡¯t prove it wrong. ¡°Who takes care of Ken-kun?¡±
¡I hate that question. I can totally see where this is coming from, and I agree rationally, but I still hate the fact that I need a babysitter.
Well, I guess I can take control over who does it at least: ¡°How many do you guess, Ara-san?¡± Her hearing is much better than mine. In general, alfr senses are bonkers, and even though their sight is like a tertiary sense, it¡¯s still better than human¡¯s with the exception of seeing distances.
¡°Five equine monsters at most. Maybe hairmares, sounds familiar.¡±
I heard of them, as I did some research in Aroahenn, the village Ara-san used to live, about this route. They use ram attacks with some kind of bone shell at the front of their bodies, while the rest of them is covered in long hair.
In a sense, they¡¯re among the worst monsters for our party composition, as they¡¯re fast and strong. With five of them, they outnumber us, as I can¡¯t fight at all and that¡¯s where mobility combined with power becomes nasty. ¡°Ara-san and Kyou-san, stay with me at first. If they¡¯re really hairmares, we need Ara-san¡¯s magic support and Kyou-san can¡¯t do much more than giving out healing and buffs.¡± She lacks the agility and combat experience to keep up, and while Ara-san has both in spades as [Acrobat], her [Druid] and especially her [Quagmire]-spell are suited for CC (crowd control), which helps more than putting her at the front line. ¡°Rine goes to the front, you need to carry us here.¡± Rine is the best suited for enemies like hairmares, as she¡¯s quicker and stronger, but she can only fight so many at once.
Now that should account for everyone¡ ¡°What about me?¡± Ah, forgot about Jii-san.
¡°Erm. Try to improvise for now, I need to see what you can do.¡± I saw only a little, but what I saw was impressive and very non-descriptive at the same time. I saw him catching arrows that I couldn¡¯t deflect in the past and they even bounced off his body. So I guess he¡¯s sturdy, but that¡¯s all I know.
Well, he said that he¡¯s strong, but that he can barely withstand the recoil of his own attacks. Three or four are the maximum.
¡°I have another idea, lad,¡± Jii-san says while looking at where the monsters are coming. ¡°Let me do two attacks, and when something is still standing, then the girls take the rest. That should give you an idea how to use me.¡±
I think about it for a second. It would help to see what we¡¯re dealing with. I mean, I don¡¯t expect him to be a Gottfried, but if he thinks he can beat several monsters on his own with just two attacks, then it¡¯d make sense to use his two attacks he can make per day early in every fight.
On the other hand, each monster we heroes kill means XP, having him take the kills will hamper our progress. ¡°Can you just incapacitate them?¡±
¡°No, can¡¯t do.¡±
¡°Alright, this time. Jii-san, frontline. Rine makes a second line, and Ara-san and Kyou do the third. Ara-san, use [Druid] to support the second line, if needed.¡±
¡°You can¡¯t put Grekk-san alone at the front!¡± Kyou-san exclaims, which is absolutely reasonable. Usually, I¡¯d expect Rine to voice that concern, but she looks rather curious, I guess she can somehow feel how strong Jii-san is and now that Jii-san got the OK, there is something intimidating about him.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, lass,¡± he says while rotating his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m so old because nothing has been capable of killing me so far.¡± I¡¯ve never heard something so ridiculously true and cringey at the same time.
All except me go into position, and in fact five green-brown hairmares run forward. The biggest one of them is at the front, and despite seeing us, they don¡¯t change their course. The odd part is that they will probably miss us if they continue straight forward.
Yet Jii-san begins to run right into their way and the big hairmare begins to run even faster. Then it accelerates with a sudden burst, I can basically see the air drag bending around it, surrounding it. That¡¯s a [Skill]! And it¡¯ll connect with Jii-san!
*Snork*
With one of the strangest sounds of breaking bones I¡¯ve ever heard¡ªand I¡¯ve sadly heard a lot of those by this point, including my own¡ªthe hairmare collapses after its body warped around Jii-san for a second, just a mere sack of bone, blood, and flesh, while Jii-san didn¡¯t even move a millimeter.
Then Jii-san rips the head of the big one, rips its skull into two and throws both halves at two other hairmares. I can barely track the missile, and with a bursting sound, the two bodies are torn apart.
¡this is some Gottfried-shit!
The remaining two change course, Jii-san picks up a pebble and throws it, and another head bursts like it¡¯s nothing. The last one isn¡¯t able to run far, as suddenly it¡¯s cut by Rine¡¯s [Crescent Moon], a flying sword-slash [Skill].
That was anticlimactic.
¡°Argh¡¡± Jii-san holds his shoulder. ¡°Just because I can make two attacks without much problem, it doesn¡¯t mean that they don¡¯t hurt.¡±
¡°[Heal]!¡± Kyou-san heals Jii-san up.
¡°Thank you. It feels better.¡±
¡°Sorry, my spells work much better on heroes.¡± Ah yes, that was a thing. ¡°Don¡¯t overexert your body, Grekk-san. Alright?¡±
¡°Too sweet.¡± Seeing such a delighted smile on his face feels just creepy. Especially given that he absolutely can murder each of us (except Rine perhaps) with his bare hands, whenever he feels like it. I mean, look at the corpses!
OK, honestly, there are seldom clean corpses. I mean, while I try to make quick and decisive killing blows, usually it ends up with me mauling at the body until it¡¯s dead. Even Rine¡¯s kills are often gruesome, it¡¯s just¡
Now that I think about it, the only thing he did that I couldn¡¯t see Rine doing as well is how he broke a monster by letting it ram him. Seems like it doesn¡¯t count as an attack either, or more likely, it was just too weak.
¡°Phew¡¡±
¡°Thinking about Grekkun?¡± Ara-san chimes into my pondering.
¡°Yeah. I guess he can tank a lot, but not as much as he can dish out. Or maybe, his flesh is still stronger than his bones? Nonetheless, we have a very particular case with him.¡±
Kyou-san is a supporter and next to useless as something else. She can heal, has one buff, some debuffs, and less than mediocre knife skills. She can take on one monster usually, but she¡¯s better paired with someone else.
Rine is a glass cannon. She has somewhat mastered that style, as she evades and parries attacks, instead of taking them. She¡¯s basically our DPS (damage per second; also used to describe characters in games that focus on damage dealing; alternative term: Damage Dealers [DD]).
Ara-san is an off-DPS, but usually our CC and AoE-damage (Area of Effect).
I¡¯m somewhat of a mess, as I usually take the tank-role without even wanting it. I want to be DPS, but with how the party works and how we pick our enemies, that¡¯s how I recently was pushed into a tank, despite having little to support that. Well, compared to Rine, I¡¯m shit-DPS.
How does Jii-san fit into it? He may be a better tank, but does he have anything that supports it? Tanks can grab aggro, but he seems like an alternative version of Rine, same DPS, but sturdiness instead of mobility¡
Isn¡¯t he just a better version of myself!?
¡°Ara-san? Who do you think is stronger? Rine or Jii-san?¡±
¡°Good question. In terms of destructive power, I think Grekkun, but in terms of overall fighting capabilities, it¡¯s hard to tell without both facing each other.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t do that.¡± That can only spell disaster. ¡°Heck, how do Luuto and Gottfried measure up against them? I know that Gottfried has to be the strongest¡¡±
¡°Hm¡¡± While her face doesn¡¯t tell it, her spirit somewhat gives me the impression that she¡¯s¡ what exactly? I¡¯d call it ¡®experiencing several flashes of thoughtfulness and happiness¡¯. ¡°I will work something out, be sure to be impressed by it.¡±
I have no idea what she¡¯s talking about, but I just take it.
Volume 09 - Chapter 1-3
¡°Here we are,¡± I hear Ara-san proclaim to the rest of the party. I slowly open my eyes, and lift my upper body. It feels so heavy, the dragging pain rains down my muscles, but in the end I can see a number of buildings surrounded by hills, some of them tree-covered.
I use [Farsight] to look at a particular spot in the distance. It''s the cliffside that I fell off... probably, there are two of them, so this farm seems to be in a dale or something like that. It''s a much more vegetated landscape here than what I''ve seen recently.
Well, we ''are'' in the Wildlands, after all. More or less a big, not very fertile landscape that no kingdom wants to claim, because there are only few resources and they are far away from each other. This led to an abundance of city-states that earn most of their income via trade because they tax much less than the kingdoms. For peddlers and traders this has become a way to circumvent tolls for passing several countries, while making profits along the way by buying and selling goods from one city-state to the other.
Or that''s at least what I understood.
I guess around here are several farmsteads huddling together on this fertile land, selling their products to one or more city-states. Maybe there is even some feudal system or something. Doesn''t really matter, as it doesn''t affect me in the slightest.
Yet the people here took care of me for a while when I was almost dead, and they even rented the cart and the donkey, so we''re here to return it, and give them something in return for their help.
A girl runs out of one of the houses. She has brown hair in braids. This one took care of me, it seems, and she''s also the one who had a wrestling match with Ara-san... I''d better be careful, she may be totally nuts.
¡°Red!¡± What''s with that nickname anyway? I mean, I guess it''s because of my red armor, but I''m also sure that she should know my name by now.
Wait a minute, is she about to jump on me like a brain-dead dog!?
I try to jump out of the cart, yet the moment I grab its rim, another wave of pain assaults my body. ¡°Hold on a second!¡± Ara-san is quicker than the crazy girl and grabs her arms from behind: ¡°He''s injured! Katarine-san, Momo, Grekkun, this is Mirianne-san, the lunatic I told you about!¡±
¡°Ara, let her go,¡± Rine asks with a friendly smile, while stepping in front of the brown-haired weirdo: ¡°Hello Mirianne. My name is Katarine von Stolzherz. Thank you for looking after Kenta for a while.¡±
That Miria-girl gapes her mouth open, eyeing Rine first, then Kyou-san. Then her face darkens, as she gives the blonde girl a cold stare: ¡°What are you to Red?¡±
¡°Do you mean Kenta? I''m his lover.¡± For a second, I was sure that the Miria-girl is about to do something, but *SMACK* instead she staggers back, as Rine suddenly hits her square on the nose. ¡°Ah, sorry, I''m sorry!¡±
¡°Ahhh... do-don''t worry, just let me-¡± I''ll never learn what she wanted to say, as Rine grabs her outstretched arm, makes a turning step towards her and sweeps her from the legs, so that the brown-haired girl flies over the princess in an arc to land in the mud.
I think Miria-girl activated Rine''s instinctive defense-mechanism, which is to eliminate any incoming danger before the blonde herself realizes what she''s doing. I can totally tell how much of a painful experience that is, but I also believe that Rine''s reflexes are activated for a reason. I mean, that farmer girl got in a wrestling match with Ara-san before!
Please don''t tell me that she developed an unhealthy affection for me and is now obsessed-stalker material...
Not that Rine would consider that possibility, as she apologizes to that crazy girl. ¡°I''m sorry, I''m so sorry! [Heal]!¡± Rine casts a healing spell. She usually lets Kyou-san do it, but as she''s the reason for the hurt, it seems appropriate. She offers her hand to the other girl to help her up, but then that dumbass decided to try to slap the helping hand away, which results in the helping hand to turn into a hurtful grip, as it catches the slapping hand and twists the whole arm in return: ¡°Sorry, sorry, sorry!¡±
While I could watch that Miria-girl getting beaten up the whole day, as it''s the right combination of comedy and hurt for the kind of an a-hole I am, it may be better to move on. Kyou-san seems to think the same, as she sighs before stepping between them: ¡°Rine-chan, let her go. Also, Mirianne...san, please calm down. This is a fight you can''t win.¡±
The mud-spilled and angry farmer girl hisses at Kyou-san: ¡°And who are you!?¡±
¡°Momokawa Kyou.¡± I guess, we don''t sell her as my sister here. ¡°You can call me Kyou. Let''s be friends.¡± She puts on her best smile, a fake so persuasive, that almost no one can see a difference between it and a genuine smile.
The Miria-girl begrudgingly takes Kyou-san''s hand and is lifted back to her feet. She glares at Rine once more, then at Ara-san, and finally at Jii-san. Yes, she''s absolutely nuts.
Though Kyou-san is the same, if she thinks she can somehow use this girl. I see no other reason why she would want to become friends with her.
Ah, let''s be honest, every girl around me has some serious issues.
¡°Miria-nee?¡± Kyou-san changes to a nickname like it''s nothing. Also, -nee (suffix for ''big sister'', which can also be used to informally address a girl older than yourself)? Is she older than us? ¡°Would you mind calling your mother? We''re here to return the cart, and maybe eat a meal here. We can give you some money for it.¡± Seems like she doesn''t want to cook today.
¡°Mother is by the fields. Let me show you Red''s room, he can rest there until she returns, I''ll show you the stables then.¡±
¡°Oh, why aren''t you there as well?¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°I was waiting for Red. I mean, someone he knows has to be here, and for the cart, I mean, you know...¡±
¡°I understand.¡± I don''t. ¡°Would you mind showing us a room as well? Or do you need help with the cart?¡±
¡°No, thank you. Follow me.¡± She casts back ominous glances at me and Rine. Yup, Ara-san is right, this is a lunatic. I better try to avoid her as much as possible, though it doesn''t seem like she will get the hint unless I tell her.
Nah, not that I plan to stay here for long anyway.
As we get closer to the house, I see some elderly sitting on a bench, watching some kids playing around on the courtyard. They''re not much older than toddlers. I guess the moment you''re old enough to carry something reliably is when you''re forced to do fieldwork. That''s why I like modern society¡ I mean, I believe at least that nowadays farms don''t need child labor to survive.
Shit, the kids are coming to us! Wait, Ara-san, why are you stepping forward, and why are you that excited!? ¡°Hello,¡± she says in a sweet voice, like she''s the host of a shitty kids show! What''s cute about these walking shitbags anyway!?
¡°¡°¡°Kyyiiiiiiaaaaaa!¡±¡±¡± Oh, this noise! The toddlers are running away, back to the elderly, screaming something I can''t even understand.
The old people look at Ara-san with an expression that either shows their fear or their constipation pain. Ah yeah, people are afraid of alfar. For no good reason. You can think of alfar as a pain in the ass, you can dislike them for enough reasons, but to be afraid of them? They all just have bratty minds.
Seeing this reaction, Rine steps forward: ¡°You don''t need to be afraid of her. She''s my friend.¡± You realize that you''re a total stranger here? Why would it make a difference if this possibly dangerous alfr is your friend or not? Yet suddenly, the children change from shitting their pants into strange curiosity, while the old people begin to sigh in relief.
Ah, right. [Persuasion], the [Attribute] that makes a hero more persuasive to non-heroes. Considering Rine''s high value there, I guess she''s believed and trusted like a good old friend or something. Or like a professional brainwasher.
It doesn''t work on anyone though, my personal guess would be that it somehow factors in the power of an individual, be it mental or physical. Usually, they come in a pair here... or more like, the few people we meet are either strong or weak in both.
So many questions.
Huh, why is Rine now surrounded by the children? ¡°What is your name?¡±
¡°I''m Katarine von Stolzherz, but you can call me Rine.¡± Of course, she''s good with children.
¡°You''re pretty!¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± She also can take a compliment.
¡°Are you a princess?¡±
¡°How do you know!?¡± She flaps her lips, and I can see her sweating slightly. So this is what catches you off guard?
¡°You are!¡± While the children are pleased, that Mira-girl is not: ¡°You are?¡±
¡°Ah, I gave it away.¡± Rine seems really concerned about it. Was she trying to keep it a secret? ...ah right, we told her to do that, and usually nobody asks her directly, so she never had a chance to slip, right? ¡°Please don''t tell anyone!¡± She puts her fingertips above her heart while lowering her head slightly, I guess that''s the native gesture of begging?
¡°Of course. Which country?¡±
¡°Feuerb- ah, don''t ask! It''s supposed to be a secret!¡± Well, Rine trying to keep a secret is funny to watch, though the less these people know, the better. It''s not like Correro or Meldorn won''t find us if they want to, but maybe we also have some bounty hunters on our tail. I mean, maybe our precautions to not be tracked down actually work fine with many pursuers and we just didn''t realize so far? I have to believe it, otherwise it''d be too sad and pathetic.
¡°Will you play with us?¡± They ask Rine in the kind of way that sounds sweet, but just shows how manipulative children truly are.
¡°Later, I promise.¡±
This got some cheers out of them. Wait, why is a brat coming to me? ¡°Did you win your fight?¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I guess the people here made their own thoughts about why I was wounded and left the moment I regained consciousness. Coupled with how they perceive rangers, it could only end up as some sort of heroic bullshit. ¡°I didn''t. She did.¡± I point to Rine, she deserves the kudos anyway.
She takes my pointing hand in hers and replies in a sickening sweet voice: ¡°I couldn''t have done it without you, Dear.¡± While her eyes full of passion and admiration make me blush and feel kinda guilty, I guess she''s somewhat right. ¡°Tehe.¡± She links her arm with mine, which causes a burning wave of pain to assault me, it feels like fiery fingers spreading from my shoulder joints through my chest and neck. ¡°Ah, sorry!¡± She notices how I''m bending over and gasping for air and lets go of me again. ¡°[Heal]!¡± She throws me a quick healing spell, which may only numb the pain a bit, but is very welcome nonetheless, only to drop another saccharine bomb: ¡°Later, promised?¡±
¡°...¡± There is a lot I want to say right now. I mean, I''ve linked arms with her before, but so far I¡¯ve tried to keep it as impersonal as possible, and I''m kinda dreading it now that we''re going out and now I''m supposed to live up to that romantic fantasy. Especially given that I don''t really like people getting too close or touching me. Yet instead of trying to convey that between my ragged breaths, as the pain still is fresh, I decide to keep my silence for now.
¡°Red!¡± That Mira-girl seems upset, which is another kind of headache. ¡°You''re tired, right? Follow me. And you,¡± she turns to the children, ¡°give him some space, alright? He needs rest.¡± That''s the smartest thing I witnessed she has said and done so far, though the bar wasn''t that high.
...I should try to cut down the snark a bit, she did nurse me when I was unconscious and therefore I should show some gratitude. Still, I really get all the bad vibes from her.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Brumm sits at the dining table of the farmstead his tribe currently uses as their quarters. While stuffing himself with pork, he listens to his father and former chief, Bramm. It''s about the boring, yet important stuff of being chief, for the next few years, Brumm will rely on the advice. ¡°The younger warriors seem to be restless. Give them something to do.¡±
¡°If they''re bored, then they have to deal with it.¡±
¡°That''s not how young people work.¡±
¡°Hm... we need some scouts anyway, so that we can see if any farmstead even dares to put up resistance. Of course,¡± he adds in light of recent advice, ¡°they''ll be led by veterans.¡±
¡°Good decision.¡± A decade before, Brumm was the young warrior that was leashed by the older ones, it was frustrating. Now he sees it in a different light. ¡°How many scouts do we send?¡±
¡°Let''s go with five groups of four. One veteran, the rest should be teens, we need to get them ready as quickly as possible.¡± The Northwind Clan recently had several skirmishes with the Bearbones, and the Tuskraiders, which cost them several warriors. In addition to an unfortunate incident where one of their small raiding groups was turned into ashes by unknown people.
These losses have to be filled, and here are just several farmsteads supporting the cities around. That''s ideal to give the teens some experience without subjecting them to actual danger. Even if they mess things up, there won''t be real repercussions.
With this, Brumm can rebuild the clan quick enough.
Volume 09 - Chapter 2-1 – The farm life went weird
Almost a year ago.
What could it be? What kind of illness did I catch? Instead of asking someone, I hide my unwellness from my family, as I have never gotten sick in my entire life, and the moment they may learn that I''m sick, they may come to the conclusion that my final days have arrived.
Maybe that''s even the case. At some point my body will wane and it never felt as real as it feels today. Yes, these are my final days. I must have so many diseases that now my aging body can''t keep it up anymore.
I always wanted to die on the battlefield. But I also never wanted to be defeated in a real fight. This sucks. Why am I dying like that? I always gave my best. I always fought to my fullest, and that''s what the world is giving me!?
I''m the strongest! Nobody was ever able to defeat me! Causing me to retreat, sure! If there is no worth in a fight, there is no need to stick around. Yet, whenever I decided to fight, I won! I won''t stand by it. I won''t! Defeated by a disease!? Never!
That''s it! I''ll join the next battle! When I die, it''ll be with a weapon in one hand, and the remains of an enemy in my others. Probably a head I tore off a neck!
...even I can tell that this is not how I really feel.
It''s getting cold. My muscles spasm a bit. It''s so cold. I never minded the cold, so why now? Why do I feel the desire for a blanket?
No, let''s find the warmth of a woman. Yes! This will prove it! I''m not feeling cold, I just want to bang! That''s it! Despite my age, my sex drive is still strong and there are several women, young and ripe, that want to have an unforgettable night with me!
Ahhhh... that hurt. That piercing pain in my heart.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The current day.
After Ken-kun laid on the bed and took Momo''s medicine, he went back to sleep, but that just spawned a new conflict. Or to be more precise, Mirianne-san spawned it: ¡°I should stay in the room, in case he needs something.¡±
I know an obsession when I see one¨DI have plenty myself. Yet while my research is actually very important and a gift to alfrkind, that one just wants to hump Ken-kun which may break all of his bones. I know how rough she is firsthand. ¡°Mirianne-san, that''s not a good idea.¡±
¡°Why!?¡±
¡°Because boning him while he''s asleep is a form of rape.¡±
Yes, I like that reaction. ¡°I--- I would never---¡±
¡°Erm... is that a joke, Ara?¡± Rine-kun asks very carefully. ¡°I mean, I''m the one who should be with him anyway, as I''m his lover, so-¡±
¡°Katarine-san, you shouldn''t be the one either. You already did enough today.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Should we start with how you rearranged his pelvis an hour ago?¡±
¡°Ugh... That was an accident.¡±
¡°These happen too often. The only sensible choice is to have Momo take care of him.¡±
Mirianne-san''s and Katarine-san''s heads turn in unison towards the black-haired girl, who lifts her hands in defense: ¡°Those are her words, not mine.¡±
Ignoring that disruption, I continue my case: ¡°Momo is the most capable of all of us in terms of nursing. She can use medicine and magic, knows how to treat him, and doesn''t seem to want to jump on him the next opportunity she gets.¡±
¡°¡°...¡±¡± Both girls vying for Ken-kun''s penis look carefully at Momo, before they both nod in agreement. Though I''m sure that they''re dissatisfied, which is the basis of any compromise.
Momo puts on a smile, before saying: ¡°Don''t worry, I''m just treating his wounds.¡± Then she speaks the next words softly, probably betting that only me¡ªthe only person without a hearing disability in this hallway¡ªcan hear her: ¡°Arako, next time we''re alone, I''ll pull on your ears until they bleed.¡± Yes, she certainly knows that I can hear her, and uses the knowledge to threaten me. Most likely because I didn''t notice something. However, that''s a problem for future-me.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Present-me has other priorities, so I turn to the crazy girl after Momo has closed the door behind her. ¡°Mirianne-san, is there a room I can take a nap in?¡± There is little to do until her mother is back, so I¡¯ll just take the time to do what I can best: Sleep!
¡°But Ara, you can''t just sleep.¡± Katarine-san, if you believe that, I''m shocked how little you know about me. ¡°Come with us! I''m sure we can play with the children for a while.¡±
This gets me thinking. Usually, I would prefer to resume my research or get a nap before doing any physical activity, but we''re talking about those children. They''re just so adorable when they squeal in terror, and there is just so little time before they grow into the big-uddered, rough-shaped, and fat abominations called humans. Though to be fair, most human children are already fat, that''s their genes'' fault, I presume. ¡°Fine.¡±
¡°Yay! Grekk, you--- where is he?¡±
She hasn''t noticed. ¡°He stayed behind at the foyer, muttering that he would wait for us outside.¡±
¡°Oh, silly Grekk. I guess, he thought it''d be impolite to enter the house with many?¡±
¡°I''m absolutely sure that he''s very used to barging into houses with a lot of people.¡±
¡°You think? Well, he has lived long enough, I guess. Yet he''s new to our party, so maybe he''s a bit too shy? Perfect, we can get to know each other with some games as well!¡± Katarine-san, your inability to read between the lines is as valuable as a national treasure. ¡°Let''s get him. Come, Mirianne!¡± She grabs me and the crazy girl by our hands, seemingly dropping every discontent she had with the other human entirely.
Mirianne-san on the other hand: ¡°Don''t dra--- What is that grip!?¡± Yes, she also is about to break my hand in the process, but I learned to go with the flow when Katarine-san gets excited. Otherwise, she will beat me into submission.
The moment we exited the building, Katarine-san immediately finds Grekkun who leans on the wall with his eyes closed. How much I envy him! ¡°Grekk!¡± Katarine-san shouts needlessly loud: ¡°Come!¡±
The gray-haired human tilts his head, then turns it to the blond-haired girl: ¡°Something wrong?¡±
¡°Yes, you''re not with us!¡±
He scratches his head, then he straightens himself and answers: ¡°If that''s the case, sure. Where to go?¡±
¡°We want to play with the children.¡±
¡°Hey, I didn''t say I want to-¡± Mirianne-san interjects.
It doesn''t help, if the person you''re talking to doesn''t listen and abruptly interrupts your sentence: ¡°Come with us, it''ll be fun.¡±
¡°Alright, lass! Let''s do it!¡± For someone who is old for a human, he certainly seems full of vigor.
Ten minutes later, we''re all in the courtyard. The game is an alteration to tag, called ''Bandits and Mercenaries''. The one who is ''it'' is a royal knight, who slays the bandits by touching them. The slain bandits have to stay still on the ground until the game ends. However, a bandit can go to one of the corpses and touch it, which ''pilfers'' the corpse. The bandit and the corpse can then walk hand to hand to a specific location¡ªin our case a bench¡ªand if the corpse is brought there, the corpse is traded for a mercenary. Mercenaries can be slain like bandits, but then leave the game entirely. If there are more mercenaries on the field than bandits, however, the bandits win.
It''s needlessly complicated and has a questionable story, but I like it.
As a princess, Katarine-san is the knight of the first game. The other players are Grekkun, Mirianne, ten of the children, and myself. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Katarine-san asks while we''re running.
¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°YES!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± Like a choir, how adorable.
¡°Then here I come!¡± Katarine-san uses [Swishstride] to move within an eye blink and tags three children almost immediately. ¡°I got you!¡± She smiles as she uses the unfair advantage called [Skills].
I feel a bit proud of her, but I better start with the preparations. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± I let the plants around a cluster of players grow to capture them.
¡°¡°¡°HIIIIII!!!¡±¡±¡± Like a terrorized crowd, how adorable.
¡°What''s that for, elf!¡± Comes from the entangled Mirianne-san.
¡°Fufu, you don''t realize our win condition!¡± My declaration causes Katarine-san to stop tagging the entangled and listen for a moment: ¡°To win, we need to have more mercenaries than bandits. Which means, we need mercenaries first and that means, we need to sacrifice the seven weakest of us to make them mercenaries.¡±
¡°Oooh! That''s smart!¡± Katarine-san admires how I deconstructed the game immediately. ¡°Then I must slay the bandits before they get pilfered.¡± She tags all of the entangled, and then suddenly makes the jump towards me.
However, I''m prepared. I already switch to [Acrobat] and jump on the closest roof. ¡°Hey,¡± one of the children says: ¡°the roofs are unfair!¡± Small human, I do it for victory.
Also, it doesn''t help against Katarine-san, who jumps at a close tree to spring from it onto the roof. Yet I jump down again, as an [Acrobat] I''m agile and I can see every movement Katarine-san does, so as long as it''s avoiding her, I will manage and buy enough time for the rest to convert the corpses into mercenaries.
Left, right, right, left, this is more akin to a dance than me running backwards. I can see clearly where her hands are, this is almost too easy. ¡°Katarine-san, it see-urgh¡± What I didn''t consider before is that Katarine-san isn''t exactly what I''d call a normal alfr¡ªor in her case, a normal human¡ªwho spontaneously decided to just be faster than me and her suddenly accelerating arm hits me. I feel the pain. This isn''t a tag, this is a stab!
The force throws me backwards, and I make a Ken-kun¡ªwhich means, I tumble gruntingly along the ground. This hurts about as much as it looks.
¡°Urgh... aaaahhhh...¡± I hold my chest that was ''tagged'' while rolling myself to a ball.
¡°Wow! Look at her!¡± A child exclaims while pointing at me. ¡°She takes it very seriously being slain.¡±
Ahem, I''m not even trying.
Volume 09 - Chapter 2-2
Playing at my age is quite nice, as these pipsqueaks wouldn¡¯t be able to compete if I tried. Rine-kun and Ara-kun have problems holding back though, so we switched the game to a hopping game. Several circles are on the ground with numbers in them. One participant says out a number, and another jumps to add up to that number, yet can¡¯t use the same circle twice in a row.
However, there is one fatal flaw in this game: ¡°No, Grekk! That¡¯s too much.¡± I can neither read nor do math.
¡°Gramp is really bad!¡± The pipsqueaks are amused by this, I¡¯m really trying here! Also, why do those small children play something like this!?
Oh well, at least they have fun.
¡°Hm¡ how about a new game? Grekk, do you know one?¡±
¡°I know several. Let¡¯s see what we can play¡ Do we have a ball?¡± One of the children has something that looks like a bladder full of cloth leftovers. ¡°This will do. It¡¯s called Stoning. This ball is our ¡®stone¡¯, and whoever has it, has to throw it at someone else. If the ball hits and then hits the ground, that person is out and has to go to the bench and wait for the next round. For us adults, we can¡¯t move while holding the ball. We¡¯ll all stay at the courtyard and no taking cover. Understood?¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±
¡°Then take the ball, Ima.¡± I return the ball to the girl who owns it and start walking backwards.
¡°Ey!¡± She throws at me, but I evade it with ease, there is just no force behind it. Ackim picks it up, throws it at Laaws, who jumps to the side, only for Mirianne-kun to pick it up.
As the rules say, she doesn¡¯t take a step, and she aims at Ara-kun, who kicks the ball into the air and starts juggling it with her knees. She¡¯s really very dexterous. ¡°As I don¡¯t ¡®hold¡¯ the ball¡¡± Then she starts walking while still juggling the ball with her knees¡
She¡¯s amazing at bending the rules! That¡¯s how older kids play it! ¡°That¡¯s unfair!!!¡± Mirianne-kun exclaims, but the pipsqueaks are applauding, and Rine-kun¡
¡°Not today, Kata-ourgh!¡± Somehow Ara-kun was able to sense Rine-kun, despite her approaching from the alfr¡¯s blindspot. But even with her evasive maneuver, the blonde-haired girl still managed to kick the ball into her face with enough force to make the white-haired girl fall backwards. Ara-kun managed to change the fall to a backflip while catching the ball with her feet, then she shoots it back to Rine-kun, who catches it with one hand.
¡°Wow, Ara! That was amazing!¡±
¡°Not good enough, obviously.¡±
Rine-kun suddenly turns towards me and throws the ball, which I catch quickly. It certainly has some spin in it, as it tries to wriggle free from my fingers. ¡°Let me return the favor!¡± I throw the ball.
I wind up, then for one fraction of a second, I don¡¯t see smiling children and teens, but a young man standing up for what he believes. I throw the ball, yet it¡¯s slow, so very slow. Small Bern even catches it, holding it up in the air, as if he had just hunted down a big game. ¡°I got it! I got it!¡±
¡°Well done!¡± Rine-kun applauds.
¡°Now take that!¡± Bern throws the ball back at me, it hits me at the leg, and falls to the ground. ¡°I won!¡± he says in delight.
Of course, I have let it happen. It¡¯s better that way. Bern is happy, and while it doesn¡¯t even come close to what I deserve, I can only hope that the small things will eventually add up enough. ¡°Seems like I¡¯m out.¡±
I move to the bench and sit down there. While I feel my bones screech in pain and relief, it¡¯s somewhere much deeper that feels hurt. As I watch children trying to get each other, I remember the evenings and mornings at the camps, when I was still with my people.
This is another kind of fun. Why didn¡¯t I realize it much earlier? So much time I wasted. I could have played with my own children or grandchildren, instead of¡
¡°Everything goes well?¡± One of the elders of this farm sits next to me. ¡°Ah, they¡¯re having fun.¡±
¡°Just wait until one of those two gets the ball,¡± I say with a bit of pride, as I point at Rine-kun and Ara-kun. A pride I¡¯ve never had before, just being able to say that I know these people.
¡°Is Rine-dono your granddaughter?¡±
¡°I wish. She¡¯s such a sweet girl.¡±
¡°How are you related then?¡±
¡°I¡¯m tagging along, as traveling alone is too much for my old bones nowadays.¡±
¡°Now it¡¯s too much? You were a soldier before?¡±
¡°No. I¡¯m just a meathead that could win most fights.¡± I can¡¯t tell him that I¡¯m a barbarian. Farmers rightfully fear my people, and I¡¯m not sure if I can be proud of that anymore.
¡°Ah, I see. Being a mercenary can be tough, I imagine. Back, when I was younger, I admired them, but my dad always told me that it¡¯s a job with too many uncertainties, and that I¡¯m better off just staying here. He was right, but I always wondered how my life would have been if I joined a band.¡±
¡°Most likely over.¡±
¡°Most likely. I¡¯m happy now, though. You know, my granddaughter pressed some flowers for me.¡±
¡°Ah, that¡¯s¡ nice?¡±
¡°Yeah, a purple chimeflower, a red depressus, and a white volip. Also, when Alli married, Lue was hiding under the table, and when the priest made the speech, she was softly yelling ¡®Hallo! Haaaallooo!¡¯, and then we needed to look for her. Also, she always walked around barefooted, but it¡¯s cold there, and-¡±
Wait, why is he changing the topic so quickly? Now about his daughter, who pissed her pants when she was climbing a tree, then about how she snatches cookies even nowadays, then how she once ate a prume cone, and had to be cared for the day, which quickly changes to not trusting his son¡¯s wife, and always gives money only to him, and¡ª
It¡¯s too much, it¡¯s too rapid fire! I can¡¯t even follow the conversation. Instead of listening, the only thing I can think of is: Why? Why are you telling me this? Why can¡¯t you stick to one story? Why? Why!?
It¡¯s been a while since I was this overwhelmed, and faced an enemy I couldn¡¯t defeat. Well, it would be easy to crush that one¡¯s windpipe to make him stop, but that¡¯s not how I want to solve this problem¡
¡°URGH¡¡± ¡°Ah, Mirianne! I¡¯m sorry!¡±
Using this as an excuse, I jump back to my legs and run towards the welcome accident. Rine-kun kicked the ball directly into Mirianne-kun¡¯s stomach, which made the poor young girl crook forward. I think she¡¯s about to vomit.
¡°Let me help you!¡±
¡°N¡ªno¨C¡±
¡°[Heal]!¡± A small light encases Mirianne-kun, as it¡¯s apparent that the pain subsides, though the brown-haired girl is still wobbly on her legs.
¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Oooooh!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± The children are impressed, I guess they have never seen magic before.
Rine-kun isn¡¯t even noticing the children flocking her once more. ¡°Are you alright, Mirianne? I think you need some more rest.¡±
¡°Sh¡ªSHUT UP, YOU-¡±
I¡¯m sure she¡¯s about to do something which will end up with Rine-kun hurting her more, so I pick up the girl by her shoulders and knees. ¡°Calm down, lass.¡±
¡°GET¡ª¡± She struggles, but she¡¯s basically powerless in my hold. ¡°LET ME GO! *cough, cough*¡± She¡¯s getting paler, most likely the flailing and the screaming made her overexcite herself.
¡°I said so, right?¡± I smile at her. ¡°I¡¯m carrying her to the bench for a small break.¡±
¡°OK!¡± Rine-kun waves at me, and as Ara-kun joins the crowd, claiming her magic to be much more grandiose¡ªwhat does that word even mean¡ªI carry Mirianne-kun to the bench.
The elder there¡ªI don¡¯t even know his name¡ªsmiles at her leniently. ¡°Did you play too rough?¡±
¡°That¡¯s not it, Uncle Freg! She¡ she¡¡± She curls to a ball, hugging her knees. ¡°She¡¯s so unfair.¡± She says under her breath.
¡°Kehehe,¡± I chuckle: ¡°She certainly is.¡± This lass seems to have some stuff on her plate.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Mirianne feels frustrated. She can¡¯t put the finger on why, but that Rine-girl is bad news. She wants her to go, to beat her, but it¡¯s like she¡¯s a whole other lifeform.
Now the elf is also using her magic, making a mudfield the children are playing with. Mirianne also despises the elf, even more than before.
It¡¯s like everyone is rubbing into her face that she¡¯s just a simple farm girl. What will the geezer be? Some sort of warlock, only known in legends? She could absolutely live with that, as he¡¯s at least not younger than her!
But these girls¡ and there is that third one. One she somehow takes to, Kyou. Yet even she may be hiding how awesome she actually is. No, in a way, she¡¯s already shown off being some kind of ultimate healer, taking care of Red now¡
Yes, that¡¯s it. ¡°Old man?¡±
¡°Hm?¡± The gray-haired stranger cocks his head a bit, a warm smile on his face: ¡°What is it, Mirianne-kun?¡±
¡°I¡¯m leaving. Don¡¯t tell them. Please¡± She wants to be all sweet, but even she knows how bitter her voice has to sound.
¡°No problem,¡± he answers. He kinda feels like a kind grandfather.
¡°Thanks!¡± She stands up, watching the elf and the self-proclaimed princess who may be distracted enough to not notice. After some steps, she begins to run.
Red will understand her! Because Red and Mirianne share a bond!
With this conclusion, Mirianne knocks at the door to the room, knowing that barging in would only make the third girl angry. She¡¯ll be on Mirianne¡¯s side as well!Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Through the door comes a ¡°Yes?¡±, so Mirianne opens it and enters the room. Red is sleeping, he already looks so much better from the time Mirianne nursed him. Kyou puts something aside, which starts to look like a beanie. ¡°Oh, Miria-nee. Welcome.¡± She smiles, so she understands as well.
¡°Hello. How is Re- I mean, Kenta?¡±
¡°He hasn¡¯t woken up so far. I hope it stays that way.¡±
There is something strange about her undertone: ¡°You don¡¯t like him?¡±
¡°It¡¯s very complicated. I don¡¯t dislike him anymore, but¡ Explaining it would take long.¡±
¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± That way, she may learn more about Red.
¡°Hm¡¡± She puts a finger on her lower lip, thinking about it. ¡°Maybe you start with how you met Kenta first? What did you learn about him? Then I¡¯ll know where to start with my story, as there is a lot.¡±
This makes sense. Red is a ranger, and I¡¯m sure he has many secrets. I¡¯m also sure that he¡¯s a hero, so maybe she wants to know whether that is true?
She really looks a lot like Red though. Maybe she¡¯s also a hero? Ah, that¡¯s why she wants to know what Mirianne already knows. She and Red have to come from the same world.
Therefore, Mirianne starts speaking. How she found Red at the edge of a forest nearby. How he was hurt and treated by her and Uncle Benjam. How they saw how quickly his wounds healed and bones rearranged, and how they believed him to be a hero. How she nursed him, until that elf took him away!
¡°Don¡¯t call her that, please.¡±
¡°Hm?¡±
¡°Elf. That offends her. It¡¯s a term people started using for their people, while they¡¯re actually called alfar.¡±
¡°Why does it make a difference?¡±
¡°It makes one for her. Call her either alfr or Ara¡¯ainn. She¡¯s often a handful, a sloth, and a know-it-all, but she¡¯s also caring in her own strange way.¡±
Maybe Kyou is right. Maybe the el- alfr¡¯s care for Red caused her to butt heads with Mirianne in the first place. It¡¯s strange how this thought suddenly popped into the young girl¡¯s mind.
¡°Alright¡ I¡¯ll try my best. Now that I told you everything, it¡¯s your tur-¡±
The door slams open, and Mirianne¡¯s mother enters the room, while Uncle Benjam waits just outside of it: ¡°What are you doing here, Mirianne!?¡±
¡°Mom! I¡¯m having a conversation!¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to have one as well, so leave the room!¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°Listen to me, you will-¡±
¡°Excuse me?¡± Kyou graciously stands up, looking up to mom. ¡°Sorry to interrupt you, but I don¡¯t mind Miria-nee being here. To tell the truth, this may be better, as she¡¯s also involved. Ah, where are my manners? My name is Momokawa Kyou, I¡¯m a hero and companion of Kenta.¡±
¡°Kenza, the matriarch of this farmstead.¡± Wow, Mirianne never saw her mom calm down so quickly! ¡°I heard from your friends that you have to ask me something?¡±
¡°Indeed. First, I want to express my gratitude for the cart and donkey you lent us. Without it, I would still be held prisoner.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t sweat it.¡± Mirianne also never saw her mom feeling flattered! ¡°I¡¯m glad that it helped you. I¡¯ll get your money ready.¡± Ah right, Red left a large sum as a guarantee.
¡°Thank you. I also want to make a request.¡±
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Kenta is still recovering. We would like to stay one night here so he can recover enough for me to use my magic to heal him. We can pay, if you want.¡±
¡°Girl, don¡¯t sweat a night or two. It¡¯s nothing, seriously. You¡¯re welcome here.¡±
¡°Ah, thank you so much, Kenza-san!¡± Kyou¡¯s smile at Mirianne¡¯s mom is so genuine and sweet, that even Mirianne feels a bit like blushing.
With her mom leaving, Mirianne can¡¯t help but burst out: ¡°How did you do that? I mean-¡± She can even put it into words. This was amazing, seeing her own mother¡ªher strict, wary, and heavy mother¡ªbeing so kind and pleasant!
¡°I wonder? I think she just can¡¯t afford to relax that much around her family.¡± Maybe she¡¯s right. After all, her mother is the matriarch and has to tell everyone what they have to do, including her father.
Mirianne doesn¡¯t even suspect that she and her whole family are at the mercy of one of the less known traits of a hero.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I open my eyes and look at Jii-san, who sits next to me. It seems like I slept most of yesterday, as it¡¯s definitely the morning sun.
¡°Good morning, lad. You need a drink and a piss?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± At this point, there is no need to cover it up, and it seems like Jii-san was chosen to wait here to help me with my morning routines. ¡°Where is the rest?¡±
¡°Either sleeping or in the living room.¡± I guess Ara-san is the only one sleeping. ¡°Here, you can piss into that bucket. Just let me help you up.¡±
Well, the last day of this rather pitiful state. While there is something like a silent acceptance to it, I can¡¯t wait for my body to get to any semblance of normalcy. After drinking some soup, Jii-san calls the rest, and after some minutes, this room is packed.
There is me, Kyou-san, Rine, Ara-san, Jii-san, that crazy girl, the uncle-guy, and the boss-woman, while all kinds of other people are looking through the door or windows. I guess, people just love to peep. ¡°Phew¡¡±
¡°Alright, Ken. Lay down, try to relax. You know, that¡¯s my first time using this on something non-trite, so you better don¡¯t make me any more nervous.¡± Yeah, that¡¯s the problem. While her [Check-up]-skill together with her [Therapy]-ability gives her a good hunch when the time is right for that treatment, it¡¯s not like she has ever done it for real.
¡°Yeah, yeah. Phew¡¡± While I try to trust her, it¡¯s not as easy. On the other hand, I can have some trust in my hero-body, who more or less fixed some other serious wounds, so I guess that¡¯s something to hold on?
¡°*Inhale, exhale* Ready?¡±
¡°Go ahead.¡±
With a fierce look, she puts her hands on my chest. ¡°[Rejuvenate]!¡± Then she starts glowing, and I feel a warmth spreading into me. That¡¯s not so bad-
¡°AAAAHH!!!¡± With a flash, the glow jumps into my body, the pain makes me flail my limbs, while I scream. What is this!!! Do I need to feel the same pain as when I was hurt originally!?
As quickly as the pain comes, it subsides, as the light jumps back to Kyou, who also inhales sharply, her face showing the burden of her own spell. Then she pushes the light back to me, and with it comes the pain again.
It feels like my whole body is cramping, is this how a seizure feels!? ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!¡±
I think I hear a ¡®stop it¡¯, but I forget it the next moment, as the pain disappears once again, though my eyes start to roll back, same as my tongue, which burns like hell!
This goes back and forth, unimaginable pain, followed by sweet numbness. I¡¯m drenched in sweat, same goes for Kyou-san, whose eyes never wavers, staring holes into mine.
After what feels like an eternity, the light leaves me a final time, moving on to Kyou-san, and then it finally fades. With a *thud* Kyou-san falls on my chest. ¡°Hey.¡± My broken voice complains, and I try to push her aside, but my arm won¡¯t move.
¡°It¡¯s not me¡¡± She complains between breaths: ¡°I can¡¯t move!¡±
Don¡¯t tell me¡ I check her status, to see that particular condition:
[Worn out]
Due to too much physical stress within a short time, you won¡¯t be able to freely move your body for a day. You won¡¯t be able to use [Skills] during this time. Communicating and physical basic functions are still possible.
Well, she brought herself to this state for me, so I¡ª can¡¯t help her up, as I have the exact same condition. Shit!
I¡¯m about to complain, but then I feel something strange. Or rather something normal. The tip of my tongue, which grates on intact teeth. I have teeth! My tongue is also whole again!
Instead of annoyance, there is a warm feeling inside me, something I can hardly put into worth. You could title it ¡®happiness¡¯ or ¡®gratitude¡¯, but these are nothing but weak expressions of what I¡¯m feeling. I feel how I tear up a bit, as while I may not be able to move my arms, I can feel how they¡¯re whole. How my face and body aren¡¯t swollen, how my muscles aren¡¯t torn, how I don¡¯t hear my heart beat every single moment in my ears.
While they may be not strong enough, there are only two words that I can mutter: ¡°Kyou-san, tha-aarrgrgh *cough, cough*¡±
¡°Dear! What¡¯s wrong!¡±
I turn my head away to spit two small fragments out. Are these the fillings that used to be in my teeth? I mean, it¡¯s logical, as even my missing teeth have grown back, but I didn¡¯t expect that somehow!
¡where are they? They were there just a moment before! What does that mean!? It¡¯s not like I blinked and they vanished, it¡¯s not like they went into smoke, it¡¯s like they were there one moment, and then they suddenly disappeared!
Rine takes my hand, I feel the warmth: ¡°Are you alright, Dear?¡±
¡°Better.¡± I¡¯ll think about it later with Ara-san. For now, let¡¯s just enjoy the feeling of being fixed. As much fixed as I can ever be. ¡°I feel great.¡±
¡°Katarine-san, the spell must have rend poor Kenta-kun¡¯s mind! He sounds so different! He¡¯s gone mad!¡±
¡°Nah, he¡¯s just happy. I like this smile, Kenta.¡± I guess, I¡¯m smiling.
¡°Good for you, but¡ can anyone help me!?¡± Kyou-san rightfully complains, as she¡¯s still stuck on my body. While it¡¯s unpleasant for me as well, I can¡¯t help but notice her breasts also pressing against me.
¡°What is going on?¡± Asks the boss-woman who has every reason to be confused.
Ara-san explains the situation. ¡°Hm¡ Long story short: The spell Momo used has worked, but was too taxing for both of them which is why we need to stay another day.¡± She¡¯s definitely laughing, I can feel it! She¡¯s also feeling glad, I guess she had some more grave predictions there. ¡°Katarine-san, would you carry Momo to our room?¡±
¡°Sure. Grekk, would you mind taking Dear?¡±
Erm¡ what? ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Well, it would be lonely if you two were separated now. At least you can speak with each other.¡±
¡°Also, it¡¯s easier to take care of the both of you if you¡¯re in the same room,¡± Ara-san adds. I guess she has a point. ¡°Now I need to find some nuts.¡± She says it so softly, only I can hear it, and she does it on purpose!
¡°What for?¡± I ask as softly.
¡°The moment it¡¯s mine turn to nurse you, I¡¯ll put them into your nose!¡± That¡¯s easily avoided, by asking Rine to not let Ara-san¡ wait, that¡¯s her scheme! She wants me to rat on her, so that she can avoid the nursing duties! Sneaky!
Ah, she knows that I know! Seriously, being able to read her spirit somewhat may make more problems than it¡¯s worth! At least, I didn¡¯t need to engage in these mind games before!
After some work, Kyou-san and I are in a three person bedroom, she¡¯s on the middle bed and I on the right one. That way, we can talk, if we ever feel like it. At the moment, we¡¯re left alone, as the others seem to be trying to make some plans for today. It¡¯s not like we need attention all the time, as we¡¯re just unable to move.
¡°This sucks,¡± Kyou-san starts the conversation.
¡°Yeah.¡± Being [Worn out] the second time, I could tell her that it will become worse. Well, I¡¯ll just do it: ¡°Though it¡¯ll become much worse after some hours.¡±
¡°How so!?¡±
¡°Itching, ass cheeks falling asleep, being unable to wipe sweat, to say a few.¡±
¡°Oh god! Also, why do you look so happy!?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t help it. I don¡¯t feel pain. This is much better. I mean, if this would be forever, it¡¯d be most likely worse, but just a day? Sure, I¡¯ll take it!¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±
¡°Yeah. Thank you.¡±
¡°Hrmpf!¡± She turns away¡ªat least her face does. I guess she can¡¯t take me being honest about it well. Guess she¡¯s too used to me being kinda a jerk, and while I will probably continue being one, this is one of the few things I can¡¯t help but being straight and happy. ¡°Is everything really well?¡± She asks without turning back.
¡°Yeah, don¡¯t miss anything. Maybe I even lost a scar or two, but I couldn¡¯t look yet.¡±
¡°Good for you.¡±
¡°Too bad that this spell is absolutely unfit for combat. Seeing how it disabled both of us.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t start complaining about it.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t plan to. Just whenever we get a new [Spell] or [Skill], it¡¯s important to think how and when to use it.¡±
¡°Talk with Arako about it, then.¡±
¡°It¡¯s your [Spell], no? Well, not that I plan to rely on it.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°[Rejuvenate] is for bad injuries. I¡¯d rather not get hurt enough to need it, personally.¡±
¡°Yeah¡¡± OK, something is wrong here. Usually, she would brag, say something like ¡®You know, that you always get hurt badly¡¯ or something like that.
¡°Phew¡¡± Well, no reason to beat around it: ¡°What¡¯s up with you? You know I won¡¯t be able to figure it out, so just tell me.¡±
¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±
¡°Then why do you sound like you¡¯re about to cry?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not crying!¡±
¡°Phew¡ if you don¡¯t want to tell, just say so.¡± I won¡¯t pry any further, though I¡¯m somewhat curious. Considering how we came to work together in the first place¡ ¡°Could it be that with [Rejuvenate] most of your non-magical treatments have lost their meaning?¡±
¡°SHUT UP!¡± I guess I hit the nerve. Well, I guess learning non-magical heals first was the reason why she couldn¡¯t keep adventuring with her jerk-friends and she could later make peace with it, thinking that non-magical healing is better for long-term treatment, which may have been entirely debunked by that single spell.
Let¡¯s be real here: ¡°Kyou-san, I¡¯ll take a poultice or a medicine over a spell that can drain me enough to render me useless.¡±
¡°I said ¡®Shut up¡¯!¡±
¡°One more thing, and I will: Seriously, just work with what you have, and try to make the most of it.¡±
Kyou-san turns around again and looks at me, like I¡¯m a salesman for used tea bags that rang her door. Then she turns back again, not even giving me any more words.
¡°Phew¡¡± Guess, I¡¯ll just take it as her way to tell me to not rub it in anymore, and just stay quiet for a while. The day of doing nothing has just started, anyway. I guess I¡¯ll take this day of painlessness and nothing exciting happening as a rare blessing.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°AHAHAHAHAHA!¡± Skall laughs as he swings his greatsword through the building, causing it to collapse and bury the elderly that took refuge in it. This is the true barbarian way! While he wouldn¡¯t even dream about saying that to Chieftain Brumm¡¯s face, he enjoys the screams of terror, the feeling of something being pulverized by his weapons that¡¯s conducted into his hands.
¡°Seriously, you have done it,¡± says Ulw, who picks up a piece of debris, to throw it into the face of one of the few people even willing to resist. Ulw is already in his forties and was supposed to keep the others in check, but Skall knows that Ulw is someone who used to be like him, unsatisfied with the current ways of the clan, though that fire has nearly burned out with age.
After the battles with the other clans, many warriors thirst for more battle. It was bloody, it was messy, it was glorious! They showed that the Northwind Clan is a menace, so why stick to mere scouting if they could just take whatever they want? Of course, they would report any mercenaries or soldiers, but at this time of the year, even most bandits would hole up and just wait, so why would any of these farmers have any protection aside from the usual traps for monsters?
Skall laughs. Now the question is whether they should capture some of the fleeing people. For all kinds of reasons.
Volume 09 - Chapter 2-3
It''s another day of downtime, which fits me well as the Ken-kun-dubbed Queen of Laziness. Especially as the children seem to have forgotten that they''re supposed to be afraid of me, which creates the desire within me to mess them up real good. Maybe I should introduce them to an alfr game which makes them pull up each other''s underwear?
¡°Which one, Ara?¡±
¡°Hm?¡± I barely paid attention to Katarine-san, who wants to use the day to make some clothes viable for the winter. This is how she will use most of the day, as this means she can stay in the room with Momo and Ken-kun and use her time for something productive. For that, we''re looking through remnants of wool, furs, and cloth, in addition to old clothes of the farmstead. Of course we''re paying for those, but with that and what we got in Aroahenn and Goldbrunn, this should suffice. Katarine-san and Momo will be working for a while on it.
I feel the cloth she presents me. ¡°It itches and is too heavy.¡±
¡°You think? It feels fine.¡±
¡°I''m using [Acrobat] as well, so I like to stay mobile.¡±
¡°I see... but let''s use that wool, so you can wear socks at least.¡±
¡°I''m against the enslavement of feet!¡±
¡°Mou, Ara! Your feet will freeze in winter. How did you get by in the past in winter?¡±
¡°By never leaving my house!¡±
¡°You can''t do that this time. You¡¯ll have to deal with socks then.¡±
¡°Then I won''t be able to feel properly, which would be a hindrance.¡±
¡°What do you mean? Feel with your feet? Like sharp stones? If you had shoes, your feet would be protected.¡±
I¡¯ve avoided explaining that to Katarine-san so far, as I''m lazy and she didn''t need to know. ¡°When my bare feet touch the ground, it''s easier to spread my spirit sense throughout the ground, detecting animals, plants, and even people around me. In layman''s terms: It''d be like closing one of my eyes the entire time.¡±
¡°Ah, I see... so what do alfar do in winter?¡±
¡°We go barefooted. Our feet can handle snow and the like.¡± In many cases, human bodies seem like unrefined versions of alfr bodies, in this case unable to hold their body temperature well.
¡°OK, I''ll trust you on that. Then we need to make you still a knitted hat, so-¡±
¡°This would impair the movement of my ears.¡±
¡°Mou... you really make it hard to dress you.¡±
¡°If you want to make me your dress-up doll, you have to feed me, carry me, and do all the research for heroes, including the calculations!¡±
¡°I''m still bad at those!¡±
¡°Then you have to give up.¡±
¡°We''ll find something. What about you, Grekk?¡± She turns to the other human, who¡¯s looking through the clothes right now. ¡°Has anything caught your interest? I can also make you something new.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, lass. This is good enough for me, even too much.¡± He pulls on his poncho. ¡°Don''t waste that much time on me.¡±
¡°Nonsense, I''m very quick.¡±
¡°Katarine-san is a hero with the [Tailor]-class and works much faster than what you may expect. She could make you an entire outfit in less than a day.¡± As this is about heroes, there is no reason not to partake in this conversation.
¡°Ara, only if it''s the clothes themselves and I have nothing else to consider. The fur parts still take much longer than I want to, but I think I''m getting the hang of it. This sheep fur seems to be good for some lining, so I could at least make you a new trouser.¡±
¡°Thank you, lass. I guess I need to take care of my health for a change. It''s just a shame that I even need that,¡± he looks out of the door, making sure nobody is there to listen, ¡°as a barbarian. We''re usually going topless.¡±
¡°Why though?¡±
¡°Because we''re that tough. Killing one of us becomes really hard, and one of the reasons is because we steel our toughness from the day we''re born.¡± In my research I found out that the first barbarians were heroes that went rogue. If that is true, it stands to reason that their descendants would still use abilities like [Toughness] which is self-explanatory in what it does.
However, there is a heavy lack of evidence for that claim and even Grekk doesn''t know whether it''s true or not. There are so many people that claim to be descendants of heroes that I came to the conclusion that most people just like to brag. Understandable, but that makes my research so much more complicated.
As Katarine-san tries her best to convince Grekkun to let her make him more clothes, I decide to sneak away to play a bit with the children. Maybe I could also look for the hair soap and coat it with resin, for good measure?
After so many encounters with racism against alfar, I''m in the unique situation to be among people who have mostly stopped suspecting me. I know they won''t like it if I use this opportunity, but the only way to correct a bad sense of humor is to counter it with a good one.
No, tortu¡ªnurturing children comes first. Let''s squeeze those soft cheeks as long as I can! With this in mind, I start to listen through the house, looking for my victi¡ªplaymates.
The walls here are thicker than what I''m used to from human cities, but listening through the hallways and doors is still an easy task. I hear people shoveling something outside, talking about how I spook them. That''s rude, they have no reason to, maybe I should give them one, after all...
Then there is a conversation two rooms over, it seems like one of the elderly is bound to bed, and is currently being washed with a cloth or something.
I walk through the hallway, then knock on a door to surprise two people during their sex. These beast-like sounds make me wet, and imagine some erotic things with Ken-kun, which I seriously don''t need right now, as it would feel uncomfortable to masturbate right now to get these urges under control.
Now I even unconsciously licked my lips. Since I respirated Ken-kun, most of my curse-induced sexual fantasies involve a lot of kissing, even though there is still some disgust at the thought of basically sharing oral germs with each other. Katarine-san kissing Ken-kun let me also feel a bit of envy, which shows either how sensual that experience was to suddenly have a myriad of nerves connect to my lips, or how much the ring interferes with my emotions and mentality.
The memory of that moment is like an addiction, and that''s dangerous. The moment Ken-kun learns of it, he could easily subdue me with a kiss, and then turn that to consensual sex instead of one-sided rape¨Dthough it would probably still end up with my frail body broken by brutish human strength coupled with limitless sexual desire. That thought is genuinely frightening.
At least Katarine-san should now take care of that. There are more fun things to do with Ken-kun... I turn around on the spot, as suddenly I feel like teasing him a bit. I already have something in mind.
I go to the room where he and Momo are lying around and open the door. The two of them turned their heads, basically the only part of their body they can move freely, to me. It''s obvious that they didn''t even look at each other before: ¡°Anyone needs help with their masturbation?¡±
¡°Hell no!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± 1-0 for me.
I hide the intention my spirit would reveal. A human would say that I ''keep a straight face'', though alfar faces don''t move as much as human faces in the first place. ¡°Anyone need to release their feces then?¡±
Ken-kun''s spirit, his wonderfully more pronounced spirit, tells me that he believes that I''m the one who will nurse them for the time being. Just as planned. ¡°Definitely not with you.¡±
¡°Agreed.¡±
¡°Alright. Then what about a snack?¡± We still have some zuccis, an alfr twig-based candy. ¡°Here, Ken-kun. Just bite it off.¡± Of course I hold it in a height, where he would need to lift his shoulders to reach it, which is just outside his capabilities.
¡°Funny.¡± Though his voice is dry and sarcastic, I decide to judge the word itself. So yes, that is funny, great that we''re agreeing. 2-0 for me.
¡°Are you here just to mess with us?¡± Momo is already on my trail.
¡°Yes.¡± Hiding it at this point seems to be too much of a hassle. ¡°Wait a moment, I¡¯ll get my pen ready.¡± Though coal doesn''t sit well on skin, it¡¯ll have to do.
¡°Do you plan to write on our faces!?¡± ¡°Don''t you dare!¡± Both speak up at the same time, but anyone with a normal hearing can distinguish who says what.
¡°I do dare, but not on your faces. You could turn your heads, after all. Let''s start with your feet.¡±
¡°RINE-CHAN!¡± Momo does the one thing I don''t want her to do, asking for help. I already hear the steps, though they don''t belong to Katarine-san who would be here in the blink of an eye.
Instead it''s Mirianne-san, who slams open the door: ¡°What are you doing here!¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
¡°Friendship.¡± I answer truthfully.
¡°E---... Alf, you¡ª¡±
¡°Almost.¡± To be honest, I''m a bit impressed that she now at least tries to use the correct term at this point. ¡°A-l-fr. Or you can call me Ara''ainn, the hero-sage, keeper of what is mine, and insufferable know-it-all. I insist on the whole title.¡±
¡°Alffr...¡± Sigh, this pronunciation needs some more work: ¡°Ah, it doesn''t matter right now! Why can''t I nurse them, while you do whatever comes into your mind!?¡±
¡°Mirianne-san, both of them are heroes, so while it may strike you as strange, I¡ªAra''ainn, the hero-sage, keeper of what is mine, and insufferable know-it-all¡ªam the expert.¡±
The human girl blinks for a moment, moves her mouth in silence, and makes a facial expression that I can''t read. The moment she''s about to say something, Momo interrupts her: ¡°Miria-nee? Would you please make us some food? Maybe a soup or a stew, something that is easy to eat, but gives strength.¡±
¡°...yes...¡± She turns around and walks towards the kitchen. Having Momo here with her [Persuasion] really helps.
Yet I feel a strong emotion from behind. ¡°Why are you angry, Ken-kun?¡±
His spirit shows his wonder for a moment, then he sighs: ¡°Phew... Nothing important. Just cut the crap you were about to pull off, OK?¡±
¡°I certainly didn''t plan to take a dump on you, as this may awaken a fetish you didn''t know about.¡±
¡°You know what I mean!¡±
¡°Well, then how about a round or two of irlkrin? I can move your pieces.¡±
¡°...alright.¡±
Irlkrin is a strategic board game Ken-kun and I sometimes play. The challenge is that, depending on whether the piece stands on a bright or dark space, its movement changes, while the goal of the game is either to capture the ruler, to set a piece on the guardian''s space, or to leave your opponent with only half as many pieces on the board as you.
I set the board on a small table that I placed between Ken-kun and Momo, so that she can at least watch. ¡°You may begin.¡±
¡°Fisher one square forward.¡±
Following Ken-kun''s instruction, I place his pieces, while I place mine in response. He doesn''t know that I already have a plan to win this game. After some turns, I place my hunter to deal with his scribe. ¡°Your turn.¡±
Ken-kun looks at the board, and I guess that desire in his spirit mirrors his greed, as he saw a weakness in my last move. ¡°Builder swaps with farmer!¡±
¡°Builder swaps with scribe? Sure.¡±
¡°Farmer, I said ''farmer''!¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡± I move the farmer forwards, now it''s in a light space, which makes him basically useless until he moves again. ¡°Then-¡±
¡°What are you doing!?¡±
¡°Hm? I''m capturing your scribe, of course.¡±
¡°What the fuck! That''s cheating!¡±
¡°Ken-kun, your piece was placed, then it''s my turn. That''s how the game goes.¡±
¡°YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!¡±
¡°Ah, builder swaps with scout? Brave gambit.¡±
¡°AAAARGH!!!¡± Being unable to move his arms, he can''t place the pieces himself. I feel a smile creeping up on me, Ken-kun sure gives so many satisfying reactions. Yet instead of giving up, he tries his best to recover: ¡°Your turn!¡±
¡°One moment.¡± I move the pieces back before I set my hunter: ¡°Now let''s destroy you legitimately.¡±
While Ken-kun was happy for a moment with the return to the board state, he''s still a beginner, so he ends up in silent agony over his loss. After a silent minute, he turns to me again. ¡°One more time!¡±
We play two more games before Mirianne-san returns with vegetables cooked in water. I don''t believe that this qualifies as a stew. She puts a bowl in my hand: ¡°I''m in charge of Red,¡± she says.
¡°I don''t think so,¡± I tell her plainly, as I hear Katarine-san''s footsteps approaching. Maybe it''s her instinct that tells her whenever another woman wants to pork her man. ¡°I''m out here.¡± I place the bowl on the ground, open the window, and climb out of it, before I get caught in another argument.
That was fun as long as it lasted. Now it''s time to look for my next victim.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Are you sure, it''s not too heavy, Grekk?¡± He''s carrying an entire loom with apparent ease.
¡°Don''t worry. I¡¯ve thrown boulders that were heavier.¡±
¡°When you were younger, right?¡±
¡°...right. But a loom or two is still nothing.¡±
I feel bad about it, as I only carry my backpack, which is now filled with our selection. With this and the loom, I should be able to finish up our winter clothes.
Now it''s back to Dear''s and Kyou''s room. I suspect that Ara is in there as well. With a strong hand, I swing the door open, so that Grekk can carry the loom inside, and I immediately see Miranne here. ¡°Oh.¡±
¡°Ew.¡± The girl with the brown braids doesn''t seem to be happy to see me, and I have to admit that the feeling is mutual. I''m very thankful that she helped Dear before, yet there is something that makes it hard to like her.
I think she''s in love with Dear, and I do mind it. I mean, Dear is just that interesting, cool, smart, attractive, pleasant, strong, wonderful, and much more, but the thought of her making her move on him makes me sad.
It would also feel unfair. I took so long to really understand him¡ªor at least learn that he''s everything but perfect¡ªso it would feel unfair, if he starts to return her feelings just like that. It''d be something different if it were Kyou or Ara, who also know so much about Dear.
Ah, she''s also not married to him. That''s also important. I can now finally think of our marriage as a pure blessing, instead of thinking how Dear being married to three women makes him a sinner. I don''t care if a god comes and thinks otherwise, I will say it in their face! It''s my happiness!
Oh, there are two bowls of soup here as well. Maybe Mirianne wants to feed Dear? That''s my blessing though! ¡°Mirianne, I''ll take over.¡±
¡°I''m supposed to feed him!¡±
¡°Hey,¡± Dear speaks up in annoyance. ¡°What about what I want?¡±
He''s right, so far we had our arguments mostly whenever Dear wasn''t able to listen. ¡°Dear, who do you want to feed you? Mirianne or me?¡±
¡°Rine,¡± he says without hesitation, and I can feel my heart skip a beat because of it.
¡°Mirianne,¡± I put my hands on the bowl in her hand: ¡°Do you want to help Kyou eat?¡± While she may be in love with Dear, she may also want to help regardless of her feelings.
Her eyes are moist, she lets go of the bowl and runs out of the room. I think she''s crying. ¡°I feel terrible about it,¡± I say to Dear and Kyou.
¡°Phew... the earlier, the better,¡± Dear says, and moves his neck strangely. Maybe because he can''t shrug his shoulders?
¡°I feel sorry for her, but I agree with Ken,¡± Kyou adds emphatically.
¡°Sorry to change the topic, but where do you want the loom?¡± Grekk asks with a wry smile.
¡°Ah, put it over there. I''ll start later with work, now it''s lunch time. Do you want to help Kyou, Grekk?¡±
¡°I can wait,¡± Kyou says quickly. ¡°Sorry Grekk-san, but having a man feed me would be... well...¡±
¡°I get it. I can also skip the lovey-dovey mood that will be there. Do you know where Ara-kun is?¡±
¡°She left through the window.¡±
¡°Then I guess, I''ll go on a walk.¡± He waves goodbye and leaves.
¡°Hm...¡± I start my thought, ¡°I''d feel bad, if I let Kyou wait, so I''ll alternate between the two of you.¡± I notice that the table still has Ara''s irlkrin board on it, and before it is a second bowl. It really looks like Ara left right before I came, I just don''t know why.
It doesn''t matter though. I put the game away and use the table for the two bowls. I feel my heart heating up, and I''m getting all giddy, as I can feed Dear again. I love that!
I take the spoon, put some vegetable and soup on it, blow on it twice, and then: ¡°Ahhhn.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± Even though he doesn''t do ''ahhhn'' himself, he at least opens his mouth. That has to be enough for now, I''m sure he''s a bit embarrassed.
You gain 1 WP.
Feeding your bed-bound husband shows your affection and care for him and his health.
Yes, it does!
¡°Next is Kyou.¡± I swap bowls and spoons. ¡°Ahhhhn.¡±
¡°Ahhhn. Mmmmm.¡± Kyou plays along and looks like she''s enjoying it, which makes me even happier. ¡°Rine-chan, could you put some salt into it?¡±
¡°Sure! Let''s see...¡± I put my hand in my backpack and the screen comes up, where I select the salt-pot. There is a small spatula inside, which I use to put a pinch into the bowl. I stir it for a second. ¡°Tell me, if you need more: Ahhhhn.¡±
¡°Ahhhhn. Much better, thank you.¡±
¡°Sure!¡± Maybe that''s how it''ll be when I have a baby. Feeding it, because it can''t eat by itself. But before that, Dear and I would---- ¡°Tehehehehe!¡± I hope we''re both ready for that.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s too bad that I haven''t seen Ara-kun yet, as she''s a great conversational partner. I have almost forgotten how it is to speak about nonsense with other people. When I grew old, people only talked to me whenever they wanted something from me, or asked if I wanted something. Now that I think of it, it has been lonely after my brothers-in-arms all died.
Let''s visit the orchards next. Trees and alfar do mix, right?
Instead of an alfr, I see a girl with braids, who sits with her back against a tree, with her chin on her knees. ¡°Hey,¡± I say while sitting down next to her. ¡°Wanna talk?¡± Asking her if she''s well would be pointless.
¡°...why should I?¡± Mirianne acts very childish for her age, but who am I to judge?
I shrug with my shoulders and just stay quiet, as I''m certainly not one who can give advice to her.
¡°...I hate this life.¡± I guess she couldn''t stay quiet after all.
¡°What life?¡±
¡°Being stuck here on a farm... I hate it.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Nothing happens...¡±
¡°Trust me, a farm where nothing happens and is quiet has it great.¡± That means no bandits or monsters, after all.
¡°The people here don''t get me...¡±
¡°Do you talk with them?¡±
¡°I try to! I''m really trying! But it''s just that they can''t understand me. I didn''t want to stay here, I wanted to leave, but I can''t!¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because they won''t take me to the town...¡±
¡°What keeps you from going yourself?¡±
¡°I don''t know where it is...¡±
¡°But there is most likely a path, right?¡±
¡°I can''t fight monsters...¡±
¡°Then run away from them. Or fight anyway.¡±
¡°...¡±
To be honest, I''m struggling here. As I mentioned before, I can''t give advice to her. ¡°You have a family here, you get fed, you have a bed.¡±
¡°I don''t belong here.¡±
¡°...yeah, I know how it feels.¡±
¡°Hm?¡±
¡°I left my family, too.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because I didn''t feel like I belonged in that life anymore.¡±
¡°What made you think that?¡±
I smile as an answer. If I had a real answer to that, I may have chosen a different path. ¡°Maybe you will understand when you grow old.¡±
¡°What do you do now?¡±
¡°I''m a broken geezer on the road, clinging to people much younger than me.¡±
Even though it''s not an answer to her question, she takes it as one. I''m just a fool, trying to make one single amendment before dying, no matter what it takes.
The more I watch young people, the more I understand how irreversibly broken I already am.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
At the dining hall, all leading people of the farmstead eat together each day, often discussing whatever is important right now.
The same as today. ¡°When do they plan to leave?¡± This question seems to be in the heads of most of the people living on this farmstead.
The elderly and children seem to love the ranger and his companions, even the elf. Most of the workers want them to be away as quickly as possible.
Kenza puts her hands on the dinner table. Slowly, controlled: ¡°They''re paying for food, shelter, and even some of our old stuff.¡±
Jahn, who represents the workers, replies: ¡°They stay among themselves and don''t even talk to us.¡± Of course they won''t, they''re trying to not inconvenience the inhabitants in any way, and they have to take care of two of their people.
To be honest, Kenza feels that there are several things off with these people, but most of it can be explained with them being heroes, people from other worlds summoned to this one. ¡°They will leave tomorrow anyway.¡±
Kenza''s brother Benjam speaks up as well: ¡°I''d like them to stay a bit longer. If it''s true that their priest can move again tomorrow, she could use her magic to heal everyone who is hurting. Especially after days of harvesting, at least I feel it in my bones, and the rest could also help in several ways.¡±
¡°Maybe the ranger, but what about the elf, the elder, and the girl?¡±
Uncle Gurst laughs out loud: ¡°You should have seen them yesterday. Ara''ainn can turn a whole meadow into a quagmire, and Rine is stronger than all of you combined.¡± He''s already retired from farming work and watches the children and therefore had some conversations with the heroes yesterday.
While Kenza would love to have more helping hands, she''s also responsible for all the people here. ¡°They have dealt with their problems for now and don''t plan to stay for long. There is no danger for us and they need some help.¡± Most of the workers are in one way or another indebted to her family, some of them had nowhere to go and know very well that she has welcomed them with open arms.
¡°I can see danger,¡± Jahn mercilessly attacks the one sour spot for Kenza, ¡°the ranger will take Mirianne away.¡±
Kenza loves her children, but even she has to admit that Mirianne sometimes puts that love to the test. Why can''t she just be like the rest? ¡°That won''t happen.¡± Is everything she can say to that, though she''s not even believing it herself. ¡°Nonetheless, we''ll finish harvesting tomorrow, so there is still a lot to do.¡±
There is always work on a farm.
Volume 09 - Chapter 3-1 – Our stay went weird
Chapter 3 ¨C Our stay went weird
Almost a year ago.
I find myself next to a young woman. I think she''s the granddaughter of Lares, one of my companions? It was ardent, but somehow I feel even worse than before.
¡°That was amazing, Grekk.¡± She play-bites my ear, but instead of arousal, I feel just emptiness. It''s strange. While doing it, I was able to feel something, the primal desire, the lust, but they didn''t fill me, just made me forget the vastness inside me for a moment. Now that the moment is over, her caress is more frightening than anything else.
I hear a horn, the warriors have returned from a raid. ¡°I will meet them,¡± I tell her. I don''t even remember her name.
The warriors are welcomed, their weapons are bloody, and there are some scratches on their bodies. ¡°Hehe!¡± That''s my son, Hass, who juggles several heads while walking. ¡°We met some soldiers on the way. They wanted to make sure the farm was safe. Well, it wasn''t. Oh, dad!¡±
Hass is one of my youngest, currently in his late-twenties. ¡°Hello.¡± I can''t help it, my voice is somewhat dry.
¡°Look, I killed these five by myself. Like you, I grabbed their heads, and ripped them from their neck. There was a sixth one, but there was no piece left large enough to bother with.¡±
¡°I see.¡± It''s strange. I should be proud. Hass is doing well. Not as much as me in his age... that has to be it, compared to me he falls short. That''s why I can''t be genuinely proud. ¡°Did you use your axe?¡±
¡°Ah, it wasn''t worth it, I swear.¡± I gifted him this axe, one of the weapons I made Gessweis craft for me. When I retired as a warrior, I gave all I had left to my children, including Hass. ¡°I''ll use it next time, alright?¡±
¡°Son, have I ever sparred with you?¡±
¡°Ugh...¡± Do I sense fear? Even the crowd, loud before as they welcomed the warriors, suddenly gasped: ¡°No, but you''re old, so-¡±
¡°Meet me on the training ground.¡±
¡°Dad, you-¡±
¡°That''s not a request.¡± My son, a coward. I didn''t raise him to be one... but to be honest, I didn''t raise him much at all. Time to punch some backbone into him.
Minutes later, we face each other. Hass has the axe in his hand. ¡°Don''t you want a weapon?¡±
¡°No need to break something. Or someone.¡±
Hass suddenly jumps forward, with a strike which seems strong enough to cleave through a building.
Cute.
I catch the shaft of the axe in one hand and make a quick punch into Hass'' side, which breaks several bones despite his skin hardening enough to shatter an incoming battering ram. The sorry excuse of a son gasps as he crumbles, the axe still in his hand, but stunned by the blow.
After seeing it, I turn around and walk away. There is just one word for this. ¡°Pathetic.¡±
I didn''t mean the sparring match, nor Hass'' performance, or the arm that hurts like crazy after just that one strike. I mean myself, as I felt a strange sense of complacence after hitting my own flesh and blood.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The present day.
After accompanying Mirianne back to the farm, I started to hang out in the room with the others. Rine-kun was working on her clothemaking, and Ara-kun joined later and started to read a book. I can neither sew nor read, so I am basically useless. Therefore, I just rested my bones. Not needing sleep doesn''t mean that I don''t need rest.
After a while, the two other girls went to sleep, Rine-kun took the third bed, and Ara-kun just fell asleep where she was sitting. One moment she was reading, then she put the book away and a second later, she was out. That''s a talent in itself.
Me being the nightwatch is just natural.
Even before the sun comes up, I hear people getting ready for work. I guess I''ll join them and let those kids sleep. I catch Benjam, the brother of the matriarch and medic of the farmstead, and my hunch tells me that he used to be a soldier. ¡°Good morning, what''s up?¡±
He turns around. ¡°Ah... sorry, I don''t know your name.¡±
I hesitate for a bit, as telling him my name could have... consequences. ¡°I''m just an old man.¡±
¡°Oh well, old man. What can I do for you? Anything you need?¡±
¡°Nah, just bored. Any work I can do? Despite my age, I''m still strong.¡±
¡°There is always work, but you''re our guests.¡±
I also know that I should rest whenever I can, as my power is limited, but doing nothing for long is just hard: ¡°Even light work is good. I need to move a bit.¡±
¡°Hm... I guess, you could help with the animals then. Hey, Mirianne,¡± Benjam calls out to his niece, who was just standing around: ¡°Could he tag along for your work?¡±
¡°...sure.¡± Mirianne-kun seems to be more clear-headed than yesterday. ¡°Come with me, we''re going to the stables.¡± As I follow her, she chatters: ¡°To stay here for the last few days, I had to take over stable duties. That means feeding the animals, grooming them, getting them ready, and today I''m cleaning the stables as well, when the rest are on the fields and the animals are away.¡±
¡°This sounds like shitty work.¡±
¡°It is! Well, I like feeding and grooming, but shoveling their dung is the worst. We''re starting with feeding the donkeys, as they need to be ready first.¡±
There are surely a lot of animals here. Donkeys, cows, bunnies, chicken, alpas, goats, sheep, dogs, cats, fiets, and even an axeken. After checking all of them for injury and signs of sickness, they get their food and this takes the better part of the morning, and later most of the workers will be on the fields all day.
I never realized how much work farmers put into their living each day. I''m ashamed.
Mirianne-kun explains what she is doing, why she does it, and tells a little story here and there about mishaps she had while taking care of the animals: ¡°And then Whitey left the warren between my legs, and it took almost an hour to catch it. Can you imagine!?¡±
¡°Kehehe, you have to be quicker than them.¡±
¡°Try that, it''s hard!¡± Overall, it was a surprisingly pleasant morning, and we''re on our way back to the family house to ask if the donkeys need to be readied already. ¡°Hm?¡± Mirianne-kun stops suddenly. ¡°What''s that?¡±
There are several people standing in front of the house, someone is speaking with Mirianne-kun''s mother, and it seems like that person arrived on the horse next to him.
¡°BARBARIANS!¡± One of the bystanders shouts out.
I have a bad feeling about it.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s morning, and I open my eyes. I carefully try to move my legs... and they do! Hell yeah!
I''m not usually that easily excited to move, but after being caged in a broken body and then being immobile in a healthy one, being able to move freely is enough to put a smirk on my face. Not a smile, a smirk. But hey, that''s a lot for me already!
I begin to move my fingers and toes and about every other joint and muscle I can think of, feeling no pain. I look to Kyou-san, who is sleeping on another bed, and whisper ¡°Thank you!¡± to not wake her up. Rine sleeps in a third bed. She has worked a lot throughout the night, but I know not to get too close to her.
Ara-san begins moving, so I use [Sneak] to silently leave the room with my backpack in hand, so that the rest can at least sleep a bit more. Of course, she follows me: ¡°You can move again,¡± she says neutrally. I kinda know that she''s a bit happy, too.
¡°Yeah. I want to take a walk.¡± I never thought I''ll ever utter these words, but after all I went through, I need to enjoy the luxury of mobility.
¡°Eww... let''s do it then.¡± Of course, the lazy-and-proud-of-it Ara-san doesn''t like the idea, but still wants to stick with me.
¡°Alright, I''m just going to change. Where is a free room?¡±
¡°That one,¡± Ara-san says without hesitation.
¡°Then I¡¯ll try this one.¡± I don''t trust her recommendation. I put an ear on the room I''ve chosen, knock there, then slowly open it to see it empty. ¡°Give me a minute.¡± I make sure to wedge a chair into the door. I start changing my entire attire. New underwear, new shirt, new trousers. No need to put the armor on, though I end up with the hood and my raincoat, in case it''s cold outside. After putting the backpack on my back and the coat above it, I open the door again. ¡°All set.¡±
¡°You should shave. Also, what about producing excrement?¡±
¡°First, don''t call going to the bathroom that way, second... good point about shaving. Outside then.¡± She shows me the way, and I see a well. I take some water, put it into a basin I take out of the backpack and shave myself. This really was needed, as I couldn''t do that the last few days, and I''m seemingly still too young for a proper beard to grow.
Sometimes it''s hard to believe that I''m still sixteen.
For now, that''s enough. I can wash myself later, maybe even take a bath, if possible. It''s certainly chilly, especially now with my wet face, so I pull the hood over my head. It''s surprisingly good at keeping the cold away, especially as it basically has a scarf-part as well.
Ara-san watched me with keen interest, as facial hair is something she still can''t wrap her head around. ¡°What is even the point of beards?¡±
¡°I don''t know. Maybe some sort of natural camouflage?¡± Men were supposed to be the hunters of the hunters and gatherers, so maybe this helped while skulking around in bushes.
¡°Why only the males though?¡±
Instead of repeating my thought, I speak out another idea: ¡°Or maybe it just happened and got away with it.¡± That''s Darwin''s evolutionary theory in a nutshell: Stuff happens, and if the one who has it can leave descendants, it''ll be carried over. Over the course of millenia, many helpful aspects will stay, but the same goes for some neutral ones.
¡°Ah, the fickleness of nature.¡± That''s something she can get behind.
¡°There!¡± A person comes around the corner, sees us, and approaches immediately. Seriously, we are having a conversation! Who is that guy anyway! ¡°Ranger! Help us!¡± I don''t like where this is going...
My first impulse is to use my entire [Stealth]-repertoire to just vanish in front of his eyes, but I guess I owe these people a bit. ¡°Phew... calm down, OK?¡±
¡°You need to help us! Please!¡± How about starting with telling me what I should help you with? ¡°We''re doomed otherwise!¡±
¡°Jahn!¡± Ah, I know this one. That''s the boss-woman of this farm. ¡°Don''t go ahead and-¡±
¡°We need them!¡±
¡°Don''t you dare to decide things over my head!¡±
¡°You can''t be so stupid to think that--¡±
¡°Did you call me stupid!?¡±
I glance at Ara-san, who seems to basically have the same feeling as me: What a pain to be here at this moment!
¡°Don''t worry!¡± Suddenly Rine''s voice is heard: ¡°We''ll help you!¡± She walks out of the door, with a broad smile and a lot of confidence.
OK, that''s it: ¡°Rine, stop prom-¡± Yet she immediately cuts me off by jumping at me, catching me in a wild embrace, that knocks me to the ground.
¡°KEEEEENTAAA! You can move!¡± She rubs her head and body against me, as if I''m a stuffed animal. ¡°Ah, that feels good!¡± Stop sniffing me!
Also, I can certainly feel your- She thrusts her palm against my forehead: ¡°Ufff!¡± That hurts! Not only on the front, which seems likely to bruise, but also on the back that was thrust against the ground.
¡°Ah, Kenta! Sorry! I''m so sorry! [Heal]! Please, forgive me!¡± She''s about to break into tears.
¡°Can''t you just stop instead!?¡± I had maybe fifteen wonderful minutes of being totally fine until you came!
After a while, some sorting, and getting Kyou-san and Jii-san, we''re all sitting in a room that smells of food. I guess the fragrance is already imprinted into the wood of the table, chairs, and benches.
The boss-woman, the medic-guy, a stranger, and the one who wanted our help so badly, are all on one side of the table, while we''re on the other one. ¡°In case you didn''t know or already forgot: My name is Kenza, I''m the matriarch of White Horst.¡± I guess that''s the name of this farmstead.
¡°I''m Benjam, more or less helping my sister with everything.¡±
¡°I''m Jahn, I speak for the workers.¡±
¡°I''m Knudd, from Black Horst.¡± I guess another farmstead.
¡°I apologize for Jahn''s behavior,¡± boss-woman continues: ¡°Knudd brought some disturbing news, which made Jahn act prematurely.¡±
Knudd-guy speaks out: ¡°Barbarians conquered Red Horst and are now sending their warriors to the other farmsteads. Yesterday night, survivors of Green Horst came to us and told us how the entire farmstead was burned down and most of them are now dead. These barbarians are out for blood.¡±
Aha, barbarians. I know that some terms have a special meaning in this world, like how ''ranger'' is a survivalist trained by the alfar. So I guess barbarian may also be in the same category, as at least Rine and Jii-san tense up¡ªtwo people native to this world¡ªand Ara-san seems to be concerned, which is alarming.
The man continues: ¡°Jell asked me and others to warn the other farmsteads.¡±
OK, I have to be the one, I guess: ¡°I''m from another world, so would you tell me what a barbarian is in this one?¡±
Surprisingly, it''s Jii-san, who answered: ¡°Barbarians are warrior nomads that use the power of rage in battle. They wander throughout different lands and attack villages, farmsteads, and whatever they can easily get their hands on. They live and thirst for battle. So much, that they often fight among themselves and sometimes take on armies.¡±
¡°Sounds like glorified bandits.¡±
¡°Kehehe... that truth hurts.¡± Don''t tell me... ¡°Lad, I''m also a barbarian.¡±
Suddenly, the four farmers across us back away, looking at Jii-san in true fear. Well, I already knew that this oldtimer wasn''t normal, but my personal guess was that he used to be a legendary mercenary or something. ¡°So these are your people?¡±
¡°Yes and no. We share a culture, but I''m sure that these are from another tribe.¡± Makes sense. ¡°Maybe Ulf''s good-for-nothing son took over, and they''re hellbent on proving themselves.¡±
¡°Any chance that you may join them?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Good enough for me.¡± Jii-san lent me help when I needed it the most, so I''ll just take his word for it. I turn to the farmers: ¡°And I guess, you want us to fight these barbarians?¡± That''s the only reason these people would ask for our help.
¡°No.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Boss-woman and worker-guy have different opinions on that matter.
¡°Phew...¡± As I still owe them, I may take a look into it and decide whether it''s doable or not. I turn to the messenger: ¡°How many?¡±
¡°Four attacked the Green Horst.¡±
...OK, if we consider everything, this seems odd. I mean, this tells me plenty. First, if it took four people to level a whole farm, it means they''re strong... somewhat, at least. I mean, we did conquer a bandit camp with the four of us before. But four barbarians also may mean that they''re either acting independent from the tribe, or are just something like an advance party.
Nonetheless, bad news. ¡°What is your plan?¡± Rine asks the boss-woman.
¡°Barbarians come here every now and then, and usually, we just surrender and let them take some. Even if we send someone to the town, their militia can''t handle barbarians anyway. We''d need to send someone to Winson for capable troops, and even if they''re willing to help, it would take two weeks. That''s usually the case,¡± boss-woman says sternly: ¡°But if they''re out to destroy and take everything...¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
¡°Then you have to fight!¡± Rine concludes.
¡°Just flee,¡± Kyou-san makes a counter-proposal immediately.
¡°If they flee, then how will they survive the winter?¡±
¡°How will they survive the barbarians!?¡±
¡°That''s where we come in!¡±
It''s rare to see Rine and Kyou-san having an argument. To be honest, this is neither my problem, nor something I''m confident I can help with, and I would gladly just ignore it and concentrate on my own stuff. On the other hand, these people saved me, so I would feel bad if I left them alone.
Ara-san is sleeping with her eyes open, so there is no way to ask for her opinion. I look at Jii-san, who shrugs his shoulders, telling me it''s my choice.
Which leaves us with Rine and Kyou-san, the latter making a new argument: ¡°Rine-chan, we can''t fight an army with the five of us!¡±
¡°That''s why we''ll train them to fend off the barbarians as well! Right, Kenza? If we and the farmsteads work together, everything will be fine.¡±
¡°I-¡±
¡°Kenza-san, do you plan to put all your lives on stake?¡±
¡°I-¡±
¡°Can you survive the winter without your goods? If you flee to the city, how do you plan to eat? Will the elder even survive the trip?¡±
¡°I-I-¡±
Shit! ¡°Stop it! Both of you!¡±
¡°But Ken-¡± ¡°Dear, you-¡±
¡°I SAID STOP!¡± Both of them are staring at me, Kyou-san with contempt, Rine imploringly. ¡°Just stop for a moment.¡± I turn to the boss-woman, whose body is sweating and shivering, while the others around her seem to be speechless and shocked. ¡°Take your time and discuss it among yourselves. Whatever you decide on, we''ll give some assistance. We can''t magically solve the problem, so make sure to think about what you want to do and what the consequences of that decision may be. Don''t depend on us too much, but if it''s within our power, we''ll help.¡± That''s the least I can do.
¡°Y-y-y-yes.¡±
¡°Good. Ara-san, wake up. We''re all leaving the room.¡±
¡°Ken!¡± ¡°Dear!¡±
¡°I said all of us!¡± I turn to the boss-woman: ¡°Tell us, when you make your decision.¡±
While Kyou-san and Rine follow me outside, they do so begrudgingly. I''m leading them to a vacant spot behind the stables, then turn to them, unable to hold back my anger: ¡°Are you two out of your mind!?¡±
¡°Hah!?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Kyou-san becomes aggressive, while Rine cocks her head.
¡°Don''t you realize? These are non-heroes!¡±
¡°Still Dear, they have to fight for themselves!¡±
¡°No, they have to flee!¡±
I can see how these two girls were brought up completely differently. Rine comes from a country that glorifies standing up to oppressive forces, while Kyou-san grew up in peace-loving Japan.
However! ¡°That''s not what I meant! You almost exploded her head!¡± Both of them blink, as they really don''t even know what they did! ¡°Kyou-san, Rine, both of you have high [Persuasion], and you used it mercilessly against a commoner! I could basically see how she wanted to adopt any opinion you said she should have!¡±
While Rine is taken aback by it, Kyou-san decides to double down: ¡°Isn''t it for the best? I mean, telling her what to do to save everyone?¡±
It''s not like I don''t agree with her, but somehow it''s also very different from what I feel. ¡°Leave them the choice. Whatever it is, I decided to help them. What you''ll do is your choice.¡±
¡°Don''t make me sound like the bad guy!¡±
¡°You''re not. You probably even care about these people more than I do. I''m just repaying a favor so that I don''t feel as bad later.¡±
¡°Grrr...¡± She''s seriously pissed, but decides to stay quiet for the moment.
¡°Dear...¡± She takes my arm and leans her head against my shoulder. ¡°Tehehehe.¡± OK, what''s up with her now? ¡°Alright, I''ll also help with whatever they decide.¡±
¡°Ken-kun, you really make poor me work myself to death,¡± Ara-san sighs.
¡°Hm... if they decide to fight, then it''ll be hard, lad.¡± Jii-san says while scratching his beard. ¡°Don''t take barbarians lightly. These people won''t be able to stop them at all, even if they trained for years.¡±
...so bad? I now seriously regret my decision, but I guess I''ll stick to it. I can just hope that the farmers cut their losses, try to take as much as possible with them and... be probably attacked by barbarians on their way to town. Or the town itself gets attacked, if its militia can''t handle barbarians either.
I begin to understand how boned these people are. If they decide to resist, they may just be overrun. After seeing Gottfried, I seriously question how viable actual armies are in case a monster like him is unleashed. Even if the barbarians are much weaker than him, the militia is as well... I think?
If the farmers decide to flee, they will either be attacked on their way to safety if they take stuff with them or be left with nothing if they hope that the barbarians raid the farm instead. If I were a bandit, I''d first attack the farmers on the road and then take their unprotected goods on the farm, so...
How much of a help can we even be? ¡°Jii-san, how strong are barbarians on average?¡±
¡°Compared to what?¡±
Good question. ¡°An average soldier, I guess?¡±
¡°From where?¡±
¡°...¡± I would love to express it in levels, but first, only heroes have levels, and second, even their levels don''t tell you that much about their strength.
¡°Fufu,¡± Ara-san lowers her ears in pure pride: ¡°Grekkun, it''s time for the tier list!¡±
¡°...ah, right!¡±
¡°Huh?¡± What is she talking about?
¡°I had some conversations with Katarine-san and Grekkun, as you wanted a way to measure someone''s power, and therefore made a tier-list.¡± OK, that sounds interesting. ¡°I''ll explain it in detail. This tier list is primarily meant to categorize non-heroes, as heroes tend to be more inconsistent with their strength and we can''t simply apply their levels or other status traits to it. It''s also a combat-only tier list, which means that while spellcasters may be categorized with it, it''s in regards to their pure overall combat competence. Therefore despite their offensive potential, they''ll end up in lower tiers in comparison, as they often lack the defense, mobility, or strategy.¡±
¡°OK, that means it''s mostly for soldiers and such. Good enough for me. How did you decide who ended up in what tier?¡±
¡°Our guesstimate who would win most times without any beneficial circumstances or numbers. Also, what exactly they can do.¡±
¡°Alright, then the basics are explained. Go on.¡±
¡°We start with tier 0. That''s all non-combatants, which includes farmers¡± she points at the whole area, ¡°normal citizens up to bullies and street robbers.¡±
¡°So even people who can fight on some level? What about children or people who can''t fight back at all, like crippled?¡±
¡°Ken-kun, in the greater scheme, the difference between a cripple and a common street robber is not worth mentioning.¡± ...shit, that has to mean something. Especially with that being tier 0, so not even making a big difference at all. ¡°That''s also Momo''s tier.¡±
¡°Hey!¡± Of course, the girl in question takes offense with that.
¡°Momo, you may be able to fend yourself off, but only against these kinds of people. Trust me, that''s your tier overall. Even though you have other strengths, in combat it would be too much of a stretch to put you into any other tier.¡± The factual manner she speaks with just makes this somewhat worse: ¡°Let''s move up to tier 1. These are people actually trained in combat, they may even use a [Skill] or two. This would be from a capable militiaman to an actual soldier.¡± OK, my common sense wouldn''t see the street robber much below those, but I have to remember that my common sense stems from my own world, and that I know shit about actual soldiers anyway. ¡°This would be also the ss''rak grunt you faced back then in their city, or a common mercenary as well. While I do think that I can sometimes punch up, all things considered, I''d be in that tier as well.¡±
OK, these ss''rak were kinda tough. Kyou-san still complains though: ¡°I killed one of these ss''rak! I should be in that tier as well!¡±
¡°From behind while it was holding Ken-kun, which is ultimately considered beneficial circumstances,¡± Ara-san replies without missing a beat. ¡°If it''s any comfort for you, Akiyama Eri is also a tier 0, Kurosawa Teruko would be tier 1, same with Yamauchi Daichi and Kita Katsuo.¡± So all but one of Kyou-san''s friends.
I mean, I don''t think particularly highly of them, but even I would have thought of them as better than that. Barely.
Ara-san continues mercilessly. ¡°Next is tier 2. These would be the elites, people that are capable, and if things go their way, they can take on a mercenary band or a bandit troupe. Here we have the rangers, the barbarians, the crusaders, and also Masahiko-kun and Ken-kun.¡±
...while it stings to be put in the same tier as Inoue, it makes sense overall. Which means that Ara-san thinks that even the grunt barbarian is roughly at my level, which is really concerning! ¡°That''s bad for us, right?¡±
¡°Let''s come to it later. We''ll move on to tier 3.¡± I guess that''s Rine''s tier then. ¡°These are the above-elites, people capable of getting known by name due to their deeds. That''s where officers in Feuerberg''s army stand, people capable of taking a bandit camp or razing a town all on their own. Sadly, I have no definitive example you know for it, though I suspect that Yoshimori Rentaro aka Silent Wood falls into that tier.¡±
¡°So Rine''s tier 4!?¡±
¡°Exactly. These are the people where the loss count of normal soldiers would be around a hundred, and they won''t be able to beat them by overwhelming them with numbers, but by exhaustion, which is also the only reason that holds Katarine-san back from destroying cities.¡±
¡°Tehehe. That''s too much of a praise.¡± I''m sure it wasn''t one. But to be honest, seeing how Rine can take everything on I struggle with easily, it makes sense that there is a whole tier between us.
Though there is someone else: ¡°What about the oni?¡± Correo''s oni is somewhat able to fight with Rine on equal footing, even though my girlfriend seems to have the upper hand. ¡°Or Hoshibashi?¡±
¡°Both have cases for either tier 3 or tier 4 so far.¡±
¡°Shouldn''t Yoshimori be the same?¡±
¡°He''s a spellcaster, therefore his offensive capabilities are certainly tier 4, but that''s only if he has time for chants. On his own and with tools he can use on his own, he''s probably just tier 3, though I may be wrong. He''s a hero after all, and [Class-change] does break the tier-list in many cases.¡±
¡°Ah right.¡± While the tier list is better than trying to wrap my head around levels and power, it''s also made within a rather narrow frame. Still, this will prove helpful. ¡°Tier 5 is Gottfried, then? Ah, also Luuto?¡±
¡°It''s Lvo''tjos, but yes. There are people that could go into legends, and no kingdom would plan a war without taking these kinds of people into consideration.¡±
¡°So while tier 4 would be something a general may shoehorn about, a tier 5 is something that tears an army apart without a proper counter?¡±
¡°That''s a good way to put it. As we established before, in favorable conditions Katarine-san can win, but it''d be uphill in a fair fight.¡±
¡°Ah, father may be in that tier then,¡± the blonde princess adds, ¡°that''s what I think.¡±
¡°I also knew some warriors on that level,¡± Jii-san adds. ¡°Capable of bringing a city down on their own, hard to face without a plan or someone stronger on your side.¡±
¡°These are people I''d also research to find out if they''re heroes.¡± ...I get mixed messages here. So if someone below tier 5 is too weak for Ara-san to bother, but enough to conquer cities... urgh.
¡°Then we have tier 6, which would be Gottfried-kun in his prime. Lvo''tjos would be able to push an avalanche away, but a younger Gottfried would have annihilated it, and a day later, a blizzard would wipe away even more that the avalanche would have.¡±
OK, this sounds kinda like a nuke. No, maybe even worse, I can''t even imagine what that means. Sure, a nuke levels a city, but how much will it affect the environment outside its blast radius? Hm... if we take the radioactive contamination... Let''s just say that Gottfried may be the equivalent of a nuke, for simplicity... ¡°Fuck.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, he''s old enough to have dropped to upper tier 5.¡± I''m tier 2, and Rine tier 4, and I should feel happy about it!? ¡°Then there is the theoretical tier 7.¡±
¡°...SEVEN!? There is something above that geezer?¡±
¡°That would be Hagen von Stolzherz, Katarine-san''s ancestor. It''s said that the highest echelons of power can only be achieved by heroes. If we take the Legend of Hagen into account, we have one person single-handedly dismembering a whole empire and slaying several gods, which may be close to what a tier 6 could do, hypothetically speaking. Therefore, it''s only a theoretical tier.¡±
¡°So... I''m tier 2, and barbarians are on average also tier 2. Then they could have a tier 5, so... even if we get all the farmers ready to battle, we would only lead them to a slaughter?¡±
¡°I''m glad that we''re on the same page, Ken-kun.¡± Shit. ¡°Though that only counts in an open battle, which is never something I would consider in this situation.¡±
¡°Me neither, but that tier list alone puts everything we did so far into perspective.¡± We''re still at the bottom.
¡°Don''t feel bad, Ken-kun. It''s not like the tiers are equal in any way. You''re stronger than 90% of the world.¡±
¡°And the remaining 10% kicks my ass.¡±
¡°Some of them will struggle to do so, though.¡±
¡°Ah, thank you!¡± Well, to be honest, it''s the same as with the crusaders in Goldbrunn. It''s just natural that a group of battle-hardened warriors would outdo a small band like ours.
Well, I agreed to help as much as I could, and it seems like I can''t do much, if they want to make a stand. I mean, we could try to fortify everything, plant traps, and the like, so that the barbarians will start to think attacking the farmstead is too much of a hassle. Other than in games, people won''t fight until the last man.
What a headache!
Rine takes my hand: ¡°Don''t worry, Dear.¡± Your words are appreciated, but you don''t give me any reason to trust them.
¡°Do you want us to convince them to run away after all?¡± Kyou-san adds with a sickening sweet bite.
¡°Phew... We do what we can that won''t kill us. No more, no less. I''m also not keen to stay here for too long, as we tend to attract the wrong people.¡±
Ara-san flicks her ears: ¡°Maybe that''s the reason why the barbarians are here in the first place?¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Drama effect.¡± That''s one of her pet theories, that heroes attract all kinds of troubles.
¡°After Gottfried-¡± I pause for a second, as I suddenly had an idea I had to dismiss immediately. If we could lure the barbarians to Gottfried, and Gottfried would fight the barbarians, then they would all die. But neither do I know his current whereabouts, nor would I expect to escape on my own, as the last one was narrow and surely cost me half of my life.
¡°What is with Gottfried-kun?¡± Ara-san asks.
¡°Nevermind. Just thinking of how to handle a fight, if it comes to it.¡±
¡°Dear,¡± Rine snuggles closer to me, and while my first impulse is to get some distance, I do my best to not move an inch. ¡°Stay focused on what is now, OK? Otherwise, you''ll end up worrying about ten things that won''t happen at all.¡±
She''s always the one who can calm me down, when my thoughts run rampant. ¡°Phew... You''re right.¡± I slowly press her hand. I guess that''s one of the sides that I like about her. Whenever there is stress, she''s a calm anchor.
¡°Do you need a room?¡± Kyou-san looks at us as if we''ve decided to run a campaign to legalize exhibitionism. Come on, that''s exaggerated! Rine and I are a couple, after all!
¡°Kehehe,¡± Jii-san puts his hand on our shoulders from behind: ¡°When push comes to shove, we''ll pull through.¡±
¡°Phew... we need to talk about barbarians anyway. No matter the decision, I think it''s important to know our enemies.¡±
¡°Sure, where do I begin...¡± With this, Jii-san starts with several details. Barbarians walk around topless, men always, women in case their breasts are small enough to not become a hassle, otherwise they will bind a strap around them. That''s because barbarians believe in toughening themselves up enough to withstand everything. A true barbarian will continue the fight even in death. I guess I''ll see whether this is just a wish or a fact.
Barbarians harness the power of rage. ¡°Ah, I know that from games,¡± there are raging classes there as well: ¡°Basically heightening their power and endurance by loss of their mind or something? An anger that overcomes your senses and makes you into a senseless, yet mighty warrior?¡±
¡°That''s a savage or a berserker, lad. A barbarian controls the rage, and it''s not about being angry. It''s one of the most primal feelings a person can have, it binds us with the wildness and ferocity of our inner animals. You can''t use rage because you''re angry, you''re angry because you have rage deep inside you.¡± I think I get the gist of it, but let''s just simplify it as ''People get stronger whenever they want'' for now.
Next, a barbarian without an enemy is no barbarian. While they''re not suicidal, they''ll face trouble head-on and only retreat whenever the gains don''t outweigh the loss. ¡°You said that you don''t invade kingdoms lightheartedly. What exactly makes you consider it?¡±
¡°Usually, we raid some border fortresses and villages, though my tribe raided through a kingdom once. Armies and barbarians fight very differently.¡±
¡°How so?¡±
¡°One soldier is no match for a barbarian. Put ten soldiers together, and they can face ten barbarians.¡±
¡°Hah?¡± I turn to Ara-san, who is basically my fantasy-world translator: ¡°What does he mean?¡±
¡°I have a theory.¡±
¡°Tell me.¡±
¡°Ken-kun, what is the most distinguishing trait humans have?¡±
...usually, I''d have no idea, but given it''s Ara-san, I just take one of her ramblings of the past as a reference: ¡°Reproduction capabilities?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡± I hate being right here. ¡°We can expect that a tier 1 person has two, maybe three skills, even if they don''t know it.¡± I nod. ¡°Then what if they trained to learn [Phalanx]-skills?¡±
[Phalanx]... one of my [Pikeman]-abilities I never was able to learn [Skills] for because [Phalanx] is a teamwork ability, which synergies with other [Phalanx]-users, especially if they have the same [Skills]. Many of them are supposed to be minor buffs, which become bigger the more people are within the formation...
¡°!¡± I get it! If many people have a defense buff, you just need to get enough to tough out the attacks of stronger foes. ¡°That''s why tier 1 begins with soldiers!¡± I guess, ruffians and robbers usually don''t learn [Skills]. ¡°Shit, I think I have no idea how war works in this world! Is that why Gottfried can''t easily conquer as he pleases? Because as long as it''s enough, even foot soldiers will be able to mount a defense?¡±
¡°I have no idea,¡± Ara-san answers truthfully. I can feel how uninterested she''s in that, as it doesn''t really involve heroes.
¡°Rine?¡± She had tutelage, so I guess she may know?
¡°Erm... Not only that, but yes: Fighting yourself and fighting wars is different. When fighting other countries, it''s important to think about how to break open their formations, so that you can use your elites and champions correctly.¡±
OK, common sense from Japan once again proven useless. Before, I thought that magic would replace cannons and such, but I guess there are a lot of other things to consider. Well, it''s not like I''ll lead any armies in the future.
I turn to Jii-san again: ¡°So a strong military that can answer to barbarians quickly and put up their formations beforehand is bad news for barbarians...¡±
¡°Often, though we also know how to break their formations. Some kingdoms also have people to look out for, in Feuerberg it was Gottfried for the longest time.¡±
¡°But you beat him!¡± Rine bursts out: ¡°The hole is still there!¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡°¡°HAH!?¡±¡± Kyou-san and I stare at Jii-san in utter disbelief.
Wait, wait, wait! Jii-san has beaten Gottfried before and is therefore stronger than him!? ¡°Why didn''t you fight him in our place!?¡±
¡°Lad, that was long ago. He was just a brat, I was at my peak. He''s much stronger than me now.¡±
¡°Can you explode a mountain?¡±
¡°Not as easily anymore.¡±
¡°But you still can!?¡± I mean, I saw him dominate the monsters but that''s out of proportion! ¡°Then fighting the barbarians should be a piece of cake! Unless... unless... they have someone as strong as you...¡± Then we''re dead. No, we''re super-dead.
¡°Kehehe, I don''t think so. But I have only two, maybe three attacks left, remember?¡± Ah, he said he was so strong that his own body can''t keep up anymore. ¡°A shame for a barbarian.¡±
His body may be nigh indestructible against outside forces, but without attacking he can''t win. If he attacks, his body will break due to his own power. Yeah, that''s why he''s a worse glasscannon than Rine. ¡°Phew... at least we have options. It''s all about how to use the attacks you have, before you start breaking. You can judge how much your body can handle?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Good. We''ll talk about it later.¡± I already have some ideas. They''re ludicrous and unrealistic, but who knows what Jii-san can do?
At least, I can face this predicament with a less negative outlook now. I will try to not rely on Jii-san too much, as he joined us to fight less and save his strength. Yet he offered his help this time, so I''ll use his power the moment I see it fit.
The only question left is, what boss-woman will decide. ¡°There you are,¡± the same comes by: ¡°Come with me, please.¡± I guess she doesn''t want to discuss it in the open.
Back in the room are the same three men as before. I try to calm my nerves. How did she decide? Why did I offer my help?
¡°I came to a conclusion. You brought good arguments... We will fortify this farm. I don''t want to abandon the old and sickly, and this year has been harsh for us even without this attack. If we lose the farm, then we''re done for, and would only await for a slow death.¡±
Rine nods in agreement, while Kyou-san looks at boss-woman as if she had offered a serving of rotten sushi for everyone to enjoy. ¡°Fortify?¡± Ara-san asks the important question. ¡°Not resist?¡±
¡°If possible, we will try to bribe them. A decade ago, the barbarians were satisfied with a fifth of our harvest and animals, so I''m counting on it, and hope that Green Horst was just an exception. To make a point or because they angered them.¡±
Jii-san scratches his beard, deep in thought. I guess that not knowing which tribe attacked is making it much harder for him to decide whether that''s a smart or dumb move. I''m seriously concerned that, depending on the tribe, we can either face rather rational bandits or savage murder-hobos.
Rine grabs my sleeve with force, I can hear the grinding of her teeth. She may have accepted to leave the decision to them, but isn''t satisfied with the outcome. On the other hand, Kyou-san blinks and looks at the farmers as if they are playing hide-and-seek by simply covering their eyes, convinced that when they can''t see the seeker, the seeker won''t see them either.
I have to admit, I''m impressed. She had two choices, each would have satisfied at least one of them, but now she ended up upsetting both by looking for a third option.
¡°Phew... I guess the Red Farmstead is too far away for a quick scouting.¡±
¡°Around two days.¡± That''s good and bad. Bad, because I''d love to take a look. Good, because that means that the barbarians are that far away. Or at least started there, and it''s unlikely that they moved directly towards this place.
¡°I''m going for a quick scouting of this area then.¡± That''s the least I can do.
Volume 09 - Chapter 3-2
While I help Matriarch Kenza with the fortification, Dear will go into the woods on his own. I''m waiting in front of the room to say goodbye to him, and look at the results of my work.
The door opens. ¡°I''m ready.¡± Dear has equipped his new gear, which I made with love and for the cold temperatures. To be honest, there wasn''t much to do, as Dear already wears hide armor, but a new jacket in which I integrated his arm guard, a thin scarf he can wear under his hood and pull up to cover his face more, and a new pair of wool socks should be enough to keep him warm.
With his archery glove on the left and his bracer on the right arm, his hands are already warm enough. Overall, he doesn''t look too different, but I like looking at him, so it''s definitely the right choice.
Grekk follows him, wearing a bandana, which enhances his still new topknot, and has a belly band under his new poncho. He also wears new trousers, though he still only has leather bound around his feet, which fortunately are in socks as well. The old boots in the farm aren''t only full of holes, but also too small for him.
He scratches his gray beard, while checking his outfit: ¡°And you did all of it in one night?¡±
¡°I worked hard, but was also able to repurpose some old clothes. When this is over, I can make you a second set.¡±
¡°Thank you. I''m a bit concerned about fighting in those, though.¡±
¡°I already made you a new poncho, instead of putting you into a shirt, and you should move alright,¡± I answer, remembering how Grekk outright declined to wear anything on his torso he couldn''t throw away in one motion, even the belly band was pressing it.
¡°I don''t care about movement, it would be just a shame to dirty these clothes.¡±
¡°Ah, don''t worry about that. We can wash them at any time.¡±
¡°Please no,¡± Dear adds while moving his joints: ¡°Fits perfectly,¡± he gives his judgment. ¡°Maybe it''s because of [Armor]? The [Hide]-skill makes any hide armor less cumbersome.¡±
Maybe he''s right, but- ¡°I tried my best...¡±
¡°Phew...¡± He scratches his head, then he comes closer, looking me into the eyes: ¡°You did, and I appreciate it.¡±
¡°I need a kiss.¡±
¡°...¡± He puts his hands on my shoulder, and I feel his lips for a second on mine.
You gain 1 WP.
The first kiss you had today, at a perfect opportunity to cheer you up!
I take his face and go for another kiss, one wasn''t enough after all. ¡°I love you.¡±
¡°...¡± He doesn''t answer, but it looks like he wanted to do something with his hand for a second, like stroking my face or petting my hand, but instead he turns around, leaving my touch: ¡°I''m going.¡±
I wish he would have said something about my outfit. Same as him, there are some limits imposed by the armor, but I''m now wearing a surcoat, and have changed the thin suit made out of fryon hair for a thicker one. I''m also wearing a woolen headband. I tried to make the outfit look good without losing too much of defense, so I kept the bracers and the skirt, which is also made out of fryon leather with metal reinforcements, same as the armor.
¡°Sigh.¡± I think Dear may be unable to notice that. While I''d love it if he calls me pretty in my new outfit, him saying anything would tell me that he pays attention to me. Maybe he was just embarrassed?
¡°How sweet,¡± Grekk chuckles. ¡°Feeling lonely already?¡±
¡°No.¡± I lift my head, as the next words are as joyful as truthful: ¡°He will always come for me.¡±
¡°Kehehehe.¡±
¡°Tehehe.¡±
¡°Alright, I will see if I can help with something. You''re going to Kenza?¡±
¡°Later, first I''ll look for Kyou.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°To make sure.¡± My friend has a good heart, but I think she may try to talk people into fleeing. She''s smart and she''s willing to use her powers as a hero if necessary, while I kinda dislike it. I mean, I still believe that fighting would be preferable, but Dear is right: It''s primarily their choice and they chose to hold out for the time being.
Grekk and I split outside, and I see that the news has already spread. People are running around, some are busy, others just look like it. I think that they need someone to take the reins, but Kenza isn''t a military leader, so she could need help. Am I arrogant when I think that I could provide exactly that?
But first, I want to find Kyou. Ah, there she is. She''s talking with Ara. Both of them also changed to their winter gear, Kyou stayed true to her scarf, but she added a woolen hat that covers her ears, and a cute bobble at the top, while she now has a newly sewn jacket. It''s from cloth from Aroahenn, which is very durable against blades. Over that, she has a vest, and under her longer skirt is a pantyhose, which sure looks warm. Of course she still has her long, curved knife and her pouches on arm and belt, as these are her primary means of defense.
For Ara, I have resewn one of her dresses so that it covers her arms, and she''s wearing trousers, still barefooted. In the end, I just knitted woolen footlaces and at least she''s wearing them. The most challenging part would have been her cap, which has a hole for her ponytail¡ªshe really insisted on keeping it¡ªand doesn''t cover the ears at all, but at least the neck.
I think I did well. Especially with the time given. I do wish, however, that I''d been able to make armor, as it really bugs me to be so limited with my work.
I approach the two of them: ¡°Something wrong?¡±
¡°Yes and no,¡± Kyou sighs, ¡°I just don''t like to lose time here.¡±
¡°You want to convince them to flee?¡±
¡°A bit, but to be honest, it feels terrifying to wait for whatever will come.¡± I can tell that this is a big confession from her.
Maybe she wants to run away herself. I have forgotten that Kyou isn''t really a combatant. Is this why she also wants the others to flee? ¡°Kyou? Thank you for staying.¡± I embrace her, trying to convey my feelings for her.
After a moment of hesitation, she returns the embrace: ¡°Things will only get worse, right?¡±
¡°I don''t know, but let us prepare as much as we can.¡± I look for Ara, who has distanced herself from us. I don''t know why though. ¡°Come Ara, let''s make it a group-hug!¡±
¡°No,¡± she answers aloof, ¡°I rather use my time to train my [Divination].¡±
¡°...ah!¡± It took a moment for me to get what she meant, as her [Divination]-magic is rather... specific. She can tell the fortune for the year, and it''s always the same, no matter how often she repeats it. Mine was ''As the year progresses, your world will be turned upside down several times, what you expect to be normal becomes special, but what you really desire lies beyond a sea of despair.''
I guess it holds until the end of the year, and now that I think about it, it''s accurate. I started this year as the crown-princess, became a hero, found true friends, and fell in love, but only after facing Lvo''tjos¡ªwho showed me what I really am¡ªand instructor¡ªwho destroyed my self-confidence¡ªI was able to make it last.
I already knew [Divination] is real, but only a few are able to use it for more than simple and broad forecasts. That''s why the rare oracles are so crowded, though strangely enough, none of them work for a country. My teacher said, it''s because their predictions are--- ...I forgot.
However, if Ara learns to be like an oracle, we would have it much easier: ¡°That''s a great idea!¡±
¡°Ahem!¡± My alfr friend is very proud of herself: ¡°Then I''ll--¡± She jumps backwards, as Kyou has moved closer: ¡°What are you planning, Momo?¡±
¡°Rine-chan, don''t let her trick you! She''s just looking for a reason to slack off while we''re helping these people!¡±
¡°Don''t trust her words, Katarine-san! While she''s right, it only makes sense for me to use my head instead of my feeble arms, and while there is no risk, the possible reward is immense!¡±
¡°Erm... Ara? You just admitted Kyou to be right.¡± I mean, what can I say other than: ¡°Come, let''s help them together.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
¡°I decline.¡± How can I convince her? ¡°Though I may be convinced to take care of the children.¡±
¡°Ah, that''s also fine, I think?¡±
¡°Rine-chan, she''s playing you.¡± Kyou leaves my arms, and turns to our alfr friend: ¡°Arako, you either earn your pleasure, or you''ll eventually regret it. I can wait.¡± Kyou, I somehow think that you''re threatening Ara despite smiling.
¡°Alright, alright.¡± It somehow works though: ¡°Just find me easy work then.¡±
With this, Ara sticks around Kyou, who takes charge of the kitchen swiftly, while I meet up with Kenza, who is arguing with Grekk: ¡°No need for a stockade,¡± he says patiently. ¡°No need to give them more weapons.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°How can I say... Ah, follow me.¡± He turns towards a woodshed, where there is a trunk lying around, ready to be processed into firewood at any point. He lifts the trunk, which is at least thrice as tall as himself with ease: ¡°This will be the part of the stockade.¡± After walking a few steps, he thrusts the trunk into the ground, by its flat end. This alone is enough to make Kenza walk a step back: ¡°In the best case, they''ll just pick it up and swing it around. In the slightly worse case, they take it and throw it into your buildings. In the far worse case,¡± with a punch, he shatters the whole trunk, and splinters of different sizes¡ªsome as small as needles, other as tall as spears¡ªare shot through the air and into the ground, ¡°they will use it like that.¡±
As Kenza seems to be speechless, I think I should answer that: ¡°That would do some damage. However, wouldn''t that mean that the buildings aren''t safe either?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Can every barbarian do that?¡±
¡°Erm... I don''t think so, now that you mention it. Though many will be able to swing them around.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± I add slowly. I think about what we''re actually trying to achieve, while turning to the matriarch. ¡°What will you do if you can''t bargain with the barbarians, Kenza? Fight?¡±
¡°While we may be able to fend off weaker monsters or make bandits second-guess, I doubt we could win against the barbarians. Unless the magic of your elf-¡±
¡°Alfr.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°She''s an alfr. That''s important.¡±
¡°...do you or any of your companions use magic to beat a band of barbarians?¡±
¡°Offensive-magic-wise, we only have Ara, and I doubt that she can fend off an attack on her own. For me, I guess...¡± I quickly draw Friedensbote and use my [Skill]: ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± It''s a flying sword-slash, capable of hitting several foes at once. ¡°I know, it''s not that much, but I''m also learning [Elemental Magic] again.¡±
¡°Not much? This seems plenty,¡± Kenza sighs in relief. ¡°Thank you. About the stockade, what would you suggest, Rine-dono?¡±
I really wish that Dear would be here to help me to make these decisions. This is the first time I realize how demanding it is when people ask you about things.
A small part of me feels relief to not be the crown-princess anymore, as that life would be like this all the time. Maybe I''m more fit to be a combatant after all.
Suddenly, someone interrupts us. ¡°Mom!¡± It''s Mirianne, who yells while running towards us: ¡°Obert went missing!¡± I don''t know who that is, but looking at Kenza''s reaction, it may be a child: ¡°Uncle Benjam is gathering people to look for him.¡±
¡°That little--- Do you even know where he went?¡±
¡°I think... I think he''s in the forest...¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Obert is a great warrior. Being ten means that he''s basically an adult. He''s the strongest of them all. At least among the kids that are old enough to help on the field.
He''s the child of Rald and Lurise, after all, two of the strongest people on this farm. Maybe Uncle Benjam is stronger, but that''s just because he used to be a soldier and therefore has a sword.
Obert has a secret: He also owns a sword.
His family may call him a brat, but he''s just more active than the rest. Quicker. Adventurous. Whenever he shows his wits and maturity, the adults call him cheeky or obnoxious. Obert is just ahead of his age.
They may see him as a troublemaker, but that''s just whenever he does things they don''t like. Why do they care at all if he has a pet squirrel? There are a hundred animals on the farm! It may have caused some trouble, but that¡¯s just because Obert hasn''t had the time to train it. The scratches were a sign of their friendship!
It''s not that he wanted to kill the rabbits, he just wanted to make their flesh more tender by scaring them a bit. Then they shiver, which will relax the muscles. It makes absolute sense.
Obert only peed into Keylinn''s closet, because Keylinn was mean. He said ¡®Obert is a stupid brat¡¯, which called for some retaliation. Having all the clothes peed on should have taught him to never cross Obert again.
Hiding leftovers, stealing some tools, insulting the other kids, there is a good reason for all of them, but the adults never listen. There is just punishment.
That''s why Obert hid his sword in the forest. He found it several months ago, when he was accompanying the sheeps to a grazing spot. There it was, half-buried, a bit rusted just beside the path. Probably lost ages ago. It had to be magical. He took it with him, hid it from the others that were with him, and finally got it into the forest.
Whenever there is a chance, Obert trains really hard. Uncle Benjam used to be a soldier, and Obert will be one as well. He''s already ten, so maybe in three more years. Unlike his cousin, he won''t waste away on the farm until he is too old for anything else.
He is brave, after all! He may have stumbled when the elf suddenly appeared, but elves are dangerous! It¡¯s already tricked several of the othe- of the children and even the adults are starting to warm up to it, but Obert knows that this one is a hideous creature that needs to be stopped.
But before that, there are the evil barbarians, another legendary enemy! With the help of all the training he went through, he will fight them back! That''s why he needs his sword! Even though his family may get angry at him for leaving without telling anyone... they probably won''t notice that he''s gone, with how many people live on the farm.
Nonetheless, when he returns with the sword and shows off his skills with it, they will admire him and allow him to leave to become a soldier¡ªno, a legendary swordsman. Just like Gottfried of Feuerberg! It will take four years at most.
Going through the forest isn''t scary at all. After all, he marked several trees with the lime they use to keep the monsters away from the fields. Surely, nobody noticed that Obert stole it. That could have been anyone.
There is the tree. It has much space under the roots, almost like a den. That means the sword is close. Hiding it in there would have been too easy, so he hid it a bit farther away. Turn your back towards that knothole... there, under the foliage before that tree!
Carefully, there is a blade to consider. There it is! Obert lifts the sword, though it''s very heavy. This only shows how strong his swings are! Better to do a small warm-up, so that he can show his full skills when he returns.
There is no reason to go to the training ground, as he won''t need to hide the sword anymore. He swings it against the tree, it makes a good sounding *thunk* when it hits, and even removes some of the bark. ¡°Take this, barbarian! Scum!¡± He repeats the swing, again and again: ¡°Kneel and face justice!¡±
¡°Wanna say it to my face?¡± The sudden voice makes Obert squeak. He turns around and sees a man in his late teens, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He wears a leather trouser, but above that is nothing. Yet, there are several weapons hanging from his belt, a sword, three daggers, a club, and an axe.
¡°AAAAAAAAH!¡± Obert jumps back, as someone topless with weapons has to be a barbarian. Obert tries to lift his sword to put something between himself and the barbarian, but while swinging it is just a bit tiring, holding it is nigh impossible.
¡°Found one!¡± The man shouts into the trees, and then a man and a woman at the same age, and a much older man join in. All of them with weapons, none of them wearing anything above their waist.
While Obert would usually stare at the breasts of the woman, he rather feels like he''s about to pee. That has to be the excitement. The woman snarls: ¡°Guess you were right, after all.¡±
The first man laughs and steps closer to Obert. The boy is unable to swing his weapon or run away, paralyzing fear has settled within him. ¡°Stay away!¡± He still can run his mouth, though. ¡°Or I''ll kill you!¡±
¡°Bahahaha! Seriously? Boy, you can barely lift the sword. But let''s talk, alright?¡± Obert nods, hopefully they don''t see him shaking. ¡°Great. First, what is your name? I''m Skall.¡±
¡°O-o-obert!¡±
¡°Nice to meet you, Obert. There is a place in the north where there are several cuts in the trees? Was that you?¡±
That has to be his training ground! ¡°Y-y-y-yes!¡±
¡°What were you doing there?¡±
¡°---tr-training, sir.¡±
¡°Only you?¡±
¡°Yes, sir...¡±
¡°Where do you live?¡± No, Obert couldn''t say it. He shakes his head. ¡°You won''t tell me? That''s sad.¡± Suddenly, Skall takes the blade of Obert''s sword between two fingers and thrusts the handle right into Obert''s chest.
IT HURTS!!!
¡°Again, Obert. Where do you live?¡± Skall smiles warmly, as if he has petted the boy instead of hurting him.
¡°--on a farm.¡± Please don''t hurt me, please don''t hurt me. ¡°Please-¡±
¡°Ulw?¡± Skall turns to the older man: ¡°Can you follow his tracks?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
¡°Well, Obert. Then that''s it. Hold still, it will be quicker.¡±
¡°Ah... I ANSWERED YOU! PLEASE! DON''T!¡±
¡°You may have answered my question, but I never said that I would let you live if you did, right? That''s all your fault for being a weak brat that sold out his family. Don''t worry, when you die, just wait a bit, and everyone you hold dear will follow soon.¡±
¡°H-HELP! HELP! MOM! DAD! UNCLE! HELP! HEEEEELP!¡±
¡°Also, don''t cry. Nobody will hear you in the forest anyway, and it''s mildly annoying.¡±
No, someone has to hear Obert. He knows that he''s far away, but people have to be looking for him. Please, someone save him!
Obert tries to free the sword from Skall''s grip, but the barbarian quickly tears it from Obert''s hand: ¡°I guess I can at least use your rusty lump of metal. Just stay still, it''ll be over soon.¡±
¡°PLEASE!¡± He pleads with the others, the older man, the other two teens, but everyone looks like they''re having the time of their life. They don''t care about the life of a boy at all, no, they stare with glee at that spectacle.
He should have run, but the only thing Obert can do is scream. Even though nobody will hear him. Even though nobody will save him. He can only stare at the tip of his trusty sword, which is moving upwards, ready to rip through shoulder and torso in one go.
Here it comes! *CLANK*
A strangely curved spearblade made out of bone blocks the attack. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± Suddenly, the tree behind the woman lashes out with its branches, grabbing her from behind. Someone else is there, someone heard Obert''s cry!
It''s a man wearing red armor and a hood of the same color. Obert totally forgot about the wounded ranger, who couldn''t move despite being healed. The wonderful, wonderful ranger, who will now fight off all the barbarians. Only a legend can defeat another one.
The ranger turns his head slightly to Obert, what kind of words will he use to instill hope and acknowledgment towards the boy? ''I heard your voice. Don''t worry, I''m here now.'' maybe? Or could it be ''You did well, now I''ll take over.''?
Now the ranger begins to speak, directing his inspiring words to the young Obert: ¡°Fuck off, turd!¡±
Volume 09 - Chapter 3-3
Scouting the woods is a good way to clear your thoughts. Maybe it''s because it awakens something more primal within me, cavemen instincts and such, but it''s like being in the moment, being aware of your surroundings and opening up to stuff. In a sense, it''s a sort of escapism.
You know what would be better for that? A game. Shit, I miss them so much!
Nonetheless, after months of living in this fantasy world¡ªmost of them outside¡ªI guess I lost my dislike of nature. No reason to dislike something you can''t get away from anyway, so better just adapt.
I use [Track], a skill which highlights the tracks lifeforms made around here. Aside from several woodland critters, I even see some boot tracks¡ªthe kind shitty fantasy footwork makes. This wood isn''t that small, and there are several markings and cut trees. Guess that''s where the farm people get their firewood from. There is also a brat, who plays there alone, but the latest tracks I found of that one are going back and are at least three days old, so if it''s smart, it stays on the farm.
Maybe we should put some traps inside the forest, though the traps I have in my [Inventory] are either for game or are improvised using my bombs, of which I have a rather limited supply. Enough to set another trap like back with the mercenaries, but not enough to mine this entire place.
This wood is a bit concerning, as it would give enough cover for a camp. I climb on a tree, trying to look for some bigger clearing. Hm... checked these ones. I guess I can move to the northern part of the forest then to finish up my scouting.
Something overlays with the annoying sound of squawking birds and running critters, [Pitch] allows me to hear it clearly though: ¡°I ANSWERED YOU! PLEASE! DON''T!¡±
Ah shit.
Without missing a beat, I jump from the tree and run towards the bratty cry. I activate my arsenal of stealthy skills: [Camouflage], [Sneak], [Hide Smell], [Mask of Wildlife], [Trackless], as being noticed as late as possible may be the only way to survive.
Using the voice of the brat, his cry for help, I come to the scene. Shit, four barbarians and a pipsqueak clad in the cheap clothes of the farmers. A blonde barbarian, maybe around my age, is about to cleave through the brat. I drop my skills, grab my spear from my [Inventory] and intercept the sword.
*CLANK*
While the rusty-sword barbarian¡ªlet''s call him Rusty¡ªneeds a second to take in what happened, I¡¯ve already sent my spirit out to a nearby tree: ¡°[Entangle]!¡± In this split-second, I chose to restrain the girl of the group, maybe thinking she would be the weakest and would take the most time to free herself.
So... each barbarian should be around my level¡ªaccording to Ara-san''s tier list, we''re all tier 2¡ªwhich means that I''m clearly outmatched. If I take into account that I should have the environmental advantage here, I guess I could take them on if everything goes well?
Yet there is a big problem: The brat. As long as it''s here, fighting using my strengths in hiding and ambushing is complicated at best and impossible at worst. Means I need to get rid of that pain in the ass: ¡°Fuck off, turd!¡±
Of course it didn''t work, as that shitty little waste of space is trembling so much that I would ask myself why he still hasn''t shat his pants. Or I would, if I weren''t busy deflecting an attack from another barbarian, another boy my age¡ªlet''s call him Fuzz, as he¡¯s trying to grow a beard¡ªwhile also keeping the rest in my sight. He shows his teeth, as I parry his mace-like club with a small movement.
¡°Inolf, where are your manners?¡± Rusty says while dropping the sword and drawing a better one. ¡°He''s mine!¡±
Seriously? Oh well, if they want to take me one-on-one, be my guest?
*Burst* Girl-barbarian¡ªlet''s call her Mole, as she has one above her lips¡ªtears the branches from her: ¡°He''s mine, Skall!¡± Oh, they''re fighting over me. Has it finally arrived? Is this my popular phase? I''m being sarcastic.
¡°No,¡± the older one¡ªhe''s not a Gramps, as he''s still far younger than Jii-san, so... Stale¡ªsays, playing into my sarcastic thought: ¡°He''s better than any of you.¡±
¡°What did you say?¡± Rusty snarks at Stale, though I think it''s too harsh, as I suddenly grew to like Stale, as he gave me relief with his assessment. ¡°Just because he blocked my blow?¡±
Well, if this will become a conversation... I try to push the turd away, make him take a step in hope he''ll just run away, but instead he falls over. Seriously!? Come on!
¡°If you see and fight enough battles, you get better at judging one person''s strength. Every movement, the way they position themselves, their presence, everything flows together. If you don''t believe me, go ahead. I''m neither your dad nor the chief.¡±
Rusty snorts: ¡°Don''t mind if I-¡± I guess the only way to handle it is to attack first. ¡°WHOAH!¡± He barely dodges my thrust, but the thrust becomes a swing to his feet, as his dodge puts him out of balance. I sweep his feet with ease, then I strike from above.
¡°Skall!¡± Fuzz hits my spear to the side, but I let it go with one hand and land a punch into his unshaven face. I feel his stubble on my fingers. It doesn''t really hurt, but is slightly uncomfortable. ¡°Uggh.¡±
I let my hand slide along my spear-shaft, ready to stab his eye with my short blade, but the long end is caught by Mole. She grins like a madwoman as her muscles bulge out to try to keep my weapon under control: ¡°Now let me-¡±
¡°[Entangle]!¡±
¡°Not again!¡± As branches grab her, I use her loss of focus to stab forwards while kicking Fuzz. If I were Rine, I could have put all my power into both attacks, but I prefer the stabbing over the kicking, as that''s the more permanent solution.
...flash of inspiration! Need to try that later!
I hit flesh and bone, but sadly, Mole blocks the blade with her arm. ¡°AAARGH!¡± Hurts, right?
¡°You stupid-¡± As Rusty tries to stand up, I retract my spear and knee him in the face.
Seriously? I mean, Stale already said I''m stronger than them. But that? These guys are pathetic.
This is the moment where Fuzz kicks a tree at me. It''s slow, as the roots are resisting, but I don''t want to know what will happen if I get buried under it.
Shit, turd is still there. I grab him before evading, this is exactly what I tried to not have to do. ¡°Seriously, just piss off!¡± I yell at him.
¡°Uhh---uh---uh...¡± Now he''s bawling. Great! Can''t he do that while running away!?
I seriously have no time to deal with that shitty brat! ¡°Go!¡± If pushing doesn''t work... I roughly grab him by the nape and lead him away from the barbarians.
¡°Uff...¡± Rusty stands up, blood drips from his broken nose. ¡°Shit! Why!?¡± He spits out while picking up his weapon, ¡°What is your deal!?¡±
I guess he''s as confused as me. I mean, I can''t believe how weak these guys are either. ¡°Sure you are barbarians?¡± I turn a bit so I can subtly prod turd to finally run with the other end of my spear, which may be pointy but... let''s hope that it works like stinging cattle. Meanwhile, I can buy a bit of time for him by engaging in that conversation.
¡°WHAT!?¡± Well, or I can piss them off greatly. That''s more my nature, I guess. ¡°You''re calling us weak?¡±
¡°...¡± That''d be like calling water wet, but I should seriously hold my tongue here.
¡°Oh, nothing to say!?¡± Rusty spits out once again while yelling that.
¡°Asshole!¡± Fuzz tries his best to insult me.
¡°I''m gonna push you down and have my way with you.¡± OK Mole, that''s nothing I want to hear from you.
¡°Phew...¡± Well, these guys are losers. I would almost feel pity for them, but... it was clear that Rusty tried to kill the turd, who still isn''t moving much! I''m about to kill that stupid brat myself. I mean, how often do I have to make it clear that he''s in the way!? Nonetheless, these guys won''t show any mercy, not even to children. ¡°One question...¡± I start in a low voice.
¡°Huh!?¡±
¡°There was a farmstead that was attacked by four... were you those four?¡±
¡°Oh? Had relatives there?¡± Rusty''s smirk is clear: I was asking about what he considered one of his finest works.
¡
...let''s kill all of them.
The moment that thought crosses my mind, Stale suddenly starts to move, kicking the tree that Fuzz kicked in my direction before, but instead of moving the whole tree, a part breaks from it, becoming a projectile as large as my head.
Thanks to [Focus], I get a picture where it''ll hit me and can move that part of my body out of its trajectory. OK, this one is definitely dangerous.
Stale starts shouting: ¡°Kill the boy!¡±
The younger ones are rattled by that command: ¡°But-¡±
¡°Just do it!¡± The old man draws a handaxe: ¡°[Serpent Slice]!¡± A flying cut, but unlike the ones I know, it curves and winds, making it hard to follow. Which I won''t get any time for, as he throws the weapon itself. Two [Skills] at once with the same weapon! At least almost: ¡°[Boomer-]¡± [Distraction]! ¡°[-axe]!¡±
[Distraction] is a [Stealth]-skill which makes people around you look away for one second. While it''s meant to open a window to activate other [Stealth]-skills to disappear¡ªespecially given that the targets usually don''t notice that they were made to look somewhere else¡ªit can also be used to throw off attackers.
Too bad it costs a bunch of SP, making repeated uses of it rather challenging, as low SP also means having less energy to fight.
In this case, it''s the save I need, as Mole, Rusty, and Fuzz are about to jump at the turd, but I''m faster. The [Serpent Slice] misses me, the [Boomeraxe] is thrown through a tree, cutting it cleanly¡ªurgh, better avoid it¡ªwhile I grab the turd by the collar.
Time to deeply traumatize a child.
I change to [Pikeman] for only a moment, throw the turd into the air, before changing back to [Ranger]: ¡°[Entangle]!¡± The upper branches grab the turd, while I jump at a branch, climbing up with little problem, because slow climbers will be caught by the roots¡ Don''t ask me about that... ¡°[Entangle]!¡± I target another tree, which means the one Turd is caught by releases him, only for him to be caught by the next one.
Seriously, I should have done so from the start.
¡°[Boomeraxe]!¡± The axe rotates so hard that it looks like a disc. I use [Focus] and realize that it will cut the tree beneath me and the one turd is at.
Shit! I could throw the axe off by using a power surge, but I can only use it in [Pikeman], which would cause Turd to fall to his death, which he has certainly earned at this point¡ªthat stupid slowpoke¡ªbut I kinda owe his family. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± So I launch another skill at the axe, hoping for a similar result.
Well, the handaxe bounces off, returning to its owner without a fail. That''s good. Less good is that I also bounce off, which makes me fly through the air for a tenth of a second, before I crash into a tree and fall down from it like a sack of potatoes.
Ouch.
Around a fifth of my HP. That''s not good. OK, Stale is definitely what I expect from a barbarian.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
I get up on my feet, but I see that Rusty and his friends are almost at Turd, who is bawling his eyes out. Too bad that I have Stale to deal with, who grins as his plan is coming to fruition.
It''s really simple: Just let the teens attack the boy, so I''m distracted to make it easier to kill me. ¡°...phew...¡± Well, it works well, as my [Entangle] idea backfired at me hard, as I can''t even switch classes right now.
Stale draws a hammer, it''s rather small if we compare it to warhammers in games. Guess, you don''t need that much hammerhead to kill someone.
I draw a smoke bomb and throw it at Stale, who covers his eyes, which is enough of a window for me to stand up and climb the tree. He may chop it down in a moment, but I need to move Turd, or he''s gone. First: ¡°[Entangle]!¡± I deliver him to another tree, which makes the barbarians change their course. They may not be too bad at climbing trees with their big jumps, but I was terroriz---trained by the alfar rangers!
With [Sneak] and [Mask of Wildlife] I make sure to avoid the eyes and ears of Stale, and I''m seriously surprised how well it works. I mean, I didn''t even use [Camouflage] as it was another SP-sink and I will need every single one of those points!
I release [Entangle], Turd cries: ¡°Whhhhhhoooo...¡± as he falls, but I catch him only to make a tree grab me with another ¡°[Entangle]!¡±
¡°There you are! [Boomeraxe]!¡± Two more trees take massive damage as I avoid this attack by letting myself drop a bit, before I let another tree take me. But this looks bad.
I lost almost all of my altitude, which means that my mobility is more limited. Well, I can work with it.
What is more challenging is how I run away with Turd. [Mask of Wildlife] and my [Stealth]-skills only work on me, and while I may create enough cover with a few smoke bombs to cover my retreat and I could use [Trackless], I have a wailing piece of shit with me, who will give away our location at any point. ¡°Wuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaa....¡±
¡°Shut up or they''ll get us!¡±
¡°Wuaaaaaaaaa!¡±
Seriously, that''s why kids are just such a pain in the ass. I mean, I may also be a hero which causes my mind to be able to put up with this pressure, but¡ª ...ah shit.
I start running while considering if I can knock that brat out without accidentally killing it. Having him with me slows me down enough for the barbarians to catch up, so my options are limited.
*BRBRKRRRR*
I see pieces of wood flying around me, I guess Stale has had enough and is willing to tear down the forest if needed.
My speed increases, which can only mean--- ¡°FETCH!¡±
I throw Turd into the air, who is caught by the cavalry. Or in this case, an alfr I happen to know well. ¡°Oh, did they make you cry?¡± Ara-san says to the child in her arms like it was an infant.
¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡± This cry is much louder than before, probably because he realized what caught him.
¡°Don''t worry, you sweet little thing.¡± Please Ara-san, you sound like a pedophile!
¡°Just get him away.¡±
¡°Sure. Would you mind repaying in kind those who dare to tear apart a forest?¡±
¡°Planning to.¡±
¡°[Boomeraxe]!¡± Stale throws his axe at Ara-san, but she''s much faster than it, as she''s an alfr [Acrobat] in a forest. No way they could catch her. Her mobility and speed are incredible in this terrain¡ªeven though she''s an absolute indoor type¡ªand she''s already out of sight.
Alright, now that this turd is taken care of, it''s time to kill these child-murdering pieces of crap!
The problem is Stale, so it''s better to deal with the others first. If I were to put it in game terms, this is a boss encounter with Stale as the boss and the others as mobs. It''s usually the smart move to deal with the trash first to decrease the number of their turns and attacks.
Within half of a second, I take in my environment. Stale is a short distance before me, his target is me, and he''ll attack in a second. Rusty is above to the right, he¡¯s looking at me, so he¡¯s reconsidering his options. Mole and Fuzz are still fixed on Ara-san and the latter is about to land on a branch.
¡°[Boomeraxe]!¡± Stale throws again, but he also dashes forward with his hammer, probably trying to keep me from simply evading him, but with another [Distraction] I throw his timing off, giving me the chance to slip away, right under the branch Fuzz is currently landing. The beard-growing asshole is jumping off, but I grab his ankle while changing to [Pikeman] to get the extra beef to keep my hold on the trunk despite the sheer power of his leap.
Argh, this feels like trying to hold a driving car with bare hands! At least I think so. I can''t keep Fuzz with me, but as he breaks through, he begins to flail through the air, he bumps against a thick branch with his chest, and instinctively grabs it with his arms and chin.
I switch back to [Ranger] for a jump of my own, feet-first right at the back of his head. ¡°URGH!¡± I hear the ugly sound of his throat being thrust against the wood as he begins to lose his strength.
With a quick step, I help myself onto the same branch, lift my spear and thrust it to the side of Fuzz''s neck. Blood splashes out. He loses his grip and falls down to earth, possibly breaking his neck, but I''m pretty sure I hit his throat anyway.
¡°YOU!¡± Rusty jumps at me, maybe feeling something like righteous anger, but with my [Focus] I know his trajectory exactly. Evading him won''t be a problem, but Stale found me again and is about to throw his axe again, probably hesitating because he may hit Rusty if he messes up the timing.
Instead of meeting Rusty, who may hit my spear aside when I brace it, I grab the trunk and evade the attack by slingshotting myself into Rusty''s back: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡±
¡°Uh!¡± He grunts, despite having half of my blade in his back. He also tries to grab me, and while Rine would most likely somehow move on his back while falling, I''m not able to for some reason, despite making some very reality-challenging moves.
We hit the ground, I''m at least able to break my fall somewhat by rolling over Rusty, who got a nasty cut in his back, as I didn''t really care about precision while pulling my spear out of his body during my somersault.
Stale comes rushing, he looks pissed. ¡°[Sandcleaver]!¡± He cuts with his axe from low to high, and a blade out of dirt follows, leaving a fissure where it goes, growing bigger and smaller during its travel.
Ah, whenever it cuts a root, it loses strength, it seems. I rush back at Rusty, grab him with one hand while changing to [Pikeman] and throwing him into that attack.
It''s not pretty. Let''s say that bloody sand and intestines may be the cause of my next nightmares, and I''m happy that I had the mental fortitude of [Pikeman] in that moment, as the realization of how much a single mistake may cost is horrifying.
¡°SKALL! INOLF!¡± Mole may have realized that I''m killing her friends, though technically, Stale killed the second one.
¡°Shit!¡± Stale is also looking haunted, but that doesn''t seem guilt-ridden.
¡°Ulw! Let''s run!¡±
¡°Don''t be stupid! If we run, he''ll hunt us down!¡±
To my own surprise, I start to talk: ¡°Shitty when things turn around, isn''t it?¡± My voice even gives me the chills, though I also realize where this is coming from: ¡°Used to bully only the weak, aren''t you?¡± I know plenty of people like that, and they always get under my skin.
¡°Did you call us cowards!?¡± Mole exclaims: ¡°We''re barbarians! We''ve faced dangers countless times, we are proud warriors!¡±
¡°You''re a bunch of self-aggrandizing bandits and murderers.¡± The cold hatred I feel is boiling up from my stomach, looking at these people makes me sick. ¡°How many elders and children did you kill when you attacked the farm?¡±
¡°Woda, support me. I''ll rip him apart.¡± Stale doesn''t justify his actions or ask for mercy, so I can at least recognize the honesty. He takes a step forward, forfeiting any kind of defense, which seems too reckless.
He lunges out and I can feel the force of his attack even now. If he hits me with it, he may break every bone in my body. ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± That''s the time for a power surge! I lunge forwards before he can throw his attack, the speed and power of my skill much higher than usual.
*KRONK*
I push him back, but I don''t do any damage. I know this skill! He hardened his skin for a brief moment, but that explains his lack of defense and why he didn''t use a skill during his attack as well. Though this defensive skill has a fatal flaw.
Not that I can use it while Mole is still here. She throws herself at me as I still need to get my footing back, attacking with her feet and a mace. That way I can''t pursue Stale, which negated the advantage I had before I was able to grab it.
Her swings are wide, most likely she''s more concerned in keeping me off-balance than finishing me. It¡¯s the smart move, sadly, as I''m rather confident at this point that I can kill her the moment she lowers her guard.
Therefore I avoid her attacks while keeping tabs on Stale, who is about to rush in again. Mole also notices it, and shifts her weight to jump back and get out of the way. This allows me to straighten myself for a moment and get in a proper stance, but Stale is already too close and he does the same as before: No defense, insane power.
I opt to evade that attack this time, the air pressure throws me back a bit, and under normal circumstances I''d be attacked by Mole now.
She''s busy though. Busy with the shards of ice that were thrown into her back. ¡°Huh?¡±
Are they that dumb? I mean, of course Ara-san would return the moment she put Turd into a safe spot. The alfr-girl is squatting on a nearby tree, looking down at the barbarians with her usual non-telling face, but I sense her anger without even seeing her. Seems that even as a [Pikeman] my spirit-sense has improved greatly.
¡°Oh?¡± Ara-san says in wonder towards me: ¡°You wanted to deal with them on your own to ascertain your wish for dominance? Then I have to apologize for my intrusion.¡± Don''t fuck with me now!
¡°Bitch!¡± Mole turns to the alfr and I''m sure she had either an attack or at least a stupid line to throw at her.
However, Ara-san already answers her by switching to [Acrobat]: ¡°[Stingfall]!¡± Mole evades, but Ara-san just uses her staff to sling herself back at the female barbarian: ¡°[Scorpion''s Tail]!¡±
The only question I have is why Ara-san seems to be keen to actually fight her, instead of hurling more spells at her, but I''m kinda busy with Stale, who decided that now is a good time to crush my head.
Well, I''m just stalling for time now, so let''s switch back to [Ranger] to keep evading and use [Focus] to foretell any other skills.
Maybe a minute later, Ara-san grows tired of fighting Mole, swaps back to [Druid], and continues to throw [Icicle Knives] and [Root Lances] against Mole, until she resembles a porcupine. ¡°That was mildly inconvenient.¡± Then do that in the first place! ¡°Style is always a consideration,¡± she replies to whatever my spirit tells her. ¡°Let''s move on before Katarine-san arrives.¡± So Rine is on her way as well? Why isn''t she... ¡°She went ahead.¡±
¡
...alright, she probably used her sprinting-skill to go as fast as possible, but lacks ways to track people down in forests. I guess Ara-san found me so quick with her supreme hearing, though I''d trade her in a heart-beat for Rine in fights.
Oh well, Ara-san will do. ¡°He''s using [Iron Defense].¡±
¡°I see.¡± Ara-san and I talk a lot about skills, and she knows many of them. That''s why both of us know exactly how to deal with it. She swaps back to [Acrobat], running into Stale''s back, timing her attack with mine.
Stale uses a skill himself: ¡°[Serpent Slice]!¡± His chop becomes a flying slice that starts winding around him, I guess that skill is kinda versatile?
Not enough for two people with superior motion-tracking though, as Ara-san precisely thrusts the thick end of her staff through a gap, while I aim for his feet.
Stale kicks against my blade, but takes the hit in the back, then he swings his axe while spinning, which causes him to be cut by me at the leg while I step the minimal amount needed back, while Ara-san strikes him at the side during the same motion.
¡°Phew...¡± Of course he has [Regeneration], I can see the cut starting to close already. That will consume his stamina though, so we''re absolutely winning.
That''s also what Stale believes, which may be the reason why he uses another full power attack against me, ignoring his defense. I use the full reach of my spear to stab into his chest, I hear the screaming of my blade scratching along his hardened skin.
Stale steps forward, ready to crush my head in, but then drops his hammer while crying out in pain: ¡°Argh....¡± No wonder, as his hand was hit by Ara-san''s staff with all of her power... which mind you, isn''t much in the greater scheme, but is still bound to hurt a lot.
Ara-san jumps over the pained barbarian and for some reason ¡°Ken-kun!¡± I know what she wants. I swap to [Pikeman], grab her staff, swing it with her around while spinning back, and she lands with both feet into Stale''s face, which has much more power in the aforementioned greater scheme.
It''s almost like I can predict Ara-san''s movement. She will jump up to attack from above, so I should attack from below: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± He blocks it, but that''s OK: ¡°[Rising Point]!¡±
¡°[Stingfall]!¡±
*KKRRRRRR*
He put up [Iron Defense] in time, and even though I hoped that the impact will be enough for his organs, he''s toughing it up. Though not for long. [Iron Defense] has something like a cooldown, and the moment it''s over, the spear blade on his stomach will cut.
¡°Urghh... [Serpent Slice]!¡± He takes the cut to surround him once again with his flying axe-chop, but while Ara-san and I step back to avoid and aim our next attacks, he rushes through his own skill, taking the cuts over his body, to run as fast as he can.
Why? He already knows that I will track him down and kill? Well, I guess he''s either emotional in his judgment or just hopes that I will let him go.
Not that this will happen.
He''s fast though, and he starts to just run through the trees like a truck, so giving him chase immediately seems difficult, especially given that I used quite some SP during the whole ordeal. I guess, I''ll chuck some SP-pots and just follow his very hard to overlook tracks, and-
Ah, no need.
¡°HUAHAHAHA!¡± Stale sees the same as I, a single girl who doesn''t look like she belongs in the woods. She looks stunningly beautiful, as she looks at the gray-haired barbarian questioningly, especially as he throws his axe at her, aiming at her feet. ¡°[Boomeraxe]!¡±
My best guess is that Stale tried to capture her, but she jumps right into the whirling axe in a twist dive, uses her hand to push herself off the axe towards Stale, draws her sword, and splits the barbarian''s head and torso in half, before the screeching sound of [Iron Defense] stops her blade.
Usually, she would be hit by Stale''s corpse, who is still in full forward momentum, but she uses her sword to pull herself closer, plants one foot on each of Stale''s face-halves, frees her blade, and makes a backflip off the still moving barbarian, before the same hits the ground.
In the air, she flicks the sword to free it from blood, before she lands on both of her feet like a gymnast.
That''s my girlfriend, Katarine von Stolzherz.
¡°Ah!¡± Sometimes she kills stuff before she realizes what happened, which makes her startling reaction understandable, yet also very concerning: ¡°I did it again! Is that a farmer!?¡± She lifts her free hand to catch Stale''s returning handaxe: ¡°But he was carrying a weapon... wait, you can also use axes to chop wood! What to do!?¡±
¡°...Ara-san?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°With which premise did you two enter the woods?¡±
¡°To look for a missing child.¡±
¡°So she doesn''t know about the barbarians?¡±
¡°Not yet, but maybe she will catch on in a moment?¡±
¡°You don''t plan to tell her?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because this is funny.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I can''t dismiss that argument entirely.
¡°Ah!¡± Rine looks at the body closer: ¡°He''s topless. Is he a barbarian? Or a lumberjack, who worked so hard that he took off his shirt?¡±
In a sense, it''s pitiful and scary that Rine can''t tell the difference between a lumberjack and a seasoned warrior while cutting them down...
Volume 09 - Chapter 4-1 – The preparation went weird
Chapter 4 ¨C The preparation went weird
Almost a year ago.
I look down at the meat on my plate. The plate that I earned many years ago during a raid. The meat was probably hunted, but maybe it was also just taken from a farmstead. It''s horse-meat, so maybe the mount of a messenger?
Why do I care?
It''s not cut into small pieces. Despite my age, I still insist on tearing off the flesh with my teeth, as this promises the juiciest experience, though some may run down my beard. I used to like it, but for now I don''t even touch the meat, just staring at it like it''s trying to hypnotize me.
I hear my grandchild asking my child¡ªthat one is called J?rk, but what is the grandchild''s name?¡ª¡°Why isn''t grandpa eating anything? Is he too old?¡±
J?rk takes a quick glance at me, probably fearing my reaction, but comes to the conclusion that I haven''t heard it, while softly chiding his brat not to call me old.
Well, it may be true. I finally may be old.
Is it that? Do I ask for the sweet embrace of death? ...nah, while I wouldn''t mind it, I also have no desire for that yet.
The unease in my heart is still growing though. I wish I could ask Kalle for his insight, but he died thirteen years ago by an arrow in his eyeball. I avenged his death, the archer wasn''t too shabby, but he certainly was too confident about his range.
...I even start to lament about the old days like old people.
No, thinking it over on my own doesn''t help at all. I need someone to talk to, and I''m surrounded by family. It''s their duty to listen to the stories of their elders and help them in any way possible.
As J?rk''s brat has insulted me, let''s take it out on them. I stand up, take my bowl, and go to their fire. ¡°Mind if I sit here?¡± J?rk, a daughter of mine, their mates, and their children are all there, so with me it makes ten people.
¡°Erm... sure, dad.¡± He seems kinda stressed. Or rather, in fear. Maybe he remembers too well what happened with Hass before. ¡°How was your day?¡±
¡°Boring.¡± This single word causes warning bells to ring around the campfire as it earns wry smiles and shocked expressions.
Why are they so alarmed? It''s not like I''ll tear down the camp because I''m bored. Even in my younger days, I would just run through the land, causing problems for others instead of my clan.
Like that one time when I redirected that river into a forest to see if the trees could take in all the water or if it¡¯d become a swamp instead... thinking of it, I never returned there. Also, there are plenty of rivers that flow through forest areas so...
Wait, I''m insinde my thoughts again! ¡°J?rk, how was your day?¡±
¡°Not that exciting either, really.¡± He''s probably lying. Why does he lie? ¡°I was just down the river with Pitt there.¡± He puts his hand on my grandson. ¡°Teaching him how to catch fish.¡±
Come to think of it, did I teach J?rk how to fish? Also, why do I have a grandson called ''Pitt'', that''s a horrible name and no descendant of mine should be called that as long as I live. Why didn''t he consult me on how to name his brat!?
I look at the faces around me, realizing that I know almost none by name. Despite being familiar, despite being family, they''re barely better than strangers.
In that same moment I also notice that I''m a stranger to them.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Tehehe...¡± I walk arm in arm with Rine, who is understandably glad that she didn''t kill an innocent lumberjack by accident.
However, I have an entirely other bone to pick: ¡°Ara-san, your tier list is trash!¡±
¡°What!?¡± She''s offended by it, but I don''t care: ¡°What do you mean!?¡±
¡°I''m tier 2, right? I still held my own against four barbarians who are supposed to be tier 2 as well!¡± Even killing three of them: ¡°You even killed one yourself and you''re tier 1 by your own estimation!¡±
¡°Ken-kun, before I will defend myself, I need to inquire something to make my case. As I''m bad at guessing human ages, I need to inquire: How old were they?¡±
¡°Three of them around my age, the last one... maybe fourty or fifty?¡± I''m also bad at guessing the ages of western people.
¡°My tier list uses adult people, and even I know that you''re still not an adult, Ken-kun.¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
That makes sense! I totally forgot that it''s kind of sick and wrong that people my age fight like that. Though... looking at my girlfriend, who is biologically a year younger than me... ¡°Is something wrong, Dear?¡±
¡°Just surmising how much of a freak you are.¡±
¡°What!?¡± She clamps down my arm, which hurts a bit, but given how much physical pain she usually gives, that''s barely an issue: ¡°What do you mean!?¡±
¡°Rine, you''re unbelievably strong, and I can only guess how many other people your age can even be compared to you.¡±
¡°Is that a praise?¡±
I scratch my head, as I need a second to think about it: ¡°Phew... yes, it is.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
With a beaming smile, she quickly presses her lips on my cheek, which makes my face understandably hot.
Ara-san asks us in a tone that tells me that she''d roll her eyes if she were human: ¡°Do you need a moment for sex? I can wait.¡±
Rine answers quickly: ¡°Ah, not yet. First, we need to tell the people on the farm that we got the barbarians and check on Obert.¡± ...OK, does that mean that if it weren''t for that, she''d be totally fine with it!?
It seems that Rine is rather open to it, and I don''t know how to answer that. I mean, it''s not like I don''t like the thought, but I''m still getting used to being in a relationship at all!
I need to speak with her about it later, I guess.
¡°Phew...¡±
¡°Something wrong, Dear? Bothered about the killing?¡±
Well, I added some more kills to my count, that''s true, and it still doesn''t feel great, but it''s much easier to kill bandits and murderers than people who actually protect something. ¡°Not really. Just a bit surprised myself how easy it was this time.¡± I guess, as my girlfriend, she has a right to know one or two things. I''m also sure that her kill-count is much higher. ¡°What about you, Ara-san?¡± This may be the first time she has killed people. It''s not like this is a topic we would talk about casually.
¡°I''m just surprised that she didn''t use any [Skills].¡±
¡°I noticed. Only Stale could use some.¡±
Rine lifts her hand, telling us that she wants to say something: ¡°That''s something I recently learned... the few people learning [Skills] do so when they''re fully grown.¡± She talks about a conversation Gottfried had with the rest of his group, about how skills basically destroy a growing body, and only heroes are the exception, which would explain why Rine only learned skills when she became a hero.
I guess that skills in general are something people usually don''t talk about, which makes kinda sense? I mean, there is magic, so any skill would be thought of as a spell by any amateur. Those who know, don''t have a reason to tell outside their peers.
Hm... maybe they also don''t want to spread around the knowledge of skills that much? I mean, this is a fantasy world and it doesn''t have the internet. Keeping things secret is much easier, and if stuff comes out, it may become distorted and unrecognizable.
So why didn''t Rine know about it? Maybe some sort of strange courtesy to tell only adults about it? Or maybe because she''s so talented, that she would have been able to figure out how to use skills on her own if she knew about them?
Well, maybe people know about skills and it''s just that I¡ªwho happens to not converse much with others¡ªnever had reason to learn about it. Therefore I just did the natural thing as an ignorant loner and just assumed that if nobody talks about it, they don''t know.
I mean, most people in the modern world do know roughly how electricity works. Try to include that naturally in a conversation!
¡°Only one question!¡± I turn to Ara-san: ¡°Why doesn''t the supposed ''hero-sage'' know how skills work with non-heroes, despite being an important hero-mechanic?¡±
¡°You already answered your question yourself, Ken-kun. Why should the hero-sage bother with non-heroes in the first place?¡±
¡°I already said, it''s about an important hero-mechanic! Do your homework!¡±
¡°Ken-kun!¡± Ara-san gasps in shock: ¡°Do you imply that I don''t fulfill my duties to your full satisfaction?¡±
¡°...¡± I really have a bad feeling about it. ¡°There is room to improve.¡±
¡°I see. So would you be satisfied if I waited for you in bed every evening with a wet crotch instead, so I can be the best sex toy of yours possible?¡± I KNEW IT!
¡°Phew...¡±
¡°Hmpf!¡± Rine clings harder to my arm: ¡°Ara, you shouldn''t say something like that. Is that a joke of yours?¡±
¡°Yes, it is,¡± the white-haired girl answered without a pause.
¡°I start to think that you actually want to get closer to Dear than you already are.¡±
¡°When I''m desperate enough, I may consider it.¡±
...alright, this is getting into areas I really don''t want to explore! ¡°Could we get back to topic?¡±
¡°Sure.¡± Don''t talk like you''re giving me permission!
¡°Phew... OK, so the reason why these suckers were relatively pathetic was their age, and we have to go with Stale¡ªthe old one¡ªas a proper barbarian... Phew... maybe we should have captured one, so that we could ask some questions.¡± Hindsight is always 20/20.
¡°I agree, though I also can''t fault you for having other priorities at the time,¡± Ara-san excuses my action, though she did one in herself.
¡°I think it was a scouting party,¡± Rine chimes in, ¡°I learned that barbarians like to train their youths with scouting missions.¡±
I sometimes forget that Rine actually went through royal education, including militaristic training: ¡°So now that they''re dead, what can we expect?¡±
¡°Hm...¡± She cocks her head for two seconds: ¡°I can only guess.¡±
¡°Go ahead.¡±
¡°Depending on the scouting range, it will take one or a few days for the main force to learn that their scouts didn''t return. They will either send an elite scout party to investigate or a small battle group, including one or more skilled scouts.¡± Makes sense.
¡°Let''s ask Jii-san,¡± I decide. ¡°He may know more.¡±
As we return to the farmstead, there are already several people in the courtyard that connects the most important buildings, all armed with their tools. There is Turd, clinging to his mother while the matriarch tries to ask him some questions.
¡°HEY!¡± A random guy sees us and starts waving at us: ¡°THEY''RE BACK!¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Woooooohooooo!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± What is that? A howl? A cheer? Please not a cheer. Shit, they really look like they''re happy to see us, which isn''t exactly a situation I''m used to. That''s awkward.
¡°Come, Dear!¡± Rine heads to the crowd and drags me with her. Literally.
There''s no way that I will get close to these superficial friendly people, who don''t even understand the shit I could have gone through if those teens didn''t suck so hard.
¡°Ranger! Ranger! Ranger!¡± Is it worse being called out by name or by [Class]? I have no idea, but I really hate it.
I plant my feet on the ground, trying my best to resist Rine''s efforts to get me there. I mean, in pure physical terms I might be stronger than her, so unless she hits me, twists my limbs, or does something aside from straightforward dragging, I must persevere! ¡°Moh!¡± For starters, she tries it with more strength, the moment of truth.
Then Ara-san gives me a push. Literally. I put my foot forward to avoid a fall, but now Rine effortlessly forces me with her, as I can''t take a firm stance anymore.
¡°Fuck you, Ara-san!¡±
¡°Joke''s on you: I already masturbated today.¡± Too much info!
¡°Would you mind your language in front of other people?¡± Kyou-san appeared out of nowhere and now gives us a look as if we''re watching porn on our smartphone with speakers in public.
Well, even the crowd looks at us as if they wished they hadn''t heard that exchange. Not that I really care, in fact, I prefer that more than any cheers.
Boss-woman comes forward, puts the back of her right hand on the palm of her left and lowers her head: ¡°We''re thankful for you saving Obert, Ranger-dono.¡± The other adults follow her example: ¡°Thank you, Ranger-dono!¡± That''s awkward.
Then a man comes forward, lifting his hand as if he wants to slap my shoulder or back. I push my hood a bit backwards, so he can properly see my death glare: ¡°Come one step closer, and I rip your throat out!¡±
He freezes, hand still up. I get stares from everyone around me. That''s awkward.
Well, Kyou-san is here to smooth the waters: ¡°I have to apologize for Ken''s behavior. He''s not used to crowds, so please respect his personal space. OK?¡± She winks, using her [Persuasion] to give a round of mind-fuck all around, the awkwardness melts away like my outburst was nothing but a lovable quirk of mine.
These farmers are nothing but prey for heroes!
Kyou-san keeps being in charge: ¡°Kenza-san? Could you show us a room where you and I can hear from Ken the details? Of course, you can take Benjam-san, and Jahn-san with you, I just think a smaller circle would make it easier.¡±
I don''t mind it though. Let''s leave these people-things to someone who actually cares.
Volume 09 - Chapter 4-2
We''re sitting in the same room as before, the one where we heard about the sad fate of Green Horst. Dear has finished with his report, though it wasn''t much all in all. He met four barbarians that were about to kill Obert, who he fought and killed. He did find out that these were the four barbarians responsible for the destruction of Green Horst, so at least those deaths were avenged.
Grekk asked some questions about the clothes and items these barbarians wore: ¡°The feather totem together with the area would make me think of the Northwind Clan. When I was younger, Brimm led them, and I guess his brat will now be the chieftain. Brimm was a coward who liked easy prey.¡±
Kenza inhales deeply, most likely concerned with being designated as ''easy prey'', while Jahn raises his shoulders in indignation: ¡°We''ll show them that we''re not easy prey!¡±
¡°Yeah, right.¡± Somehow this doesn''t sound like Grekk is taking that seriously.
¡°Would taking a stand work?¡± Kenza asks the old barbarian, who has more experience than all of us together.
¡°Of course, it would,¡± he answers seriously: ¡°the Northwind Clan does usually do more threat than harm. Those four may be a sign of a change in leadership, though.¡±
I speak up: ¡°I have a question: I told Dear before that I believe that they will probably send a second group first to look what happened to the first one. That''s what I learned about barbarians. Is that correct?¡±
¡°Yeah, probably ten actual warriors, with maybe one or two youths to train them.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± Dear takes the word: ¡°What would happen if we kill all of them as well? Would they avoid this place?¡±
¡°Unlikely. That would be a challenge, and it could be another tribe, after all. They would most likely move camp even closer.¡±
¡°What if there was a returnee?¡±
¡°Then even more so to crush us for daring to stand up against them.¡±
¡°Is there any way to just make them stop? Sending them a message or so?¡±
¡°Won''t work, I think.¡±
¡°What are you!? A bunch of battle-freaks!?¡±
¡°Yes, we are.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I can see how much the exchange takes from Dear. He¡¯s thinking of a way to minimize damage, but it seems to be fruitless. ¡°Is there a way to force them to do what we want!?¡±
¡°...ah! A Trenvig!¡±
¡°What''s that!?¡± I''m as confused as Dear.
¡°We barbarians fight against each other a lot. But we have a way to settle it without taking too many casualties. If it''s clear that multiple battles won''t solve the conflict and just takes more deaths than it''s worth, we do a Trenvig. It''s a series of three challenges, the Challenge of Champions, the Challenge of the Elders, and the Challenge of the Chieftains. Whoever wins two of them can ask the other tribe several things. Like half of the wealth. Or to avoid a certain place the other tribe claimed.¡±
¡°And they follow that?¡±
¡°Yeah, breaking a Trenvig is one of the few things we barbarians wouldn''t do. Because it''s part of what we are.¡±
¡°But the problem is that we''re not a barbarian tribe.¡±
I have an idea! ¡°Then let''s make one! Or Grekk can welcome us to his!¡±
¡°You heard her, lad. Let''s get married!¡±
Dear stands up, yelling at Grekk: ¡°FUCK OFF!¡±
¡°But it''s the only way to become a barbarian, kehehehe!¡±
¡°FUCK IT!¡±
¡°Dear?¡± I touch his arm, and he calms down a bit: ¡°I think, this is just a joke? Also, two men can''t get married.¡± The ritual only works with a husband and a wife, after all. With marriage, the spouses are divinely bound to each other, protecting their unborn offspring. Two men can''t have babies with each other, so the thought is silly.
They still can be lovers, though.
¡°Well, we barbarians don''t marry often anyway, so let''s just become lovers, and we need Yenns to acknowledge it. Ah, that''s the current chief. Hm... may be difficult to find him now, though. I think they''re around the Lake Sea at this time?¡±
The Lake Sea is south of D¨¦juma, that''s quite a distance. Also, it''s really big, so ¡®around the Lake Sea¡¯ is not very accurate. ¡°Dear? Sorry for suggesting it.¡±
¡°Phew... nah, was worth a try. Hm... boss-woman, here''s something to think about: We''ll probably be fine for a few days. Last chance for you to flee to a nearby town or so. While you decide what to do, we''ll prepare on our own. Training you farmers won''t do shit, there''s too little time, but we''re heroes and may be able to unlock some new [Skills] or such.¡±
¡°I don''t know what you''re speaking of, but thank you nonetheless.¡±
With this, we leave the room so that the leaders can speak among themselves. Kyou didn''t say much during the meeting and even now she just looks upset, especially when looking at Dear, as if he has scattered the fields with sugar to attract ants. ¡°Kyou?¡± I ask her, ¡° Is something wrong?¡±
¡°Just looking at a clear case of double standards.¡±
Dear turns to her: ¡°Hah!?¡±
¡°What was that about ''Don''t use your [Persuasion] on them!?¡±
¡°The moment I get more than 50 [Persuasion] we can start to talk, Miss [Persuasion] 214.¡± Ah yeah, they''re talking about the [Persuasion]-attribute! I move my hand so I can focus to open my status, then I switch to Dear''s... [Persuasion] 34... That''s rather low, right?
Let''s compare it to the rest! Mine is 206, so below Kyou''s. Ara''s 182, even lower than mine. Grekk shouldn''t have one, as he''s not a hero. So Dear is at least ahead of Grekk! I''m happy for him!
I''m less happy that Kyou and Dear are bickering. ¡°Don''t fight please.¡±
Kyou looks at me as if I asked a cat to stop eating meat, but after inhaling sharply, she stays quiet at least. ...I sure hope that she''s not bottling things up, she really seems on the edge lately.
Maybe it''s my fault? Because of me, she went through being captured by Instructor, after all.
I have no time to think about it though, as the moment Dear opens the door to the outside, we''re surrounded by people cheering at us, or rather: At Dear.
Of course they would, as Dear gallantly rescued a child in need, and beat the invading barbarians. I''m so proud of him.
Look at the smiling faces, these people know that Dear is the best! His kindness, his helpfulness, his coolness! Even though he may try to hide it, he''s showing these traits again and again and I love him for that!
I see Obert, who looks at Dear with wide eyes, thankful for his savior. He''s even sweating out of excitement and despite his mother nudging him to say something, he''s so tense that he can''t even say a word. He even turns away, clearly unable to look at Dear. His heart has to be beating really fast, as he''s already out of breath.
Kyou also looks at Obert, though she looks at him more as he''s the sole survivor of a very unfortunate accident. On the other hand, Dear really dislikes bathing in the admiration of these people, pulling his hood over his face, trying his best to ignore the cheers and the kind words the farmers offer to him.
¡°Sorry.¡± I say to them, as Dear walks pass them in large steps, only stopping after finding a place where nobody would hear us. ¡°Dear, are you alright?¡± I''m really concerned.
¡°No. What a bunch of idiots.¡±
¡°Why? They''re just recognizing you.¡±
¡°They aren''t. They''re just trying to put me on a pedestal.¡±
¡°Of course they do. They admire you! You have saved a child! If that''s not a person to look up to, who else would be?¡±
¡°Pff! Haven''t you seen that turd? He''s traumatized.¡±
¡°He could have been dead.¡±
¡°...¡± It looks like Dear wants to say something, but then decides to remain silent. I really want to know what he¡¯s thinking at this moment...
¡°Lad,¡± Grekk chimes in: ¡°No matter what you think, you did what you did. And from my standpoint, you did well.¡±
¡°Shut up! We need to talk about a bunch of whole other things. Let me be clear, I don''t plan to stick to this until the bitter end. If things go south, just run away and I''ll find all of you. Especially you, Rine!¡±
¡°Ah, how sweet!¡± As we''re lovers now, he really wants to make sure I''m safe, even though I can defend myself.
¡°That''s not what I mean! You''re just the one who will most likely fight until the very end, and that''s way too late. If you don''t escape in time, then you''ll endanger the rest of us as well! So don''t do it! Promise me!¡±
¡°I won''t!¡± If people need protection, I''ll give it.
¡°Rine-chan?¡± Kyou will try to convince me, but this is a thing I can''t bulge on, so I have to be firm and- ¡°What is more important? The farm, or the people?¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°The people of course.¡±
¡°And that''s why it''s important to lead them away the moment it becomes too dangerous for them. You know better what to do and when it''s better to retreat than them, so you have to lead them by example.¡±
¡°Ah, that makes sense. That''s what Dear meant!¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah, sure.¡± He''s just bashful. ¡°If boss-woman decides to keep a stand, there are some things we can do. First, I''ll secure some escape routes, keep your backpacks on you every time and be prepared to run through the woods. Second, Rine and Ara-san will be in charge of creating a surveillance network.¡±
¡°How so?¡±
¡°Birds. Both of you can talk to animals, so let''s abuse the hell out of them. Convince them to fly to you when they spot several people and tell you where they are. Birds can''t be too hard to bribe, and that will give us some time. Jii-san, I''ll show you the corpses of the barbarians, we''re going to put them on display with a message.¡±
¡°Lad, I can''t read or write. Most barbarians can''t.¡±
¡°Then just stick with Rine and Ara-san instead and let them do the writing. And ''most barbarians'' doesn''t mean all of them, right? Ara-san, show him the corpses when you¡¯re done with the birds, I really don¡¯t want to waste time I can spend scouting.¡±
¡°Putting them on display!?¡± Kyou is very upset by it. ¡°Like, as a warning!? What are you thinking!¡±
¡°I¡¯m thinking about how we can get out of this alive, thank you for your concern! If we put each of them in a different spot, chances are that the corpses will be spotted by their scouts and they may take the message with them, which will simply be an offer to negotiate to limit the losses. Kyou-san, while we''re busy, make sure to make more poultices and such, we''ll need them.¡±
¡°Don''t take too long, there is a rainstorm tonight.¡± Kyou can use [Weather Forecast], so we always know how to prepare. Though predicting rainstorms in Deepdrop is rather easy, especially so late in the month.
¡°Then let''s not waste time. Tomorrow there will be more to do. Let''s hope that the rain will wash away their tracks, so that they only know the direction their scouts vanished.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Phew...¡± I finished scouting and got a rough idea of the layout. There are plenty of places to hide in the area, as aside from the fields, there are woods, cliffs, small caves, and such. The wind has taken up, the smell of upcoming rainy weather fills the air. Is there a word for it? It sometimes reminds me of water and iron, but not really. Maybe it''s something like ionized air?
Oh well, no reason to overthink it. While I wish the rain will stop tomorrow, this is reality: The weather doesn''t care what you want.
Currently, I''m following the tracks of the barbarians from before, trying to find a general direction they came from to have better instructions for Ara-san and Rine to convey to the new recruits. I sure hope they can make it work, but if Rine can befriend cougars, bribing some birds to be a lookout should be easy. It''s not like we need more than some seeds and berries, I imagine.
What a fairy tale princess. She speaks to animals, she dances, she sings, and she kicks everyone''s ass with little effort. Point the one thing out that doesn''t fit.
Hm... Strange. It seems like the barbarians changed direction here. Why, though? Here are rocks, barely any scrubs, and while the border of the forest area is in sight, there is a river down there, following it would make more sense to find people...
Looks like they looked for something here. It''s easy to find, there is a long, thick rock sticking out of the ground with a < engraved on it, pointing to the forest. A marking. Yeah, boss-woman spoke of how the barbarians come here every now and then, so they have marked their routes or at least their goals. As this is in the middle of nowhere, nobody found it so far.
I could destroy the mark, but I think it''s better to leave it. However, this will be a great spot to show our future bird spies. This area is good for birds of prey anyway.
However, if I redirect the mark, the barbarians may not find the farmstead or it may take so long that they give up... Nah, not after I killed their people, I guess. So let''s make them give up otherwise.
The other problem is: Even if we get to that Tren-thing, will we be able to win it? Because of Jii-san''s antics, I lost the chance to ask for the specifics. I need to do that later. Though before it even comes to it, we have to make them think that duking it out would be the worse option.
While thinking about this and that, I use [Farsight] to make sure I don''t miss something close to this. I don''t think tracking back more would really help, so I just want to wrap things up here and now.
People... a lot of them. With horses, giant lizards, and wagons. They''re walking alongside the river, there seems to be a path there, though it''s old. Judging from their ragged clothes and dirty skin, I guess more farmers. Especially considering that they have something like sheep and watchdogs with them, the sheep has strangely long necks though. Oh well, fantasy sheep.
If this would be a game, I''d probably have the options to either confront them or to leave. Instead, I take the option of following them for a while. While I have little terrain to hide, I have sheer distance which helps a lot already.
Around a quarter hour later, they find a ford and prepare the wagons to cross it. I can see old people on some of them, the others are covered with straw mats. There are adults and children, maybe a hundred people overall?
They''re probably on the move because of the barbarians, and if I take the direction into account... Please don''t tell me they''re trying to get to boss-woman. There is a town a few days away, so maybe they''re doing the sensible thing and get there?
Only one way to find out... I really don''t want to, but it looks like crossing the ford will take a while, and I don''t want to stay here for an hour or two.
I get closer, readying my bow and notching an arrow. They can be afraid of me, this will make it much quicker. I step in plain sight, shooting an arrow close to some of them to get their attention.
¡°WHA-¡± The man closest to the arrow cries out in surprise, but even if he''d been quieter, I''d still had heard it despite the distance.
That''s also the reason why I can understand the people that notice me and point at me clearly. ¡°It''s him!¡±
¡°He''s really here!¡±
¡°RED RANGER, YUHUUUUUU!¡±
WHAT THE FUCK! HOW DO THEY KNOW!?
¡°I told you Knudd was right!¡±
I DON''T KNOW WHO IT IS, BUT: THAT ASSHOLE!
Wait, wait, wait. They called me Red Ranger, and they shouldn''t know it at all! Unless... unless... Could it be that the strange rumors are even spreading here!?
OK, just calm down, me. I just need to confirm my suspicion and if it''s true, I have enough time to think about how to deal with it. ¡°What do you want here?¡± I ask in a loud voice, as they don''t have my hearing.
I wish I wouldn''t hear the side-comments: ¡°A true guardian, the moment we''re here, he already knows.¡±
¡°It''s an honor to meet you, Red Ranger!¡± An oldish man steps forward: ¡°We''re here to join forces with White Horst against the barbarians.¡± ...shit, if I recall correctly, that''s boss-woman''s farmstead. ¡°After hearing about you being there, we bet all we have on you.¡±
Why? Why? Why-why-why-whywhywhywhywhy! ¡°FUCK OFF!¡± That''s the best answer I could muster.
¡°We know that we''re not much. We also know that you prefer to shoulder everything yourself. Don''t mind us, we''ll support White Horst and you do whatever you need. If we can help in any way, don''t hesitate to ask!¡±
Why? Why do they have a deluded reason ready that dismisses everything I say to shoo them away? Maybe I could shoot some of them to make them understand?
Is there anything worse? Well... falling down a cliff comes into mind. ¡°Phew...¡± Alright, I can work with it, it doesn''t change anything for the worse, in fact, having more people here can make it even more of a hassle for the barbarians to attack, and maybe the farmstead those people abandoned will satiate the needs of the barbarians, meaning that they¡¯ll have little reason to attack the one I''m in.
Yeah, there is a bright side to it, let''s just hope that- ¡°It''s not only us, Red Ranger. Word of you has been spread among all farmsteads. And what can barbarians do against the one who single-handedly defeated the Duke of Disaster and his minions and is the sworn enemy of Darkheart? They will come as well!¡±
Three questions: First, why are you so stupid to put your fates in the hands of a single person? Second, who are these people you''re talking about? Third, what have I done to deserve that!?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Mirianne is busy taking care of the animals, basically by herself. It''s tedious work, but she''s neither strong enough to lift and carry the work materials for the stockade for extended periods of time, nor so old that she can only take care of the children.
At least she''s not washing the cloth for more bandages or cooking for all the people here. It''s not like she doesn''t like the animals either, it''s just that it''s boring yet hard work, carrying buckets full of water to fill the troughs, carrying sacks of food, do the minimal needed care of the fur and such, and the most important part of all, keep all the animals in line despite the anxiety spreading.
There is something else. She glances again at the forest, thinking about Red. She hasn¡¯t been able to strike a single conversation with him yet. He''s always around that brutal blonde and the crazy elf. That''s so unfair!
Wait, there he is, at the forefront of newcomers. She recognizes one of them, a young man. She can''t remember the name or the farmstead he''s from, but he''s one of the farmer sons her mother tried to foist on her.
Mirianne was dragged to all the surrounding farmsteads at some point, and she hated it.
The farmers are welcomed by the others, and Red separates from them, looking for someone. This is her chance! Ah, she can''t just leave it there... ¡°Red! RED!¡± She shouts instead, hoping that Red will hear her despite the buzzing of the people around him.
He sighs, turns around to her, then sighs again. She runs up to him and then matches his speed to speak to him. Did he enter another battle? Surely. He also saved the people of the other farmsteads, because that''s just the kind of man he is. ¡°What is it?¡± He asks, and Mirianne realizes that he may be tired, as he sounds annoyed. ¡°If you want to know what happened, literally everyone there can tell you.¡±
¡°That''s not it.¡± Mirianne doesn''t need to hear the stories, as she already knows everything about Red. ¡°We just didn''t have a chance to talk, you know... just the two of us?¡±
¡°Phew...¡± The sounds he makes sometimes are just so cute. ¡°I''m looking for Rine or Ara-san, so unless you know where they are, there is little to talk about. Did they return?¡±
Why did he have to mention those girls? Searing rage and hatred bursts out of Mirianne''s heart, an ugly feeling of inadequacy and jealousy. The elf calls herself Red''s friend, acting like she really understands him like no one else, even though nobody knows Red as well as Mirianne! And that princess... calling herself his lover! That can''t be, someone like her doesn''t deserve to be with Red!
Yet how to answer Red''s question? If she stays truthful and says ''no'', then Red would go away. If she lies and says ''yes'', she could act like guiding Red to them, which would mean walking with him around the farmstead, which she would really like, but in the end he would get angry and how could Mirianne call herself the one who understands him the most if she starts lying to him?
No, there is only the truth: ¡°They aren''t back yet... Would you like to help me with the animals? You''ll learn when they arrive that way, as we have a good look at the whole farmstead.¡± This idea is genius.
¡°I hate animals.¡± This idea was dumb! So dumb! ¡°Phew... guess I owe you that one though. Anything heavy to lift?¡±
Red is just so great! ¡°Ah yes, the water.¡±
¡°OK.¡± His muscles start to swell, becoming more and more bulky, which makes him look even stronger and more reliable. ¡°Where are the buckets?¡± Red is really kind.
While Red carries the heavy stuff, Mirianne brushes the animals, but this does little to alleviate their unrest, as usually they would be grassing or pulling. Most of them are not used to being kept on the farmstead during the day.
¡°Red, the animals need to move. They''re not supposed to leave the farm, but if you accompany us, I''m sure...¡±
¡°You realize I''m still waiting for Rine and Ara-san?¡±
¡°...ah, right.¡± Here goes her chance to be really alone with Red.
Then he hits her where it hurts: ¡°Listen, I don''t want to sound ungrateful. I''m really appreciating that you cared for me when I was severely injured. But to be honest, I get some bad vibes from you, and whatever you think you know of me, it''s utter bullshit.¡±
¡°But... but I do know you!¡±
¡°No, if you knew me, you would hate me. Because everyone does, and that''s something I can deal with. Maybe nursing me made you think some strange ideas, maybe it''s the fault of me being a hero¡ªand I''m sure that when my [Luck] and [Persuasion]-stats work, they do so to make my life as miserable as possible¡ªbut whatever you have in your head, just let it go.¡±
Mirianne can''t say anything, as the tears grow out of the corners of her eyes. This isn''t true, Red is amazing and nobody could hate him! Why would he say that? Is it because Mirianne is a farmer girl? Or is it because he wants to protect her? Maybe he feels guilty because of his lover.
¡°Phew... I didn¡¯t like popping your bubble, but better earlier than later. Still thanks for your help. I will make sure to repay it by protecting this place for a while. No idea how though. However, it¡¯s time to look for Kyou-san. Take care.¡±
He leaves Mirianne alone.
Why, Red? Why? I care so much for you! There is no one in the world who does so much for you as I. Why? Why was I born here? Why haven''t we met before you met that broad!? Red. Red. Red! Red! RED! RED!
...why won''t you look at me?
Volume 09 - Chapter 4-3
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¡°Phew...¡± I sure hope that the conversation with the Miria-girl will stop her antics. It''s not like I liked saying that stuff to her, but I hate postponing important stuff more.
Jii-san, Ara-san, and Rine are still out there, and I really don''t like anyone here and have no gaming console to pass the time, so I could either search for the three out there, possibly missing them, or just look for the one person left that I can trust here: Kyou-san.
It doesn''t take much to find her, just a [Pitch] to find her voice out of all the other noise here. She''s also in the center of a rather stink-intensive center. Does she make herbal medicine? Seems like it, she''s surrounded by eight cauldrons and looks like a witch while adding several herbs into the brews.
¡°Hey. Have you seen the rest?¡±
¡°No, and if you have nothing else, don''t distract me.¡±
¡°Phew... anything I can help with?¡±
¡°Unless you picked up [Healer] while I was not looking, no.¡±
¡°Why are you even doing it alone in the first place?¡±
¡°Because this is the one thing I can do that nobody else can. Seriously, we should be on the road by now! Ah, just leave, Ken! Seeing you makes me angry right now!¡±
I could point out that I didn''t make the final decision, but I guess Kyou-san is just irritated and to be honest, I can totally relate to that. She''s helping even though this situation goes against her better judgment.
I guess I didn''t consider her situation. She went through the same events as I, and while she may have suffered less damage, nothing went well for her since she started being with me. ¡°Alright, I''ll go. Keep doing your best.¡± I turn around, leaving her cursing me under her breath.
What to do now? I guess I could prepare for the attack, and in my case it''d be best to train. Even though the last battle was more or less in my favor, I was basically facing the weaklings of the barbarians.
Problem is, how to train. Monster hunting would make the most sense, get those XP, increase the level, and while I will need to figure out how to use these stat-increases¡ªas [Attributes] only represent a potential¡ªit would give me the most reliable way to increase my power.
But for that, I need to go out, search and kill monsters. I guess, I could go through some of the avoided woods and the like for that, which means I need to ask someone where monsters are gathering, but that would mean leaving the farmstead unprotected while the rest, with the exception of Kyou-san, are preparing our warning system.
Not a good idea at the moment.
Guess, I''ll just look at my new [Skills] and try to find how I can use them. I''m especially keen on learning about [Inspirit]. This [Skill] allows me to put my spirit in a dead object, as long as it used to be a spirit host. As spirits are part of a living being, I can [Inspirit] a log, but not a rock.
Yet it only gives the object a mock-spirit, it doesn''t make it alive again, so what use does it have? Easy, [Spirit Magic] only works with spirits, so the question is what spells I can use on such an object.
Ara-san''s [Regrow] was able to repair my broken, inspirited spear. There have to be more applications, and even if I''d prefer to find out with Ara-san, I have some time now.
I walk to the fields with a branch I picked up from the heap of wood at the chopping place. First, [Inspirit]. Next: ¡°[Entangle]!¡± The branch moves to catch a bird, which dodges with ease, then I cancel the spell, and the branch goes back to the original shape.
[Inspirit]. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± Again, the bird dodges, but this time I cancel [Inspirit], and the branch ceases its movement, totally warped. Hm... [Inspirit]. ¡°[Entangle]!¡± The bird has enough and flies away, and I cancel [Entangle], the branch stays in its former warped space.
So using [Entangle] on my spear has the risk of it becoming warped, if I somehow lose control over [Inspirit]. Well, [Inspirit]. I throw the branch, watching its spirit fade as it leaves my hand. Too bad, the idea of carrying a bunch of branches in my backpack and throwing some [Entangles] won''t be a thing.
Oh well, I have some other ideas. Let''s try [Inspirit]''s limits! ¡°KEN-KUN, YOU TRAITOR!¡± Maybe later, as Ara-san yells at me from a distance, probably pissed that I¡¯m doing some experiments with [Skills] on my own. Rine and Jii-san are next to her.
¡°I WOULDN''T NEED TO IF YOU WERE FASTER!¡± The reason I did it was because I was waiting for you! ¡°COME!¡±
After some talk, I learned that the animal network is established, though probably unreliable, as birds and critters aren''t really intelligent in the first place and don''t need much of a memory to survive. Maybe that''s why some alfar ''awakened'' a bunch of squirrels, granting them a greater sense of self-consciousness.
In return, I reluctantly mentioned the farmers that joined this upcoming battle. ¡°That''s great!¡± Rine pumps her fists in excitement, while I''m more or less inclined to think that we just got a whole lot of more people that won''t affect the outcome of the battle in a meaningful way.
Though if barbarians are tier 2¡ªjust like me¡ªI guess if enough of them work together, they could probably take on one barbarian. ¡°Jii-san, does it make sense to teach them some fighting?¡±
¡°In general, yes. For a barbarian attack... no way. Though maybe? I mean, barbarian''s aren''t used to any meaningful resistance from farmers, so... We could make these people here feel better?¡±
Rine shares her thought: ¡°If they learn to work together, they will be able to halt the normal warriors at least, so we can take on their stronger ones!¡±
¡°Phew... in the end, we want to fight that Trenn-thing.¡±
¡°Trenvig,¡± Jii-san corrects.
¡°Whatever. We need to plan and we need to train. Rine, would you mind fetching Kyou-san? She may be still busy, but I¡¯d like to have everyone for that.¡±
¡°Sure, I''ll be right back.¡± She runs towards the farmstead, even using [Swishstride] which rustles Ara-san''s ponytail.
¡°Now that she''s away, be frank, Jii-san. How much of a chance do we have to resist the next attack? This would be a stronger party than before, right?¡±
¡°If we know of it quick enough, our chances are good, unless we get someone unexpectedly strong as an enemy. Usually, it should be one or two youngsters,¡± ¡°Tier 1s,¡± adds Ara-san mid-sentence, ¡°five to ten warriors¡± ¡°Tier 2s.¡± ¡°and maybe one or two veterans.¡± ¡°Above tier 2.¡±
¡°...maybe ten tier 2s!? And they''re that stupid tough!? In addition to people stronger than me? And you believe we have a good chance!?¡±
¡°...now that you say it, it may be harder than I thought. But between Rine-kun and me, we should be able to handle that. You also seem to be able to fend for yourself, so everything will go fine.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I really wish I could be that optimistic. I also wished that the farmers had decided to flee to the next village or town, so that I could leave them there, but I want to repay that debt I have. Maybe it''s Rine who rubbed off on me?
After asking some more questions about the barbarians and the Trenbrick¡ªtrying to gather enough information to make a good decision¡ªRine returns with Kyou-san, who looks a bit pissed, probably because she''s rather stressed.
Sorry, but I guess you won''t like where this is going. ¡°Alright, we all are now stuck in defending this place, and I want to win. I have an idea how.¡±
¡°Tell us, tell us!¡± Rine presses while also nudging closer to me, probably wanting to hug my arm or so. I''ll just let her.
¡°First, we let the farmers do their best to build up defenses. It may be useless, but they get the feeling to do something and this may appease their fears. It doesn''t make sense to teach them to fight, they''re not heroes, which means they would need time, time we don''t have.
On the other hand, we are heroes-¡± ¡°I''m not.¡± ¡°Shut up, Jii-san.¡± ¡°Auw.¡± ¡°We can improve in little time. Which means we''ll be doing some intensive training. Rine, can you use [Korona] at will?¡± That''s her non-skill, which allows her to burn up and empowers her.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
¡°I haven''t tried yet... I also wouldn''t know how.¡±
¡°Figures.¡± Of course she can''t, as that would be helpful. ¡°I would love to make a training plan for each of you, but I know shit about that, so does anyone have an idea?¡±
I look at Rine, who is about to grab my arm: ¡°Sure, we can spar, do basic training, I know what to do!¡±
¡°May I?¡± Jii-san lifts his hand. ¡°I think I should train Kenta-kun.¡± Wait, what?
¡°But Dear is already sparring with me, so we can just continue to do that!¡±
¡°Lass, let me be frank. I think Kenta-kun will grow more under me.¡±
¡°You''re wrong!¡±
¡°Am not!¡±
¡°Dear! You''re training with me, right?¡±
¡°Lad, you want to learn how to fight barbarians, right? Then let a barbarian teach you!¡±
Sorry Rine, I''m with Jii-san here. Though the biggest argument would be the possibility of [Barbarian] being a class-up, which would help me a lot down the line. ¡°Rine, I-¡± Oh shit, she''s going to be angry!
While Rine is often reasonable, she''s also often impulsive. Do I want to gamble on it? ¡°I think I prefer Jii-san.¡± I hate being honest.
¡°Mou!¡±
¡°Come on, let''s not fight over that,¡± Kyou-san adds in a calm voice.
¡°How about that, Rine-kun:¡± Jii-san makes an offer: ¡°Let''s fight over it.¡±
Five minutes later, Rine and Jii-san are facing each other, starting around 5 meters apart. ¡°Ara, give the signal!¡± Rine demands, her eyes lit with resolve.
¡°Draw your weapon!¡± Rine draws her overpowered [Friedensbote], while Jii-san remains unarmed, saying he doesn''t need one, which may have infuriated Rine even further. ¡°Take your stance!¡± Rine flows into a battlestance, the sword above her head, showing her intent for a quick attack, while Jii-san just rolls his shoulders. ¡°Fight!¡±
Without missing a beat, Rine uses [Swishstride], intending to bridge the gap between them immediately. Yet Jii-san flicks his fist: ¡°[Sonic Burst]!¡±
The sound of exploding air almost deafens me, while Rine twists her body, which is then pushed away a small bit, I guess mitigating the damage as best as she can. I see the grass moving around her, that [Skill] is a wide AoE, which Rine always struggled with!
¡°[Sonic Burst]!¡± This time, Jii-san puts his back into it, a large portion of the grass is breaking away, creating a crevice of dirt, while Rine falls on her back, seemingly knocked out.
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
Shit, Rine was only able to stand two attacks!? Was it because of the pressure? Pure power traveling through her body, attacking her organs!? I mean... It''s Rine!
¡°Argh... ah...¡± Jii-san also looks like shit. In a sense, he looks more hurt than Rine, who lost some HP, SP, but got the [Stunned]-status without much damage.
¡°Winner is Grekkun!¡± Ara-san decides.
Kyou-san sits next to Rine: ¡°[Heal]!¡±
This is enough to make Rine lift herself up. ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°Lass,¡± Jii-san says while trying to smile: ¡°that''s what you will face. Try to work on a counter. I''ll work with Kenta-kun in the meantime.¡±
¡°...yes... I''m sorry, Dear.¡± You realize that I was OK with training under Jii-san in the first place? ¡°Sorry, Kyou. Sorry, Ara. It seems that I''m not good enough to train you.¡±
¡°Don''t misunderstand, lass. You''re terrifying, and attacking from afar and covering a lot of space with my attack was the only way I could come up to make you not dismember me. Also, could I get a healing spell as well? My back and shoulder hurt!¡±
¡°...fine,¡± Kyou-san is obviously pissed. Yet she touches Jii-san on the shoulder from behind: ¡°[Heal]! [Rejuvenate]!¡± She coughs as she begins to shine and pushes it into Jii-san back and forth, but this seems to work somewhat.
¡°Ah, much better. Thank you. Now back to the topic, Rine-kun: You''re much stronger than you should be, but you''re sorely lacking experience on how to fight at your level. Learn to deal with attacks like that, otherwise you will stay blindsided. I can''t teach you, you and I fight very differently. Looking at Kenta-kun, my instincts also tell me that he''s closer to me than you. All of you are still young and can grow so much more. Grow from this fight until I have no idea how to defeat you. Teach your style to the other girls, they will profit from it. Leave Kenta-kun to me.¡± He offers Rine his hand.
She takes it, a fierce and glad smile growing: ¡°Yes! I will take these words to heart!¡±
Well, looks like I will do a lot of training with Jii-san, but leaving it at this won''t be enough. ¡°We also need to work on our [Skills] and [Spells]. Let''s hope we banked enough AP so that we can learn a lot of new ones.¡±
I hope if I replace the word ''work out'' with ''grind'' in my head, I will be more motivated, though.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
At the farmstead Red Horst, which is occupied by the Northwind Clan.
Chieftain Brumm becomes annoyed, as one of the scouting groups hasn¡¯t returned. It was Ulw''s group, someone who did clanswork enough to know to return in time. ¡°Who was with him?¡± Brumm asks Harkon who chose the scouts for the mission.
¡°Skall, Woda, and Inolf. A bit arrogant, but no troubles so far.¡±
¡°Hm... how likely do you think that they''re wasting time?¡±
¡°Very.¡±
¡°Of course... gather some people, it looks like it''s gonna rain today. I don¡¯t think they ran into enemies, but if we let the rain wash away their tracks, then it¡¯ll get really annoying if I''m wrong.¡±
¡°Yes, chieftain. I''m gonna take Frett and Bjonn with me.¡±
¡°Sure, how about old Tjim as well? He''s getting restless at his age.¡±
¡°Man, this sounds like we''re raiding the next place.¡±
¡°After you find the scouts, sure. I mean, you did your work then.¡±
Brumm and Harkon laugh without a worry, as there is little that can stand against the barbarians, and even if the scouts have run into something unexpected, it is probably just delaying them.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s evening, and Dear and I are sitting on his bed. We will begin the real training tomorrow, for today he was busy experimenting with Ara, while I was training for myself. I''m a bit sweaty, I hope he doesn''t mind. But I asked him to be with me, and because of the rain, walking around outside would be uncomfortable.
With more people coming from the farms, the space inside has become limited, so I''m fine with it. Kyou and the rest also decided to leave us alone, so we can spend time as lovers.
I lean my body against him, and while he tenses up, he doesn''t shove me away. With us sitting on the bed, it sets a certain mood, and I don''t mind it.
Dear seems to be in thought, maybe trying to start a conversation, but right now I don''t need to talk. I only need to be with him. Ah, maybe Dear doesn''t know it? ¡°Dear?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Just be with me. That''s enough.¡± I would also love if he would relax a bit, but he told me that he has little idea how lovers are supposed to act. Maybe he''s just overthinking it? Father and mother always seem to be content to be with each other, and I think I share that sentiment.
I rest my head on his shoulder, or at least try to. It''s a bit complicated, as we''re about the same height. I turn to his face, and suddenly find myself kissing his cheek: ¡°I love you.¡± That''s the truth, even though he may not believe it. Then I just have to repeat it over and over again.
And one day, he will say to me: ''I love you too.''
I snuggle up a bit more, his tension grows. ¡°Am I too close?¡±
He thinks about it, closing his eyes, looking inside of him: ¡°Maybe.¡±
¡°But it feels so good.¡± As neither of us are wearing armor right now, I can feel him through the clothes. ¡°Tell me, if I''m too needy, OK?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
Does that mean he doesn''t mind it too much? ¡°Kenta?¡± I use his name this time, and it runs down my throat like honey: ¡°Can I have a kiss?¡± This is so daring, but also feels right.
Dear turns around, and I see him blushing, which is so cute, but the moment his dark eyes are laid on my bright ones, their piercing insensitivity makes me want to meld away. His hand slowly grabs my shoulder and then he presses his lips on mine.
A fire burns inside me, and my arms wrap around him, as my thoughts begin to fade away. As he tries to separate, I keep pushing, not only my lips, but also my tongue, licking his lips, his teeth, searching for his tongue, first slowly, then strongly. I don''t even know in whose mouth they''re entangling, but I do feel a tingle that waves from my toes to my hair, and my heart-beat drones out every sound.
If Dear pushes me down now, I wouldn''t mind. I wanted to do all the things lovers do, and I had this in mind when saying that. I want us to be one.
I take his hand, and put some pressure on it, twisting its fingers until they snap, then with a quick thrust, the sound of a breaking wrist welcomes me.
...wait a minute, that last one sounds wrong!
¡°Aaaaargh....arghhhhhhhhh!¡± Dear lies on the bed, holding his broken and bloodied hand in pain, as he screams in anguish.
¡°Ah, Dear! Stay with me! [Heal]!¡± While the spell may alleviate the pain and closes the open wounds I caused, this is not enough to mend the bones. ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯ll get Kyou!¡±
I open the door, seeing Mirianne with wide-open eyes. ¡°I---I heard a scream!¡±
¡°Later! Kyou!¡± I open the door across, the room she shares with Ara and me. Nobody is there. ¡°Mirianne, get Kyou! Dear is hurt!¡±
¡°But I could-¡±
¡°NOW!¡±
¡°YES!¡±
Luckily, she was around, even though I don''t like her much.
Our whole party comes with Mirianne, and Kyou treats Dear broken fingers and wrist with another [Rejuvenate]. ¡°*Sigh*, why did I even have to do that?¡±
¡°I''m soooooooo sorry, Dear!¡± I apologize once again. ¡°I don''t know what happened, suddenly my hand moved, and then...¡±
¡°Phew... don''t worry too much. Was my fault, anyway.¡±
¡°No, it was my fault.¡±
¡°Rine, I know that your body does things to protect you, and this usually results in hurting others. Do you remember the night you almost killed Ara-san?¡±
¡°Ah, don''t remind me.¡±
¡°Me neither, Ken-kun. Whenever I try to remember, my head hurts.¡± Ara''s ears raise to follow up her sorrowful voice: ¡°So Katarine-kun''s body protects her chastity?¡±
Dear looks away, while Kyou furrows her forehead. ¡°AHAHAHAHAHA!¡± Grekk laughs out loud, while Mirianne smiles, I guess she finds it funny as well.
¡°But it bothers me! I want to--- well, with Dear, you know... Tehe!¡± Saying it directly is a bit embarrassing.
¡°We all knew what you were up to, Katarine-san. You wanted to have sex.¡± Hearing Ara saying that, Mirianne blushes. I can understand, hearing it directly is really embarrassing, I feel my face flushing while my eyes move to the ground.
Yet there is a really sad truth there... ¡°Why do I keep hurting people?¡±
¡°Most likely because of Gottfried''s training,¡± Dear guesses while scratching his head. ¡°You''re a princess, after all.¡± So Instructor made me protect my chastity to that extent!?
¡°Mou!¡± I need to work on that! ¡°Don''t you worry, Dear! We''ll get through that!¡± Then I flush again, as I said something very embarrassing myself, but this time I hold my head high!
I promise to myself: We''ll try again tomorrow!
Volume 09 - Chapter 5-1 – The training arc went weird
Chapter 5 ¨C The training arc went weird
Almost a year ago.
I look at my grandchildren who are almost of age, training with their parents and each other. I certainly didn''t train any of my children, their mothers always were concerned I would break them. I accepted without a hint of regret, as training the youngsters was just a waste of time for me. I''m the champion of the clan, after all, so the better I feel, the better for the clan. Others could teach, others who are much better suited for that simple task.
Now I ask myself if there was something else to it. Maybe I could start teaching now. It would make my old days much more bearable. Still, these children and teens look like twigs. Maybe it''s time to train a new champion? Even though only the strongest clan member can be in that position, is there even someone who may become stronger than me?
If I just die, then the next strongest person becomes the champion either way. So what does it matter if I train them? Though it would strengthen the clan... what is the point?
A legacy? But in the end, everyone returns to the dirt. Also, what kind of legacy can someone like me build in the little time I have left? There is nothing personal, not even much of a desire, it''s just me throwing a tantrum.
Because I''m old and old men always throw tantrums. We''re bored, we wish to return to old times, to shape the world, to be in the middle of everything. It''s just that one day you find yourself at the sideline.
Well, I am still the champion. In a sense, the younger people should come to me, asking me to train them, asking to challenge me! I''m an important person in this clan!
So why isn''t anyone asking? And why did I start to care about things I had no interest in before?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
It''s morning and I stretch my very unbroken arms. [Dormurnal] has an unexpected upside, as my semi-conscious state during sleep allowed me to not wake up during the night, as rain drops assaulted the roof like gamers a game store on release days. Even the occasional thunder didn''t interrupt my sleep, so I''m probably now better rested than before.
¡°Ah, you''re awake?¡± Jii-san says as he puts away a carving knife and a piece of wood. I don''t even know what he exactly hopes to accomplish with this, but I do know that he tried to sneak away while I was asleep, went away for maybe three hours, then returned with the tools and carved during the time.
¡°You really don''t sleep, huh?¡± I guess, that''s a [Skill] and having it may be useful.
¡°Maybe once every two weeks. It''s just a matter of endurance.¡± I need to learn that skill and keep it when I return home so that I can game all night without any repercussions. ¡°Let''s start training!¡±
It''s still raining, so I''m not motivated¡ªwell, physical exercise in general takes a lot of my fire¡ªbut it''s in the end not a good excuse. ¡°Phew... alright.¡± I stand up and grab my armor from the table.
¡°You won''t need it.¡± Ah, barbarians are topless, after all.
¡°Do I need to remove my shirt as well?¡±
¡°Why not, will become wet anyway and chafe your nipples. Very annoying.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± He got a point, but I hate showing my upper body. Mind you, as a [Ranger] I have nothing to be ashamed about, but I also don''t need to advertise it.
I put my equipment into my backpack, shoulder it, and follow Jii-san, who brings me to a meadow. ¡°Alright, lad. Show me your body.¡±
I guess I need to turn around? I lift my arms so that my body looks like a cross, then turn around myself. ¡°So?¡±
¡°No, your real body. I know heroes can change your body-shape, and Ara-kun told me you''re fat.¡±
A bitter taste travels to my mouth as I snap. ¡°For her, everyone is fat!¡±
¡°Show me then.¡± Jii-san''s face is hard as a rock, same as his voice. He''s serious.
¡°If our goal is a class-up, then going [Pikeman] would make more sense!¡±
¡°I have no idea what you''re talking about, but I see if someone is just making excuses. If you want to learn how to fight barbarians, I''m your best bet. And I need to know what is below all that hero-crap.¡±
This old fart! Still, he has a point, but I really want to hit him right now! Still, I select the [Student]-class, the muscles shrink and my belly bloats, having it overshadow my waistline that much does make me feel uncomfortable. ¡°Satisfi-¡±
¡°Kahahahaha! Wow, you''re so fat! What are you, a trader!? Move, fatty! Move! Let''s run a bit!¡± He pushes me from behind and it feels like I''m hurled forwards.
¡°It''s futile!¡± I scream while running: ¡°My body doesn''t work like a normal person''s! I can''t burn fat! And even if I build muscles, when I change class--¡±
¡°Less talk, more running, fatty! Run! Run! Run!¡±
This is hell! This reminds me of the training in the castle, back when I was freshly summoned! Back then, I had way less SP, so today I will be able to do much more exercise, but why do I need to train in the one body that doesn''t provide me any advantage in combat!?
I can only cling to the hope that there is a master plan there, something Jii-san knows that I don''t, but watching him: ¡°Kahahaha! See those flabs shaking! Your tits also! Faster!¡± By the way, the flabbing kinda hurts!
If running would be the only thing we train... When we arrive at the forest I saved the turd in, Jii-san asks me to lift branches and rocks, asks me to uproot stumps¡ªI totally can''t do that¡ªand even to lift the tree Stale threw at me¡ªwhich of course is also impossible.
Jii-san always leads by example, which makes it so infuriating! He just ask of me the same things he, someone five times my age ¨Cas overpowered as he may be¨C, does!
After lifting comes climbing¡ªwhich I can do without a problem as a [Ranger]¡ªbut while I know the motions, my [Student]-body just doesn''t follow them as well.
Now we go swimming in the river where I met these other farmers! And on the way back, Jii-san just jumps over it after taking a run up, I mean, what the fuck! And everything during the fucking rain!
Therefore it''s very understandable that I''m royally pissed after two hours of exercise, wheezing and gasping, having pain in my legs, arms, and chest, almost giving up at every moment, even though I still can push my hero-body.
Yet it''s the same as back with Meldorn and the other hunters. I want something from him, so I have to stay quiet. If I complain, it''s because I can''t handle my decision to get myself trained by Jii-san.
Nonetheless, I need a serious talk with him later.
¡°Fatty, hit me.¡± Jii-san braces himself.
Thank you! I take all of my power into the punch, but it feels wrong on so many levels. It''s like my belly is taking away the force I''m trying to gather into my fist. Again: I know the motions, but my body doesn''t follow.
Though I don''t think much about it, hitting Jii-san is like hitting a wall. No, a wall is softer! At least my hand isn''t broken, which I can only say for sure because Rine just broke it yesterday! ¡°...ahhhhhhhh...¡± I may not want to complain, but softly sounding my discomfort and pain is allowed.
¡°Alright, take your spear.¡± He lifts a peeled stick from the ground. ¡°Try to stab me with it.¡±
It''s not like I don''t know how to fight as a [Student]. Sadly, the curse made me fight in this class several times already, and my first lessons were also as a [Student]. Time for some repayments! Even if I can''t hurt him, I can probably get past his defense!
I start with a thrust, or at least that''s my intention, but Jii-san blocks the spear before I was even moving. It''s not like I wound up my motion, I just thought ¡®let''s start with that attack to ensure my reach¡¯ and he went before I acted upon it!
With a flick of my wrist, I free the spear. I have like three good attack angles now, but suddenly Jii-san puts the end of his stick on my biceps, which hinders all three of them!
Less thinking, more attacking! Quicker! Quicker! Stronger! Ignore him, just destroy!
¡
¡ ¡
Seriously! Why can''t I even make one attack!
¡°Ah, now I will try my best to make light slaps. Try to block them.¡±
After ten seconds, I''m bruised all over, unable to successfully block even a single attack. Jii-san isn''t even fast, but sometimes he uses force and breaks the block, hitting the flesh under it, sometimes he makes small adjustments to hit my fingers instead, sometimes he breaks off his attack and attacks from a better angle, and sometimes he just uses an opening I created by trying to anticipate his next move.
¡°Come on, you''re usually fighting unarmed! Why are you so good with spears!?¡±
¡°I can use almost every weapon. I often switch them, because they break so quickly. That''s also why I often fight without any weapons.¡± You quickly break your weapons!? ¡°Alright, fatty. Get back into whatever form you like.¡±
I swap to [Pikeman], eager to show the difference between my classes, and take a stance.
But Jii-san relaxes, and shrugs his shoulders: ¡°Kenta-kun,¡± he starts, and I wonder why he uses my name now, ¡°I got to say, that you have nothing that makes a warrior. Neither the body, nor the experience, nor the instinct.¡±
¡°That''s because I was a [Student]! Try me now!¡±
¡°No need. I fought against many heroes. And whenever I fought one, they lost. Badly. And I always had the feeling it''s because they''re just a bunch of piss-ants deep down.¡±
¡°WHAT!?¡±
¡°Wanna beat the shit out of me to prove me wrong?¡±
¡°Kch!¡±
¡°Thought so. Well, there was the one, who was probably a soldier in his former world. Wow, that was the worst piss-ant of them all.¡± Now I''m confused. ¡°I''m pretty stupid, so I can''t put it into words, but I want to train the real you every day as well. For the rest of the noon, let''s beat you up!¡±
Eh?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I seriously need a shield. I swing [Friedensbote], going through my form and stances in ever increasing speed. This isn''t training, this is just an exercise to compose myself. The loss against Grekk shouldn''t be shocking, but I''m somewhat aggrieved about it.
Grekk once defeated Instructor, which means he''s very strong. Instructor can handle me without a problem, and he held so much back when we fought previously, I know it. That is the problem: I''m still not good enough to fight any of them, even though Dear and the rest count on me.
How can I beat air? If I can''t, I won''t be able to defeat Grekk, and from what he said, even other barbarians may become a problem.
Since meeting Dear, there were several cases where I made a mistake or wasn''t good enough. Back then against the Fourbirds, I dropped my guard, and even though that incident married me to Dear, the fight counts as a failure.
Whenever I''m surprised, I can only trade blows. But if I get such a blow, it really affects my combat-capabilities. Sometimes I can''t even trade blows, but am overwhelmed. Like when that monster threw a wall at me. Then my body becomes rigid, instead of leaping away.
That''s why I want to learn how to block those attacks, which means I need a shield. A buckler or maybe a small shield, so it won''t be in the way, exactly how Instructor does it. He never taught me to use one, though.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Yet Dear thinks that heroes can learn new abilities more easily, but without a shield, I can''t try. Which means, I have to find another way.
Let''s ask Ara! She can throw her spells at me, and then I can find out how to deal with them! If I can block a [Tidal Wave], then I may block air as well!
Ah, she''s doing push-ups because I told her. Same as Kyou! I''m basically in the midst of the lesson! Why did I start to compose myself again? Ah right, last night! ...by the Four, was that a disaster! ¡°Finish up, next up it''s knife fighting!¡± I can ask her later.
¡°Oh no!¡± ¡°Mercy!¡± Strange, they seemed to be more eager an hour ago?
¡°Both of you at the same time.¡±
¡°Katarine-san, may I make a suggestion?¡±
¡°Sure!¡±
¡°How about you try to not evade and hit us while we try to stab you? If you overcome your reflexes, then your sex acts with Ken-kun may work out better.¡±
¡°...that hurts... Also, why would it help you if I don''t give some minor resistance?¡±
¡°It would certainly cut the time and MPs needed to heal the bruises.¡±
¡°Come on, we lost so much time because of Instructor already.¡±
¡°There is a limit of improvement by being beaten up one-sidedly, Katarine-san.¡±
¡°Hm... so what if you fight against each other using the training knives then? I could heal for a change.¡±
Without any word, they face each other with their blunt wood knives. These were made by Grekk during the night, he really tried his best, even though Kyou did some work on them afterward so that they''re smoother.
Hm... Ara jumps around Kyou, probably looking for an opening. She should really lead with a kick¡ªwait, this is a knife fight!
Then my alfr friend jumps into my human one, and after a while, both of them are rolling on the ground, pulling at each other''s clothes. This doesn''t look like a clean fight, especially in this rain with all the mud. Though this may be actually better at this point?
After the post-exercise [Heal], Ara makes a new suggestion: ¡°We should also add knife-throwing, as this may be more in line with my [Acrobat]-class.¡±
¡°I don''t really know about knife-throwing. Do we have throwing knives?¡±
¡°No, but this farm has a small smithy, so I assume someone can use it. Therefore it makes sense to ask the farmers.¡±
¡°Not now, let''s do it after magic training. Also Ara, I wanted to ask you something, but I can''t remember what exactly.¡± The knife-fight more or less occupied a lot of my thoughts, after all.
¡°Maybe later, Rine-chan,¡± Kyou reassures me while wiping her face, probably to get the feeling to have at least some dryness on her. ¡°First, I want to push my [Herbal Weapons] more. After thinking it through during the night, it seems to be the best way to progress, though [Divine Magic] also has a lot left to grow. Any ideas on how to train them?¡±
We talk some more on what to improve, but it only shows how little we actually know about [Divine Magic], the only magic I can currently use. With Pontiff Kassus, Kyou was able to learn [Rejuvenate], but it seems that this spell won''t help us in the upcoming battle, which means that me learning it now would be time squandered.
So in the end, I continue the training to become a wizard. I can do the exercises on my own, which leaves more time for Ara and Kyou time to train the one magic they share, despite not being one that Kyou named, [Spirit Magic].
Wizard von Rotfeld did teach me an exercise I can do with the rain. I feel into the area, like I feel into the Void, whenever I use [Divine Magic]. I try to fixate on a drop on my hand with my gaze and will, and then I have to think of it as very gooey, so that it becomes syrupy, which in return will repel other raindrops.
This is one of the first spells of [Transmutation] wizard apprentices learn.
It hurts a bit to think back to Instructor''s party-members, as this time was bought at Dear''s expenses and health. On the other hand, that''s exactly why I should make sure to use these lessons!
...it works! ¡°IT WORKS!¡±
¡°What worked, Katarine-san?¡± Ara comes to me, leaving Kyou-san staring in the grass. The alfr''s voice begins to wonder: ¡°There is no sign of a flame? What did you do?¡±
¡°Here, Ara!¡± I show her my droplet... ah, it''s away now. Then I need to make another one. Gooey! I move it around the rain, showing how some water repels the rest.
¡°Is that [Transmutation]? That''s unexpected. Did you come to this idea by yourself?¡±
¡°No, von Rotfeld taught me.¡±
¡°The one who messed up most of his spells? The one, who you burnt into a crisp?¡±
¡°...yes, and I feel bad about that.¡±
¡°This would mean that you took lessons from him while you were with him?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°I see. There is only one thing to say about it...¡± Ara takes a deep breath, before lashing out: ¡°TRAITOR! WHY!? WE HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL!¡±
What? I''m a traitor? ¡°He was offering the training to me, and while he was with the enemy at that time, he wasn''t hostile, and I never intend to use this knowledge against any of you.¡±
¡°Katarine-san... teaching you to become a [Wizard] without being one myself was an experiment. And you boycotted it, you trampled it under foot, you betrayed me and my expectations for what? I thought we were friends and that you would care about me and my experiments!¡±
¡°I''m sorry, I didn''t think that we would even meet again-¡±
¡°So you never intended to keep all your promises?¡±
¡°I promised so much!?¡± I can''t even think of one promise right now I made.
¡°To think that I even chased you, risking my life, even challenging Gottfried to take you back! There was no doubt, only my care for you! And you? What did you do!?¡±
¡°Sorry!¡± Tears run down my cheeks. How heartbroken must Ara feel, even though I can''t see it because her body works differently from a human''s. Still, this doesn''t mean that she doesn''t feel like I would!
¡°Arako?¡± Kyou puts her hands gently on Ara''s cheeks from behind, the ears between index and middle finger: ¡°That''s enough, don''t you think?¡±
¡°Will you grab my ears and twist them, if I disagree?¡±
¡°Don''t be silly, Arako. Asking questions you already know the answers for.¡±
¡°Katarine-san,¡± Ara says in a dry voice: ¡°I may feel a bit hurt, because of my experiment. No, that''s not it, I feel devastated.¡± Kyou? Why are your fingers enclosing Ara''s ears? ¡°But teasing you until you teared up may have been too much.¡±
Kyou removes her hands and holds her head again: ¡°Also Rine-chan, please be more cautious about your volume.¡±
¡°Sorry...¡±
¡°Please, hold your tears. I''m not angry, I''m just disappointed that I can''t figure out the next steps for me on my own.¡±
¡°Then train with the grass and trees. If you could learn [Entangle] it would be a great asset.¡±
¡°...I hate to say it, but it makes sense. If I can hold enemies with my spells, I can use my [Herbal Weapons] better, or even use my knife.¡±
¡°Not as cook though, as your control over [Spirit Magic] is only halfway as decent as a [Herbalist].¡±
¡°My classes are just so mismatched.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, Kyou,¡± I assure her: ¡°You''ll work it out and then it''s gonna be great!¡±
¡°Thank you, Rine-chan.¡±
¡°Katarine-san,¡± Ara turns her eyes to me: ¡°Could you check if you can choose the [Wizard]-class now?¡±
¡°Ah, sure!¡± I totally forgot that! Let me see, I need to open the status... there, my classes. I have several listed there, like [Soldier], [Priest] or [Trader], but the class I''m looking for is also there. Let''s... what is it called? Select it? Equip it? Don it?
Whatever it is, I do exactly that and I feel power leaving my body. This is like with [Tailor], it''s like I lose some muscle mass, for whatever reason.
Oh well, that''s what it means to be a hero. ¡°How do I look?¡±
¡°May I?¡± Ara takes my arm and begins kneading it: ¡°This is even less muscle mass than [Tailor]? Must be because you''re a native hero, which may confuse the hero-system and therefore it starts with a new body in general, though it may be because muscles do hinder certain forms of magic?¡±
¡°Why would that be, though?¡±
¡°Because---¡± Ara blinks two times: ¡°Did you just follow my mumbling?¡±
¡°I think?¡±
¡°Katarine-san, imagine you need to feed a crowd. Each of them gets half a loaf of bread, and there are six hundred and twelve people in total. How many loaves do you need to prepare?¡±
¡°I don''t know what this has to do with this, but... If each gets half a loaf, this means that one loaf is enough for two, so three hundred and six?¡±
¡°Katarine-san, you did some basic fractions without an auxiliary device. Congratulations.¡±
¡°...I did!?¡±
¡°This shows your superior [Intelligence]-stat and how it affects your mathematical capabilities.¡± Her voice makes it clear that Ara seems to be very proud of me.
What I don''t understand is that strange warmth in Kyou''s eyes when she looks at me.
¡°So I''m smart now?¡± This would mean that I might be able to speak with Dear at eye-level now!
¡°Let''s not get ahead of ourselves, as ''being smart'' is more than a singular talent, which many people accomplish during their childhood.¡±
¡°Hm...¡± Does she imply something? ¡°Being smart is deep.¡±
¡°Yes, it is. It certainly is.¡±
Kyou places a hand on my shoulder, despite the height difference: ¡°Rine-chan, you just had other interests, and if it weren''t for school, I would be much worse in math myself.¡± Hm... this seems to imply something as well, probably related to what Ara just said?
Ah well, maybe they are making fun of me, and while I would not like it, we got better things to do. ¡°I will practice my new spells!¡± I look at the status, and I already have several spells learned.
The four I think are the most helpful ones are [Burndrill], [Heatwave], [Firegrenades], and [Blastburn]. All of them sound strong, after all!
Understandably, Ara and Kyou are interested as well, though Kyou brings up a good point: ¡°Rine-chan? Maybe we should use them somewhere else? Some of your new spells sound like they would burn everything here to the ground.¡±
¡°Oh, you''re right.¡±
¡°In your case, practicing the spells now is well advised, but also not a showcase of their full potential,¡± Ara-san adds.
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°[Elemental Magic] is subjected to environmental conditions, and as it''s currently raining, the humidity of the air will literally dampen the flames you produce and the temperature doesn''t support your fire spells either.¡±
¡°?¡± I need a moment, as Ara does use complicated terms and wording. ¡°So... because all of my [Elemental Magic]-spells are fire, they work best when it''s hot and dry?¡±
¡°Exactly. On another note, I feel disappointed to not need to explain it to you in layman''s words, your higher [Intelligence] may make the conversation smoother, but in the long-term, it may hurt our relationship.¡±
¡°Oh. I''m... sorry?¡±
¡°You better be.¡±
¡°That''s stupid,¡± Kyou comments in this exchange while letting out a small sigh. ¡°Arako, don''t be sulky and stay on topic: Will the spells be useless in this weather?¡±
¡°No, they will be slightly less destructive and cost more MP.¡±
¡°So let''s just find an open space, no?¡±
Following Kyou''s suggestion, we look around, but there is no such thing as an open space, as the farmers are busy building their palisade, taking care of their livestock, or something else. Therefore we end up quite far away, still somewhat in sight, but it may become difficult to intervene in time if an attack happens at this point. ¡°Don''t worry!¡± I say, ¡°as long as we''re visible from the sky, all is good!¡± We have our animal buddies to warn us, after all.
¡°We just have to make it quick,¡± Ara says flippantly, dismissing the bitterness of the situation. ¡°First, let me tell you about the spells I know of due to my research.¡± Ah right, Ara does know a lot of skills and spells that she never learned herself. ¡°[Soften] is a spell that makes objects softer, yet there is another quirk to it, which will prove very useful in the upcoming battle.¡±
¡°Which is?¡±
¡°It does counter certain [Toughness]-skills, like [Iron Defense], which happened to be one of the skills one of the barbarians Ken-kun and I encountered used.¡±
¡°Aha.¡± This doesn''t sound strong at all, but maybe it''s useful?
¡°Second, there is [Ignite], but you know it by now.¡± Ara uses it to start our campfires, after all. ¡°Third, there is [Heatwave], which isn''t of direct offensive nature, but raises the temperature in front of you rapidly.¡±
¡°Oh, so it isn''t an attack spell?¡±
¡°I would put it into such a category, but it''s less damaging than straining for the enemy. I don''t know about the other spells, and I''m surprised you didn''t learn spells like [Fire Pillar], [Flaming Sphere], or [Ember Arrows], which are some basic damage oriented spells for fire magic. I assume from their names that your three other spells will work as such, though.¡±
¡°Alright, let''s see...¡± As a hero, I need the intent to use the spell and call out its name, if I remember correctly. Unlike with my [Divine Magic], I don''t need to open myself to the Vastness, as my body will do everything on its own. I look at a spot, then I choose my spell, and my fist moves forward into a corkscrew punch: ¡°[Burndrill]!¡±
A ray of twisted fire shoots out of my fist, drilling itself into the ground, leaving a steaming, circular hole deep enough that I can''t see its bottom from this angle. ¡°As expected.¡± Ara moves to the hole and looks into it: ¡°I need to make a proper depth test when it cools down, but for now I can say that this spell certainly would be lethal for a person who doesn''t have access to superior armor or [Toughness]-skills. Next one?¡±
¡°Let''s see... [Firegrenades]!¡± This time, I feel hotness in my hand and I throw it, several small blazing balls fly through the air, and the moment they hit the ground, they explode in a fiery explosion, leaving scorched spots the size of a man behind. ¡°Wow, that''s awesome!¡±
¡°Hm... I still have some questions about it, but for a non-chant spell, this is quite some area you cover. But as you throw those balls, how well can you aim them? Can you leave some in your hand? How much damage do they do on an alfr body?¡±
¡°I don''t know?¡±
¡°These questions will be answered later then, as this is also an MP-intensive spell, even if we account for the rain and there are still two spells left.¡±
I guess it is? I barely use my MP in battle, so using it five times seems to be enough. Oh, but what if I want to heal someone after that? As MP recover slowly I need to be mindful about them.
¡°Here we go...¡± I wanted to say [Blastburn], but instead I begin to arrange syllables, creating a small melody. Am I chanting? It''s weird how it flows off my tongue without hesitation, but I feel how something changes in the area before me, like I was putting things into place. The moment all is arranged: ¡°[Blastburn]!¡±
It started with a single blast of flame in the middle, but causes three more blast, then nine, then twenty-seven, and then more, the chained explosions grow rapidly, their appearance may start after each other, but they start before the prior one even stopped, and within five seconds, an area bigger than the farmer''s main house is full of fire blasts that explode from the middle to the border, back, and crisscross, which dies out after ten more seconds.
There is no grass left, the ground looks scorched and dry, and I even sweat from the heat that this spell produced, though the cold of the rain creeps right back into my body.
The steam growing from the ground dissipates, leaving a bit of scorched land behind. That was me?
¡°Well,¡± Ara cuts through the moment of silence and shock: ¡°At least I can finally say goodbye to my spot as the offensive spellcaster, as Katarine-san is undoubtedly more qualified for that position.¡±
¡°Oh, so you want to go to the front instead?¡± Kyou asks while raising her eyebrow.
¡°No, I will fill the position Ken-kun refers to as ''Piker'' from this moment on.¡±
¡°What does a ''Piker'' do?¡± I ask, as it somehow doesn''t sound helpful, but maybe I''m wrong about it.
¡°A piker is carried by the rest of the party and grabs XP and treasure without doing anything. That''s my dream role and with Grekkun bolstering the front and Katarine-san as a powerful offensive caster, I can finally fulfill my aspiration.¡±
¡°No you won''t!¡± Kyou scolds the white-haired girl without hesitation.
Maybe I''m at fault? Is it because I took something from Ara that more or less settled her role in the party? Or is she honest, after all, as she tends to be a bit of a... well, the opposite of a hardworker. Is that a softworker? Or a softunemployed?
Wow, that last one sounds intellectual. It certainly looks like I got smarter, after all. I have to converse with Dear soon!
I wonder what he''s doing.
Volume 09 - Chapter 5-2
¡°Lad? Are you alright?¡± I ask Kenta-kun, who is currently busy sorting his limbs after he was flung through the air. I''m rather impressed that he actually managed to break the fall somewhat, maybe he has a surprising amount of experience with being hurled?
¡°Ahhh...¡± It seems that groaning in pain isn''t something only old people do. I have little experience with that, as barbarians are supposedly tough and my former enemies usually had no time to feel physical pain when facing me.
Except in case dying hurts.
The lad stands up, seemingly pissed at himself and me: ¡°Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit!¡±
If he can complain, he can also dodge. I kick up a pebble which he barely evades, but the air current around it makes him lose his balance, which allows me to step up, grab his arm and hurl him through the air once more. This time he could have flown over a building!
¡°[Rising Point]!¡± He uses his skill to create an aircurrent himself before he hits the ground, but I''m already there, grabbing through the wind as if it were just the breath of a child, this time slamming him lightly into the wet ground, which creates a nice mud hole.
¡°Here I come.¡± I step on his back, making it impossible for him to stand up, as he drowns in the mud.
¡°[Wrsng Prrnt]!¡±
Oh? This time the air current is less of a breath and more of a breeze, though it takes a lot more for me to lose my stance. The spear slams into my side, bending under the pressure of my muscles, which may have lost a lot of buff over the years, but remain firm and strong.
I grab the shaft and whip it out of Kenta-kun''s hands, then I touch his nape with the tip. ¡°I won again.¡± Then I lift my foot, allowing him to stand up again.
¡°SHIT!¡± He yells at the sky, as he rubs his bruises which begin at his feet and end at his head. ¡°WHAT IS THE POINT IF MY ATTACKS DO NOTHING IN THE FIRST PLACE!!?¡±
¡°You need to hit harder then.¡±
¡°I GAVE IT ALL! I USED A HERO SURGE!¡±
¡°Then your ¡®all¡¯ is just too weak.¡±
¡°GRAAAAH!¡± He kicks the ground, but that''s to be expected. ¡°Why don''t you teach me [Rage] then!?¡±
¡°Lad, you''re too angry for that.¡±
¡°Isn''t that the fucking point!?¡±
How to explain... I look at the spear in my hand. ¡°What you ask, lad, is like asking me to teach you to use the spear this way.¡± I grab the blade, only leaving a bit of the tip uncovered, while doing stabbing motions with it. ¡°Anger is just the tip. You have a lot of it, it may serve well, but it''s just a small bit of what rage is.¡±
¡°So I have to be calm!?¡±
¡°No, you have to be furious!¡±
¡°AND I''M NOT THAT ALREADY!?¡±
¡°Not the right way.¡±
¡°GRAAAAAAH!¡± Sorry lad, I can''t explain it well. ¡°So why teaching me in the first place!?¡±
¡°This isn''t me teaching, this is us looking at your limits.¡±
¡°So!? Disappointed!?¡±
How could I? He¡¯s got guts, he¡¯s got smarts, he¡¯s got drive. My only redeeming quality is pure power, but that''s why I learned to use it to its fullest. ¡°Let''s do it once more, to make sure you showed everything.¡±
¡°Phew... give me my spear back then?¡±
I throw it aside while cracking my knuckles. ¡°I think not.¡±
The result is as expected and the limping lad returns to the farmstead to seek healing from Kyou-kun, who is wet and exhausted, but very excited for some reason.
On the other hand, I take a drink from the barn, to keep away from the crowd. Yet I''m not alone there. ¡°Mirianne-kun?¡±
¡°Ah... hello...¡± She looks pale and sick, big dark rings under her eyes. That''s what happens when other people don''t sleep enough!
¡°Bad dreams?¡± I ask with concern, knowing too well how those can be painful.
Then she does something I didn''t expect. She starts to cry. ¡°Uh...ughuhhh...¡±
Well, time to take her into my arms, whisper some nothings into her ears, then slowly start being more forceful, kiss her cheeks then moving to her lips, laying her down, and---wait, wait, wait, I shouldn''t do that here!A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
I mean, I could. She also looks pretty enough. If a woman feels bad, bedding her is the right thing to do, at least that''s how I¡¯ve lived my life so far. Yet something resists inside me, which leaves me with no option but wait for her to calm down a bit.
¡
¡. ¡ ¡
Come on, it has been several minutes! Maybe I could say something, but what? How did I handle things like that way back with... her...
Oh no, tears want to escape my eyes, I suck them back with sheer willpower. I''m above those feeble emotions! No, that''s another person talking! A person who almost became me!
While I was busy fighting back way too old emotions, Mirianne-kun finally went from wailing to sniveling ¡°I-I''m sorry, it''s---just...¡± Please don''t stop talking, I won''t know what to do otherwise! ¡°Just... Well, Red rejected me. Maybe because I''m too plain... I mean, he''s with a princess, after all.¡± Tears run down her cheeks: ¡°I''m just a farmer girl. I reek, I''m full of dirt, my hands are rough, and I know nothing but farm life.¡±
I have no idea what to say, but I also don''t want to listen: ¡°Lass, what you say isn''t bad.¡± I take her hands: ¡°You call them rough, but these are hands that create. Rine-kun and Kenta-kun got the hands of people who kill, and that''s still light compared to me.¡±
¡°That sounds amazing.¡±
¡°It just sounds different to you. Nothing amazing there.¡± There never was, even though I had fun for a long time. ¡°I wish I would have learned how to till a field, how to farm animals, how to build a chair. Instead, I spent my time wandering around, taking whatever I couldn''t make myself, which was everything.¡± Every time I think about it, it makes my stomach cold and my throat sore.
¡°But you can still learn how to do farmwork.¡±
¡°What about you learning something else then?¡±
¡°I--- I missed my chance. I''m too old to learn a craft, my mom wants to marry me off, there is nothing I can do!¡±
¡°Lass, look at me. I''m not even sure how much time I have. If you give me the chance to learn, what is hindering you?¡±
¡°...what about Red?¡±
¡°That''s up to you and him, right?¡±
¡°...I can''t beat her.¡±
¡°Then either give up or find a way.¡±
¡°...¡± Mirianne-kun sits down, hugging her knees.
I take a seat next to her. It feels right. Taking some care of her makes me feel a little better about myself, even though our troubles are so much different from each other.
Taking care of someone... If I just learned that decades before...
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
I''m with Rine alone in a room, as Kyou-san and Ara-san left us alone for obvious reasons.
¡°And that''s how we started jumping around, it was really funny!¡± I listen to Rine, who talks about how they tested her spells out. In this case [Uplift], a spell which makes people and objects ''floaty'', as she calls it. I seriously need to interview Ara-san later, as Rine is a very imprecise source. ¡°How was your training, Dear?¡±
¡°Painful.¡± Even after Kyou-san''s treatment, I feel every bruise by memory alone. ¡°Don''t see the point yet, but Jii-san said something about testing my limits.¡±
¡°Ah yes, that usually hurts. Instructor did that a lot.¡±
¡°How so?¡±
¡°For example, I had to do a handstand for an hour while balancing two plates on each foot.¡± ...OK, this seems unnecessarily complicated. ¡°It took me weeks to do that.¡± Maybe that''s the reason why she can move her body that freely? ¡°Mou, I really need to get stronger. How can I beat a shockwave, though?¡±
¡°Well, how would Gottfried do that?¡±
¡°Cut it.¡±
¡°Figures. Why can''t you?¡±
¡°Maybe I can? I don''t know, I can''t see it, and only Grekk is there to test it out and he''s busy training you.¡± Fair enough, his attack is basically invisible and quick as fuck. Couple that with his nigh indestructibility and he''s a hell of an opponent.
¡°You can dodge a lot without seeing it though.¡±
¡°Yeah, my body just moves, but sometimes it doesn''t, because it feels like there is no point. Or just enough to block it as much as possible.¡± True, Rine always had problems with AoE-attacks, or those who just overwhelmed her with the number of hits. She tends to make the best out of the situation, even if she''s hit by a mountain, but I totally get why she laments her lack of power after fighting Gottfried.
Even though I wish I had half of hers.
¡°Well Rine, there is no one able to teach you, but for the moment you''re a hero and can just use that for the time being.¡±
¡°Hn?¡±
¡°Level up, learn [Skills], [Classes], and [Class-ups], and get stronger that way. If you can''t cut shockwaves, learn a [Skill] that does so. Maybe [Scytheshield] can do it?¡±
¡°It''s too slow.¡±
¡°And [Rising Point] is not supposed to break falls, and I don''t care.¡±
¡°...yeah, you''re right! Thanks Kenta! I love you!¡± She hugs me before I can even say something, and I feel her toned body on mine, which is immediately punished with an elbow in my side: ¡°Ah, Dear!¡±
¡°...¡± I want to groan in pain, but I also don''t want to act like a baby in front of my girlfriend.
¡°Let me help, [Heal]!¡± She touches the spot she just hit carefully, as if to check if her spell was successful. Then she rubs it carefully: ¡°All well.¡± She looks caring and resentful at the same time, and this somehow speaks to my groin. ¡°Oh, sorry!¡± This time it''s for grabbing my side and twisting it, causing a ripping pain: ¡°[Heal]!¡±
¡°Phew...¡± How much easier it used to be when I didn''t allow myself to be aroused by her unless I was at a distance. I might relieve myself every now and then... oh shit, I haven¡¯t done it for a week or so by now! Is that the reason?
¡°Hm... I wanted to have my first time with how I am, but maybe this will help?¡± Rine suddenly becomes less athletic, she just changed her class to [Tailor]. Also, why are you so direct with your first time!? ¡°I feel like I won''t accidentally lethally hurt you this way!¡±
But you will hurt me nonetheless? Well, the mood is kinda ruined already. ¡°Phew...¡±
¡°Dear?¡± She wraps her arms around my neck: ¡°I know I make a lot of trouble, but I want you to know that I really love you and I want to be with you in every sense.¡± Then she purses her lips, and after a second of hesitation, I go for it. There is no way that anyone could resist if a girlfriend as beautiful as Rine is coming on to them.
Around ten minutes later.
¡°You know,¡± Kyou-san stares coldly down at my wrecked body: ¡°I didn''t learn [Rejuvenate] for this.¡±
Volume 09 - Chapter 5-3
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Another morning of being a virgin.
Jii-san made me go the whole training-parcours in my [Student]-body again, which is just a needless torture, but I try to make sense out of it. Like, if I come to another situation that forces [Student] on me, I may feel a bit more comfortable fighting this way. Even though I did plenty while doing that shitty pilgrimage with Kyou-san, way back when the worries were as shitty, but there were less at least!
Yeah, I''m holding a grudge!
¡°Hff...hf...hfffffff...¡±
¡°Alright, next we do some spear-fighting.¡± Jii-san shows me a stick he carved during the night, it has a pointy end and barely resembles a spear. ¡°I will use this one, or one of its brothers when it breaks.¡± He has like ten of them.
¡°''When'' they break?¡±
¡°Yeah, they won''t last long. When I was young, it was a real problem.¡±
¡°How did you solve it? A bunch of weapons?¡±
¡°At first. Then I asked a legendary smith to make me a weapon set that won''t break.¡±
¡°And where is it now?¡±
¡°Lost some, gave the rest away.¡±
¡°And you know how to wield a spear?¡±
¡°Lad, I can use every weapon to some degree. Spears are easy to make and rather powerful if you know how, so I guess they''re like my fifth favorite weapon.¡±
¡°The other four being?`¡±
¡°Clubs are my favorites, they are just so satisfying and have the right weight. Then I guess axes, as they feel similar, but sharp, which can sometimes be nice. After that... hammers are too small, so maces maybe? Basically a club as well, just made worse by people that don''t understand simple beauty. Then bladeclubs, which can withstand some swings, but are way too hard to come by.¡±
¡°What the fuck are bladeclubs?¡±
¡°Orcs use them, big chunks of iron with an edge.¡± Well, Ara-san told me that there are so-called ooaks in this world, though they tend to stick to mountainscapes and they were driven out of Feuerberg''s mountains because they used to raid the farmsteads...
Aren''t they just non-human barbarians then? Well, I guess I will find out when I meet them. And have a proper talk to barbarians outside Jii-san, for that measure.
It just seems strange that Jii-san fancies easy to come-by weapons, though their weight and size seems to play a big part into it as well.
Nevermind, we''re talking spears now, and I won''t make the mistake of assuming that Jii-san is worse than me. ¡°Should I change to [Pikeman] then?¡±
¡°Ah, that muscle-form? No need, gonna start with fatty!¡± I want to kill him! I take my stance, aiming the tip to Jii-san''s heart. ¡°Hm...¡± he says while scratching his beard: ¡°This feels different.¡±
¡°Hah? What do you mean?¡±
¡°How to say... ah, switch to muscle for a moment.¡±
Geez, first I should stay [Student], now he says [Pikeman], what is up with that? I do so, however and adjust my stance, as now my legs and back are stronger.
¡°Ah, that! You feel less fleeting, more stable. Like you''re ready to take a hit. Now be a ranger.¡± I change classes again: ¡°Oh, now you stand lightly again!¡±
¡°Phew... changing classes doesn''t change only my body, but also my mind. [Pikeman] gives me more mental fortitude.¡±
¡°Not only that. Something else... intent? As a pike-user you do seem to be less truthful... well, intentional? Like you''re just doing what you learned without really understanding why.¡±
¡°Hm... could it be, because I was trained by hunters?¡± Meldorn especially took care that I learn how to wield a spear, how to throw it, and how to stab. ¡°Question is, what does it tell us?¡±
¡°No idea, just running on instinct here, but trust me, when it comes to battle, it¡¯s very sharp. Anyway, I think I know what to do now to make you stronger.¡±
¡°Hm?¡±
¡°I need to drill into you how to fight humans, e¡ªalfar, and others. You said you were trained by hunters?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°That means you''re good at fighting monsters already.¡± Rine noticed that in my fighting style as well, but how are they doing it? ¡°You look like you''re searching for that clean kill, like any mistake will be exploited.¡±
I guess that makes sense. Meldorn did teach me that I can''t take any attack back and the more I need, the more I''ll damage the game. Now that he says this to me, I can notice the small things in my stance that tell about it, how I''m light on my feet, but only need a minor motion to stem myself against the ground to get as much power as possible, how my hips and shoulders are ready to twist for either a dodge or to put more weight into my attacks.
I change to [Pikeman] again, making sure that these aren''t just details that are general for fighting and adjust my stance until I feel comfortable with it. This time, my feet stand more afar, just slightly, but I can feel how I''m more stuck to the ground. My waist and shoulder seem also to brace more, but there are other changes as well, like how my hand grabs the spear.
Then I change back to [Student], trying my best to keep that stance, but it doesn''t feel right, and no matter how I adjust, I can''t make it work. ¡°Phew...¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
¡°Got enough?¡± Jii-san asks me while letting his stick basically dance over his hands, before he takes his own stance: ¡°Let''s spar a bit.¡±
¡°Won''t that end with me being beaten up again?¡±
¡°Glad you already know it.¡±
...I hate it.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°I''m fine with him being bruised, but did you need to stab him!?¡± Kyou seems to be very upset, as she looks at Kenta''s wounds. ¡°I can basically look through it! God, why!? Why do I have to do emergency healing every day here!¡±
¡°Sorry, Kyou-kun.¡± Grekk apologizes without missing a beat: ¡°But I need to get him ready. Would you also check if he has splinters in his wounds?¡±
¡°Oh, now you want to tell me how I do my job!? I already checked! Next time, leave that thing in him if you can, removing it did more harm than good!¡±
¡°...sorry!¡± Kyou may be the weakest of us, but she sure is able to make even Grekk, who once beat Instructor, shudder.
¡°Kyou?¡± I ask carefully, making sure to not make her even more angry. ¡°This is training, so you should expect-¡±
Oh, she looks at me like I stole a wooden toy horse from a child to saddle it with a real saddle: ¡°Do I need to remind you that you sent him to me twice already in as many days?¡±
¡°I''m sorry!¡± I may not be in control of my actions, but I also can''t dismiss the truth.
Kyou really needs to be worried about Dear, who is busy looking at that wall.
¡°Listen to me, you two...¡± She says to Grekk and me, nailing us down with her eyes alone: ¡°How do you think this will turn out? [Rejuvenate] takes a lot of me, I''m dead tired every time, and he''s also beaten. Do you like us being [Worn Out] when there is a stupid fight brewing!? Which, by the way, I was against. So would you please limit yourself to bruises? That''s what I can use [Heal] and my poultices on, combined with a hero-body it''s little damage overall. But regrowing bones and flesh!? Cut that out, for crying out loud! Understood?¡±
¡°¡°Yes.¡±¡±
Kyou proceeds to [Rejuvenate] Kenta, who seems to be paler than usual, but he doesn''t yawn or something. My black-haired friend, already exhausted by her training, seems to be even more on the edge. ¡°Rine-chan, no alone-time with Ken today.¡±
¡°Urgh...¡± But I wanted to try again! I even came up with an idea! ¡°I''m sure that this time it''ll work out!¡± Ah, saying it out loud is a bit embarrassing!
¡°No means no! Now, where is Arako?¡± Poor Ara, it seems like you will be the next victim of Kyou''s wrath. Though you may deserve it after starting that wrestling match with Kyou''s bosom today, though I have to agree to that tactic as it''s a sensible body-part.
Ah! I just realized the reason why Ara never returned from taking a pee!
Hm... but if Kyou is busy, then... I feel a bit rebellious, just like when sneaking out of my lessons. ¡°Dear?¡± I whisper in his ear, excited and anticipating: ¡°Let''s go somewhere else.¡±
Oh Dear, you just look so cool! You know exactly what I mean, and the resolve is just too much for my heart to handle! ¡°Alright.¡±
¡°Have fun!¡± Thank you, Grekk.
I make sure to take my backpack with me, as I have pondered a lot as a [Wizard] about how to proceed next. I came to the conclusion that my fighting reflexes are too strong, and even if I change my [Class], it doesn''t change me.
But there is one thing we can change!
It''s hard to look for a place where Dear and I can be alone, with all the guests this farmstead has, but we also don''t want to be found by Kyou, who may return to one of our rooms any moment. In the end, Dear and I are at the woodshed which may not be the most comfortable place, but at least it''s dry.
¡°Dear, take this.¡± I press the most important tool for this undertaking into his hands: Rope.
¡°Erm...¡±
¡°If I can''t move, I can''t hurt you.¡± This is the best idea I ever had!
¡°Phew... it''s not like I have that fetish, but I guess it''s necessary.¡±
After a while, I can barely move. Dear needed some attempts and feedback, as neither of us have experience with binding a person, but in the end, it seems to be legit enough. I try to break free, to wriggle free, but nothing helps. ¡°This seems to be working!¡±
Dear? Why are you looking like that? ¡°Sorry, I just can''t get in the mood like that.¡±
Gah!
Did my genius plan misfire after all!? ¡°But Dear, this is-¡±
¡°Rine, could it be that you''re just stubborn at this point?¡±
¡it''s hard to keep eye-contact. ¡°Well... maybe?¡± I mean, I want to make love with Dear, but at some point I may have lost sight of why I want to, and how important it would be for us. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±
¡°Phew... no need. Hey, we''ll just take it slowly, right? Get you used to me being close and such. OK?¡±
¡°Mhm.¡± Dear is so thoughtful! I can''t help but to jump at him, embracing his head, pressing it to my chest. ¡°Dear!¡±
¡°Mmff!¡± Ah, he can¡¯t breathe! I let go of him, and he looks very agitated: ¡°How!? I mean, why is the rope...¡±
¡ ¡°Oh.¡± Right, I was supposed to be still bound.
He kneels down and investigates the ropes. ¡°They''re burned through... did you just use fire magic while in [Princess Knight]?¡±
¡°...maybe?¡±
¡°Not even aware... Phew, dodged that bullet.¡±
¡°Hn?¡±
¡°If you can burn through ropes to hug me, what do you think would have happened if I laid a hand on you back then?¡±
¡°Hm... I may have freed myself and smacked you?¡±
¡°Or burned to death.¡±
¡°I wouldn''t do that! ...or would I? I mean, I¡¯ve never done it before?¡±
¡°Phew... better not to think about it. Well, let''s return to the rest.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Hah?¡±
¡°No, if we return now, then we¡¯ve done nothing!¡±
¡°I may have just avoided death another time!¡±
¡°You said that we¡¯ll take things slowly, right?¡±
¡°Right.¡±
¡°So we can take them slowly now! At least cuddling!¡±
Even if you look at me like I''m a pain, I won''t back down on that one: ¡°Phew... fine.¡±
¡°Yay!¡±
¡°Two minutes tops!¡±
¡°OK!¡±
I was the first to approach, and I was also the first to turn him upside down with a foot sweep, right before grabbing his body and piledriving him into the firewood. Well, not the first one, the only one.
I better use [Heal] on his bruises myself, so that Kyou won''t be even angrier than she needs to be...
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°And this is the next marker,¡± remarks Tjim, an aged and strong warrior, who walked down this path several times and remembers every marker.
Harkon looks at Bjonn, a veteran who is also a master in tracking: ¡°Your job.¡±
¡°Yeah, yeah... yup, four people, barefooted. Three men, one of them aged, and a woman. Hm?¡±
¡°What''s wrong?¡±
¡°Over there... hard to see at this distance, but these may be tracks of a wagon.¡± Bjonn points down the hill, Harkon may not be able to see the tracks, but he expects Bjonn to be right. ¡°What the! They''re moving away!¡±
¡°Hm... Tjim, this is a marker for a farmstead, right?¡±
¡°Yeah, look at that symbol?¡± It''s a symbol that remotely looks like a pig. ¡°Means farmstead.¡±
¡°Are they gathering to flee to the village together?¡± This may make sense, warning farmsteads, getting whatever they can, going where there are more people. ¡°Would make things easier, unless the village has mercenaries, but hey, then we''d have a fight to enjoy!¡±
All twenty people under Harkon''s command laugh, as they imagine showing those mercenaries who can fight for real. There may be some decent ones, but most of them are garbage that¡¯d rather avoid a fight than seek one.
Volume 09 - Chapter 6-1 – My first time went weird
Chapter 6 ¨C My first time went weird
Almost a year ago.
I''m inside my tent, emptying chests and sacks, looking at the trophies from my victories. I usually throw them away after a week or two unless they have a practical use, but some of them were very special, after all.
A horn, one bracer, a fragment of a shield, and trinkets like these are scattered on the ground. I open another chest, and I already know what is hidden at the bottom the moment I see what is on top. Why did I never throw it away?
My sickness is acting up, my heart pains. No, let''s start with the top, maybe I will never get to the bottom anyway.
In this chest are cloth-like trophies, and the top shows a ripped flag. Yeah, I showed that idiot how much he was worth back then. I feel like vomiting, it has to be the stench of decades lingering in this chest.
I close it again, and go through other items. Where did I collect that shield fragment? It''s metal, so it was either from a fight against kingdomers or from another barbarian that took it from a kingdomer. No, can''t remember, so it''s junk.
My head feels heavy and my mind returns to earlier days, when we were rushing through the forests and mountains, breaking forts and people. Though these memories are supposed to feel nostalgic, to make me happy, I just feel empty inside.
Being sick just sucks.
Barbarians don''t have healers, as they seldom get sick and their wounds heal faster in adulthood, as most learn [Regeneration]. Each brat that can''t survive until then is doomed to begin with, too weak to be a barbarian.
It''s just that now it''s my time.
Maybe I should tell the whole clan, then some will definitely try to kill me, because they have held a grudge over the years, or because they want to become the new champion. Yes, then I will die fighting like I always imagined, going down as life and blood flow out of my body.
My eyes return to the chest I just closed. Then I open it again.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
The present time, in the morning.
Obert is brave! He survived the barbarians, after all! Though even he knows that this was thanks to the Red Ranger.
But because Obert is brave, he wants to properly thank the ranger and for that he was learning how to use a whetstone. He asked Uncle Poal, who takes care of the tools in the farm, and he said Obert may be talented in a smithy, as he''s strong but calm with his hands.
Obert knows he can''t do much to repay the Red Ranger, but if it''s something easy yet important, like sharpening his arrows and weapons, then he would have repaid his debt. Because the weapons Obert sharpened would keep the Red Ranger alive!
So a brave man like Obert just needs to find the Red Ranger, but even considering how busy he was with learning how to use the whetstone, he never saw a glimpse of him.
When Obert asked Mirianne, she broke out in tears and ran away. His parents only knew that the ranger is preparing for a battle, and even Uncle Benjam, who knows about everything, can''t say much but that Kyou-nee takes some rations for all of them every morning and evening.
Why is everyone content with not knowing where these heroes are? Obert can''t understand, they have to be the most important people around here!
¡°Argh!¡±
¡°Sorry! [Heal]!¡±
This sounds like Red Ranger and the princess. Obert has to be destined to meet the two of them right now! They''re at the woodshed, though Obert doesn''t know why.
¡°Red Ranger!¡± The boy just enters, as he knows he needs to be quick, before they can disappear again. Rangers seem to be very good at that. He sees the black-haired teen without his armor, the shirt opened as the blonde girl is looking at his chest, tracing a spot under his muscular chest carefully, as if to check if he is hurt.
Why are her nails bloody?
¡°Ah!¡± The princess'' face becomes red, and she looks at Red Ranger.
That one lets out a ¡°Phew...¡± and closes his shirt: ¡°You got a message?¡±
Maybe he thinks Obert is on an errand? Well, most children his age are, but this is important: ¡°My name is Obert! I''m here to get your weapons!¡±
¡°Hah!?¡±
¡°To sharpen them! I''m very good!¡±
¡°Listen turd,¡± does he use that word because he remembers Obert or does he call everyone that? ¡°I take care of my weapons myself. My life hangs on them, why should I give them to you to mess up!?¡±
¡°Because I''m good! Uncle Poal says so.¡±
¡°Dear?¡± The princess says to the ranger, her voice chimes like a bell: ¡°That''s the boy you saved.¡±
¡°...¡± He really forgot!
¡°He wants to repay you, so just accept it.¡±
¡°Why should I?¡± Somehow Obert imagined the ranger to be more... Well, heroic, but thinking back to when Obert was about to die---please-no-please-no-please-no, he starts sweating while trying to blend out whatever he remembers. It was super scary. ¡°Seriously!?¡± Obert breaking out in tears seems to make him even angrier.
¡°Aw...¡± The princess embraces Obert, pressing him against her. She''s soft and hard at the same time, almost like his mother. ¡°That was scary, wasn''t it?¡± Obert nods, and she turns her head to Red Ranger: ¡°Please Dear.¡±
¡°Phew... most of my weapons are bone, it''s not like they can be just sharpened-¡± He suddenly pauses, then he takes his knife from a sheath from his trouser: ¡°That''s steel at least. Alright turd, I''ll see it immediately if you fuck it up, so take it, scram, and do it properly.¡±
Obert takes the knife. This is steel? It looks different from the sharp kitchen knives Oberts family use, which are also supposed to be steel as well. Is that some kind of special steel?
The boy looks at this knife, no, this weapon in awe, as he yells ¡°THANK YOU SO MUCH!¡± before running towards the smithy.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°So you gave him your knife?¡± Ken-kun and I are sitting on the reed roof of the house for the workers, which may be the only place to have some privacy within the farmstead. I found this place when I actively avoided Momo. As she''s bad at picking up spirits, it is supposed to be safe.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
On the other hand, Ken-kun always knows where I am with [Spouse Location], and he also learned how to climb well, which is why he visited me in my self-imposed exile.
Him asking me for advice does pander my ego, but the topic is rather human. ¡°Yeah. When she looked at me like that, I was a total push-over.¡±
¡°Ken-kun, this is normal, as your sexual desire leads you to make decisions to get a female of your species as quickly into a reproductive mood and position as possible.¡±
His silence tells me that he''s now wondering why he was coming to me in the first place, which mirrors my own feeling well. ¡°Phew... Not so sure about that.¡±
¡°What do you mean?`¡±
¡°...¡± Instead of answering, he lays back while pulling the hood over his head and face.
¡°Do you suffer from erectile disorder?¡±
¡°Fuck no!¡± This is better. ¡°Phew... well, almost. You know, she rammed her nails right under my chest muscles today, it bled and hurt like crazy.¡±
¡°That''s why you better use protection.¡± Wearing armor during sexual activities with Katarine-san is well-advised.
¡°I mean, I want to take things slower, but if this continues, then I may actually get conditioned.¡±
¡°I would like to remind you that I don''t particularly care about your sex-life.¡±
¡°Phew, that''s also not what I want to ask you, it''s just the needed context. You know, facing Rine as a constant danger when being alone made me think a bit about some special cases, and I need your memory and brain-power to solve a puzzle.¡±
Ken-kun, praising me as a strategy is embarrassingly cheap. ¡°Ahem.¡± Yet I don''t mind some ego-pandering from time to time, and I honestly know that he thinks that I''m more intelligent than him, which is natural considering that he''s a human and I''m an alfr. ¡°What kind of puzzle?¡±
¡°When exactly does Rine''s defensive reflexes kick in and when not.¡±
¡°That''s too easy. Whenever she''s asleep and when she''s in immediate danger. Though we could also add ''whenever someone looks at her as a sex object'' to the list.¡±
¡°...then why does she ram right into my palm when she jumps at me and I lift my hand?¡±
¡ It''s true, that happens occasionally, Ken-kun named it ''Palm Barrier''. ¡°Because the danger threshold is too low.¡±
¡°Before she became a hero, she was almost taken down by a fourbird. Yeah, I provoked it by telling her to keep monsters alive, and then one of the wounded but still living fourbirds slapped her. That''s the interesting part, because she usually can react even when surprised.¡±
This is certainly true, but that''s where something like common sense applies: ¡°Did you consider that Katarine-san just improved over time and therefore is much less prone to surprise attacks now?¡±
¡°...dammit!¡± He really wants to get laid.
A random thought of a naked Ken-kun passes my mind. He''s humping his hips, and this in return makes me feel hot. I really dislike this part of my altered physiology. To be precise, I hate every part of my altered physiology, especially the new menstruation cycle and process.
Another strange thought enters my mind for a moment, offering Ken-kun to bed me so that he can calm down whenever he tries to initiate intercourse with Katarine-san, but this thought is as quickly banned as it came, as this is certainly part of the mind-alteration of the ring.
Nice try though, curse.
¡°So the puzzle you have is not what triggers Katarine-san''s destructive reflexes, but how to stay below the threshold.¡± Time to ask the questions that get the best reactions: ¡°How hard does your boner get before she strikes you?¡±
Instead of blushing or stuttering, he raises his eyebrow slowly, then sighs: ¡°Phew... so you want to say that I need to calm down and try it then?¡±
¡°To repeat what a good friend of mine offered as advice before: If it gets too much, just masturbate.¡±
¡°...are you talking about me!? That''s not what I said!¡±
¡°Your words left an impression on me. Since then, I occasionally do the act, as the wetness of my reproductive organs becomes more and more unbearable. And whenever I do it, I think about what you said that time.¡±
¡°You know that I could tell Kyou-san about this place? I''m sure she wants to have three talks with you by now.¡±
¡°Alright, let''s leave it at this, but if you masturbate, think of me for a change.¡± I notice that what I wanted to say and what left my mouth are similar, but have a different message.
Well done, curse.
Ken-kun doesn''t reply, which makes this even more awkward, and there is the little curse-related part of me that is very alleviated by it. There is also the junkie part that wants to kiss his lips once again to feel the sensations of that particular action, which are so much stronger than anything I can experience otherwise.
The curse changed my body, and the right kinds of¡ªmostly sexual¡ªstimulation set me up on a high which may be how humans perceive the world. Stimulation like kissing or ear-plugging. Or masturbation.
No wonder humans are addicted to questionable behaviors.
There is also that strange thing called ''romance'', which may or may not be connected to sexual intercourse. It''s a human... emotion? Term? Feeling? Experience? Well, I will refer to it as a ''thing'' in lack of a better understanding. Alfar don''t marry, they seldom have repeating mating partners, and they only have intercourse during mating season.
¡°What''s wrong?¡± Ken-kun''s voice tears me from my thoughts, and I notice that I was staring at him, which in return seemed to have him annoyed from what I can read from his spirit and his voice.
¡°I¡¯m trying to remember your facial expressions.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because I still can''t read them. Would you make a happy face for me?¡±
¡°Yeah, sure!¡± From his spirit and voice I can say that he''s most likely making the darkest face possible. It looks funny.
I adjust my sitting position and lay my head on his lap without forewarning. ¡°We haven¡¯t done this for a while.¡± This is a way to collect WP for us. Since the whole Gottfried-event, we haven¡¯t been able to engage in it daily, though Ken-kun and Katarine-san do their best to make up for it with every moment they''re alone together.
¡°Phew...¡± He doesn''t even raise his body, laying on the roof as before, but I don''t need to see his face to know what he feels.
His boner pressing against the back of my head is proof enough. It seems I have my masturbation material for later.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°*Sigh* Kyou, what should I do?¡± I ask my friend, who rolls her eyes a bit. I know, I''m annoying, but she''s the only one I can ask about this.
¡°Did you consider to be not intimate with him?¡± Maybe the thought of Dear and me sleeping together is strange for her, as she has known him the longest out of us.
¡°But it keeps on happening, even if I just cuddle with him. Am I sick?¡±
¡°Definitely not. But it''s already strange enough that he has let you so close. I mean, you''re going out, but Ken hates physical contact.¡±
¡°He''s very considerate. But if this keeps on happening, he may not want to get close to me again...¡± The sheer thought of it makes me feel down. ¡°...I''d hate that.¡±
¡°*Sigh* Let me think for a minute.¡± She begins to play with the ring around her finger, while furrowing her forehead. ¡°If those reflexes were trained, can''t you untrain them again? Or learn how to not apply them towards any of us?¡±
¡°But how? We''re already down to cuddling.¡±
Kyou looks at me as if I just went on a murder spree and called it ''weeding''. ¡°Why do I believe that what you and I refer to as cuddling are two different things by now?¡±
¡°Mou!¡±
¡°Rine-chan, how about starting with some massaging? Or just careful touching?¡±
¡°Ah, this may work! If I caress his below first, maybe some smooching there-¡±
¡°Rine-chan?¡± Kyou looks scary! ¡°Do you intend to crush or bite off something by accident!?¡±
¡°No! I won''t do it... I hope...¡± She''s right, if things go as before, I may do some irreversible damage. Irreversible? ¡°You could heal it then?¡±
Oh, her expression became darker! ¡°Would you be happy if I touch him down there?¡±
I think about it for a moment, and to be honest, Kyou being intimate with Dear doesn''t really faze me. She''s his wife too, after all, so for me it sounds very natural. I didn''t urge Dear to think about accepting Kyou and Ara if they ask out of nowhere. ¡°Don''t you want to?¡±
¡°No!¡± Now she''s angry. Maybe I should stop that topic for now.
¡°Then let''s¡ª¡± Something knocks against the window, it''s a bird. ¡°Oh?¡± I open the window, and listen to the chirping. ¡°Kyou? There are several people approaching the farmstead.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°They did what!?¡± Harkon listens to the words of Tjim, who went ahead with some warriors, and they''re unsettling.
¡°They bound Ulw on a tree and left a message. Here it is.¡±
Harkon can barely read, but the message was easy enough: ¡°''If you found this, we already know you''re here. We give you one chance to talk and avoid more losses. Just stay at the border of the forest. - Red Ranger''. A ranger? Ah, of course!¡±
Tjim knows what Harkon is thinking: ¡°A ranger defending a farm. Would be hard to defeat in the forest, especially if the strongest they had was Ulw.¡±
¡°Yeah, he''s experienced, but that''s it. Well, one thing to do: We tear down the forest and attack the farm to avenge our kin.¡± Barbarians don''t know much about rangers, just that they''re trained by the elves and nasty opponents while they''re in the woods. Following that logic, if there is no wood left, there is little threat, and true warriors like the clansmen of the Northwind Clan won''t avoid a fight with a decent opponent. ¡°Let''s hope there will be enough for everyone.¡±
Volume 09 - Chapter 6-2
There are ten barbarians busy uprooting the trees at the border of the forest, throwing them behind them as if they were just nasty weeds with long roots.
¡°Ken-kun?¡± says a very pissed alfr, who is on the same branch as me.
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Let''s kill them.¡± Ara-san always is pissed whenever someone is tearing down trees, because she sees this as a total waste. In her culture, trees are houses, orchards, servants, and so much more.
¡°Phew...¡± I look down to Jii-san¡ªwho has somehow painted his body and looks like a proper tribal warrior¡ªwho nods while Rine draws her sword. ¡°Alright.¡± I would have loved to talk it out, but I¡¯d rather have this ambush than waste the surprise for people that don''t even get the message when delivered by a fallen comrade.
It''s not even like they''re pissed. They''re laughing and calling me out with ''Red Ranger, where aaaaaaaare you?'' or ''Red Ranger, cluck, cluck, cluck!''
Seriously, why are there so many idiots in this fantasy world? Well, because any world is full of idiots, I presume.
¡°Alright, if they flee, let them. I¡¯d rather have them tell the story this time, and I counted twenty-seven, so fighting in a way that no one can escape is just too much of a restraint. Ara-san, start with a [Tidal Wave] and some [Quagmires] afterward, use other spells to support the rest. Rine and I get closer.¡± While I would love to have her sling some big spells as well, I would like her to practice with less lethal opponents first. ¡°We go for fast attacks and kills, then retreat inside the forest. If they don''t come after us, we use ranged attacks. That''s where you can also use your spells. Jii-san, you stay behind us, if you see someone of importance, one-shot kill.¡± Jii-san has maybe two or three attacks, but each of them should count. ¡°Kyou-san, stick to Ara-san and concentrate on buffing me and healing everyone. Any questions?¡±
¡°¡°¡°¡°No.¡±¡±¡±¡± It still seems strange that I''m calling the shots here, especially with Jii-san here, but after Gottfried I no longer feel anxious about it. As if this was beaten out of me.
As Rine and I approach, I whisper to her: ¡°You go there. Wait for the [Tidal Wave], they will probably use [Iron Defense] to block it, which opens a chance to kill two out of cooldown.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± She dashes ahead with her [Swishstride]. Rine will fight better without me around, as then she can move freely between her opponents.
I don''t even bother with a [Stealth]-skill and only use [Mask of Wildlife] to make others around me think that I''m part of the trees.
There, Ara-san''s [Tidal Wave] is collected, now *Pow* it''s dispersed by a barbarian behind the tree tearers throwing a punch at it. The shockwave is enough, huh? Well, nothing we can do.
Rine already jumps out of her hiding spot and thrust her sword between the eyes of one barbarian, who hardened up too late. With him in the [Iron Defense]-state and basically dead, she steps on his chest, and throws him with her feet in a bicycle kick to not only get her sword free, but to throw him against one of his companions, who hardens himself.
Victim found. I change to [Pikeman]: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± My spear pierces through his head from behind, as going for anything but their heads may cause them to go on. This is what Jii-san has hammered into me the last few days.
I jump back, as Rine slits the throat of another one open. Could it be that her overpowered sword is actually too sharp for their [Iron Defense]?
One [Quagmire] appears between the former tree-tearers and the ones waiting behind them, but that doesn''t mean that some of them won''t throw their punches. Literally! Good thing their aim sucks, but they''re getting their weapons ready: ¡°Retreat!¡±
Rine kicks the severed head of her fifth victim to disarm one barbarian across the [Quagmire], which will buy two seconds at best, but certainly pisses that one off immensely. ¡°OK!¡±
I swap to my bow and to [Ranger]: ¡°[Seeker]!¡± The one who got disarmed now also got an arrow in his throat, as he already used [Iron Defense] reflexively against the kicked head.
Five Rine, two me, seven in total. Twenty left.
¡°FUCK!¡± There seems to be a boss, a bearded man in his middle-ages... probably. Guessing westerner ages is always a hassle. Let''s call him Sunflower, as he has blonde hair. ¡°CHARGE!¡± I guess losing a quarter of his men doesn''t make him consider retreat.
Oh well, he''s probably right to charge now, as with their current tactic they can''t keep putting on the pressure and are pushed into a passive role.
Shit! One of them uses his club to strike the ground, which sends ten of them forward, all of them probably using AoE-skills with their weapons.
Meanwhile, the last uprooter chases after me and Rine. I evade an axe, still in [Ranger] and quickly touch the shaft of his weapon to [Inspirit] it: ¡°[Entangle]!¡± Confused what is happening, the barbarian fights with his own weapon, while I draw my knife, which I demanded back before moving out, then I swing my bow between his legs, which causes him to use [Iron Defense] to protect his balls, which in return allows me to slit his throat just a second later.
What a hassle, but¡ªoh shit, his throat is closing minutely, he grabs his throat while coughing, trying to survive long enough for [Regeneration] to save him.
No time for him, but I need to keep him in mind.
Blind shots of shockwaves are thrown into the forest, tearing clearings into it. I quickly check Kyou-san''s and Ara-san''s status, but they seem to be unharmed. Problem is that we now have ten more enemies here.
Rine killed two more already on her end. Oh well, I quickly take out and swing my spear and decapitate the one before me, taking a page of the ''Book of Brutally Killing'' written by Princess Katarine von Stolzherz in the blood of her enemies.
Shit! The ten that were thrown here have realized how to deal with Rine! They do the same wind-up as before!
I can''t tell what the skills are that they''re using, as I didn''t activate [Pitch], but flying cuts, balls of air, slithering slices, and the like all move towards Rine.
She extends her hand, her muscles receding: ¡°[Heatwave]!¡± A strange noise crackles the air, and I see miniature flames where Rine''s spell hits the different skills, which all implode on themselves. I''m sure there is a logical explanation to this, but I''m busy fending off two barbarians, who try to flank me.
One of the two is hit by a water jet, courtesy of Ara-san, who jumps from tree to tree to keep our enemies at a minimum by delaying them. The hit barbarian activates [Iron Defense], so I kick the other one and from that unbalanced stance: ¡°[Speedthrust]!¡± Without a delay, I propel myself against the jetted one, though even without his hardening skill he has so much bulk that my attack only results in a medium deep stab.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
¡°[Burndrill]!¡± Rine throws a fiery punch and while her enemy laughs at first, as the flames don''t seem to penetrate his skin, he begins to cry in agony, as the spell lasts longer than his skill. Then Rine swaps back to [Princess Knight] to jump over a flying cut from behind, which makes her look like a professional high jumper.
I get kicked and thrown against a tree, but at this point I can take these kinds of hits well. ¡°I''m Frett, and I will take your head, Red Ranger!¡± I¡¯ll call him Guitar, I guess.
¡°Then I will get her!¡± A gray-haired barbarian adds, that''s the one who almost got Rine from behind: ¡°My name is Tjim, and-¡± Rine swings her sword, and this time *clank* it is deflected by his cheek. ¡°-I will take you on.¡±
¡°The rest of you,¡± a third one yells: ¡°Get the elf!¡±
¡°No you-¡± Rine tries to say something, but has to block Jim''s sword. She turns into the attack and evades a flying slash this way at the same time, then she kicks his shin and punches his nose, but it doesn''t seem to do any damage. ¡°[Crescent Moon]!¡± Even that one amounts to nothing.
¡°My muscles are the strongest armor there is!¡± She still has [Dismember] though this skill comes with a big opening.
¡°Don''t look away!¡± yells Guitar at me, who takes offense that I''m more bothered by Jim than by him. He uses a pole with a big stone on its end as a weapon, and it''s no problem to keep evading it. ¡°Stay still!¡±
His attack hits the ground, which blows up with the force, throwing dirt and dust around, but with [Wild Eyes] I can clearly see his spirit, which makes it easy to repeat my cheap trick of touching his weapon, [Inspirit] it and then use ¡°[Entangle]!¡± to give him the option to either shatter his weapon or fall victim to it.
Could it be that I actually developed an OP tactic?
Still, this looks bad, and we should regroup. Sunflower is here now as well, the boss of them all. ¡°Come on, don''t hold back!¡±
Guitar breaks free, destroying his weapon in the process, while Jim now swings again at Rine. The AoE attackers from before now rush into the forest, following the order of their boss.
*Boom*
OK, that takes care of them. As the sound of exploding air takes place, some clumps of flesh are flying back. From the quiet, cracking sound that accompanied it, I guess Jii-san just broke his arm in this attack.
¡°What the-¡± Sunflower is understandably confused, and it increases as more bodies are thrown at him, all of them severely wounded from multiple stab-wounds from all sides. I guess Ara-san made [Root Lances] work somehow and Jii-san threw them afterwards. ¡°This is a joke, no!?¡± His face contorts in anger and fury. He picks up a tree and throws it into the direction his comrades came from, breaking several other trees in the process.
It doesn''t travel far though, as Jii-san catches it with one hand: ¡°You''re a joke.¡± He says, and for some reason, even I feel like pissing my pants right now, even though Jii-san is on my side and he''s still jovial: ¡°The Northfarts really only use their rage for temper tantrums and when they fart, because they''re so tight-assed that they can''t even take a shit normally.¡± He gently puts the tree down.
¡°What is a Lizar--¡± He doesn''t even come to finish his sentence, as Jii-san charges at him. Sunflower lifts his mace, ready to answer in kind. But Jim¡ªthe one who fought against Rine¡ªthrows himself into Jii-san''s attack, his muscles hardened to a degree that it rather looks like rock or ore, all softness vanished. The strongest armor, an immovable object.
What happens when an unstoppable force hits an immovable object? No idea, and this is rather a shotgun shooting through a piece of paper. One moment Jim was there, and now he''s everywhere!
I think I will vomit when this is over...
¡°Ah-¡± I use this opportunity to thrust my spear into Guitar''s groin. The reaction is very satisfying, though he still somehow managed to harden himself up, but it seems that the lack of muscles there to support the skin-hardening makes [Iron Defense] much less effective there, especially when I¡¯m using a proper melee weapon instead of my bow. Good to know. ¡°....uuuuuuuuuuuu...¡± Still standing though.
¡°YOU!¡± Sunflower swings his mace, but Jii-san takes the hit¡ªwhich I feel even from here¡ªdirectly in the face, probably using [Iron Defense] himself.
Though Sunflower didn''t account for someone who just lost her opponent: ¡°[Dismember]!¡± The screeching of Rine''s glowing sword ripping through the Sunflower''s [Iron Defense]-shoulder pierces my ears, but just a second later his arm falls to the ground, and Rine is about to land her second attack. Yet she cancels her skill, something she never did before! Instead of chopping off more, she glares down at the man, who is a head taller than her and whose remaining hand jerks towards his new stump. ¡°Get your people and leave. Now.¡±
In three seconds, Sunflower went through three emotions: Disbelief, anger, and restraint. ¡°NORTHWIND CLAN! GATHER AND RETREAT!¡± He picks up his severed arm, runs a few steps, before looking over his shoulder: ¡°That''s not the last of us!¡±
Guitar limps away, holding his balls. The ones who are still on the ground also stand up, groaning with their wounds, but they seem more like a bunch of bullies that were beaten up by other bullies, instead of suffering from lethal wounds.
Still, I guess we won?
Ara-san and Kyou-san return, the latter''s hair all curly and full of foliage. I guess she hid in the underbrush. ¡°That was close,¡± Ara-san comments.
Yeah, we somehow managed, but if they come with more people, things will get much worse. Heck, without Jii-san we wouldn''t be able to fight back at all. ¡°What happened on your end?¡±
Ara-san answers nonchalantly: ¡°If you look over there, you may notice a lack of trees, and wounding them takes a lot of effort. If they rebounded in time, we would have lost within a few minutes.¡±
¡°Also...¡± Kyou-san adds beaten: ¡°My powders did nothing.¡± Guess her [Herbal Weapon]s are a bad fit against barbarians and their inhuman toughness, and she lacks the pure power to penetrate their defenses.
¡°Phew... if they attack again, we''ll have a problem if they come with even more people.¡±
¡°Don''t worry lad, if they attack all at once, it''ll be easy. I still have my legs left.¡±
Following these words, Kyou-san stares at Jii-san: ¡°Both your arms are broken!¡±
¡°Kehehe, yeah. May I ask you for treatment, lass?¡±
This doesn''t look good. To overcome that toughness together with that power, being smarter isn''t enough. I overperformed here, but it¡¯s mostly by being able to pick them up one by one while Rine got much attention.
If that fight continued, I eventually would have gotten one-shot killed. Yeah, working on [Skills] seems to be the right way to get more tools to deal with that.
¡°We need to go back to the farm for real treatment,¡± Kyou-san says, and while she can''t avoid looking at the bloody mess, she takes it better than expected, I guess being [Herbalist] does make her much more resilient towards this. She''s absolutely pale though, especially considering Jim¡¯s mess.
Which reminds me of something. ¡°I need a second.¡±
Guessing my intention, Kyou-san decides to follow my example, while Rine and Ara-san seem to be OK. But one has her emotion in an iron grip, and Rine does messes like these herself, so nothing surprising about it.
Just Jii-san is strange, as I hear his whisper with my [Ranger]-sharpened ears while vomiting to my heart''s content: ¡°So lucky...¡± Just why is he looking at the bloody spray while saying it?
Nah, not my business.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Harkon still can''t believe what just happened. Tjim may have been old, but he was strong. Yet he was...
SHIT!
Who is that lizard!? Though his childhood memories, the stories he heard, are screaming at him, his adult senses refuse to listen to them. Because it''s impossible.
No, the lizards are far away, they can''t be here, so even if he''s still alive, he couldn''t be here. If even half of the stories were true, then none of them would have survived today.
Still, there is the doubt.
Harkon feels like a coward, as he doubts his decision to ignore the warnings earlier. Now he flees with his tail between his legs, the only thing he can think of is to get away, to tell the chieftain about what happened here.
However, there is a small part of him who swears revenge. Revenge for making him feel weak and cowardly.
He presses his dismembered arm against his wound, allowing [Regeneration] to slowly let it grow together. This is another insult he has to pay back!
Volume 09 - Chapter 6-3
Dear and I talk about the next steps of our training while heading back to the farm. I share my thoughts: ¡°Hm... my magic was able to hurt some of them, but you''re right: It may not be enough.¡±
¡°Why did you swap to [Wizard] anyway?¡±
¡°Hm...¡± He''s right, he asked me to not use it, as I''m still not used to it. ¡°Instinct?¡±
¡°Phew... well, can''t argue with the results. As long as it doesn''t bite us. Or rather you.¡± Ah Dear, you looking out for me warms my heart. ¡°Hey, why-¡±
¡°Tehehe.¡± I just linked arms with him and now snuggle with my head against the side of his head. ¡°I just can''t hold it in, Dear.¡±
¡°I''m seriously not in the mood, so back off.¡±
¡°...yes.¡± I guess I was too forward for him, and Dear is always in a brooding mood after combat. I just hope it''s only that. I let go of him, and he takes another step away from me, this hurts a little.
I just let him think for a while, so maybe I can catch up with Ara, as currently we don''t do anything but training together. She may be looking into nothingness right now, but she''s more keen than any of us, after all.
That''s why I approach her: ¡°How did it go with the barbarians?¡± ...ah, now we talk about fighting again!
¡°I met my limits. I do have offensive spells, but unlike yours they lack raw power. This is something I should look more into, same as how to learn [Earthshield], as the spell will be useful to hide Momo.¡± She¡¯s already analyzed the last battle. ¡°What I''m surprised about is how you used [Heatwave] to disperse the shockwave attacks.¡±
¡°Tehehe, I just acted without thinking. I don''t even know why it worked, I just knew it would.¡±
¡°The barbarians and you share so-called battle instincts. Your decision making during combat and your awareness of danger are probably the result of experience, but this makes it difficult to find the right approach.¡±
¡°That''s why you want more power?¡±
¡°It''s not a matter of wanting it or not, it''s a matter of necessity. While being able to outsmart the opponent is fun, facing several strong enemies makes the lack of a simple¡ªyet effective¡ªmeasure more apparent.¡±
¡°Yeah, I met someone who blocked my attacks, and I need to figure out how to deal with that. I think [Dismember] would have hurt, maybe even killed, but it seemed to be a bad decision at the moment. I need something else.¡±
¡°What about your spells?¡±
I cock my head while trying to imagine using my spells to harm Tjim: ¡°It could work, but wouldn''t it be better to have something when not being a [Wizard] as well?¡±
¡°Congratulations, Katarine-san. You¡¯ve obtained a bit of wisdom.¡±
I don''t know what she means exactly, but I guess being a [Wizard] sometimes makes me smarter after all, even if I don''t really notice it myself. So I just smile: ¡°Thanks!¡±
¡°I would recommend learning how to use [Korona] willingly though.¡±
¡°Sorry, I don''t have a clue how.¡±
¡°As it''s probably linked to the Flames of Freedom, it stands to reason that the desire of liberation fuels them, which would also most likely be what you need to start them up.¡±
¡°I have no idea what you were saying just now.¡±
Her ears are leaning backwards, just at the height of her cheeks: ¡°Just think that you want to be free.¡±
¡°I am free. Thanks to all of you.¡±
¡°You are very unproductive, Katarine-san.¡±
What is that supposed to mean? I cock my head in wonder: ¡°Sorry?¡±
¡°You better be, as I''m always wondering whether this contributes to my research or not. It''s not even mentioned in your status-screen and therefore most likely not related to the hero-system at all, yet it''s exactly what your ancestor¡ªwho was probably one of the strongest heroes in history¡ªpassed down to you and apparently other members of your family.¡± While her face remains the same, her voice carries her irritation.
I like how honest Ara is.
¡°It will be fine. While I can''t control them, the flames are still inside me.¡± I can''t tell exactly where, maybe they''re part of my spirituality, the part of me that connects myself to the divine, as the Flames were a gift of the Four of Feuerberg. Or maybe they hide deep inside my soul, which holds together all parts of me.
¡°I''d prefer if they would be outside of you for study.¡±
¡°But they were rather annoying, I couldn''t even touch any of you.¡±
¡°You could, it just would have ended in tragedy.¡±
¡°You know what I mean!¡± She''s teasing me again!
¡°If [Korona] is not an option, it comes down to whether you want to find your own solutions or copy Gottfried-kun.¡±
My current relationship with Instructor is very... strained. Before, he was my ideal: Strong, dependable, direct, and determined. I¡¯ve seen the downsides of those traits though. Or maybe what downsides they may bring, if left unchecked.
That''s why I''m still hesitant, maybe that''s why my personal training hasn''t yielded results yet. However, Instructor did teach me well, and he surely decided that following his example would suit me best.
¡°I will follow his path, but I won''t end up like him. But how do I start?¡±
¡°Try to attain one of his skills, you should know one or two that would be able to get through the defenses of a barbarian easily.¡±
¡°Maybe. But how do I learn a skill?¡±
¡°That''s a good question, but you have to come to the answer yourself, as I lack empiric data in this regard. Especially considering that I have to doubt every written document my fellow alfr heroes made for me.¡± This is odd? Why does she sound bitter and amused at the same time? Ah, right. Alfar do have a particular way to show affection, which involves playing pranks on each other. ¡°Nonetheless,¡± Ara continues before I could say something: ¡°You could start by adopting his fighting style better, as you vehemently insisted on keeping the [Shield]-ability.¡±
¡°But I don''t have one.¡± I was already lamenting this before.
¡°In hindsight, buying one in Goldbrunn would have been helpful.¡± Yes, but back then I just wanted the helmet, as I didn''t feel ready for using a shield yet. Back then, I was walking the tracks Instructor laid for me, and he didn''t teach me how to use a shield, so I ended up never considering using it without his instructions.
Now I''m a different person. Not only because I''m a hero, but because I was gifted so much by Dear, Kyou, and Ara. ¡°I doubt someone on the farm could make a shield.¡±
¡°For [Skill]-purposes, even an improvised weapon will work, as long as it shares some commonalities.¡±
¡°Yeah, but having something proper... wait a minute, weren''t we talking about offense? Why are we talking about shields, then?¡±
After a short flick on her ears, Ara explains her reasoning. ¡°Can''t you use one to inflict blunt trauma to your opponents?¡±
She''s right, if a blade falters, maybe using a shield like a hammer will succeed. ¡°Maybe someone on the farm can make me one then. Maybe they know how to harden wood enough, they probably need that for their farmwork. Or rather one out of metal, after all? They do have a smithy Obert is helping with, after all...¡±
Speaking of it, I see Obert, who is waiting for us at the border of the farmstead. He was very concerned, after Dear rushed into the smithy to get his knife back. He runs to Dear, he''s so adorable. Well, both of them are, though Dear in his unique way. ¡°Red Ranger, did you win?¡±
¡°Turd, if we would have lost, then nobody here would be alive anymore.¡± Dear is right, but he''s also scaring the child.
I get closer to Dear and take his hand, hoping to sooth his inner turmoil at least a bit. ¡°Hi Obert, we won. They may come back again though, so we need to prepare even more. Your sharpening of the knife was very helpful, right Dear?¡±
¡°...right.¡±
Obert''s face begins to gleam. ¡°I did my best!¡± He''s so cute.
Dear scratches his head, before looking back at the rest of us: ¡°Guess we need to talk to boss-woman about that.¡± He pauses for a moment, before turning to Obert one more time: ¡°Take care, turd.¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Ow, that''s so sweet.
We head to Kenza, and by now there are already four leaders of different farmsteads sitting with us, as well as Benjam and Jahn. Dear sums up the most important things in a single sentence: ¡°There were two dozen. We could drive them off, but most suffered just minor wounds.¡± Then he adds his own estimation: ¡°Next time, they will probably use most¡ªif not all¡ªof their forces to crush us. You think you want to handle it?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
¡°You think they will return instead of being satisfied with the farmsteads we left?¡± One of the other leaders asks in wonder, hurt pride, and fear.
Dear passes this question to someone who will know better: ¡°Jii-san?¡±
¡°It''s the Northwind Clan, which is good news for you, as they think they''re so smart. They will not challenge their luck too much, but at least one attempt to avenge their kin will be made.¡±
¡°We need to fortify more, and don''t forget that many of us are used to fighting monsters! We-¡±
¡°Fillopp, please,¡± Benjam interrupts him: ¡°I know how you feel. Barbarians always take what they want, and this time we finally have a chance to resist. I approve of your will to fight, but don''t think for a moment we have the upper hand. So don''t get carried away.¡±
¡°You''re right. I''m sorry.¡±
Dear takes over the conversation again: ¡°Last chance to retreat. If not, we''ll look at what we can do, and you do whatever you deem necessary.¡±
¡°If we stay here, your plan is to repel them once more?¡± Kenza asks.
¡°I hope they''re willing to talk before that, as otherwise this will become a headache.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, lad,¡± Grekk says jollily: ¡°I still have both of my legs.¡± Ah, then everything will work out, after all.
The meeting is dismissed, and Kyou leaves with Grekk to begin his treatment. ¡°Excuse me,¡± I say to the people still here: ¡°Do you know where I can get a shield?¡±
Most of them look confused, yet Benjam says: ¡°I have one. You can have it. Come with me.¡± He leads me into his room and takes out a trunk from under his bed. There lies armor, a sword, a mace, and a small shield. ¡°Here you go.¡±
¡°Thank you. Were you a soldier before, Benjam?¡±
¡°Indeed.¡±
I have an idea upcoming: ¡°Are you the only one here?¡±
¡°No, at least five of the workers are also former soldiers. We''re currently training the rest.¡±
¡°Could there be more of you from the other farmsteads?¡±
¡°I think so. Ah!¡± He comes to the same conclusion as I. ¡°We could make at least one squad of actually trained soldiers to spearhead the attack, if needed.¡± Yes, like Grekk said: One soldier is no match for one barbarian, but ten soldiers will beat ten barbarians. ¡°They will probably have a way to handle it, though.¡±
¡°That''s where we come in!¡± I lift the shield Benjam gifted me, it''s made out of wood, yet its outside is fortified with metal, pieces of different materials working together. Just like this farmstead. ¡°I need to go train!¡± I run out of the room and building, full of confidence.
With a new shield and my magic, I have a lot of tools at my disposal. Now I only need to learn to use them right.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Mirianne looks at Red from afar, even though she''s supposed to take care of the chickens next. She watches, as he swings his spear around, cursing, then swings it again. She has no idea what exactly he''s doing at this point, but it seems important. Important enough for her to look after him.
Yes, back then, it was just a bad day. It''s like Grekk-jii said, it''s something between him and her. She could bring him water, strike a conversation naturally.
¡
She better move on to the chickens. I''m such a coward. This is her whole life. Always wanting but never acting out of her comfort zone.
No, this time she will... wait, he''s busy after all, also seems very frustrated by whatever he''s doing. If she wants to make up with him, she should wait for later, when he''s in a better mood.
Beaten by her defeatist mindset, she glances a last look at Red, but he''s not alone anymore. He''s with Kyou-chan, another of his companions. While Mirianne has made up her mind about the princess and the elf, she''s not sure how to categorize this one. She seems nice enough, though she''s also the one who takes care of Red''s health.
They really look similar. The skin color, the hair, the eyes: They have to be from the same world. Yes, that''s it! Why didn''t she think of it earlier? She needs to find out more about Red, and who would be better to ask than the girl that looks like him!
What are they talking about? It doesn''t take long, as Kyou-chan turns around and leaves Red''s side. What a relief.
Mirianne plucks up a bit of courage and approaches the black-haired girl: ¡°Hello Kyou-chan.¡±
¡°Ah, Miria-nee!¡± Her smile calms down the turmoil in Mirianne''s heart. She''s really a nice girl. ¡°Do you have any wishes for dinner? I''m collecting some ideas.¡±
Ah, that''s what she was talking with Red about? ¡°Do you cook?¡±
¡°Yes, I need that. I wasn''t that useful today.¡±
¡°So you always cook for your party?¡±
¡°Can''t leave it to any of them, after all.¡±
¡°But you''re also a priest? And a healer?¡± The girl is younger than her, and she already succeeds in so many tasks!?
¡°How about we sit down first? Or do you have a task to do?¡±
¡°Well...¡± Mirianne can''t think of an excuse, so she says truthfully: ¡°I should take care of the chickens...¡±
¡°Then let''s head there. We can talk while moving our hands, after all.¡± She''s also more mature.
Mirianne feels so useless right now. ¡°Follow me...¡±
She leads the girl to the hen house, opening the gate that''s just secured by a wooden bolt, so it doesn''t swing open. The smell of poultry is always strong here, and she can see with a glance that she needs to refill the troughs of water and food.
That means a trip to the well, and another one to the shed. Kyou-chan helps her carry the buckets, which earns her a thankful glance from Mirianne. As the chickens gather for their food, Mirianne starts checking them for any signs of molt and wounds.
Now is a good time to ask questions, but Mirianne doesn''t know what to ask specifically. ¡°What do you think of Red?¡± That was the first thing on her mind. ¡°I mean, Kenta-san...¡±
Kyou-chan''s smile seems to be a bit forced: ¡°We have a complicated relationship.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
She takes her time to think about it. ¡°It''s hard to sum up, especially for someone who doesn''t know what my world is like. Let''s say that he started off as an insufferable moron who went out of his way to piss off everyone that approached him. Someone who didn''t appreciate any kind of connection to other people, who wanted to be left alone, and while there have been improvements, that''s still the kind of guy he is.¡±
You''re wrong! That''s what Mirianne wants to say. Red is noble, he thinks of others, he saves people, he fights until his body is broken. Yet a small part of Mirianne already knows that these are just part of a story she made up about him, a story that would lead her away from this farmstead, while Kyou-chan''s words oozes the truth of someone who has known Red far longer than her, and Mirianne can''t help but to believe them.
¡°Do you like him?¡± Kyou-chan asks while tilting her head, showing the full amount of her curiosity.
Mirianne starts to think. She certainly has feelings for Red, but does she like him? She doesn''t know, she wants him to look at her, appreciate her, value her. Is that her being in love? Or something else? She envies the princess, she envies the elf, that''s true.
With a finger on her lips, Kyou-chan makes something between a question and a suggestion: ¡°Maybe you feel something else.¡±
This... it sounds kinda right. Not exactly, more like a first step in the right direction. Mirianne never felt any attraction to men, though she likes the thought of being in love. Is Red different?
¡°Could it be admiration?¡±
¡
Yes, that''s right. She admires Red. That''s it. This rings so true on several levels. He''s younger than her, yet he lives an adventurous life. He''s making his own decisions. He''s something outside this farmstead. Still, he fights to protect it.
Yet there is something holding her back from fully embracing the idea, even though she wants to jump at it, be relieved from these complicated emotions.
¡°Hm...¡± Kyou-chan looks at one of the hens: ¡°This one has a wound under the wing which is on the brink of infestation.¡± She tries to approach the hen, yet it trots away, staying out of reach of the chasing hero. ¡°Please help, Miria-nee!¡±
¡°Ah, yes.¡± Mirianne takes a bit of seed and holds it in her hand, then she quickly grabs the approaching hen.
Kyou-chan takes out a small pot and takes some balm out of it, treating the hen with care. ¡°It''s not much, but should help a bit at least. Thank you, Miria-nee. You''re really good with animals.¡±
¡°That''s not special.¡± Mirianne''s voice cracks a bit, as she gets far too few compliments.
¡°It is. Trust me. You''re outright talented.¡±
For the first time since forever Mirianne forms a small smile.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Why is my body this way!? I just wanted to give Dear a small kiss, instead I gave a shoulder-throw! Then he left me to my training, which is absolutely because he''s hurt. Literally!
¡°OK, why are you down?¡± Kyou approaches me, and she looks devastated. I guess she''s been through some tough times.
¡°I hurt Dear again. You?¡±
Kyou breathes in sharply, then she says: ¡°I did the necessary.¡±
¡°What exactly?¡±
¡°I don''t want to talk about it.¡±
¡°Alright.¡± Kyou will have her reasons, and while she''s sometimes harsh, she''s also a very caring person. ¡°Do you need me for something?¡± There has to be a reason why she''s here. It''s too early for dinner, and we''re done with our fighting lesson for today.
Kyou looks at me as if I asked her to climb a mountain without any equipment while in a handstand. She then starts to play with the ring on her finger: ¡°How are things going with Ken?¡±
¡°Without counting the occasional injuries-¡±
She interrupts me mid-sentence: ¡°Multiple times per day isn''t occasional.¡±
¡°...sorry, you''re right.¡± This makes it so much worse! ¡°What should I do?¡±
¡°How about not jumping at him at every opportunity?¡±
¡°But we''re in love.¡± As much in love as Dear can be, as long as there is doubt whether his feelings are for real or not, at least.
¡°*Sigh* Listen, Rine-chan. Japanese aren''t that open with their affection. Also, Ken is a boy, you''re a very pretty girl. If you stick close to him, he will-----be excited, which in return will make your body hurt him.¡±
¡°We talked about it, taking it one step at a time. So we both can get used to it.¡±
¡°Have you really followed that through?¡±
¡
¡ ¡ ¡
¡°I don''t think so! I''m so sorry Dear!¡± I hide my face in my hands, as I confess my weakness.
¡°Figures.¡±
I grab the arms of my friend, as I plead: ¡°You got to help me!¡±
¡°Help you with what?¡±
¡°To be intimate with Dear!¡±
Kyou looks at me as if I¡¯ve proposed to sacrifice her pet to an evil deity. ¡°What do you think I should do? Why should I do it!?¡±
¡°We''re friends, right?¡±
¡°And there are certain lines that friends shouldn''t cross!¡±
¡°I have nobody else!¡±
¡°You''re playing dirty!¡±
¡°I''m not! I''m honest!¡±
¡°And unreasonable!¡±
¡°Is there anything I can do to make you consider it?¡±
¡°Rine-chan, I can''t help you, it''s impossible!¡±
¡°I need you! I can''t do it on my own!¡± She already told me that I''m unreasonable, but I don''t want to give up the special moment Dear and I will share. I''m willing to wait for it, but it''s so hard!
¡°Calm down. Please.¡± She pleads, as I notice myself that I''m rather rough with her. I let go of Kyou, and she rubs the spots I was grabbing for a few seconds before she inhales and exhales very deep breaths. Then her eyes harden, as if she has collected her resolve: ¡°Let''s look for Arako. I need to talk to the two of you.¡± She''s almost in tears, though.
Volume 09 - Chapter 6-4
I''m feeling sick. It has nothing to do with being thrown by Rine, though it didn''t help at all. I mean, I looked for her to ask some questions to find a way to improve my combat skills, then she first jumps at me to embrace me, sweaty herself, which does make her somehow even more alluring... well, there seems to be nothing that makes Rine less attractive.
¡°Phew...¡± I''m just stuck, and I can''t think myself out of the problem while Jii-san can''t answer any of my questions. I want to leave, either with or without the farmers, but I can''t bring myself to force them into my decision nor to let them face the barbarians alone.
However, the last fight with the barbarians showed how underprepared we are. Jii-san and Rine will be fine, but I''m borderline and Kyou-san and Ara-san don''t stand a chance if the fight drags on, and both of them know that.
Still, I made the decision to help, and I want to uphold it, but the only solution before us can only occur in case the enemy acts like we want it to, which sounds like a really stupid condition.
I swap to [Pikeman] to calm my nerves. I said to the farmers that I can only help that much, and the moment things go south, I will abandon them.
Shit! SHIT!
¡
I just have to endure it. Or better, find a way to improve in the limited time we have. I need ways to crack the defense of these barbarians. For a second my inner eye sees an exploding barbarian, and I''m glad I''m already in [Pikeman], as I would vomit once more otherwise.
...that''s what I want to be able to do as well, right? No, it''s what I need to be able to do. It doesn''t matter if I want to or not. If I can''t do so much, how will I return home? Also, Rine did her share of gore in front of my eyes already, so I should be used to it.
I have my options. I could try to expand my use of hero surges. Three are too few, problem is that I don''t have an idea how to do that. Do I just use all I can do every day and my body adapts? Is it the body in the first place? I mean, I get brutal headaches, so is it a mind-thing? Probably.
Another option would be to learn a new [Skill]. If I can do that, I would have a tool that''s only limited by SP which I can regain as long as I have time to chug a potion.
Third option would be to learn how to use my tools better. That''s more or less what made me survive the last fight.
¡°What''s wrong, lad?¡± Jii-san gets closer, both of his arms are splinted, as Kyou-san''s healing spells are that much weaker with non-heroes.
¡°Phew...¡± I guess he''s my mentor at the moment. Though I hate how he mentors me. ¡°I doubt we can win this.¡±
¡°Bah, winning this is easy enough.¡± Easy for you to say, you overpowered geezer! ¡°You just want to protect. That''s a lot harder.¡± A dark shadow falls on his face, yet he changes it to a broad grin: ¡°Though I never had anything to protect, so I don''t know the weight of it.¡±
He sounds like he thinks of himself as a bad guy. Well, he is a barbarian, so he probably is. ¡°We should have attacked right away, and let you handle it.¡±
¡°You''re right.¡± He may say that, but there is no affirmation in his voice. ¡°What would have been the worst that could happen that way?¡±
¡°We... would have scattered the barbarians, who would spread and attack all the farmsteads. Also, we can still meet a barbarian stronger than you, which would bite us either way...¡±
¡°That''s why you''re a leader, and I''m just a warrior.¡± I guess he doesn''t think about details much. ¡°In my experience, the Northwinds are just a bunch of cowards. If you scare them enough, they will scram.¡±
¡°And that Tren-thing will give them the opportunity?¡± I hate relying on a stupid tradition to solve my problems.
¡°Yes. We fought them already, and they''re as gutless as ever.¡±
¡°I''d rather call that cautious.¡±
¡°I think there is a difference. I can''t say what exactly, but it comes with character.¡±
¡°Phew...¡± I also have no idea. ¡°Isn''t there a new [Skill] you can teach me?¡±
¡°Not yet. My guts tell me that it''s too early. Eventually.¡±
¡°Come on! There are-¡± I want to say that there are lives at stake, yet I''m too surprised that I''m about to say it myself. It sounds like I care about these people, instead of wanting to calm down my sense of indebtedness.
¡°Too early. Don''t worry too much. Let''s grab dinner instead.¡±
¡°Fuck!¡± After that last curse, I join Jii-san to the tables where dinner is distributed.
There are way too many people here. ¡°Red Ranger!¡± ¡°We stay strong!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± You''re all going to die if I fuck up, you know!?
Jii-san waves at the cheers, while I quicken my pace to get my food as quickly as possible. It''s gonna be tasteless mishmash anyway, cooked long enough to get rid of any discerning feature.
¡°Here you go, Red Ranger.¡± I take my wooden bowl and spoon and take a sip while walking. ...alright, Kyou-san helped. Still a mystery how she can give her personal taste to even that glop.
¡°Don''t want to sit with the rest?¡± Jii-san asks, but I wave at him and retreat right away. I really hate being the center of attention. I guess back to the shed, this seems to be the one place where nobody looks. Well, I could also retreat to the room I''ve been given.
¡°Dear!¡± Fortunately, Rine thankfully stops two steps in front of me, which means I won''t spill the hot glop on my pants. I was very concerned about that. Behind her are Kyou-san and Ara-san, I guess they had a late training or some sort of girl talk. ¡°Hello.¡±
A simple greeting? ¡°...that''s why you ran at me?¡±
¡°Tehehe.¡± She slowly gets closer and grabs my arm. For some strange reason, she seems overly happy, smiling dumber than usual. ¡°I''m just happy to see you.¡±
While saying this sounds like her, I''m somewhat concerned, as Ara-san gives me some strangely cautious and curious vibes. Not that I can see it in her face, but she doesn''t hide it from her spirit at all. ¡°What''s wrong?¡± I ask her.
Her eyes tilt a bit, I guess she''s basically shrugging her shoulders. Her eyes are on Kyou-san, who looks very pissed. ¡°We need to talk!¡± She says in a forceful manner.
¡°Can it wait?¡± I lift my bowl to show her that I like to eat first. I''m pretty sure that she wants to complain, given that she''s been right all along about leaving the farm and how the last fight just hammered this in brutally. Better get an earful on a full stomach.
¡°No.¡± OK, I probably did something else that pissed her off as well. ¡°We''re talking in your room.¡±
Rine sends me a smile and a wave, while Ara-san worries me even more by speaking softly: ¡°Give me a second to remember your face.¡±
How overdramatic. Oh well, as long as she has fun at my cost...
We enter the room, and I sit down on a chest and start shoveling the glob into my stomach. It''s still hot, after all. Also filling, which is necessary considering how many mouths there are to feed. After gulping down the rest, I try to extend this period of relative quiet: ¡°What''s even in that?¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°Vegetables.¡± She answers stiff and quick: ¡°Basically, every vegetable we had with some meat and a lot of grain. Giving it flavor was a challenge.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± OK, mentally prepared. ¡°Alright, then start.¡±
Kyou-san looks at me as if I asked her to do an improv out of nowhere. Come on, you''re the one who wants to speak to me.
She takes a deep breath, then she commands: ¡°Take off your armor. Let me check your wounds first.¡±
Maybe she needs time to find a good start? Oh well, I use [Doff] to open all the belts of my armor immediately, slipping it off my body.
¡°Stand up.¡± Is she doing a check-up? She only needs to look at me or my status to do that! I mean, every bruise I get is listed there. Or via her [Check-up]-skill, and she can heal them with her spell without even seeing the wound. It does help though.
¡°Phew...¡± Well, she''s the party healer. I stand up and roll up my sleeve to show her my newest trophy, given by a shoulder-throw from Rine. ¡°Here it is. Nothing major.¡±
¡°Not what I want, but let''s take care of that first. [Heal]!¡±
¡°OK, what are you after?¡±
¡°...change to [Student]. I want to take a good look at you as one.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± This makes sense. She knows that Jii-san trains me in that form and is concerned how my body holds up as one. Or maybe she wants to make sure whether my [Student]-body does change with training and needs to look at it directly, as the status wouldn''t give her that info?
Oh well, I change. Standing before her as a [Student] is uncomfortable though, as this reminds me of two things: The time we were doing the pilgrimage, when I wanted to break the curse, before I got her cursed herself... and back when we were in school, even though it feels like an eternity ago.
She looks at me without a hint of the disgust she used to have, which makes me too conscious about how my belly shows. Her face calms down, she checks every nook and cranny, like I''m an animal on display.
Though it still feels strange, as Rine''s and Ara-san''s attitudes earlier only makes halfway sense towards it. I guess they didn''t know why Kyou-san wanted to talk to me, and I''m thankful that we do it while alone, as I can imagine Ara-san''s bad jokes and Rine''s encouragement, which would make me feel even more conscious.
I''m not fat, I just have a bit of a belly!
She touches my cheeks with her hands, looking me directly into the eyes. Her dark eyes seem very fierce. She looks at me like I''m a bargain she brought home and is now considering if I was worth the price.
Then she swaps to [Student] herself, it''s only a subtle difference between [Priest] and [Student], but I notice how her hands get a bit smoother, like she has just used hand lotion on it. Why did she change, though?
¡°I give up.¡±
...huh?
You gain 2 WP.
You didn''t kiss for so long! Finally you''re engaging in one of the most basic acts of partnership.
It''s just a small touch, but for half a second, our lips were on each other. As I blink to realize what is happening, Kyou-san licks her lips once and then pushes them onto mine with a loud smack.
She shoves me, and I didn''t notice that we somehow turned enough to be in front of the bed, my legs touch the frame and I fall on my butt, but she neither let me nor my lips go. On the contrary, she now licks my lips with her tongue, which gives me all kinds of reactions.
While one part of my brain tries its best to shut the rest of it off, I have many thoughts. Questions, like what and why. As her hands start to caress my chest, my flabby no-muscle chest, I think about how Rine would think about it, trying to find guilt inside me.
Wait, she knows. Because of the message. Wait, wait. She knew beforehand! That''s why... wait, wait, wait, Ara-san as well! Also, this is exactly the case she mentioned when we became a couple.
Kyou-san lets go of my lips and looks at me with upturned eyes, probably full-knowing how powerful that is, as her beauty and cuteness could bring down anyone without a doubt. ¡°No?¡± The way she puts shyness and desire into this single word is meant to make a man fall.
Ah fuck it. Literally.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
You gain 2 WP.
Your sister-wife finally followed your example and kissed your husband. Isn''t it nice to share good things?
It is, and I''m very happy for her. I wish her good luck.
Though I also envy her, as currently I can''t get intimate with Dear.
You gain 1 WP.
Your sister-wife and husband took off each other''s clothes, exploring each other as they do. Why don''t you join in as well?
I can''t, but soon. Yet it means that Kyou and Dear are both together. Finally.
Ah, they were married way before I joined, I guess? So does that mean I''m next?
I look at Ara, who is the third wife. Though she vehemently denied her interest to become Dear''s lover, she did give the general idea to help Kyou. ¡°I apologize, Katarine-san.¡±
¡°Huh? For what? I''m fine with it.¡±
¡°I mean, I made a joke about humans humping each other all the time, and for that I apologize. I thought you just went along with the joke. It wasn''t a suggestion and I¡¯ve realized that the sex-crazed humans are more of a reality than I thought.¡±
¡ So she wasn''t serious? But she listened to Kyou''s plight!
You gain 20 WP.
Your sister-wife successfully used her hand to-
¡°Ah!¡± I quickly dismiss the message as my face heats up. I mean, I want to know, but I also want to respect their privacy!
¡°Maybe Ken-kun is a quickshot?¡±
¡°I''m sure that it''s just because it''s his first time, he will definitely-¡±
You gain 10 WP.
Your husband is really good at being gentle, as he j-
¡°AH!¡± Another quick message dismissal. While it''s not like watching them, it comes dangerously close.
¡°More finger action,¡± Ara comments on this, probably reading every little detail of the messages. ¡°This is good for our WP-count, which in return will empower us. If they engage in it on a daily basis, we could even try some of the more obscure options.¡±
I try to imagine whether Kyou and Dear would even want to be intimate with each other every day. Probably, I mean, I may not have much experience, but I think I would like to do it every day myself.
Ah, that thought is indecent!
You gain 100 WP.
Your husband and sister-wife have lost their vi-
¡°AH!!!¡± Why do they keep popping up!?
¡°You were right, Katarine-san.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°It seems that Ken-kun got it ready again.¡±
¡°Please don''t say it!¡± I''m sorry Kyou. We''re way too informed right now! ¡°Please Ara, we need to respect their privacy!¡±
¡°Then they should be quieter. I can hear them through the walls.¡±
I try to catch it, but I can''t hear them at all. ¡°Should we move?¡±
¡°I''m rather thinking about returning to our room and masturbating a bit, as it''s very stimulating.¡± Wait, then she would be next to them!
I mean, if they were fine with it, I shouldn''t interfere, but as long as I don''t know, I will act like Dear and Kyou want privacy.
You gain 100 WP.
The essence of life is-
As I shove the message aside, I have indecent pictures in my mind, and even get in the mood! ¡°Let''s move!¡± I take Ara''s hand and drag her to the dinner tables. We haven''t eaten yet, and the volume of all people should also block the other sounds Ara is hearing.
¡°Katarine-san,¡± Ara says in a very exciting voice while entering the room, even though her face is as unmoving as ever: ¡°We should think about how we want to tease them later. We already got some fodder.¡±
¡°Ara, that''s not-¡±
¡°What''s wrong?¡± It''s Grekk, who is bringing two bowls to us. ¡°Sit with me, I''m kinda lonely here.¡± I think he was sitting with the elders though? ¡°Rine-kun looks red. Something happened with Kenta-kun?¡±
¡°Well...¡±
¡°Ken-kun is porking Momo!¡±
¡°Ara!¡±
First comes the wonder: ¡°Oh?¡± Then the surprise: ¡°Wait, what?¡± Finally the admiration: ¡°Ah.¡± Then he looks over his shoulder: ¡°Seems like nobody listened.¡±
Ara''s ears are raising: ¡°I was careless.¡± Her ears move in all directions, her eyes also scan the room: ¡°Affirmative, some are wondering what we''re talking about. We should sit down and eat to not get more attention.¡±
Then it hits me as well. The farmers here don''t know about the curse, but they know that Dear and I are lovers. While doing adult stuff with someone other than your spouse isn''t forbidden by the Divine Laws, it is still very frowned upon, as marriage is sacred and being lovers is the step before this.
You gain 10 WP.
Your sister-wife appreciates your husband''s ge-
While I try to not blush too hard, Ara silently puts her spoon back into the bowl. Grekk notices that: ¡°Is something wrong?¡±
¡°Katarine-san and I get constant updates of what is happening, which in this case caused me to lose my appetite.¡±
¡°I better don''t ask.¡± Grekk seems to be nonchalant about it, but he also doesn''t pry much, which is really appreciated. ¡°Just eat and try to ignore it.¡±
Ara seems to have spaced off in thoughts, this happens sometimes. On the other hand, I take my spoon and while it''s hard to tell what this is supposed to taste like, it tastes good. Kyou helped with it, after all.
I hope all works out for her.
You gain 5 WP.
Another time, your husba-
Maybe I don''t need to worry at all.
Volume 09 - Chapter 6-5
Here we are again, in a wild storm. I see pictures, fractions of my relationship with him passing by, as feelings burst out of my chest. The very chest trembling at his touch.
He certainly didn''t expect it, because he''s very lopsided in his insights. Because he can never imagine that someone would think dear of him. He certainly makes it hard for anyone to do.
The feelings inside my beating heart are overflowing. Those may be a lie, but the moment Rine-chan showed another way to deal with them¡ªto accept them in the present¡ªI envied her conviction. Ever since then, whenever I saw the two of them together, I thought: Me too.
I''m such a shallow woman.
There is no jealousy though, this may also be because of the ring. Yet I wanted to be in there as well, share moments with him as well. The ring asking me to do the same didn''t certainly help.
Still, I didn''t want to admit defeat. Because of my pride. Despite knowing exactly how I felt.
I''m happy for Rine-chan, but I failed to be content with just that. Growing irritated, I watched over them, seeing how he took the mantle of protector of this place, despite his complaints.
Like Rine-chan says, he can be so cool.
The more irritated I grew, the more desperate I became. Thinking of him while cooking, secretly enjoying treating his injuries, though the reason he got hurt so often genuinely annoyed me. Because I kept thinking of him, I looked for solitary places to relieve myself.
There was Miria-nee. When I saw her, I was angry, as it was like a mirror. A mirror without the taint. I told myself it was kindness to use my [Persuasion] to convince her to not indulge those thoughts further, to rearrange her emotions, but I know that tidbit was jealousy.
I''m first, I need to be the one! Rine-chan doesn''t count! Especially since I married him before her, I''ve been in the relationship longer.
So shallow.
At that moment, I saw myself and was ashamed. That''s why I needed to talk to Rine-chan, yet she made that impossible request. I had a lot of thoughts, and in the end, I couldn''t stand how pathetic I''ve become and steeled my resolve.
We talked. I told them my plight, I told them my pain. It was surprisingly easy.
Rine-chan embraced me. She welcomed me, and this is much more than I deserved. It goes against everything our countries are thinking, but for me it was salvation.
Then we discussed it. If I just confessed to him, he could reject me. Because he thinks things over, because he sticks to his guns, because he''s just such a massive moron. This scares me, being rejected. Especially by him, who was the one to accept me when I was at my lowest point.
So seduction it was. This is something I was more confident in, because I would not need to bare my feelings before I captured him.
Of course, Arako proposed to sleep with him. She even got out of her way, explaining that this would clear the way for Rine-chan, as when he gets used to the female body, he wouldn''t... let''s call it ''trigger'' at small stimulation.
Quickly, this blew out of proportions, and with all the emotional support Rine-chan was giving me, I wasn''t able to say that this would be going too far. I even drank the alfr tea.
When I told him that I wanted to talk to him, I actually planned to abort the plan and try to talk with him about Rine-chan for real. Slowly go over our relationship and either get a positive response I could build upon or confess to him, even though I initially didn''t plan to do that.
The moment we were alone, I got cold feet. Was I just sexually frustrated? Was Arako right all along? How genuine are my feelings towards him? I needed to reassess them. I needed to look at him, not the hero with the nice body, but the boy I met at school.
Maybe I was just enamored by his strength and physique.
His real body isn''t attractive at all. It looks unhealthy which is even more emphasized by the film of dirt we all have since coming here, as we can only wipe ourselves for hygiene.
Yet even in this form, I could only see him.
I wanted to touch his lips, but then a dam broke. My body heated up and every touch of his skin felt electrifying. I wanted him, and I wanted to be his.
He accepted.
Now I''m gasping for air, as my face is framed by my sweaty hair, lying next to Ken. I feel like fainting, and I have the same question as any girl who just had her first time had to ask: Did something break down there? I still feel him!
As I watch his face, which lost all composure, all coldness, I rest my head on his arm. I saw that in a video, yet while Ken didn''t mind touching when we were... engaged, he seems to shirk away a bit now.
We haven''t talked at all, it was more a series of grunting and nodding. I''m still overwhelmed by everything. I mean, it''s supposed to hurt the first time. But it only feels like it will hurt if I continue.
Should I wipe myself right now? The magazines wrote that it will start to harden and smell quickly. Still, I want to indulge into this moment, the strange satisfaction, the adoration, the beating heart.
Oh well, it will be fine for now. I calm down and look at Ken, who also seems to relax a bit, then I pet my stomach. ¡°What do we call it?¡± I ask him playfully.
¡°Keiko if it''s a girl, Kyota if it''s a boy.¡± Unexpectedly, he answers without missing a beat. The second I was surprised, he adds: ¡°You know that your status says you''re under contraception?¡±
I gently pinch his side to show my discontent with him seeing through my prank. ¡°You checked my status during it?¡±
He looks away while answering: ¡°Phew... I wanted to make sure to, well...¡± I wait this out, not letting him go by interrupting him: ¡°...I read that girls have a hard time during the first time.¡± So he wanted to make sure whether he hurt me or not? Well, that''s acceptable.
¡°So you read up on this?¡±
¡°Barely. Totally underprepared.¡± Me too. Health class should include some more techniques to make it not that awkward.
Oh well, we''re both exhausted and unable to--- I look down at his body and see something I know much better now. ¡°...monster.¡± I mean, how!? After all I did, and while I didn''t count, it''s probably in the double-digits! ¡°Well, I can''t take it in, but-¡±
I''m about to reach out, yet he puts his arm on my shoulder: ¡°Don''t go out of your way. It''s really enough, and I think it''s because of the ring.¡±
¡°...so you''re telling me, you have enough endurance for three now?¡± So you won''t ever be fully satisfied with just me!?
¡°I don''t know.¡± Why aren''t you denying it outright!? I mean, it felt really good for me, but the reason why was his endurance in the first place, as everyone will succeed with enough tries.
The thought of what will be after he actually gets more experience... It''s exciting and scary at the same time.
I let my hand sink, and put it on his chest. I feel him shuddering slightly, even after we did all of that, he''s still... ¡°Ken?¡±
¡°Hm?¡±
¡°We need to talk about our relationship.¡± You don''t have to click your tongue! Why do you need to remind me of your worst traits!?
¡°Phew... we''ve already been husband and wife for a while. We get along well enough, so there is no need for crass changes.¡± I know, and that makes it worse. I mean, I''m pretty much loving you, but we skipped the whole ''fall in love'' step, and I feel like I missed out!
I want ¡®living through my first crush¡¯ back! ¡°I''m a needy girl.¡±
¡°Wow, I never knew.¡± Tone down the sarcasm, jerk! ¡°So what do you want?¡±
If I need to sum that up, I want to be even worse than Rine-chan, but I know that this isn''t possible with the two of us. ¡°If it''s just the two of us, I want you to indulge me a bit. I know that you won''t like it, but I need at least some affection. I''m not asking for much, maybe some kisses here and there, some cuddling, but never more than you''re willing to give. I won''t ask you to tell me sweet nothings or the like.¡± Though I certainly wouldn¡¯t mind.
¡°Phew... alright. I also have to say one thing.¡±
I steel my resolve, as I have no idea what he''s going to say. ¡°Tell me.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
¡°...¡± He''s also steeling his resolve: ¡°I don''t know if I love you or not, but I know that you constantly grind my gears and annoy me to no end, and I''m somewhat OK with that. I also want to make the same deal with you as with Rine: We''ll be in a relationship until we have broken the curse and then we will see how things will turn out.¡±
I''m a bit afraid of it, as he and I know that the both of us wouldn''t be together under any other circumstances. If the curse gets broken, it may turn out that all of my feelings are false, and I may be shallow enough to blame him for everything which will happen from now on. But instead of suffering from repressed emotions, I¡¯d rather choose to take this risk and have a good time until then.
¡°Alright. Now let me say something.¡±
¡°Phew... yes?¡±
I muster the last of my strength and lift myself up a bit to look directly into his face from above: ¡°I''m really happy right now.¡± With this, I kiss him.
Later I will act like nothing happened, but now we''re alone, and I need to make up some flirting time.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Is sex the greatest thing ever? No. If I compare it to the sheer joy of playing games, it does fall short. Sorry to disappoint you, virgins.
However, it''s like scratching an itch I carried for years, and the satisfaction and calmness that comes from it does help its reputation. While Kyou-san and I cleaned ourselves¡ªwhich takes a while, you may not believe how sticky everything gets¡ªmy thoughts wander around in my brainpan.
First, I need to accept what just happened, as strange and unbelievable as it is. In Japan, everyone would say that Kyou-san is way out of my league, and even though I don''t care about others much, I''m aware that we''re an unlikely pair. She''s sending me a smug and satisfied smile, as she''s donning her corset. Without that attitude I''d think this was purely by the power of the curse, but as headstrong as she is and looking at how long it took for us to reach this point, maybe there is some genuineness there?
Pair that with how Rine and I became a real couple... Shit, we need to figure that out. I mean, I''m sure that Rine knows what happened here, and she was all for Kyou-san and Ara-san being like that, but I never spent a single thought of how to deal with it if it really happened.
The conversation earlier made clear that Kyou-san¡¯s not that clingy, though I guess only time will tell. At least she won¡¯t accidentally hit me, which really calms serious doubts I have compared to how things are going with Rine.
On the other hand, Rine is direct while Kyou-san is underhanded. So the latter may make me suffer through other means, and as long as we''re cursed, I can''t cut all ties with her. ...let''s enjoy the good things as long as they last, I guess. Especially as undeserved as they are.
I quickly raise my hand to catch my shirt, which Kyou-san throws my way after she finished putting her clothes on: ¡°I won''t say ''Stop thinking'', but you don''t need to look so gloomy when you''re with me.¡± Somehow I pissed her off again.
¡°Phew...¡± I shrug my shoulders, check if I got everything cleaned up, and start getting into my clothes after swapping back to [Ranger]. I don''t like Kyou-san watching, but on the other hand, I did get my eyeful earlier. Also handful. And especially chestful.
After I''m finished, she links her arm with mine: ¡°Let''s sit down a bit, get another WP by doing so, while I get my share of you for a while.¡± She sounds like we''ve been a couple for years! How to describe it... like it''s not that special, but also like it''s important as hell!
I do as she says, she lies her head on my shoulder, and I get to feel her breast against my arm. OK, why does it feel even more arousing after having sex? I don''t know what to say, and she doesn''t say anything either, so the minutes are passing quietly.
You gain 1 WP.
After your special moment, you calm down by linking your arms, creating a link between your hearts.
How can our hearts link if I have no idea what is going on with her? I mean, she now stands up, facing me again with the sweetest smile imaginable, before asking: ¡°Can I have a final kiss?¡± I nod, and she closes in. It''s just light, but long. She separates, licks her lips once, then she breathes in and out once: ¡°Alright, back to normal now. Come, Ken.¡± She''s back to her slightly annoyed self.
I''m just baffled, and while I know that Kyou-san can act any emotion she wants, I begin to doubt whether I''ve ever seen her true self at all.
After opening the door, both of us become aware of how the bedroom must smell now, as the air is so much fresher. I open the windows slightly before leaving, then follow Kyou-san. She''s not an inch closer to me than usual.
Shit, I''m way too conscious about everything right now! Just calm down, it was just sex! I seriously need to get my mind back to the present. Just think about current events and what to do- I think I want to throw up, as the current events are pretty shitty.
Where is Kyou-san heading anyway? Ah, she¡¯s probably looking for the rest. With [Spouse Location] I can tell that they''re in the eating area, or at least in that direction, and it appears that Kyou-san just follows a hunch and is also heading there.
Well, I''ll probably never learn whether this is all part of Kyou-san''s masterplan or not. Let''s just assume that for the time being, so of course she knows where to look for the rest.
We walk through the door, and despite the temperature outside and the lack of heating here, the amount of people here more than make up for it. And I thought my room was sweaty!
Of course, Ara-san notices us first, and she seems to be cautious... or rather suspecting? Seriously, I can''t tell, it''s strange enough for me to be able to feel anything from her! I''m still figuring things out, dammit!
From her reaction, Rine catches up, jumps from her chair and jumps into our arms... well, Kyou-san''s arms, as I take two steps back to avoid my girlfr---erm... my blonde girlfriend.
Oh god, why do I feel so fucked by a fate others would envy me for? Maybe because I can already feel that this will explode in my face sooner rather than later, while most others won''t think about any long term implications and are so fed up with their lives that they would jump at any chance of something that seems remotely special?
Wait, I told myself earlier to try to enjoy it as long as it lasts. So I need to push aside the thirty ways it will kill me and concentrate on the now... wait, I made that mistake already!
For starters, let''s split up the two, as Rine is silently hugging Kyou-san so hard she¡¯s already taking damage. Literally, her HP are falling, and I don''t think she can breathe right now, and the flailing of her arms is growing weaker. I really was self-centered here, I should have thought about how this two-timing also has a chance to kill one of the girls involved.
I get back to my original position and tap Rine''s arm, whose face is strangely red, as if she''s holding her breath herself: ¡°Rine?¡±
Bad decision, as she just swaps targets. Now she silently does her best to snap my spine. Luckily, her arms are under mine, so I force my way with my fingers through the small gap between my body and her armpits, then my hands and wrists, forcing her hug to loosen by sheer force. ¡°Hm?¡± She looks up to me, and cocks her head, puzzled.
¡°You---are---suffocating---me!¡± I say between my teeth, trying to keep the tension in my body. I may be superior in brutal force, but it''s hard to use it from this position.
She blinks two times and then slowly takes her own body tension away, allowing this to resolve without anyone getting hurt. ¡°Phew...¡± Following my example, Rine also exhales deeply and then inhales again. ¡°What is this about?¡± I ask her.
Ara-san joins in, Jii-san directly behind her: ¡°As it would be unwise to speak about certain matters here, it seems that Katarine-san found her own solution to not ask the questions which would harm us in any settlement.¡±
What does she mean? Given that she knows what happened between Kyou-san and me, I guess she wants to talk about it. But why can¡ªah, the stupid Divine Laws. The farmers think Rine is my lover, so if they learn what happened, they will assume that I''m seeing Kyou-san¡ªwho thankfully isn''t my sister in our cover-story here¡ªas well, which comes uncomfortably close to the ''don''t be married to multiple spouses'' part of these shitty laws.
I found another way how this whole relationship can kill us. Yay!
Ara-san speaks in a low voice, the usual way for us two to communicate without anyone else able to hear it: ¡°I''m still surprised. I mean, the stories talk about how humans engage in oral sexual activities, and-¡±
As she continues, my mind barely keeps up, as it''s too busy asking ''What the fuck!? How do you know!?'' Then it dawns on me that during the sex, I was seeing several WP-messages which I pushed aside without reading them, as I was engaged otherwise.
Back then, I totally forgot that Rine and Ara-san do get an update about every WP as well. So they basically got a status report of everything that happened.
¡°Ken, what is wrong?¡± Kyou-san, you will learn of it soon enough. ¡°Why are you smirking?¡± I tried my best to give you an envious smile, as you still live in a world of ignorance.
At least I''m distracted about the incoming doom.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Brumm is checking on the guards he set up around the farmstead the Northwind Clan uses as their quarter. He made sure to choose those with enhanced senses for this task, so that they keep watchful even when playing around with their pals.
Still, the cider they found here may prove fatal if they think Brumm wouldn''t check every now and then. ¡°Anything going on, Gunnar?¡±
¡°Nothing unusual.¡± Gunnar scratches his fire-red beard, as he counts his sightings: ¡°A hind, a flock of ravens, and a hare.¡± He points at the carcass of said animal. ¡°Not much of a snack, but could be enough for a boot for my daughter.¡± Said daughter is playing with other children four corners close by, their skins blue due to being topless during this weather, but if they don''t harden up now, then they become whiny little babies later.
¡°Keep up the work.¡± Brumm was about to turn around, when Gunnar made a gesture to stop him. ¡°What?¡±
¡°A group of people are running towards us. I think it''s Harkon.¡± Running a day or two long isn''t unusual for a warrior band, barbarians are just that tough.
After a few seconds, a group emerges from the light morning mist, and it''s indeed Harkon with his people. But some are missing...
¡°Chief!¡± Harkon says after arriving, he has a huge scar across his shoulder: ¡°We lost!¡± He spits these words out with shame and disgust, but it shows his barbarian spirit to say the painful things outright.
¡°Come with me, we''ll talk inside.¡± Brumm asks the next person he sees to get his father. Soon, Harkon, Bramm, and Brumm are sitting in the chieftain''s room, together with Bjonn¡ªwho was with Harkon¡ªand Polr, another veteran.
Harkon tells his story, and the details are worrying. Traces of farmers banding together? A bother. A ranger who protects him? A danger. A girl who could fight off several warriors? A problem. Yet the worse was: ¡°It was someone from the lizards. He was old as fuck, but with a single strike, he... he exploded Tjim!¡±
A lizard-tribemember? Old? Able to shatter Tjim''s ultimate defense with ease? A certain name floats around the room, everyone thinks of the story of Brimm, Brumm¡¯s grandfather, who was beaten by his own leg after that calamity ripped it off him.
Grekk.
¡°He should have died by now!¡± Bramm¡ªwho saw that event first-hand¡ªutters this in-between fear and anger. ¡°He was already old back then!¡± Even today, his father sometimes hears the maniacal laughter in his dreams.
¡°Does this mean the lizards are here?¡± Every tribe that had an encounter with Grekk altered their route to keep away from the lizards. So did they change it now because nobody wants to ''play'' with Grekk?
Brumm thinks about this for a moment: ¡°We just had the last skirmishes, we can''t risk another fight with another tribe right now. Yet we also can''t let this stain our honor.¡± Aside from his father, the rest nods in approval: ¡°Everyone will pack their things. We will move as a clan, make camp at some distance, and then I will take a look for myself. Let them see our might.¡±
As soon as this message travels, the mood of the younger warriors mirror Brumm''s. Even if it''s Grekk, he''s old and being the one to kill him would bring them highest praise, honor, and even a starting point to write their own legends. It would also be revenge for Brumm''s grandfather, everyone knows of his fate.
On the other hand, the older warriors like Bramm would have decided to cut their losses and change their route, as they do remember those old days still too well...
Volume 09 - Chapter 7-1 – The ending went weird
Almost a year ago.
This is getting worse by the second. Wallowing in pain, I roll on the floor, as if I¡¯m trying to quench it like a fire. Yet it remains.
¡°Father?¡± My oldest son¡ªFir¡ªenters the tent, looking at the items on the floor, then at me. ¡°Are you alright?¡± He''s already an old man himself.
¡°NO!¡± He jumps back, as if I would bite him from two steps away. I probably could though. However, I can''t tell him about this pain!
¡°What is wrong?¡±
¡°NOTHING!¡± He hardens his body, as if I would hit him. Why would I¡ªwell, I did it in the past. Often.
Argh, the pain gets worse!
¡°Try to endure it!¡± He runs out of the tent: ¡°We need to raid a town and get a priest! Quickly!¡± The pain! Why does it hurt so much more now! ¡°All of you, protect father!¡± Yeah, otherwise my own clansmen will kill me. Wait, why doesn''t it sound that bad!?
I roll around again, but stop before I roll over my most hated and most precious possession. A crochet stole.
Wait, precious? I hate this thing! Why did I keep it in the first place!?
I grab it. It stinks, as it was stored for too long too deep in that chest. I press it close to my body, and I feel a strange itch in my eyes. Why does this calm me down, even though it makes me feel even shittier!?
I do something I never did before. I think. I''m more of a person who lives in the moment, but now I''m remembering old times, and while they give me solace, they hurt so much.
Soon, Fir will kidnap a priest, who can take a look at me. He only needs to raid a town with a temple or church, kill their guards, some of the civilians, take their stuff for good measure, and---
Oh! I finally know what is plaguing me. Even though I can''t believe it. Yet here we are. If I have to put it into one sentence...
One day I woke up and grew a conscience.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Mirianne wakes up by the scream of the rooster. Yesterday, she was pumped, but today she feels miserable once again. She has no idea why though.
Red. Kyou-chan. The princess. The elf. Old Man Grekk. Her mind feels like a spinning top, always bumping against one of those five.
She slowly stands up before dawn, as she¡¯s always done since childhood. She has to take care of the animals once again. A small smile runs through her face, as she remembers how Kyou-chan called her talented. Yet the smile vanishes, as she still feels like she doesn''t belong on this farmstead.
Red. She admires him, right? That''s what she came to realize, yet there is that small voice inside her, which tries to add something. Or maybe deny?
The elf. Mirianne hates her, but she''s somehow important.
The princess. Flawless, she makes Mirianne feel so inferior.
The old man. Talking with him makes Mirianne feel better.
Mirianne dresses herself, by the side of her siblings and some other girls from nearby farmsteads, as they all have to share a room. Then she leaves the cramped chamber, but instead of making a quick check on whether the stables and fences are still alright, she instead makes a detour to the room Red and the old man share.
However, both of them are about to pass her on her way. Red shoulders his spear and wears his armor, it''s obvious that they are about to go to some training again.
Seeing Red hurts Marianne, even though she already confirmed her feelings. Maybe, because she remembers his rejection. Yes, it has to be this.
Mirianne forces a smile: ¡°Good luck with your training.¡±
Red looks at her for a second, then he sighs: ¡°Phew... thanks, I guess.¡±
The old man grins: ¡°He will need it.¡±
Without missing a beat, both are passing her and while Red ¡°Wait, what?¡± tries to find out what the old man means, the latter just laughs it away.
At the same time, tears are running down Mirianne''s cheeks.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
¡°Hff...hff...¡± Kenta-kun is finished with the first exercises, still in his fatty body. He seems beat, but I know he will get through.
¡°Alright, fatty,¡± I say seriously, ¡°come here.¡±
¡°Hf...¡± He stumbles more than walk. It''s so hard to make these heroes really tired though.
I put my hands on his shoulders: ¡°Let me tell you one thing. You do improve. It may not seem like it, but my instincts tell me that.¡± It''s hard to explain, but every morning he does feel a bit more dangerous. I can''t see a difference in his movements, in his power, or anything else, but I learned to trust my instincts. Like many barbarians, though only a few learn to do that when they''re young.
¡°Hf... what-¡± I guess he also is developing instincts, as he suddenly hardens up his body.
Oh well, no need to change what I''m about to do. I push down on his shoulders, driving him into the ground, like a blunted stake. My arms hurt so much from the last battle, even with my regeneration, I still feel it in my bones. Yet I needed enough power he wasn¡¯t able to resist. ¡°Aaaaahhhhh...¡± I massage my arms, as he realizes that only his head is above ground now.
I stomp once close to his head to tramp down the earth around him, the shock goes up my leg. He also feels this shock: ¡°ARGH! What the fuck are you doing!?¡± He''s now in the middle of a shallow crater.
¡°Nothing anymore. You on the other hand have to get out there yourself.¡± I sit down and take some deep breaths to regain some of my power: ¡°Do whatever is necessary.¡±
¡°FUCK YOU, JII-SAN!¡± He tries to wiggle, but realizes the big problem: There is no wiggle-room anymore, which means he also can''t use his muscles. He also seems to swap back and forth between his forms, most likely trying to loosen the earth around him, as other than his clothes, it doesn''t change to fit his sizes.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
From the pain on his face and groans, I guess it doesn''t work as he intended. Well, the earth there should be rock solid with the power I put into my stomp.
¡°[Entangle]!¡± He endures the pain of being pressed into an unfitting shape as he uses his ranger-powers to make the grass around him grow, trying to get him out of there. Yup, he''s a bit desperate, as even I can tell the grass won''t be even close to strong enough for that.
He changes to fatty again, ceasing all resistance. I guess he needs to think it through.
I have no idea how he will get out of this, but I know that he should be able to do this much. In his position, I would either force the earth to surrender by pumping up my muscles and force my way through it or to crack the hardened earth below with my chin.
Kenta-kun doesn''t have the strength for either option, though.
¡°RGH... RGH..¡± I have no idea what he''s doing, but it seems painful. Also, he''s still in his fatty form. ¡°AAAHHH.... RGHHH....¡± After five minutes of doing so, he looks very exhausted, but then he changes to his pikeman-form, and the earth around his neck begins to crumble. ¡°Hahhhhhh.... hah....¡± He does seem burned out though, and he wasn''t even able to free his arms, yet he becomes fat again.
¡°Nice. What did you do?¡± He''s still in there, but it''s certainly progress.
¡°You call me fatty, no? Guess what, the fat gave me some wiggle room in my arms! It hurt like hell, but I was able to hit the earth with my bones often enough to loosen it somewhat!¡±
I try to imagine what he means, but I guess I''m too dumb for that. But I get it, that he¡¯s trying to throw my insults back at me, so in the end, it''s the spite that makes him do that. ¡°Well fatty, you still need to get out though.¡±
¡°Soon!¡± He starts to calm his breathing, probably making another attempt.
After another hour of small steps of progress, Rine-kun runs at us: ¡°DEAR! GREKK! THEY ARE HERE!¡±
¡°¡°Oh.¡±¡± Both of us know what she means. This was awfully quick, but maybe the Northfarts did run through the night. Or they could have cut some time by knowing exactly where to go.
¡°Lad, let me get you out... it will hurt.¡± I say to him, as I''m about to break open the earth.
¡°Ah, wait!¡± Rine-kun taps my shoulder, before her body becomes softer: ¡°[Soften]!¡± The earth around Kenta-kun becomes strange, and he basically walks out of there. Magic is strange. ¡°Why were you in there in the first place, Dear?¡±
¡°No idea, but I guess it helped.¡± He fetches his backpack, retrieves potions and starts drinking them. ¡°Let''s go. Ara-san and Kyou-san are already on their way?¡±
¡°They went out to warn the farmers, we''ll meet them there.¡±
¡°Then throw me a [Heal] and show me where they are.¡±
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
My whole body hurts, being stuck in the ground was very painful, and without the [Heal], I would have bruises and chafes all over my body. Yet I was about to realize something, but these shitty barbarians had to interfere.
[Sneak], [Camouflage], and [Mask of Wildlife] make it nigh impossible to see me at the border of the forest where we fought against them previously, while I use [Farsight] to look at the barbarians in the distance.
Many of them are carrying huge packages like they are nothing. In this regard, they look like ants, and I would guess that these are tent-tarps that are wound around everything that''s supposed to be inside the tents. Don''t they use wagons?
I also see several non-barbarians, people with something to cover their upper bodies, wearing simple dresses and shirts. I guess these are farmers they caught.
On the other hand, there is a wall of obvious warriors, full of war paint and looking in my direction without seeing me.
Did they plan an all-out invasion? Are they trying to threaten us with their hostages? Or are they here to negotiate and will go with one of the former ideas if it fails?
I return to the rest and report what I have seen. ¡°We have to rescue the farmers,¡± Rine says with her fire-red eyes burning.
¡°How?¡± Kyou-san is more realistic. ¡°If they attack us, we don''t have enough people.¡± She said before that the farmers are gearing up and getting here as well, but even with a hundred of them, I have to agree with her assessment.
¡°Remember the plan,¡± Ara-san says calmly, as it takes a lot to unbalance her... unless it''s squirrels. ¡°We don''t need to fight them here.¡±
Yeah, we want them to agree to that Tren-thing. For that, we need to make it obvious to them that attacking us is more detrimental than they would like. ¡°Means, we need to talk to them. Phew...¡± Which means that I need to make the decision, who to send.
Ara-san is a no-go. She would most likely make things escalate, because she would either play pranks, insult the barbarians, or just try what she can get away with for fun. Probably a mix of all.
Rine appears to be a solid choice at first, as she can defend herself, and her [Swishstride] would be good for her to retreat quickly to us, if things go south. Yet she wants to free the farmers, and seeing the fire in her eyes, I don''t think she''s willing to make compromises.
Sending Jii-san seems to be smart, as he knows the customs, but on the other hand he''s also our secret weapon. The final push we may need to drive them away. So am I willing to risk him and send him where someone close to his strength may be?
Me? I will probably fail the negotiations. I have a track-record of messing talks up, and can only succeed if I''m in an obviously better position.
The obvious and most logical choice is the one I really don''t want to make: Kyou-san. She got high [Persuasion], which means she can convince every non-hero to do whatever she wants. While Rine shares that, Kyou-san knows better how to use it and she''s good at reading moods and intentions.
At the same time, she''s by far the weakest of us. Also, how could I send her when there is so much risk involved? Especially, since she was the one who told us from the start to flee to the town? This is exactly what she was against from the start...
Inhale. Exhale. ¡°Kyou-san, I''d like you to go and talk with them. Try to make them leave, and if it doesn''t work out, work towards that Tren-thing.¡± Just because I don''t want to, doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t if I have to: ¡°Jii-san, go with her.¡± That''s the only thing I can give her, even though I¡¯d rather have him in the back.
Kyou-san looks at me as if I¡¯ve asked her to defuse a time-bomb within five seconds. Then she sighs: ¡°You owe me big time.¡± She slowly walks up to me and then hugs me: ¡°I hate you!¡±
You gain 1 WP.
With a hug, you can feel her true intentions that run counter to her words.
No, she certainly hates me for that. ¡°I know.¡± And I hate myself for it, despite it being the logical decision.
She presses her lips against my cheek, as we already had a kiss today, there is no further message, then she hardens her resolve: ¡°Grekk-san? Make sure that I''ll be safe.¡±
¡°Sure, lass.¡±
¡°I will send them a message. Ara-san, write the following:¡± I will need Rine to confirm later that Ara-san is writing what I''m about to say... Still, she has the most clean handwriting, and I have to make this message as simple to understand as possible...
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
An arrow flies next to Bjonn, who was on lookout. Where did it come from? Also, there is a piece of paper attached to it. ¡°What is that?¡± Frett asks as he picks it up. ¡°Uh! WORDS!¡±
¡°It''s called a letter.¡± Bjonn knows of this, even though he can''t read either. ¡°People write messages on them and give them to other people, who deliver them to the person who''s supposed to read them.¡± Putting it on an arrow is strange, also kinda smart.
¡°Why don''t they say things to the other people directly?¡±
¡°Give it to me.¡±
¡°You can read?¡±
¡°No, but if you want to keep your teeth, then give it to me. I¡¯ll bring it to the chief.¡±
¡°Why you, not me?¡± Bjonn lifts his fist. ¡°Alright, alright! Asshole!¡±
¡°Keep watch here.¡± If the arrow could be shot without Bjonn noticing in time where it came from, it means that he''s as useless as Frett here. Also, Frett holds a grudge against the ranger, so sending him to the chief would only invite problems.
Chieftain Brumm takes the letter, reading it slowly aloud: ¡°''To the... leader of... the barbori, erm, barbarians. We will send tw...two people. Meet them ha----half---'' Half and way? Ah, halfways. ''Let''s talk. Red.... Ranger.'' Is he serious!?¡± The chief crumbles the letter in anger.
¡°Son, don''t waste this chance,¡± former chief Bramm says, and Bjonn has to agree.
¡°What chance?¡±
¡°They will try to threaten us. Which means, they will show their hand. Then we can decide if it''s a battle we want.¡± Bjonn also agrees to this. He always had a high opinion of Bramm, and while Brumm is promising, he''s still young and easy to sway. Probably because of what happened to his grandfather...
Yet he shows that he''s his father''s son: ¡°You are right. They didn''t say how many people we need to send, so let''s go with ten. Bjonn, you are part of it. Harkon as well. Father, you will stay behind, in case something happens to me, so you can take over leadership.¡± It would be a shame if the chief of the tribe doesn¡¯t come to negotiations, after all: ¡°Other than that... I want Gunnar in. I¡¯ll let you two choose three more each. Make sure to not only include the older ones, though. We need power and smarts.¡±
Volume 09 - Chapter 7-2
Ken, I''m gonna tear you apart! At least I will try! I mean, even with Grekk-san at my side, I''m still intimidated by the ten buffed people¡ªeight men and two women¡ªwho come towards us. They all look like they could snap me in half with one hand.
¡°Ah, some of them know me.¡± Grekk-san says, as he points at the two oldest of these men, who stare at him, and I can feel their terror creeping up at us from a hundred meters away. They say something, and the rest of the group begins to get much tenser. This is good.
I need to appear strong, even though I want to pee myself. While I agree with Ken''s decision to send me, as I''m the most sensible choice, I also hate that it had to come to this. I also hate that he''s not here right now! I mean, I can think of some reasons, but what about my emotional stability? Grekk-san may be better suited, but I feel safe with you!
Ah, what a wreck I have become! Relying on a boy! Yet how could I not!?
No, he relies on me now, too. So I have to make the best out of it. I even feel flattered, but I also want to bite Ken. Maybe I will. Later.
¡°Let''s wait here for them, Grekk-san.¡± It''s not like this place is better than any other on this open space, but letting the others come to me for the negotiation will subconsciously make them think they have a lower status.
¡°Alright.¡± The gray-haired man sits down cross-legged, and I think for a moment to follow his example. Yet I instead take out one of our stools from the backpack. Position is important, and as I''ll be the shortest here by a large margin, sitting on the stool will make me look taller.
The barbarians come closer, and a man in his mid-to-late twenties stands in the middle of them. The rest of his posse sits down while he remains standing. Good thing I took the stool. ¡°Where is the Red Ranger?¡± His voice is firm and strong, but I pick up a sliver of uncertainty.
¡°Who knows? It''s hard to keep track sometimes. I''m here in his name though, I''m Momokawa Kyou.¡±
¡°You''re just a little girl.¡± So he isn¡¯t taking me seriously. In this case, it''s not good.
I lower my voice a tiny bit, making it heavier: ¡°I''m also the one who will talk on his behalf. You can take it or not.¡±
He stares into my eyes, trying to intimidate me, but talking is my turf. As long as he doesn''t get violent, I know he can''t hurt me. He gets louder though: ¡°Get me the Red Ranger!¡±
¡°Shut your fucking mouth,¡± Grekk-san snarks firmly, which makes the other barbarian flinch before he begins to build himself up again.
¡°Grekk-san, quiet please.¡± I''m indeed thankful, but if I let Grekk-san take over the conversation, it will turn bad.
¡°Sorry, Kyou-kun.¡± The fact that he apologizes does improve my standing though, as all of them are intimidated by the old barbarian. If he is subservient to me, this means they will subconsciously think more of me.
The leader of the barbarians folds his arms, tilting his head. He wants to look strong, but crossing his arms in this situation tells me of his uneasiness: ¡°I''m Brumm, chieftain of the Northwind Clan. I demand to talk to your chieftain.¡±
¡°Maybe later,¡± I answer dismissively, this needs a soft yet firm touch: ¡°For now, I''m the one you can talk to. I speak with all his authority.¡± If Ken chose me, he has to live with my decisions, though I don''t plan to act against his desires if I can help it. ¡°Once again, my name is Momokawa Kyou.¡±
¡°Why would he send a frail girl instead of a warrior?¡±
I could try to prove myself, but I don''t need to do that now. As long as they''re afraid of Grekk-san¡ªthey may try to underplay it, but I¡¯ve noticed the reactions of his guards¡ªmy position is strong enough, and I don''t need to risk it by failing to impress him: ¡°Because it''s me.¡± This is also very true.
This false confidence does impress Brumm-san, though he''s still skeptical: ¡°You wanted to talk, so talk.¡± He wants this to be over, so he probably has what he wanted to know already. Probably by seeing Grekk-san.
¡°Our leader wants you to leave the area and to cease attacking the farmsteads here.¡±
¡°Yeah right. You killed our people!¡±
¡°And they tried to kill ours.¡± I emphasize the ''tried'' here to make sure he gets it: His people were the only ones that died here. ¡°So let''s leave it at that and nobody else needs to come to harm.¡±
I can see how my words affect him. Some of the other warriors as well, especially the older ones. They''d hate losing more people, so maybe this is enough to convince them?
Yet Brumm-san resists: ¡°Retreating now would blemish the honor of the Northwind Clan. You won''t be able to resist! They''re just a bunch of farmers, though you seem to be a hero. How many of you are there? Not many, otherwise Harkon''s party would have noticed them! We are neither afraid of heroes nor of rangers¡± I guess being so young does tell people that we''re heroes after all.
Let''s drop the niceties for now: ¡°We also have Grekk-san.¡±
¡°Another reason! I need to take revenge for my grandfather!¡± He spits out these words, his hatred growing with every syllable.
¡°Wait a second,¡± Grekk-san interrupts: ¡°Your name was Brumm... Are you Brimm''s grandson?¡±
¡°Yes! I am!¡±
¡°I''m sure that I didn''t kill Brimm.¡±
¡°You killed every part of him but his body!¡±
¡°I have no idea what that means.¡±
I need to interject here, before things escalate even more, the other barbarians are already on their heels: ¡°I''m sure you have a lot to talk about, but let''s focus on the here and now. Former events shouldn''t be accounted for here, right?¡±
¡°Quiet!¡± Brumm-san stomps and the earth around him rises, the air pressure blasts into my face with some dirt, Grekk-san is standing up, but he holds back. However, he radiates pure power, and even though I¡¯m on his side I''m scared of it.
I pull myself together, doing my best to salvage this situation: ¡°Chieftain Brumm, what do you hope to accomplish by picking up a fight here and now? Someone may die if we continue down this road.¡± Most likely myself.
Instead of answering me, he stares at me, and I really wish Ken would be here. Considering that Brumm is the chief of a blood-thirsty tribe of madmen really scares me. Yet I don''t think he''s like that. He comes across more as someone who wants to do the smart thing, but he''s also triggered and now unable to stop at this point.
Strange though, he wants to raid the farmsteads for their goods, and we heard about how they used to be satisfied with a fifth. ¡°Did you become the chief recently?¡±
¡°Y-¡± He abruptly stops, he was probably lured by my [Persuasion] to answer me, but he¡¯s basically told me everything already.
I look at Grekk-san before asking my next question, making sure that the old yet tall man is paying attention and could protect me if this triggers the chief: ¡°So you asked your people to attack Green Horst, slaughtering every person who couldn''t run away at time?¡±
¡°...¡± Brumm-san hesitates and this tells me more than he would ever admit. He didn''t know about the Green Horst, he probably gave other orders, but admitting this now would tarnish his stupid honor, so he won''t back out now that the damage has been done.
Let''s use this opportunity, before he can answer and derail the conversation. It''s the lesser solution, but it''s more or less the course we settled on... well, Ken settled on: ¡°At this point, both sides could enter another battle, but this would do more harm than good. We, the Lion Squad, challenge you on behalf of the White Horst to a Trenvig.¡± Lion Squad is the name our group is traveling as, basically just a cover as a mercenary band. ¡°Grekk-san is now also a part of the squad, so you can also settle old conflicts.¡±
I read a lot of emotions on his face and gestures. Insecurity, stubbornness, a lot of grudge, hope, anger, hurt pride, all of them meshed together. Brumm-san stands up and says with a clear voice: ¡°I accept! I will see you all in the dirt. We¡¯ll meet again in two hours to talk about the details.¡± He turns around, his fellow barbarians following him.
I stand up myself. My knees feel so weak that I''m about to fall, though. Grekk-san supports me by holding my shoulders, despite the cracks that are still left in the bones of his arms: ¡°You did well.¡±
I raise my chin, as I don''t need him to tell me that: ¡°Thanks for being my guard. It certainly helped.¡±
¡°I''m happy I didn''t need to kill all of them on the spot. Though I wonder what happened with Brimm... What did the brat mean that I killed everything but his body?¡±
I have an idea or two: ¡°Maybe he was so devastated by the defeat that he lost his will to live?¡±
¡°Could be, but seriously: It would be a shame for a warrior to be disheartened by something like a loss.¡± I have to agree.
However, we need to take care of the Trenvig for now.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Several days ago.
After hearing the decision of Kenza to stay and resist the barbarians and our first day of training, we go to the room Kenta-kun and I share, and I start to explain to the youngsters how a Trenvig works exactly.
¡°I think I said it before, but a Trenvig is a challenge between barbarian clans and has three parts: We got the Challenge of the Champions, the Challenge of the Elders, and the Challenge of the Chieftains. Both clans agree on the price, and the time and place beforehand. They will also make suggestions for the Challenge of the Chieftains.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡± Kenta-kun asks.
¡°The Challenge of the Chieftains isn''t set. Both chiefs collect three ideas each and judge if those ideas are in the spirit of being a barbarian. Usually games of skills, showing their ability to judge the situation and adapt. Some like to use fights with special rules, others play children''s games, there was a riddle competition once, but as long as you have a sound reasoning, anything should be accepted. A chief that shies away from a suggestion that fits the bill will be looked down upon by their clan, as it shows that they can''t handle the unexpected.¡±
¡°And how do they decide which one will be used?¡±
¡°Randomly right before it starts to give no time to prepare. My clan had a bag with colored marbles for that. No idea what they will use, but that''s also agreed upon beforehand.¡±
¡°I see... considering there are fights possible, this means Kyou-san shouldn''t do it... Ara-san neither... and Rine...¡± He looks at the pretty lass with raised eyebrows: ¡°...may stumble with other tasks. Jii-san?¡±
¡°Lad, this is the challenge of the leader. It doesn''t matter if you are fit or not, as long as you''re the chief, you have to do it. Which means, it''s you.¡±
¡°Not like I wanted to... ...phew... I hope it comes last.¡±
¡°It is. First comes Champions, then Elders, then Chieftains.¡±
¡°Good. Random stuff is the worst. We only need to win the first two and we have no problem, right?¡±
¡°Yes, you need to win two of the competitions to win the Trenvig.¡±
Rine-kun lifts her hand while asking her question: ¡°What about the other challenges?¡±
¡°They are always the same. The Challenge of the Champions is both sides using their strongest warrior for a fight. The first one to die or lose consciousness loses. Of course, I was my clan''s champion.¡± Though later only in title, as the other clans started to avoid us. ¡°The champions are surrounded by a circle of forty warriors to mark their battlefield. If they get too close to an enemy one, they might get attacked. Leaving the circle is forbidden and attacking it is in bad taste.¡± As long as you can grab and crush your opponent on the spot, you don''t need to worry about any interference. Usually, it''s also enough to decide a fight.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°Phew... so you gonna do it, Jii-san?¡±
¡°No, no, no. I''m old and frail.¡± I say it, but I just do it because I want to do another challenge for a change. I always was the champion, and as I''m not the leader¡ªfor good reasons¡ªI can''t participate as the chieftain. Yet the Elder... ¡°Rine-kun would be much better than I for it.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± The blonde beauty asks: ¡°You are much stronger than me.¡±
¡°What if breaking my arm isn''t enough to win? I can be very powerful for a moment, but after that, I can do nothing. Maybe you need me to use my strength before the Trenvig anyway, which would lead me to be unable to fight anyway.¡± Of course, I''m confident that I can crush any opponent with one arm, but I need to sell myself short!
The lad hesitates for a moment: ¡°He''s right, Rine. I''ll count on you.¡±
¡°Sure! I won''t disappoint you, Dear!¡±
My plan is working. ¡°Now about the Challenge of the Elders. Both sides send their oldest member to compete in story-telling. In this case, it''s obvious that I''m the one who needs to go.¡±
¡°I disagree.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± I turn my head towards the one who spoke out. It''s Ara-kun? ¡°You... do what?¡±
¡°I disagree. Grekkun, how old are you?¡±
¡°I didn''t count, but look at my beard. At my hair. I''m basically a hundred years old or so.¡±
¡°Which makes you still younger than me.¡±
It takes me a moment to digest what she has just said, to make sure that I heard right: ¡°You claim to be older than me?¡±
¡°I''m in fact 144 years old.¡±
¡°You just invented that number.¡± It sounds just fake. I look at the others, trying to find support.
Kyou-kun smiles at me, but her look makes me feel like a child who is trying to ask their dad to get candy after dinner. Rine-kun also smiles, but it''s strained. Kenta-kun shrugs his shoulders, mumbling ¡°She''s right.¡±
My plan... failed! Why didn''t anyone tell me that alfar can be this old and look so young!?
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
Brumm readies himself for the meeting. This time, he''s accompanied by his father, as now Grekk will be honor-bound to not attack them until the Trenvig ends. Considering how much Brumm''s instincts told him to run away and hide after seeing him, this calms him down. Good thing that after a Trenvig, both clans aren''t allowed to engage in combat for a year.
Aside from Bramm, their elder Ollof and the newly appointed champion Harkon joined as well. It''s not like Harkon is the strongest left, but he was more or less the only one who actually wanted to fight Grekk, as it''s clear as day that he would be in the Challenge of the Champion and he''s not known to spare his opponents.
Losing Harkon would hurt, but if he insists... it would have been easier to send someone stupid in there, like Ulw and his brats, who messed up everything in the first place. By now, Brumm figured out that they had ignored his orders, making the farmers mad, who then sent in a ranger who could put up a fight.
What he still couldn''t figure out is why Grekk is with them, but it doesn''t matter overall. He''s here, he''s dangerous, they have to deal with it.
It''s sad that Brumm won''t be able to avenge his grandfather yet, but if he could win the Trenvig, then...
There they are, at the same spot the girl was speaking with him before. There are three men and three women... no, more like: Two men, a boy and three girls.
The black-haired girl from before is here again. She looks as proud as before, and Brumm is a bit cautious of her, as the more he thinks back about the conversation earlier, the more he thinks that she had the lead.
There is also a blonde girl, which is probably the one Tjim was fighting before. From what Brumm heard, she is quite capable, probably a hero herself. Yet while the black-haired one just seems off, this one...
Oh shit, her eyes! It''s like there is a flame burning in them, and this ties back to old stories Brumm heard, about a small country in the east, where there is abundant and rich soil and strong warriors protecting it. As this used to be the Lizard Clan''s route, the Northwind Clan avoided going there, but even Brumm knows about Gottfried, who may be the only warrior capable of defeating Grekk in his prime.
No, if she''s a hero, she can''t be part of that country, but she looks so very different from the other girl, basically like many people around here with an unusual eye-color. Nonetheless, it won''t matter in a Trenvig.
Wait, they don''t have an elder. Does it mean, Grekk will be their elder? The next oldest person is a man with graying hair, who may wear armor and have a shortsword on his side, but looks like he hasn¡¯t seen much action for the last decade. His sunburned skin and stench does tell me he''s just a farmer.
Or maybe their elder is so old he or she can''t move anymore by themselves. After all, these farmers waste their lives until they''re shriveled.
Grekk himself stands tall and even looking at him makes it difficult to not flee on the spot.
The interesting ones are the two others though. Brumm heard about an elven girl, but seeing one is strange. Elves are seclusive and while the Northwind Clan tried to attack one of their villages, which is only a few days away from here, they never succeeded. They entered the woods and never found any buildings, and when they tried to tear down the forest, they found themselves in an entirely different forest. Elven magic is cursed.
This elven girl seems to be young, but there is no joy in her. It''s like she''s made out of wood. Her strange head- and face-shape and her frailty underlines this. Even though Brumm has met plenty of folksmen and orcs, some dwarves, vrylokas, and hynoars, this elf seems to be even more alien. Maybe because they''re closer to human features in general and therefore every difference seems stronger?
The other odd one is the ranger. He''s definitely a hero as well, he looks similar to the girl, but Brumm''s instincts tell him that he''s a danger. Not in a fight, but there is something about him which may make him a threat, and Brumm hates how he can''t say why.
He pushes his hood back and points at Brumm: ¡°You''re the boss, right?¡±
¡°I''m Brumm, chieftain of the Northwind Clan.¡±
¡°Aha.¡± Brumm never heard someone not caring so aggressively before: ¡°Katsuragi Kenta.¡± Within the chief, a raging anger awakens. He wants to cave this boy''s head in with his bare hands. ¡°No need for small-talk, let''s begin laying down the details. The place for the challenges will be here, objections?¡±
While Brumm is about to say ''yes'' just to shut this disrespectful brat up, he pulls himself together. If he starts objecting out of spite, then his words won''t have any weight for later. ¡°Fine with me.¡±
¡°I guess we could start half an hour after this talk.¡± Brumm nods again. ¡°If we win, you and your people will leave and won''t raid any farmsteads, villages, settlements, wayside inns, or similar places until spring. Same for caravans.¡±
¡°What are we supposed to eat then?¡±
¡°Either buy it or just hunt. Seriously, you-¡± he stops mid sentence, as he exchanges a look with the black-haired girl: ¡°Seriously, I don''t care what you do, as long as you leave the people alone. Also, this farmstead and each one close to it will be spared of any raids for the next ten years.¡± He knows the time-limits, he probably learned from Grekk what is sensible. ¡°This would sum it up. What do you want?¡±
Brumm thinks about their terms. They could attack cities, but this is always risky. So they''re down to bandits, mercenaries, and similar. ¡°Then I ask for three things. First, a fifth of everything the farms in this area owns.¡± This was the plan to begin with, just this way he doesn''t need to fight for it.
The farmer nods to it: ¡°Acceptable.¡±
¡°Alright, go on,¡± the ranger says.
¡°Second, for ten years, the farms have to give us food and shelter whenever we are there.¡± With this, there is a lot to gain while the Northwind Clan recovers from their latest battles.
This seems to hurt the farmer, he takes a deep breath: ¡°Also acceptable.¡±
¡°Phew... if he says so... what is the third?¡±
¡°Third, we want Grekk''s head.¡± This would also serve as a revenge, and give the Northwind Clan a reputation beyond any imagination.
The Red Ranger becomes openly hostile for a second, and Brumm''s instinct groans, as the danger coming from the ranger also intensifies. ¡°No fucking way.¡±
Grekk puts his hand on the ranger''s shoulder: ¡°Oh, you''re worried about me?¡±
¡°Fuck off!¡± He certainly has to be dumb and with little instinct to talk that way to a natural disaster incarnated.
¡°Lad, I don''t mind. It''s not like we will lose.¡± The danger coming from Grekk mellows a bit, though it''s like saying that hard steel is becoming slightly softer steel. ¡°That lad is out for revenge, and even if I don''t know why exactly, it''s probably justified. I agree to the third term.¡±
¡°You said I''m the leader, so shut up!¡±
¡°Lad, I know that I won''t die here. And if I do, then the world is better off anyway. That''s my decision.¡±
¡°Kch... fuck you, Jii-san.¡± The Red Ranger turns to Brumm: ¡°Phew... I accept.¡± The chieftain pumps his fists, as the idea of being the ones who would kill the legendary Grekk, the thought of avenging his grandfather, is so appealing. ¡°What comes next?¡± Seeing how the Red Ranger doesn''t know the customs does aggravate Brumm, but on the other hand, this is something he can endure for this price.
¡°First, we appoint the Champion. Our champion is Harkon.¡± The warrior steps forward and his eyes are fixated on Grekk, beaming respect and fear at the same time, but also anger and thirst for revenge.
¡°Ours is Rine.¡± The blonde girl steps forwards. Brumm has silently considered this possibility, but he can''t help but blink in surprise, as he still was set on Grekk being the champion.
Especially considering how easy-going this girl is! She walks to Harkon: ¡°I''m Katarine von Stolzherz and will participate in the Challenge of the Champions.¡± She tips over her heart and then rolls her hand towards Harkon. This is a kingdom manner! Doesn''t she take barbarians seriously!?
¡°You''re not the one I wanted!¡± Of course, Harkon is pissed. He dreaded and expected the ultimate challenge, and now he has to take someone half his bulk. Yet he''s also cautious, as he''s the one who told Brumm that this girl was fighting very well and even took his arm before when he wasn¡¯t paying attention. That she''s better than Grekk is very unlikely, however.
So maybe he will be the Elder instead, after all. ¡°Our Elder is Ollof.¡± He''s been a warrior as well, and he knows all the stories which barbarians fancy.
¡°Ours is Ara-sa... Ara''ainn.¡±
Why is that petite elf stepping forward!? Her ears lower as she makes a proud ¡°Ahem!¡±, leaving Brumm speechless.
Only for a moment though, as he bursts out: ¡°You know that the Elder is supposed to be the oldest person of the tribe!?¡±
The elf''s left ear leans backwards: ¡°We do, though you may not know about an alfr''s life expectancy. I''m older than you can count, and I will outlive your tribe with ease. Which isn¡¯t much of a claim, considering how much we will destroy you today.¡±
Brumm isn''t a typical barbarian, therefore he notices the insults, the bragging, and the challenge, which are all rolled up into a lecture. His instinct also tells him that she''s very confident about being older than anyone here.
Oh well, she sounds like an intellectual, so there is no way she will entertain her audience.
Wait... this means Grekk is betting his life without even participating in the Trenvig himself? As the Red Ranger speaks as the chieftain, this is the only outcome, even though it makes no sense! Does this mean, that Grekk is so confident that they will win!?
Brumm inhales silently and exhales again: ¡°Then the elder and the champions have been announced. Next are the possible challenges for the chieftains.¡±
¡°How do you decide which one will be used?¡±
¡°We use a die.¡± Brumm takes off a six-sided die, each side with a different color. ¡°You may call which of the challenges is which color and we let Grekk roll the die, so you know that we aren''t cheating.¡±
¡°Fine, I guess. Then we now call out our challenge proposals?¡±
¡°We do the first, you the second, we the third, and so on. The first proposal is ''Duel until disarmed.''¡± As Brumm instinctively knows that the ranger won''t be a match in a direct fight, he decided to go with this challenge. It requires tactics, experience, and physical skill, which makes it a classic.
¡°Phew... of course. Well, it happens that I got something similar. Fight until you hit the back of the head of your opponent.¡± Brumm nods to it, well-knowing that this isn''t similar at all. To disarm an opponent, you need either skill or power, but to get behind the opponent requires swiftness and foresight. Also, this may open up the use of ranger magic.
Though strangely enough, Brumm feels like his own proposal would backfire even worse, though he can''t tell why. This fellow is messing with his common sense, as Brumm''s instincts are always counter to what he would have expected to be right.
However, finding challenges against a ranger was hard enough. Brumm would love to make a hunting competition, but that would have been stupid, despite his talent in this. Same goes for hide-and-seek or basically everything else that requires going into the wilderness, which is supposed to be a barbarian''s home turf.
That''s why Brumm planned to add a second combat challenge, but now the ranger proposed one himself, so having three would be too many for good taste. The first fight between chieftains has already started, and while Brumm wasn''t expecting the Red Ranger to be aware of it, that asshole already made a good move.
Of course, Brumm already considered this and had another challenge ready, which may sound like an outdoor activity, but is in fact a physical competition as well: ¡°A good leader has to provide for his tribe, so we will gather firewood for an hour and whoever makes the biggest fire will win.¡± Even though the ranger will probably know what makes good firewood, he doesn''t seem like someone who can carry whole trees.
¡°Fine with me, though you seriously want to lose, right?¡± Why does he have this barely bearable smirk, which gives Brumm the desire to punch his face until it''s nothing but a big hole that goes through the skull? Is that some ranger magic? ¡°I propose a scavenger hunt. Each side names three plants that have to be found in the woods, whoever finds and returns with them first wins.¡± Brumm almost flinches, as he immediately knows that the ranger would be much better at it, but before he could return something, the ranger goes on: ¡°Oh? You''re not confident in your survival skills? I mean, are barbarians raiding places because they suck so hard at finding their way in the wilderness to provide for themselves?¡±
More urges to kill that brat rise inside Brumm. He''s about to strangle him, until his head pops and all the shit inside bursts out, covering everything. Yet he also knows that doing this would not only end up with his clan seeming to not respect the rules of the Trenvig, but probably with Grekk swatting him like a fly.
So that''s why they don''t use the legendary calamity. To ensure that everything falls in line. But in the end, Brumm also knows that the only thing he has to do is to win the Trenvig. Yes, this is only a minor annoyance, something he will shrug off in the end.
Time for his last suggestion! ¡°My last challenge is a thumb war, three rounds.¡± This may be a game for children, but it''s much deeper than it seems. Timing, reading your opponent, feints, strategy. While he''s not allowed to crush the entire hand, breaking his thumb has to be enough for the insults earlier, and doing it in the first round will ensure two more rounds of pain.
¡°Ah, OK.¡± He agrees without missing a beat, but Brumm thinks he got him. Right? ¡°Then for the final one, let''s do some janken (rock-paper-scissors).¡±
While Brumm doesn''t know janken, this world has the same game with different hand signs and meanings for them: Axe, sword, and spear. Axe beats spear, sword beats axe, spear beats sword. That''s why Kenta, who spoke this world''s language due to the hero-system meant janken, his actual words were changed into Weapon Triad. ¡°Why? It''s just a game of chance.¡±
¡°Heh?¡± Oh god, why is his voice so grating!? ¡°So you say that you barbarians with your superior instincts won''t be able to read what I''m throwing? I guess I overestimated you.¡±
Kill, kill, kill! ¡°Fuck you, my instincts are much sharper than whatever bullshit you can pull!¡±
¡°Then no problem, right?¡±
¡°Grr...¡± Brumm immediately realizes that he has been played, but backing out now would also smear his reputation among his clan: ¡°Bring it on!¡± Yet there is a small voice inside him, which tells him that the ranger seems confident about all but one of the choices...
Volume 09 - Chapter 7-3
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¡°Phew... worked out better than expected.¡± I have no idea how well I will fare if it comes to the Challenge of the Chieftains, but I have some ideas how to use my [Skills] for most of them. I just hope that their chief doesn''t have any hidden talents.
Kyou-san massages her temples, I asked her to use [Empathy] on the chief and give me some advice via whispers. I guess it took a toll on her: ¡°I got a headache. How can men feel like that all the time!?¡±
Well, we already guessed that there is a big difference between how men and women experience emotions. ¡°You did great.¡± While her advice was simple words like ''cautious, antagonize'' or ''confident, use number two'', it was a great help to keep the upper hand in this conversation. No idea what I would have done without her here, probably mess everything up entirely.
Also good thing that Ara-san and I looked into how to cheat in all kinds of games. This also helped me to think up different strategies for his proposals on the fly, which helped me to actually be so confident.
But seriously, barbarians are idiots. Dangerous idiots, but if all they can come up with is that, it shows a serious lack of brainpower. I just need to look out for him brute-forcing stuff, because I will probably lose in direct confrontation.
¡°So we didn''t need to gather and train after all...¡± Boss-woman''s brother sighs, as he came here with everyone who was ready to battle.
Rine smiles at him: ¡°Don''t worry, Benjam. It''s better to be prepared and not use it, than the other way around.¡± She should also add that all of them would have probably died. ¡°Also, we will need you later for the challenges as well.¡±
I still can''t believe that this is working out flawlessly: ¡°Phew...¡±
¡°What''s wrong, Ken-kun?¡± Ara-san is curious and strangely satisfied. ¡°Everything is according to plan, no?¡±
¡°That''s the problem. Usually, this would be the part where everything falls apart.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, there is still an abundance of potential for possible messes.¡±
¡°Don''t remind me.¡±
¡°Or maybe this is just a rebound of [Luck] after Gottfried-kun.¡±
¡°I can''t think so.¡± Because in the end, being unlucky would be the norm anyway. Though considering how things are going with Rine and Kyou-san... ¡°I''m just set up for disaster, am I not?¡±
¡°Affirmative. Let''s see how you will burn.¡± Not mincing your words is a sign of friendship, but you don''t need to look forward to it so much!
Considering that I don''t see much of a problem in my challenge and the fact that Ara-san doesn''t need to fear a beat-down at a story-telling competition... My eyes wander to Rine, who will face a real battle, and if we put the facts together that we''re a fresh couple and that the world hates me, I have a really bad feeling about it.
On the other hand, she smiles at the farmer-uncle, Kyou-san, and Jii-san without a worry in the world.
...we could forfeit the first challenge. Would put more stress on me and Ara-san, but would also make it impossible to harm her. Ah shit, I don''t want to be overprotective¡ªespecially considering that she''s a hundred times stronger than me¡ªbut...
Trust... I need to trust her. I really do, but I''m also a pessimist. Sunflower may be stronger than her, I can''t tell. She''s also dumb, really easy to trick. She''s also stubborn and even suggesting taking the loss would anger her, maybe even hurt her. ¡°Rine?¡±
¡°Hm?¡± She cocks her head, as she stops her conversation: ¡°What''s wrong?¡±
¡°The moment you get seriously hurt, I will surrender the fight.¡± I continue quickly, as she''s about to object: ¡°I don''t care what you think, your life is worth more to me than what the farm would lose, and even Jii-san''s life doesn''t weigh as much.¡±
Strangely enough, the two old people nod to it, which makes Rine pause for a second, before she answers: ¡°I will win without getting hurt then.¡±
¡°Sure.¡± As I turn around, she takes my hand, and I can almost see hearts fly around her head, which makes me want to puke. I have no idea why she''s like that right now, but I won''t think too much of it. I have no idea what goes on in her head most of the time anyway.
I do feel a strange pressure though, coming from Kyou-san who looks like always, but definitely gives me a telling glance: ''Later.'' This is a promise. Or a threat.
I guess, because Rine is holding my hand and she needs to hold back because of the farmer? I guess she wasn''t kidding when she said she''s demanding. Oh well, I''m lucky to have these worries, even though it still feels wrong on so many levels.
¡°Phew... Ossan (Uncle; older man)? We need nineteen of your people to build the circle for the first challenge. Tell them that they don''t need to attack Sunf... Rine''s opponent, just be a part of the ring she can retreat to if needed. Let her pass, if she wants.¡± This would also end in a loss, but as long as she''s alive, it''s a win for me.
¡°Just nineteen? What about the last one?¡±
¡°He is.¡± I point at Jii-san: ¡°When the enemy comes close, murder him.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
I would also be in the circle, but as a participant of another challenge I can''t. Kyou-san isn''t a good candidate either, as she may be able to interfere, but in dubious ways at best. So I want to reduce the threat of her getting hurt as well.
That''s not our fight, so I won''t take any risks I don''t need to in this. Even the fights before were dangerous and I still ask myself how we could have avoided them, though we somehow managed them.
Kyou-san asks a question out of the blue: ¡°How did you name him?¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Rine-chan''s opponent. You were about to use your personal name.¡±
¡°Personal what?¡±
¡°Ken, I know that you don''t bother to learn any names unless they''re somewhat important to you. Like how you call my friends by some strange titles.¡± ''Or how you used to call me ''bitch'', you unemphatic asshole'' ¡°So, how did you name him?¡±
¡°Sunflower.¡±
¡°Oh, that''s cute,¡± Rine giggles, though I''m not sure if she really understands that being like that is disrespectful, basically saying that I don''t care at all about these people, which is entirely true and I won''t apologize for it.
¡°If you want to make him mad, Rine-kun, use that name,¡± Jii-san adds while chuckling himself: ¡°but be careful. I think you''re stronger, but I don''t know if you can beat him.¡±
¡°Un.¡± She nods and her hold on my hand becomes firmer, but she''s still smiling as she doesn''t worry at all.
Well, Jii-san is right. Being stronger and winning are two different things, like how I''m pretty sure that Fartmaster¡ªcourtesy to Jii-san who called their clan ''farts'' before¡ªwould beat me in a real fight with little effort, but due to the way we fight and the rules we employ, I''m confident that I will win.
¡°Don''t worry about me,¡± Rine announces with confidence: ¡°It may not be easy, but thanks to Grekk, I could think of ways to improve, and thanks to Benjam and Ara, I also have the tools for it.¡±
So she plans to use the shield and magic? Oh well, Rine always had good instincts, and her confidence does douse my worries somewhat, though I can easily come up with too many ways of how things can go wrong.
However, we have our emergency measures. If things go south, we will use our WP. Probably to buff her stats when she''s close enough to me, though it may mess her fighting rhythm up in return. Also, my gamer greed just wants to use them for increased XP-gain instead...
Trust. That''s what I need more than anything else. I hate it.
¨D¡ð¡ñ¡ð¨D
An hour is up, and it''s time to meet up with the Northwind clan. I''ve warmed up and I''m prepared for the fight.
I look at Dear, who seems to have jumped out of the stories. A brave leader, who is willing to make the hard decisions, an inspirational figure. He''s just like Fabian... no, he may appear as Fabian, but personality-wise, Dear has several flaws. But other than what he thinks about them, I don''t believe that they diminish him as a person.
The people of the farm look up to him, but he either doesn''t notice or decided not to, he''s always going on about how he''s just returning a favor¡ªwhich in itself is already proof of his integrity¡ªor that he will run if things go bad, but here he is: A guardian to all these people.
Now it''s up to me to do my part. The shield on my arm still feels foreign and it''s heavy. Not the weight, but the responsibility. Benjam entrusted it to me with all his hope and the hopes of all the people that live here.
So it''s only fitting that the circle will be made of them as well. Benjam leads the others that used to be soldiers and they will not only stand there, but be in formation, strengthening themselves for whatever will come. This fills me with confidence.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Aside from them, there are also observers like Kenza, Jahn, the leaders of the other farmsteads, and several of the men and women who picked up arms themselves and underwent some basic training, even though they are not needed right now. But they are ready to fight if needed, which speaks of their strength of character.
I also see Mirianne and Obert, both of them must have snuck out to witness the fights. Not only them, I see other children that accompany their parents and other teens that are willing to face the danger of their home directly.
The barbarians are also approaching, and they''re about as many as we, people that are here to watch and witness. Most of them are warriors, but also some elderly and children are here. Maybe barbarians and farmers aren''t that different?
Ah wait, there is a lot of bloodthirst with them. I''ve learned that barbarians put much more focus on battle than any nation. Maybe because they travel and don''t build much themselves and rather take it?
Yes, these people want to steal, and stealing is wrong! While it may be their way of life, it doesn''t mean it''s right and just! While I''m still not sure what exactly justice is, I finally learned that being just and being powerful are two different things.
For justice to work, it needs people to uphold it in their hearts, and sometimes it also means to fight. That''s what I''m here for today! I feel the righteous fire inside my soul burning and while it may be different from the Flames of Freedom, it will still give me all the power I need.
Chieftain Brumm comes forward: ¡°We''ll start right away. Form the circle.¡±
Benjam, his people, and Grekk step forward. The Northwind Clan points at the old barbarian, the strongest of them all in his prime, and even now he may be able to beat them. Grekk takes a spot at the border where our half and theirs meet, and the barbarian next to him seems to be very uncomfortable with this. The other side is taken by Benjam: ¡°Formation!¡± He exclaims, and while they may be farmers today, they used to be soldiers once, and suddenly, their hardiness seems to be much higher.
The barbarians also notice it and murmur among themselves. That''s how kingdoms fight against barbarians, after all, using formations that strengthen each member. I never learned those, though, as I was never part of the army, just a princess playing with swords.
Now that the barbarians have formed their half, I notice how small the whole circle is, despite being formed by forty people. It''s enough to fight, but it''s also limiting in movement and especially in the use of skills like [Crescent Moon], as harming the circle is not allowed outside of defending yourself.
There is no big announcement of who the champions are, we are just supposed to enter the circle and then the fight starts. I look at my friends: ¡°Good luck, Rine-chan.¡± Of course, Kyou never fails to give me an encouraging smile whenever I need it.
I watch as Ara''s ears move quicker than usual, maybe thinking about what to say, but then she ends up with a: ¡°Do whatever you feel like,¡± which shows that she''s concerned... right?
Dear crosses his arms as he says: ¡°Remember what I said.¡± Yes, I know you love me so much that you''ll be ready to sacrifice everything for me, and it''s now up to me to bury all your worries.
As I enter the ring, I feel all eyes on me. I''m not nervous though, maybe because I''m used to being the center of attention during the celebrations and festivities at home?
Harkon rolls his shoulder, the arm I chopped off is attached again, though I feel like this might be a weak point. I won''t deliberately use it though, as that will just make me predictable. The barbarian traded his mace for a broadsword that he effortlessly uses in one hand.
¡°Start!¡± Wait, I didn''t draw my weapon and took my stance! Ignoring dueling rules, Harkon rushes at me, his sword swings from the side, and I lean backwards until my hands touch the ground, then I swing my legs and kick under his arm, but instead of bounding upwards, he holds firm, not with his [Iron Defense], but muscles and willpower alone.
So I hook my foot around his arm, jump using my hands, use the other foot to hit the back of his head and at the same time get some momentum to get away, before his backhand swing can get me.
If I don''t lose some momentum, I will get close to his half of the circle, so I make a somersault and land on my feet, then I try to draw my sword, but he''s jumping back-first at me, and I don''t think I can make it in time to stab him. His back also seems very hard, so I grab the hilt, make two quick steps with a small spin, smack his hand with my hilt before he thrusts with the pommel, and use the power he exercises to get some space again, getting back to my half.
¡°Wooooh!¡± Please don''t be surprised, the battle hasn''t even started! Well, it did, but I''m still not ready!
At least I''m now able to draw my sword, so step one is finally finished! Before I can get into stance, Harkon kicks into the ground before him, shooting an earth missile at me, which I swiftly deflect back at him, he blocks it with his free hand, but this is enough time to take my battle-stance, which means that I can finally begin fighting without feeling guilty about ignoring the proper procedures.
Let''s go! [Swishstride] and thrust. He doesn''t block, relying on his [Iron Defense], danger from the left, he swings his blade to cleave through my body, so I jump over the blade, which he raises, but I turn my body mid-air to evade it once again. ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡± His swing downwards is dangerous, especially as I haven''t even reached the ground and can''t change directions mid-air twice yet. Using his body to push myself away seems dangerous, so I use the shield to bounce off the side of the blade, which may send me to the ground, sliding alongside it, but I can get up during it and I''m safe at my side of the circle.
This was dangerous. He''s strong! Ah, he''s their champion after all. Why is he looking at Grekk now, though? Ah, he expected to fight him? You''re fighting me now though, looking away is rude. Yet there is no real opening, he may have holes in his defense, but I think he could immediately close them the moment I make another attack.
He makes his next move! He steps closer and swings his blade, it almost seems like a [Crescent Moon], but ¡°[Full Moon]!¡± At the tip of his blade appears a small sphere of cuts, which he swings at me.
I jump to the side, but this time he swings his free fist, I block it with my shield, but it throws me through the air, directly at his side of the circle, and one is about to hit me with his axe! Instead of resisting the power, I decide to go with it, lifting my shield over my head to hit the barbarian into the nose, which also stops my momentum.
I''m about to get hit by his companions, but the moment my feet touch the ground, I use [Swishstride] to get some distance.
That was also dangerous. Harkon is like Grekk... well, he''s younger and weaker, but exactly what I struggle with at the moment: An able warrior that I can''t cut down outright and who uses brute force. With the shield I can hang on, but evading all of his attacks will be difficult, especially as he doesn''t seem a bit tired despite all of what he''s done so far.
I''m also not tired, but I feel the strain. I''m a hero though, my body doesn''t tire like other people''s. However, he''s a barbarian, so he may still outlast me.
Suddenly, the danger from Harkon intensifies, it''s like he draws power from somewhere. It''s his rage, the power of the barbarians, and he will use it for an attack.
His leg muscles grow for a moment, then he''s right in front of me, the muscles of his back and forearms now grow, even if I evade this attack, I will still suffer damage, I feel it. Parrying will break my bones, and it''s too much to deflect: ¡°[Steel Slicer]!¡±
I cut his arm. While his skin is as hard as iron, I knew I would be able to cut it at this moment. Friedensbote is sometimes surprisingly sharp, after all. The cut is deep enough to make his hand loosen the grip of his weapon, weakening his attack enough for me to evade with just a little damage, as the air pressure and the hurled dirt still hurts through my armor.
As I make a [Swishstride] back to my half, the cut in Harkon''s arm closes surprisingly quickly, as he yells at it. So rage can also make his wounds heal that much quicker?
¡°Rine!¡± I hear Dear¡¯s voice, and I understand: He''s about to throw the match because I keep getting into these tight spots.
I look over my shoulder and send a smile as a gift. ¡°I''m fine! I''m a hero, after all.¡± I really wanted to win by having your shield, Benjam, but it seems that I can''t. Sorry for not being strong enough, I will practice more.
Time to use my hero-powers! It always takes some seconds, but I''m more used to it now: Changing class to [Wizard]. As my muscles begin to recede, Harkon has finished up healing his wound, and he''s cautious.
First spell! ¡°[Uplift]!¡± I use it on myself and jump into the air, I can jump much higher than usual, almost like I''m an [Acrobat] like Ara, whose strategy I will now use! Second spell in mid-air! ¡°[Burndrill]!¡± To not endanger the circle¡ªthey may be enemies, but they''re not my opponent¡ªI use this spell from the air, and the recoil and my [Uplift] push me even higher.
Harkon jumps aside, as my spell turns the ground he was just on to a steaming black sand hole. His leg muscles grow once again, ready to hurl him directly at me.
¡°[Uplift]!¡± This time I use it on him, he jumps but with too much force, and I swing my legs to change trajectory and he shoots past me without much control. ¡°[Burndrill]!¡± Once again I weave the twisting flames, though I wish I had the time for a [Blastburn], but even with his slower fall because of [Uplift], I won''t be able to finish the chanting.
He moves his sword aside and takes the spell with his body instead: ¡°HUARGH!¡± His muscles harden, same as his skin, and while I can smell burning flesh, it looks like only the surface of his chest is burned. ¡°Why magic!? Use your sword!¡±
I know I can hurt him if I use [Dismember]. I did it before, but I still haven''t figured out when to use it. I also want to win on my terms, and being a [Wizard] is now part of me! ¡°[Burndrill]!¡± I repeat the spell, which shoots me to the ground¡ªit hurts in my legs, that''s odd¡ªbut Harkon takes it to the chest again, making himself as hard as possible, but now with my feet on the ground, I begin to wind up my body, ready for a thrust the moment he comes down. Of course, Harkon notices it, but instead of evading, he swings his sword while falling down on me. I take a small step aside, aim for his back, he hardens up again, but I knew he would do that: ¡°[Soften]!¡± Then I thrust.
My spell counters his skill, as while he makes his skin hard as iron, I decide to make it soft instead. It''s like crossing out one word and putting another one on top of it. My blade thrusts, and I hit him right in the lungs from behind. I quickly retract my sword, as he turns around violently, with his rage, he throws air at me, and my legs aren''t as strong as they used to be, probably because I''m a [Wizard]. Does Dear always work with these body changes mid-fight?
I''m pushed back against my side of the circle, but the farmers catch me, and I step forwards immediately. Harkon is wounded, and he puts his effort into regenerating that last hit, but it seems that healing his lung takes some more effort. I feel how his rage intensifies, but only to quicken the healing process.
¡°I warn you,¡± I say to him firmly and strongly: ¡°You can give up now or face the consequences.¡±
¡°You think just because of this or an arm I would lose to you?¡± His anger is pulsating or rather his rage? He''s about to do something, maybe gathering his strength for an attack, but if this fight goes on any further, I can''t guarantee the safety of the people inside the circle.
I change back to [Princess-knight], knowing that I will end it with this. I use [Swishstride] with some sidesteps, not breaking my dash, as Harkon reacts despite the speed I have with nothing but pure instinct, even though I attack from his side. He swings his sword, and it will hit me, but I just need to cut. Everything. ¡°[Dismember]!¡±
I''m not sure if Instructor knows this move. Probably, maybe he taught me everything so I would eventually learn it. Yet I never saw him use it, so I think of it as something like a skill we developed together.
My sword glows, and with my first strike, I cut his weapon and his hand in one go. *Srrring* The second strike cuts his arm off, then the leg that is about to knee me, then his other arm, and after my sixth strike, I stop. It takes some willpower, but why insist on more after beheading him?
I massage my ear, as the noise my sword made during cutting him was grating, he used [Iron Defense] once more, but [Dismember] mirrors Instructor: Merciless power.
I look down at the body, which still convulses, as if his fighting spirit didn''t leave him, but with no arms and legs, there is nothing to be afraid of, therefore I turn around and silently leave the circle, while Brumm proclaims: ¡°The Lion Squad wins.¡± He sounds bitter, but that''s nothing compared to the sour taste that''s in my mouth, as I don''t feel satisfied by this at all.
Sometimes you need to be ruthless. That''s a message I learned from my mother and father for politics, and from Instructor for fighting. I wish I would feel better about it, feeling more adult, but I don''t. Maybe this wasn''t a competition but me punishing a bandit for his crimes. Yes, this feels better, this feels a bit more just.
The barbarians look at me with respect, as I showed them the thing they revere most: Strength.
I look at Dear, who sighs, and suddenly the sour taste in my mouth vanishes, and I feel my heart spreading happiness throughout my body. ¡°DEAR!¡± I jump into his arms, and while he squirms, he doesn''t reject me.
Until I started kissing every inch of his face I could reach: ¡°Stop it!¡± His hand pushes my head away, but I push back, insisting to give him some more smooches.
¡°You did well, Katarine-san.¡±
¡°Rine-chan, that was amazing!¡±
¡°You showed them, lass!¡±
Yes, I don''t need much, and even though not everything is going well, I have my beloved and my friends around me, a luxury I plan to enjoy to its fullest.